Meet our team
Every hub, every shipment, every report — run by people who treat the mission like it can't wait.
Samir Lakhani
Samir Lakhani is a social entrepreneur dedicated to restoring health and dignity to developing countries. Before founding Eco-Soap Bank in 2014, Samir was deeply involved in aquaculture and nutrition projects in northern Cambodian villages. He has also developed solar lighting projects in Cambodia, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Through six years of nonprofit work in nutrition, water accessibility, and sanitation/hygiene, he has witnessed firsthand how delivering key products like soap transforms the health and well-being of impoverished communities. Samir received a CNN Heroes Award for Eco-Soap Bank in 2017 and a Unilever Young Entrepreneurs award in 2018, and has given a TEDx Talk. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and currently lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
samir@ecosoapbank.org
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Board of Directors
Our board brings together operators, investors, attorneys, clinicians, and social entrepreneurs who hold us accountable to the women we employ and the programs we supply.
Steve Urich
Steve has spent the last ten years as CEO of three consulting companies that assist thousands of nonprofits with compliance, governance, accounting, and digital marketing, working with many of the nation's largest and best-known organizations. Previously he worked in business intelligence and analytics, analyzing processes and procedures to improve the efficiency and resiliency of governmental entities including FEMA, the Department of Defense, the IRS, and the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. He holds a B.A. from St. John's College, an MBA from Virginia Tech, an MA from Université libre de Bruxelles, and a PhD from Universität Heidelberg.
Cinta Putra, MBA
Cinta is a serial entrepreneur turned early-stage start-up investor with multiple successful exits. She is a Venture Partner at VoicePunch, an early-stage voice-driven venture capital firm, and a Managing Partner at CSPK Capital, investing in founders and early-stage start-ups across health care, education, finance, economic opportunity, and access to technology. Over the last 20 years she has founded, co-founded, and successfully exited four companies, including Everbridge, Inc. (Nasdaq: EVBG), which she took from founding to IPO. She has held leadership positions in public and private multi-billion-dollar global companies, responsible for worldwide financial operations and spearheading acquisitions and corporate restructuring. Cinta holds a BA in Accounting and an MBA from California State University, Fullerton.
Elizabeth Chuk, PhD
Elizabeth earned her PhD from the University of Washington in 2010 and is a professor at the University of California Irvine Paul Merage School of Business. Prior to joining UCI in 2016 she was on the faculty at the University of Southern California for six years. Her research covers earnings management, pension accounting, and the economic consequences of accounting standards, and has been published in The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting & Economics, and Contemporary Accounting Research. Before her doctorate she was an auditor at Deloitte & Touche.
Andrew Valsamaki, CPA
Andrew is an Investment Banking Analyst at Takenaka Partners in Los Angeles, where he provides international M&A and consulting services for buy-side and sell-side clients. Before joining Takenaka in 2018 he was an auditor with Moss Adams. He received a B.S. in Economics and Mathematics and an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California, where he ran two organizations focused on career development and remains an active alumnus. He also serves on the Young Professionals Advisory Board at the Los Angeles Music and Art School.
Paul Grinvalds, CPA
Paul is the co-founder of AfriPads, the largest feminine hygiene manufacturer on the African continent, reaching 5 million young girls and women with dignified hygiene. Since exiting, he has dedicated his time and expertise to social enterprises and nonprofits working in Africa, including Eco-Soap Bank. He is based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Jasmine Zou
Jasmine is an Investment Banking Senior Analyst at Provident Healthcare Partners. She previously served as president of UCSD Women in Business, which empowers women of all backgrounds to become leaders through business education, networking, mentorship, leadership development workshops, and social events. Jasmine holds a degree from the University of California, San Diego.
Cara Walker, JD
Cara is a legal professional who leverages creative problem-solving to manage efficient resolutions, using intercultural competency and emotional intelligence to facilitate effective communication with internal and external stakeholders and achieve fair and just outcomes. She recently received her MBA from UNC Chapel Hill and currently serves as general counsel for PadSplit, a financial products start-up.
Kareem Idrees, MD
Kareem is a practicing physician at the UPMC hospital system in Pittsburgh, PA. He has specific experience working with developing countries, having worked with vulnerable populations living with HIV in Cape Town, South Africa. Alongside his medical work, Kareem works with refugee populations in Pittsburgh, serving basic needs and helping them navigate healthcare services.
Steve Misner
Technology Chair
Steve spent many years at Colgate-Palmolive working in personal-care and soap product development, and is listed as an inventor on numerous patents — including a 2021 patent for a plant-oil-based antiperspirant stick, alongside earlier patents for cleansing-bar compositions and manufacturing processes. A soap manufacturing engineer by trade, he has mastered every stage of bar-soap production: raw-ingredient selection, saponification, extrusion, cutting, stamping, packaging, and distribution. He later co-founded a boutique soap company.