People (3/28 backup)

NC3’S BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Chris Miller

Special Projects Consultant, PlaneWave Instruments, Board Chair, NC3
Location: Michigan

Chris is the Special Projects Consultant for PlaneWave instruments in Adrian, Michigan. PlaneWave is the global leader in the design and manufacture of high-tech observatory class telescopes and is also a committed and energized community partner, investing in and hosting community organizations, businesses and events. PlaneWave is committed to creating a strong and equitable local economy and a vibrant place to live.

Formerly the City of Adrian’s lead economic developer, Chris speaks across the nation on economic development strategies, centering on the principles and practices of community capital. He has personally worked on and invested in community capital raises for private businesses, and contributed to the creation of Michigan’s nation-leading Public Spaces Community Places program, where communities raise local funds to create wonderful public spaces and receive matching funds from the state.

A founding board member of NC3, Chris led the establishment of Michigan's investment crowdfunding law in 2013. Today, as founder and principal of StreetSense Consultants and NC3 Board Chair, Chris is focused on new community capital projects and is working with the Michigan legislature on a first-in-the-nation state law that would provide an income tax credit to every Michigan citizen who invests in any Michigan business.

Michaela (Mica) Fisher

Project and Operations Manager, Start.coop
Location: New York

Mica is an organizer and advocate for economic democracy. At Start.coop she leads our fiscal sponsorship program and oversees the processes and systems that allow Start.coop to grow beyond the startup phase.
Mica has deep experience with cooperative development, having previously been the Managing Director for NC3 and having managed NYC’s Worker Cooperative Business Development Initiative.
Based in NYC, Mica originally hails from Southern California and is learning to love seasons on the East Coast. Outside of work, you can find her gardening, reading, going to see a movie at a local theater, or listening to one of her favorite podcasts

Samantha Ruiz

Organizer + Founder, HAWAII SOUP
Location: Hawaii

Samantha is the founder and organizer of HI SOUP, a collaborative finance platform, that allows community members throughout the Hawaiian Islands to invest in ideas, organizations and people serving the greater good of Hawaii. Outside of her role with HI SOUP, Samantha is the Director of Regulatory Affairs at the Ulupono Initiative, an Impact Investment firm focused on local food production, renewable energy, and waste reduction. Prior to Hawaii, Samantha has been a part of several organizations that value equity, access, and inclusion. Samantha serves on the Advisory Board of the environmental non-profit, IDEAS for Us, which she co-founded while at the University of Central Florida and has worked with a renewable energy and energy efficiency specific CDFI in low income neighborhoods throughout Florida. Samantha holds a Masters in Environmental Law and Policy from Vermont Law School and is currently enrolled in an international energy policy program at the European University Institute pursuing a certificate in International Energy Regulation.

Brian Beckon

Managing Attorney, Cutting Edge Counsel; Secretary, NC3
Location: California

Brian is an attorney with thirty years of experience working for nonprofits, start-ups, and publicly-traded companies. As a principal of Cutting Edge Counsel, based in Oakland, California, Brian’s work is focused on direct public offerings, corporate structuring, and strategies for community capital to help build a more equitable economy. Brian has served as General Counsel for RSF Social Finance and Clean Power Finance; and before that as Corporate Counsel for Sybase and Catellus Development Corporation. He earned his J.D. from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law and started his legal career with the North Bay law firm of Gaw Van Male. Brian is a member of the California Bar and also serves on the boards of Neto Community Network and Cowell Homeowners Association.

Corinne Florek

Portfolio Manager for the Adrian Dominican Sisters' Community Investment Program
Location: California

For forty years, Corinne Florek, an Adrian Dominican Sister, has been working in the field of community economic development as a manager, educator, consultant, financial administrator and strategic planner. Whether administering a 50-member craft cooperative in Appalachia, a small business loan fund for low-income women in San Francisco or managing international loan funds her work has focused on using capital innovatively to empower low-income people. Sr. Corinne received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame and has worked with a number of loan funds and nonprofits including the Mercy Partnership Fund, a community investment fund for the Sisters of Mercy which she directed for over 12 years and the Religious Communities Impact Fund, a collaborative fund sponsored by more than thirty Catholic women’s religious congregations, which she directed for over 12 years. Corinne is currently the Portfolio Manager for the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ community investment program. Corinne was awarded the Ned Gramlich Lifetime Achievement Award from the Opportunity Finance Network in 2010 and the Community Impact Award from the Northern California Community Loan Fund in 2014.

