Liam Roecklein

Liam Roecklein is the Vice President of Content at Cheddar, overseeing the streaming network’s daily operations, content, distribution — with a focus on OTT and CTV, and revenue growth.

Cheddar can be seen in 43 million households across the world with 138 million monthly viewing minutes. Cheddar provides viewers with breaking business and national news with access to live events and original programming.

Roecklein oversaw the team’s strategic growth as an executive and the company’s fifth employee. His impact led to the company’s sale to Altice USA for $200 million in 2019. Roecklein was vital to the company’s scaling with a yearly doubling of revenue. He displayed strategic knowledge of the content and distribution landscape, including a focus on OTT, CTV, out of home, digital, podcast, and mobile devices. This led to Cheddar becoming the number one business news social publisher in the world.

Diversity is also a priority in Roecklein’s career. Keeping a focus on how the network looked in front of and behind the camera.

Roecklein is also active in social issues. He is a Board Member at the Impact Public Service Fund, a non-profit and non-partisan organization dedicated to understanding today’s most pressing social and political issues.

Prior to Cheddar, Roecklein worked as an Executive Producer at Time Inc. He was immediately recognized for his leadership and given the responsibility of developing OTT programming with iconic brands including: Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune, Time, Essence, People en Español, Golf, Money, and more.

In 2012, Roecklein began his career at digital video startup Zazoom and in the production department at Major League Baseball.

Roecklein graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sacred Heart University with a Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies and minors in Political Science, Italian, and Film.

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York he currently resides in Hoboken, New Jersey. 

Fabio Salim

Fabio has held multiple entrepreneurial executive positions in several companies, with a proven track-record in creating impact, delivering results and building strong teams and organizations. Since 2020, he is the COO at CB Insights, where he is responsible for the go-to-market activities and teams, Previously, he held multiple C-Level roles at Gympass, and he played a key role in helping the company in its accelerated growth process. This includes leading the expansion of the business to Europe and to the US, structuring global teams of strategy, operations, global sales and marketing to enable scalable growth, and opening and scaling up new business units. Before that, he was a Senior Management Associate at Bridgewater Associates for 3+ years, working in the space of management systemization and transformation. He also held the CFO position at TG Agroindustrial (portfolio company from Angra Partners where he also did private equity investing), and Investment Banking at Itau-Unibanco. He holds an MBA degree from Harvard Business School (Class of 2013) and a Bachelor of Economics degree from Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp).

What causes are you most passionate about?

While there are many causes that matter, I believe that improving the access to quality education is what probably can create the most leverage to solve all other causes and issues. I mean education in a broad sense, not only in academic terms. I see creating conditions for people to better understand how the world works and what they are like to be a critical step towards self-evolution. Also, it is a great way to have a critical approach to understand what the reality of each situation is, what are the gaps to what should/could be, and to find solutions to mitigate such gaps. Finally, I strongly believe in the transformational power of education to lift our emotional intelligence, sense of empathy and compassion in order to evolve as a society and to get to better ideas and solutions through constructive discussions

My ideal future world includes…

Quality access to food, housing, education and healthcare for all people

What do you think some of the most pressing problems we face are?

Lack of alignment on what is true (e.g. fake news, misinformation, excessive polarization of opinions), climate change, inequality in terms of opportunity, income, social rights, and access to basic conditions

Michael Puff

Michael is a product executive focused on finding innovative solutions leveraging technology. He started his career in the entertainment industry focused on film and talent representation. Most recently he spent eight and a half years at Bridgewater Associates working on management systemization and human analytics. Throughout his tenure he was able to partner with some of the most innovative thought leaders in the technology, marketing, and design spaces to help commercialize an enterprise platform into a start-up called Principles. Michael also helps manage Root Society, one of the largest theme camps at Burning Man, focused on building a community around music, art, and inclusion.  In his free time, he enjoys travelling, exercise, cooking, and spending time with his family. He is a graduate of Jack Welch’s College of Business at Sacred Heart University.

An impact event/article I recommend is…

The Future of Work – AI/Jobs.

Who is a real life hero of yours?

My heroes are those who mentored me over the years. My first soccer coach had a huge impact on my character and helped shape me to be the person I am today. He built a well-known soccer academy over the years and then handed it down to his kids, who run it today. He taught me about the love of the game and instilled passion and teamwork in me. Through his soccer program, my teammates and I went on to play with some of the top soccer players in NY and some onto the national or international level. It takes a very special person to be able to influence and shape children, particularly teenagers, over ~5 years and not only push them to strive for the best, but also have those values carry over into their adulthood.

My ideal future world includes…

Basic needs (stable food supply, clean water, shelter, basic medicine) accessible to everyone. And the ability to access education via the Internet and computers.

