Will Smith is the Founder & CEO of Charter Oak Advisory. With a strong foundation in education, sports for development, social justice, and sustainability, Will has dedicated his career to driving positive social change.
For nearly a decade, Will founded and spearheaded LEAD Edu, LEAD Monrovia Football Academy, and LEAD Morocco – a network of nonprofits that provide high-potential youth with quality academic classes, elite sport training, and pathways to tertiary education and career opportunities. They serve 325 students daily and have impacted 135,000+ children globally.
Will has consulted for organizations in Côte d’Ivoire, Mexico, Rwanda, the UK, the US, and Zimbabwe, and he has spoken widely on impact, including at Oxford University, FIFA, and the African Philanthropy Forum. He sits on the Boards of LEAD Edu, LEAD MFA, LEAD Morocco, and the Global Research Institute at William & Mary.
Will holds an MSc in African Studies from Oxford University, BA’s in Government and French from William & Mary, and a degree in social entrepreneurship from Santa Clara University. He was a two-sport NCAA Division 1 student-athlete.
Tory Faries
Strategic Advisor
Tory Faries is a social impact leader with over a decade of experience designing and executing community-driven corporate impact programs. As a founding member of Airbnb.org, Tory led the team and strategy responsible for engaging, activating and deepening the commitments of Airbnb employees, Hosts, guests and donors to support their communities in times of crisis. Tory is passionate about working with organizations to align how their products and services, communities, reach and objectives align with what they are uniquely positioned to offer the world. She received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Northwestern University, and currently resides in Portland, Oregon.
Priyanka Mahajan
Project Principal
Priyanka is an impact and business strategist with 20 years of experience working in the UK, US and globally. Throughout her corporate career she has led teams in multiple business functions from Strategy, Commercial, Business Development, Marketing, and Operations, working closely with executive leadership teams to drive decisions and outcomes. She is passionate about the opportunity the private sector has to create social impact. She has previously taken on pro-bono consulting engagements for foundations and has also founded and launched multiple social impact start-ups. Priyanka holds a BA in Economics from St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, a Diploma in Marketing from UC Berkeley, California and an MBA from SDA Bocconi in Italy. She currently lives in London with her son, daughter and husband.
Magdalena Zorraquin
Project Manager
Magdalena is an education researcher from Buenos Aires, Argentina. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. Magda started her career in the education public sector in 2016 as Head of Operations for The Varkey Foundation in Argentina, supporting the Foundation’s launch in Argentina and managing the implementation of teacher training programs across four provinces. In 2018, she transitioned to the academic team, developing program content and designing the M&E strategy for the Foundation. In 2019, Magda consulted for a specialist using the Reggio Emilia Approach, designing a platform for teacher training and an advisory strategy for private and public schools. Since 2020, she has been a research consultant for The Varkey Foundation, focusing on education policy, school leadership, teacher career trajectory, and teacher training. Magda also coordinates an international network of government officials and education experts which advocates for policies that support teache
Sarahí Romo Uribe
Project Manager
Sarahí is an anthropologist with over ten years of experience working in social development programs in Mexico and the United Kingdom. She has collaborated with NGOs, private companies, and international agencies such as UN Women.
Sarahí firmly believes that it is vital to create conditions that allow all people to access the structure of opportunities. With this in mind, she has worked as a project manager in initiatives aimed at promoting social mobility and women’s economic empowerment. As part of the Charter Oak team, Sarahí works as the project manager to support the establishment of Nauka Nayarit’s social impact strategy in Nayarit, México.
Sarahí holds an MA in Anthropology of Development and Social Transformation from Sussex University in the UK and a BA in International Relations from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in México.
