Board of Directors

Abi Sood is Founder & CEO of Avasa Home.  He was born and raised around the textile business. His family's sourcing business has been operating out of India since the 1960s, sourcing products from all over south Asia and offering them to the world. After joining the family business for a short time in the 1990s, Abi decided to break off on his own and started manufacturing home textiles. With almost 20 years of experience under his belt, the idea for Avasa was born in 2014.

Julia Noran Johnston is President of Business of Home, which she founded in 2009, and has made it the go-to source for insight and analysis on business trends for interior design professionals and anyone working in the home category. She has covered the industry for nearly 20 years, starting out at Architectural Digest and then Veranda, and currently oversees content creation and distribution to over 180,000 design professionals through BOH's online and print channels. She is on the Board of Directors for the Decorative Furnishings Association (DFA), and is a member of the Design Leadership

Jonsara Ruth is Design Director at Parsons The New School Healthy Materials Lab, Founding Director of the MFA Interior Design Program, and Associate Professor at Parsons School of Design. Here she led AFTERTASTE, a symposium that brings new definition to the field of interiors. Central to her work is listening to and learning from diverse perspectives, and studying human experience, behavior, and health as principal motivations for design. Material curiosities drive her research.

Interior designer Thom Filicia is founder and principal of New York City-based design firm, Thom Filicia, Inc., which has earned him widespread acclaim and notable clients.Filicia is universally known for his ability to create stunning modern, yet classic interiors that retain an inviting aesthetic that reflect the individuality of his clients. His unmistakable design sensibility has earned him countless accolades from the design world, but his recognition expanded beyond the design world when he was cast as the interior design expert in the hit show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Libby Langdon is an interior designer, author, product designer and makeover television personality, as well as the creative force behind New York City–based design firm Libby Interiors, Inc.

Matt Huber, Executive Vice President, Belfort Furniture oversees day-to-day operations. Matt is responsible for moving Belfort Furniture forward with technological advances such as implementing e-commerce into the company’s revenue stream and online design help services. He has a keen eye for new trends in merchandising to draw a younger consumer to the showroom.

Blake Millinor, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Valdese Weavers and Inside Out Performance Fabrics

Gat Caperton is the president and CEO of Caperton Furnitureworks, a West Virginia manufacturer of hand-made, solid-wood home furniture that he acquired from its founder in 1996. Caperton Furnitureworks, originally named Tom Seely Furniture, the 40+year-old business now employs over 100 skilled people in Berkeley Springs and sells its furniture throughout the U.S. In 1990, Caperton received a B.A.

Jeronimo Cooklin founded the Sustainable Furnishings Council to transform the home furnishings Industry and to help preserve the world’s forests.  Involved in the furniture Industry since 1986 and in Sustainable Development since 1998, he put these two together to form SFC in late 2006.  Founder of PaTS, a Peruvian nonprofit org in the Peruvian Amazon working since 2000 with Yanesha indigenous community members to become artisans and business people to create a sustainable living for their families while preserving their forests.  Founded MaderArt & Tecnologia SAC,