Pauline Brown

Pauline Brown, 41, Managing Director, The Carlyle Group, New York, NY. As Managing Director, Pauline focuses on U.S. buyout opportunities in the consumer and retail industries for The Carlyle Group—one of the world's largest private equity firms. Prior to joining Carlyle, Pauline was the Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Global Business Development for Avon Products, Inc. which is the world's largest direct seller with more than $8 billion in sales. While at Avon, she was responsible for developing the company's growth strategy, driving key components of its turnaround plan and launching new business initiatives. She joined Avon in 2005 from The Estēe Lauder Companies Inc., where she was the Vice President of Corporate Strategy and New Business Development, responsible for all mergers, acquisitions and licensing. During her tenure at Estēe Lauder, Pauline helped to expand the company's portfolio from 8 to 25 distinct beauty brands. Prior to that, she was a management consultant with Bain & Company and the Director of European Business Development at Smith McCabe, Ltd. Pauline currently serves on the Board of Directors of Philosophy, Inc., a personal care line acquired by The Carlyle Group, and on the Avon Foundation board. She is a member of the Committee of 200, the Women's Forum and the New York City Investment Fund. Pauline earned an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

Ángel Cabrera

Ángel Cabrera, 40, President, Thunderbird School of Global Management, Glendale, AZ. Since Ángel’s arrival in 2004, Thunderbird has established a number of new programs including a Global M.B.A. On Demand, an M.S. in Global Management, an M.A. in Global Affairs and Management and a Corporate M.B.A. in partnership with LG Electronics in Korea. During his tenure, Thunderbird has doubled executive education activity around the world, undergone a thorough financial and operational restructuring, and strengthened its reputation as the world’s leading school of international management. Before Thunderbird, Ángel served as Dean of IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. As an outspoken advocate for business-corporate-global citizenship, his ideas have been featured by media such as the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune and CNN. In 2006, he was appointed Special Advisor to the United Nations Global Compact and Chairman of the international taskforce that authored the Principles of Responsible Management Education. In 2002, he was recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Global Leader for Tomorrow and in 2004, Business Week recognized him as a “Star of Europe”. Angel is a member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders and the Greater Phoenix Leadership. He earned his Ph.D. and M.S. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, which he attended as a Fulbright Scholar, and his B.S. and M.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering from Madrid Polytechnic University—Spain’s premier engineering school.

Chadia El Meouchi

Chadia El Meouchi, 33, Managing Partner, Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm, Beirut, Lebanon and Doha, Qatar. Chadia has practiced law in Canada and Lebanon for over ten years and is currently a managing partner of Badri and Salim El Meouchi Law Firm, one of the oldest, largest, and most distinguished law firms in Lebanon. In 2007, she was selected as a leading corporate and finance lawyer by both the International Financial Legal Review and European Legal 500. Chadia has served as a board member for the Lebanese Transparency Association since 2002, and is a board member of the Lebanese Corporate Governance Task Force. She is also a member of Young Arab Leaders and the American Bar Association. She taught English classes to practicing lawyers at the American Language Centre in Beirut from 2002-2004. Chadia obtained an LL.M. (Master of Laws) in International Law from Georgetown University in 2000, an LL.B. (Bachelor of Civil Law) from the University of Montreal in 1998, a Bachelor in Commerce from Concordia University in 1995, and a license in Alternative Methods of Conflict Resolution by the Canadian International Commerce Arbitration Centre in 1998. She began a course of study at Aberdeen University in the U.K. in September, 2007 in the hopes of achieving an LL.M./M.Sc./Pg.Dip. in Oil and Gas Law by 2009, and is concurrently studying at Lebanese University for her Master’s in Lebanese Law. She has been a member of the New York Bar since 2000.

