DENALI
Venture Philanthropy
about us
Bo Parfet
Founder
A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Bo's fire to push boundaries and challenge the status quo have guided him to academic, professional, physicial and personal heights. He began his career in finance as a Research Fellow at the Financial Accounting Standards Board and then transitioned to being an investment banker in corporate finance for J.P. Morgan. It was during his time on Wall Street that he started an around the world journey to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on every continent, which he completed with Mount Everest in 2007.
Having tackled some of the world's the highest peaks, Bo is currently the Chief Growth Officer at DLP Capital, an innovative real estate solutions provider dedicated to tackling broad social issues and leading with courage.
Bo is an active philanthropist and innovator in the area of social entrepreneurship. In 2004, in conjunction with Explorers Club, Bo established the Seven Summits Awards Program that rewards top students with grants to perform healthcare-related field research. In 2013 Bo founded Denali Venture Philanthropy to formally fuse his love of business with his desire to support positive change in the world.
Bo holds a Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Michigan, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Chicago’s Northwestern University, and a BS in Economics from Colorado State University. He is a published author including, Die Trying: One Man’s Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits and They Lived To Tell The Tale: True stories of Modern Adventure from the Legendary Explorers Club.
Meredith Parfet
President
Meredith is a passionate philanthropist and entrepreneur. While earning her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management in 2007, Meredith was a leader in a groundbreaking partnership between Northwestern University and the Gates Foundation to develop low cost HIV diagnostics for developing countries. After extensive product development work and field research in East Africa, she transitioned to full time employment as a Global Product Manager for a leading HIV drug. As a part of her work in Africa and other developing countries she designed and implemented an award winning program that trained more than 3,000 doctors in advanced HIV/AIDS topics. She also founded a toy library at the Tshwaranang Orphan Center in Johannesburg, RSA.
In 2012, after moving back to Boulder, Colorado, Meredith applied her start-up, financial services and marketing experience to various entrepreneurial activities including work on affordable housing, real estate development, investment management and impact investing at Denali Venture Philanthropy. She is currently the CEO of the Ravenyard Group, a crisis management consultancy committed to providing support for leaders and teams.
In addition to her MBA, from the Kellogg School of Management, Meredith holds a BA in Political Science from Northwestern University. She is a British American Project 2009, Fellow, nominated for and selected to participate in an annual international conference around sustainability and global resource limitations. Meredith earned the 2018 Rocky Mountain Who's Who in Impact Investing from the Denver Business Journal. Meredith is also a hospice chaplain and holds a certificate as an End of Life Doula.