Team Appleseed

Core Team

Appleseed’s international team of researchers, strategists, and communicators just love to figure out what makes people tick. Like detectives and anthropologists, we observe, listen, and ask questions to uncover insights hidden in plain sight. Then we help clients design a “path of least resistance” to drive adoption.

Now Hiring: senior Behavioral Consultant

If you have less than a decade of experience doing the work we do, please consider joining our roster here instead.

PHILIP KAO, CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Philip is fascinated with how we humans behave, due to our often wrong but generally useful psychology. He thinks a great majority of problems can be boiled down to miscommunications—which can be resolved. At Appleseed, Philip leads projects and the organization.

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Echoing Green Global Fellow, SOCAP Scholar, Miller Center GSBI Alum, OC Fellow
Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
BS Electrical Engineering at UCLA
ex-Accenture, ex-SGA
Read more about Philip in our story.

RUTH CHIANG, MD FAAP, CO-FOUNDER

Ruth is a pediatrician who believes every unique child deserves individual care and attention, so that they may reach their full potential. She believes the same about every unique community and every unique social enterprise supporting those communities. At Appleseed, Ruth provides health expertise and works on organizational strategy and culture.

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Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
BS Psychobiology at UCLA; MD at University of Arizona College of Medicine; Pediatric Residency at UCI-CHOC
ex-The Children’s Clinic; Kaiser Permanente
WEL Scholar 2021
Read more about Ruth in our story.

BAPTISTE TEYSSIER, BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT COORDINATOR

Baptiste is convinced the world would be a far better place if we’d listen to each other. Because solving complex behavioral challenges requires true listening—to clients and their customers—he has the chance, every day, to bring about that better world. Baptiste is a researcher and strategist at Appleseed.

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Speaks French, English, Spanish
BA Philosophy at Haverford College
ex-Semilla Nueva

Mary Fu, Operations coordinator

Mary has a long-standing interest in sustainable development and has worked at both the local level and at a think-tank to affect change. At Appleseed, she ensures that systems are running smoothly, collaboration is seamless, and details are not missed.

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Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
BA International Development at UCLA, MA Policy Analysis
ex-RAND Corporation

Appleseed Fellows

Appleseed Fellows are emerging leaders focused on behavioral change for global development. Each client project is supported by at least one dedicated Fellow.

Merlin Micoleau, Behavioral Research Fellow

Merlin has a background in history and passion for decolonial and developmental studies. He believes that empathy and diligent research are the key to fighting poverty and climate insecurity while preserving the autonomy of affected groups. He holds a BA in History and German from Northern Arizona University.

Danielle Ward, Behavioral Research Fellow

Danielle is a social scientist passionate about reducing health and social inequalities in global development. She has experience designing intersectional research approaches and researching both public health and social / health policy. She holds an MPH in Global Health from George Washington University and a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Bristol.

Collaborators

Appleseed calls upon a diverse and trusted network of experts for specific projects. They assist on everything, including research, strategy, design, admin, legal, and more.

express interest to join the roster

Lily Wang-Falzon, Ethnographer & User Researcher

Lily believes that the best solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges are driven by empathy. A qualitative researcher at heart, she excels at developing deep understandings of culture. She has a background in sociology and holds an MA in China Studies. She speaks English and Mandarin Chinese.

Gayathri Gopalakrishnan, Research Collaborator

Gayathri believes that understanding people and their priorities is key to building great products and services. She has a background in UX research, management, and in adapting tools and methods in the promotion of social development. She holds a double MA in Human-Computer Interaction from Paris Saclay and the University of Trento.

Fellowships & Supporting Organizations

Appleseed Board of Directors

We’re growing a high-impact governing board. Interested in exploring a fit? Email board@appleseedimpact.org

LIEZL VAN RIPER

Liezl is a business development and fundraising expert with 16 years experience with international and national non-profit social enterprises, with a track record of securing multi-year, 7-figure funding partnerships with corporations, foundations, and governmental agencies.

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Most recently, she was myAgro’s VP of Development where she increased philanthropic revenue from $3.5M in 2016 to $7.2M in 2018. She co-led myAgro's winning proposal campaigns for two of the most competitive awards in social enterprise, the 2018 Skoll Award and Wharton’s 2018 Lipman Prize. Other career highlights include leading the effort to secure 7-figure grant and PRI partnerships with the PepsiCo Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, the IKEA Foundation, and major grant from the OPEC Fund for International Development. With Kiva, Liezl built out the NYC office and spearheaded campaigns raising millions to support U.S. based entrepreneurs. Liezl also established Kiva’s first 7-figure partnerships in Europe with Pearson PLC. Prior to Kiva, Liezl was the Director of Development for KickStart, where she helped developed the KickStart + Skoll + Citi Working Capital partnership to expand production of MoneyMaker irrigation pumps across Sub-Saharan Africa, increasing incomes for smallholder farmers. Liezl received her B.A. with honors in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

ADAM QUINN, JD/MBA, CO-FOUNDER

Adam assists with legal and financial aspects of Appleseed and helps guide organizational strategy. After graduating law school and getting his MBA from the University of Minnesota, Adam became the Director of Business Development for S. Groner Associates (SGA).

