Founding Advisory Board Members

Tom Aageson, Co-Founder of GCCE. (United States) Tom is the Executive Director of the Museum of New Mexico Foundation (www.museumfoundation.org). Since coming to Santa Fe Tom has developed New Mexico Creates (www.newmexicocreates.org), an economic development initiative creating market links for New Mexico artists and artisans. He is the co-founder of the International Folk Art Market. Before coming to Santa Fe Tom was director of Aid to Artisans, an international artisan enterprise development NGO. Previous to that he was at the Mystic Seaport Museum where he created the Mystic Maritime Gallery, which led to opening new markets for maritime artists and eventually spawned six for-profit gallery enterprises across the US. The market for maritime art grew by several times as did the prices for maritime artists work. He started a graphics enterprise, Mystic Maritime Graphics, publishing prints, posters and books. Tom created New England clambakes as a catering business as Mystic Seaport Museum. He holds a MBA from Columbia University and BFT from the Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird). Contact:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Alice Loy, Co-Founder of GCCE. (United States) In 2000, after working in Central America to create economic and cultural sustainability programs with native communities, Alice was recruited to run the University of New Mexico’s Small Business Institute where she mentored dozens of businesses and placed MBA students in volunteer positions with entrepreneurial ventures, both for-profit and not-for-profit. In 2003 Alice founded Social Venture Partners New Mexico while finishing her MBA at the University of New Mexico (UNM). She has taught Social Entrepreneurship at the Anderson Schools of Management at the University of New Mexico, and created a Green Technologies course at the College of Santa Fe. Passionate about culture and wealth creation, Alice is currently finishing her PhD in Intercultural Communication at UNM. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Shyla Sheppard. (United States) Shyla joined New Mexico Community Capital, a Social Venture fund, in 2005. She is presently an Associate and performs an array of activities including deal sourcing, providing value-added assistance to portfolio companies, managing portfolio company and deal flow information, assisting the Managing Director with investor relations and making investments for the NMCC funds. Shyla is a board member and observer on the boards of Aero Mechanical Industries and Armed Response Team. She also serves on the boards of Junior Achievement-NM Native Initiative and the Stanford Club of NM and volunteers teaching the JA curriculum in the classroom. Shyla graduated from Stanford University with a BA in Economics. She was raised on the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota and is a member of the Three Affiliated Tribes.

Shahidul Alam, Director of Drik. (Bangladesh) Drik is a photo agency based in Dhaka. Mr. Alam studied and taught chemistry in London where he obtained his PhD from London University prior to founding the Drik Picture Library in 1989, and the Bangladesh Photographic Institute in 1990. He set up DrikTap, and the first email network in Bangladesh in 1994. In 1997 he started the Drik Learn Initiative, a program that uses tree cultivation as a means of generating income to provide computer education in rural schools in Bangladesh. His work has been widely published and exhibited. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Paul Brickhill, Director of Pamberi Trust. (Zimbabwe) Paul is a Zimbabwean musician, writer, bookseller and arts activist and is the creator of Pamberi Trust, an organization working to boost intra-African trade to provide long-term results for the sustained increase of book output and runs a variety of programs that support performing opportunities and dialogue with different groups around cultural issues. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sandra Browne, Barbados Industrial Development Corporation. (BIDC, Barbados) Ms. Browne founded Pelican Village in Barbados while leading the BIDC. Pelican Village is a large cluster of artisan shops and retail services near the port where cruise ships dock as well as near the center of tourism. This "shopping center" sustains itself with rental income while creating a market for Barbadian artisans. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Edwin Binfon, (Cameroon) trains African cultural entrepreneurs. He addressed the 2005 World Social Forum on cultural entrepreneurship, one of the early presentations developed around this new area of entrepreneurship. Edwin is the founder of The Office Pro Group, a non-profit that has organized outreach to schools that enables studies to become aware of the importance of cultural enterprises in poverty alleviation and development. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mike Caslin, (United States) is the Executive Vice President at the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, a leading organization dedicated to youth development via entrepreneurship education in 14 countries. The National Foundation educates over 30,000 youth annually, providing entrepreneurial skills and training. Mike has been instrumental in building NFTE from the ground up. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ashoke Chatterjee, (India) served for many years as honorary president of the Crafts Council of India and continues to work as a consultant in India and internationally, especially on projects concerned with water management and environmental issues. After more than ten years as international advisor, in 2000 Ashoke joined the board of directors of Aid to Artisans, a US based non-profit organization that offers practical assistance to artisans worldwide. Ashoke was executive director of National Institute of Design (NID) from 1975-85, Senior Faculty Advisor for Design Management and Communication from 1985 to 1995, and Distinguished Fellow at NID from 1995 until retirement in 2001. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Raisa Gareyeva, (Uzbekistan) has revived the craft sector of Uzbekistan, leads cultural and museum tours in Central Asia and has a craft export business. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ian Gonzalez, (Guatemala) founded La Casa in 1994. Las Casa works with hundreds of artisans throughout Guatemala and provides clients in the US, Europe, and Central America with container loads of wooden furniture and the entire range of handicrafts available in the country. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Raj Isar, (France) is the editor of the Cultural Yearbook. He is the Claude Monet Professor of Cultural Policy and a former executive at UNESCO and he represents an academic approach to the issues of cultural enterprise and entrepreneurship. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lisa Little Chief Bryan, (United States) is a Lakota Native American entrepreneur who built her food business based on traditional and culturally-based recipes. Lisa holds a PhD. in Native American entrepreneurship. Her thesis was “The Lakota Path toward Entrepreneurship”. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Darshan Shah, (India) Ms. Shah is Founder of the Weaver's Studio, which has revived many traditional weaving styles and patterns in India. The work of the weavers is of exceptional quality. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it www.weaversstudio.com.

Carnell Chosa, (United States) is from Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico.  He received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and his Masters degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.  After four years as a Planner for the New Mexico Office of Indian Affairs, Carnell assisted a friend to start a business that created educational programs for Indian Elders across the country.  He co-founded and co-directs The Leadership Institute and the Summer Policy Academy, projects housed at the Santa Fe Indian School.  He was recently at the Chamiza Foundation as a Fellow under the First Nations LEAD program.  He was a founding board member of the Walatowa Charter High School in Jemez Pueblo and currently serves on the Advisory Member on the Native American Advised Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation.

About Us
Vision and Mission Statement
GCCE Partners