Jon Bon Jovi, whom I know very well and admire, and Laurene Powell Jobs, whose husband gave us the IPad, have been appointed to a White House council for Community Solutions by President Barack Obama.
Don’t laugh about Jon Bon Jovi. I knew he was headed for this seven years ago when he was underwriting all kinds of programs in New Jersey. He is a serious community activist. And in Asbury Park and its surrounding towns, he’s learned a lot. Jon also runs the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, which has been giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to local programs to help families in crisis. It’s a great foundation, and worthy of donations this Christmas season.
Here’s the whole press release. Congratulations, Jon!
President Obama Announces Members of the White House Council for Community Solutions
WASHINGTON – Today, President Barack Obama signed an Executive Order establishing the White House Council for Community Solutions. The Council will provide advice to the President on the best ways to mobilize citizens, nonprofits, businesses and government to work more effectively together to solve specific community needs.
The President also announced his intent to appoint the following individuals to the White House Council for Community Solutions:
·        Patty Stonesifer, Chair, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Byron Auguste,Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Diana Aviv, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Paula Boggs, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Jon Bon Jovi,Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        John Bridgeland, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Jim Canales, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Scott Cowen, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        John Donahoe, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Michael Fleming, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        David Friedman, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Jim Gibbons, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Michele Jolin, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Michael Kempner, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Steven Lerner, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Maurice Lim Miller,Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Laurene Powell Jobs, Member,White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Norman Rice, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Kristin Richmond, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Judith Rodin, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Nancy H. Rubin, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Paul Schmitz, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Jill Schumann, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Bobbi Silten, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
·        Bill Strickland, Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
President Obama said, “These impressive men and women have dedicated their lives and careers to civic engagement and social innovation. I commend them for their outstanding contributions to their communities, and I am confident that they will serve the American people well in their new roles on the White House Council for Community Solutions. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”
In addition to providing advice to the President on solving specific community needs, the White House Council for Community Solutions has been tasked with three key functions: enlisting leaders in the non-profit, private, and philanthropic sectors to make progress on key policy goals; providing strategic input and recommendations to help the federal government promote greater innovation and cross-sector collaboration; and honoring and highlighting those making a significant impact in their own communities. The Council will be composed of leaders from non-profits, corporations and foundations who are committed to social innovation and civic engagement.
President Obama announced his intent to appointthe following individuals to the White House Council forCommunity Solutions
Patty Stonesifer, Appointee for Chair, White House Council for Community Solutions
Patty Stonesifer currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Regents for the Smithsonian Institution. As the former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (1997-2008), Ms. Stonesifer continues her involvement with the Foundation as a Senior Advisor. Prior to helping establish the Gates Foundation, Ms. Stonesifer had a two-decade career in technology, with her latest role as Senior Vice President at Microsoft Corp. Ms. Stonesifer serves as a private philanthropic Advisor and sits on the boards of The Broad Institute and the Center for Global Development. She has also served on the boards of the Seattle Foundation, the GAVI Fund, Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA), and ONE. Ms. Stonesifer is a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, Council on Foreign Relations and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions on AIDS. In July 1996, Time Magazine named her as one of the 25 Most Influential People in America. Ms. Stonesifer holds a B.G.S degree from Indiana University and honorary degrees from both Indiana University and Tufts University.
Byron Auguste, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Byron Auguste is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company in Washington DC., where he primarily works in the fields of high technology, information- and services-based businesses, education, and economic development.  Mr. Auguste also serves as Director of McKinsey’s Global Social Sector Office, which works with institutions in the private, public, and non-profit sectors worldwide. He previously spent fourteen years in McKinsey’s Los Angeles Office, where he was elected Principal in 1999 and Director in 2005. Prior to that, Mr. Auguste worked as an economist at the African Development Bank, LMC International, and Oxford University.  He is the co-founder and board chairman of Hope Street Group, a nationwide, nonpartisan, volunteer organization of professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs developing and promoting public policies. Mr. Auguste also serves on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Council on International Policy, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Board of Trustees of the Center for American Progress, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He holds a B.A. in economics and political science from Yale University, where he was chosen as a Truman Scholar, and a M. Phil. and D.Phil. in economics from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.