Gregory Elek

Gregory is the Director of Investments for Peterson Management, the family office of Peter G. Peterson (co-founder of The Blackstone Group). He is a generalist, working on special situation investments in the public and private realms. Previously, he was a research analyst at Goldman Sachs, covering energy, industrial and services-based sectors. Prior to Goldman, he was the co-founder of Gradefund and CFO of DormAid, a national college-services business, where he helped lead the growth and eventual sale. In his spare time, he competes in long-distance triathlons and marathons.  Gregory graduated from Columbia University with a BA in Economics, where he was a Division I swimmer and co-founder of the Columbia Financial Investment Group.

What ideas or efforts do you think will or have changed the world the most?

As Jared Diamond has eloquently put it…”guns, germs and steel”.  Free speech, healthcare and technology have and will continue to push mankind and other species forward.

What do you think some of the most pressing problems we face are?

Misinformation and education; hunger and poverty; climate change and deforestation

If you could make one improvement in the world what would it be?

My goal is to create a forum for people to listen and hear each other, especially on pressing, long-term issues that will face us as a collective.  Data and statistically relevant information are powerful tools that should help inform and drive better policies.  My hope is that we can bring the best information and people to the discussion as well as the positives and negatives of different solutions.  There is never just one solution for all.  To solve some of our most fundamental problems, we should strive to be a part of a process that opens people’s minds to paths not previously seen or understood.  To me, Impact PSF brings us one step closer to this goal.

Natalie Baer

Natalie currently works in the technology industry on the west coast. She was previously at the White House Office of Management and Budget and is a Fulbright Scholar. During her Fulbright, she conducted organic farming research in China and volunteered with the Beijing Farmers Market. Outside of work, Natalie assists with business plan review for Mentor Capital Network, a nonprofit that supports for-profit social entrepreneurs. She also has experience consulting to startups, primarily in the social entrepreneurship space. In addition, she is an avid reader and trail runner. Natalie holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and an MA and BA from Johns Hopkins University and speaks Mandarin and French.

What causes are you most passionate about?

Environmental impact: With the rapid growth in population and in humankind’s footprint, the impact on the environment has been extreme. I believe strongly that there is so much we can do now to begin reducing and reversing that tragic impact.

Educational opportunities: To raise responsible stewards for our planet and leaders for our societies, we must give children the opportunity to learn the tools to problem solve, empathize, and remain determined in the face of challenges. I believe these begin with a strong and compassionate education system.

What do you think some of the most pressing problems we face are?

Climate change, misinformation and propaganda, wealth gap, healthcare crisis

My ideal future world includes…

Basic healthcare for all

Sandesh Kataria

Sandesh is a Manager on TikTok’s Strategy team, where he is focused on building and scaling TikTok’s advertising business. Prior to TikTok Sandesh was a Business Operations Manager at Facebook, where he worked on monetization and product strategy for Facebook’s new revenue initiatives. Prior to Facebook, Sandesh worked at Cornerstone Research, an economic consulting firm, where he conducted financial and economic analysis to advise companies (tech, consumer retail, and financial institutions) in high-stakes commercial litigation matters. Outside of work, you can find Sandesh playing basketball and tennis, and volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club in East Palo Alto. Sandesh graduated in 2014 with a degree in Applied Math and Economics from Harvard.

What causes are you most passionate about?

I am most passionate about the education and media spaces because they heavily impact how people learn and consume information. I believe many challenges we face today such as the rise of anti-vaccination or extreme political polarization exist because people are misinformed and/or unable to think critically.

Through Impact, I hope to work on improving the education system, teaching people to rely on facts and evidence when making judgements, making news fair and informative, and encouraging civilized discussion and debate.

What do you think some of the most pressing problems we face are?

Poverty (including food insecurity and homelessness), climate change, ineffective politicians

An impact event/article I recommend is

The article packet we put together on the Future of Work. Technology and automation will drastically change the workforce and the tasks employees do.

Rekia Foudel

Rekia is a Senior Manager, Impact Investing at Stright Hamilton, a boutique consulting firm, specializing in using innovative approaches to measure the social performance of impact investments. Rekia started her career in the private sector, working in the financial services sector across 3 continents, Bloomberg in New York, Barclays in London and JP Morgan in Johannesburg, South Africa, before moving to the non-profit world. As head of project development for the Executive Office of the President of Niger, Rekia helped raise $437 million for two greenfield development and growth-focused projects, including a Climate Resilient Communities project, for the country of Niger. Rekia is an impact investor, climate activist and a passionate speaker on the future of Africa.

Rekia earned an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A in Political Science from Stony Brook University.

What causes are you most passionate about?

