Theory of Change
We see investment as a mechanism for societal change.
A Flexible Fund
We’ve designed a fund structure that allows us to invest flexibly across startups — for profit and nonprofit, mission-driven and political — for the greatest impact.
-
Innovation
A 501c3 fund managed by ImpactAssets enables us to make grants to c3 nonprofits as well as early-stage investments in mission-driven, for-profit companies. Return on these investments helps to sustain our work over time. We also have a fund that enables us to support political action startups. New Media Ventures is a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Advocacy, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
-
Operations
New Media Ventures Education Fund is sponsored by Tides Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity. The Education Fund enables us to engage the community and provide thought leadership. In addition, New Media Ventures is a fiscally sponsored project of Tides Advocacy, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
-
Investor Network
We invite our network to invest alongside us. By sharing deal-flow and diligence, we give individual and institutional investors the ability to make informed, strategic and impactful decisions.
Team
-
Carlissia Graham,
President
Carlissia serves as President of New Media Ventures, drawing from over 15 years of experience in politics and social advocacy as well as firsthand experience as a serial entrepreneur. As an investor and strategist working at the intersections of media, tech, and democracy, she is a fierce advocate for impactful innovation that serves the public.
Her work centers on getting capital to people who are reimagining and building a greater future as evidenced by a thriving democracy, responsible tech ecosystem, and equal capital opportunities for underinvested communities.
Carlissia previously held multiple senior-level positions in the U.S. government democratizing access to publicly-funded technology, creating pathways to public service for underrepresented communities, and directing billions in capital investments in public-tech infrastructure.
Alongside her work at New Media Ventures, she sits on several investment committees and actively counsels founders as they navigate the startup journey. She is a native of Memphis, TN, and is deeply invested in pro-democracy efforts in the US South.
-
Jessica Salinas,
Chief Investment Officer
Jessica Salinas is Chief Investment Officer at New Media Ventures. As Chief Investment Officer, Jess is responsible for the cultivation of early-stage deal flow and portfolio management, building mission-driven partnerships, and leading the growth and direction of the investment team.
Previously, she was a Partner at an impact fund moving the world towards zero poverty, zero disease and zero pollution. Jessica was also the founding Social Impact Lead at Headspace and the founding Director of the Stanford Latino Entrepreneurship Initiative Scaling Program.
Jessica serves on the Board of Words Uncaged, Plug in South LA, and StreetCode Academy. Jessica received her BA in Communication from Stanford and her MS in Social Entrepreneurship from USC Marshall School of Business.
-
Phillip Sanders,
Partner
As Partner, Phil is responsible for expanding our partnerships, our portfolio of funders, and our investment capacity as well as spearheading new initiatives to support early-stage startups working to expand and scale progressive infrastructure.
Phil served in a variety of roles at Ernst & Young and Rockwood Capital, managing financial duties for clients across technology, real estate, and venture capital. Before joining us, Phil was a Fellow at Kapor Capital and an Investment Accounting Manager at the Kapor Center, where he managed various aspects of investing and financial processes at the fund. Previous to becoming Partner, Phil was an Investment Principal at NMV.
Phil leverages his experience to advise early stage startups and serves as Board Chair at the Ella Baker Center in Oakland. This work allows Phil to bring together thought leaders, innovators, supporters, and investors to design communities and startups for good. Phil is from Chicago, Illinois and holds a B.S. in Accounting and Finance from Bethune-Cookman University. When not at work , he enjoys his lifelong pursuit of the best cup of cappuccino and refining his cooking and salsa skills.
-
Callie Chamberlain,
Entrepreneur-in-Residence
Callie is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, coaching and advising start-up founders and activists, and developing strategic programming to advance the investment portfolio as they tackle the biggest challenges facing our democracy.
A deep believer in communal health and healing, she most recently led the Office of Social Responsibility at a Fortune 5 healthcare company where she embedded equity into business strategy and operations, with a particular focus on maternal health based on her experiences training as a birth doula. An award-winning storyteller, she co-hosted the health care innovation podcast Until It’s Fixed, bringing a lens of equity and justice that moved the show into a top 5 podcast and filmed an award-winning documentary on the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece. As a result of her time on the ground, she developed a microwork application connecting refugees to income opportunities on their cell phones.
Callie is the founder of New Leaders Council Twin Cities, Minnesota's largest leadership and development program for young people advancing equity in the region, a United Nations Peacebuilding Fellow, and a NYC Gender Equity Commissioner. In addition to being a practicing birth doula, she is a death doula, and a yoga practitioner.
