Board of Directors
Brenda Burton-Seldon
Brenda Burton-Seldon is a commercial banking executive with the Community's Bank of Bridgeport, CT. Brenda joined the Community's Bank in September 2006 and focuses on the financing needs of small businesses and real estate property investors. Prior to the Bank, Brenda held the position as Deputy Director and Senior Loan Officer for the City of New Haven Small Business Initiative. She was Business Advisor for the University of Hartford's Entrepreneurial Center program and a commercial lender for both Shawmut and the Mechanics & Farmers Savings Bank. Burton-Seldon also held the position of Credit and Liquidation specialist with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Brenda earned her MBA degree from the University of New Haven, of West Haven, CT and her undergraduate degree in Finance from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University. She is a teacher and educator of financial literacy programs such as income tax preparation, budgeting and money management, a servant leader in the Town of Stratford's Mayor's Citizen Panel, Treasurer of the Mount Aery Development Corp, and the Chair of the Financial Freedom Ministry at Mount Aery Baptist Church. Other professional affiliations include the Elmseed Enterprise Fund Board and a mentor for the Bridgeport Micro Credit Program. Brenda resides in Stratford with her two teenage daughters, Melissa and Christina.
Teresa Eller
Terri Eller has been an employee of the United Illuminating Company, an investor-owned electric utility based in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1994. Ms. Eller currently holds the position of Senior Strategic Account Manager. She is responsible for managing UI's strategically significant clients by serving as the primary interface for all value-added core electric and client service related activities. She is responsible for retaining profitable UI revenues and leveraging client relationships for mutually beneficial growth opportunities. Ms. Eller holds a MBA from the University of New Haven and a Bachelor's degree in Marketing from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She has considerable experience in commercial lending, portfolio management, economic development and policy related issues. Ms. Eller resides in East Lyme with her husband and four young children.
Cynthia Horan
Cynthia Horan is a Yale College Professor of Political Science (Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 1986). As an academic, she has focused her work on urban politics and teaches courses on the politics of cities. Her research interests focus on the political economy of cities and urban regions, in particular the politics of economic restructuring. She has published articles in Polity, Economic Geography, Journal of Urban Affairs well as in edited volumes on urban politics. Prior to teaching at Yale, she taught at the University of Toronto and Wesleyan University.
David Jenkins
Dave Jenkins is the leader of PwC's technology practice in the New Haven office. He has been with PricewaterhouseCoopers for three years, having rejoined the firm after serving as the Controller for JPS Elastomerics Corp for three years. At JPS he directed the financial reporting and business planning departments, and assisted in the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system at three plants. Dave leads the ongoing audit and service activities at a number of technology company clients in Connecticut, mainly in three industry sectors: software/internet, telecommunications/networking products and life sciences. He has broad experience with mergers and acquisitions including poolings, purchase business combinations, reverse mergers, and segment dispositions. Dave is a graduate of Muhlenberg College, and lives in Berlin, Connecticut with his wife Joyce and two young children.
Jeremy Kahan
Jeremy Kahan currently attends Harvard Business School. He previously worked as a private equity investor for MSD Capital, the personal investment firm of Michael S. Dell and his family. At MSD, Jeremy is involved in all phases of transaction execution including: screening new opportunities, leading due diligence analysis, negotiating contracts, and arranging financing. Prior to MSD, he worked as an Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers Mergers and Acquisition strategy group. Prior to consulting, he managed the Elmseed Enterprise Fund and worked with the fund for three years.
Lori Lindfors
Lori Lindfors has worked for Citizens Bank since 1993. Since 1994, she has held the position of Vice President, Director of Community Relations and Public Relations for the State of Connecticut. Citizens Bank has offices in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. She is responsible for management of the Citizens Bank Charitable Foundation, Public Relations including internal communications, sponsorships, and events and also serves as the CRA Officer for Connecticut. She assesses and implements residential mortgage, commercial loans, and community service programs targeting the needs of low/moderate income individuals as well as distressed communities. She also manages a CRA investment portfolio with investments totaling over $10 million.
Nathaniel Loewentheil
Nate hails from Baltimore, Maryland and currently resides in Washington, D.C. He is the executive director of the Roosevelt Institution, the nation's largest undergraduate public policy think tank. He serves on the advisory board of the Center for State Innovation, the New Leaders Council and the Drum Major Institute's Young Scholars Program. His articles on housing policy and urban planning have been published in the Review of Policy Research as well as by the Center for American Progress. Nate graduated from Yale University in 2007, where he majored in the Program in Ethics, Politics and Economics with distinction. While an undergraduate, Nate worked with Elmseed extensively and helped found the Roosevelt Institution in December of 2004.
Elizabeth Ann Parcella
A native of Greater New Haven, Beth is an associate at Wiggin and Dana, LLP, where her practice focuses on general corporate transactions, entity formation and restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and non-profit governance. Before joining Wiggin and Dana, Beth served for two years as co-Director of Community Works of Connecticut, a coalition of grass-roots non-profit organizations. Prior to returning to Connecticut, Beth spent six years at the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Executive Board. Beth held a variety of roles there, including Senior Research Manager for 120 clients based in Europe and South Africa. In her last role at the firm Beth served as Director of Client Services responsible for negotiation, retention and marketing strategies for 500 clients with a portfolio valued at more than $17 million in annual accounts. Beth earned her J.D. at the University of Connecticut School of Law and her B.A. at the University of Southern California. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Institute for Community Research (ICR) in Hartford, and she also serves on ICR's institutional review board for human subject research.
Joshua Sweren
Josh Sweren is an analyst at the investment firm CPMG. He graduated from Yale in 2008 with a degree in Economics & Mathematics and as president of Phi Beta Kappa. Josh worked with Elmseed over his four years at Yale and served as Director of Client Services and Chief Strategy Officer.