About Us
Strong community-based healthcare
is vital to low-income communities
We Invest In Care That Works
Vital Healthcare Capital (V-Cap) is a not-for-profit Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). We support quality care and good healthcare jobs for low-income communities through advantageous financing, strategic technical assistance, and strong community partnerships.
Board
Howard Rifkin
Chair
Howard is Corporation Counsel for the City of Hartford. He previously served as Executive Director of the Partnership for Strong Communities, Deputy Treasurer of the State of Connecticut, and Counsel to the CT Lt. Governor.
He has served on the board of the Universal Healthcare Foundation of Connecticut, and on the Board of the Connecticut Health and Financing Authority.
Tom Chabolla
Board Member, Treasurer
Tom is the President of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, whose mission is to create opportunities for young people to serve in nonprofits both internationally and domestically.
He previously served as COO/EVP at NeighborWorks America, where he oversaw field operations, grant programs, and training initiatives within one of the nation’s leading community development networks. He has also served as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff at SEIU, and as Director of Grant Programs and Education at the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
Abbey Nyamekye
Board Member, Secretary
Abbey has over 20 years of experience with the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS), serving in both direct-service and program-oversight roles. CUCS is one of the largest multi-service providers of housing, mental health, and medical services to vulnerable New Yorkers, and offers specialized training nationally in the human services, behavioral health, and judicial sectors.
She has 15 years of experience supervising CUCS’s healthcare programming, most recently as Deputy Chief Program Officer for Janian Medical Care, P.C. As Chief Administrative Officer, Abbey provides oversight of the CUCS Institute and the IT Department. She also serves as the agency lead on community and constituent relations.
Frances Padilla
Board Member
Frances was appointed President of the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut in September 2012. She also serves on the Connecticut Health Care Cabinet, where she chairs a work group on prescription drug costs with a focus on transparency and fair pricing.
She serves on the steering committee of the State Innovation Model (SIM) Initiative, advising on the implementation of a $45 million federal grant to the state of Connecticut. In addition, Frances is a founding member and co-chair of the Leadership Council of the Connecticut Choosing Wisely Collaborative. She also serves on several boards, including the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy and Qualidigm.
Cindy Willard
Board Member
Cindy was President of Full Potential Philanthropy and, until recently, a Senior Program Officer at the Denver Foundation, where she coordinated the Colorado Health Access Fund (CHAF), a time-limited $30 million behavioral health pool that sunset last year.
She serves on the Board of the Colorado Nonprofit Loan Fund; is a Leadership Advisory Board member for the Rocky Mountain Micro Finance Institute; serves as Vice Chair at the Worklife Partnership; and is a Senior Advisor at the Impact Finance Center. In 2020, she was a fellow at RSF Social Finance.
Martin Eakes
Board Member
Martin is Co-founder and CEO of Self-Help and the Center for Responsible Lending. Martin is a nationally recognized expert on development finance and has been honored by many organizations, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, AARP, and the Opportunity Finance Network.
Lou Giraudo
Board Member
Lou is Co-Founder and Senior Managing Partner of GESD Capital Partners. He is Chairman of Andre Boudin Bakeries, Inc., Chairman of Milton’s Baking Company, and Director of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company Board of Directors.
He is an Executive Board member of the Golden State Warriors, trustee of the Kalmanovitz Public Charitable Trust, and has a long history of other public service leadership roles.
Armeer Kenchen
Board Member
Armeer is Executive Vice President of Small Business Capital with NC Rural Center. Their mission is to develop, promote, and implement sound economic strategies to improve the quality of life of rural North Carolinians. He also serves as Executive Director of CornerSquare Community Capital, a subsidiary of NC Rural Center established to strengthen the lending infrastructure of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).
Previously, Armeer served on the Executive Staff at Self-Help in asset management and business development. He also served as President and CEO of Generations Community Credit Union, where he focused on business growth strategies and affordable housing.
Team
Steve Weingarten
Chief Executive Officer
Steve leads the V-Cap team with a passion for strengthening community-based healthcare through V-Cap’s financial toolkit and resources. He previously led the SEIU Capital Development Group, which developed double–bottom line investment vehicles across multiple asset classes with a focus on healthcare and workforce impact; provided financial and social impact analysis to U.S. and global institutional investors. He also served as Industrial Development Director for the trade union UNITE.
Earlier in his career, he led a community organization based in a neighborhood health center, focusing on public safety, housing, and jobs. Steve received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BA from Yale University.
Mat Rubin
Chief Financial Officer
Mathew Rubin is a Certified Public Accountant with over 35 years experience in both Public and Corporate Accounting with expertise in Not-for-Profit, Health Care and Insurance industries. Mr. Rubin has served on the Boards of Not-for-Profit and Publicly Traded Companies and has extensive knowledge of GAAP, Statutory Reporting and Taxation.
Before V-Cap, he served as a Vice President and as a Senior Director for two Not-for-Profit Health Care Organizations. Mr. Rubin has earned a BA and MS degrees in Accounting and Information Systems from Queens College.
Aldea Coleman
Director of Partnerships and Advocacy
Aldea organizes and maintains strategic partnerships and advocacy initiatives with stakeholders across the community health sector. Based in North Carolina, she also coordinates V-Cap market relationships throughout the state.
