Partner Profile: Marissa Crouch

(from the January 2009 Newsletter)

Marissa Crouch is a vibrant young entrepreneur, a mom and an active SVPP Partner. Last year, Marissa and a friend started a successful online company, PakNak.com. PakNaks are are fun, soft and rubbery 3-D decorations that kids (and adults!) can use to personalize all of their stuff. The company has been featured on Nickelodeon, which Marissa says really helps sales. A University of Michigan graduate with a degree in Engineering, Marissa stays very busy at the International School. As a room parent, she organizes fundraisers, auctions, the Chinese New Year event and Run for the Arts.

She and her husband, Alan Crouch, have been Partners since early 2006. Marissa was on the 2007 Investment Team and says she really enjoyed the experience. She is now serving on the Partnership Committee, and has taken the lead on the SVPP Family initiative with enthusiasm and skill. Marissa says, “I'm really excited about SVPP Family. It's a great opportunity for us to teach the children in our lives about compassion, kindness and social responsibility.”

Alan is a VP at Intel and currently a member of the SVPP Recruitment Committee. Daughter Bella is eight and attends the International School, quickly becoming fluent in Mandarin Chinese. On a trip to China last summer, Bella served as the family interpreter, only occasionally withholding her skills to see her parents squirm.

For fun the family settles in to read, cook, play board games and watch movies. When energetic they go skiing and snowboarding.