-
Abi Leung,
Investment Associate
As Investment Associate, Abi is responsible for sourcing investments and leading early stages of the due diligence process. She also works with our Entrepreneurs-in-Residence to create programming and resources for our portfolio.
Abi joined from a small tech consulting group, where she managed project teams and helped develop client relationships. She studied public policy, with a focus on nonprofits, social entrepreneurship and philanthropy at the University of Southern California. Most notably during her time at USC, Abi founded Trojan Shelter, a shelter run by USC students for college students experiencing houselessness in the Los Angeles area.
When not at work, Abi enjoys trying new restaurants in Los Angeles, browsing TikTok, perfecting matcha drinks and reading.
-
Inbar Soffer Sharon,
Fundraising Associate
As Fundraising Associate, Inbar is responsible for supporting all aspects of fundraising strategy and operations. She works with everyone on the team to ensure that NMV can achieve its fundraising priorities.
Prior to joining NMV, Inbar held a variety of roles in fundraising and events, working across health services organizations, the arts, and tech. She holds as MA in Design Systems from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and is passionate about applying design thinking to solve complex problems and tell compelling stories. Outside of work, Inbar enjoys taking excessive photos and video of her wife and twin toddlers.
-
Carlos Salinas,
Investment Analyst
Carlos Salinas is an Investment Analyst at New Media Ventures. He is the principal assistant to the Chief Investment Officer and supports the Investment team with intake and diligence reviews of potential portfolio organizations in the non-profit and for-profit sectors.
Prior to joining NMV, Carlos assisted the Houston Methodist Hospital’s neurosurgery department and University of Houston’s architecture/engineering departments in research and development of disability innovations. He was the co-founder of University of Houston’s first adaptive athletic wheelchair tennis team and served as President of the Adaptive Athletics organization. He has 10+ years of experience in the Supply Chain & Logistics sector.
Carlos is an advocate for disabilities rights and is passionate about ideas and actions that move communities forward. When not at work, he enjoys spending time with his family and friends, handcycling, karaoke, wheelchair tennis, traveling, and attending live music shows.
Board
-
John Schwartz (President)
Founder, Voqal
John has a long background in conventional media, dating to his start in community radio. He founded Free Speech TV, the country's leading progressive television network. He also founded a group of organizations known as Voqal that provides low-cost wireless broadband service to schools and non-profit organizations. Voqal is also known for its grants program, including funding that seeded New Media Ventures.
-
Daaiyah Bilal-Threats
Senior Director for Education Policy, NEA
Daaiyah Bilal-Threats is a labor, social justice and public education advocate who currently serves as the Senior Director for Education Policy at the National Education Association (NEA), America's largest labor union.
For over 20 years Daaiyah has played a critical role in helping build and secure policy advances and programs that make our schools stronger and our political system more democratic. She has advised movement leaders, run winning political campaigns, championed the cause of quality public education internationally and has helped lead some of the progressive movement’s most important organizations.
As policy lead for the nation’s most powerful union, she currently oversees NEA’s research; health and safety program; international affairs; and its policy development and advocacy arms with a focus on domestic and international education policy. In previous NEA roles she led NEA’s philanthropic giving and strategic alliance programs: bringing in external funding to enhance signature NEA programs and facilitating NEA’s strategic engagement with more than 100 key national and international partners. In 2020 she built NEA’s largest-ever independent political campaign, highlighting educators as trusted members of every community. This campaign helped create the conditions necessary to elect a new U.S. president as well as numerous federal and state candidates that supported worker rights, racial and social justice, unions, and public education.
She has worked in large-scale social change her entire career beginning with the World Wildlife Fund, American Red Cross, and the Health Information Network.
She has served in leadership positions with numerous progressive political and civic organizations. She currently serves in leadership roles with the Color of Change PAC, the American Prospect Magazine, New Media Ventures, Partnership for the Future of Learning, and the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy.
-
Sandor Straus
President, Firedoll Foundation
Sandor Straus is the Managing Member of Tigmera, LLC and President of the Firedoll Foundation.
-
Cheryl Contee
CEO, Impact Seat Foundation
Cheryl Contee is The Impact Seat Foundation’s CEO and award-winning Founder & Chair of the mission-driven digital agency Do Big Things. Cheryl is the Amazon bestselling author of Mechanical Bull: How You Can Achieve Startup Success. Passionate about creating new tech and new narrative for a new era, Cheryl uses her vast experience in startup entrepreneurship and community engagement to lead our portfolio companies and funds to success, provide resources for underrepresented founders, and build the new economy.
Previously, Cheryl was CEO of Fission Strategy, which brought Silicon Valley startup culture to the world’s leading causes and campaigns. She’s the co-founder of Attentive.ly, the first tech startup with a black female founder to be acquired by a NASDAQ company, the National Board Chair for Netroots Nation, a Senior Advisor for Astia and the first portfolio company board member of New Media Ventures.