Diana Aviv, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Diana Aviv is President and CEO of the Independent Sector, a leadership network representing thousands of nonprofits, foundations and corporate giving programs. Prior to that, Ms. Aviv was Vice President for Public Policy and Director of the Washington Action Office of the Jewish Federations of North America. In her career, she has also served as Associate Executive Vice Chair at the Jewish Council of Public Affairs and Director of Programs for the National Council of Jewish Women. Ms. Aviv is an advisory committee and board member of many nonprofit organizations including GuideStar USA, the National Council on Aging, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, the Comptroller General’s Advisory Board, and the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law. She previously served on the Board of Governors of the Partnership for Public Service, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents’ Committee on Governance. Ms. Aviv is former Chair of the Board for the National Immigration Forum. She holds a B.S. degree from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa and an M.A. from Columbia University.
Paula Boggs, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Paula Boggs currently serves as the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Starbucks Coffee Company. Ms. Boggs also serves as Secretary of the Starbucks Foundation and is Washington’s State Delegate to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. Prior to that, she was Vice President at Dell Computer Corporation (1997-2002), partner at Preston Gates & Ellis (now K& L Gates, 1995-1997), Staff Director for the Advisory Board on the Investigative Capability of the Department of Defense (1994), and an Assistant United States Attorney in the Western District of Washington (1988-1994). Ms. Boggs also served in the United States Army (1981-1988) and was a detailed staff attorney at The White House (1987-1988). She currently serves on The Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees, the American Red Cross Board of Governors, the Advisory Council for KEXP FM (an NPR affiliate), and Washington State’s Campaign for Equal Justice. Ms. Boggs has also been part of several philanthropic organizations, such as the boards of Legal Aid for Washington Fund, the Greater Seattle YMCA, and the Seattle Art Museum.  She holds a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. from University of California at Berkeley School of Law.
Jon Bon Jovi, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Jon Bon Jovi currently serves as Chairman of the Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the lives of those in need. The Soul Foundation launches programs and partnerships with the intent to break the cycle of poverty and homelessness in the United States. To date, Mr. Bon Jovi and the Soul Foundation have provided affordable housing to hundreds of low-income individuals and families. Mr. Bon Jovi is also the lead singer of the Grammy Award winning group Bon Jovi, which has sold more than 120 million albums and performed more than 2,600 concerts for more than 34 million fans.
John Bridgeland, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
John Bridgeland currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of Civic Enterprises, a public policy firm in Washington, D.C. Prior to founding Civic Enterprises, Mr. Bridgeland served as Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Assistant to President George W. Bush, Director of the USA Freedom Corps, and Chief of Staff & Special Counsel to U.S. Congressman Rob Portman. He also co-led the Policy Transition Team for President George W. Bush in 2000-2001. In 2007, he led the National Summit on America’s Silent Epidemic alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Governors Association, TIME Magazine, and MTV to bring attention to the high school dropout crisis. Mr. Bridgeland was also a co-convener of ServiceNation, a Presidential forum that showcased a 10-point plan to increase community, national, and international service opportunities. For his work in promoting the national service agenda, Mr. Bridgeland was selected as NonProfit Times Executive of the Year. He currently serves on twelve non-profit boards, including City Year, Earth Conservation Corps, the President’s Advisory Board at EARTH University in Costa Rica, National Conference on Citizenship, the Public Advisory Board at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, and the Partnership for Public Service. He is Vice Chairman of Malaria No More and a Senior Advisor to the UN Special Envoy for Malaria. He holds a B.A. degree from Harvard University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Jim Canales, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Jim Canales currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of The James Irvine Foundation. Prior to this appointment, Mr. Canales served as Vice President and Corporate Secretary at the Foundation from 1999 to 2003. His service at the Foundation began in 1993 and has included roles such as Special Assistant to the President, Program Officer, and Chief Administrative Officer/Corporate Secretary. Mr. Canales currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and he is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the College Access Foundation of California. Mr. Canales has previously served as board chair for KQED Public Broadcasting and for the Stanford Alumni Association. He has also served on the boards of BoardSource in Washington D.C., and Larkin Street Youth Services in San Francisco. He is a co-founder and past Board Chair for Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). Mr. Canales holds a B.A. degree and an M.A. from Stanford University.
