Meet the Team

Patrick Donohue, Co-Founder & CEO

Patrick is an entrepreneur and engineer who focuses on innovating & launching businesses that create a better world. Patrick's work has taken him deep into low-income communities in the U.S., India, Kenya, and Brazil, where he has worked with local entrepreneurs and companies to co-create new businesses and markets.

As one of the original implementers of the Base of the Pyramid Protocol, Patrick is a recognized expert on business development for the base of the world's income pyramid, and he has guided the social enterprise efforts of companies such as SC Johnson, DuPont, Ascension Health, and Natura.

As a software engineer, Patrick also managed and developed innovative technology programs for Rockwell International, Apple Computer, and NASA. Patrick has a B.S. in Computer Science from Stanford University and an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

You can reach him at patrick (at) hoopfund (dot) com.

Maia Hirschbein, Director of Business Development

Maia is a sustainability and microfinance expert with a strong background in conservation and business development. Prior to joining the Hoop, Maia worked Alter Eco on launching Pure Planet, developing reforestation carbon offset projects in partnership with Alter Eco's fair trade cooperatives throughout the Global South. With Pure Planet Maia managed marketing, brand development, outreach, and sales.

Maia also worked with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation where she implemented multi-year conservation projects with non-profits working in the Amazon Basin. There, Maia worked with a variety of groups on capacity building projects and internal financial organization. Prior to working with the Foundation, Maia worked in Paraguay with the Fundacion Paraguaya, where she created and launched a village-banking program. Maia has a BA in Environmental Studies and Policy from Whitman College, where her studies focused on sustainable development the power of a connected marketplace.

You can reach her at maia (at) hoopfund (dot) com.

Mary Rick, Director of Marketing and Community

Mary is a sustainability professional specializing in community building and business development.

While director of membership at Global Exchange - a human rights organization, Fair Trade retailer, and co-producer of the Green Festivals - Mary managed and grew an engaged community of over 10,000 members.

Mary served as the program and operations director with the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). Mary led the organization from a membership of 20 community business networks to over 80 networks representing over 21,000 independent business members across the U.S. and Canada.

Most recently, as program director at the Investors' Circle, a national network of early stage impact investors, Mary managed investor programming and special projects.

Mary holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from the Bainbridge Graduate Institute and a BA with honors in International Relations from the University of Minnesota.

You can reach her at mary (at) hoopfund (dot) com.

Hoop Fund Advisors

Deborah Hirsh, Advisor & Co-Founder

Deborah Hirsh has worked with social and economic justice initiatives for the past 20 years, focusing on market-based models for social and environmental impact over the last 10. From 2000-2006, she worked for the Fair Trade Certification initiative for Fair Trade USA, developing and managing consumer education and business development programs.

Currently, Deborah has been growing and supporting the community of Certified B Corporations, companies that meet comprehensive and high social and environmental performance standards. She is passionate about harnessing the power of business and the consumer to drive social and environmental change.

Marc Mathieu, Advisor & Co-Founder

Marc is the Senior Vice President of Marketing at Unilever, and spent much of his career at the Coca-Cola Company, most recently as the Senior Vice President of Global Brand Marketing.

At Coca-Cola, Marc’s work continuously broke new ground: whether crafting the Manifesto for the Revival of an Icon, which drove the business turnaround of Coca-Cola’s 120 year-old brand; conceptualizing and championing Live Positively, Coke’s sustainability platform; or creating the Coca-Cola DNA, a redefinition of Coca-Cola’s way of marketing as a fusion of art and science, Marc’s contributions helped to redefine the company and shape it’s culture.

In addition to his work on the Hoop, Marc also created BeDo, an Enterprise and a Brand aimed at inspiring and freeing the good in all of us. BeDo worked with corporations to align their business and social agendas, and it helped social enterprises make a greater impact through the power of their brand and marketing efforts.

Sylvia Ventura, Advisor

Sylvia is a strategy and marketing executive with the emphasis on for-profit social and environmental entrepreneurship. She has extensive experience in life sciences, peer-to-peer and clean technologies. She specializes in go-to-market strategy, business development and market entry for early stage ventures.

She is the founder of One Block Off the Grid (1BOG), the nation's first and largest group purchasing organization for residential solar energy and green solutions. She currently serves as the Executive-in-Residence with Hub Ventures where she advises on business modeling, marketing, user engagement & mobilization strategies.

Sylvia is a native of France and holds a BA in Business Administration. She consults with several companies at Hub Bay Area, and currently serves as Director of Marketing for the Hoop Fund. She is a Member of the Board Directors with the Lycée Français La Pérouse, and a guest speaker with the Skyline Green Business Program.

Wes Selke, Advisor

In addition to his work with the Hoop, Wes leads investment management for Good Capital’s Social Enterprise Expansion Fund, which includes deal sourcing, due diligence, transaction execution, and portfolio company engagement. He is actively engaged with the portfolio as Chairman of the Board for Alter Eco Americas and as a Board Observer for Better World Books and Adina for Life. Wes has eight years of investment management and transaction experience in the financial services industry and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Prior to Good Capital, he spent two years as an Equity Research Associate at William Blair & Company where he authored proprietary research on public equities in the Advertising, Digital Media, and Marketing industries and provided assistance on public capital markets transactions. Before William Blair, Wes spent four years with Ernst & Young Corporate Finance. Wes earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley and a BBA from the University of Michigan.

Kevin Jones, Advisor

As a founding principal of Good Capital, Kevin leads market formation activities and advisor and portfolio company engagement. He has extensive private investment experience as both a limited partner and as an angel in a range of technology and social enterprises. Kevin's former positions include CEO of Net Market Makers, an $18 million revenue online community and research and events company. Kevin built Net Market Makers into the largest brand in business-to-business internet commerce before it was sold to Jupiter Media Metrix in 2000. Five of his previous six businesses all achieved market dominance before he left or sold them.

He has been on the boards of Social Enterprise Alliance, the association of non profit social enterprises, and Social Venture Partners International, a network of engaged philanthropy circles. Kevin also led a malaria project in Swaziland and Mozambique, working with Jeff Sachs of The Earth Institute at Columbia University.