We're a passionate team of global citizens on a mission to make socioeconomic mobility borderless.

JATIN RAJPUT

Founder of Ad-In Ventures

Jatin Rajput is the founder of Ad-In Ventures based in New York investing in
diverse founders supporting economic mobility and sustainable
development. Jatin has over two decades of operating and investing
experience in financial services in both developed and emerging markets.

Prior to setting up Ad-In Ventures, Jatin was a Managing Director at Deutsche
Bank leading corporate M&A, group strategy & planning and transformation
for the Americas and Asia Pacific. Jatin started his career with Arthur
Andersen, followed by management consulting with Marakon Associates in
London and also served on a World Bank project in Afghanistan. He has lived
and worked in New York, London, Singapore and Mumbai.
Jatin has an MBA from INSEAD and is a qualified Chartered Accountant with
a graduate degree in Physics. He is a Board Advisor and Co-head of the New
York chapter of WGI, a not for profit focused on eliminating global illiteracy.

Fun Fact: In his free time, Jatin is either trying to make sense of Fortnite,
which his two boys are obsessed with, walking his cocker spaniel or hitting on
the tennis court.

KEN RUGGIERO

Chairman and CEO of Goal Structured Solutions

Ken is an experienced innovator in consumer finance with more than 25 years spent managing start-up through Fortune 1000 companies, helping them create meaningful change and improvement in their delivery of financial services. Throughout his career Ken has worked tirelessly to improve access to higher education and he continues to be a passionate advocate for expanded financial literacy and transparency in the space. Ken spearheaded the reinvention of Goal Structured Solutions, a leading provider of asset management in the education finance industry. Under his leadership, Goal Structured Solutions has significantly grown their service and product offerings, eventually re-entering the origination space in 2017 with the creation of Ascent Student Loans and more recently enter the primary servicing arena through the creation of Launch Servicing. Under Ken’s leadership Goal Structure Solutions has grown into a well-respected thought leader and service provider to over 100 clients managing over $27B in student loan assets.

Fun fact: When I have free time and when I don’t, I surf on my stand up paddle board and ski/snowboard in Park City.

MUKUL GULATI

Managing Partner of Zephyr Peacock

Mukul is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Zephyr Peacock Indiaand is responsible for the overall leadership of the Zephyr Peacock Funds. Mukul has over 20 years of experience in the investment business including private equity, investment research and general management. Previously, Mukul worked at Multex where he was involved in setting up and managing the firm’s quantitative equity research business. Mukul is a member of Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and serves on the Asia Council of Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). Mukul has an MBA from Columbia University Graduate School of Business and is a cum laude graduate from University of Maryland with a degree in economics.

NICOLE WEST

Co-founder and COO at Luminous Group, LLC

Nicole is a growth-oriented board member and executive who has brought strategic leadership for over 25 years to both publicly traded and emerging global companies. She has a proven track record of enhancing shareholder value through growth initiatives, driving EBITDA margins through scalable operations, conducting pivot and turnaround strategies, and developing talent and great places to work. Her broad industry experience includes financial services (asset management, consumer and small business lending, global payments, credit cards, mortgage, capital markets, student lending), technology (digital/mobile products and experiences, big data analytics, blockchain, FinTech), and higher education/ed tech.

Fun fact: Nicole loves to travel the world eating great food, meeting people, and learning new cultures. She enjoys hiking and has hiked the continental divide at 12000 feet and believe it or not enjoys gardening.LinkedIn – link stays the same.

MIKE DAVIS

Co-founder and Secretary of the Board

Mike is a serial entrepreneur with 13 startups under his belt, most of which were in the financial services or e-commerce space. As MPOWER’s Chief Investment Officer and Co-founder, Mike uses his superpowers to architect the company’s equity and debt financing rounds. In the past, Mike has been Director of Web Innovation and Strategy for Avon and has worked for Sapient, a leading consulting firm. Mike holds an M.B.A. from INSEAD and a B.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Purdue University.

Fun fact: Mike is addicted to grid-lined notebooks, Evernote, and productivity technology.

