Meet Our Steering Committee

Peter Brach

Founder of Propel Philanthropy

Peter Brach is a passionate advocate for providing people, organizations, communities, and social impact ecosystems with the capacity support needed to achieve new levels of change. He founded Propel Philanthropy in January 2022, has served as a trustee and grantee for a private family foundation since 2014, and has managed the Funders 2025 Fund since 2019. He currently offers guidance to some of the 35-plus infrastructure organizations within Propel Philanthropy’s network. In particular, Peter provided consultative support to the SDG Philanthropy Platform, and the Worldwide Initiative of Grant maker Support (WINGS). Peter seeks to find a balance between serving to advance philanthropy (the love of humankind), his spiritual practices, finding time to enrich himself artistically, and enjoying life.

Sam Vaghar

Executive Director, Millennium Campus Network

Sam Vaghar (he/him) is a social entrepreneur committed to helping young people use their voices and power to make a difference.  With 15 years of impact co-founding and leading Millennium Campus Network (MCN), Sam has helped launch the Millennium Fellowship: a student movement for the UN Sustainable Development Goals at 200 campuses worldwide.  Sam has given talks at over 100 institutions worldwide, including Harvard University, MIT, the White House, the United Nations, the Vatican, and on speaking tours across four nations for the U.S. Department of State.  Sam earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brandeis University and a Master in Public Administration (MPA) Degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  See more at https://mcnpartners.org/sam-vaghar.

Maggie Neilson

Chief Marketing Officer

Maggie Neilson is TPW’s Chief Marketing Officer. She joined TPW in December 2021, advising on marketing and communications. Prior to joining TPW, she co-founded and was CEO of Global Philanthropy Group, where she developed and implemented philanthropic strategies for high net worth individuals, celebrities and companies. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Washington and her Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University.

Sameera Mehra

Collective Intelligence and Advocacy Advisor at WINGS

Sameera is the Collective Intelligence and Advocacy Director at WINGS, a global network of philanthropy support organizations focused on enabling philanthropy to achieve its highest potential as a catalyst for transformative social change. Sameera has worked with partners across several countries to grow giving and strengthen civil society resilience. Previous work experiences include CAF, setting up an NGO in Canada, a partnership project in India, and consultancy projects for several NGOs. She also worked in banking spanning roles in leadership, project management and change transformation.

Ajay Dahiya

Managing Director of Philanthropy at Synergos

Born into a working-class immigrant family from India, Ajay quickly internalized a sentiment that would dictate both his personal and professional lives for decades: the real privilege in life is the privilege of service. Growing up in a diverse and disparate environment in the outskirts of London, Ajay realized that true fulfillment wasn’t found in material things but through community and a spirit of serving others. Ajay’s deep spiritual calling led him to become a monk in his late teens, where he spent almost a decade in service, spiritual practice, and deep reflection on how to realize a healthy, equal, and just society. He transitioned out of monastic life to apply his commitment to service and belief in the power of catalyzing change agents to lead a number of mission-driven organizations at the forefront of consciousness and social change. Ajay is committed to challenging the status quo and is deeply driven by the simple, yet impactful concept that uplifting the world is dependent on uplifting human consciousness.

Karen Keating Ansara

Co-founder and Chair of the Board, NEID Global

Zibran Choudhury

Communications, Partnerships & Membership Manager at Alliance magazine

At Alliance magazine, I work with philanthropic partners around the world to share insights, best practice and developments from their respective regions, networks, and events. I also collaborate with Alliance magazine members, who are a community of dedicated readers that help shape our editorial outputs, online and in print, so we can keep challenging the field to serve with maximum impact. In addition, I work the Alliance editors to publish content from our flagship quarterly magazine and premium platforms on our digital channels to reach readers worldwide.