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Penelope Douglas is President and Co-Founder of Pacific Community Ventures (PCV), a ten-year-old hybrid organization that stimulates economic development in California’s low-income communities. Pacific Community Ventures manages three socially-responsible investment funds and provides innovative resources to emerging businesses and their low-income workers. In addition to leading the nonprofit organization, Penelope Douglas is Managing Director of Pacific Community Management and is also a Partner in Pacific Community Ventures, LLC.

Douglas has significant experience in business, as well as a track record of leadership in community-based organizations. Douglas has a strong reputation for leadership that is focused on creativity and human resources in conjunction with bottom line results. As co-founder of the first west coast community venture fund, Douglas is a pioneer and thought leader in the area of community development investment. She has served on the board of directors of the Community Development Venture Capital Association (CDVCA) and is a frequent presenter at industry conferences. Currently, Douglas serves on the boards of New Mexico Community Capital (NMCC), New Vine Logistics, and Evergreen Lodge.

Before founding PCV, Douglas was Senior Vice President at Odwalla, Inc., Chief Administrative Officer at Morrison &; Foerster, and chair of the Morrison &; Foerster Foundation. Douglas has also held senior management positions at Ernst &; Young and Wells Fargo Bank. Douglas has been involved with community-based non-profit organizations throughout her career, serving as chair of Larkin Street Youth Center, chair of the Children’s Television Education and Resource Center, chair of San Francisco Friends of the Urban Forest and founding chair of Juma Ventures.

Douglas is a California native and her education includes a B.A. from Smith College. She is also an artist and an athlete who has competed in four Ironman distance triathlons and numerous long distance races.

Michelle Collier is PCV's Office and Accounting Manager. In addition to managing general office operations, Michelle assists the CFO with maintaining accounting practices for PCV and its active Funds and provides support to the Business Advisory Services and Investment teams. In addition to these responsibilities, Michelle also assists with internal projects; conducts financial analysis; and provides support for corporate governance, portfolio management, and PCV's Employee Onramp initiatives.

Prior to PCV, Michelle worked at the multinational agriculture firm C.H. Robinson's Monterey location as an Account Manager. Michelle was also previously employed as the Executive Director of the Marina Chamber of Commerce. As the first African American Director of the Chamber, Michelle increased annual membership by 5%. She successfully executed two large annual city-wide networking events and became the youngest member of the community-oriented policing and problem solving task force. A former EXPLORER volunteer, Michelle currently volunteers at the OMEGA boys club San Francisco location and is an avid tennis player.

Michelle has a BS in Business Administration, with honors, from Pepperdine University and enthusiastically looks forward to continuing her education.

Gabby Culver is PCV's Business ADVANCE Statewide Program Coordinator.  Gabby supports Business ADVANCE through program administration, research and evaluation, membership management, events, and communications. 

Prior to PCV, Gabby worked for Marriott International. While at Marriott, Gabby participated in the development of programs that increased the hotel's recycling rate from 5% to 40%. Gabby also interned at Indigo Development Center, where she conducted research for design and development of an eco-industrial park in the Dalian Development Zone in Dalian, China. Before Indigo Development Center, Gabby worked for Network for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Tourism (NESSThai) in Thailand, where she conducted research and helped develop strategies for the Across Cultures Program. Gabby has a BA in Sociology from San Francisco State University.

Lauren Friedman is PCV's Evaluation Consulting Analyst. In this role, she supports the evaluation and consulting practice in managing consulting relationships, providing social return on investment research and analytical services to PCV and external institutional investors.

Prior to joining PCV, Lauren served as a Program Associate at Northern California Grantmakers, where she helped run NCG's collaborative grantmaking programs, support a group of Corporate grantmakers, and develop and implement training and professional development programming for foundation professionals. Lauren remains involved in philanthropy as a co-chair of the Bay Area chapter of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, where she helps to strengthen the next generation of grantmakers, to advance effective social justice philanthropy. Prior to her work at NCG, Lauren worked as a consultant with the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Community Development to support economic development work in the South of Market Neighborhood. Lauren has a Masters of Public Policy from the University of California Berkeley and a BA in Anthropology and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

Allison Kelly is Statewide Director of Employee OnRamp Initiatives at Pacific Community Ventures (PCV). In this role, Allison is responsible for launching and managing entrepreneurial initiatives in areas such as healthcare, banking, and asset building that create new opportunities for both small businesses and their employees. Allison develops and manages partnerships between PCV, its financed and advised businesses, and key partners in both the private and nonprofit sectors.

Prior to joining PCV, Allison worked in the private sector in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries as well as in the public sector doing social marketing of public health products in developing countries. Allison holds a BA in Psychology and English from the University of Oregon and an MBA in international management from Thunderbird, School of Global Management.

David Rosen is the Chief Financial Officer at Pacific Community Ventures. David is responsible for directing the organization's accounting, financial reporting and analysis, organizational administrative services and corporate governance functions for PCV and its affiliates, and its three related venture capital funds: PCV Investment Partners I, II and III.