-
Nile Johnson
Founder, Labyrinth Consulting Lab
Nile currently leads a consulting company designed to tackle challenges related to trust, safety, and technology policy for entrepreneurs, technologists, researchers, and civil society. She began her career as a Team Leader with AmeriCorps, followed by service in the Obama White House, on Capitol Hill, and as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State where she focused on trade and economic policy in Sub-Saharan Africa and Western Europe.
After joining a political campaign, Nile launched into tech where she worked for ThousandEyes, Inc., a network intelligence company, and for JUUL Labs, Inc. building its first corporate responsibility and trust program. At Google, Nile was a core member of its inaugural Global Elections Integrity team under the Trust and Safety organization where she drove company-wide global elections strategy across a host of product areas. She also initiated the first trust and safety program at the Institute for Security and Technology as the Senior Director for Applied Trust and Safety. Nile has previously held board directorships with Hearken, Inc. and Marketplace Risk.
-
Ross Morales Rocketto
Co-Founder of Run for Something
Ross has spent 20 years in electoral politics having worked for candidates from school board to President. He’s spent the last six years scaling Run for Something (RFS), an organization that recruits and supports progressive, diverse, young people running for down-ballot office. Since launching on inauguration day 2017, RFS has worked with over 150,000 potential candidates, made over 3,000 endorsements, and helped elect over 1,000 candidates.
Ross got his start in electoral politics working for former HUD Secretary Julian Castro's first campaign for Mayor and Congressman Joaquin Castro’s state legislative races. In 2003 he organized in Oklahoma for John Edwards and in the 2008 cycle worked in Iowa for Governor Bill Richardson's presidential campaign. He managed Wendy Carrillo's congressional campaign in California and in 2016 was a senior advisor for digital and technology with For Our Future, a multi-million dollar SuperPAC that does field and organizing work in swing states. Recently, Ross launched the White Dudes for Harris coalition group, leveraging media to organize in critical battleground states.
-
Dawn Laguens
EVP and Chief of Global Strategy & Innovation at Planned Parenthood
In her role, Dawn oversees strategy, innovation, insights, digital products, and PP Global. She is an Expert in Residence at IDEO and a co-founder of Billion Girls Co-Lab, a girl-driven global R&D platform to strengthen long-term health and economic outcomes for women and girls. Dawn is a CLIO award-winning writer/director and is regularly recognized as one of America’s most creative and impactful leaders. She has championed the use of emerging technology throughout her career and personally led the production of Across the Line, an award-winning virtual reality experience that was featured at the Sundance Film Festival.
From 2011-2018, Dawn was the Chief Brand Officer of PPFA and PPAF. Her leadership cut across the entirety of the organization—building a world-class women’s healthcare brand alongside overseeing the daily advocacy, communications, policy, litigation, and political work. Under her leadership, PP celebrated its Centennial; trained thousands of young diverse leaders; extended digital products and analytics capabilities; enabled innovative communications and content partnerships; and championed a race equity orientation and intersectional approach to the work. During her tenure, Planned Parenthood was recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies and their base of supporters grew from 3 million to 12 million people.
-
Eddy Morales
Gresham City Council Member
A small business owner and community organizer, Eddy has spent the last 20 years working for multiple local and national organizations dedicated to community change. He’s served on Gresham City Council since 2019 and was voted council president in 2021 and 2022.
While at the Democracy Alliance, Eddy Morales served as Director of the Latino Engagement Fund, a collaborative effort between over 60 individual philanthropists, progressive institutions, and foundations of all sizes to drive resources and strategies that increase the political power of the growing Latino population. Before that, Eddy was the Deputy Director of Voto Latino and the Deputy Director of Leadership Development at the Center for Community Change, where he launched a development program to recruit and nurture low-income community organizers of color into community-based organizations.
He is the founder and co-chair of the University of Oregon Latino Alumni Association, Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Oregon, founder of East County Rising, and serves on the boards of the Community Catalyst Action Fund, Midwest Academy, Oregon Coalition for Common Sense, Battleground Texas, Code for Progress and Justice Matters Press.
Support Our Work
NMV supports entrepreneurs and activists and moves the field of impact investing forward. If you're interested in supporting our work, please get in touch.
Reach OutInvest With Us
We have many ways for investors to get involved. We'd love to hear from you.
Contact Us (opens in a new window)Founders in the News
Blavity acquires Travel Noire, a travel and discovery platform for black millennials. — TechCrunch
Read More (opens in a new window)