Share
Stand up straight for your gay* friends' rights
Stay Updated
Staff
 |
Brian Elliot, Founder
Before founding Friendfactor, Brian Elliot served as a Harvard Business School Leadership Fellow at Endeavor Global, an international development venture philanthropy firm. There, he advised tech entrepreneurs in emerging markets on scaling their businesses. Prior to that, he worked with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bain & Co. and its nonprofit spin-off, The Bridgespan Group. Brian received his MBA from Harvard Business School, MPA from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and BA in Public Policy from Stanford University. Brian is a Board Member of both Friendfactor Foundation and Friendfactor Accelerator.
|
 |
Patty Buckley, Chief Operating Officer
Prior to joining Friendfactor, Patty launched Google's offices in Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires while she oversaw AdWords Online Sales and Operations across Latin America. Before that, she led the company's US-based AdWords teams for Eastern Europe, Korea and China. During graduate school, she interned at Cell-Life, a South African non-profit that develops mobile apps for HIV workers, and at DaVita, where she worked on growth strategy. Patty received her MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School, MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and a BA in Political Science and Hispanic Studies from Northwestern. She is to blame for Friendfactor's increasing dependence on brightly colored post-it notes, but maintains that behind every movement there are fun office supplies. Patty is a Board Member of both Friendfactor Foundation and Friendfactor Accelerator. |
 |
Jason Bornstein, Project Manager
Prior to joining Friendfactor, Jason worked as an Analyst at Digitas Chicago and an Account Manager at VivaKi New York. Jason received his BA in Communication Studies and Business Institutions from Northwestern University. He is also the self-appointed sugar pushers favorite taster.
|
 |
Ryan Battista, Web Development Ninja
Prior to joining Friendfactor, Ryan worked as a Senior Web Developer at AmericanEagle.com. Originally from Chicago, Ryan recently moved to NYC and is enjoying the culture and energy of the Big Apple. Ryan holds a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University. While attending Northwestern Ryan also studied Opera Performance and was a student of the Music Theatre Certificate Program. Ryan is proud to be a Web Development Ninja fighting the good fight on the right side of history with Friendfactor. |
 |
Dinah Finkelstein, Development & Creative Program Wrangler
Before the era of Friendfactor, Dinah worked in Nonprofit Development for a variety of righteous causes, including arts education (Marquis Studios), epilepsy research (CURE), and environmental reform (US-PIRG). Dinah is a graduate of Northwestern University's School of Communication, a contributing Arts and Culture blogger for ECHOBOOMER!, and the co-founder of the fledgling Performance Poetry ensemble RIFF. It is her goal to bring more iambic pentameter, punning, and power tools (in addition to funding) to the LGBT rights movement.
|
Volunteers
 |
Zach Slates
Zach Slates helps manage Friendfactor's back office. Zach is also a Conference and Research Fellow at the Fordham Intellectual Property Law Institute. Before joining Friendfactor, Zach was a Dean's Fellow at the Fordham Corporate Law Center where his research focused on corporate governance and the regulation of financial markets. Prior to law school, Zach was a Big Four accountant specializing in the insurance industry. Zach received his JD from Fordham Law School, MAcc from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, and BA in Classical Civilization from the University of Michigan.
|
 |
Michael Rochon
Michael Rochon focuses on financial reporting, accounting policy and internal controls. Prior to Friendfactor he worked for 5 years with Ernst & Young LLP in New York City. He holds an BS and MS in Accounting from The Ohio State University and The University of Virginia and an MBA from INSEAD and is a state-certified CPA. He currently works for BTS Consulting based in New York. He is affectionately known around Friendfactor as 'The Prime Minister' and is the internal goodwill ambassador of his two biggest passions: Mariah Carey and Silly Bandz.
|
Interns
Patricia Burgos
Patricia is Friendfactor’s international representative and is responsible for ensuring the office is bilingual. She was born and raised in Colombia and has a BS in Economics and Graduate Certificate in Strategic Marketing. She’s currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Prior to coming to the United States, Patricia worked as an advisor for Colombia’s Minister of Information and Communications Technologies.
|
Will Jacobs
Will - Friendfactor's Resident Youth - is currently an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, and is happy to be spending the summer interning with the Friendfactor team in NYC. Will has previously worked with non-profits as a volunteer for his church, St. Augustines, and a member of the founders’ board of Kids for World Health (KFWH) in Larchmont, New York. He has been fortunate enough to indulge his diverse interests since having started school in 2010, by becoming involved in WUSTL improv, Theater, his Economics major, and now the good fight for gay* rights! Besides helping the team get their energy up during improv warm-ups, Will is researching improved small donation practices for Friendfactor to use. |
Mae Rice
Mae Rice recently graduated from UChicago with a sociology major and a statistics minor. She is currently working on Friendfactor’s blog and social media presence. She has a lot of interests and hobbies, but she somehow can’t think of any of them right now.
|
Katie Tomezsko
Katie is the current General Manager of The Harbus, the student newspaper of the Harvard Business School. When not generally managing, Catherine can be found helping Friendfactor with user testing, and social media.
|
Jason Zahorchak
Jason is a 2012 MBA candidate at the Yale School of Management, where his focus is in Strategy. Prior to Friendfactor, he was a Research Analyst with the Tobin Project in Cambridge, MA and with the International Crisis Group in Seoul, South Korea. He holds a BA in Music and English from UC Berkeley and an MS in Political Science from MIT.
|
Contributors
 |
Ari Wallach, Synthesis Corp.
Synthesis Corp. is a solution-creating consulting firm based in New York. They offer strategic counsel converging at the intersection of social change, technology, and innovation. Synthesis Corp. provides Friendfactor with go-to-market strategy and general public affairs counsel. Synthesis Corp. is helmed by Ari Wallach, who co-created 2008 Presidential Election's "The Great Schlep" with comedian Sarah Silverman.
|
