Leadership Team & Board
Don Shaffer, President & CEO
Don Shaffer is President & CEO of RSF Social Finance. Prior to joining RSF, Don served as Executive Director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). (read full bio)
Mark Finser, Chair of the Board
Mark Finser was a founding member of the group that revitalized RSF in 1984. As President & CEO of RSF, Mark grew the organization’s assets to over $120M by 2007. (read full bio)
Gary Schick, Chief Financial Officer
Gary Schick has served as the Chief Financial Officer of RSF Social Finance since 2004, and currently manages all financial and mission related investing activities. (read full bio)
Esther Park, Director of Lending
Esther joined RSF in 2005 and became the Director of the Lending Program in 2007 to oversee the growth of the organization’s lending activities to social enterprises nationally. (read full bio)
John Bloom, Director of Organizational Culture
Part of John’s work as Director of Organization Culture at RSF involves developing educational programs that address the intersection of money and spirit in personal and social transformation. (read full bio)
Board of Trustees
Russell Agee became a trustee in 2007. He has spent the past few years traveling the US conducting spiritual retreats, developing a seminar called “Wealth From The Source: Discovering One’s True Inner and Outer Prosperity” and marketing The Now Clock tm, a product focused at the emerging, spiritually-minded consumer. Mr. Agee was a partner at Earle Associates from 1981 to 1987. He then founded and served as president of Network Search from 1987-2003. Both of these search firms focused on the Silicon Valley venture capital backed start-up community providing top talent for early stage technology companies. Mr. Agee serves on the local board of Boulder Meals On Wheels and he is an advisory board member with the local Colorado Camphill initiative. He has been investing in real estate and early stage start-ups for the past 26 years. After attending three years of college, he left in 1976 to start a family and his first business in the recreation arena. He has a passion to develop enlightened business practices, which will reflect social, economic, and environmental health and sustainability.
Ron Alston became a trustee in 2009. He is First Vice President of Institutional Banking at SunTrust Bank, where he serves as relationship manager to not-for-profit organizations in metro Atlanta. He is responsible for providing credit, depository, treasury and other banking services to non-profits. Ron’s major clients include the YMCA, American Cancer Society, United Way and the Paideia School. Ron has been with SunTrust Bank for 22 years, the last 4 in the Institutional Banking Group. Prior to his current assignment, Ron spent 9 years as a Credit Officer in the Corporate & Investment Banking Division, 2 years managing the Bank’s Credit Department and 4 years as a Relationship Manager in Large Corporate Banking. Ron is originally from Philadelphia and earned his bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University in Boston and his MBA from the Wharton School. He is active in the community serving as the Board Chair for the DeKalb Advisory board of the United Way, as a board member for the Decatur-DeKalb YMCA, on the advisory board of Hillside, Inc., on the Finance Committee of the Waldorf School of Atlanta and as a member of the 2008 class of Leadership DeKalb. He is married to the former Stacey Lewis and is the father of three sons, Christopher, Matthew and Brandon.
Neil Blomquist became a trustee in 2007. He is the former President and CEO for Spectrum Organic Products, Inc., the leading producer of natural and organic culinary and nutraceutical oils, condiments, and essential fatty acid supplement oils in North America. Having also been a sales manager with Fairhill Foods, and the owner of a natural and specialty food retail store in Kalispell, MT, Mr. Blomquist brings over 30 years experience in retailing, distribution, brand marketing and organizational management within the organic and natural products industry. As an extension of that experience, he has established a consulting company, Sustainable Solutions, to specialize in the development and marketing of sustainable business solutions for the industry. Mr. Blomquist spent 10 years on the board of directors of the California Olive Oil Council, and recently accepted board positions on the American Botanical Council, Forestrade, and Living Harvest. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in business management and economics from the University of South Dakota.
Martha Daetwyler, Vice Chair, has been a trustee since 2000. She is an attorney with the firm of Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger and Melnick LLP. Her practice focuses on corporate and tax matters for nonprofit organizations, as well as estate planning, probate, and trust administration. Ms. Daetwyler earned a BA from Duke University and a JD from the University of Virginia Law School. She serves on the board of trustees of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and is a former trustee of the San Francisco Waldorf School.
