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Home > About RugMark > Board of Directors

Board of Directors

Michela O’Connor Abrams is the President and Publisher of Dwell, the award-winning design and lifestyle media company. In 2006, Dwell hit the coveted Adweek HotList as well as the Advertising Age A-List, and was a Cappell's Circulation Top Ten Performer for the second consecutive year. In 2005, Michela helped see Dwell to its first major award when the magazine won General Excellence at the National Magazine Awards. She was also honored in 2005 by Media Industry News (min) as Sales Leader of the Year. Prior to Dwell, Michela was the President of Imagine Medias Business Division, including the flagship publication Business 2.0. She has over 20 years of experience in publishing, trade show management, online branding strategies, and strategic business development. She has held executive positions at IDG, Ziff-Davis, and McGraw-Hill. Michela serves on the Board of Magazine Publishers of Americas Independent Magazine Advisory Group (MPAIMAG, and Clickability, and is an Operating Partner at Meriturn Partners.

Robin Broad is a professor of international development at American University. She teaches courses on economic globalization and development, as well as environment and development, with a focus on social, environmental, and economic accountability. Her most recent book, Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy (Rowman and Littlefield, March 2002) combines her analysis with 45 original documents to demonstrate that opponents to the current corporate-led globalization present viable, sophisticated alternatives. She is author of several books including Unequal Alliance: The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Philippines. Robin is widely published in academic and policy publications, including Foreign Policy, World Development, World Policy Journal, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She has previously worked as an international economist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the U.S. House of Representatives, and the U.S. Department of Treasury. Robin received her MA. And PhD in development studies from Princeton University.

Shobna Dhewant is a Lending Manager at RSF Finance, which provides loans to social mission-driven businesses and taps interest income for grants to nonprofit organizations. Shobna concentrates on providing capital to the fair trade and sustainable agriculture sectors and spent over 10 years structuring financing to multinationals, community businesses, farms and sole proprietorships. Her work includes economic development projects on reservations for Native Americans and microfinance to Fair Trade coffee farmers. Her professional enthusiasm lies in bridging and assisting the capital needs for socially responsible businesses along with developing sustainable business practices for international suppliers. An avid supporter of animal rights, she is a founding contributor of Buddy House, a sanctuary for cats in Mumbai, India.

JD Doliner is a principal in Opus4, a venture capital and business development consulting group. Previously, she was senior vice president at Environmental Enterprises Assistance Fund where she directed fundraising for investment and operations, deal origination, marketing and strategic planning. During her tenure at EEAF, JD designed some of the first environmental venture capital funds and led efforts to engage $70 million in investments and $25 million in grants. She also served as lead investment officer for several portfolio companies spanning renewable energy, organic agriculture and other sectors, and has participated in more than fifty transactions. JD serves on the boards of directors of Pesticide Action Network and Fiber Futures.

Sara Goodman is a professional textile artist who has worked in the field of education, since 1975, as a public school teacher, college professor, curriculum consultant and student teacher supervisor. Sara recently opened a weaving studio called Casa de los Sueños (House of Dreams) where she hosts accomplished weavers from around the country, produces art pieces, and offers fiber arts instruction. She has served on several boards including the Norwich Child Care Center and the Anne Slade Frey Charitable Trust. Sara holds degrees from Vassar College and the Lesley College Graduate School of Education, and did doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Steve Graubart, CFA, has started and managing businesses in the US and internationally, and has devoted his business acumen to the development of impoverished communities and to promoting education. He has served as SVP Global Finance and CFO for leading corporate governance companies, and has been a Managing Director of Calvert Ventures where his worked included advising Grameen Bank. He has advised groups ranging from nonprofit agencies to host country governments to the World Bank on creating jobs and promoting private sector activities throughout emerging markets. He is a graduate of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Natalie Halich is an investment officer with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). She is responsible for making investments in the mining sector, including structuring mitigation plans for environmental and social impacts of mining projects. Before joining IFC, Natalie was a director at Enron International, where she executed several major corporate acquisitions in the Latin American energy markets and held expatriate commercial positions in Brazil and Colombia. Before joining Enron, she was with the IFC, based in Ukraine, advising the government on economic reform. She has also worked with NGOs on the trafficking of persons and sexual exploitation issue. Natalie received a MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from the University of Michigan.

Patricia Hambrick is President of the Hambrick Group where she develops marketing strategies and solutions for fast-paced Internet and Fortune 500 companies. Pat has served in senior marketing positions at companies such as Saucony, L’Oreal and Clairol with her most recent corporate job as Group Vice President Global Marketing for Reebok, Ltd. In 1999 she started The Hambrick Group, whose clients roster includes The Gillette Company, Microsoft Home Entertainment, Bose, Bag Borrow or Steal, Timberland, and the business enterprise for tennis star Andre Agassi, AEI.  Pat also teaches in the MBA program at Boston University.

Rev. Pharis J. Harvey retired as executive director of the International Labor Rights Fund and as co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition in 2001. He continues his work on labor issues through the Fair Labor Association, where he is a member of the board and chair of the monitoring committee, and as senior program consultant for Stolen Childhoods, a feature-length film on child labor. An ordained minister of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Harvey previously served as executive director of the North American Coalition for Human Rights in Korea, and in a number of teaching and research positions in East Asia on behalf of the United Methodist Church and the Christian Conference of Asia. He is author of Trading Away the Future: Child Labor in India’s Export Industries (1994) and was honored in 1996 by the receipt of the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award for “Lifetime Achievement” in advancing the rights of workers.

Lizann Peyton is an organization development consultant providing capacity building, strategic planning, and board development services to the non-profit sector. She holds a master’s degree in organization and management from Antioch New England Graduate School, specializing in group dynamics, facilitation and nonprofit board development. She has worked in the fields of public policy, human services, and nonprofit management for 25 years, as staff, director, or board member of local human service programs, statewide coalitions, national lobbying organizations, and on the staff of U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits. Lizann is an adjunct faculty member at Antioch New England Graduate School's Department of Organization and Management, and provides grant review services for the NH Charitable Foundation's Corporate Fund.

Betty Wasserman is a professional designer and principal of Betty Wasserman Art & Interiors, Ltd. Betty launched her design business in 1996 by synthesizing ten years as a New York based private art dealer with a passion for design and architecture. Known for her Loft Spaces and Hamptons beach houses, she also designs her own home furnishings and accessories line. A graduate of Northeastern University (Boston, MA), Betty launched an art business in 1990, consulting and publishing artwork for corporations. She co-founded dotcom Gallery in 1994, the first online/offline gallery in New York City. She continues to represent over 50 artists, and seeks to integrate their work into her currents projects. She displays an array of original artwork in her Flatiron loft. Betty has been published in numerous design publications and was nominated by Sherri Donghia for the Fashion Group International’s Rising Star Award, and included in Dakota Jackson’s Dumb Box Project. Betty looks forward to launching her new line of “Alice” rugs for Stephanie Odegard.