Village Enterprise Fund

Our Organization
US Staff

Our US-based staff brings their life experience, talent, hard work, and passion to the task of alleviating poverty in East Africa. While they call California home, their hearts are never far from the people they serve. Click on selected photos to see the staff in action.

Brian Lehnen, our Co-Founder and Executive Director, has a wealth of experience in microenterprise for developing countries. He pioneered VEF's business model which combines training, microgrants, and mentoring to produce sustainable, income-generating businesses. He has been singularly effective in identifying partners who share his dedication and commitment to the poor. Brian received his undergraduate degree from UC Davis and his MBA from Eastern College.

Pat Brown is our Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining us as a volunteer three years ago, he worked for over twenty years in the computer software industry. In his last position, he was the Senior Director of Technical Publications for Siebel System. Pat received his BA from UC Santa Barbara and a MA from California State University, Fresno. He completed doctoral work at UC Berkeley.

Lyndsay Holley is our Senior Director of Field Operations and has worked for non-profits in East Africa since 2003. Lyndsay holds a BA degree in International Relations from Stanford. She speaks Swahili fluently, coaches and plays Ultimate Frisbee, and has a great talent for working with the field staff, volunteers, and business owners. Lyndsay serves on the board of Bahati Education, a non-profit innovator in education for girls in Africa.

Anne Olson performed volunteer field work for 3 years at VEF before becoming a part-time staff member as Interim Director of Operations. She has a BS in Mathematics and was a high school math teacher for 8 years before moving into software and programming. Anne worked in the software industry for 25 years; she retired in 2005 after 20 years at Hewlett-Packard. Her last position was Finance Support Manager with an international staff.

Philip Arscott joined the team as a volunteer in January 2008 and traveled to Tanzania the following summer to film short documentaries on our entrepreneurs and survey businesses. He became the Assistant Director of Operations in November 2008. Philip graduated from Hamilton College in upstate New York with a BA in Economics.

Caroline Bernadi joined the team in 2005 as a volunteer on the VEF Impact Evaluation. She became Foundation Director in September 2008. Prior to VEF, Caroline worked in operations in the luxury goods industry in France and was the co-founder of Maatiam, a social venture. She holds a MS in Industrial Management from Ecole des Mines in France.

Jennifer Nixon is our Director of Institutional Giving. She brings years of experience in grant-making, marketing, sales, management consulting, and working with nonprofits to VEF. Jennifer has run her own real estate investment small business, and was Director, Academic Marketing & Sales for Harvard Business School Publishing. She has a BA from UC Santa Cruz, an MA in Divinity from the University of Chicago, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Susan Robertson joined VEF in September 2008 as our Director of Major Gifts. She comes to us from Scott Ministries where she worked in Donor Relations. She is a co-founder of the Sweet Sisters Baking Company. Susan attended UCLA and graduated from Notre Dame de Namur University with a BA in business communications.

Anjanette Lundell is the Associate Director of Development. Before joining VEF in 2005, Anjanette worked as a high school chemistry teacher and in investment real estate. She graduated from Westmont College with a BS in Biology and Chemistry. She has a teaching credential from Cal State University Hayward.

Meet our African staff »