Root Capital is pleased to announce the addition of two new members to our board of directors: Sophie Romana and Scott McDonald. Sophie is a leading consultant in gender equity and financial inclusion who has spent years expanding access to credit for women around the world. Scott has a wealth of experience in international organizations, developing innovative fundraising and partnership strategies to drive deep impact.
Their expertise in gender equity, fundraising, and nonprofit management strengthens our board and will be invaluable as we embark upon a new chapter of impact at Root Capital. As we launch an ambitious five-year strategy, the expertise of these new board members will help us reach more farming families than ever before, while doubling down to address urgent challenges from gender inclusion to climate change. Read more about these two sector leaders below, and join us in welcoming them to the Root Capital team.
Scott McDonald is a nonprofit leader with decades of experience leveraging partnerships and philanthropy to solve society’s most pressing challenges. He has led numerous international and cultural organizations at transformative moments in their histories as they resource and scale their growth and impact. Following an early job in private finance, Scott has fostered multi-sector collaborations at organizations including International Rescue Committee, the Clinton Foundation, International Medical Corps, and more. In his current role as Chief Development Officer at The ONE Campaign and (RED) he leads the organization’s global resource mobilization strategy and builds partnerships for the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease. He holds degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Art.
Sophie Romana is an international consultant in gender, women’s economic empowerment, and financial inclusion. Passionate about smart capital and gender equity, she’s currently developing a digital financial literacy campaign for women with Strategic Impact Advisors and a gender lens investment framework with the World Council of Credit Unions-both projects financed by USAID. In the past she led Oxfam’s Community Finance Department (2011-2018) and prior to that worked in private equity and in humanitarian relief in Madagascar, Rwanda, and Bosnia. She’s a graduate from La Sorbonne (Law) and Columbia Business School (MBA). A dual French-American citizen, she finally found her way to the wonderful town of Camden, Maine where she moved with her husband in 2017. Last year she started a small organic dog biscuit company, inspired by Castine, her chocolate Labrador.
We are grateful to Nurole for its work in bringing both Sophie and Scott to Root Capital.