Our Team
Steve Rocco - Co-Founder, Director, Social Capital Markets
Steve leads the development of the social capital market for Mission Markets. Steve brings over 14 years of experience in microfinance, non-profit investment funds and investment banking. Prior to joining Mission Markets, Steve was an investment analyst responsible for analyzing and underwriting investments for MDLF, a mission driven investment fund focused on independent news outlets in emerging markets. Prior to this, Steve worked in investment banking for seven years in the capital markets area for Bank of America Securities and Citibank. He also worked with a Community Development Finance Institution in Los Angeles and with FINCA, a leading microfinance organization in Washington and Ecuador. Steve graduated from The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and holds a BA in International Political Economy from the University of California at Berkeley. Steve is a father of one and an avid surfer and skier.
David Meyers - CFO/COO
David manages corporate finance, company operations and development of environmental markets for Mission Markets. David brings a diverse background in both science and business. Prior to joining Mission Markets, David consulted for social entrepreneurs and a range of international organizations including the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program. He founded and ran a triple bottom line bamboo flooring factory in Madagascar. He has spent years working on protected areas management and rural development. He has designed several forest carbon projects and worked with Wildlife Conservation Society to design and launch a REDD+ project that helped create one of Madagascar’s largest protected areas. David began his career studying the ecology and evolution of primates with a focus on the lemurs of Madagascar. David holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a PhD from Duke University. He is the father of 2 children, and an avid diver and musician.
Theda Braddock - Director of Environmental Policy
Theda leads environmental policy research for Mission Markets. Theda has been an environmental and securities attorney for over 20 years. She is the author of the Washington Environmental Law Handbook, Government Institutes (2005), Wetlands Regulation: Case Law, Interpretation & Commentary, Government Institutes (2003), and Wetlands: An Introduction to Ecology, the Law, and Permitting, Government Institutes (1995) (2d ed. 2007). Ms. Braddock is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington. She is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims and the United States Supreme Court. Theda has a JD from Golden Gate University and a BA from Mills College. She enjoys teaching sailing, is a racing skipper and tactician, and is qualified as an Offshore Skipper for the US Naval Sailing Squadron.
Jeff Tuller - Chief Technology Officer, Director of Social Metrics
Jeff manages Mission Markets’ computer and web technologies, in addition to overseeing its incorporation of social performance metrics. He brings to Mission Markets two decades of experience in both technology and finance, in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors. At Bear Stearns, Jeff was a Vice President of Mortgage-Backed Securities, specializing in CMO analysis. At Princeton Financial Systems (a division of State Street Bank) he was Senior Systems Architect for Portfolio Management. His non-profit experience includes consulting for the SIA Educational Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and most recently as co-founder of socialmarkets.org, a web-based platform for non-profit evaluation using performance metrics. Jeff has a BA (Cornell University) and MS (University of New Hampshire) in Computer Science, and an MPA from NYU’s Wagner School for Public Service. Jeff knows more than he probably should about cars, smartphones and most things French.
Michael Van Patten - CEO, Founder
Michael is the CEO and founder of Mission Markets and Mission Markets Earth LLC and leads strategic and business development efforts. He is considered an environmental capital markets innovator and is responsible for guiding Mission Markets’ financial and technological innovation and applying it to the social and environmental capital markets.
Michael has over 20 years of experience on Wall Street and has been integrally involved in the design and implementation of private placement and illiquid security transactions platforms for several companies including co-founding the highly successful NYPPEX. Michael has been a featured speaker at several environmental and social markets conferences and has written several articles regarding environmental capital markets innovation and financial structure. Michael is also involved in several regional and national working groups that are developing standard metrics to measure biodiversity and habitat function and apply them to financial transactions. Michael possesses FINRA registrations 7, 63, 55, 24, 3.
Michael is a father of four children, an avid surfer, rock climber and has completed over 50 triathlons.
Vicky Stein - Acting Director, Community Investments
Vicky brings wide ranging experience in consulting, public policy, banking and the financial services sector with particular expertise in the intersection of capital markets and community development finance. She currently consults to non-profits and community development financial institutions designing and implementing strategies in the areas of resource development, business expansion and public policy. Prior to consulting, Vicky served as a Senior Policy Associate at Robert A. Rapoza Associates where she represented a broad array of non-profit organizations before Congress and federal agencies. As a staff member of the House Banking Committee, she was instrumental in developing the first Congressional hearing on community based lending organizations. Vicky’s interest in community development finance is informed by her experience in the banking and financial services sector as a bank analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Merrill Lynch and as an associate at Dillon Read & Co.
Vicky will be responsible for business development, relationship management, and advocacy activities in support of the community investing sector. Vicky holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a BA from Middlebury College.
Dawn D. Edwards - Director, Institutional Markets
Dawn brings over 20 years of institutional capital markets experience and manages Mission Markets large institutional investor and issuer relationships. In 2006, Dawn co-founded and became the President of AltruShare Securities, LLC, the first institutional brokerage firm specializing in community investment, and the only nonprofit owned brokerage firm based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. AltruShare combines comprehensive and competitive institutional brokerage services, a unique research product, and experienced management and trading staff. A for-profit venture, AltruShare’s profits support the AltruShare Opportunity Funds, which benefit locally based community programs addressing youth development, education, and economic opportunity.
Dawn began her career at Lazard Freres in 1987. During her tenure, her duties included program trading, technology and soft dollar management. In 1997 she joined GENA, a woman-owned international broker dealer servicing institutional clients in ADRs, developed and emerging markets. In 2000, Dawn joined BNY Global Transition Management and handled transitions for public and corporate plan sponsors, endowments, foundations and Taft-Hartley clients. Dawn possesses FINRA registrations 7, 63 and is the mother of four boys.
Andrea Alexopoulos - Director, Member Services
Andrea Alexopoulos has the role of helping to unite the different facets of social, environmental, and business spheres to round out the marketplace. Prior to this position, Andrea worked for a small, boutique retail brokerage and investment-banking firm that specializes in undervalued growth sectors such as solar-power companies and wind-turbine manufacturers. There, she was in charge of establishing new accounts as well as providing exceptional client services to investors. Andrea holds a Master of Science in Global Affairs in Energy and the Environment from New York University and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in International Finance and Marketing from the University of Miami. Andrea possesses a FINRA Series 7 registration.
Olivia Frazao - Associate, Business Development
Olivia is an Associate with Mission Markets, focusing on building our issuer base. Prior to this, Olivia completed her BA in international relations at Columbia College, Columbia University. Olivia interned in Sao Paulo at Itaú Unibanco / Itaú BBA, the leading bank of Latin America, and in Portugal at MNF Capital, a boutique private equity firm. She has worked at the New York State Division of Human Rights and at WITNESS. Olivia wrote her thesis on stakeholder accountability of Brazil’s Amazon Fund, and completed a field research project on environmental and economic issues in rural Brazil. She spent a semester studying international development at Universita’ di Bologna, Italy. Olivia is fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian, and is proficient in French.