BEN MARREL

Founder & Managing Partner at Breega

Ben’s experience as a founder and his passion for entrepreneurship led him to create Breega, a founder-friendly European VC specialised in financing early-stage high tech startups at Seed/Series A stage. Prior to that, Ben debuted his entrepreneurial journey by launching FiftyFour, the first financial rating platform for SME’s in Africa, and then Rugby Division, a disruptive rugbywear brand. He began his career in corporate finance, working on large cross-border M&A deals and Series D+ in tech for Macquarie Bank in London and Sydney.

Today, Ben & Breega finance and advise highly promising startups such as Curve, Cuvva, Exotec, Ibanfirst, udelv or 21Button with the aim of propelling them to global success.

#entrepreneur / #VC / #techlover / #sportaddict

Amr Abdallah

Amr Abdallah has over 27 years of experience working in the MENA region in senior roles in non-for-profit and private sector. He advises business and government leaders on best practices and benchmarking against international standards. Before moving to the US, he taught Public Administration, Principles of Business Administration, Strategic Management and Business Policy at Egyptian and Arab Universities. He held several Senior Executive level
positions in projects funded by international donor organizations like USAID, EU and UNDP, where is used to negotiating, mediating and facilitating at the highest levels of national and international institutions. He has significant professional experience in designing, directing, implementing and evaluating public and private programs in addition to performing management consulting services to government, public and private companies and institutions
in the MENA region. Growing up in the Middle East and living in Egypt, Saudi and the US,
Mr. Abdallah completed his studies at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University where he received his degree and is a Mason Fellow of Public Policy. He participates regularly at World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) workshops where he presents papers and discusses new trends related to government, private sector and development in the MENA region.

Fun Fact: Amr is an amateur tennis player who loves his family and likes to play tennis with his daughter. He enjoys swimming and photography.

Dr. Sameer Meralli

Sameer Meralli, the CEO of Qatar-headquartered Investment Bank, Alchemy Capital, brings over 15 years of experience in investment banking, private equity and venture capital from top-tier firms Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, the World Bank and hedge fund Paradigm Capital.

He has contributed his expertise in the area of food security to the United Nations (FaO), the World Bank and various governments in both the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and has been featured as a guest expert in Commodity Derivatives and Food Price Inflation Volatility on CNBC, CNBC Arabia and Bloomberg. He holds specific interest in venture capital and technology furthered in his capacity as Chairman of the International Advisory Board for fintech Finergy, as a Joint Venture principal with Venture Capital firm FFA and as the Chief Investment Officer of TechHub Indonesia. He is a seasoned Angel Investor in numerous technology startups with a specific focus on Deep Tech, AI and Biotech and retains his involvement as a Board Advisor for Infinite Studios, Cashew, Bubbleology, Bamboo, R34 and Focus Media. He holds a Masters degree from Harvard University, a Masters degree in Finance from London Business School, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the London School of Economics and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics (Joint Honours Mathematics and Economics) from the University of Waterloo.

Fun Fact: Sameer is a licensed pilot and enjoys flying on the weekend. He recently completed his PhD and was awarded a Doctorate in Economics; his published dissertation is entitled “Algorithmic Game Theory as Applied to the Political Economy of Food Security.”

LUTZ BRAUM

Lutz has more than 25 years of experience in marketing financial services, with deep expertise in digital marketing, consumer engagement, and product development. Before joining MPOWER, he was the CMO of Higher One, a FinTech company that was the country’s largest digital-only banking provider, with more than 2 million accounts. His previous roles include CMO at an e-retailer, Head of Consumer Marketing at PayPal, and various senior marketing roles at Wells Fargo Bank, Washington Mutual, and both domestically and internationally at Citibank. Lutz is fluent in German and French and holds a B.S. in Finance from Arizona State University and an M.B.A from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Fun fact: Lutz is an avid amateur photographer whose works have graced album covers, billboards, office buildings, and magazines. He loves tennis, photography, and his family (not necessarily in that order).