The DC Net Impact Professional Chapter is organized and run by the following dedicated volunteers.
Tala Abassi is the Technical Officer for Financial Reporting of the Office of Development Finance at CHF International. She is responsible for overseeing the financial and portfolio performance of CHF lending programs and institutions worldwide. Prior to CHF, Tala served as the Chief Financial Officer of KIPP Los Angeles Schools, a network of non-profit charter schools serving underresourced communities. Tala holds an MBA from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business, where she also served as Chapter Leader of Marshall Net Impact. She also has a BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Tala speaks fluent Farsi and conversational Spanish.
Chris Hobbs is a Senior Associate Program Manager at Population Services International. Most recently Chris served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso. In his role as a Small Business Development Volunteer, Chris guided women’s groups in improving their income generating activities, including introducing and developing savings and credit clubs and helping the groups obtain bank loans to enlarge their gardens and expand their soap making business. Chris also coordinated several HIV/AIDS awareness activities, which both sensitized rural communities about HIV/AIDS and trained Burkinabé to initiate similar activities in their own communities. Prior to Peace Corps, Chris worked at the National Park Foundation as a Grants and Programs Associate. A native North Carolinian, Chris earned his BSBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School at UNC. Thrilled to be back in the nation’s capitol, Chris looks forward to enjoying DC’s great restaurants, biking all over town and spending time in Rock Creek Park and the National Mall.
Ian Joseph is the Assistant Vice President, Not-for-Profit Banking Group, at M&T Bank. Ian has been a Net Impact since 2005. He was the President of DCNI in 2008 and, previously, was the President of the Penn State chapter of Net Impact. Ian joined the Not-for-Profit Banking Group of M&T Bank in 2007 after completing his Master’s of Business Administration at the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University. Ian also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University. While not working, attending DCNI events, or playing golf, Ian serves on the Boards of Directors of the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington and the Washington Area Community Investment Fund.
Amanda Lonsdale has lived in DC for nearly 16 years, spending most of that time working in international development and alternative energy. She has an MBA from Wharton, and MA from SAIS, and currently works for GeoGlobal, a private equity firm that invests in geothermal energy worldwide.
Jonathan Lyons is an aspiring MBA student and recently switched careers from working in public policy and Democratic campaigns to focus on his long-term goal of building a corporate social responsibility consulting firm. Jonathan was previously a national field manager for grassroots and grasstops projects at the Dewey Square Group. He has extensive experience managing corporate and trade association field campaigns that impact public policy at the federal levels on issues ranging from healthcare to international trade and from corporate governance to intellectual property protection. He has also managed state lobbying efforts, grassroots efforts for procurement projects, and third-party outreach at the national and local level. In addition, he was a consultant to Hillary Clinton’s Presidential campaign in New Hampshire and the Pennsylvania Democratic Congressional campaigns in 2006, working most closely with successful candidate Patrick Murphy. Prior to joining the Dewey Square Group in 2005, Jonathan worked in a variety of electoral campaigns in and around Pennsylvania, including the 2004 Presidential race. He also managed a successful referendum campaign to that worked with the local Chamber of Commerce to streamline the administrative processes of the greater Pittsburgh municipal government, creating an environment more conducive to economic development. A native of southeastern Pennsylvania, Jonathan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned degrees in Economics, Politics and Philosophy.
