Aeris Announces New Board Chair, Treasurer, Director

PHILADELPHIA, PA, February 18, 2021—Aeris Insight, Inc. announced today that Penelope Douglas, Chief of Strategy and Revenue for Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, a San Francisco-based, nationally known arts and culture organization, has been named Chair of the Aeris Board of Directors.

Ms. Douglas has spent the past twenty-five years as a social entrepreneur, pioneer in community development investment, cofounder and CEO of Pacific Community Ventures, and senior executive and board chair of MissionHub and SOCAP. She replaces Kim Leslie Shafer, who has served as Chair since 2019 and will continue to serve on the Aeris board.

“Penelope is a trailblazer in the impact investing and community development investing movements,” said Kim Leslie Shafer, immediate past Chair of Aeris. “She has both deep CDFI and startup experience to guide Aeris as it enhances its role as a utility for the CDFI industry and prepares to launch its cloud-based data management service for the broader impact community.”

“Aeris is extremely fortunate to have two back-to-back board chairs who bring deep expertise and commitment to Aeris’ mission. I look forward to working closely with Penelope and continuing to benefit from Kim’s involvement,” said Paige Chapel, President & CEO of Aeris.

In addition, James Lum, CFO at National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and director at Aeris since 2014, has been elected Treasurer. Mr. Lum replaces Andy Cooney, Principal at 1112 Capital, LLC, who is a founding Aeris board member and has served twice as the corporation’s Treasurer.

“Aeris will be in capable hands with James as our new Treasurer and no doubt will continue the legacy that Andy built during our early years through today as an independent information service,” said Paige Chapel.

Finally, Aeris announced that it has appointed a new board member, Vivienne Hsu, CFA. Her appointment is effective February 17, 2021.

Ms. Hsu is the Founder & CEO of LENDonate, a marketplace lending and donation sourcing platform where nonprofits and supporters leverage their collective power for the greater good. Prior to founding LENDonate, she held portfolio management roles at Charles Schwab Investment Management and American Century Investments. Ms. Hsu is active in the nonprofit and philanthropic communities. In addition to Aeris, Ms. Hsu sits on several boards including Los Altos Community Foundation.

“On behalf of the entire staff at Aeris, I am pleased to welcome Vivienne to the Aeris Board of Directors,” said Paige Chapel. “We are eager to benefit from her expertise and deep experience in the fields of social entrepreneurship and finance, and we are grateful for her willingness to serve.”

About Aeris

Aeris is a rating and information service for impact investments. Aeris has established risk management standards for private community loan funds (CDFIs) and has helped strengthen the development of impact measurement and management practices in the CDFI industry. Since 2004 Aeris has issued more than 950 ratings on CDFIs, based on thorough analyses of each organization’s capital structure, asset quality, earnings, liquidity, management and governance strength and practices. Aeris’ analyses have been used by more than 160 investors, including financial institutions, government entities, private foundations, and wealth advisors. Contact Aeris for more information: https://www.aerisinsight.com/contact/.