Board of Directors
Investment Management Committee
Christopher Celeste
Board Member
Christopher has helped to bring ideas to life in politics, advertising, technology, and real estate–coaching both colleagues and clients along the way.
Born in New Delhi, India and raised in a large political family in Ohio, Christopher grew up in and around political campaigns. After attending Denison and graduating with honors from Stanford, he returned to Ohio to launch Participation 2000, a non-traditional political action committee designed to train young organizers. Christopher’s affinity for “campaigns” took him from politics to advertising where he spent fifteen years in various agencies, eventually serving as president of several firms. In 2004, Christopher became Founder & President of Findaway, which was ultimately sold to Spotify. Their core product Playaway, was the world’s first preloaded digital audio book, hailed as a “genius idea” by Oprah Magazine and the “simplest way to get from the bookstore to Chapter One” by the New York Times. In 2010, after stepping off the Findaway board, Christopher launched Hatch Partners to provide coaching, connections and capital to early-stage entrepreneurs.
In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Christopher has created a series of retail and real estate projects on Martha’s Vineyard (rosewatermv.com) and has recently written a small meditation on personal leadership entitled Leaders Lead Themselves First (LLTFbook.com). Christopher is excited to join the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation, and begin to work more directly on various impact opportunities across the island.
Christopher and his wife (and fellow entrepreneur) Nancy Kramer have six fabulous children between them. He currently lives on Martha’s Vineyard where he is a shopkeeper, ally, writer, and proud Opa.