Team Bios

FOUNDER

Joanne is a Washington DC-based development economist and funding advisor, who has spent her career supporting and advancing economic opportunities that improve the lives of vulnerable populations across the world. 

Starting in finance as a corporate bond analyst, she moved into policy in the early 2000s where she supported the development of international trade agreements at the U.S. Department of Commerce. She then held several climate roles in policy and sustainability strategy, eventually landing as Climate Lead and then Food and Agriculture Program Director at Conservation International in 2008.

In 2014, Joanne launched her first company, Connective Impact, which evolved into a 250-member community organization designed to bring “people” back to fundraising. 

Joanne sold and exited Connective Impact in October 2024 to focus on identifying new and innovative ways of getting funding to social enterprises in the Global South.

RAIISE is her first fund.

COO

Carrie is the Founder of The Big Lil, a company created by former founders helping social enterprises and non-profits move through challenges & change. Carrie was also the COO of Connective Impact, working together with Joanne from 2021 until the sale of the business in late 2024.

Carrie started, grew, and sold her first business, which grew quickly into the top 1% in revenue for women-owned businesses in the US, and has led multiple nonprofits through reorganization and leadership changes.

Carrie knows the challenges of running mission-driven start-ups and small businesses and LOVES to work through them. She thrives in figuring out the best ways to engage individuals & teams; involve clients, stakeholders, partners, and donors; and design organizational systems to support teams and drive change.

Carrie is an Echoing Green Fellow and a PSBJ 40 Under 40. She has also been cited in the NYTimes and invited to the White House to represent women-owned businesses.

DIRECTOR

Mike is a senior partner at Eversheds Sutherland.  He is based in Los Angeles and works out of the San Francisco office. 

Mike has been practicing for more than 40 years and is a strategic legal and business advisor to multinational companies, international organizations, foundations and nonprofits.  His work has taken him around the world and he has led teams in over 100 countries. 

Mike serves on a number of nonprofit boards including acting as the Deputy Chair of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the global reference organization for the circular economy. 

Mike also serves on the US Executive Committee for the International Fiscal Association and the Tax Advisory Board of the International Senior Lawyers Project, where he was a recipient of ISLP’s Global Volunteer Impact Award. 

Mike is currently an adjunct professor at USC Gould School of Law and UC Irvine School of Law. 

He has previously taught at Howard Law School.