Our Team
Ric Elias, Founder
Follow on Twitter @RicElias and Instagram @_RicElias
Ric Elias is the co-founder and CEO of Red Ventures, a global media and technology company, and the founder of several nonprofits, including Stronger Than Ever and Road to Hire and Golden Door Scholars – two nonprofits aimed at creating opportunity for underserved youth. To date, Road to Hire has supported 1,200 young people on their paths to high-earning careers, and Golden Door Scholars has awarded 551 full scholarships to high-achieving undocumented students.
In 2021, Ric joined the Charlotte Mayor's Racial Equity Initiative, which aims to set a new standard for achieving racial equity, social justice, economic opportunity, and upward mobility in American cities. He is committed to supporting a new generation of young talent through Historically Black Colleges & Universities, recently announcing a $5M personal commitment to Johnson C. Smith University and serving on the JCSU Board. Ric and his wife Brenda joined The Giving Pledge in 2021, committing to give away the majority of their wealth for the greater good.
A native of Puerto Rico, Ric is a passionate advocate for the island. In 2017, in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Ric launched a nonprofit in the span of 24 hours called Rebuild Puerto Rico which has since provided 100 homes for Puerto Ricans who were displaced by the storm. In 2022, Ric expanded the mission of Rebuild Puerto Rico to provide support to those impacted by humanitarian crises all over the world, re-launching the nonprofit organization as Stronger Than Ever.
Natalie Jaresko, Stronger Than Ever Volunteer
njaresko@strongerthanever.com
Natalie Jaresko has a distinguished international finance career. She most recently served as the Executive Director of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico (2017-22) - stepping down after leading Puerto Rico through a debt-restructuring that reduced by half the island’s $60 billion public debt and resolved the island’s $50 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities.
She served as Minister of Finance of Ukraine (2014-16) during Ukraine’s deep recession, Russian occupation, and war on part of its territory. During her tenure she led the successful negotiation and implementation of the largest International Monetary Fund (IMF) program in the institution’s history, as well as a complex sovereign and sovereign guaranteed debt restructuring.
Prior to this ministerial position, she spent two decades investing in small and medium-sized business in the region, as co-founder and CEO of Horizon Capital and as President and CEO of the Western NIS Enterprise Fund.
Natalie began her career in public service serving in the U.S. State Department (1989-92) and as Chief of the Economic Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine (1992-95), where she helped build a new economic relationship between the U.S. and newly-independent Ukraine.
Natalie is a Certified Public Accountant with a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from DePaul University.
Kacey Grantham, Volunteer
Kacey has been an integral leader of Red Ventures’ businesses and social impact efforts. She currently leads RV’s Education sector, working to connect millions of prospective students with online institutions each year in their pursuit of higher education. Prior to her current role, Kacey was a founding member of the nonprofit Road to Hire - serving as their CEO for a decade and working to create more inclusive corporate workforces and permanently interrupt cycles of intergenerational poverty. Today, she continues to serve on the Board of Directors as well as volunteering for Stronger Than Ever.
Ami Shukla, Volunteer, Operations and Communications
Ami has been working with Stronger Than Ever since the first day in 2022. She joined Red Ventures in 2020, leading the company’s internal and external communications efforts. She has long been passionate about “being the change you wish to see in the world” - starting with spending a year in service with Americorps in 2005. Ami graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism/Public Relations.