 Richard Johnson
Chief Executive Officer
Rich Johnson is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Spark Ventures. He was born and spent his early childhood in Japan and California, prior to moving to northern Illinois. Rich received a BA in Communications and MA both from Trinity International University. His work experience has included business marketing and consulting, leadership and management for several nonprofits, and higher education administration. Rich is currently serving as an advisor and board member with several Chicago-area nonprofits and social enterprises.
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Lucy Jodlowska
Director of Partnerships
Lucy Jodlowska is the Director of Partnerships for Spark Ventures. She was born in Kraków, Poland and lived there until the age of 9, at which point she moved to Chicago with her family. Lucy received a BA in Political Science and Spanish from University of Illinois, and an MPA & MBA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, with a focus on international development and emerging markets. Her international experience includes living and studying in Mexico and Quebec, as well as leading projects in infrastructure development in El Salvador, program evaluation and business analysis in Uganda, and business development in Peru. She has previously worked for the Better Business Bureau and is a longtime photographer.
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 Scott Barbeau
Chief Financial Officer
Scott Barbeau is co-founder of Spark Ventures and has served on the board since its inception. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a BA in Business-Administration. He spent the first 15 years of his professional career working at Lucent Technologies, Parson Group, and Hyperion Solutions in sales and management roles. He has been actively involved with Mercy Home for Boys & Girls, FFHM Orphanage, and Songs of Love Foundation. He is currently employed as a professional musician.
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 Nilwona Nowlin
Accounting Manager
Nilwona Nowlin is a native of Chicago’s Roseland community. She attended Columbia College Chicago, where she studied music, theater and creative writing and received a BA. She’s spent over ten years working in the nonprofit sector, including positions as an AmeriCorps*NCCC team leader, a fifth grade teacher and youth shelter case manager. Nilwona is currently pursuing a Master of Nonprofit Management and MA in Christian Ministry at North Park University & Theological Seminary. She is passionate about service and encouraging others to serve. She also enjoys the Arts, and is pursuing her dream of being a published fiction writer. Nilwona has traveled to Zambia twice and is excited to be a part of the Spark team.
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 Stephanie Denzer
Program Manager
Stephanie is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago’s Committee on International Relations master's program. She previously worked supporting microfinance institutions as a Program Associate with the Grameen Foundation’s Human Capital Center. As an undergraduate, while living and studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina she worked for a social development organization called HelpArgentina. She also interned at the international hub of Pro Mujer, a women’s development and microfinance organization. She received her BA in Hispanic Studies with a Specialization in Economics from Columbia University in New York City and is fluent in Spanish.
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Brynne O'Neal
Resource Development Coordinator
Born in NYC, Brynne has lived in Chicago since age 10, not counting a year spent in Rennes, France and a spring in Jerusalem. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Political Science. Her studies focused on international development and human rights. She has interned at Planned Parenthood of Illinois and works at the Center for Research Libraries when she’s not at Spark. She studied Modern Standard Arabic and is proficient in French.
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Emma Niendorf
Marketing and Communications Associate
Emma is a recent graduate of Michigan State University’s James Madison College where she studied Social Relations and Policy and Comparative Cultures and Politics. As an undergraduate, she studied abroad in India, Thailand and Laos and worked for a women’s college in Himachal Pradesh, India, building professional development programs for students. She previously worked for a creative marketing agency in Chicago, developing content strategy for digital marketing and branding campaigns. She is excited to join Spark Ventures and work at the intersection of messaging and international development.
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Rachelle Grogg
Partnership Trip Associate
Rachelle Grogg was born and raised in a small town in Indiana. Upon graduating Indiana University with a BS in Marketing she moved to Madison, Wisconsin to work in healthcare IT for three years before settling in her new home, Chicago, at the beginning of 2013. Rachelle loves traveling and a couple months in Africa recently reaffirmed her desire to work with an organization like Spark, making a positive impact in developing countries.
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 Emily EtsHokin
Non-Profit Management Associate
Emily is a recent graduate of the University of Colorado where she earned her BA in Psychology and minored in Philosophy. She has volunteered with a number of different organizations such as the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, the Jewish Child and Family Service's Childhood Autism Academy, and Tuesday's Child Chicago. Along with her stateside volunteer work, Emily has also taught English and helped with community development in India and Zanzibar. She is an avid traveler and will take any excuse to explore a new country or culture. Emily hopes to pursue a career in helping the wonderful people she meets on her travels flourish, and she is thrilled to be a part of Spark Ventures' mission to bring sustainable change to different parts of the world.
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 Andrew Hastie
Non-Profit Management Associate
Andrew Hastie grew up in Colorado and moved to Chicago in 2007 where he graduated from The University of Chicago with a B.A. in Economics in 2011. He interned at Sigma Financial Planning offices creating a marketing database for insurance products and is currently applying to the UIC Liautaud Graduate School of Business’ Masters in Accounting program. He enjoys pursuing several different martial arts disciplines, posting on his political blog and performing useful statistical analyses.
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Monica Kelsh
Investment and Business Development Associate
Monica is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a BA in Global Studies from UC Santa Barbara and a MA of International Policy Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). Monica is currently pursuing her MBA at MIIS in order to find ways to blend her passion for human security and development with social entrepreneurship and business management. She has studied and worked in Spain and Peru, and has worked with MIIS, the Andean Alliance for Sustainable Development, the Firelight Foundation, and the American Red Cross throughout her time in Monterey.
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Morgan Tucker
Investment and Business Development Associate
Morgan was born in Red Bluff, California and lived in six states and 13 cities by the time she turned 18, mainly in the Midwest and South. She recently graduated with a BA in Political Science from Truman State University where she was heavily involved in volunteerism and the leadership of community-based organizations such as Amnesty International. Morgan is currently earning her MPA, with a concentration in Gender Analysis in International Development, at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. After touring programs of the UNDP in Cambodia and the Grameen Bank, BRAC and ASA in Bangladesh, she went on to work in microfinance and other social entrepreneurship operations in the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Morgan is excited to return to Nicaragua with Spark Ventures to continue her work in social enterprise.
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Jose Lopez-Cantal
Investment and Business Development Associate
Jose was born in Spain, and lived in the UK and The Netherlands before he moved to California. He currently attends the Monterey Institute of International Studies pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Business and International Development. He holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a MA in Human Resources. Before reorienting his professional career into International Development, he spent 6 years working at Hewlett Packard, where he lead Human Resources projects at the international level and instructed leadership solutions in more than 16 countries. Jose is passionate about helping organizations with their global challenges and he is thrilled to be a part of Spark Ventures' adventure with Las Tias in Nicaragua.
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