Scott Cowen, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Scott Cowen currently serves as the fourteenth President of Tulane University. Dr. Cowen also holds joint appointments as the Seymour S. Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts. Prior to serving at Tulane, Dr. Cowen was a professor, and later dean, at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio for twenty-three years. In 2005, Dr. Cowen was appointed by New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin to the “Bring New Orleans Back Commission” after Hurricane Katrina and charged with leading a committee to reform and rebuild the city’s failing public school system. Dr. Cowen is also the co-founder of the Fleur-de-lis Ambassadors program, a group of New Orleans civic leaders dedicated to promoting post-Katrina New Orleans around the country. He has held leadership positions in national academic and professional associations, including the American Council on Education and the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Dr. Cowen currently serves as a board member for several organizations, including the National Merit Scholarship Corporation and the Council of Higher Education Accreditation. In 2009, Time Magazine named Dr. Cowen one of the nation’s top 10 Best College Presidents. Prior to his work in academia, Mr. Cowen served for three years as a United States Army infantry officer, including a tour in Turkey (1968-1971). Dr. Cowen holds a B.A. degree from the University of Connecticut and an M.B.A. in finance and D.B.A. in management from George Washington University.
John Donahoe, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
John Donahoe currently serves as President and CEO of eBay Inc. In this position, Mr. Donahoe has global responsibility for growing the company’s e-commerce and payments businesses, which include eBay Marketplaces and PayPal.  Mr. Donahoe joined eBay in February 2005 as President of eBay Marketplaces, where he was responsible for all elements of eBay’s global e-commerce businesses. Prior to eBay, Mr. Donahoe spent more than 20 years at Bain & Company, a worldwide consulting firm based in Boston. He started as an Associate Consultant and rose to become the firm’s CEO, where he managed Bain’s 30 offices and over 3,000 employees. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for eBay Inc. and Intel Corp., Mr. Donahoe is a member of the Board of Trustees of Dartmouth College. Mr. Donahoe received a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Michael Fleming, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Michael Fleming currently serves as the Executive Director of the David Bohnett Foundation. As Executive Director, Mr. Fleming promotes the Foundation’s goal of improving society through social justice and civic activism and is committed to funding forward-thinking programs, organizations and institutions in areas including public policy, education, the LGBT community, the arts, gun violence and animal language research. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2000, Mr. Fleming worked in a variety of media positions, including producing newscasts in Boston and Washington and serving as a media specialist for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Mr. Fleming remains active in broadcasting as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of public radio’s KCRW Foundation, one of the country’s – and the Web’s – most listened-to NPR stations. In 2007, he was appointed to the Los Angeles Convention Center Commission by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Mr. Fleming has, since 2003, taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, served on the Dean’s Council of New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service and was, in 2005, a Victory Fellow (now Bohnett Fellow) at Harvard Kennedy School. Mr. Fleming holds a B.A. from Colorado College.
David Friedman, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
David Friedman currently serves as the Lead Director and Chair of Edison Properties/HNB Private Trust, the largest owner of miniature storage facilities in New York City. Mr. Friedman also serves as partner at Sandy River II, an organization which develops and operates Alzheimer’s Assisted Living facilities in New England. In 2005, Mr. Friedman served as Founder and Chairman of Sandy River Health Systems, Maine’s largest provider of long-term health care. He has served on several boards and commissions, including the Calvert Social Investment Fund, The Threshold Foundation, UFP Technologies, and as Co-Chairman of The Jewish Funders Network. Mr. Friedman holds a B.S. degree in economics from Harvard University.