Prior to joining PCV David served as the chief financial officer for companies in the manufacturing, retail, consumer product, software, construction and professional services industries. His experience includes strategic business planning, mergers and acquisitions, and structuring public and private equity and debt financings for startups, growth companies and corporate reorganizations.

He serves as the chairman of the audit committees for two large Bay-area non-profits. David has also served as an adjunct professor in the business schools at both Golden Gate University and the University of Phoenix, where he taught economics and corporate finance.

David received an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BS, Environmental Sciences, Land Use Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara.

Adam See is Director of Development and Marketing at Pacific Community Ventures, where he leads marketing and nonprofit fundraising for the organization.

Prior to joining PCV, Adam was Development Director at New Door Ventures, a San Francisco-based social enterprise that helps at-risk youth get ready for work and life through jobs, job readiness, and supportive communities. Adam spent six years in nonprofit leadership roles at the World Affairs Council and Catholic Charities of the East Bay. Previously, he was a VP with Interbank Group, an international investment and management firm. Adam is a board member of several for-profit and nonprofit organizations. He received his B.S., B.A., and M.B.A. from University of California at Berkeley.

Beth Sirull is a Director at PCV. She is responsible for developing and managing consulting relationships, providing social return on investment research and analytical services to external institutional investors. Beth also manages PCV's marketing and external communications. Prior to joining PCV, Beth spent over fifteen years consulting in market research and strategy, working with such clients as AT&;T, Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter, and Deloitte and Touche. In the past several years, her work has focused increasingly on corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investing. Beth is the author of Creating Your Life Collage: Strategies for Solving the Work/Life Dilemma (©Three Rivers Press, Random House 2000) and has written and spoken extensively on work/life issues. She has held academic appointments in marketing and management at Depaul University and Dominican University.

Over the past ten years, Beth has also been involved as a volunteer in a number of nonprofit organizations. She currently serves as President of the Board of the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay. Beth earned a B.A in political science at Brandeis University, an MBA at Boston University and a Masters of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley.

Kate Sofis, a veteran PCV volunteer business advisor, is Pacific Community Ventures' Statewide Director of Business ADVANCE. Kate focuses on the delivery and continued development of membership offerings, including Insight Forums, Strategy Roundtables, and Impact Projects. Kate also focuses on developing a strong network of stakeholders – volunteers, business leaders, funders, government officials, and policy makers – to generate support for the growth of small business in California. Kate works closely with her team to further evolve PCV's business ADVANCE offerings as a whole and to ensure the quality and consistency of service delivery across our different regions statewide. Kate is also responsible for the day-to-day management of Bay Area Business ADVANCE.

Kate's experience prior to joining PCV integrates a rich background in entrepreneurship and business management, regional and local economic development, city design and land use planning, and socio-economic analysis and policy development. She began her career in high tech operations, working in line management roles within individual Fortune 500 companies and later as a Senior Manager in Ernst and Young's global supply chain practice. Subsequently, as a Director in Sapient Corporation's e-commerce practice, she led several projects to help companies incorporate Internet-based technology into their value chains. Kate's hands-on small business experience includes serving as COO of VIDA, a socially-responsible manufacturer of environmentally sustainable wood products, where she implemented the company's first long-range business strategy, managed the launch of VIDA's first furniture product line, and led implementation of the company's first in-house workforce training program. Most recently, Kate worked as a consultant in the field of regional economic development, in North America and internationally. Her projects included a strategy for brownfields redevelopment through the creation of a solar power industry in a formerly industrial city in Massachusetts, an industry development strategy in London, UK, a housing provision strategy for the city of Harlow, UK, a technology park feasibility analysis for a major university in Kentucky, and a World Bank-funded project to create Algeria's first high technology business park and incubator. Kate holds an M.S. in City Design and Social Policy from the London School of Economics, and an A.B. in Economics from Harvard University.

Darren Solomon, Pacific Community Ventures' Regional Director of Business ADVANCE, is charged with developing and coordinating PCV's business services for the Southern California region. In addition to building key relationships for Pacific Community Ventures, Darren's role also includes working with volunteer advisors, small businesses, and partner community and economic development organizations who serve Southern California's low income neighborhoods.

Prior to joining PCV, Darren worked as a management consultant for Bainbridge Inc. where he took a lead role in providing professional services to Fortune 500 companies across a variety of industries. Working with companies spanning the healthcare, technology and manufacturing industries, Darren specialized in M&;A, strategic market research, and supply chain management. Darren also has a background in entrepreneurship having incubated an educational publishing company serving school districts throughout the State of California. Additionally, Darren brings fundraising experience having consulted for healthcare foundations in the areas of planned and annual giving, as well as capital campaign management.

An active member of the San Diego community, Darren plays key roles in organizations such as City Center Development Corporation and San Diego Senior Community Center, where he serves as a member of the Facilities Planning Committee. Darren holds a B.COM in International Business Management from University of Victoria, British Columbia.