Village Enterprise Fund

Our Organization
US Staff

Our US-based staff brings their life experience, talent, hard work, and passion to the task of alleviating poverty in East Africa. While they call California home, their hearts are never far from the people they serve. Click on selected photos to see the staff in action.

Dianne Calvi, our Chief Executive Officer, has over twenty years of international management experience. Prior to joining VEF, Dianne served as the President of Bring Me A Book Foundation, a literacy nonprofit with international partnerships in Hong Kong, Malawi, Mexico, and Guatemala. Previously, she worked in sales and marketing for Microsoft, Xerox, and Montedison in Milan, Italy. She has also served on several nonprofit boards. Dianne received a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from Bocconi University (Milan, IT) on a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship.

Pat Brown is our Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining VEF, Pat worked for twenty years in the computer software industry. In his last position, he was the Senior Director of Technical Publications for Siebel System. Pat has a BA from UC Santa Barbara and a MA from California State University, Fresno, and completed doctoral work at UC Berkeley.

Lyndsay Holley is our Senior Director of Field Operations and has worked for non-profits in East Africa since 2003. Lyndsay holds a BA degree in International Relations from Stanford. She speaks Swahili fluently, coaches and plays Ultimate Frisbee, and has a great talent for working with the field staff, volunteers, and business owners. Lyndsay serves on the board of Bahati Education, a non-profit innovator in education for girls in Africa.

Anne Olson is our Director of Operations. She has a BS in Mathematics and was a high school math teacher for 8 years before moving into software and programming. Anne worked in the software industry for 25 years; she retired in 2005 after 20 years at Hewlett-Packard. Her last position was Finance Support Manager with an international staff.

Philip Arscott is the Assistant Director of Operations. Philip holds a BA in Economics from Hamilton College in Upstate New York. He has been working with Village Enterprise Fund in both the US offices and East Africa since 2008. Philip resides in San Francisco and enjoys gardening, traveling and exploring the outdoors.

Caroline Bernadi joined the team in 2005 as a volunteer on the VEF Impact Evaluation. She became Foundation Director in September 2008. Prior to VEF, Caroline worked in operations in the luxury goods industry in France and was the co-founder of Maatiam, a social venture. She holds a MS in Industrial Management from Ecole des Mines in France.

Jennifer Nixon is our Sr. Director of Development. She brings years of experience in grant-making, marketing, sales, management consulting, and working with nonprofits to VEF. Jennifer has run her own real estate investment small business, and was Director, Academic Marketing & Sales for Harvard Business School Publishing. She has a BA from UC Santa Cruz, an MA in Divinity from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Anjanette Lundell is the Associate Director of Development. Before joining VEF in 2005, Anjanette worked as a high school chemistry teacher and in investment real estate. She graduated from Westmont College with a BS in Biology and Chemistry. She has a teaching credential from Cal State University Hayward.

Meet our African staff »