Jim Gibbons, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Jim Gibbons currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Industries International. He is also a past President and Chief Executive Officer of National Industries for the Blind (1998-2008). Prior to joining National Industries for the Blind, Mr. Gibbons worked as President and Chief Executive Officer of Campus Wide Access Solutions-a wholly owned AT&T subsidiary. While at AT&T, Mr. Gibbons held various leadership positions in marketing and operations. Mr. Gibbons has received several awards and recognitions for his work, including the 2010 National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, the 2009 Young Presidents’ Organization Social Enterprise Leadership Award, SmartCEO 2010 ECO CEO award for organizational commitment to the environment, and the Purdue 2007 Outstanding Industrial Engineer of the Year award. Mr. Gibbons holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.
Michele Jolin, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Michele Jolin currently serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, where she is developing policy tools to foster social entrepreneurship and drive investment toward more innovative, effective nonprofit solutions to our nation’s critical social problems. Previously, Ms. Jolin served as Senior Advisor for Social Innovation at the White House, in the newly created Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation (2009-2010).  Prior to joining the White House, she co-edited the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s presidential transition book titled Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President. Ms. Jolin also served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress (2005-2008), where she authored a number of articles and reports on policy tools to promote innovation and impact in the nonprofit sector. From 1999-2004, she was a Senior Vice President at Ashoka, a global foundation that invests in social entrepreneurs in more than 50 countries around the world.  From 1995 to 1999, Ms. Jolin served as the Chief of Staff for President Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, and from 1993-1995, she worked for Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) on the Senate Banking Committee. She has a B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Madison, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Michael Kempner, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Michael Kempner is the Founder (1986), President, and Chief Executive Officer of MWW Group, one of the largest independent public relations firms in the United States. Mr. Kempner also serves as an Operating Advisor to Pegasus Capital Advisors, helping them build companies that solve scarce resource issues and other transformative technologies. Previously, Mr. Kempner was the Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Robert Torricelli (1982 -1984). He is currently a member of various boards, including the Center for Food Action, the Network for Teacher Entrepreneurship, the North Jersey Community Bank, and New Jersey Governor’s Advisory Council on Volunteerism and Community Service. Mr. Kempner was named PR Professional of the Year in 2010 by PR News and was inducted into the PR News Hall of Fame in 2009 for his work in communications. He has also received recognition as PR Week’s Professional of the Year (2008) and the Public Relations Society of America New Jersey chapter’s Public Relations Professional of the Year (2005). Mr. Kempner holds a B.S. from the School of Communications at The American University.
Steven Lerner, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Steven Lerner is the Founder and Managing Partner of Blue Hill Group, a financial company that invests in entrepreneurial companies and helps them manage rapid growth. Mr. Lerner is also Partner in LaunchBox Digital, an organization that provides seed capital and mentoring to start-up companies through a 12 week accelerator program. He is a member of various Boards, including Bandwidth.Com, Accent Energy, Petroliance, and Piedmont Community Bank Holdings. Mr. Lerner is also Chairman and Founder of two North Carolina marketing service companies, Capstrat and FGI (1982). Over the years, he has served on the boards of locally based not-for-profit organizations with a primary focus on education and communications. Previously, he served as Chairman of Yankelovich Partners prior to its sale in 2008. Mr. Lerner received both an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Maurice Lim Miller, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Maurice Lim Miller is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Family Independence Initiative (FII), a national center for anti-poverty innovation. Before founding FII, Mr. Miller spent 22 years at the Asian Neighborhood Design (1978-2000) and served as its Executive Director for most of his tenure, where he promoted multi-service community development initiatives in San Francisco and Oakland, California. He also serves on the boards of the Hitachi Foundation and the Board of the California Endowment, one of the country’s largest foundations, which focuses on the nexus of health and poverty. Mr. Miller previously served as a Board Member of the Corporation for Enterprise Development, Public/Private Ventures, and the Koshland Awards Committee of the San Francisco Foundation. Former President Bill Clinton honored him at the 1999 State of the Union Address for his community service and leadership. Mr. Miller holds a B.S. and an M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Laurene Powell Jobs, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Laurene Powell Jobs is founder and chair of the Emerson Collective, an organization that works with a range of entrepreneurs to advance domestic and international social reform efforts. Ms. Powell Jobs also serves as president of the board of College Track, an after-school program she founded in 1997 to prepare underserved high school students for success in college. Since its inception in East Palo Alto, College Track has expanded to serve students in Oakland, San Francisco and New Orleans.  