Aldea joined V-Cap after more than 20 years of public service and policy work in communities throughout North Carolina and across the U.S. She has extensive experience with community services, policy analysis, and strategic planning. Aldea received her master’s in Geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from North Carolina A&T State University.
Sylvia Dimiti
Director of Loan Origination
and Market Development
Sylvia is responsible for V-Cap's loan originations, bringing impact investing expertise to accelerate access to capital through pipeline development, credit analysis, and innovative financing solutions. Prior to joining V-Cap, Sylvia performed comprehensive underwriting and analysis of loans to financial intermediaries and small businesses at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Earlier in her career, Sylvia invested in early-stage social enterprises, co-leading the launch and growth of a $5 million investment firm focused on increasing income for low-income smallholder farmers in Africa and Latin America. She is passionate about expanding access to essential services.
Sylvia holds a Master of Science in Applied Economics from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science & Statistics from the University of the Free State in South Africa.
Tom Manning
Senior Transactions Advisor
Health Center Specialist
Tom provides expertise for V-Cap across its programs and markets, drawing from his extensive experience in healthcare finance and community health centers. Tom has worked with other CDFIs, community-based organizations, foundations and federal agencies (HRSA within HHS and the CDFI Fund within Treasury), and was a founding capital director for the Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC).
Tom is also the Principal of Harbor Road Advisory, a consulting firm promoting strategies for healthy communities, and a Senior Scholar at NYU’s Center for Sustainable Business. He received an MBA and BA from Columbia University.
JK Costello
Senior Advisor and
Behavioral Health Specialist
JK Costello advises V-Cap’s behavioral health program work across its markets and provides specialized expertise for the Colorado market. JK draws on his expertise in population health plans for substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, and publicly-funded addiction treatment and recovery services.
He currently also works as a principal at the Steadman Group, a health consulting firm. JK received his MD and MPH from the University of Nebraska, and BA from Harvard.
Lauren Burnham
Senior Manager,
Portfolio and Operations
Lauren supports V-Cap’s community health capital projects across all target markets.
Prior to joining V-Cap, Lauren provided strategic financial leadership to nonprofit organizations across the U.S. Lauren earned her MPA from New York University and her BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Akila Copeland
Senior Program Officer,
Philanthropy and Impact Capital Partnerships
Akila cultivates and manages relationships with foundations and financial institutions to further V-Cap's support for low-income community healthcare organizations across all markets. She brings nearly a decade of experience in nonprofit capacity building, investment, and philanthropy to the team.
Most recently, Akila led the refinement of SVP Denver's evaluation and impact programs for social entrepreneurs. She also served as a Program Officer at Caring for Denver Foundation, managing grants focused on improving mental health and substance use disorder outcomes for Denver residents. She currently serves as One Colorado's Board Vice Chair.
She holds an MBA in Strategy and Leadership from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business and a BA from Macalester College.
Elle Simmons
Senior Program Officer and
Behavioral Health Program Leader
Elle supports V-Cap’s national behavioral-health strategy and sector-building efforts – working with providers, state partners, and cross-sector organizations to strengthen community-based behavioral-health systems across key markets. She brings experience in public health program development, systems navigation, and community engagement to V-Cap’s work in financing and supporting healing-centered care.
Prior to joining V-Cap, Elle served as the Cultural Navigation Coordinator at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, where she led initiatives focused on health access, infectious disease response, and newcomer health. Her career spans community, state, and international roles dedicated to improving access to care and advancing behavioral-health and public-health outcomes.
Elle holds an MPH from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BS from Baylor University.
Safiya Noel
Program Development Associate
Safiya supports V-Cap’s external communications, market development activities, and health sector research. Based in New York, she contributes to building out our public engagement, internal database management, and tracking policy developments across V-Cap’s national portfolio. Safiya also plays a key role in advancing V-Cap’s transactions and partnerships through developing external presentations, reports, and grant proposals targeted to various audiences.
Safiya joined V-Cap after several years of experience in public service. She previously served as a Program Officer with the federal government, supporting strategic planning, budget & resource management, and project evaluation. Prior to this, she was an educator through Teach for America and worked with low-income students with disabilities.
Safiya holds an MPA from Columbia University, an MAT from Relay Graduate School of Education in partnership with Teach for America, and a BA from Barnard College.
Roger Pollak
General Counsel
Roger is General Counsel for V-Cap, and a partner at Bredhoff & Kaiser, P.L.L.C., with a practice focus on non-profit organizations, and complex commercial contracts.
Roger received his JD from Yale University and his MBA from the Yale School of Management. He holds a BS from the University of California at Berkeley, College of Natural Resources.
Kim Fuchs
HR Advisor
Kim spent her career in human resources, working with large and small companies, ranging from financial services, to health care to research, and in recent years, including IT, digital marketing and a modeling agency. She provides advisory services supporting V-Cap team development.
Credit Services
provided by our partner Self-Help
V-Cap’s Credit Services partner Self-Help, one of the largest CDFIs in the country, provides V-Cap a national commercial lending infrastructure to finance healthcare development in low-income communities, and add value to community healthcare organizations.
Ashley Pinkard
VP Commercial Lending
Asset Quality
Darrow Isaacman-VanWertz
Manager and
Sr. Loan Officer
In Memoriam
V-Cap honors the vision, passion, and impact of two of our founding board members: Jose Arce and Steve Abrecht.