Melissa Carrier joined the Dingman Center in the spring of 2006 after 11 years of leading organizational growth for technology companies ranging from Fortune 500 to early stage start-ups. Ms. Carrier brings broad experience across corporate and product-line positions including acquisitions and divestitures, venture investments, partnerships, new product launches, system implementations and marketing programs.

Ms. Carrier joined the Dingman Center from AT&T, where she served as Finance Director for AT&T Mergers and Acquisitions. While at AT&T, Ms. Carrier also led investments for the company's corporate venture fund. In this role, Melissa had lead responsibility for managing the investment pipeline, analyzing financial and market data, performing on-site due diligence, and executing deals.

During Ms. Carrier's tenure at AT&T, she also served as the Product Manager for the MVNO wireless data content offering/platform as well as Manager of Strategy and Business Development for AT&T Consumer Services.

Ms. Carrier began her career as a process consultant for Andersen Consulting. During this time, she worked with U.S. and European clients on business process design and ERP system implementations. Subsequently, Ms. Carrier served as a Director at two startup technology companies focused on web-based business-to-business strategies. Immediately prior to obtaining her MBA, Melissa led strategic development of core processes for SAP's Global Solution Center.

Ms. Carrier received a BS in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University and an MBA with Honors in Finance and Strategic Management from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. Melissa currently lives with her husband, two boys, and a flat-coated retriever in Potomac, MD.


Brian Nelson graduated from Harvard University (B.A. 1976) in Social Studies, an inter-disciplinary honors program in the social sciences. Upon graduation from Harvard, he received a Marshall Scholarship from the British Parliament.  Mr. Nelson graduated from Columbia University Law School (J.D. 1981), with honors in international and comparative law.  He has also studied at Gymnasium Soltau (Germany), the University of Nantes (France) and the London School of Economics.  Before teaching at the University of Maryland, Mr. Nelson taught undergraduate, graduate and executive education courses in corporate citizenship, business ethics international business law for American University and Purdue University.  He has also taught as a visiting professor at several universities in the United Kingdom, Europe and Asia-Pacific, including Manchester Business School (UK & Singapore), RSM Erasmus (NL), ESSEC (Paris), ESCP-EAP (Paris), GISMA (Hanover, Germany), The Australian National University (Canberra) and Central European University (Budapest).  Prior to commencing his academic career, Mr. Nelson practiced international corporate law for over twenty years: at the world headquarters of two multinational corporations and with large law firms in Brussels, New York and Chicago. Matters handled by Mr. Nelson include acquisitions and joint ventures around the world; organizing and restructuring multinational corporate operations; litigation management; advising banks on corporate credit facilities; and general counseling for the world headquarters of multinational corporations. He has also provided consulting services for the Commission of the European Union, the Government of Mexico and the Kingdom of Belgium.  Among other organizational roles, Mr. Nelson was co-founder of “West Suburban Montessori School,” Oak Park, Illinois. WSMS is a preschool (ages 3 to 6, including Kindergarten) owned and controlled by the parents of the students enrolled there. At its inception in 1986, the school had 30 students, five staff, a budget of $150,000 and rented space in the basement of a parochial school.  Since its inception, WSMS’s student and staff have tripled in number – and WSMS has purchased the entire building in which it operates.


Allison Basile is a senior Economics major with a minor in International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland.  During her internship at the Grameen Foundation, where she analyzed the financial health of its partner microfinance institutions, Allison read Muhammad Yunus’s book about social businesses.  From then on she dedicated herself to creating opportunities for students at her university to learn about and take part in social entrepreneurship.  

As Co-President of the International Economics and Finance Society, she changed the direction of the organization by exposing students to professionals from non-profits, think-tanks, and development agencies to talk about topics in social business, economic development and alternative career tracks.  Allison spent a summer in Tanzania where she established a partnership between a local juvenile detention center and a volunteer organization.  Last summer she interned in Kenya with the US Department of State and contributed to the Political Section’s annual Human Rights Report.  She has also interned with the IRIS Center’s Poverty Assessment Tools Team.


Yonas Beshawred was born to and raised in Maryland, and grew up between two cultures as the son of Ethiopian immigrants. Having had his eyes opened in college to the issues and realities people are facing in developing nations, he chose to do something about it. He is currently studying Business and International Development, and while he believes both fields are equally important, his passion lies in development. He aims to make a major contribution to Ethiopia in particular as well as other nations in Africa in the near future in the area of economic development. Believing that the intersection of business and development will change the world, he has thus chosen to pursue a path that is intertwined in both. He considers himself an open-minded person who tries to listen more than talk, and is always eager to learn something new.

When thinking of his own goals in life, he is constantly reminded of Dr. Margaret Mead's words, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."


Kelly Canfield grew up in Baltimore, MD. I am studying Water and Environmental Engineering along with Agriculture and Resource Economics at the University of Maryland, College Park. I spend my free time rock climbing, kayaking and backpacking and after school I hope to pursue a career in international development.

ShaVon Holland is a senior American Studies major with focus areas in entrepreneurship and leadership at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park. After becoming a member of the inaugural class of the Hillman Entrepreneurs Program at Prince George’s Community College, she obtained her Associates degree in Business Administration and transferred to UMD where she remains an active member of the program.  Upon her arrival at UMD ShaVon joined the Rawlings Undergraduate Leadership Fellows Program which is helping her to develop specialized leadership skills to become a champion for those whose voices go unheard in the leadership and decision-making process.  As a member of the I Baby U development team, she is working to determine the feasibility of adding an additional day care facility with extended hours, technological communication devices, and environmentally safe materials on the UMD campus.  ShaVon serves as an Intern Program Support Assistant for the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid, Office of the Ombudsman and has over seven years employment history with the District of Columbia Government.  Her employment with the DC Lottery and Metropolitan Police Department has provided her experience in budgeting, media buying, community event organization, and the development of print media.  ShaVon plans to venture into the expansion of social enterprises and community activism upon her graduation in May 2009.


Amil Husain received a bachelor’s degree in American Literature from the University of California Los Angeles.  He worked at the United Nations Millennium Campaign for five years, his last position serving as the North American Coordinator.  The United Nations Millennium Campaign is an interagency initiative started by the Secretary General, which seeks to mobilize a global grassroots movement that will convince world leaders to keep their promise to end poverty by 2015.


Divya Nithianandam is a junior at the University of Maryland.  She is an electrical engineering major and hopes to pursue art as a double major.  She is also part of the QUEST and Hinman CEO’s program at school, and her extracurricular interests include design, world religions, food and movies.  

John Olson was born in Kingston, NY on February 20, 1980 to John and Kathleen Olson who later had three girls.  He graduated from Saugerties High School in 1998 as salutatorian and went on to the United States Naval Academy where he received a B.S. in Political Science and was commissioned a Naval Officer in May 2002.  He received a M.A. in American Politics from University of Maryland College Park in December 2002. After completing the Navy’s nuclear training program, he was assigned to USS Connecticut in Groton, CT.  He completed three months of a deployment to the Persian Gulf and then took the USS Connecticut through the Electric Boat shipyard as Reactor Control Assistant and Maintenance Coordinator.  He then spent 18 months as an action officer and briefer on Navy staff at the Pentagon, briefing the Secretary of the Navy and Chief of Naval Operations. He is now a MBA/JD student at the University of Maryland and intends to become a social entrepreneur after graduation. He currently resides in Crofton, MD and enjoys running, having just completed his third marathon.