Ms. Powell Jobs also serves on the boards of Teach For America, NewSchools Venture Fund, Stand for Children, New America Foundation and Conservation International. Earlier in her career, she spent several years working in investment banking and later co-founded Terraverra, a natural foods company, in California. Ms. Powell Jobs holds a B.A. and a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Norman Rice, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Norman Rice currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of The Seattle Foundation, one of the nation’s largest community foundations. In this role, Mr. Rice is leading the Foundation in achieving its mission to create a healthy community through engaged philanthropy, community knowledge, and leadership. Prior to joining The Seattle Foundation, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle (1999-2005) and Mayor of Seattle (1990-1997). As Mayor, Mr. Rice earned national acclaim for revitalizing Seattle’s downtown and strengthening city neighborhoods through public-private partnerships. He also championed for an improved public school system, implemented a welfare-to-work program, and improved downtown retail centers, housing, and civic buildings. Mr. Rice currently serves on many boards and commissions, including the Brookings Institute’s Advisory Committee for Sustainable Communities, the Northwest African-American Museum, the King County Committee to End Homelessness, and HistoryLink. He holds a B.A. in Communications and an M.A. in Public Administration from the University of Washington.
Kristin Richmond, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Kristin Richmond currently serves as co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Revolution Foods. Ms. Richmond founded Revolution Foods in 2005 in order to serve healthy meals and offer nutrition education to low income students. From 2002 to 2004, Ms. Richmond was Vice President of Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators, where she designed and executed strategy that grew the organization from a small community based program to a nationally scalable model working with more than 700 teachers and 60 public schools. From 2000 to 2002, Ms. Richmond lived in Nairobi and co-founded the Kenya Community Center for Learning (KCCL). Prior to that, she worked at Citigroup. Ms. Richmond is a board member of many organizations, including KCCL, Lighthouse Community Charter School, and U.C .Berkeley’s Global Social Venture Competition. She is also an Aspen Institute Entrepreneurial Leaders in Public Education Fellow, an Education Pioneers Fellow, and an Advisor to the Kauffman Foundation Entrepreneurship Program. In 2010, Newschools Venture Fund named Ms. Richmond the Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2007, she won the Global Social Venture Competition for the Revolution Foods model. Ms. Richmond holds a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from Boston College and an M.B.A. from U.C. Berkeley.
Judith Rodin, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Judith Rodin currently serves as the 12th President of the Rockefeller Foundation, where she has focused on recalibrating the Foundation’s focus in order to support and shape innovations to ensure that more people can access globalization’s benefits and strengthen resilience to risks. Prior to working with the Foundation, Dr. Rodin served as President of the University of Pennsylvania, the first woman to lead an Ivy League institution (1994-2004), and provost of Yale University. Dr. Rodin is the author of more than 200 academic articles and has written or co-written twelve books, including her most recent, The University & Urban Renewal: Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Streets. Dr. Rodin holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Nancy H. Rubin, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Nancy Rubin currently serves as co-chair of Amnesty International’s 50th Anniversary Year to build a larger international grassroots movement to prevent abuse and promote human rights. Previously Ms. Rubin served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Commission for Human Rights where she led international initiatives on securing rights around the world. Ms. Rubin also served the Clinton Administration as a Director in the Corporation for National and Community Service to establish AmeriCorps, which has placed over half a million Americans in public service programs. At AmeriCorps, Ms. Rubin led the public private partnership initiative to garner the business community’s support. She has also served on the Public Policy Support Committee of the National Red Cross and was catalytic to a loan repayment program for law students pursuing careers in the public’s interest. During the Carter administration, Ms. Rubin served as Deputy Director of Public Participation at the Department of Agriculture and worked at the White House as the National Coordinator of the Consumer Education Project. Prior to her service in Washington, Ms. Rubin was a public school teacher in Los Angeles, where she served on the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on Youth. Ms. Rubin founded Community Outreach and served on a number of boards and commissions, including Women, Men and Media, and the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center. She was the first chair of the National Mental Health Awareness Campaign and she received the Carrie Catt Chapman Public Service Award. Ms. Rubin holds a B.A. from UCLA.