I am most passionate about the plight of the world’s most vulnerable communities. I believe we have an obligation and responsibility to look after one another and if blessed with talents, to put them in service of others who cannot help themselves. 

My ideal future world includes…

A world with more neurodiversity acceptance and activism. The neurodiversity movement is aligned with disability rights movements and is dedicated to eradicating stigmas associated with neurological differences. There has been genuine changes in the workplace over the past few years when it comes to racial and gender discrimination. I’d like to see the same for discrimination against intellectual differences, disabilities or challenges. It is about giving more people access to opportunities that didn’t exist previously.

An article or Impact event I would recommend is…

The Investing for Climate Change event.

Atin Mittra

Atin is the co-founder of Ellie, a virtual breastfeeding assistant for new moms. He holds a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park. Before co-founding Ellie, Atin worked in education where he designed curriculum and services focused on financial education, entrepreneurship, and human-centered design. When not working, Atin volunteers with the non-profit, Impact NYC and sits on the board of The Creativity Foundation. For fun, Atin likes to play drums, shoot photography, and write

What causes are you most passionate about?

Healthcare, education, equitable economic opportunity, and criminal justice reform.

If you could make an improvement in the world, what would it be?

Equal access in the pursuit of knowledge. Education really is the silver bullet to many of the systemic challenges we face. The pursuit of knowledge is something that binds all humans together and we are blessed to live in a time when technology can empower us to reach new heights, individually and together. By ensuring that every person in the world has the access to knowledge, I believe we can develop solutions to the wicked problems that are mounted against us by uncovering untapped and underestimated human potential.

An article or Impact event I would recommend is…

Criminal Justice Reform. It was one of the first events I participated in as a member of Impact and it was a transformative experience for me. I was looking to join a community of people who valued objective, fact-based, and civil dialogue about difficult issues and was blown away by the perspectives we were able to bring together for an incredible conversation.  As a member of Impact, I was able to meet inspiring community leaders like Tommy Safian from Refoundry and represent Impact in a collaborative effort to “ban the box”, which entailed removing the question about previous convictions on job applications. This event made clear that I had joined the right community of empathetic and thoughtful people who were resolutely determined on making our society better.

Kimberly Kyle Hall

Kimberly is an operations executive in the technology industry specializing in remote workforces, change management and business operations. From 2015-2017 she was the President/COO of the World Future Society, the leading global authority in future studies since 1966. For the past decade, Kimberly has worked as an advisor, mentor & judge to startup incubators, companies and entrepreneurship community programs including Techstars’ Startup Weekend, Startup Health, Startup Chile, Parallel 18, the Central American Entrepreneurship Forum and Chicago Innovation. Kimberly spent from 2007-2014 in Latin America where she worked with private equity and family offices to manage investments and partnership identification. She also co-founded Kalu Yala, a community development in the Panamanian rainforest pursuing the mission of world’s most sustainable town. Kimberly graduated Cum Laude from Vanderbilt University in Economics.

What do you think some of the most pressing problems we face are?

There is a deeply engrossing book by historian Yuval Noah Harai entitled 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. I could never summarize the challenges humanity faces better than Harai does (and if you have not read his book, it is an absolute must), but I will highlight two of the problems I am most passionate about and I hope to bring to my work over the next several decades:

  1. Truth – Harari shares the idea that truth has become “defined by the top results of the Google search.” At Impact, the core of our work seeks to actively understand issues and systems, past the hype and media headlines, from a 360-degree view.
  2. Healthcare – While Harai champions the ideas of free and universal healthcare, and that is certainly one possible option, I am interested in exploring the roots of our challenges in optimizing public health and creating resilient systems to respond to health crises.

An impact event/article I recommend is…

Impact has tackled so many important topics over the years – education, immigration, elections, climate – and there is so much more to explore in these arenas. We are thrilled to be able to build new knowledge platforms to do just that such as the Impact Podcast, Save the World in the 30 Minutes. We hope the stories and conversations with our Impact Experts inspire those who do want to make their mark on the world. While marking our mark may take longer than 30 minutes, we are all in this together.

If you could make one improvement in the world what would it be?

An idea I find fascinating is understanding what it would really take for the human species to be at peace with itself. We teach our children history, math, science, literature. Some children are even lucky enough to study art, music, and creativity, but we often miss a piece of training so valuable, it would fundamentally change the world as we know it, and that is teaching emotional intelligence in our schools. Individually, EQ training can lead to increased personal well-being, decreased stress responses and stronger leadership. Collectively, children armed with the tools of empathy, thoughtfulness, and self-awareness can become wise citizens. Citizens who vote conscientiously. Citizens who know when emotion and passion serves their cause and when it can hinder progress. Citizens who know how to manage conflict with others whom they do not agree with and work together towards resolution.