STEERING COMMITTEE
Natalia Oberti Noguera
Natalia, Executive Director of New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE), the NY metro area chapter of YWSE, holds a BA in Economics and Comparative Literature from Yale University and a MSc in International Health Care Management, Economics and Policy from Bocconi University. Although she has lived in several countries in Latin America and Europe, she considers herself a New Yorker at heart. Her interests include mainstreaming sustainability, leadership development, public-private partnerships, change management, and CSI (the original TV series set in Vegas). Natalia is currently pursuing an MA in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Allison Lynch
After more than fifteen years in the economic and health sector development, Allison was inspired to assist social entrepreneurs in realizing their visions. As the Founder and Director of the NYWSE Incubator, she runs the program. Allison is currently COO of the Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union, a community development credit union providing micro-enterprise lending, savings, homeownership, and other asset building programs in low-income communities in Brooklyn. Her work experience spans international and domestic development, including banking sector reform and small business development in the former Soviet Union. Allison received a Master in International Affairs with a concentration in International Finance and Business from Columbia University and she graduated from Tufts University with a BA in International Relations and Soviet Studies.
Shari Aaron
Shari, Founder of Fresh Marketing, helps clients see the value of sustainability and how this translates to meeting new customer expectations and marketplace realities. She is also Founder and Director of the NYWSE Emerging Sustainability Leaders (ESL) Program. As a former partner at Yankelovich and Director of Account Planning at Ogilvy & Mather, Shari served an array of distinctive clients including American Red Cross, CITI, ClimateCounts.org, CSRwire, Future Media, Hasbro, Kraft, Saks Fifth Avenue, The Princeton Review, The Toy Industry Association, Random House, and Uncommon Schools. Shari helped incubate StartingBloc and JustMeans. She has also been involved with the greening of schools, developing Green School Toolbox, a collaborative site to inspire parents to become sustainability captains for their schools. Shari is a board member of Grass Commons and works to support public education.
Molly Alexander
As Business Development Manager at Acumen Fund, Molly has seen first-hand how individuals can impact social change. NYWSE is an extension of her belief in the power of supporting individuals—particularly, women—as agents of change. Prior to working at Acumen Fund, Molly managed a small business in Sydney, Australia, creating market-based distribution channels for cottage industry products from remote areas of Tasmania. Molly holds a Bachelor of Asian Studies Degree with a double major in international relations and Korean studies from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney. Molly has traveled extensively in Asia and has just started to scratch the surface of Latin America, as well as Africa.
