Our Team

Felipe Witchger, Executive Director 

Felipe bridges impact capital into institutional portfolios that advance the common good. Felipe has gathered and helped steward communities managing over $134 billion in assets and catalyzed more than $50 million in impact-first investments advancing broad-based ownership and environmental leadership. Felipe has advised Fortune 100 energy companies on climate risk and sustainability strategy with Cambridge Energy Research Associates (now part of S&P Global) and later founded and operated a facility-management and solar-development business in Washington, DC.

At Francesco Collaborative, he curates communities of faith-based and mission-driven investors to integrate Catholic Social Teaching and poverty alleviation into their investment strategies. Through Livable Future Impact, an affiliated initiative, Felipe supports family offices, foundations, and institutions in allocating to high-impact, employee-ownership, and regenerative funds.

Before founding the Francesco Collaborative, Felipe spent a decade building relationships across the cooperative finance ecosystem—working with cooperative banks, CDFIs, and impact funds focused on shared ownership and community wealth. Felipe holds a BA in economics and energy studies from the University of Notre Dame.

Felipe’s LinkedIn

Contact: felipe@francescocollaborative.org

Christina Wolson, Head of Programs and Operations

Christina believes that it’s time to change our economy from one of exploitation and maximization to one of empowerment and taking care of one another.

Christina supports the Francesco Collaborative by managing the annual Summit, programming and operations. She has worked as a researcher, strategic advisor and project manager at different organizations, including MIT, GIZ and the United Nations. In each role, she searches for solutions to create a more equitable economic system.

Christina holds a BA in Economics and Psychology from Wellesley College and a Master of City Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. Born in Russia, raised in Germany and formed all over the world, Christina lives in New York City. 

Christina’s LinkedIn

Contact: christina@francescocollaborative.org

Alissa Orlando, Senior Fellow

Alissa is a serial entrepreneur passionate about hustling for hustlers. She was co-founder and Managing Director of The Drivers’ Cooperative and consulted for many shared ownership organizations including Inclusiv, Zebras Unite, and O1 Labs.  She is currently co-founder of You Should Smile More Productions, a Tony-winning Broadway production company. She previously spent four years building Rocket Internet and Uber across East Africa and worked at McKinsey.  She has her MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University.

Alissa’s LinkedIn

Contact: alissa@francescocollaborative.org

Elias Crim, Senior Fellow

Elias Crim is an editor and publisher who founded the national blog Solidarity Hall in 2013. Its publications include a new English translation of Mondragon founder Fr. Josemaria Arizmendi’s Reflections and the anthology Radically Catholic in the Age of Francis.

A longtime advocate of worker ownership, he has a new book on social cooperatives coming out later this year. He is also the co-host (with Pete Davis) of the podcast Lost Prophets.

Elias’ LinkedIn

Contact: elias@francescocollaborative.org

Carol Tarr, Fellow

Carol is originally from the South Side of Chicago and works for Phenix Capital Group in Amsterdam where she is responsible for the Impact Investing Academy, programs and collaborations.

Carol received a Master’s of Theology degree focusing on World Religions from Harvard Divinity School and studied History of Religions at the University of Chicago School of Divinity. She spends a lot of her free time rowing and sees the small boat in big waters analogy as a constant in faith-first impact investing.

Carol’s LinkedIn

Contact: carol@francescocollaborative.org

Colin Gilbert, Fellow

Colin is driven by a passion for transforming unjust systems to advance the common good. Over the past 20 years, he has dedicated his career to launching and scaling social impact initiatives in education, technology, refugee support, and climate action.

Most recently, Colin led growth strategy at Sown To Grow, an AI-driven platform focused on social-emotional learning and student reflection. Previously, he served as Country Director for Jesuit Refugee Service in Jordan during the height of the Syrian refugee crisis, developed service-learning programs for Jesuit high schools, and advised numerous nonprofits on leveraging technology to amplify their impact.

Colin holds graduate degrees in public Policy, economics, and education from Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as a BA in religious studies from Loyola Marymount University. He’s currently based in Miami, FL, yet his passion for fostering community connections keeps him regularly on the move.

Colin’s LinkedIn

Contact: colin@francescocollaborative.org