Our Team

  • Gayle Nosal

    Gayle is the Chief Vision Officer at Little Big Fund, having launched the program over 5 years ago. She supports program delivery, network-building, and course exposure. Gayle received her Bachelors from Skidmore College and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Red Empress Foundation; and one of the Co-Founders of Needle & Frame. A career in advertising was followed by a career in teaching—all while being a mom to two wonderful children. In 2012, with those children grown, Gayle decided to pursue a life-long dream to create collaborative, social-impact documentary films.

  • Abhinav Khanal

    Abhinav is the Chief Operating Officer at Little Big Fund. He ensures the effective operational and financial procedures, while building partnerships with LBF’s global network to recruit Believers on a yearly basis. Abhinav earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Earlham College and is the Executive Director for Bean Voyage, a non-profit social enterprise that collaborates with smallholder women coffee producers in Costa Rica by providing training and market access. He is a Re;co Fellow, Cordes Fellow, Resolution Fellow, Trust Scholar, Watson Scholar, and a One Young World Ambassador.

  • Christen Brandt

    Christen is an impact strategist and advisor dedicated to creating a better world for girls. She is the co-founder of She’s The First, an international NGO dedicated to ensuring girls everywhere are educated, respected, and heard, as well as the co-author of Impact: A Step-by-Step Plan To Create the World You Want to Live In. She works with universities, companies, and organizations to guide them on the journey from intent to impact.

    Today, Christen is an Oxford-Intesa Sanpaolo MBA Scholar at Oxford University, where she's exploring ways to democratize philanthropy and meaningfully accelerate impact for women and girls.

  • Ian Makamara

    Ian is the Innovator in Residence at Little Big Fund. He works with founders to learn about Little Big Fund’s unique model, and find approaches to scale it through partnerships and collaborations with social impact organizations and foundations around the world.

    Ian is a LLB Graduate from Strathmore University and an alumnus of the Stanford Leadership Academy Development Program on Public Policy. He is also the head of legal operations at the Nawiri Sisters Foundation, a youth-based organisation in Kenya working on menstrual health equity and an advisory board member of the Global Childhood Academy, an ed-tech startup that is upskilling childcare providers globally.