We are industry leaders who came together to help more people activate the right tools and pathways to unlock meaningful outcomes.

OUR STORY

Over the course of our careers, we’ve been sought out to work at the highest levels of philanthropy, advocacy, and social impact.

In those spaces we learned from extraordinary leaders committed to equity and justice and deepened our own understanding of the most powerful levers and strategies for affecting lasting change.

We built organizations from the ground up, served as trusted advisors, developed groundbreaking initiatives, shaped global profiles, and led international campaigns.

At the start of 2021, we sensed an opportunity to harness our unique experience, insights, and networks to help more people tackle the issues they care about — by strategically deploying their resources, their influence, and their voice. 

We approach this work every day with a belief that a more equitable, just, and sustainable world is possible. That belief fuels us to keep thinking boldly at every turn and deploying strategies that matter.

REBECCA GOLDMAN AND CATHERINE ST-LAURENT, Acora Co-Founders

Photo credit: ADG Photography

OUR TEAM

From leading philanthropic initiatives to designing groundbreaking impact campaigns and positioning strategies, we have a breadth of experience that results in a fresh and creative perspective. We are honored to draw on our experience to partner with our clients to pursue positive change.

Catherine St-Laurent
Co-Founder

A global, multilingual executive who has led philanthropic and communications strategies at the highest level.

  • One of PR Week’s “40 Under 40” and most recently as one of Inc.’s 2023 Female Founders, she specializes in building from the blank page, setting strategy and culture, navigating the ambiguity that defines any venture in its first years, and shaping how principals show up and lead in the world.

    Prior to co-founding Acora in 2021, Catherine served as Chief of Staff to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and as the founding Executive Director of Archewell Foundation. She built the foundation from inception — assembling the team, shaping the programmatic agenda, and establishing its operating model. She also established the personal infrastructure around the principals, spanning the full range of services required by a family in the public eye.

    Before Archewell, Catherine spent nearly a decade working with Melinda French Gates. In 2015, she was part of the small founding team that established Pivotal Ventures, Melinda's investment and incubation company. As a member of the leadership team, she contributed to organizational design, strategy, budget stewardship, and culture-setting, while leading brand, positioning, and communications as strategic infrastructure for a venture still defining itself. 

    A native of Montreal, Catherine is fluent in French and English and began her career in Brussels and London at Burson-Marsteller and Vero Communications, where she designed global campaigns across public affairs and international sport, including successful Olympic bids for Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018. 

Rebecca Goldman
Co-Founder

A nationally recognized impact leader who has spent her career working at the nexus of philanthropy, business, and social change.

  • Named one of Fast Company’s “100 Most Creative People in Business,” she excels at situating ideas within the arc of a movement, designing bold initiatives around them, and driving those initiatives to scale for some of the world’s most high-profile philanthropists, nonprofits, and brands. 

    Prior to founding Acora in 2021, Rebecca spent over a decade working at the center of Hollywood and social change. She was a founder and initial CEO of TIME’S UP where she helped spearhead its groundbreaking global launch, turning a groundswell of energy into lasting policy and culture change. She was also executive director of the Katie McGrath and JJ Abrams Family Foundation; founding director of Good Robot, the impact arm of Bad Robot Productions; and senior advisor at Margery Tabankin & Associates, where she advised individuals and families on their philanthropic and political giving. In these roles, she partnered with leaders in Hollywood and nationwide to create campaigns, seed initiatives, and leverage clients’ philanthropic, political, social and cultural capital in bold new ways. 

    Rebecca began her career as a founding team member of Endeavor, now the world’s leading community of high-impact entrepreneurs, which she joined as the third employee and spent eight years helping to build from an idea on a napkin on a kitchen table into a model that is now in 45+ countries. 

Ali Hartman
Senior Strategist

A pioneering leader in responsible investment, ESG integration, venture philanthropy, and impact investing.

  • Ali Hartman is a builder and strategist driven by the idea that capital can and must be a force for good. She works alongside some of the world's most influential individuals to conceive and launch platforms and initiatives with the potential to reshape entire systems.

    She arrived at this work after a pioneering career in values-aligned investing. Ali was among the first in the world to lead ESG and responsible investment efforts at a major financial institution. At KKR, she worked across billions of dollars to reduce risk and increase value, building sustainability and impact strategies at hundreds of portfolio companies. She also advised on the firm’s impact strategy and ran their global philanthropic efforts.


    After her time in PE, she moved into venture capital where the issues were more nascent and the stakes even higher. At Tiger Global, she was the Head of Responsible Investment and the founding President of the firm’s venture philanthropy fund. Her deep expertise on ESG management in the investment world put her on the frontlines of early thinking and strategy regarding ethical technology and responsible AI.


