2004 Infin8 Class

Mehrdad Baghai

Mehrdad Baghai, Managing Director, Alchemy Growth Partners, Sydney, Australia. Mehrdad founded Alchemy Growth Partners in 2005 and works with the leaders of promising growth companies to make deep and lasting contributions to their innovation and business building initiatives. The company is founded on the principles endorsed in his international best seller The Alchemy of Growth. Prior to this Mehrdad was an Executive Director at the CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, with overarching responsibility for growth. He served as chairman of the Commercial Executive Committee. He was previously a partner in the Sydney and Toronto offices of McKinsey and Company and co-leader of the firm’s worldwide Growth Practice. He served clients in the technology, media and financial services sectors and specialized in strategies for turbulent environments. He has also been the Chairman and CEO of Natural HealthLink, a healthcare startup in Los Angeles. As an attorney, he has been called to the state bar in New York and Massachusetts and worked as an associate with Coudert Brothers in New York and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in Los Angeles. Mehrdad’s public sector experience includes an economist role with the World Bank and a consultant to the UN Secretariat. He has served a member of the Board of Directors of Unicef Australia and he has participated in various social and economic development projects. Mehrdad received a B.S.E. with highest honors in electrical engineering and computer science from Princeton University, where he also completed a joint degree on public policy at the Woodrow Wilson School. He continued his education in public policy at Harvard where he completed an M.P.P. as a Kennedy Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government. He also completed a J.D. with high honors from Harvard Law School.  Mehrdad is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute. 

Cesar R. Conde

Cesar R. Conde, President, Univision Communications Inc., New York, NY. Cesar Conde is the President of Univision Communication Inc., the premiere Spanish language media company in the United States. He has also served as both the Executive Vice President and the Chief Strategy Officer at Univision Communications. Previously, he was appointed by President George W. Bush as a White House Fellow assigned to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Prior to his public service, he was Vice President of Business Development at Univision. Cesar started his career in media as Vice President of Business Development and was one of the pioneers at StarMedia Network, the first Internet company focused on Spanish and Portuguese speakers globally. Prior to StarMedia, he was as an investment banker at Salomon Smith Barney in the mergers and acquisitions group in New York. Cesar is a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also founder of the Futuro Program, a non-profit organization that provides educational workshops to Hispanic high school students. Cesar is a recipient of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation Award and the Cuban-American National Council Young Leader Award. He was recently featured on the nationally syndicated television show Hispanics Today for his contributions in government and media. Cesar graduated from Harvard University in 1995 with a BA in History and earned an MBA in 1999 from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected class president.  He is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.  

Stephen DeBerry

Stephen DeBerry, Partner, Kapor Capital and Chief Investment Oficer & Head of Strategy Innovation, Kapor Enterprises, Inc., San Francisco, CA. Stephen DeBerry invests in vehicles that align strong financial returns with positive social impact. He is a partner at Kapor Capital and the founder and Chief Investment Officer at Bronze Investments. Before joining Kapor Capital, Stephen was an Investment Director at Omidyar Network, the mission-based investment firm started by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife, Pam. Before that Stephen managed business development at Interval Research, where he supported new business initiatives for Microsoft co-founder, Paul Allen and Vulcan Ventures. Over the past several years Stephen has been on the vanguard of building the emerging category of mission investing. He has been a frequent organizer and speaker at industry conferences and his investments have focused on pioneering new categories such as social lending. Some of his previous investments include: CircleLending (now Virgin Money), Prosper and InnoCentive. Stephen is a Trustee and Member of the Investment Committee at The California Endowment. He is the Chairman of Friends of New Orleans and serves the boards of The Association of Marshall Scholars and The Dalai Lama Foundation. Stephen earned a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology with highest honors from UCLA as well as a Master’s degree in Social Anthropology and MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a British Marshall Scholar and a 2004 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Jay Coen Gilbert

