Workforce Development through Pay for Success

Jenny Harms, Network Manager, Council on Foundations

Jenny Harms is Network Manager for the Midwest at the Council on Foundation. Jenny builds stronger connections between Council members, peer organizations, and other philanthropic, public, and private sector organizations. She works to better understand regional dynamics so the Council can be a more effective, collaborative network node; and facilitate more open, direct communication between the Council and its members. Prior to joining the Council, Jenny worked at The Hitachi Foundation as a Senior Program Officer. While at the Foundation, Jenny co-created an awards program and subsequent grant portfolio to support early-stage entrepreneurs and impact investors using the tools of business to address poverty in the United States. She also trained Hitachi employees on strategic corporate community volunteerism and philanthropy. Jenny also worked for Boys & Girls Clubs of Petaluma overseeing six local clubhouses and the organization's fundraising efforts and as an AmeriCorps VISTA with New Orleans Area Habitat for. Jenny has an MBA with a concentration in Social Entrepreneurship from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and a Bachelor's Degree in Zoology and Women's Studies Certificate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

David Wilkinson, Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation

Dave Wilkinson is the Senior Policy Advisor for Social Finance and Innovation at the White House Office of Social Innovation.  Mr. Wilkinson develops and advances policies enabling capital markets to better support social innovation. He is responsible for advancing White House priorities relating to pay for success, impact investing and evidence-based policy. Mr. Wilkinson also serves as the finance lead for the White House Council on Environmental Quality where his work centers on innovative approaches to financing infrastructure, clean energy, and water resources. Mr. Wilkinson draws from an extensive background in community finance, capital markets and financial innovation. Prior to his role at the White House, Mr. Wilkinson served for eight years as Executive Director of City First Enterprises (CFE), a federally regulated nonprofit bank holding company and incubator of social finance solutions. At CFE, Mr. Wilkinson developed and directed successful new initiatives in community development finance, helping to create jobs and stabilize vulnerable communities.  He led the design, financial structuring and launch of innovative solutions in impact investing, affordable housing and community facilities finance, small business and nonprofit lending, and community crowdfunding. Dave previously founded and directed a community development finance legal clinic which coordinated legal, business and financial aspects in support of the launch of Start Bank, a community development bank in New Haven, CT. He also served as Executive Director of Common Cause New Jersey, an 8,000-member organization that fostered local civic engagement, helping citizens pass laws in over 100 municipalities and launching a new high school civics curriculum. Until his White House role, Mr. Wilkinson served on the board of the City First Foundation where he was a founding director. He was selected by Next American City Magazine as a member of its Next American Vanguard, an annual “40 under 40” award honoring urban innovators. Mr. Wilkinson served as a Fellow at Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia and Yale Law School. 

Brian Paulson, Co-Chair, Workforce Matters Funders Network and Senior Program Officer, Pohlad Family Foundation

Brian joined the Pohlad Family Foundation in March 2014 with 15 years of experience in the social sector, serving children and families living in poverty through direct practice, developing and managing programs, and grantmaking.  Brian has been involved in a number of systems change efforts locally and nationally, including Minnesota Adult Career Pathways, Pay for Success financing models, and evidence-based policy.  Brian currently co-chairs Workforce Matters, a national network of foundations who invest in workforce development programs and policy change. Brian holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work, with a concentration on Community Practice.

Jeff Shumway, Vice President of Advisory Services, Social Finance

In this role, Jeff works to increase the firm’s capacity to help social service organizations pursue pay-for-success financing with an emphasis on measuring performance and achieving results. Before joining Social Finance, Jeff spent nearly a decade with The Bridgespan Group where he worked with foundations, intermediaries, and direct-service organizations to develop actionable, data-driven strategies. His projects included strategic planning initiatives with nonprofits and major philanthropies in the areas of economic development, homelessness, college readiness, youth mentoring, and youth development. Prior to joining Bridgespan, Jeff spent two years at the Monitor Group working with Fortune 500 clients in energy, transportation, and health care. He also worked in the Urban Institute's Metropolitan Housing & Communities Policy Center. Jeff is a graduate of Brigham Young University and has a Masters in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Lee Foley, Managing Partner, Capitol Hill Partners

For more than 30 years, Lee Foley has worked as one of Washington's foremost counselors on policy and legislative advocacy. Foley advises clients and represents various interests before the U.S. Congress and the Executive Branch of the federal government in issue areas including elementary, secondary and postsecondary education, employment and training, employment security, community and economic development, asset building, job creation, community development finance, financial services, small business development, older Americans, rural and agricultural programs, disability and civil rights policy, and appropriate technology. In the award winning book "Coyote Warrior" investigative journalist and author Paul VanDevelder writes that Foley is "the best in the city". Foley also has extensive business experience in banking and financial services as a founder and member the boards of directors of financial institutions serving five major US metropolitan areas. Foley has also served for fourteen years on a local K-12 school board and its executive committee. Earlier in his career, Foley served in a variety of positions in Washington including as a White House domestic policy advisor, chief of staff at a federal agency and as a staffer for two U.S. Senate committees.