Fellows: 2009 Fellows
Matthew Chou
Living Cities, Green Economy Analyst
Matthew is an Inspire Fellow at Living Cities, where he is working on a number of green initiatives, in particular helping to structure and market a new green fund to invest in low-income communities. As an investment banker at Macquarie, he worked on a number of advisory assignments in the utilities sector, focused mostly on pursuing large-cap and mid-cap utility acquisitions for financial sponsors. In particular, he was a key team member involved in the $7.9 billion acquisition of Puget Sound Energy by a Macquarie-led consortium which closed in February 2009. Through his work, Matthew brings experience in financial analysis, business analysis, and in-depth knowledge of the U.S. utilities industry. Matthew has also been an active volunteer for several years, participating in a variety of New York Cares initiatives. Matthew graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School and a Bachelor of Applied Science from the College of Engineering.
Lucila Crena
Year Up, Special Projects
Lucila is an Inspire Fellow at Year Up, where she is responsible for developing and executing strategy to launch the Baltimore site in 2010. She began her career in the Atlanta office of Bain & Company, working on corporate growth and adjacency projects in the financial services, hospitality, telecom, and retail sectors. Outside of her business experience, Lucila has worked for the Americas Program at the Carter Center, the Latin American Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the community outreach ministry at Grace at Fort Clarke UMC in Gainesville, Florida. She also co-founded SCEEN, an Emory organization that uses the consulting model to support non-profits by providing them with leveraged student teams. Lucila graduated magna cum laude from Emory University with a BA in Economics.
Year Up, Special Projects
Lucila is an Inspire Fellow at Year Up, where she is responsible for developing and executing strategy to launch the Baltimore site in 2010. She began her career in the Atlanta office of Bain & Company, working on corporate growth and adjacency projects in the financial services, hospitality, telecom, and retail sectors. Outside of her business experience, Lucila has worked for the Americas Program at the Carter Center, the Latin American Research Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, and the community outreach ministry at Grace at Fort Clarke UMC in Gainesville, Florida. She also co-founded SCEEN, an Emory organization that uses the consulting model to support non-profits by providing them with leveraged student teams. Lucila graduated magna cum laude from Emory University with a BA in Economics.
Rashan Jibowu
City First Enterprises, Special Projects
Rashan is an Inspire Fellow at City First Enterprises, where he is helping to structure and market a social innovation fund and business incubator that supports social entrepreneurship and invests in community development activities. Most recently, Rashan was an Associate at middle market private equity firm Parthenon Capital investing in financial services, business services, and health care firms and consulting senior managers in the portfolio on a variety of strategic projects. Prior to Parthenon, Rashan spent several years at Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division, within its Financial Institutions group, analyzing, structuring, and executing M&A and capital raising transactions. Rashan began his career at Goldman Sachs and Monitor Clipper Partners, in capital markets and private equity roles, respectively. Rashan has worked with a number of non-profit organizations throughout his career, including CityStep, BUILD, and Boys and Girls Club of San Francisco. Rashan graduated from Harvard College with an A.B. in Government and a concentration in Social Theory.
Nicolas Takamine
Family Health International, Pricing and Cost Analyst
Nicolas is an Inspire Fellow at Family Health International, where he is coordinating a strategy development effort to protect and enhance the organization’s competitiveness in new areas of funding. He began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst with Merrill Lynch, where he advised on merger and acquisition, leveraged buyout, and initial public offering transactions for clients in the food, drug, and convenience retail sectors. Nicolas has volunteered in strategy and organizational development at a number of social profit organizations, including a fellowship in microenterprise development with Women’s Initiative for Self Employment. Nicolas graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, magna cum laude, from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
John Wilson
ACCION International, Impact Investing Analyst
John is an Inspire Fellow with ACCION International’s Frontier Investments Group, where he is responsible for evaluating new investment opportunities as well as helping to develop Frontier’s marketing and growth plans. John began his career as an Associate Consultant in the San Francisco office of Bain & Company, where he worked on projects in the technology and private equity sectors. While working at Bain, he also led the San Francisco office of a pro-bono consulting group that focused on projects for education based non-profits. Following his role at Bain, John spent two years as an Associate at ClearLight Partners, a middle market private equity fund, where he evaluated new investment opportunities across a number of different industries. John graduated with a triple major from UC Berkeley in Business, Political Science, and Economics.