Bill Huston

Executive Director, The American Dream Marketplace
Location: Kentucky

Bill is an Inc. Magazine top 19 global crowdfunding expert, national speaker on the topic of investment crowdfunding, returning NC3 Board Member, and the founder of Crowd-Max.com, an investment crowdfunding education and coaching agency focused on helping Black-owned businesses raise capital using investment crowdfunding and identifying and converting retail investors. Crowd-Max strives to close the racial wealth gap. Their core mission is to help Black entrepreneurs raise capital and scale via crowdfunding. They have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars (& counting) on Wefunder, Buy The Block, Fund Black Founders, Kickstarter, and Indiegogo.

Bill is the Executive Director at the American Dream Marketplace, a free social marketplace app created for Black businesses and entrepreneurs. The ADM promotes building Black wealth by offering Black businesses cash grants and resources from corporate partners.

Ken Linge

Principal, Down To Earth Enterprises
Location: Vermont

For nearly a decade, Ken served as the director of a public library where he had the privilege of working with and learning from many people dedicated to community development. He also became familiar with the social and economic challenges that communities often face, and since transitioning from the library world to the broader social enterprise world via the MBA program at the University of Vermont, Ken has developed strategy for national organizations to grow collaborative multi-sector initiatives to solve environmental and economic problems as well as regional initiatives to promote greater, more inclusive opportunities for students and entrepreneurs to participate more deeply in their communities.

Ken served as the Executive Director for the National Coalition for Community Capital from 2019 to 2021. He believes in a future of inclusive, shared prosperity catalyzed by mission-driven innovators and nurtured by multi-sector collaborations that drive systemic progress.

Eric Davis

Chief Investment Officer and Principal at Revalue
Location: Michigan

Eric is a licensed Investment Advisor and the Chief Investment Officer and Principal at Revalue, a B Corp values-based investment advisory firm and leader in the community capital movement. Eric studied at Eastern Michigan University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA with a specialty in Finance. During his time in college, Mr. Davis played on the Eagles’ football team, eventually earning a scholarship and becoming a captain by his senior year. He blends his curiosity about how companies execute their strategy with how analysts determine their actual value, not just their stock price, in his analyst work at Revalue. He is also grateful to be with a company that can align his skills in finance towards impacting local communities. In addition to providing investment research at Revalue, Eric is an assistant facilitator at PCS Insight, the Technology Investment Analyst at Automation Alley, Systems and Support Analyst at MVS Alliance, and the Offensive Coordinator for Southgate Anderson High School Football team. Mr. Davis has passed Level II of the CFA Program.

Katharine Czarnecki Merritt

Chief Operating Officer, Michigan Environmental Council
Location: Michigan

Katharine is a community development professional, trained in urban planning and placemaking and is a certified economic development finance professional. She is a lover of downtowns, local businesses, historic buildings and the people of Michigan.

Katharine spent over a decade at the Michigan Economic Development Corporation where she oversaw operations and management of the Community Development business unit. Under Katharine’s leadership, the state’s economic development agency worked closely with community partners to create initiatives to improve main streets, renovate and preserve historical sites, prepare communities so they will be ready and attractive to developers, facilitate crowdfunding campaigns, and promote key development properties to developers outside of Michigan.

In her most current role as Chief Operating Officer at the Michigan Environmental Council, she spearheaded significant operational changes that provide the 40 year- old organization with greater transparency, accuracy and accountability for our board and staff. She is a graduate of the University of Georgia, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. In addition, Katharine has a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from Michigan State University.

NC3’S STAFF:

Cameron Rhudy

Interim Managing Director
Location: California

Cameron is passionate about empowering communities with the tools of community capital. Prior to joining NC3 as a staff member, Cameron was a staff attorney at the Sustainable Economies Law Center where she worked with the grassroots finance and food and farm teams, and co-led the Law Center's Legal Fellowship program.

When she is not working, Cameron is likely spending time with her kids or participating in one of her many hobbies, which include roller skating, knitting, printmaking, reading, or trying new recipes in the kitchen.