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Adam is a passionate environmentalist who maintains a 100-lb vermiculture worm farm in his home. He is also a minimalist and strategic thinker. Adam constantly pushes Appleseed to think creatively about good processes to make the more effective. In co-founding Appleseed, Adam aims to build a strong, nimble, and impactful organization that always delivers and exceeds the expectations of supporters and partners.

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John Mark Feilmeyer

John Mark is a design thinker, social innovator, and market strategist living in Des Moines, Iowa. His work has centered around the arts, workforce development, and financial inclusion, both in the U.S. and in West Africa. He is currently a senior UX research manager at Root Insurance.

KAILI Mumme Delp, MBA, MPH

Kaili is a strategist, business person and problem solver. She has a passion for improvement and is a habitual learner. Her work spans multiple industries and functions with the common thread being leadership. She lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her family. Kaili is currently the VP of Solutions Engineering at ADB SAFEGATE, an aviation company.

Appleseed Advisory Council

CEZARINA NICULAE, ex-COO of appleseed

Cez is passionate about social entrepreneurship, and its power to help people and the planet. With a decade of experience in finance, consulting and remote team/operations management, she is helping Appleseed unlock the impact-making potential of the very best social ventures.

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Before Appleseed, Cez ran the Accelerator Program at Agora Partnerships, where she supported social entrepreneurs at 60+ early growth stage organizations, including direct experience working in Haiti and Mexico. Cez is originally from Romania, and besides her native language, she speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese. She has lived and worked in various parts of Latin America and Europe, and she is currently based in Madrid, Spain. Outside of Appleseed, Cez enjoys being a facilitator, doing yoga, running, reading, and best of all, playing with her little girl.

STEPHEN GRONER, PE, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT | SGA

Stephen is the founder and president of S. Groner Associates, Inc. (SGA). Prior to starting SGA in 1998, Stephen, with his engineering background, worked for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works as a project manager.

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This experience gives him keen insight into understanding the intricacies of managing government projects, as well as the importance of public engagement and education to gaining approval and acceptance of a project. Through his work, Stephen has shaped and implemented many of the major pollution prevention and community outreach programs in California. Years before Appleseed was born, Stephen had been providing instrumental training and experience to members of Appleseed's Founding Team. His masterful guidance and support has continued ever since.

PAMELA ROUSSOS, CIO | MILLER CENTER FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Pamela scales Miller Center’s impact with social entrepreneurs and partners by innovating new methods of support and engagement. Prior to joining the Center in 2014, Pamela was a software executive leading early stage companies in business and marketing strategy, helping founders create, refine, and execute business strategies and go-to-market plans.

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She has 20+ years experience growing teams and delivering products for large software companies and startups, working in various capacities, such as business unit manager, VP of marketing, COO and CEO. Companies include: Amdahl, Pure Software, Rational Software, Consera, Zend, and AppFirst. In 2008, Pamela began mentoring social entrepreneurs through Miller Center's GSBI (Global Social Benefit Institute). Through this renowned program, Appleseed gained Pamela as a trusted mentor in early 2018.

MELISSA BARD, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources | California State University

Melissa is a human resources professional who has worked in the financial services and manufacturing industries as well as the higher education space. She is an HR strategist with a passion for organizational development, employee engagement and transforming processes and services to support institutional change and effectiveness.

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She served as the Chief Human Resources Officer for the California State University system, the largest university system in the country, as well as East Carolina University and Frederick Community College, and held senior leadership positions at the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Her other professional experience includes executive positions in the private sector for companies including Citigroup. Melissa earned a bachelor of science in Human Resources Management and a master’s of science in Human Resources Management, both from the University of Maryland University College.

ERICA MAHGEREFTEH, FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER, STRATEGY DIRECTOR

Erica was Appleseed's first Board Chair, serving from July 2015 to March 2019. Her passion for making a difference and her strategic mind has been vital in shaping our organization and our campaigns.

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Erica was Philip's principal collaborator at S. Groner Associates (SGA), where she was the Strategic Director of the firm. After successfully running and guiding countless community-based social marketing campaigns to protect the environment, she left SGA to direct her efforts towards improving health. To this end, she joined Health Services Advisory Group to improve Medicare services as a Communications Manager and has recently completed her Masters of Public Health at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health. Somewhere amidst all this change, she had two beautiful little girls. So, as Erica works from various angles with Appleseed to improve lives, she's doing it at home as well!

LILY YUAN, FOUNDING BOARD MEMBER

In November 2016, Lily joined Appleseed as a Founding Board Member, supporting organizational growth, brand management, and fundraising efforts. Lily's involvement with Appleseed began as a Founding Sponsor and she also provided guidance during Appleseed’s early stages of development.

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Lily joined Appleseed’s Advisory Council in December 2018. Lily brings over ten years of advertising and marketing experience with Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and The Zoo, Google’s creative think tank for brands and agencies. While Lily loves tackling marketing challenges, she is also passionate about youth mentorship. To this end, she's worked with PENCIL, Spark, and helped launch The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year program in LA. She was most recently Brand Director at Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.