Sara Ellis Conant became a trustee in 2006. She is a Manager with Deloitte Consulting and specializes in training, communications, and change management. She is on the national leadership team for Deloitte’s client services for sustainability and corporate responsibility. She also has worked extensively with social-purpose entrepreneurs. Previously, she served as Development Director for RSF. Ms. Conant is also founder and Board Member of Young Women Social Entrepreneurs, a not-for-profit organization that promotes the success and development of thousands of women around the world. Ms. Conant received a BA in Sociology and an MBA from Stanford University. Ms. Conant lives with her husband, daughter, and golden retriever in the Oakland hills.
Siegfried Finser has been a trustee since revitalizing RSF in 1984. After teaching in the Rudolf Steiner School in New York, he managed a division of Xerox Corp. Mr. Finser then served as Director of Human Resource Development at ITT, with worldwide responsibility for the development and placement of more that 10,000 of its executives. Since then he has consulted with major corporations and advised clients for RSF. Mr. Finser studied at the Goetheanum in Switzerland, earned a BA from Rutgers University and an MA in Educational Psychology from New York University. Mr. Finser is the author of Money Can Heal, published by Steiner Books.
Rachael Flug has been a Trustee since 1996. She has been the President of the Diaperaps Company since its inception in 1984. Ms. Flug also founded a company called Wisdom Springs which provides organic healing therapies for women. She is past President of the Board of the Highland Hall Waldorf School and is President of the Central Fund of The Christian Community in North America. Ms. Flug currently serves as the President of the The Anthroposophical Foundation of Southern California and is a member of the editorial advisory board of Lilipoh magazine. She is married to Abraham Entin and has three children.
Mark Retzloff became a trustee in 2006. He is the co-founder, President, and Chairman of the Board for Aurora Organic Dairy, an organic company, which initiated production in 2004. In 1969, while a student at the University of Michigan, he co-founded Eden Foods. Mr. Retzloff is co-founder of Horizon Organic Dairy, the United States’ leading organic dairy. Mr. Retzloff has received numerous business awards, including the Organic Trade Association’s Organic Leadership Award for “Outstanding Individual Achievement” in 2002, the Boulder Chamber of Commerce’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 1998, and the Naturally Boulder 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. He served on the board and chaired the Finance Committee of the Shining Mountain Waldorf School for fourteen years (all three of his children are Waldorf graduates). He has served, past & presently, as a Board Member for numerous public & private companies. Mr. Retzloff is also co-founder of Greenmont Capital Partners, a venture fund financing early stage of growth companies in the LOHAS sector. He and his wife, Terry, are avid organic gardeners on their 71-acre farm in Boulder County.
Jessica Crolick Rolph became a trustee in 2006. She is Founding Partner and COO of HAPPYBABY, a start-up company that produces and markets fresh-frozen, all organic baby and toddler meals. Previously Ms. Rolph worked at Whole Foods in national purchasing for SPINS, the leading provider of information to the natural products industry. She has also worked with Lance Armstrong’s business agent to develop the concept for the Lance Armstrong branded food line. Based on Newman’s Own business model, all proceeds were to benefit Lance Armstrong Foundation. Ms. Rolph received an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell University in 2004, and was awarded a full MBA scholarship, the Park Leadership Fellowship, for leadership in socially responsible business.
Scott Williams became a trustee in 2007, and he is Managing Director for Changing Our World. Prior to joining CW, Mr. Williams gained extensive experience in fundraising beginning at St. John’s University as a Development Officer, and then as the Executive Director of Development and Alumni Relations for the Waldorf School of Garden City. He brings to RSF a broad spectrum of knowledge from his varied and diverse professional background and community involvement. Mr. Williams’ former employment includes coaching both college baseball and football, as well as working as an officer of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division, Foreign Missions Branch. He serves on the Advisory Board of The Long Island Community Foundation, is a member of the Board of Directors for ERASE Racism, and is on the Board of Trustees for the Association of Waldorf Schools of North America. He also serves on the Development Committee at the Waldorf School of Garden City and is an Advisory Committee member for Camp Glen Brook in New Hampshire. Mr. Williams is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and he holds a BA in Communication as well as a Minor in Sociology.
