Our Vision
We envision a future where the circulation of wealth
within a region cultivates:
Strong, vibrant, and resilient local economies
A sense of place and community among citizens
Financial well-being for all
The Capital Innovation Lab grew out of the Invest Local education series started by Milk Money in 2015. Our projects are designed to foster regenerative capital relationships, including democratic access to capital, entrepreneurial growth, and vibrant local economies.
Our Team
Janice Shade
Founder
Seasoned social entrepreneur and financial innovator who, after 17 years of climbing the corporate ladder, set out to create new models for conscious commerce. Since 2006 she’s launched or co-founded for-profit and non-profit ventures that share common themes of economic justice and local economic resiliency including Local First Vermont, TrueBody Products, Milk Money, and the National Coalition for Community Capital. She founded Capital Innovation Lab to explore, test and share programs that promote economic justice for all.
Mae Diaz Cabrol
Project Manager
Mae manages the day-to-day operations and strategic planning of TrueFamily Brands toward its launch as a for-profit majority-owned subsidiary of Capital Innovation Lab.
As a consultant for the last five years, Mae helped companies in Argentina develop and deliver meaningful DEI programs and policies. This experience and her recent Sustainable Innovation MBA from Univ. of Vermont allow her to follow her passion: to accelerate corporate cultural transformation. She is eager to bring closer the needs of humankind with the preservation of the Earth while adding profits and purpose to institutions of all sizes.
PJ Connolly
Project Manager
PJ is refining and optimizing Capital Innovation Lab's Capital Strategy Tool in preparation for web design work, and leading the re-design project to transition Capital Innovation Lab's website to new branding and content.
PJ is interested in co-creating bioregional, regenerative economies and building scaffolding for regenerative cultures. He is currently Partner in Just Capital Quotient (SME integral business consulting), Business Analyst for the Savanna Institute (agroforestry in the Midwest), and is a graduate from Bard College’s MBA in Sustainability program.
Our Board
Stephen Filler, Chair
Chief Legal Counsel & Senior Vice President, Joule Assets Inc.
Stephen Filler builds sustainable businesses and financing structures. He is General Counsel and Business Development VP for Joule Community Power which leverages the power of communities to increase renewable energy. He co-founded and is a Board member of CSRHub, which rates the corporate social responsibility of nearly 5,000 businesses. He also is a Board member of Local Farms Fund, a community impact fund that invests in sustainable farms in the New York foodshed.
Bob Phillips, Vice Chair
President - North America (Retired), Unilever
Bob Phillips is the retired President of Royall Fragrances Limited & Royall Lyme Bermuda and an SJ Partners consumer products operating partner where he served on the board and as an investor in their portfolio company, Osmotics Cosmoceuticals.
From 1988 to 2000, Mr. Phillips served as the North American Business Group President and Global Coordinator of Personal Products with Unilever PLC and Unilever NV. During his tenure at Unilever, he served as Chief Executive Officer of Elizabeth Arden Company Worldwide and Chairman of Unilever Prestige Personal Products. In addition, Mr. Phillips was a Director of Unilever from 1994 to 2000.
Prior to joining Unilever, Mr. Phillips held a number of senior brand management, marketing, and executive positions at Chesebrough-Ponds, Inc., General Entertainment Corp (a unit of Nabisco), the Clairol Division of Bristol Myers, and General Foods.
Never one to fully retire, Mr. Phillips recently joined the University of Vermont’s Sustainable Innovation MBA program as Executive-In-Residence. He lives in Colchester, VT.Pam Sugarman
Pam Sugarman, Secretary
President, Sugarman Consulting
Pam Sugarman helps make Atlanta and other communities places where people can thrive. Through Sugarman Consulting, Pam offers strategy and governance consulting to growing and established nonprofits. She excels at supporting individuals and organizations to clarify their focus and reinvent themselves in changing environments. Pam’s personal antiracist journey fuels her passion for bringing more equitable frameworks and equity into the world, including by serving on the board of Capital Innovation Lab, among others.
Alyssa Stankiewicz, Treasurer
Associate Director of Sustainability Research, Morningstar
Alyssa Stankiewicz leads sustainable funds research for Morningstar Manager Research in North America and seeks to increase transparency for sustainability-oriented investors through her work. Alyssa lives in San Francisco but calls Vermont home. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Innovation from the University of Vermont. Depending on the season, she spends her free time skiing, brainstorming ways to minimize the wealth gap, or weaving rugs and tapestries.
Nicolas Gunkel
Managing Director, CTNext
Nic Gunkel is Managing Director at CTNext, the State of Connecticut's go-to resource to equip and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystems across the Constitution State. Prior, Nic served as Senior Vice President at Forward Cities supporting mid-sized cities and communities across the country to invest into their untapped entrepreneurial talent.