Gratitude Railroad

Howard Fischer is co-founder and Chief Evangelist of Gratitude Railroad and a member of its Board of Stewards. He founded and formerly led Basso Capital Management, a hedge fund management firm where he spent 30 years overseeing marketing, convertible securities hedge funds, and a SPAC arbitrage fund; earlier he co-headed the institutional convertible trading desk at Smith Barney and traded convertibles at Drexel Burnham Lambert and Cohen Feit & Company, having begun his career as a Certified Public Accountant. He holds a B.S.E. in Accounting and Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and was a 2013 and 2014 fellow in Harvard University's Advanced Leadership Initiative.

Rebekah Saul Butler is Managing Partner and Co-CEO at Gratitude Railroad, an impact investment firm, where she oversees investments, strategy, and operations. She previously served as Co-Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of The Grove Foundation and Managing Director of Grove Action Fund, and earlier worked as a management consultant at Deloitte Consulting and as a reproductive health policy analyst at The Guttmacher Institute. She holds a BA in Sociology and Spanish from Stanford University and an MBA and MPH from UC Berkeley.

Thomas Knowles is Managing Partner and Co-CEO of Gratitude Railroad, which he joined in January 2015. He previously led corporate development and strategy at outdoor e-commerce company Backcountry and SaaS company Liveperson, and began his career in investing roles at SVB Capital, the early-stage venture fund of Silicon Valley Bank. He holds an Economics degree from Santa Clara University.

Emma Leavy holds an MBA with a Certificate in Sustainable Investing from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, and a postgraduate degree in Peace & Conflict Studies from the University of St. Andrews, where she was a fully funded R&A Ransome Scholar. She began her career as a management consultant at the McChrystal Group and later led domestic financial inclusion programming at the Clinton Global Initiative and served as Director of Grant Programs at Comic Relief, where she oversaw a large social impact investment portfolio. During her MBA she interned at Gratitude Railroad and ZX Ventures and held roles with Haas-affiliated impact and ESG investment funds.

Jessie Tang is Principal and Head of Strategic Initiatives at Gratitude Railroad, where she runs the firm's Inclusive Capital strategy directing investments toward diverse-led and emerging impact funds and manages its community of investors and members. Before Gratitude she led corporate fundraising and partnerships at the workforce non-profit Pursuit, was a founding member at the startup Smart Vision Labs, and began her career at BlackRock as chief of staff to the CEO. She holds a BA from Duke University and an MBA from Berkeley Haas.

Bill Beecher is a Venture Partner and Steward at Gratitude Railroad who currently focuses on serving on boards of directors, advising, and investing. He previously served as President of Vistaar Technologies, a price management software company, and as Executive Vice President of Operations and CFO at i2 Technologies, a supply chain software company. He earlier held operations and finance roles and practiced law, and holds degrees from the University at Albany and Cornell Law School.

Rachel Sheinbein is an angel investor and advisor who invests independently and through Very Serious Ventures and Broadway Angels, and has co-led two Portfolia funds. She previously co-founded and served as Managing Director of Makeda Capital, was a Partner at clean technology venture firm CMEA Capital, and spent nine years at Intel working in wastewater systems, environmental health and safety, and supply chain IT. She holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania and earned an MBA and a Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from MIT.

Aaron Walker is a three-time founder who has worked with early-stage companies. He is Managing Partner at the Ruthless for Good Fund, an early-stage fund focused on education, work, and access, and previously founded Camelback Ventures, where he ran an accelerator supporting over 140 founders. His background also includes work as a classroom teacher and as a practicing attorney.

Hanna Rassouli is the Community and Operations Associate at Gratitude Railroad, where she works with the firm's investors and manages internal team operations. She previously served as Outreach and Events Manager at Harvard Kennedy School's Women and Public Policy Program, handling member engagement, fundraising, and special events. She holds a BA in Women's and Gender Studies and Japanese Language and Culture from Wellesley College (2018).

Jane Pigott practiced environmental law for over two decades at major global law firms before founding her own consulting business in 2001, focused on talent issues such as recruitment, retention, development, and promotion. She has served on the boards of various mutual fund complexes for more than 30 years and currently chairs the board of the Van Eck family of mutual funds. She engages in impact investing, backing businesses that operate sustainably and aim to expand equity and access to financial capital, housing, healthcare, and education.

Jane Su has more than 20 years of investment experience across public and private companies internationally. She was previously a Partner and member of the Management and Investment Committees at Blum Capital Partners, and earlier made structured investments for Banc of America Equity Partners in Singapore and Morgan Stanley Capital Partners in Hong Kong, focusing largely on companies in Asian emerging markets. She currently serves as CFO of Verge Aero and holds a BA in Computer Science and Philosophy from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jenna Bussman Wise has over 20 years of experience in institutional asset management, focusing on strategic asset allocation, alternative investments, and investment diligence and research. She most recently led public investments for a New York City-based single family office. She holds an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business, with specializations in Financial Instruments & Markets and Leadership & Change Management, and a BA in Economics from Hamilton College.

Olympia De Castro is an impact investor focused on directing capital toward environmental and social outcomes. She currently serves as CFO, CPO, Head of Legal, and Treasurer of the Board at Datacubed Health, an eClinical technology company, and is Co-Founder of BXVentures, a climate tech company builder. She previously co-founded Community Investment Management, an impact investment manager providing debt capital for responsible lending innovation, and began her career at Goldman Sachs. She holds a master's in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University and a bachelor's in Finance from the University of Miami.

Peter Knight is a Founding Partner of Generation Investment Management, a firm focused on sustainable investing across public and private markets, where he led the U.S. business until retiring in 2017. Earlier he was a Managing Director at Met West Financial, began his career at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and served as Chief of Staff to Al Gore as well as Campaign Manager for President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign. He holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School and a B.A. from Cornell University.

Scott Pinkus is a former partner at Goldman Sachs, where he worked from 1986 until his retirement in 2000, building the firm's quantitative finance capabilities and founding its Credit Derivative business, Fixed Income Research Department, and Mortgage Securities Research group; he previously held similar roles at Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. He now invests in and advises early-stage business ventures with a focus on sustainable and impact investing. He holds an MBA and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tom Kuo has worked as an investor and advisor to private and public companies for 25 years, beginning impact investing in 2001. He co-founded A-Street, which backs companies focused on Pre K-12 learning solutions, and previously served as a Managing Director at Berkshire Partners and worked with General Atlantic and Goldman Sachs's Urban Investment Group. He holds an A.B. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard College and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.