Business Forward Foundation Our Staff - Business Forward Foundation

Our Staff

STAFF

Jim Doyle

President

For 25 years, Jim Doyle has advised leading corporations, financial service firms, venture capitalists, and non-profits on a range of policy, regulatory, and communications issues. In addition to his work at Business Forward, Jim serves as president of Portico Policy Advisors, a policy research firm. Jim’s managed research projects on clean energy, climate change, trade practices, technology in schools, college affordability, children’s nutrition, and online privacy. Prior to founding Portico, Jim helped build and sell two businesses. He also served as senior policy advisor and deputy chief of staff to Commerce Secretary William Daley, where he focused on technology and economic policy, and on the communications team of Clinton/Gore 1996. Prior to joining the Clinton Administration, Doyle practiced law with Hogan Lovells US LLP. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.

Elizabeth Fairchild

Executive Director

Liz Fairchild is the Executive Director of Business Forward, engaging with small business leaders, policymakers, foundations, venture capitalists, and entrepreneurs.

Liz most recently served as a Fellow at Blu Venture Investors, a VC firm led by operating executives investing in early stage entrepreneurs in the Mid-Atlantic Region. She has advised high tech, auto industry, and media clients on strategic positioning and policy as Director of Research for Portico Policy Advisors. She has worked for a boutique veteran-owned defense contractor, The Aspen Institute’s Communications and Society Program, and a venture-backed online video production company, Animoto.

Liz holds a BA in Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies from Dartmouth College and MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. She lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband.

Maryam Ahmed

Research Fellow

Maryam is a Research Fellow at Business Forward. Previously, Maryam was the Business Forward Research Associate. Before joining Business Forward, Maryam worked as a research assistant at the George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She also interned at the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s National Arts and Sciences Initiative where she worked on advocacy for higher education issues.

Maryam holds a BA in Political Economy from Georgetown University and currently lives in the Washington, DC area.

Maggy Henert

Director of Network Services and Advocacy

Maggy Henert is the Director of Network Services and Advocacy at Business Forward, engaging with small business leaders and entrepreneurs in the Northeast. 

Maggy was most recently a Field Organizer in Maricopa County for the Arizona Coordinated Campaign for the 2020 general election. She previously organized in several early and key primary states including Iowa, California, and the West Coast region during the primary election for Biden for President. While attending Fordham University, she was a Military and Veterans Affairs Casework Intern for Senator Gillibrand, and a Legislative Intern for a Queens Assemblymember. 

Maggy has a BA in Political Science from Fordham University and lives in Washington, D.C.

Rachael Packard

Director of Member Services and Programming

Rachael is the Director of Member Services and Programming at Business Forward.

After graduating from Northwestern University with a BA in Political Science and Communication Studies in March of 2020, she joined the Biden for President campaign as an organizer for the Ohio Coordinated. Rachael has previously served as Deputy Campaign Manager’s assistant in the 2018 Illinois gubernatorial race, and interned for a boutique DC lobbying firm, focused on financial technology and defense. The daughter of two Air Force service members, Rachael moved around frequently before attending high school in Omaha, Nebraska.

She now resides in Washington, D.C.

Ashton Potter

Digital Director

Ashton is the Digital Director at Business Forward.

Most recently, Ashton served as Digital Manager in the New York City Queens Borough President primary race. Before that, she joined the Biden for President campaign as the Digital Director for Nebraska’s Second Congressional District. After graduating from Kent State University with a degree in Fashion Design, she spent the first few years of her career designing womenswear for a widely known department store.

Ashton currently resides in Washington, D.C. with her husband.