Justin Morrow
Sports Strategist
Justin is a retired twelve-year veteran of Major League Soccer and former Technical Development Manager for Toronto FC. Throughout his championship-winning professional career in Major League Soccer he leveraged his platform to build community, including co-founding Black Players for Change to work for a more inclusive environment in the league and communities in which they play. In his role with TFC, his responsibilities included both Player Development and Culture & Inclusion. Through his time both as a player and in the front office of a professional team, Justin has a strong background in building collective action amongst athletes in the movement for sports equity. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2010 with a degree in Finance and studied the convergence of social movements and sports as the first Global Sports Initiative Fellow at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 2022.
Shanda Cooper
Project Manager
Shanda Cooper Goff is a program development specialist with over 20 years of experience working in the US and Africa. She has provided strategic planning for start-ups and non-profit organizations. Shanda has led project management efforts for a sports foundation and a health equity non-profit catering to underserved communities. She specializes in project planning, community engagement, program coordination, and program infrastructure development. Passionate about social impact and advocacy, Shanda is Co-Chair of the Washington National Cathedral’s Outreach and Social Justice Ministries. She holds an MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development from the University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies, and a BA in International Relations from the College of William and Mary. Originally from Liberia, Shanda lives in Washington, DC with her husband.
Stasi Baranoff
Project Principal
Stasi Baranoff has worked in social impact and international development in a variety of capacities since 2010. She completed an MA in International Relations with a dissertation focused on the efficacy of microfinance for women’s borrower groups in Bangladesh, and since then has worked in microfinance, coffee and cocoa supply chains, leveraging business principles to facilitate social change in emerging economies. She served as the Program Director for Sustainable Harvest Rwanda, a Bloomberg-funded non-profit built to connect rural women coffee farmers to the international specialty coffee market. Following these years in Kigali, she spent 5 years traveling throughout Central and South America, and East and West Africa as the Director of Operations and Sourcing for Uncommon Cacao, a fully transparent impact-first cocoa importing company. She currently supports Kiva.org to provide non-financial services and support to investees around the world, specifically in the areas of social impact, operations, and product/market strategy.
Steve Miller
Advisor
Steve is the CEO of Agassi Graf Holdings. He is responsible for the leadership and operation of three for-profit entities (Agassi Graf Holdings, Agassi Ventures LLC, and Stefanie Graf Ventures LLC) plus one non-profit foundation (Andre Agassi Foundation for Education). He is a visionary; a passionate and progressive leader with the broad institutional experience and the intellect necessary to motivate and lead a diverse team of professionals in both the for profit and not for profit business sectors.
Steve is also well known in the world of sports marketing, having served as Director of Global Sports Marketing during his 10 years at Nike. He has a B.S. in English literature and physical education from Bradley University, and a M.S. in physical education and biomechanical analysis from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Jill Ellis
Advisor
Jill Ellis is the President of San Diego Wave FC. She is the former Head Coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team and a 2-time FIFA World Coach of the Year, and is the only coach to have won the Women’s World Cup twice. In previous roles, Ellis served as the Assistant Coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team, as well as the Head Coach of UCLA and the University of Illinois. She played college soccer at the College of William & Mary, where she was named an All-American and earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Composition.
Ronnie Lott
Advisor
Ronnie Lott is a Hall of Famer who played in the NFL for 14 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Lott played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was honored as a consensus All-American. A first-round pick in the 1981 NFL Draft, he played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Jets, and Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. Lott was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, and is widely considered to be one of the best players in NFL history.
In 1989, Ronnie founded All Stars Helping Kids, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that creates opportunities in education, health and life skills for disadvantaged youth.
Graham Albert
Advisor
Graham is a seasoned professional with over seventeen years experience working in finance and social impact. As a founding employee of the fixed income hedge fund MP Securitized Credit Partners, where he worked from 2008 to 2021, Graham was part of an investment team that oversaw trading, operations, risk management, accounting, and reporting across all positions and asset types. Over the past seven years, Graham has also served on the fiduciary boards of Monrovia Football Academy and LEAD Edu, as well as the Annual Giving advisory board at the College of William and Mary. As Charter Oak’s Chief Operating Officer, Graham supports the firm’s day-to-day operations and works closely with the CEO on the firm’s overall strategy and growth.