Jay Coen Gilbert, Co-Founder, B Lab, Berwyn, PA.  Jay Coen Gilbert co-founded and sold AND 1, a $250M basketball footwear and apparel company based outside Philadelphia.   He is also co-founder of B Lab, a non-profit organization that envisions a new sector of the economy that harnesses the power of private enterprise to create public benefit.  This sector is comprised of a new type of corporation--the B corporation, which, unlike traditional businesses, institutionalizes stakeholder interests and meets comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards.  The mission of B Lab is to support B corporations and this emerging sector.  Prior to AND 1, Jay worked for McKinsey & Co and several organizations in NYC’s public and non-profit world.  Jay is co-chairman of Investor’s Circle, a national angel network dedicated to “Patient Capital for a Sustainable Future.”   Since 1992, Investors’ Circle members have invested over $107 million in 171 deals, in such areas as environment, healthcare, education, women-led companies and community development.  In recent years, the Circle has launched Commons Capital, an affiliated $13.5 million venture fund and established the IC Foundation, dedicated to research, education and advocacy regarding social return on investment, mission-related investing and for-profit social entrepreneurship.  Jay is a member of the Board of the Philadelphia chapters of KIPP, City Year, and Monteverde Friends, U.S.  Jay graduated from Stanford University  with a degree in East Asian Studies in 1989.  He and his yogini wife Randi and their two children live in Berwyn, PA. He is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.  

Neal Goldman

Neal D. Goldman, Managing Director, Uhuru Capital Management LLC, New York, NY.  Neal Goldman is the Managing Director for Uhuru Capital Management LLC (formerly Goode Holdings LLC), an investment firm focused on information service and middle market consumer businesses.  Previously he co-founded Goode and was the founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Capital IQ, Inc., a corporate information service, until its sale to the Standard & Poor’s division of McGraw-Hill in September 2004.  Prior to that, he was an investment banker in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Lehman Brothers focusing on cross-border technology transactions and a private equity investor at Lincolnshire Management.    Neal received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School  and has served as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Columbia Business School.  He a term member at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of Doctors of the World – USA.  In 2007, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.  Neal is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.  

Karl Greenfeld

Karl Taro Greenfeld, Editor-at-Large, Sports Illustrated, New York, NY. As Editor-at-large for Sports Illustrated, Karl Taro Greenfeld is responsible for managing and coordinating major feature stories as well as assisting the managing editor in conceptualizing the magazine’s coverage. In January 2004, he left a two-year position as Editor of Time Magazine’s Asian edition, having worked at Time since 1998. He previously served as Tokyo correspondent for The Nation, as Managing Editor of the Tokyo Journal and as a reporter for Asahi Evening News in Tokyo. As a writer, Karl has published several works in the U.S. and Asia, including two non-fiction books which chronicle his experiences in Asia through the 1980’s and 1990’s. His current book, Breathtaker: the SARS Season will be published in 2005. Karl has supported the Hong Kong International Literacy Festival’s programs to encourage reading and writing at the high school level, and has visited U.S. prisons to speak about drug addiction. He earned a BA in Political Science and Economics from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988, and was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow, obtaining a certificate in Business and Economics as well as a M.S. in Journalism from Columbia University in 1998.  He and his family live in New York City.  Karl is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.  

Morenike Irvin

Morenike Irvin, Senior Associate, Jemmott Rollins Group, Los Angeles, CA.  Nike is currently the Senior Associate at Jemmott Rollings Group in Los Angeles.  She was formerly the  Executive Director and Chief Change Agent at The Level Playing Field Institute, and prior to that she was with the Riordan Foundation, where she served as Foundation Chair from 2006 to 2007, and as President from 2000 to 2006. From 1996 to 2000 Nike served as the Executive Director of the Riordan Programs at UCLA—which runs nationally-recognized young leaders and career development programs for urban high school and college students. Concurrently, she directed the Leadership Suite at UCLA, where she developed a nationally recognized executive education program for African American, Latino, and female leaders from US corporations. In late 2006, Mayor Villaraigosa appointed Nike to his Partnership for School Excellence leadership team, a group of community leaders charged with taking on education reform in Los Angeles. Nike began her career in the corporate sector in 1989 in brand management for the Pepsi Cola Company, and from 1992-1995 served as Marketing Manager for NestleUSA. In 1995, she founded CAMP SAT, an intensive series of weekend workshops created to prepare high school students for the SAT. She has served on the boards of Greek Theatre of Los Angeles, Opera Noir, The Riordan Foundation, and Southern California Grantmakers, and the German Marshall Fund of the United States. Nike received her BA in Economics and Political Science in 1985 from Yale, and an MBA in 1989 from UCLA Anderson School.  She is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Michael Kauffman

