Our team is comprised of passionate, committed professionals with a wide range of experience and expertise.
Claire Topal

Claire Topal

Founder & Managing Director

Claire leads Red Tomato partnerships and programs. She has been VP of Health & Aging at The National Bureau of Asian Research, Managing Director of the Pacific Health Summit, Senior Research Consultant at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute, and World Affairs Council Fellow. She also worked for a social science journal in Taipei, a nonprofit strategy firm in New York City, the International Desk of the Associated Press and the Louvre Museum in Paris, and as a teacher in Shanghai. She holds a MA from the Fletcher School at Tufts and an AB in Modernism from Cornell. 

Dawn Bass

Director of Devil’s Advocacy

Dawn is Strategist & Analyst at radio quiet, Founder of Mightier, and Co-Creator of the Mightier Network, of which Red Tomato is a member. Her beautiful writing, strategic thinking, and foresight have won the hearts of every client. She was Associate Editor at the Seattle Review of Books and spent over a decade at PATH in senior strategic communications roles. Dawn has also been Senior Editor at University of Chicago Press and Content Specialist at Vegas.com. Dawn holds an MA and BA in English Language and Literature from the University of Minnesota.

Raelynn Campbell

Raelyn Campbell

Consultant

Raelyn drives policy advocacy, external relations, and partnership strategies. She has been Senior VP at Panorama Global, Special Advisor at the UN Foundation, and Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she launched its first Asia-Pacific government relations and advocacy portfolio. She directed policy initiatives at The National Bureau of Asian Research, the Advanced Medical Technology Association, and the Pacific Council on International Policy. She holds an AB in Diplomacy and Asian Affairs from Occidental College.

Kendra Chappell

Facilitation & Strategy Ace

Kendra develops measurable, adaptable strategies to help strengthen teams and governance. The founder of HiveMinded Consulting, she has facilitated strategy sessions of up to 150 senior participants, guided studies, and managed projects for multiple federal agencies, Nexight Group, PATH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and many others. She is a certified Project Management Professional and holds an MS in Psychology from Kansas State University and a BS in English from the U.S. Naval Academy.

Kristin Harper

Consultant

Kristin leads Harper Health & Science Communications LLC, which delivers CME monographs, slide decks, winning grant proposals, journal articles and more. She has an MPH in Global Epidemiology and a PhD in Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution from Emory University. As a postdoc at Columbia University, she was a Robert Wood Johnson Health & Society Scholar, then Cancer Epidemiology training fellow. She is certified by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences and holds certificates from the American Medical Writers Association. ​

Rachel Katz

Rachel Katz

Consultant

Rachel helps nonprofits cultivate donors, build strategic partnerships, and execute successful events. She currently serves as Director of Events at Lead Edge Capital. Previously, she was Director of Strategy & Business Development at PresenTense, Director of Corporate Philanthropy at AIG, and led special events at the Society of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. She holds an MBA from Boston University and a BA in American Studies from Brandeis University.

Hannah Kettler

Senior Advisor

Hannah is a global expert in corporate social innovation and global health. Currently A Director at Covax, she has also been Director for Vaccine Financing & Partnerships at PATH and spent 16 years at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Program, most recently as Head of Industry and Leadership Engagement on the Life Sciences Partnerships team. She serves on the Gilead Health Policy Advisory Board and is a guest lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Notre Dame.

Abby Klingbeil

Abby Klingbeil

Higher Ed’s Secret Weapon

Abby helped lead advancement communications for Brandeis University and was Assistant Director of Editorial for the University of Washington’s MarCom department. She has been Development and Communications Officer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Business Reporter at The Journal News and other newspapers, and consulted for Tufts University and MIT. Abby holds an MPA from the University of Washington, a BA in History from Dartmouth College, and is an MPH candidate at UMASS Amherst.

Jacqueline Koch

Jacqueline M. Koch

Story-Driven Communicator & PR Maven

Jacqueline is Co-Founder of Boost!Collective and Regional Communications Lead for the National Wildlife Federation. As a journalist, she covered a range of global health issues in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. She has worked with the American Red Cross, World Bank, Clinton Foundation, WHO, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Wellcome Trust, Mercy Corps, J/P Haitian Relief Organization, and Merlin. She is fluent in French and holds a BSJ and an MA in Visual Communications from Ohio University.

Robert Lin

Senior Advisor

Rob connects corporate, non-profit, and foundation R&D and program strategies to financial reality. He is CEO of Avista Therapeutics and Vice President of Translational Science at UPMC Enterprises. He has also been CFO of Phebotics, Inc., VP of Finance at IDRI, and Deputy Director for Global Health Financial Planning & Analysis at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio, and prior to that worked at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (now Takeda) and Dean & Company. He holds a PhD in Human Genetics from Harvard University and an MS in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University. He is a CFA charter holder and Council on Foreign Relations term member.

Mia Lipman Irwin

Senior Editorial & Marketing Consultant

Mia is an empathetic and strategic leader of content teams and serves as Editor in Chief at therapist.com. She has also been Associate Director of Editorial at Kaiser Permanente Washington, Director of Content at the University of Washington, Executive Editor at Canteen Arts, and held a range of editorial roles at Amazon, University of California Press, San Francisco magazine, and Yesler B2B agency. Mia is Principal Editor at Dots & Dashes and an Orcas Island Lit Fest Board member. She is fluent in French and holds a BA in English from Wesleyan University.

Iva Naffziger

Consultant

Iva holds 20+ years of experience in international affairs, global development, and market research. She is Director of Marketing Research and Strategic Insights at The Hartman Group and an alumna of Penn Schoen Berland, Microsoft, and Ipsos Public Affairs, where she helped clients with company imaging, product brand management, and public and global issues messaging.  She excels at translating quantitative and qualitative feedback and data. Iva speaks Czech, French, and Spanish. She holds an MA in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a BA in International Affairs from Amherst College.

Carolyn Roper

The Pele of Project Management

Carolyn specializes in strategic operational support and analysis to senior leadership, trustee engagement, and process improvement, particularly in the non-profit realm. She is Product Delivery Manager at Four Peaks Environmental Science & Data Solutions. She has also been Technical Editor at Anchor QEA and consulted for the American Councils for International Education. She has worked at the National Bureau of Asian Research, International Food Policy Research Center, and World Wildlife Fund. Carolyn holds a BA in English from the Ohio State University.

Nualchan Sakchalathorn

Consultant

Nualchan holds a decade of experience in government relations, grants management, financial strategy, and event planning. She has been Investment Manager at the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund, Program Officer for Asia-Pacific Government Donor Relations at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Senior Project Director for the National Bureau of Asian Research, and Senior Project Director for the Pacific Health Summit. She is fluent in Thai and holds a BA in Economics from the University of Washington.

Patrin Watanatada

Cross-Sector Strategist & Communicator

Patrin is Founder of thinkfeelchange and has worked across a range of social and environmental issues with philanthropies, think tanks, consultancies, and start-ups using the power of ideas to change the world, including the Clean Air Fund, Bernard van Leer Foundation, SustainAbility, Fenton, Oliver Wyman, and a renewable energy developer in Bangkok. An English, French, and Thai speaker, she holds an MA in international business relations from the Fletcher School at Tufts and a BA in philosophy and linguistics from University College London.