Board of Directors

Catherine Popper (Chair)

Catherine is an Angel Investor, Advisor and Board Member for early-stage start-ups, actively involved with Launchpad Venture Group. She supports Women Entrepreneurial Founders through investing, advising, and mentoring. With a diverse background in senior leadership roles, including Fidelity Investments, Mercer HR Consulting, Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman), Towers Perrin, and WFD Consulting, Catherine brings extensive experience and expertise. She currently serves on the boards of Beeyonder, Potencia, Launchpad Venture Group, the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, and the deCordova Museum. She holds a BS in math from Tufts University and an MBA from Boston University.

Kit Manning

Kit recently retired as a corporate and foundation fundraising professional, most recently at Tufts University. Prior to her non-profit career, Kit was a project manager, client director, and regional director with several startup e-businesses and major corporations. She has an undergraduate degree in history and French and a Master's Degree in Intercultural Relations.  

Joel Aranson

Joel is a Principal at Google focused on corporate strategy in the Partnerships organization. Prior to this role, he worked in digital advertising at Google and digital ad agency Digitas, specializing in the proliferation and innovation of programmatic media buying and selling.

Joel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tufts University, where he is also a member of the Tufts Marketing Advisory Committee.

Bob McTighe

Bob is an accomplished executive with broad-based management, governance, and fiduciary experience. He has played an instrumental role in leading growth and development strategies as President, COO, CFO, and Director of Finance and Administration. With a background in high-tech, manufacturing, and distribution firms, as well as experience in the energy-efficiency nonprofit sector, Bob brings a diverse skill set to the table. In addition, he has served on several boards of directors and has valuable experience with audit and finance committees.

Bob holds a BS in Engineering from Tufts University and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.