Elizabeth Galante

Elizabeth Galante, 41, Director, Global Green, New Orleans, LA. As the Director of Global Green's New Orleans Office and Resource Center, Beth is responsible for the organization’s sustainable rebuilding initiatives, including the operation of the resource center and office, supervision of their Sustainable Design Competition, and the "Healthy Homes, Smart Neighborhoods Response Team"—a rebuilding initiative that includes green affordable homes, schools, and churches. Global Green is an affiliate of the international organization, Green Cross International. Beth was formerly Deputy Director of the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic which during her tenure received recognition from the National Law Journal for its ground-breaking work in environmental justice and became the first recipient of the American Bar Association's Distinguished Environmental Achievement Award. Previously, she represented the New Jersey Attorney General and the Quasar Indian Nation in litigation involving natural resource damages. Beth is currently a member of the New Orleans City Council’s Energy Policy Task Force as well as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Panel on Solar Energy Use in New Orleans. Beth received her B.A. in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1988, a J.D. in 1991 and an LL.M. in Environmental and Energy Law in 1999 both from Tulane University.

Kathleen Gan

Kathleen Gan, 33, Chief Financial Officer, GE Healthcare Greater China, Beijing, China. Kathleen is the Chief Financial Officer for GE Healthcare which continues to expand its medical technologies and services in China. In her role, she oversees the entire financial operations of the company and is a key partner to the President and business leaders in formulating market growth strategies. Previously, Kathleen was the Director of Treasury Finance Operations at GE Capital Corporation (GECC) for two years before moving to Beijing, China in 2006. At GECC, she was responsible for the financial reporting of $400 billon debt and derivatives. She also assisted in the launch of GE Financial Markets to centralize the derivatives operation as well as the execution of the Genworth Financial Inc. $3 billion IPO—the largest in the insurance industry. Kathleen served as a member on the Board of Directors for Municipal Securities Purchase Inc., a company that provides liquidity for municipal securities, and was an executive member for the Asia Pacific American Forum, a support network for Asian-American professionals. Prior to GECC, Kathleen spent four years with the Corporate Audit Staff, GE’s most prestigious leadership program, where she traveled to more than 20 countries and 50 cities, leading teams and working with senior management. Kathleen joined GE in the two-year Financial Management Program right after college and is currently the Program Manager for the Greater China region. She graduated from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and received a Bachelor’s in Business with honors. She also attended an exchange program at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. 

Sunil Garg

 Sunil Garg, 41, Vice President, Commercial Operations Group, Exelon Corporation, Chicago, IL. As Vice President of the Commercial Operations Group at Exelon Corporation ( an electricity generating and distributing company and also the largest nuclear operator in the United States), Sunil leads the business and strategic planning for Exelon’s $800 million Business Services Company, as well as manages a portfolio of transactional services. Sunil joined Exelon in 2002, and has focused extensively on integration work, including managing the centralization of Exelon’s supply chains and overseeing integration planning work for the company’s proposed merger with Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG). Sunil served as Assistant to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, where he focused primarily on economic development and re-engineering city departments, and was appointed a White House Fellow by President Clinton. Prior to his work in government, Sunil was at the Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago. While there, he co-authored a number of papers and co-chaired a new division on improving K-12 education by increasing involvement of community organizations. While an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, he took a leave of absence to conduct independent research in Nicaragua regarding the Contra war. Sunil graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science, earned a M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and an M.B.A. at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.

Thelma Golden

Thelma Golden, 42, Director and Chief Curator, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, (212) 864-4500. Thelma Golden has been the Director and Chief Curator at The Studio Museum in Harlem since 2000. She has organized a number of exhibitions, including Chris Ofili: Afro Muses 1995-2005, Harlemworld: Metropolis as Metaphor and Black Romantic. Before her appointment, she was the Special Projects Curator for Peter and Eileen Norton, contemporary art collectors and philanthropists based in Los Angeles. Thelma was a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City from 1996-1998; Associate Curator and Director of Branch Museums from 1993-1996; and from 1991-1993 she was Director and Exhibition Coordinator at the Whitney Museum at Phillip Morris. She also conceived and organized a site-specific commissioning program and organized 18 projects with artists, including Alison Saar, Glenn Ligon, Gary Simmons, Romare Bearden, Matthew McCaslin, and Suzanne McClelland. Thelma teaches and lectures at several institutions internationally including Columbia University, Yale and the Royal College of Art in London. She is also a prolific writer and has contributed essays to various publications. Thelma holds a B.A. in Art History and African-American Studies from Smith College (1987) and Honorary Doctorates from Smith (2004) and the Moore College of Art and Design (2003). 

