BOARD OF DIRECTORS &
EXECUTIVE TEAM
Meet the dedicated leaders who drive our mission forward with expertise, passion, and a commitment to transforming the lives of high-potential students.
Board Leadership
Lisa Souter
Chapter Founder
Lisa joined Minds Matter in 1998 as a Mentor and Team Leader in New York. Since then, she has served multiple management roles across three different chapters. Her strong belief in the mission of Minds Matter prompted her to co-found the Boston and Chicago chapters. Lisa received her BS/BA from Georgetown University and MBA from Harvard Business School.
Diana Hyde
Chair, Board of Directors
Diana Hyde has been a volunteer for Minds Matter since 2001 and formerly served as Executive Director of Minds Matter of New York. She currently is the SVP of Global L&D at Burson, a global PR firm. Her former experience includes being Principal and Lead of the NextGen Talent and Connectors Center of Excellence at Capgemini, Director and VP of Global Talent and Culture at Foote, Cone and Belding, a global advertising agency, was Senior Director of Community and Inclusion at Stern Business School, where she worked in the Office of Student Engagement. She also served as a Vice President and Private Banker at various banking institutions, including US Trust, BOfA and Bank of New York. She has her Master’s Degree in Business Administration from NYU's Stern School of Business, her Master’s Degree in Policy, Organization and Leadership studies from Stanford University and her B.A. in Economics from Trinity College. She is a certified professional coach. She also runs an independent career and inclusive leadership coaching practice, DJH-Coaching, where she focuses on career development and transition, leadership development, and diversity and inclusion education.
Maria Ptouchkina
Vice Chair, Board of Directors
Maria Ptouchkina has been a volunteer with Minds Matter Chicago since 2013 and formerly served as a Student Mentor, Programs Director, and Chapter President. Maria has a strong conviction that all of us hold a duty and a responsibility to invest in the lives of others, and that is why she is honored to advance Minds Matter's mission. Maria’s professional experience is focused on digital transformation, technology and strategy consulting, and value creation. She is currently working within Strategy & Operations at Salesforce Private Equity Practice. She holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Andy Jacobi
Treasurer, Board of Directors
Andy Jacobi joined the Minds Matter Chicago board in 2024. Previously, Andy volunteered with Minds Matter NYC for 15 years as a mentor, team leader, program director and board member. Andy is an executive in the hospitality industry, currently working as the VP of Finance for State of Play Hospitality, a multinational social entertainment company. He earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BA from Middlebury College. Andy lives in the Ravenswood neighborhood with his wife and 3 children. In his spare time, Andy enjoyed coaching his kids sports teams, and playing and watching as much soccer and tennis as he can.
Board Members
Michael Bush
Mike Bush joined the Board of Minds Matter Chicago in 2022 and currently serves as the Treasurer and a member of the Board Governance Committee. He first joined the organization as an ex-officio board member through the Kellogg Board Fellows program in 2016. He believes strongly in Minds Matter’s mission to provide educational opportunities to high-potential students, and previously volunteered with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. Mike’s career has spanned consulting and high-growth start-ups, and he currently works as the Vice President of Operations for GoodVets, an emerging veterinary care provider. In his free time, Mike enjoys playing tennis and taking walks with wife and dog.
Anthony Chukumba
Anthony joined the Board Of Minds Matter Chicago in 2023. Anthony is a Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst in the Equity Research department of Loop Capital Markets. Prior to joining Loop Capital Markets, Anthony was a Senior Research Analyst with BB&T Capital Markets and FTN Equity Capital Markets. Anthony was also an Analyst with Morningstar and a Business Finance Manager for Sears, Roebuck and Company. Early in his career, Anthony was a Vice President in Investment Banking and an Analyst in Mergers & Acquisitions with Merrill Lynch & Co. Anthony earned a B.S. in Accounting from Rutgers University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Anthony has extensive charity fundraising experience, including for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Inheritance of Hope, and the 2022 MMC Crystal Anniversary Gala.
Tamika Djondo
Tamika joined the Minds Matter Chicago board in 2024. She looks forward to using her strategic and relational strengths to empower Chicago students to achieve college and career success. With over 20 years of experience in both the for-profit and K-12 sectors, Tamika currently serves as Founder and Principal of Edvanced Strategies LLC. Prior to independent consulting, she led workplace and postsecondary readiness programs at Cristo Rey and Noble Network schools, and spent ten years working in management consulting, brand management, and advertising. Tamika earned her BA from the Stern School of Business at New York University and her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. She is a proud wife, mother of two children, and an avid traveler.
