Howard Rifkin
Chair

Howard is Corporation Counsel for the City of Hartford. He previously served as Executive Director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, Deputy Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, and Counsel to the CT Lt. Governor.

He has served on the board of the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut, and on the Board of the Connecticut Health and Financing Authority.

Tom Chabolla
Board Member, Treasurer

Tom is President of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, whose mission is to create opportunities for young people to serve in nonprofits serving communities internationally and domestically that are most impacted by racial, economic and social disparities. 

He formerly was COO/EVP at Neighborworks America, overseeing field operations, grant programs, training and race and equity initiatives in one of the country’s leading community development networks; Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff at SEIU; Director of grant programs and education at the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Abbey Nyamekye
Board Member, Secretary

Abbey has over 20 years of experience with Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS) both in direct service and program oversight roles. CUCS is one of the largest multi-service providers of housing, mental health and medical services to vulnerable New Yorkers, and specialized training nationally to the human services, behavioral health and judicial sectors.

She has 15 years of experience supervising their healthcare programming, most recently in the role of Deputy Chief Program Officer for Janian Medical Care, P.C. As Chief Administrative Officer, Abbey provides oversight to the CUCS Institute and IT Department. She is also the agency lead on community and constituent relations and oversees CUCS’ diversity, inclusion, and belonging activities.

Steve Weingarten
Chief Executive Officer

Steve leads the V-Cap team, with a passion to impact health, equity and jobs with V-Cap’s financial toolkit and resources. He formerly led the SEIU Capital Development Group, which developed double bottom line investment vehicles across multiple asset classes with a focus on healthcare and workforce impact; provided financial and social impact analysis to U.S. and global institutional investors; and was Industrial Development Director for the trade union UNITE.

Earlier in his career he led a community organization based in a neighborhood health center which advocated on environmental health, housing, and jobs. Steve received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a BA from Yale University.

Mat Rubin
Chief Financial Officer

Mathew Rubin is a Certified Public Accountant with over 35 years experience in both Public and Corporate Accounting with expertise in Not-for-Profit, Health Care and Insurance industries. Mr. Rubin has served on the Boards of Not-for-Profit and Publicly Traded Companies and has extensive knowledge of GAAP, Statutory Reporting and Taxation.

Before V-Cap, he served as a Vice President and as a Senior Director for two Not-for-Profit Health Care Organizations. Mr. Rubin has earned a BA and MS degrees in Accounting and Information Systems from Queens College.

Aldea Coleman
Director of Partnerships and Advocacy

As the Director of Partnerships and Advocacy, Aldea organizes and maintains strategic partnerships and advocacy initiatives with stakeholders across the community health sector. Based in North Carolina, she also coordinates V-Cap market relationships in that state.

Aldea joined V-Cap after more than 20 years of strategic advocacy and policy work in communities throughout North Carolina and across the U.S. She has extensive experience with community advocacy, policy analysis, and strategic planning. Aldea received her master’s in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from North Carolina A&T State University.  

Franklin Mora
Director of Loan Origination and Market Development

As the Director of Loan Origination and Market Development, Franklin works with sourcing and originating a pipeline of transactions for V-Cap across all markets.

Franklin joined V-Cap after spending 6+ years as an Investment Principal with Open Road, an impact investing debt fund where he sourced, originated, and conducted due diligence on companies that decrease inequality or combat climate change. He also worked in Investment Banking and was the Deputy Director of the Queens Economic Development Corporation. Franklin holds an MBA from the University of Michigan - Ross School of Business and a BA from the University of Vermont.

Tom Manning
Senior Transactions Advisor
Health Center Specialist

Tom provides expertise for V-Cap across its programs and markets, drawing from his extensive experience in healthcare finance and community health centers.  Tom has worked with other CDFIs, community-based organizations, foundations and federal agencies (HRSA within HHS and the CDFI Fund within Treasury), and was a founding capital director for the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC). 

Tom is also the Principal of Harbor Road Advisory, a consulting firm promoting strategies for healthy communities, and a Senior Scholar at NYU’s Center for Sustainable Business. He received an MBA and BA from Columbia University.

JK Costello
Senior Advisor and Behavioral Health Specialist

JK Costello advises V-Cap’s behavioral health program work across its markets and provides specialized expertise for the Colorado market.  JK draws on his expertise in population health plans for substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, and publicly-funded addiction treatment and recovery services.

He currently also works as a principal at the Steadman Group, a woman-owned health consulting firm.  JK received his MD and MPH from the University of Nebraska, and BA from Harvard.

Lauren Burnham
Senior Health Investment Analyst

Lauren supports V-Cap’s community health capital projects across all target markets.

Prior to joining V-Cap, Lauren provided strategic financial leadership to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. Lauren earned her MPA from New York University and her BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Willa Serling
Program Development Associate

Willa supports staff across V-Cap’s lending, program planning and organizational development activities. She draws on her background in public health policy for advocacy initiatives, support for federally qualified health center partnerships and communications. 

Before joining V-Cap, Willa worked in policy analysis at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policy. Her work experience includes other non-profit, intergovernmental and academic sectors with a focus on health equity, social determinants and evidence-informed policy. Willa received her MPH from the University of Sheffield, MSc in Health Governance and Leadership from Maastricht University and BA from Colorado College.

Elle Simmons
Senior Development Specialist & Colorado Market Coordinator

Elle focuses on strategy development for the Colorado market, manages philanthropy efforts, and provides board support and planning. She leverages her extensive background in leading public health initiatives at the community, state, and international levels, as well as in program development.

Prior to V-Cap, Elle worked as the Cultural Navigation Coordinator at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. Her career spans various roles dedicated to advancing health equity, managing infectious disease programs, and fostering community engagement. Elle holds a B.S. from Baylor University and MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Roger Pollak
General Counsel

Roger is General Counsel for V-Cap, and a partner at Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., with a practice focus on non-profit organizations, and complex commercial contracts.

Roger received his JD from Yale University and his MBA from the Yale School of Management. He holds a BS from the University of California at Berkeley, College of Natural Resources.

Kim Fuchs
HR Advisor

Kim spent her career in human resources, working with large and small companies, ranging from financial services, to health care to research, and in recent years, including IT, digital marketing and a modeling agency. She provides advisory services supporting V-Cap team development

Ashley Pinkard
VP Commercial Lending
Asset Quality

Darrow Isaacman-VanWertz
Manager and
Sr. Loan Officer