Michael Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Proteolix, Inc. San Francisco, CA. Michael Kauffman is currently the Chief Medical Officer of Proteolix, Inc. in San Francisco, California.  He was formerly CEO and President of Epix Pharmaceuticals (formerly Predix Pharmaceuticals) — a privately held U.S. company specializing in new drug discovery, screening, and biological modeling integrated with traditional medicinal chemistry.  Prior to joining Epix, Michael was Vice President of Medicine and leader of the VELCADE Development Program at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He also held senior positions at Millennium Predictive Medicine, Inc. and Biogen Corporation. Michael is the author of numerous medical publications and is the publisher and president of OutlineMed Inc., a developer of medical information software. In January 2004, he joined the board of Bioenvision (BIV, Amex), a company that seeks to develop and distribute cancer treatment drugs and technologies. Michael received his B.A. in Biochemistry summa cum laude from Amherst College in 1985 and his M.D. and Ph.D. in molecular biology from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1992. He performed his postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Hospital, both part of the Harvard Medical School system. Michael is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

James H. Lambright

James H. Lambright, Former Chairman and President, Export-Import Bank of the U.S., Washington, DC.  Jim Lambright served as the Chairman & President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and also the Interim Chief Investment Officer at the U.S. Treasury. Previously, Jim was Vice President of Credit Suisse First Boston’s real estate private equity business in Los Angeles, where he specialized in the underwriting and negotiation of real estate and venture capital transactions. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law School  and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University with a B.A. in linguistics with distinction. Jim is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Aileen Lee

Aileen Lee, Partner, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Menlo Park, CA. Aileen Lee is a Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a California-based venture capital firm. Since joining KP in 1999, she has been primarily assisting start-up ventures in the areas of consumer-oriented technology and enterprise software and services, and she helped make the firms first investments in energy and environmental technologies. At KP she co-founded and helps lead a biannual, invitation-only forum of 40 Fortune 500 CIOs. She also leads workshops to help leaders in marketing, sales, finance, and engineering share best practices and network. Aileen previously worked with Gap, Inc. in a number of operating roles including in Business Development and Strategy, Gap Online, and as Special Assistant to the CEO. She began her career in 1992 at Morgan Stanley as a Financial Analyst. Aileen is passionate about encouraging young people to pursue technical careers and leads the Bay Area Advisory Board for FIRST Robotics. FIRST is a non-profit aimed at inspiring high school students to pursue careers in science and technology through the application of teamwork, engineering, and marketing in an annual robotics competition. She earned a bachelors degree from the Sloan School of Management at MIT, serving as president of her class for three years, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1997. Aileen also studied Mandarin Chinese and taught English at Fudan University in Shanghai from 1994-1995.  She is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Elisabeth Lulin

Elisabeth Lulin, President of Institut Aspen France, Founder and Managing Director, Paradigmes et caetera, Senlis, France. Elisabeth is currently the President of Institut Aspen France along with serving as the Managing Director of Paradigmes et caetera. She began her career in 1991 as General Finance Inspector for the French government. She then joined the Prime Ministers office in various advisory capacities, and was subsequently appointed Head of Marketing and Communication at the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE), where she designed the communication campaign that supported the 1999 French population census, and contributed to develop INSEEs website and e-business strategy. Elisabeth remained at INSEE from 1996 until 1998, when she founded Paradigmes et caetera, a company specializing in benchmarking and public policy. In addition, Elisabeth has taught at the Ecole Superieure de Commerce de Paris as an Associate Professor of Public Management since 2000. In 1999, Elisabeth co-founded Doma Viva, a start-up company specializing in contemporary furniture design, and continues to serve on their board. She also serves on the board of Groupe Socit Gnrale, one of the largest European banks, and on the board of Institute Aspen France and FuturBulences. Elisabeth attended the Ecole Normale Suprieure ULM, the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, the Agrgation de Lettres Modernes and Ecole Nationale d'Administration all of which she graduated summa cum laude. She also holds a masters degree in literature, summa cum laude , from the Universite de Paris Sorbonne.  Elisabeth is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Jack Markell

Jack Markell, Governor,  State of Delaware, Wilmington, DE. Jack Markell was elected Governor of Delaware in 2008, after serving two terms as State Treasurer.  During his tenure, Jack created the Delaware Money School, which offers free classes to Delawareans on topics such as saving for college and retirement planning. He has also partnered with local banks and organizations to teach young children the basics of money and savings through the Delaware Bank at School Program. Both projects are part of Delawares Financial Literacy Initiative, which has been recognized nationally for its innovative programs. In 2002, Jack was appointed co-chair of the Governors Task Force for Financial Independence, helping Delaware families become financially secure. He was recognized as one of 100 rising stars at the 2000 Democratic National Convention and has been featured as one of ten innovative leaders under the age of 40 by New Democrat Magazine. Philly Tech Magazine named him one of the top ten technology executives in the Philadelphia region. Jack entered politics after a successful career in the private sector where he helped lead the wireless technology revolution at Nextel, serving as the companys 13th employee and Senior Vice President for Corporate Development. He has also worked at Comcast Corporation, McKinsey & Co., and First Chicago Corporation. Jack graduated from Brown University with degrees in Economics and Development Studies and earned an MBA from the University of Chicago.  He is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Jacqueline Novogratz