Ashley Findlay
Ashley joined the Board of Minds Matter Chicago in 2024 and currently serves as the Committee Chair for the Marketing Committee. Ashley wholeheartedly embraces Minds Matter’s mission. Grateful for the support she received during her own college experience, she’s eager to pay that forward and has spent the last five year mentoring first-generation college students as they navigate their applications and freshman year. Ashley earned her BA from Colgate University and her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Ashley currently works in brand marketing in the food and beverage category, spending time at both large CPG companies and high-growth startups. Outside of work, Ashley loves to stay active, take advantage of Chicago’s ever changing restaurant scene and check off destinations on her travel bucket list.
Melissa Loeb
Melissa joined the Minds Matter Chicago (MMC) Board in June after chairing the 2022 MMC Crystal Anniversary Gala. She currently serves as the Fundraising Chair. Prior to Melissa’s work with Minds Matter, she was on the Make-A-Wish Illinois Associate Board for over 10 years on which she served in every executive committee role. She was also a Wish Granter.
Professionally, Melissa is a Senior Manager in Deloitte’s Global Workforce Consulting group, in which she leads both internal and external leaders (i.e., cross-business Deloitte Partners, client CXOs, client project leaders) in the transformation of their global talent/mobility models, cultures, behaviors, and organization structures to align with and achieve business goals. She has 19 years of experience in leading large-scale, global, organizational change by optimizing talent to accelerate gains from improvements in processes and technology, engaging and aligning executive leaders, and driving business strategy through cultural/behavioral change. Melissa is known for the growth and development of her teams, hands-on mentorship, facilitation skills and turn-around coaching.
Melissa graduated from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business with a degree in Finance and General Management and has a B.A. in Psychology from University of Michigan. She is an avid Michigan football fan (Go Blue!)
Sean Moran
Sean has served on the board of Minds Matter Chicago since 2013, where he has led on Governance and Strategy, including serving as Vice Chairman from 2019-2022. He strongly believes education is THE great equalizer for people from all walks of life, something learned from his father (a non-profit executive director, counselor and life-long learner), mother (leading by example), and wife (a beloved middle-school teacher). Sean is passionate about growth-stage organizations, developing strategic partnerships to amplify impact, the education sector and the ability of public-private collaboration to lead change - particularly opportunities to impact Chicago and the surrounding communities. Sean is a partner at ZS, leading it's Private Equity and Mid-Market Growth practice, based out of Chicago. In this role, Sean helps companies build and operationalize go-to-market capabilities across the commercial spectrum; he has worked in over 100 B2B companies.
Meheret Morrison
Meheret has been working with Minds Matter Chicago since 2022 and formally served as the Kellogg School of Management Board Fellow. Meheret believes strongly in the idea that we all have a responsibility to invest in future generations and is excited to do that through her work with Minds Matter Chicago as a Board Member. Meheret’s professional experience is focused on product management, technology implementation and optimization, and marketing strategy. She is currently working as a senior strategy consultant and holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Zach Ozog
Zach Ozog joined the Minds Matter board in 2024. Previously, Zach volunteered as a mentor and associate board director for Minds Matter Chicago for 3 years. Zach is a VP at Sterling Partners, a private equity fund and family office with 40 years of successful investing history and a strong education investing track record. Zach manages numerous investments for Sterling that span both the U.S. and internationally. In his role, he interacts daily with the boards and executive teams of his portfolio companies and has worked with companies in every stage of the corporate lifecycle. He earned his BS in finance and accounting from Indiana University. Zach lives in West Town with his girlfriend and in his free time enjoys staying active, reading, and being a dog dad to two great pups Betty and Roscoe.
Rupa Ramadurai
Rupa is a Chicagoland native who has previously supported Minds Matter Chicago as a mentor, program director and Vice-President of the chapter since 2014. In returning back to the Minds Matter community - she is thrilled to be supporting the Development & Partnerships Committee.
Rupa has a multi-faceted background in education having served in the nonprofit, government, and private sector. In these industries, she has worked as a high school teacher, a school district attorney, in-house counsel at the Illinois State Board of Education, and as an elected leader on two Local School Councils in Chicago Public Schools.
Rupa is a Senior Principal HR Consultant at Discover Financial Services and is deeply committed to diversity, equity and inclusion within the workforce, and strong performance management systems based in equity.
Tarina Williams
Tarina joined the Board of Minds Matter Chicago in 2023. She is an Engagement Director at Salesforce specializing in AI, digital strategy and transformation in the regulatory industry. She has held leadership positions at various companies, including Accenture, HCSC, Associated Bank, Allstate, and Kraft Foods. She has an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. She holds two Masters of Science from Northwestern and Loyola University and a BBA from Howard University. As a lifetime learner, Tarina is passionate about transforming young minds and partnering with others to help shape and grow self-sustaining communities.
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