This summer, LEAF is saying its goodbyes to two of its full-time employees and its amazing Quaker Voluntary Service Fellow. At the same time, LEAF would like to welcome its three newest team members!
Nathan Hixson, our former Director of Lending, is headed to Duke University to pursue his MBA. Ben Selden, our outgoing Development & Marketing Manager, is also studying for his MBA, and will attend Yale University in the Fall. Our QVS fellow, Emma Turcotte, is beginning a new position as Adventure Programs Coordinator at Youth Enrichment Services in Boston.
We wish them all the best of luck in their endeavors, and thank them for their invaluable contributions to the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund!
As Nathan and Ben leave, their replacements have already begun. Josh Glickenhaus is stepping into the Director of Lending role, bringing with him years of experience in the CDFI field and a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. He is committed to growing LEAF’s portfolio of loans to cooperative enterprises, scaling its social impact while maintaining strong financial performance.
Our new Development Manager, Alex Plowden, joins the team with a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Previously, Alex worked on the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign and interned for Massachusetts Peace Action, an advocacy group for peaceful foreign policy based in Cambridge.
In May LEAF also created a new position, Loan Manager, and hired Conor McFarland for the role. Conor came to LEAF from the Resident-Owned Communities-New Hampshire (ROC-NH) program of the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, a CDFI located in Concord, NH. While there, he consulted with new and existing manufactured housing park cooperatives and supported the monitoring of the manufactured housing park portfolio.
The whole LEAF team would like to give a warm welcome to our newest members! We are excited for what’s ahead.