Nick Grouf

Nick Grouf, 39, Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Spot Runner, Inc., Los Angeles, CA. Nick is the Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of privately-held Spot Runner, Inc. which is revolutionizing the way advertising is created, targeted, bought and sold. Nick has successfully built and sold two prior companies, PeoplePC and Firefly Network, both of which focused on harnessing the democratizing power of the Internet. Nick served as Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO of PeoplePC, Inc., which grew to become the fifth largest internet service provider in the U.S. He took the company public in 2000 and Earthlink acquired it in 2002. Prior to that, he was a venture partner at Softbank Technology Ventures. Nick was also the Co-Founder and CEO of Firefly Network, Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft in 1998. While at Firefly, he was a Co-Founder and Director of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Co-Founder of TrustE. He spent his early career at McKinsey & Co, where he focused on media and technology companies, as well as at Goldman Sachs in the mergers and acquisitions group. In 2007, Nick was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the “24 Top Innovators.” He currently serves on the board of The National Center for Women & IT. Nick holds a B.A. from Yale University, where he was awarded the Norman Holmes Pearson Prize for Best Thesis. He earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Aedhmar Hynes

Aedhmar Hynes, 41, Chief Executive Officer, Text 100 Global Public Relations, New York, NY. Aedhmar is the Chief Executive Officer of Text 100, a leading global public relations agency specializing in the technology industry. Based in New York City since 2004, Aedhmar oversees revenues of $60 million, a staff of more than 500, and 31 offices spanning North America, Asia Pacific and Europe. Aedhmar works closely with many of the company's key accounts, such as IBM, Cisco, Xerox and Fujifilm. Prior to her appointment as CEO in 2000, she was the Regional Director of U.S. operations and responsible for building the company's leadership and reputation in the U.S. high-tech public relations world. Throughout her career she has worked exclusively with technology companies, consulting on behalf of both large corporations as well as small start-up companies. Prior to her move to the U.S. to set up Text 100’s San Francisco office in October 1997, Aedhmar worked for seven years in the company’s London office. During this period, she worked for many of the company's most highprofile PR accounts including Digital Equipment Company, Visa, EDS and Dataquest, specializing in corporate and business-to-business public relations. Today, Aedhmar is an active speaker and commentator on the subject of global communications and the complexity of cultural fluency when communicating across multiple markets and audiences. Aedhmar holds an Economics degree from National University of Ireland, Galway and a postgraduate diploma in Marketing.

 
Kevin Judice

Kevin Judice, 44, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Achaogen, Inc., South San Francisco, CA. Kevin is the CEO of Achaogen, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that he cofounded to develop novel antibiotics for the treatment of life-threatening infections. In addition to setting corporate strategy and building the leadership team, Kevin has also served as the company’s Chief Scientific Officer—responsible for the overall scientific strategy, research priorities, and portfolio management. Along with its commercial efforts, Achaogen is engaged in several collaborations with the federal government to develop bio-terrorism countermeasures. Previously, Kevin held positions of increasing responsibility at Genentech and Theravance. As one of the first ten employees at Theravance, he played a key role in defining the company’s scientific strategies and led the team that discovered Telavancin—a new antibiotic for the treatment of multi-drug resistant “superbugs”. Kevin graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Chemistry from Texas A&M University. Following that, he received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from UCLA and was a National Institute of Health (NIH) postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. Kevin is an author and inventor on over two dozen scientific papers and patents. 

