Welcome MCN’s new Board Members
In 2007, our founders recognized the vital role campuses can play in shaping emerging leaders, and the unique role, often underleveraged by universities, that co-curricular education can play in character formation. They launched MCN, a Boston-based, global student network advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals by convening, challenging, and celebrating student leadership for social impact. Since then, MCN has worked directly with civically engaged undergraduates to help them cultivate core values, hone skills, and take action to strengthen communities. Every year our programs reach 5,000+ from 49+ countries. This growth has been made possible by the impeccable stewardship of our Board of Directors. The board has helped us maintain our strategic direction, guided our decision-making, and kept us accountable.
Across 15 years, MCN’s mission has remained the same; To train the next generation of social impact leaders to rethink the paradigms that perpetuate inequality, promote a human-centric and collaborative approach, and transform dialogue into action. Now as MCN enters a new era of its growth, we are thrilled to welcome three new pairs of hands that will help guide us through this phase. Help us welcome two new leaders to our Board of Directors (Michael Iyescas and Sonny Patel) and one new member to our Board of Advisors (Dana Mortenson). Read about them below:
"As someone passionate about education, youth empowerment, and sustainable development, I'm thrilled to contribute to MCN's mission of fostering the next generation of global social impact leaders. In this era of unprecedented global challenges, the world urgently needs the ingenuity, resilience, and unbridled optimism of young people.”
About Michael Iyescas
Michael Iyescas is an accomplished bilingual leader with over 15 years of corporate and nonprofit experience. Michael currently serves as Senior Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility and Global Philanthropy at Fossil Group, Inc., managing a global philanthropic portfolio focused on equitable and sustainable solutions across six continents. He also oversees Fossil's corporate responsibility strategy, "Make Time for Good," aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Previously, Michael was a Program Officer at the Kern Family Foundation, where he managed a $60 million portfolio spanning education, policy, and thought leadership initiatives. Additionally, he successfully launched a $2 million pilot fund to explore innovative ideas through an entrepreneurial lens. Prior to Kern, Michael led a national education initiative with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, worked in quality control and consulting in the pharmaceutical industry, and served as a bilingual high school educator.
A dynamic community leader, Michael lends his expertise to multiple advisory boards, fostering collaboration between business and civic leaders to drive collective impact. Drawing on his extensive experience in philanthropy, sustainability, social impact, business development, and strategy, he guides organizations toward high-impact solutions and systemic change, championing equitable outcomes.
Michael holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Master's in Business Administration from Texas Tech University, a certificate in Corporate Citizenship Practice from Boston College's Carroll School of Management, and completed an Impact Fellowship with Education Pioneers.
“I am honored to join the MCN Board, where I see a powerful opportunity to support the next generation of social impact leaders. These young visionaries, equipped with cutting-edge technology and innovative ideas, are poised to drive transformative change worldwide.”
About Sonny Patel
Sonny Patel is a Presidential Fellow in Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative at Georgia State University and a Visiting Scientist at Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. He is a former National Institutes of Health Fogarty Global Health Scholar and non-resident Fellow at the Joint Special Operations University.
He was awarded the Emerald Publishing Literati Award in 2021 for Outstanding Research Paper by the Journal of Disaster Prevention and Management, and the award for the top cited article for Wiley Publishing by Disasters between 2022 to 2023. He was recognized by USAID in India as one of the top DevDisruptors in Mental Health (2020) and by NATO peers in Ukraine as a rising star in Environmental Health and Security in Conflict Zones (2018). Patel is the author of the book, Community Resilience When Disaster Strikes: Security and Community Health in UK Flood Zones, published by Springer Nature, and contributed to the Emerald Publishing book, COVID-19, Frontline Responders, and Mental Health: A Playbook for Delivering Resilient Public Health Systems Post-Pandemic and the Routledge published textbook, Service-Learning for Disaster Resilience: Partnerships for Social Good.
Patel serves on advisory committees and board of directors of organizations creating positive social and community impacts, such as The Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center.
“I am excited to join the Board of Advisors of Millennium Campus Network! MCN is supporting thousands of young civic leaders at 250+ campuses annually through the Millennium Fellowship. It's a critical time to support young people's civic agency, and a privilege to support Sam Vaghar's exceptional leadership”
We are also thrilled to welcome Dana Mortenson to our Board of Advisors.
About Dana Mortenson
Dana is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of World Savvy, a national education nonprofit working to educate and engage youth as responsible global citizens. World Savvy supports change agents in K-12 education to create more inclusive, adaptive schools that ensure all young people can develop the skills and dispositions needed to thrive in a more diverse, interconnected world.
Since 2002 she has led the organization through significant national expansion, reaching more than 800,000 students and nearly 7,000 teachers across 45 US states and 32 countries. Dana is an Ashoka Fellow and was named one of The New Leaders Council’s 40 under 40 Progressive American Leaders, and Women We Admire’s Top 50 Women Leaders of Minnesota for 2022. She was also a winner of the Tides Foundation’s Jane Bagley Lehman Award for excellence in public advocacy in 2014.
We are honored to have these three incredible leaders on board, and we’re confident that they will help propel MCN into a global leader in youth leadership development.