Elaine MacDonald

Elaine Lum MacDonald is committed to empowering social enterprises to accelerate their positive societal and environmental impact. Elaine was the former CEO of Knowledge Impact Network (KIN), a network of passionate leaders sharing knowledge for social good. In this role, she inspired leaders to leverage their skills, insights, and connections to accelerate progress on the world’s most urgent issues. Prior to her role at KIN, Elaine was the Executive Director ofHarvard Business School Community Partners of Northern California, where she motivated Harvard Business School alumni to leverage their business management talents to support Bay Area nonprofits driving positive social change.

Elaine has a strong understanding of the challenges and opportunities of creating impact in a broad array of sectors such as education, mental health, hunger, and climate. She speaks at conferences, gives interviews, and has authored an op-ed piece about the power of applying business acumen to social issues.

Elaine currently sits on the KIN Board, the Silicon Valley SocialVenture Fund (SV2) Board and the Executive Committee of the Harvard Business School AlumniBoard.Before her pivot to advance the social impact sector at large, Elaine founded a strategic marketing consultancy, was a Marketing Leader at the Clorox Company, and was a global management consultant for The Monitor Group.

Elaine was born in Queens, NY and grew up in an immigrant family, which informs her social sector leadership and appreciation for the work of Nuestra Casa. She received her A.B. from Harvard College and MBA from Harvard Business School. She currently resides on the Peninsula and is the mother of three daughters.