It gives me the greatest pleasure to announce Jon Schwartz’s promotion to Associate Director of Ratings and Operations, and Laura Pelkey’s promotion to Associate Director of Finance and Administration, with immediate effect.

Jon and Laura have been part of the Aeris team since before we spun off of Opportunity Finance Network in 2012, and both have grown with us, making increasingly significant and critical contributions to Aeris.

Jon supported the early incubation of CARS, the predecessor to Aeris, and the growth and strengthening of CDFIs during those early years. Joining Aeris, he brought his devotion to the CDFI field and an impressive wealth of knowledge about CDFIs. He has been central to organizing the process and operations of our rating and analysis work, trained a high-performing operations team, and assisted me in the development and implementation of the Aeris Cloud. Today he manages an increasingly complex process to support Karen Seabury in leading our ratings and analysis work, oversees and trains a growing team of associates, and represents Aeris with industry partners to advance impact measurement and management. Jon plays a key role in working with our software development team as we transform the Aeris Cloud into a more effective data utility for the CDFI industry. Jon works closely with Karen and me to ensure that the concerns and suggestions of Aeris’ CDFI clients, allies, and supporters are recognized and incorporated into our work.

Laura joined CARS in 2010 while we were still housed at OFN, moving to the Aeris team in 2012. Since 2017, she has been responsible for financial reporting and corporate administration. She developed and launched Aeris’ business process management system to strengthen our management of the day-to-day operations of our rating and analysis work. More recently, Laura developed and launched a system to manage Aeris’ customer relationship management activities. As Aeris has grown, Laura has taken on, and excelled at Aeris’ financial management and reporting. She works closely with business managers, leading the development of our annual budget and forecasts, and managing day-to-day cashflow. Laura develops our monthly financial report and works closely with the Finance Committee of the Board, reporting quarterly progress to the full board. In addition, she manages the annual audit process, our vendor relationships, contracts and renewals, and supports the smooth functioning of our day-to-day operational systems. Laura supports me and Helen Leung in ensuring that Aeris’ policies and procedures are up-to-date, that our internal controls are robust, and in identifying, analyzing, and recommending opportunities to improve Aeris’ operational efficiency.

Jon and Laura are essential members of Aeris’ leadership team. Please join me in congratulating them for well-deserved promotions.

Sincerely,

Paige Chapel
President & CEO