WHO’S ATTENDING
Friends
of C(R)
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Adam joined BFF in 2022 and works with growth stage and enterprise Clients focused on Executive Coaching, Team Dynamics, and Facilitation. Prior to BFF Adam was a serial entrepreneur running businesses in Asia, the US, and Latin America. Adam has led venture backed organizations, as well as bootstrapped enterprises through multiple exits. Today he consults, coaches, and facilitates with organizations globally. He lives in Salida, Colorado with his wife, daughter, and Australian Shepherd, Capri.
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Montreal born and Nashville based, Allison Russell is a Grammy, Juno, Americana and Folk Awards winning artist, actor, author, songwriter, producer, human rights advocate, survivor and mother. She is the co-founder of Once and Future Sounds and Love Rising. Her debut solo album “Outside Child” was released in 2021, followed by “The Returner” in 2023 via Concord/Fantasy Records.
Prior to her solo career she co-founded, recorded and toured internationally with the bands Po’Girl, Birds of Chicago, and Our Native Daughters. She is a member of Joni Mitchell’s Joni Jam band.
Russell’s ensemble the Rainbow Coalition opened for Hozier’s Unreal Unearth tour throughout 2024. Their All Returners headlining tour will continue Spring of 2025 in Australia and North America. Allison made her Broadway debut starring as Persephone in Anais Mitchell’s Hadestown from Nov 2024 to Feb 2025. Russell’s memoir will be published by Little Brown, release date TBA.
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Anne Kiehl Friedman is a writer, Interfaith minister, and entrepreneur. A passionate advocate for holistic well-being and spiritual growth, her work focuses on the intersection of mental health, self-love, and psychedelics.
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For 20+ years, Beka has designed meaningful events and led strategic fundraising efforts for political, advocacy, and community organizations. That includes leading development teams through an organizational merger, launching a statewide 501(c)(4) organization as its first Executive Director, and overseeing fundraising for the leading conservation advocacy organization in Colorado for nearly a decade.
Seeing the need to partner with advocacy organizations to activate their communities and achieve the change they envision, Beka founded Whitson Strategies in 2018 with her wife, Sarah, and has since worked with over 25 arts, conservation, civic engagement, and faith organizations on coaching staff and board to fundraise and gather better, navigate leadership changes, cultivate major donors, and more. Her passion for creating sustainable systems and demystifying fundraising continues to drive her every day. When not running Whitson Strategies, she enjoys introducing her two young children to the adventures that Colorado offers.
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Ben Wessel is a Director on the Political Team at Emerson Collective, where he works to build a more robust American democracy through political grantmaking, convening, and campaigning. He is the former Executive Director of NextGen America, the nation's largest youth voter mobilization organization. At NextGen, Ben oversaw a program that registered more than 1.5 million young people to vote, garnered record youth voter turnout in 2018 and 2020, and helped candidates win from the state house to the White House. Prior to his time at NextGen, Ben worked on Cory Booker's first Senate campaign, Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, and in a variety of capacities in the youth climate movement. Ben lives in San Francisco and is a native of Washington, DC.
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Dr. Marcie Jenner received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Cambridge Graduate School of Clinical Psychology. For over 40 years she has guided leaders, activists, creatives and spiritual seekers to navigate their inner worlds, helping them to tend to the areas that needed healing in order to realize their full potential. Currently, she selectively works with clients who are called to meet the complexity and scale of this world-wide poly-crisis in which we find ourselves, supporting individuals who are committed to catalyzing a shift toward a wise and thriving world. Her work (and life) have been strongly guided by her spiritual explorations with teachers such as Ram Das and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Beginning in 1988, she travelled to South America to study alternative forms of healing, learning from indigenous healers and their medicine work in Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Knowledge gained about the multidimensional nature of reality continues to inform her work.
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Nathan is an applied mathematician and researcher in AI and machine learning deeply interested in democratic initiatives and the use of AI and technology for human flourishing.
