NESsT Entrepreneur-in-Residence (April - December 2005; Santiago)

NESsTER Project: NESsT Venture Fund (Performance Management)

"I am drawn to the field of social enterprise by the immense potential I see to improve social well being worldwide. Business practices can be applied very effectively to solve social problems. A lot of the thinking that is developing and defining the field of social enterprise is happening at NESsT. I look forward to learning from, and contributing to, that thinking."

Background: Matt joined NESsT after working at Ashoka as the North America Program Associate. He worked in the evaluation of social entrepreneurs for the Ashoka Fellowship and in the design and implementation of programs to support Ashoka Fellows.

Prior to Ashoka Matt worked as a Research Fellow in the Center for Environmental Science and Policy at Stanford University. His research focused on environmental problems in agriculture in Sonora, Mexico, and on a climate model that predicts bad harvest years in Indonesia before crops are even planted.

Matt is also highly committed to the creation of service-learning trips for youth and adults to developing regions of the world. Independently, and through Seeds of Learning he has designed, marketed, and led trips to Nicaragua, El Salvador, Peru, and Chile. He designed and initiated the Peru program of Where There Be Dragons.

Matt has experience in marketing with Webex, as a reporter with the Jackson Hole News and Guide, and on climate change and market efficiency issues as a researcher with Redefining Progress. Matt graduated from Stanford in 2001 with a BA in Economics and International Relations.

Return to NESsT Entrepreneurs-in-Residence page