Eric Li

Eric Li, 39, Founder and Managing Director, Chengwei Ventures, Shanghai, China. Eric founded Chengwei Ventures in 1999. With an investment portfolio of over $500 million, Chengwei primarily invests in industrial companies that have scalable business opportunities in the global Chinese economy. Eric’s effort to transform Chinese enterprises—by bringing modern management and leadership, combined with the requisite capital to help them grow, modernize and create in an era of the “new China”—has become the subject of a best-selling book by David Sheff called China Dawn: Culture and Conflict in China’s Business Revolution. Prior to starting Chengwei, Eric was a partner of Orchid Asia Holdings, a private equity investment firm, and made significant investments in various industries in China and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. From 1989 to 1993, he worked for Perot Systems Corporation in Texas, and he also worked in investment banking with J.P. Morgan. Eric co-founded and serves on the Board of Governors of Dulwich College Shanghai, an international school in partnership with Dulwich College of London. He is also Vice Chairman of CEIBS Publishing Group, the publishing arm of the China Europe International Business School. Eric serves on the Board of Trustees of the Berkeley Art Museum and on the advisory council of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Eric received his B.A. from University of California, Berkeley and his M.B.A. from Stanford Business School.

Jennifer McCrea

Jennifer McCrea, 41, Founder and President, Sarvada Consulting, New York, NY. Jennifer is the Founder and President of Sarvada Consulting, a firm she formed to guide high-net-worth individuals and visionary leaders to rigorously and creatively leverage their philanthropic endeavors. Some of her current clients include Dean Ornish, Quincy Jones, Deepak Chopra, Millennium Promise, Walker Family Foundation, Veris Wealth Management, and Harvard University. Prior to creating Sarvada, Jennifer spent 16 years as an academic fundraiser at Case Western Reserve University, Washington University in St. Louis and, most recently, at Dickinson College, where she served as Vice President for Development. Jennifer is a frequent conference speaker, workshop leader, teacher and author. She earned a B.A. from Allegheny College in English and Philosophy and a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Case Western Reserve University.

Timothy Noonan

Timothy Noonan, 43, Director, The Boeing Company, St. Louis, MO. As Director at the Boeing Company, Tim leads Advanced Logistics Support Systems (ALSS), a division of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. Boeing is both the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft. ALSS is charged with creating and incubating new technologies and businesses in the federal logistics, supply chain, and services markets. Tim joined Boeing in 2003 as part of Boeing Ventures and the Chairman’s Innovation Initiative, a corporate entrepreneur group. Following Boeing Ventures, Tim held various leadership positions in Support Systems—a business unit with revenue in excess of $6.5 billion and 16,000 employees—including leading strategic development and serving as the Chief of Staff to the President. Prior to Boeing, Tim was the President of Big Change Networks, a start-up media and advertising company that taught children how to make and manage money through an innovative loyalty program. In addition, he was Vice President of Business Operations for Kaplan, Inc. following work as a Senior Associate at Marakon Associates—a leading international strategy consulting firm. From 1988-1994, Tim was a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, serving in the United States, Japan, Philippines, and Romania. He is also active is raising money and awareness to help injured Marines. Tim earned a B.S. from the United States Naval Academy and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Chinwe Onyeagoro

Chinwe Onyeagoro, 29, Founder, President and Managing Partner, O-H Community Partners, Ltd., Chicago, IL. Chinwe leads the Economic Development practice area within O-H Community Partners (OHcp), a consulting firm that provides strategic planning, project management, and capital advisory services to nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies. OHcp’s clients range from the Federal Transit Administration to the University of Chicago and organizations such as the Chicago Urban League and NeighborWorks America. Chinwe has worked with dozens of organizations and municipalities to attract and/or raise over $100 million dollars in investments for economic development projects throughout the United States along with the designing and implementing of hundreds of public and private sector initiatives. Prior to establishing O-H Community Partners, Chinwe worked as one of four investment analysts overseeing the Pritzker Realty Group’s $3 billion in real estate assets. She worked for ten years in the field of management consulting for global strategy firms, including McKinsey & Company and The Monitor Group. She is a licensed real estate broker and a member of the Chicago Association of Realtors and the National Association of Realtors. She also serves on the boards of four major nonprofit institutions including The Cara Program, an award-winning human service organization. Chinwe graduated magna cum laude in Economics and East Asian Studies from Harvard University, and is proficient in Spanish, Japanese, and Igbo.