    Ali began her career as an issues expert, working on the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York, the rights
    of child laborers in Ecuador, and the fight for gender equity in India. The daughter of two peace activists, changemaking is embedded in her DNA. Ali’s unique background helps her leverage traditional and innovative tools in pursuit of a more sustainable, inclusive, just world for all.

Chevenee Reavis
Senior Strategist

A philanthropic executive and senior advisor to philanthropists, nonprofits, and businesses.

  • Chevenee Reavis works with leading philanthropists and institutional Foundations in the Bay area to define and redefine their purpose and accelerate impact. Her expertise is characterized by her ability to deconstruct complex challenges of our time, source solutions that scale, elevate global dialogue on key issues, and direct capital in ways that are creative and make a measurable difference.

    In addition to her role as an Acora senior strategist, Chevenee serves as Director of Philanthropy for a multi-family office, leading strategy and operations for two Silicon Valley family foundations. Previously, she was Director of Strategy and Advocacy at Water.org where, as part of the founding leadership team, she helped scale the organization 10x in funds raised and 50x in people served. She also served as Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer for Kickstart International, Communications Officer for Management Sciences for Health, and led communications and fundraising at leading microfinance organizations.

Gretchen Reiter
Senior Strategist

A top communications executive with experience across brand positioning, integrated communications, and marketing strategies.

  • Gretchen is best known for her success in proactive communications strategies that advance causes and diffuse crises. Gretchen advises top business, non-profit, and government leaders; engaging diverse stakeholders; building and supervising dynamic teams; and managing multiple strategies with multimillion-dollar budgets.

Danni Bianco
Director

A cross-sector strategist who has designed equity and engagement initiatives for Fortune 500s, high-growth startups, and national campaigns.

  • Danni draws on experience spanning high-growth startups, political campaigns, and Fortune 500 strategy to translate broad social commitments into actionable strategies and initiatives centered on advancing equity and civic engagement in the U.S.

    Prior to Acora, Danni partnered with clients at Deloitte Consulting, designing health equity strategies and ESG programs for complex organizations. She also served as a strategist for the Harris-Walz campaign, supporting leadership on Battleground programming and stakeholder engagement.

    She holds dual master’s degrees from the Wharton School (MBA) and the Harvard Kennedy School (MPA).

Alex Bostian
Manager

A multilingual international development strategist who has strengthened organizations through systems-driven approaches to social change.

  • Alex brings a creative, interdisciplinary approach to Acora, blending international development expertise with human-centered design and a focus on strengthening the internal systems that enable organizations to scale and sustain impact. His work is grounded in a “development for development” approach that prioritizes organizational capacity and strategic engagement as the foundation for meaningful social change.

    Most recently, Alex served as Director of Development at the United Nations Association in Boston, where he led fundraising strategy and corporate partnerships to advance global advocacy initiatives. He began his career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Moldova, advising civil society organizations on community engagement and teaching 11th and 12th grade English. Alex holds a Master’s degree in International Development Policy from Duke University.

Our network of best-in-class collaborators bring their unique expertise and perspective to specific client engagements.

STRATEGIC COLLABORATORS

Seasoned communications professional and advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs, Founders, and professional athletes. Formerly, Senior Managing Director at Teneo and Emmy-Award-winning producer at CBS News "60 Minutes"

Casey Morgan

Emergency medicine physician and healthcare expert with a focus on equity, access, and policy

Dr. Dara Kass

Emmy award-winning filmmaker, founder and executive producer, McGee Media

Dyllan McGee

Finance leader providing companies and nonprofits with strategic direction, hands-on guidance, and operational solutions. Founder, Dragonfly Accounting Partners

Jena Raysbrook

Startup leader and brand builder; co-founder of Birchbox and former executive at beloved brands like Hungryroot and Coterie.

Mollie Chen

Leading marketing and PR strategist who has shaped groundbreaking campaigns for organizations and leaders across entertainment, sports, and social good

Ngoc Nguyen

Social impact entrepreneur and executive, senior climate advisor to philanthropies, and executive coach to climate tech companies

Oliver Sabot

Award-winning design leader and strategist, formerly CEO of IDEO

Sandy Speicher

Gender equity expert and policy advocate who has been at the forefront of the national campaign to win a paid family and medical leave program

Vicki Shabo

Kalisha Dessources Figures

Impact strategist and policy expert, formerly Special Assistant to President Biden and Policy Advisor to the Obama White House Council on Women and Girls. Founder, KDF Strategies.

Katie McCormick Lelyveld

Strategic positioning and communications advisor, formerly press secretary to First Lady Michelle Obama and founder of MELD

Non-profit development leader with 20 years of experience raising philanthropic dollars for issues such as human rights and international development

Maggie Ball

Impact leader and philanthropy advisor with 25 years of experience spanning impact investing, education reform, international development, and social entrepreneurship; Founder of August Impact Partners and Founding Executive Director, now Advisor, to Alta Futures. 

Sarah Berghorst