Mark E. Van Ness is a catalyst for sustainability in both the business and not-for-profit sector.

He is the Co-founder and chief executive officer of Sperry Van Ness (www.svn.com), commercial real estate advisors. Since its founding in 1987, Sperry Van Ness has grown to provide exceptional opportunities for a staff of over 1,400 in 37 states and $10 billion in sales a year. By nurturing an environment that embraces diversity, minorities and/or women now represent 60% of the leading advisors at Sperry Van Ness. He established the Sperry Van Ness Legacy Foundation which finances charities to expand as social enterprises, and led has led the creation of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Programs including the Core Covenant since 1991.

Van Ness has benefited from peer group education for over 18 years as a member of TEC/VISTAGE (www.vistage.com), the largest CEO organization in the world, as well as ongoing participation in Young President’s Organization (www.ypo.org), whose mission is to create better leaders through education and peer forums. Within YPO, which has over 10,000 presidents in 80 countries, Van Ness founded the Social Responsibility Network, co-championed the Strategic Philanthropy Network and the Economic Development Network, and is a charter member of the Micro-Finance Action Forum and the Peace Action Network.

In addition to founding the Institute, Van Ness founded the Social Enterprise Loan Fund (SELFund), a syndicate of donor advised funds providing credit enhancement and financing to social enterprises. The SELFund has participated in over $22 million in financing for charitable organizations since 2006. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Good Capital (www.goodcap.net), an investment firm that accelerates the flow of capital to innovative ventures and initiatives that harness the power of the market to create sustainable solutions.

Ernst and Young named Van Ness as a finalist of their Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Additionally, Sperry Van Ness has been named one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Brokerage Firms in North America by Realcomm for its “visionary implementation of a nationwide brokerage organization utilizing non-traditional infrastructure.” He has been a featured speaker for the Building Industry Association (BIA), Pepperdine University MBA Program, YPO, Alliance for Non-profit Management, Hong Kong Council of Social Service and has been featured in recent articles in Business Week and Forbes magazines. He is an Orange County Community Foundation Ambassador, a member of the Los Angeles Social Venture Partners (www.LASVP.org) and the Social Enterprise Alliance (www.se-alliance.com).