Spark Ventures

Fred Cadena

Fred Cadena is recognized as an innovative, strategic thinker with over a dozen years of experience in the financial services industry.  Currently Fred works as Vice President of Margin for optionsXpress, a subsidiary of Charles Schwab.  Fred also serves on the board of Chicago Scholars and oversees web strategy and non profit engagement for Chicago Non Profit, a community of Chicago based non profit organizations. Fred is excited to work with Spark in developing its ongoing leadership strategy and is looking forward to his first partner trip in 2013.

Katie Casey

With over 17 years of Chicago-based business experience with The Clara Abbott Foundation and KPMG, Katie Casey now works as an independent consultant to NGOs in developing countries. She most recently completed an eight-month project in Tanzania, and has worked in program development in Europe, Asia and Africa throughout her career. Katie holds a B.S. in Accounting and a B.A. in French from Indiana University, Bloomington, and completed an Executive MBA at ESCP Europe in June 2010. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Linda L. Darragh

Linda L. Darragh is Director of Entrepreneurship Programs and Clinical Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. She teaches the New Venture Lab and the Social Entrepreneurship Lab and has been a coach for the New Venture Challenge, Chicago Booth’s successful business plan competition. Her current research and efforts are focused on impact investing, growth strategies for social ventures and the integration of technology to impact social issues. Linda was also Vice President of the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) up to 2003,assisting with high growth women business owners. She received her M.Sc. (Pl) from the University of Toronto and her BA from Queen’s University and is currently a Board member of TiE Midwest, Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, Illinois Technology Association, Accion Chicago and the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago & NW Indiana.

Heather Duncan

Heather Duncan is a Nurse Practitioner, educator, volunteer, investor and close friend of Spark. She is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at North Park University as well as the Faculty Liaison for North Park University’s annual Zambia trip and clinic. She has traveled to Zambia at least 5 times to facilitate the medical clinic, and has continued to develop innovative ways to share knowledge with Hope and the community they serve. In May of 2013 she led a team of local staff to launch our first Nutrition Training. Not only has she made friends with the children at Hope, but she also got to meet the first round of chickens at the poultry farm!

Darlene Fiske

Darlene is the owner of the award-winning national communications firm in Austin, Texas, The Fiske Group: Public Relations and Marketing Strategies. Prior to starting her own business, Fiske worked as the Director of Sales & Marketing for Lake Austin Spa Resort where she was responsible for sales and marketing efforts targeting the top 1% of affluent consumers in the United States. Her firm handles a small collection of very exclusive clientele delivering big agency results with highly personalized public relations programs. Fiske has presented at universities and conferences on social media strategies and consults with businesses on how to maximize engagement in the online world. She has a Bachelor of Journalism in public relations from the University of Texas in Austin and her writing has been published in several hospitality industry trade publications. Her introduction to and intrigue into Spark Ventures was ignited through a friend who shared a video of the chicken farm launch in Zambia.

Brady Josephson

Brady is passionate about ending poverty and changing charity. He is currently the National Director, Marketing & Communications for Opportunity International – a nonprofit organization providing opportunities for people in chronic poverty to transform their lives in over 20 countries around the world. Previously, Brady worked as the Director of Resource Development at Spark Ventures. He attended North Park University in Chicago, Illinois where he received a B.S. in Business & Economics and a Masters of Nonprofit Administration and is an adjunct professor at the School of Business and Nonprofit Management. Brady is the founder and Principle of The Josephson Group, providing support and service to nonprofit organizations, and the creator and author of re: charity, a blog discussing ideas, improvements and innovations in the charity sector.  He serves on the Diamond Club Executive Committee at his alma mater and is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) in Vancouver where he lives with his wife Liz.

Pernille Spiers-Lopez

Pernille Spiers-Lopez worked with IKEA for 21 years and held several top executive positions. Most recently, Pernille was the Global HR Manager for the IKEA Group and its 135,00 employees. With her extensive business experience, she developed and implemented a new business focused HR Strategy, empowering the organization, its leaders and co-workers to grow business and people together. Prior to that, Pernille was President of IKEA North America for 8 years (2001-2009). Under her leadership, IKEA was named to Working Mother magazine’s list of 100 Best Companies and FORTUNE'S "100 Best Companies to Work For"® List. In 2007, IKEA was voted by Ethisphere, one of the 100 Most Ethical companies.  A native of Denmark, Pernille has lived in the United States for 28 years. She lives with her husband in Chicago and has 2 children. Pernille serves on the boards of Save the Children US and on the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board of the John F Kennedy School of Government.

Princess Kasune Zulu

Princess (her given name) Zulu was born and raised in Zambia where she lost both of her parents to AIDS by the age of 15. She was left to care for her three younger siblings, and she herself tested positive for HIV in 1997. Princess moved to the United States in 2005 to work with organizations promoting HIV?AIDS awareness and prevention. She often travels back to Zambia to help with humanitarian efforts in her home country. Princess currently lives with her husband and two daughters in Chicago, where she serves as a national spokesperson and speaker for World vision on the global AIDS pandemic.