A Chat with Jon Ohrn: Co-founder/Managing Director, Sustain Exchange LLC and Founder of PharmaShares Managers LLC; and Jeff Hallstead: Impact advisor; Co-founder/Board Member, Sustain Exchange LLC and Co-founder, Pour Les Femmes Foundation

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with JON OHRN and JEFF HALLSTEAD.

JON OHRN began his professional service career as a tax associate at White & Case LLP. During his legal and investment banking career, Jon advised on tax efficient deal structures for mergers, acquisitions, corporate spinoffs, partnerships/JVs, and cross-border transactions. The combination of his legal, tax, accounting & finance background supports Jon's investment banking practice, which has spanned over twenty years at the financial service firms Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, Leerink Partners, SVB Securities, and Rockefeller Capital.

In addition to public and private company transactions and financial sponsor advisory, over the last 5 years Jon has been active in venture stage investing and advising within the healthcare and technology industries. Jon currently serves on the board and/or provides consulting services for multiple private companies in the healthcare and tech industries, as well as advising venture capital firms focused in these areas.

Jon is the founder of PharmaShares Managers LLC, which operates a platform for the pricing and creation of multi-variant, synthetic pharmaceutical royalty contracts.

Jon is a graduate of NYU School of Law, receiving J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation degrees. He received undergraduate degrees in accounting & finance from the University of Washington.

JEFF HALLSTEAD is an impact advisor helping brands, social enterprises, tech startups, and media companies harness the power of technology to drive positive social and environmental change. Jeff draws from his multidisciplinary background to bridge the gaps between media influence, emerging technologies, and measurable progress towards a more sustainable future. His advisory services empower organizations to inspire audiences and cultivate real-world impact through responsible innovation and values-driven initiatives.

In 2019 he launched the e-commerce business for the fashion brand and social enterprise Pour Les Femmes which began as a project by Robin Wright to provide work to women who were victims of rape as a weapon of war in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), an area torn apart by the conflict mineral and resulting IDP crisis. The brand grew to serve customers its sustainably made clothing in over 50 countries and focused on educating consumers on the importance of buying from brands with a clean supply chain and commitment to fair labor practices (SDG 12).

In 2022 Jeff co-founded the Pour Les Femmes Foundation to expand on the mission of the Pour Les Femmes brand with a focus on SDG 5, Gender Equality, and SDG 8, Decent Work & Economic Growth. Jeff led a project which oversaw and funded the construction of a new sewing atelier in Goma DRC that improved safety and working conditions for the tailors employed there. Jeff led the launch of the Foundation during UNGA week in New York and crafted the Foundation's Commitment to Action which was announced by Secretary Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative that same year. Subsequently, Jeff secured funding to meet that commitment from Jack Dorsey's #startsmall fund which went to provide assistance to women and children in the DRC.

Since 2023 Jeff has consulted on partnership and media strategy with Global Give Back Circle, a Mastercard Foundation Partner, which provides education and workforce development training to at-risk women in Kenya.

Prior to his work with NGOs and social enterprises Jeff was a media executive at Nielsen and comscore securing data partnerships and leading the development of new syndicated and proprietary audience measurement products with companies including Comcast/NBCU, DIRECTV, DISH/Sling, and Charter that allowed for the development and monetization of On Demand and streaming platforms and grew the total viewership and revenues for the networks and studios' TV series and movie content.

In 2024 Jeff led the fundraising with private investors and co-founded SustainAble Exchange, a transformative platform that empowers members to create positive change in transactions while aligning with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Jeff sits on the board of Sustain Exchange LLC as the lead investor. Jeff is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a BA in Foreign Affairs and has an MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles where he resides.