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Noah Koerper leads the Civic Engagement and Democracy program for the Catena Group, focused on rebuilding shared values and empowering unifying leadership in American politics. Noah previously served as Senator Michael Bennet’s State Policy Director, leading the Senator's initiatives across Colorado.
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Rich Gibbons is an accomplished financial executive with more than a decade of experience across public accounting and leadership roles in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations. He specializes in aligning financial strategy with organizational goals to drive efficiency, strengthen financial performance, and advance mission-driven outcomes. Rich began his career in public accounting, where he developed deep expertise in financial auditing, compliance, and regulatory requirements. He has since built on that foundation in industry, leading initiatives in financial management, strategic planning, and operational improvement. In his current role at Republic Affairs, Rich serves as an outsourced CFO for a diverse portfolio of nonprofit organizations—including 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) fiscal sponsors—as well as for-profit companies. He also oversees the firm’s finance, compliance, and administrative functions. Outside of work, Rich enjoys spending time with his kids and cheering on the Maryland Terrapins.
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Shelley is a founding partner at Atreum, a firm providing operational support and strategy to mission-driven organizations. In this capacity, Shelley works as a co-conspirator, connector, and catalyst with innovators and funders on the front lines of systems change. Her expertise spans developing and implementing strategies, convening leaders across fragmented fields and disciplines, and designing nimble, innovative, and sustainable structures for organizations and funders.
Before co-founding Atreum, Shelley spent 13 years at Arabella Advisors as a senior managing director, where she supported some of the most creative social impact initiatives of the last decade, including efforts to advance gender equity, restore civic health, and build the leadership pipeline for the digital age. Prior to Arabella, she developed the social entrepreneurship practice at the Sheridan Group and led AYUSA International, a youth exchange organization, through a decade of significant growth and programmatic expansion.
Shelley holds a BA in political science from Williams College and an M.Ed. from Boston University. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Shelley is accompanied by her son, Charlie Fox-Welpton, the official 2026 BV Partner Gathering photographer.
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Sol Guy is an award-winning producer and director whose career in filmmaking, music, community-building, and support of other ground-breaking artists demonstrates the power of art to heal and to catalyze social change. He is the co-founder of Quiet, an artist-led community based in trust, care, and empowerment, which offers a new approach to creative practice and support anchored in value alignment, artistic sovereignty, spiritual well-being, and reciprocity. Honored by National Geographic as an “Emerging Explorer,” Sol most recently directed the feature documentary about his family, The Death of My Two Fathers. He has also co-produced and directed highly acclaimed projects in music, film, and TV, including: Oscar-nominated film Bobi Wine: The People’s President; Emmy Award winning Lakota Nation vs The United States the television series 4REAL (MTV/National Geographic); the 2010 World Cup anthem, K’naan’s WAVIN FLAG; and the documentary Inside Out (HBO). Sol is currently writing a book about healing through creative practice, the true value of art, and the evolving role of the artist in society continuing his lifelong commitment to storytelling as a vehicle for transformation.
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Stacey Donaldson is both an artist and a yoga teacher, influenced by a deep appreciation for nature and the environments she calls home. Raised by the ocean surrounded by the sun-soaked beach culture of Southern California, she now resides 9,000 feet above sea level in the mountains of Crested Butte, Colorado.
Her creative journey is deeply rooted in the natural world. Stacey draws inspiration from the beauty that surrounds her, and her artistic expression spans a diverse range of mediums—including clay, oil painting, photography, jewelry, and candlelight. Her studio is a sanctuary of creativity, where the simple joy of making beautiful things flourishes.
Since 2015, Stacey has completed over 450 hours of yoga training, specializing in Prana Vinyasa, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Ayurvedic studies. Her classes offer a space to quiet the mental details of the mind and reconnect with the innate wisdom of the body. For Stacey, yoga and meditation are continual sources of healing, clarity, and deep intuitive guidance.
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