Board of Directors

Elmseed's board of directors works closely with our student management team to shape the organization. Our Directors are committed professionals who bring perspectives ranging from commercial banking and accounting to non-profit management and urban studies.

Linda Berard
Linda Berard works for Citizens Bank and has been in banking for more than 20 years with experience in Commercial Administration, Financial Analysis and Audit. She previously served on the Cabinet and Allocations Committees for the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut and until recently served as the President of the Board for Nehemiah Housing and Not for Profit Transitional Living and Low Income Housing Group in Middletown, CT. Linda lives with her husband in Waterford, Connecticut.

Cynthia Horan
Cynthia Horan is a Yale College Lecturer 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.

Laura Huizar
Laura graduated from Yale College in 2006 with a B.A. in history. While at Yale, Laura served as a Co-Coordinator of Dwight Hall at Yale, the college's Center for Public Service and Social Justice. For her work in the New Haven community as an undergraduate, she received the 2006 Seton-Elm Ivy Award and the 2006 Trumbull College Pro-Bono Public award. Subsequent to her graduation from Yale, Laura worked for three years at JUNTA for Progressive Action, New Haven's oldest Latino non-profit organization. As the director of economic development programs at JUNTA, Laura coordinated a micro-loan program, free tax preparation for low-income individuals, employment readiness services, and financial literacy classes. Laura also initiated and directed the Worker Center at JUNTA, which provides low-wage immigrant workers with a safe place to collectively address workplace issues, such as non-payment of wages, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Currently, Laura is a student at Yale Law School. She is also a member of the City of New Haven's Economic Development Commission and an advisor to the Dwight Hall Urban Fellows.

Nathan Huttner
Nathan currently attends the Yale School of Management in the third and final year of the Silver Scholars Program, a scholarship for students who attend SOM directly after completing an undergraduate degree. He spent a year-long internship at Katzenbach Partners, a management consultancy, serving clients in the energy and pharmaceuticals industries. After graduating in May, he will join Redstone Strategy Group, a strategy consultancy serving foundations and non-profits engaged in environmental conservation and economic devleopment. Nathan graduated from Yale College in 2006 with a degree in economics, having served as Executive Director and Director of Client Services for Elmseed.

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.

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.

Robert Reed
Robert Reed has over twenty years of corporate experience in sales and marketing management. His professional career began in 1988 with PepsiCo and has continued with multiple fortunate 100 companies over the years. In May of 2000, Robert founded T.I.R., LLC (Tuzzolino - Ingram - Reed) in Woodbridge, CT. This Task Management Company's mission was to combine consulting advice with task based execution strategy to a variety of local, national and international projects. Robert currently works as the National Sales Manager at L'Oreal USA. Robert holds an MBA from Pepperdine University. He completed an Executive Development Program in Global Enterprise Management from The University of Oxford, Oxford England, and completed his BA in Communications from Marshall University. As a veteran of The United States Marine Corps, Robert served in Desert Storm I and was awarded the Naval Achievement Medal for actions under combat.

Julie Swerdlow
Julie currently attends the Yale School of Management where she is pursuing concentrations in strategy and non-profit management. She previously worked in the Chicago office of The Boston Consulting Group, a management consulting firm, serving clients in the industrial, consumer goods, and non-profit sectors. She also served as a board fellow and volunteer consultant to Umoja Student Development Corporation, an education non-profit serving high school students on Chicago's west side. Julie graduated from Yale College in 2007 with a degree in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. She served Elmseed as PR Director and was involved with the organization for four years. In addition to board service, Julie chairs the Elmseed Alumni Council, which connects Elmseed staff with the organization post-graduation.

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.