Jason Ackerman, Chairman

Jason has seventeen years of experience with management consulting firms, non-governmental organizations, and in higher education. That experience includes working and living in the Americas, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, and serving clients from a variety of different industries. He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Mary Washington and an MBA from American University. In addition, Jason holds several professional credentials in auditing, risk management, and information technology. Currently, as Georgetown University’s Chief Audit Executive, he is responsible for providing independent assurance and consulting services supporting university strategy, operations, reporting, and compliance.  Within the social entrepreneurship and international development sectors his focuses is on governance, monitoring & evaluation, and operational effectiveness.  Jason has collaborated with stakeholders from a broad range of socio-economic and technical backgrounds to assess and improve management quality and program delivery.  Those stakeholder collaborations include initiatives in public health systems interventions, HIV/AID, microfinance, food security, emergency response, post-disaster reconstruction, and institution building.

Andreas Alexandrou, Treasurer

FIC Treasurer Andreas Alexandrou, CPA is an Audit Partner, Director/Shareholder with Gelman, Rosenburg & Freedman, CPAs where he specializes in work with international non-governmental organizations. Prior to that, Andreas was a branch banking representative for Chevy Chase Bank. He is a member of the America Institute of CPAs, Greater Washington Society of CPAs and Maryland Association of CPAs. Andreas serves as an advisory board member of the George Washington Cancer Institute.  He holds a B.S. in accounting, with a minor in international business from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Joseph Boulier, Vice President

A founding member of the FIC board, Joe Boulier is currently based in Quelimane, Mozambique working in the international trade and development industry on Agribusiness projects targeted at the family farm sector and disease mitigation for the coconut industry.  He spent two and a half years as an internal auditor with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) analyzing the accounting and management practices of CRS country programs and their partner organizations throughout Africa, Asia, and Central America. Joe audited a wide portfolio of development programs including health, PEPFAR (AIDSRelief), displaced persons camps, food distribution, disaster relief construction, and water and sanitation. Prior to joining CRS, he worked for Navigant Consulting, Inc. (NCI), as a senior consultant. Joe received a B.A. in economics from the University of Mary Washington and an MBA in strategy from Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management.

Cheryl Hamer

Cheryl  Hamer is a partner in law firm of Pomerantz Haudeck Grossman & Gross, and a member of the Firm’s Institutional Investor Practice Group. Before joining Pomerantz, she served as counsel to nationally known securities class action law firms focusing on plaintiff securities fraud litigation and class actions. In private practice for over 20 years, Cheryl has litigated, at both state and federal levels and authored numerous criminal writs and appeals. She served as an Adjunct Professor at both American University and Pace University. Cheryl has served on many non-profit boards of directors including Shelter from the Storm, the Native American Preparatory School and the Southern California Coalition on Battered Women. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar, and the California State Bar. Cheryl is a graduate of Columbia University and Lincoln University Law School. She studied tax law at Golden Gate University and holds a certificate in journalism from New York University.

Alexander Mejias

An attorney by training but a musician at heart, Alex Mejias has been a member of the FIC board since 2009. A member of the New York Bar Association, Mejias is currently the owner and operator of 5PM Records, LLC and serves as Director of Music for Christ Episcopal Church, both in Charlottesville, Virigina. Prior to pursuing his passion for music, he served as project attorney on an ADA case for the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Oakland, California, worked on housing and discrimination cases for the Washington Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and clerked for the Legal Aid Justice Society in Charlottesville. In addition to his service on the FIC board, Alex serves as Artist Partner and Advocate for the International Justice Mission. He holds a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law and a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia.

Lee Gross

Lee is a natural resources and sustainable agriculture specialist with more than seven years working at the intersection of environmental conservation, agriculture and trade in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. He received a B.S.E.S in Environmental Economics and Management from the University of Georgia in 2004 and an M.S. in Natural Resources from the University of Vermont in 2011. Lee resides in Washington, DC and works as a project manager at non-for-profit EcoAgriculture Partners.

Nathan Groce

Nathan Groce heads up FIC’s marketing efforts. Nathan currently works for the American Red Cross – National Headquarters where he leads the organization’s youth marketing efforts.  He spent the first part of his career within the consulting industry where he provided a variety of litigation consulting services to Fortune 500 clients.  In his marketing career, he has worked with a variety of consumer goods organizations including Abercrombie & Fitch and the Campbell Soup Company.  Nathan is a graduate of the University of Maryland College Park with a B.S. in finance and management & organization.  He also holds an M.B.A. in marketing and strategy from the University of Maryland College Park.

 
Joy Every

Joy Every is a nationally recognized, award-winning artist whose work has been exhibited and collected throughout the United States.  Her work can be found in the collection of the Security and Exchange Commission and the American Embassy in Lima, Peru among others.

Prior to focusing exclusively on painting, Joy worked as a creative executive for American Online, Hanna-Barbera, Turner Pictures and The Walt Disney Company.  While the products and mediums were diverse, Joy was tasked with formulating ideas, developing the best into fully realized concepts then overseeing the completed projects.  Joy’s expertise lies in generating ideas then subsequently managing a creative staff to bring those ideas to fruition. Joy holds a BA from University of California San Diego and an MFA from Columbia University.

Advisers

Dr. Elizabeth Warson
Bo Bartholomew
Jim Dunn
Heather Glynn
Dr. Paula Howie
Dr. Gail C.Weigl