Megan Kashner is a self-proclaimed “Ticked-Off Social Worker” who loves to turn conversations, programs and approaches on their heads. A seasoned nonprofit leader with more than 20 years of strategic management, community partnership building and organizational planning experience across the nonprofit sector, Megan is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Kellogg’s Public-Private Interface and Director of Social Impact. Megan is also the founder of Benevolent - a platform using bleeding-edge technology and leveraging donor proclivities to fill gaps in the safety net for low-income families. Megan previously served as an executive director for the Taproot Foundation and before that spent a career in direct service with families and individuals in a variety of social service settings. Megan holds an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, has a Master's from the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration and a B.A. in Public Policy from Brown University. She has spoken at the White House and at national conferences on social innovation, philanthropy and entrepreneurship. She has been featured on CNN, in FastCompany, Mashable, MSNBC, the New Yorker and more.
Elizabeth Schwan-Rosenwald is the go-to-person for bringing companies, nonprofits and philanthropy together to address community and sector-wide challenges with creativity and panache. With over fifteen years of
experience in cross-sector business and partnership development, Elizabeth has held leadership roles with
the Taproot Foundation since 2009, serving as both Executive Director for
the Chicago office and Director of National Partnerships working with partners and foundations nation-wide. Previously, she
founded 20% Theatre, an all-women’s theatre company dedicated to addressing the
inequity of women and power imbalance in the theatre arena. Elizabeth served as Artistic and
Producing Director of 20% Theater from 2003-2010. More recently, she joined the
Benevolent team in 2014 as Vice President of Partnerships, bringing her stringent discipline and ardent mission-focused approach to the young digital nonprofit. Her nonprofit
fundraising career spans some of Chicago’s most prominent arts and social
justice organizations. Elizabeth holds a BA from Smith College in English and
Theatre.