Paul Schmitz, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Paul Schmitz is the National CEO of Public Allies, a national nonprofit dedicated to supporting young people through full-time community service and leadership development programs. Mr. Schmitz founded Public Allies Milwaukee in 1993, was promoted to Vice President and Chief Strategist in 1997, and was appointed national CEO in 2000. He currently serves as Co-chair of Voices for National Service, co-founder/chair of the Nonprofit Workforce Coalition, and is a board member of Our Good Works and Independent Sector. Mr. Schmitz is also a faculty member of The Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. He was recognized by The Nonprofit Times as one of the 50 most powerful and influential nonprofit leaders in the country, and honored by Fast Company Magazine with a Social Capitalist Award for innovation. Mr. Schmitz was also a Next Generation Leadership Fellow with the Rockefeller Foundation. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Jill Schumann, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Jill Schumann currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Lutheran Services in America (LSA). In this position, Ms. Schumann leads an alliance of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, and over 300 health and human service organizations. Prior to her work with LSA, Ms. Schumann launched Kairos Health Systems (1996), a nonprofit post acute care alliance. Ms. Schumann has also served as Vice President with Tressler Lutheran Services (1994-1996), a large multi-state, multi-service health and human service organization, and held multiple executive roles within nonprofit and for profit organizations. Ms. Schumann’s work has created programs in post acute healthcare, behavioral health, and chemical dependency treatment. Ms. Schumann serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, the National Human Services Assembly, and the Roundtable of National Faith-Based Health and Human Service Organizations. She holds a B.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. from Mt. St. Mary’s University.
Bobbi Silten, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Bobbi Silten currently serves as the Chief Foundation Officer of Gap Inc., a global specialty retailer whose brands include Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. For more than five years, Ms. Silten has led the Gap Foundation, overseeing all community investment and volunteer programs for 135,000 employees worldwide, and guiding Gap Inc.’s work to make a long-term impact in its communities, including targeted programs for underserved youth and women through innovative social solutions. Prior to joining Gap Inc., Ms. Silten spent 10 years at Levi Strauss & Co. (1995-2005), including five years as President of the U.S. Dockers brand. She also spent 11 years working in advertising at Foote, Cone & Belding (1984-1995). Ms. Silten currently serves as a national board member for Summer Search and Chair for the Reimagining Service Council, a national cross-sector initiative to increase the impact of volunteerism. She was formerly co-chair of the Business Track of the 2009 National Conference on Volunteering Service and the inaugural co-chair for the California Volunteers Business Partners Program. Ms. Silten holds a B.A. in Social Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Bill Strickland, Appointee for Member, White House Council for Community Solutions
Bill Strickland currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Manchester Bidwell Corporation (MBC) and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, Bidwell Training Center, and National Center for Arts and Technology. As President and CEO, Mr. Strickland’s duties include developing and implementing major fund-raising plans of action, working with Boards of Directors and Industry Advisory Boards, and encouraging the participation of corporate executive officials from major multi-national Pittsburgh corporations. Mr. Strickland is also instrumental in the creation and maintenance of MBC’s operational affiliate centers in Cincinnati and Cleveland, OH, Grand Rapids, MI, and San Francisco, CA. He holds a B.A., cum laude, in American History and Foreign Relations from the University of Pittsburgh.