Garth Ross

Garth Ross, 37, Director of Performing Arts for Everyone, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, DC. The Kennedy Center’s "Performing Arts for Everyone" initiative is designed to expand access to the performing arts for Washington residents and visitors to the nation's capital. The centerpiece of the initiative is the Millennium Stage, which provides a performance open to the public and free of charge 365 days a year. Since the inception of the Millennium Stage in 1997, Garth has produced over four thousand performances, featured artists from all fifty U.S. states and over fifty countries, and developed the program from obscurity into a model of arts accessibility that has served over three million patrons at the center and many more through the internet. In his current position, he produces outreach and audience development programming including the Millennium Stage series, the annual Prelude and Open House festivals, as well as other one-time festivals such as 2008’s Arts Across America. Garth is an acclaimed musician and has performed professionally with the Washington National Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys and award winning vocal groups including the Vineyard Sound and the Metronomes, as well as on his own as a singer-songwriter. He has served as a board member of the Washington Area Music Association and the North American Folk Music & Dance Alliance. Garth received his undergraduate degree cum laude in English (with a minor in Music) from Connecticut College, where he was a Sykes Scholar.

Ted Sarandos

Ted Sarandos, 43, Chief Content Officer, Netflix, Beverly Hills, CA. Ted has led content acquisition for Netflix since 2000. With more than 20 years of experience in home entertainment, Ted is recognized in the industry as an innovator in film acquisition and distribution. He oversees a staff of more than 50 people who manage the company’s content acquisition through relationships with studios, networks, film makers and producers. As Netflix grew to 7.5 million subscribers at the end of 2007, Ted established Netflix as a successful film distributor within the entertainment industry. During Ted’s tenure, the Netflix library has increased from 2,000 to 90,000 titles on DVD and more than 7,000 movies and TV episodes available to watch instantly on the personal computer. Ted has also spearheaded the company's original content initiative, Red Envelope Entertainment, creating a national platform for films and entertainment programming through unique partnerships. Ted began his path managing a metropolitan retail video chain in Phoenix, Arizona and then moved to Entertainment Distributing (ETD), where he served as Western Regional Director of Sales and Operations. Until March 2000, Ted was Vice President of Product and Merchandising for Video City, where he negotiated the industry’s first DVD revenue sharing agreement and reduced the cost of content from all studios. Ted was the recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the Woodstock Film Festival in 2007, and was included in Variety magazine’s Global 50, a list of the 50 most influential people in independent film distribution.

Lisa Shalett

Lisa Shalett, 44, Executive Vice President and Head of Alliance Growth Equities, Alliance Bernstein, New York, NY. Lisa is the Executive Vice President of Alliance Bernstein and the Head of Alliance Growth Equities. She was formerly the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Sanford C. Bernstein, LLC—the firm’s institutional research brokerage business. Lisa currently heads a staff of over 250 people in eight offices around the world including New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Cape Town and São Paulo—in businesses that generate over $1 billion dollars in annual revenues. During her career at Sanford C. Bernstein, Lisa also served as Director of Global Research for U.S. and European companies which is the sell-side of the business, and as Senior Research Analyst covering capital goods and diversified industrials. She was recognized as an “Up & Coming” analyst by Institutional Investor in 1996 and 1997; in 1998, she joined the Institutional Investor’s All-America Research team where she remained a top ranked analyst through 2000. Prior to Sanford C. Bernstein, LLC, Lisa spent six years as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in New York, covering consumer and technology-intensive industries. From 1985 to 1988 she held positions at Motorola, Booz Allen Hamilton and PepsiCo, Inc. Lisa currently serves as an Advisory Board member of WFUV 90.7FM, a non-profit, independent radio station based in Bronx, New York. She holds a dual magna cum laude B.S. in Applied Mathematics & Economics from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

