DOING OUR BEST SO CHILDREN CAN DO THEIRS
THE WORLD IS OUR FAMILY, AND ALL KIDS DESERVE THE SAME ACCESS TO EDUCATION AS OUR OWN
Chances for Children International (CCI) was founded in 2015 by the husband-wife team of Judi Garfinkel and J. Larry Brown, and their daughter Ariel Garfinkel. Both Judi and Larry have had extensive experience working both on pressing domestic and international issues that impact the lives and well-being of the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly children. Ariel has a background in human rights and has worked with domestic and international women’s organizations and immigrant groups.
OUR PASSIONATE TEAM
JUDI GARFINKEL
Judi received her Master’s Degree from the Boston University School of Public Health. She served as the Founding Director of Physicians’ for a National Health Program, a U.S.-based organization of several thousand doctors. She also served as the Director of kNOw Hunger, a national organization providing schools with lesson plans so children can learn the sources of worldwide and domestic hunger. Judi’s international work includes service with Johns Hopkins University’s malaria reduction program in the African nation of Uganda. Judi was Co-founder of the Center for International Learning (CIL), an Arabic language institute in Muscat, Oman, and from 2010- 2015 served as Associate Dean for Programs. CIL hosted university students from the U.S. and around the world, as well as staff from the United Nations, U.S. State Department, and various foreign ministries.
J. LARRY BROWN
Larry received his Ph.D in social policy at the Heller School, Brandeis University. He was the Founding Director of Massachusetts Advocates for Children, the prototype for the national Children’s Defense Fund. Larry has served the Peace Corps over several decades, first as a Volunteer in rural India in the late 1960s. He later served President Carter as Assistant Director of Peace Corps in the late 1970s, and then President Obama as Country Director of Peace Corps Uganda. Larry’s primary professional work has been at Harvard University, where he was on the teaching faculty, and also served as Chairman of the Physician Task Force on Hunger in America, credited with prompting Congress to rescind all the food stamp and school breakfast funding cuts in the early 1980s. Larry has founded several programs and institutions, including the Feinstein Famine Center (Tufts University), the Institute on Assets and Social Policy (Brandeis University), and most recently the Center for International Learning in Oman.
ARIEL GARFINKEL
Ariel received her Master’s degree in Human Rights from Columbia University and a Bachelor’s degree in the Politics of Inequality, a self-designed major at Mount Holyoke College. Her background is in women’s advocacy and immigrants’ rights. She works with Girls Incorporated, a national girls' advocacy organization, coordinating college and career readiness programs. She is the author of the acclaimed book, SCOFFLAW: International Law and America’s Deadly Weapons in Vietnam.
OUR ADVISORS
TERRI BROWN
VICE PRESIDENT, BROWN, KELLY, REILLY WEATLTH MANAGEMENT GROUP
A successful CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, Terri Suzanne Brown has more than three decades of experience in the financial services industry. Working with a variety of client demographics, she has developed a particularly strong focus on working with women to promote empowerment through systematic financial planning and comprehensive economic literacy. Terri’s ability to present complex financial concepts in an understandable manner is a key to her success in the field and her cultivation of strong relationships with institutions and individual clients.
Terri is passionate as well about helping others outside her regular professional role, including assisting low-income seniors and the elderly, as well as young children in their educational settings.
DAVID HILL
CEO, DENTAL HERB
Dave Hill spent his senior year of high school as an exchange student in Bolivia, where he became interested in foreign cultures and issues of economic development. He studied public policy at Duke and business at Vanderbilt. For 30 years he grew a successful company manufacturing over-the-counter pharmaceuticals in Lancaster, New Hampshire, and he still owns a small business there. He is a private pilot who has traveled widely and remains fluent in Spanish. He and his wife Sarah split their time between New Hampshire and Florida.
EDWARD MERROW
CEO, INDEPENDENT PROJECT ANALYSIS (IPA)
Ed is the Founder and CEO of Independent Project Analysis, Inc. (IPA), the global industry leader in quantitative analysis and benchmarking of project management systems. After receiving his degrees from Dartmouth College and Princeton University, Ed began his career as an Assistant Professor at the University of California Los Angeles, followed by 14 years as a research scientist at The Rand Corporation where he directed the Energy Research Program. He is a recognized expert on the development and commercialization of new process technologies and management of large and complex projects. His recent books include Industrial Megaprojects (John Wiley 2011) and Leading Complex Projects (John Wiley 2018). Ed’s current major research effort centers on a quantitative analysis of how contracting strategies and delivery systems shape project results.
LORETTA MERROW
CORPORATE SECRETARY, INDEPENDENT PROJECT ANALYSIS (IPA)
Loretta has primary responsibility for invoicing and managing project accounts. She has been with IPA since 1988. Prior to joining the company, Loretta worked at the Rand Corporation from 1979 to 1986. She holds a BA in Spanish from George Mason University.
JAN STEPTO-MILLETT
CHIEF OF STAFF, CHILDREN'S HOME & AID
Jan Stepto-Millett joined Children’s Home & Aid in 2011 as Vice President of Early Childhood Services. During her 11 year tenure, she later served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, and Chief of Staff.
Jan’s professional career spans 30 years of committed service to improve the lives of children and families. Before returning to her native Chicago in 2003, Jan lived in Boston, Massachusetts and Kalamazoo, Michigan where she worked for Abt Associates as an Evaluation Assistant, Lena Park Community Development Corporation as the Deputy Director, Kalamazoo Public Schools as the Special Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools and Child Care Resources as the Executive Director.
Jan holds a Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Social Work from Atlanta University. She was a Fellow with the Loyola School of Business Administration’s Executive Leadership Program.
SUSAN ROSENTHAL
PRESIDENT, WORLD MARKETS GROUP
Susan is a business leader driving innovation and growth for small to mid-sized companies, Fortune 500 corporations, entrepreneurial ventures, and non-profit organizations worldwide. Her work spans 100 countries and has generated over $1 billion in new business revenues. Susan is Founder and President of World Markets Group, an international management and marketing consultancy supporting leaders in accelerating growth, maximizing profitability, and achieving industry leadership at all stages of business development. Client industries include consumer and B2B (Business to Business) goods and services, e-commerce, technology, financial services, manufacturing, retail, healthcare and education. Susan’s former roles include COO at WealthBuilder LLC, Vice-President of Global Marketing at Citi, Vice-President of Marketing at ATT Wireless, European General Manager at Ocean Spray Cranberries, Marketing Manager at Colgate-Palmolive, Interim CEO at The Learning Accelerator, and Interim President/Board Member at Collective Power of One International. Susan earned her MBA in Marketing, Finance and International Management from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and BA in Economics from University of Michigan.
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