Jacqueline Novogratz, CEO, Acumen Fund, New York, NY.  Jacqueline Novogratz is the founder and CEO of Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Acumen Fund currently manages more than $40 million in investments in South Asia and East Africa, all focused on delivering affordable healthcare, water, housing and energy to the poor. The organization also includes the Acumen Fund Fellows Program, focused on building the next generation of business leaders with an understanding of global issues and poverty. Prior to Acumen Fund, Jacqueline founded and directed The Philanthropy Workshop and The Next Generation Leadership programs at the Rockefeller Foundation. She also founded Duterimbere, a micro-finance institution in Rwanda. She began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank. She is currently on the advisory boards of Stanford Graduate School of Business, MIT's Legatum Center, and Innovations Journal published by MIT Press. She serves on the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees and as a member of two World Economic Forum Global Agenda Councils, on Social Entrepreneurship and on Water. She is an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow, a Synergos Institute Senior Fellow, and she was recently honored with the 2009 CASE Leadership in Social Entrepreneurship Award. She is a frequent speaker at international conferences, including the Clinton Global Initiative and TED. She has an M.B.A. from Stanford and a B.A. in Economics/International Relations from the University of Virginia. Her recent best-seller is a memoir entitled, The Blue Sweater: Bridging the Gap Between Rich and Poor in an Interconnected World.  

James J. O'Connor

James J. O'Connor, Jr., Managing Director, MVC Capital, Chicago, IL.  Jim O'Connor is the Managing Director of MVC Capital in Chicago.  He also founded Early Stage Accelerator (ESA) for Motorola and became its Vice President in 2003. In that role he was responsible for assessing new technologies within Motorolas Research and Development Labs and business divisions and creating new businesses through their internal venture capital arm. Prior to founding ESA, Jim was the Managing Director of Motorola Ventures, which he founded in 1999 following a year of service in the U.S. government as a White House Fellow assigned to Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. During this fellowship, he was responsible for coordinating strategies on electronic commerce and community development policy, as well as bank regulation. Prior to this, Jim worked as a Management Consultant with the global management consultancy A.T. Kearney of Chicago. Jim is currently co-chair of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, and is the founder of the Field Associates and the Lyric Opera Auxiliary Board. He has been a Leadership Fellow in both the U.S.-Japan Foundation and Leadership Greater Chicago. Jim received his BA and JD from Georgetown University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.  He is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

William J. Patterson

William J. Patterson, General Partner, SPO Partners & Co., Mill Valley, CA. Bill Patterson joined SPO Partners in 1989 and is a managing General Partner of this private investment firm, which makes both public and private equity investments. He has served as a director of a number of public and private companies. Prior to attending business school, Bill was a financial analyst for Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. He is board chair of the California Academy of Sciences, chair of the investment committee of the Marin Community Foundation, a member of the Advisory Council of The Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University, and an active alumnus of Harvard College. Bill was previously president of the board of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and co-chaired its capital campaign, which raised over $19 million for the museum’s renovation and expansion under his direction. He received a bachelors degree from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1984 and went on to earn an MBA from Stanford Business School in 1989, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Maya M. Rockeymoore

Maya M. Rockeymoore, Ph.D., Founder and President, Global Policy Solutions, LLC, Washington, DC. Maya left her post as Vice President for Research & Programs, at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) in July 2005 to form her own company with the aim of helping nonprofits become effective agents of community change. Prior to joining CBCF, Maya was the Senior Resident Scholar for Health and Income Security at the National Urban League in Washington, DC. She previously served as an academic advisor to CBCF and as a consultant for the Friends of the Congressional Glaucoma Caucus Foundation. Mayas experience on Capitol Hill includes being on the professional staff of the Social Security Subcommittee of the Ways & Means Committee and eventually becoming chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY). Maya is the author of several books, articles and reports on issues affecting the African American community. In 2003 she won the CBCF Leadership Network Founders Award. Maya serves as a Board Member of the Womens Information Network as well as for the Coppin State University HIV/AIDS Advisory Board. She earned a BA in Political Science/Mass Communications, cum laude, from Prairie View A&M University  in Texas in 1993, and an MA and Ph.D. in Political Science/Public Policy from Purdue University. Maya is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Tina Sharkey

