RSF Social Finance Appoints New CEO and New Board Chair
San Francisco, CA - RSF Social Finance announces that its Board of Trustees has named Don Shaffer (shown at left) as president and CEO. Mr. Shaffer succeeds Mark A. Finser, who will become chair of the board of RSF Social Finance. Both appointments are effective October 1, 2007.
“I’m very pleased that Don has agreed to join RSF as its new CEO,” says Mark Retzloff, a trustee of RSF. “We believe RSF is poised to have much greater impact, so in our search we looked for a leader with demonstrated success in growing entrepreneurial organizations, building communities and networks as well as having the vision and the passion to create a more sustainable world.”
Mr. Shaffer has over twelve years of senior management experience building social mission companies. Most recently, he served as executive director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, a growing network of over 15,000 small businesses across the U.S. and Canada. In addition, for the past year Mr. Shaffer was the interim executive director of Investors’ Circle, an organization that facilitates the flow of private capital (over $111 million since 1992) from angel investors, professional venture capitalists, and foundations to over 200 companies and small funds addressing social and environmental issues.
“It’s an honor to be selected as president and CEO of such a pioneering organization,” says Don Shaffer. “I look forward to leading RSF’s dedicated staff, serving RSF’s clients, and working to provide social enterprises with innovative financial solutions.”
RSF’s assets grew from $6,000 to over $100 million during Mark Finser’s tenure as he built the organization to become the unique financial services organization it is today—an investing, lending, philanthropic, and advisory services organization focused on creating social benefit. In his new position as board chair, Mr. Finser will serve as an advisor to the incoming CEO, and will play a key role in the future work of RSF and the field of social finance: “With this new leadership structure—Don as president and CEO and me as chair of the board—I believe RSF can maximize opportunities to grow and broaden the field of sustainable investing and social finance.”
“The Board wants to thank Mark for his extraordinary commitment and creative leadership,” says Martha Daetwyler, current chair of RSF’s board. “Mark is a constant source of inspiration for the staff and trustees in their efforts to carry out RSF’s mission of transforming the way the world works with money. Under his visionary leadership, RSF has demonstrated the power of money as a force for positive social change.”
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Contact:
Mark Finser
415.561.6151
Tuesday, September 25th, 2007