OUR BOARD
Who We Are.
William N. Bissell
BOARD MEMBER AND SHAREHOLDER
William Nanda Bissell is the co-shareholder and Board Member of JLB Partners Holding. William graduated from Wesleyan University, Connecticut, US, with a degree in Government. His interest in politics had him work on political internships in US politics and with the BBC in India. His deep commitment to sustainable business and environmental impact led him to become closely involved with India’s founding environmental organization, the Center for Science and Environment where he worked on the “Citizens Report on the State of India’s Environment” and later served on the Board for 20 years.
His interest in artisans and rural development led him to create The Bhadrajun Artisans Trust in a small village in rural Rajasthan where he lived for 3 years working with leather workers and securing their livelihood. Today the Trust runs The Fabindia School in the same area which is now in its 30th year.
William pioneered the concept of a Community Owned Company forming 17 of these companies with 40,000 shareholders. This was recognised by many including President Clinton who featured Fabindia’s efforts at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Having worked his way up the ranks, William’s business acumen and far sightedness were instrumental in shifting Fabindia from a small export based business to a market leader in retail. He continues to be asked to give keynote addresses on his business practices and social entrepreneurial models at leading forums and institutions, including Harvard Business School.
William, a prolific reader, is authoring another book.
William has been granted an award by former US President, Bill Clinton for his commitment to support Indian artisans at the Clinton Global Initiative.
Monsoon L. Bissell
BOARD MEMBER AND SHAREHOLDER
Monsoon Latane Bissell is the co-shareholder and Board Member of JLB Partners Holding. Monsoon’s commitment to social entrepreneurship and creating economic parity through craft revival continues to be integral to her role as a primary promoter and Board member of Fabindia. She set up the first international business partnership for Fabindia, India’s leading retailer in craft-based indigenous products, in Dubai (UAE). Monsoon has previously served on both Boards of the Organic India group of companies.
The Freedom Practice is the platform for promoting Monsoon’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice work through modalities of experiential process work, group facilitation and participatory awareness training on making the political personal. She holds an EdM in Mental Health Counseling from Columbia University (New York) and a dual certification in Life and Executive Coaching from New York University. Monsoon is a passionate Group Processes Facilitator and the ex-Joint Dean of Professional Development for the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Sciences (ISABS). Annually, she teaches in the experiential course, Explorations of Role and Identity, at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
All of Monsoon’s work is framed through a multicultural lens, taking into account her own identities of being bi-racial and bi-cultural. She co-created and performed Two Women Talking, an unscripted performance piece based on reclaiming personal narratives which was performed across India and the United States to critical acclaim. She was also a key actor in the Berkeley Rep musical, Monsoon Wedding, a popular reiteration of the movie, which she had worked on as first assistant director.
Monsoon’s writings on gender and gender violence have been published in The Daily Beast, The Hindu, Outlook and Tehelka. The Telegraph carried her column Survival Strategies for years.
Daniel M. Bermen
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Daniel M. Berman is a senior lawyer, business advisor, and law professor. He is a Retired Partner of RSM US LLP, where he led the international tax practice for the firm’s Northeast Region as well as international tax training nationally.
Mr. Berman joined RSM in 2012 from Boston University School of Law, where he was Director of the Graduate Tax Program and Professor of the Practice of Tax Law; he continues to teach at BU as Adjunct Professor of Law, and lectures worldwide. He previously practiced international tax law for 25 years in Washington DC, in major law firms and in the Federal government; he served with the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation and subsequently as Deputy International Tax Counsel at the U.S. Treasury Department.
Mr. Berman is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, an International Academic Fellow of the China University of Political Science and Law, and a member of the Council of the International Fiscal Association (USA Branch). Earlier in his career he co-chaired the worldwide tax practice group of the TerraLex law firm network, and led People to People International’s first delegation of U.S. tax lawyers to China. He has served on boards of directors of both non-profit organizations and business corporations. He also has served in local elective office as chairman of the Planning Board of the town in which he resides.
In addition to many published articles, monographs and book chapters, Mr. Berman is the senior author of Making Tax Law (Carolina Academic Press, 2014), which opens the “sausage factory” to reveal how U.S. tax law comes into being.
Mr. Berman earned his A.B. magna cum laude in Applied Mathematics (Economics) from Harvard College and his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.