Governance Committee

Gerald Johnson
Chief Diversity Officer

Gerald Johnson, AHA’s Chief Diversity Officer and Executive Vice President of the Office of Health Equity, oversees AHA’s impact investment group.

Gerald brings a wealth of consumer and B2B experience from major fortune 500 Companies including Unilever, Nabisco, Dr. Pepper/7-UP, Cadbury Schweppes, ConAgra Foods and Magic Johnson Enterprises. During his career, Gerald has held various leadership positions in Marketing, most recently as Chief Marketing Officer for Magic Johnson Enterprises and the Magic Johnson Foundation with accountability for leading marketing across all businesses, as well as driving revenue and sales growth for all Strategic Alliances and Licensing ventures.

As an industry leader and sought out speaker, Gerald is currently the Executive Vice President, Health Equity and Chief Diversity Officer for The American Heart Association and is responsible for leading strategy, growing investment and driving impact for Equitable Health and Wellbeing globally. 

Ashlye Stewart, CFA
Managing Director, Head of the Social Impact Funds Portfolio

Ashlye Stewart, as Managing Director and Head of the AHA’s Social Impact Funds Portfolio, including the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund, leads the Impact Investing Group. Ashlye has over 24 years of capital markets experience and 12 years of Impact Investing experience. Having led and consulted on various social impact projects across 15 countries, she has executed impact investment transactions totaling over $415M. Ashlye has also consulted on the strategy, structuring, and funding of two impact investment funds for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): the Calvert Inter-American Opportunity Fund and The IDB Missing Middle Fund focused on investing in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises making a positive social impact in several countries around the world.

Before shifting to impact investing in 2011, Ashlye developed 13 years of investment structuring and portfolio management experience working on over $3B alternative asset and private investment transactions at investment firms such as KBC Financial Products, Bank of America, and Merrill Lynch. Ashlye holds a Masters in Applied Mathematics of Finance from Columbia University and is a CFA Charter Holder.

Dionne Broadus, JD
VP Mission Advancement, Social Impact

Dionne Broadus, as VP of Mission Advancement, Social Impact, leads Philanthropic Fundraising and Donor Relations for the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, including the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund. In this role, Dionne works with Mission Advancement colleagues, the Impact Investment Group, and volunteer leaders to engage funders and champion investments to the Social Impact Funds.

For over 25 years, Dionne has created impactful philanthropic relationships and corporate partnerships that have advanced community, culture and equitable access to health, arts and education, raising over $100M dollars.

She has served in leadership positions/Chief Development Officer roles with organizations such as Case Western Reserve University, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Essence Magazine, National Basketball Association, BET Networks and the City of New York under Mayor Bloomberg.

Dionne earned a B.A, magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh Honors College and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Before her development career, Dionne practiced finance law at a large Chicago law firm. She is a member of national community organizations Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and The Links, Incorporated.

Mark McCoy
Portfolio Manager

Mark McCoy is a Portfolio Manager for the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, including the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund. In this role, Mark is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and negotiating terms for new investments. He also actively manages relationships with the investees to ensure compliance, monitor financial performance and drive social impact.

Mark comes to the AHA Social Impact Funds Group with 15+ years of diversified capital markets experience with 10+ years specializing in Impact Investing. He has designed, launched and managed small business development programs, impact assessments, and bespoke investment products across five continents for numerous public and private institutions including the World Bank/IFC, CDC Group, Norfund, Deutsche Bank, SIDA and others. Mark started his career at Archer Daniels Midland trading commodity option contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade and later founded a social enterprise in the hospitality sector while living in Nairobi, Kenya. Upon moving back to the US, Mark has worked for private family offices in various portfolio management and direct investment roles with varied focus including food security, health equity, poverty reduction, peace and security, and access to capital markets.

Mark holds an International MBA from the University of Denver and a BS in Finance and Economics from North Park University.

Max Gritzuk
Portfolio Manager

Max Gritzuk is a Portfolio Manager for the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, including the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund. In this role, Max is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and negotiating terms for new investments. He also actively manages relationships with the investees to ensure compliance, monitor financial performance and drive social impact.

He has over 10 years of diverse investing experience including more than seven years in the impact investing space. Max was previously Vice President of Financial Services at Opportunity Finance Network where he underwrote and structured investments in Community Development Financial Institutions CDFIs, managed the portfolios of three mission-aligned funds, and processed over $500M of US Treasury impact bond applications. Max also worked as a high yield credit analyst in New York evaluating opportunities in the consumer products, healthcare, and REIT sectors.

Max holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance from Northeastern University.

Valerie Dao
Portfolio Manager

Valerie Dao is a Portfolio Manager for the American Heart Association’s Social Impact Funds, including the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund. In this role, she is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, and negotiating terms for new investments. She also actively manages relationships with the portfolio members to drive social impact, monitor financial performance and ensure compliance. Valerie has 10 years of experience in the social sector, including working at a venture philanthropy fund and a consulting firm where she specialized in program monitoring and evaluation, organizational assessment, and strategic planning.

Valerie is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Irvine, and a MPP from the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.

Claire Ugo-Ike
Senior Evaluation Analyst

Senior evaluation analyst, Claire Ugo-Ike, leads the evaluation of community-based solutions and initiatives designed to address social determinants of health to reduce health disparities across different communities in the United States.

Before joining the American Heart Association, Claire led impact evaluations for different community-based, government-funded projects, including coordinating implementation and evaluation of USAID-funded HIV prevention, conflict resolution and peace-building programs across different West-African communities. Her early scientific career was devoted to studying microbiology, learning the structures, functions, and classifications of microorganisms, the diseases they cause, and the different ways of both exploiting and controlling their activities.

Claire holds a Master of Science degree in pharmaceutical microbiology from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria and a Bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.