 
Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel, 40, Founder and President, Clarium Capital Management, LLC, San Francisco, CA. Peter is Founder and President of Clarium Capital Management, a global-macro hedge fund overseeing $5 billion. Peter is also an active venture capitalist, and the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Founders Fund, a venture capital fund managing over $250 million on behalf of individuals and endowments. Individually and through the Fund, Peter has backed some of the most dynamic start-ups in Silicon Valley, including Slide, Ironport, and Facebook, on whose board he sits. Before starting Clarium and Founders Fund, Peter served as Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder of PayPal, an Internet company launched in December 1998 that was acquired by eBay for $1.5 billion in October 2002. Prior to founding PayPal, Peter ran Thiel Capital Management, LLC, the Menlo Park-based predecessor to Clarium, which started with $1 million under management in the fall of 1996. Peter began his financial career as a derivatives trader at CS Financial Products, after practicing securities law at Sullivan & Cromwell. In addition to his work in finance, Peter is active in a variety of philanthropic and educational arenas, including through his own foundation, which funds a variety of health and wellness initiatives. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Pacific Research Institute and the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. He received a J.D. from Stanford Law School, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Stanford University.

  
Omar Wasow

Omar Wasow, 37, Ph.D. Candidate, Harvard University, Co-Founder, BlackPlanet.com, Cambridge, MA. Omar is currently pursuing a Doctorate in African-American studies, a Master in Political Science and a Master in Statistics at Harvard University. In addition to his graduate work, Omar is the Co-Founder and an ongoing strategic advisor to BlackPlanet.com and an on-air technology analyst. Under Omar’s leadership, BlackPlanet.com became the leading site for African Americans—reaching over three million people a month. Omar also works to demystify technology issues through regular TV and radio segments on shows like NBC's Today, CNN's American Morning and the Tavis Smiley show. Similarly, Omar tutored Oprah Winfrey in her first exploration of the Net in the 12-part series “Oprah Goes Online”. As a result of his active participation in a number of social issues—particularly the charter school movement, Omar was selected to be a Fellow in the Rockefeller Foundation's Next Generation Leadership program. In recognition of the promise of his academic research, the National Science Foundation selected him for a Graduate Research Fellowship. He received his B.A. in Race and Ethnic Relations from Stanford University.

Mary Zerafa

Mary Zerafa, 41, Vice President of Strategy, ImpreMedia Digital, Los Angeles, CA. Mary is the Vice President of Strategy for ImpreMedia Digital, a division of ImpreMedia, the largest Spanish-language newspaper and online news publisher in the United States. In this role she is responsible for strategic development, growth and profit opportunities for ImpreMedia’s websites. In 2000, La Opinión asked Mary to start up a new division—La Opinión Digital. Within a short time she led it to its position as a top Spanish language news and information site for U.S. Latinos. In 2002, Yahoo! en Español named La Opinión Digital “the best news and information site”. Most recently it received the international award, Arroba de Oro (Golden @), for the best newspaper website. Prior to joining Laopinion.com, Mary was Toshiba Computer System's Product Manager for their top-selling laptop computers for both the U.S. and Latin American markets. In 2002, Mary was profiled by Presstime's annual “20 under 40” which recognizes up-and-coming newspaper professionals. She was a founding member of the comScore’s Hispanic Panel and the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Hispanic Committee. She is fluent in Spanish and has resided in both Spain and Argentina. Mary’s degrees include an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and a B.A. in International Relations from Michigan State University.