The Board

The primary roles of the Board of Directors are to support successful growth, innovation, and execution of the annual Reaching Out MBA Conference and to coordinate long-term strategic and financial planning for the organization. Comprised entirely of former conference organizers, the Board provides context, institutional memory, and lessons learned from conferences past, while leaving the authority and responsibility of the conference and programming to the current organizing committee.

With respect to long-term planning, the Board works to grow the capabilities of the evolving organization to better serve its mission. Goals include, among others: establishing long-term financial sustainability; developing continuous relationships with organizations, companies, and individuals; and broadening the reach and impact of LGBT MBA interaction.

To contact the Board of Directors, please use the contact form here.

Peter Allen

Peter L. Allen has been a part of the Reaching Out conference since it began. He has served as a panelist, organizer, and sponsorship coordinator; he is now a member of the board, and has led the board’s strategic planning process. Peter is the Director of Google University. His business career includes seven years at McKinsey & Company (in consulting, knowledge management, and strategy learning); he has also been a faculty member at Princeton University and Pomona College. He holds a B.A. from Haverford College, a D.E.A. from the Universite’ de Poitiers, an A.M. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School.

Amy Bennett, Secretary

Amy Bennett works as a Managing Consultant for IBM Global Business Services. As an internal consultant, she leads business strategy and organizational change initiatives for IBM. Her work has taken her throughout Europe and has allowed her to work with executives across the globe.In 2005, Amy graduated with her MBA from the Yale School of Management. During business school, she helped organize the 2005 Reaching Out Conference in Boston. Prior to Yale she worked for a boutique energy and environmental consulting firm based in Washington, DC and Maine. Amy graduated magna cum laude from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, with a B.A. in Biology. In her spare time she enjoys photography, traveling and outdoor activities.

Jonah Brown

A co-founder and past president of the board, Jonah is chair of the Digital Strategy Committee. Jonah is Director, Sales Strategy at Edmunds Inc. in Santa Monica, California, where he provides Internet marketing and advertising consulting services to global automotive firms. Jonah was an organizer of Reaching Out MBA’s 2004 conference in Los Angeles and president of the USC Marshall School of Business Gay & Lesbian Association. He has also served on the board of the USC Lambda Gay & Lesbian Alumni Association.

Prior to business school, Jonah produced feature films at Warner Bros. and the Walt Disney Company and held product management roles at Creative Planet and Edmunds Inc. He is a graduate of Brown University (BA in American Civilization; Phi Beta Kappa) and from USC Marshall School of Business (MBA).

David Cavanaugh, President

David Cavanaugh began his tenure with Reaching Out MBA, Inc. back in 2005 as an organizer of the Chicago 2005 conference.Upon graduating from the Kellogg School of Management in 2006, David joined L.E.K. Consulting as a consultant specializing in their life sciences practice. Prior to Kellogg, David worked for a diverse set of biomedical research organizations, including Genentech and GlaxoSmithKline, in the emerging field of Bioinformatics.In his free time, David enjoys triathlons, international traveling, cooking, and dining.

Alejandro Pardo

Alejandro Pardo is a graduate of the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. For his summer internship, Alejandro worked for Wal-Mart Mexico in their strategic planning department. Prior to attending Haas, Alejandro worked at Coca-Cola FEMSA, the second biggest bottling company in the world accounting for almost 10% of Coca-Cola’s global sales. He worked as a manufacturing-human resources executive where he planned and coordinated all human resources affairs for the twelve manufacturing plants and the logistics divisions of Mexico. Alejandro is an active member of Q@Haas, LAHBA (Latin American and Hispanic Business Association), and Marketing clubs at UC Berkeley. Originally from Mexico City, Mexico, Alejandro attended the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City where he earned his bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering.

James Robertson

James Robertson, MPH, MBA, is a Senior HIV/AIDS Advisor at John Snow, Inc., a Boston-based international health consultancy. He serves as a technical focal point for HIV prevention and as senior advisor to JSI’s portfolio of bilateral HIV/AIDS programs in Africa and Central Asia. Before joining JSI, he was Project Manager (Africa) in the Global Health Initiative of the World Economic Forum in Geneva, Switzerland where he contributed to efforts to expand the private sector’s response to the epidemic. In 1999, while at Yale School of Management, James was a founding co-chair of the Reaching Out conference.

Kevin Smith, Treasurer

Kevin W. Smith is VP-Strategy at HNW, Inc., a marketing consultancy in New York City. He serves as a marketing strategist to HNW’s client base developing marketing strategy solutions for luxury and financial services brands. Before joining HNW, Kevin spent ten years in the world of advertising, working with clients such as Coca-Cola, Intel, DirecTV, and Disney. Kevin holds a BA in Economics from George Washington University and an MBA from NYU-Stern School of Business. Kevin was a Co-Chair of the 2006 Reaching Out LGBT MBA Conference in New York.

Ian Tzeng

Ian Tzeng is an Engagement Manager in the Boston office of L.E.K. Consulting and originally joined the company in 1998. He splits his time between practice areas in life sciences, private equity, and hospitality & travel. Ian holds an A.B., magna cum laude in Chemistry from Harvard College and is a George F. Baker Scholar, M.B.A. with high distinction from Harvard Business School. He also serves on the boards of two other non-profit organizations - the HGC Foundation, a Harvard alumni organization supporting choral music education; and Coro Allegro, a Boston-area LGBT chorus. Ian was an organizer of the Boston 2005 Conference.

The board of directors includes the following members of the 2008 organizing committee:

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