Tina Sharkey, Chairman & Global President, BabyCenter, LLC, San Francisco, CA.  Tina Sharkey is a pioneer in the development of new media applications, with more than 20 years experience ranging from the introduction of HDTV in 1986 to the forefront of Web 2.0 today. As Chairman and Global President of BabyCenter, LLC she is responsible for the oversight of all BabyCenter operations, including Babycenter.com, the leading online commerce, community, and content destination for new and expectant parents, and popular BabyCenter sites around the globe. Prior to joining BabyCenter, she was a senior executive at America Online, Inc., and led all of AOL’s social networking initiatives, overseeing the Instant Messaging and Social Media groups. Previously she oversaw AOL’s move out onto the open web with the build and launch of AOL.com and led Network Programming across AOL’s Network of 116 million monthly unique visitors. Also at AOL, Tina created the Original Coaches Series and the annual AOL Chief Everything Officer awards—an honor that celebrates today’s heroes of the modern family household. Prior to joining AOL, she served as Group President of Sesame Workshop’s Online Services, creating their award-winning Internet business, and in 1995, coined the phrase “Social Media” as co-founder and Chief Community Architect of iVillage.com. Prior to iVillage, Tina collaborated with Barry Diller on a new home shopping channel, Q2, a division of QVC, helped launch the Adobe Acrobat and New York 1 brands, and managed corporate brand strategies for Time Warner, QVC and Sony.   Tina currently serves on the board of Sister to Sister and is a founding board member of Baby Buggy. In 1986, she earned a BA in International Relations & Telecommunications from the University of Pennsylvania.  Tina lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two young sons. She is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.  

James Whitaker

James Whitaker, Founder and Director, Project Rebirth, Pacific Palisades, CA. Jim Whitaker is the Founder and Director of Project Rebirth a feature length documentary that captures the hour-by-hour re-development of Ground Zero along with chronicling the lives of ten people grieving and coping post 9/11. Project Rebirth is also an established non-profit that will give all funds from the commercial release of the film to the Project Rebirth Center for victims of and first responders to events of traumatic loss.  Jim Whitaker left his post as president of production for motion pictures at Imagine Entertainment in April 2009 to focus his creative energy on completing Project Rebirth.  Jim began his career with Imagine Entertainment as an intern while attending the USC Peter Stark Producing Program. Upon graduation, he was brought on as a Creative Associate, and rose through the ranks to become President of Production. In 1988, he served as an intern for a local NBC affiliate and traveled to the Democratic and Republican conventions, working as a stringer for reporter Katie Couric. In 1989-90 he directed several socially-conscious films to raise money for non-profit organizations. Upon graduation, he joined the independent production company, Hillman & Carr, where he conceived and directed an award-winning public-service announcement against drunk driving, entitled Loaded. Jim earned his BA in Economics in 1990 from Georgetown University, and a Master of Fine Arts from USC in 1993.  He is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.   

Eduardo L. Wurzmann

Eduardo L. Wurzmann, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Veris Educacional S.A., Sao Paulo, Brazil. Since October 2003, Eduardo Wurzmann has served as co-founder and CEO of Veris Educacional S.A., one of the fastest growing vocational schools in Brazil, with annual revenues of $25 million. Veris is also a holding company of Instituto Brasileiro de Technologia Avancada (IBTA), a leading provider of information technology training in Brazil, and Ibmec, one of the leading business schools in Brazil. From 2001 to 2003, Eduardo held the position of CEO at IBTA, and prior to that was Managing Director for Unext.com in Sao Paulo, one of the largest and leading e-learning companies. Eduardo started his career in Sao Paulo working for Credit Agricole Indosuez Securities (CAI), where he was responsible for their equity business. From there he moved to Moscow to head CAIs Russian businesses, overseeing nearly $600 million in client investments. He returned to Sao Paulo in 1999 and began working as Managing Director of CAIs WI CARR Securities, leading the effort to reactivate the business in Brazil and expand coverage to Latin America. Eduardo currently serves on the board of governors of Tel Aviv University in Israel. He received a bachelor in Economics from the University of Sao Paulo in 1987 and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 1991.  Eduardo is a member of the 2004 class of Henry Crown Fellows at the Aspen Institute.