Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top California based Director operating in the Education space. If you think a Director is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Alex Stamos
Director, Stanford Internet Observatory of Stanford University
Alex Stamos joined Stanford University as Director in 2018. Alex Stamos is a cybersecurity expert, business leader and entrepreneur working to improve the security and safety of the Internet through his teaching and research at Stanford University. Stamos is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford’s Freeman-Spogli Institute, a William J. Perry Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution. As a Chief Security Officer at Facebook and Yahoo and a co-founder of iSEC Partners, Alex has investigated and responded to some of the most seminal events in the short history of cybersecurity, and has been called the “Forrest Gump of Info Sec” by friends. He is working on election security via the Defending Digital Democracy Project and advising NATO’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. He has spoken on six continents, testified in Congress, served as an expert witness for the wrongly accused, earned a BSEE from UC Berkeley and has five patents.
Follow Alex Stamos:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Christopher Manning
Director, Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of Stanford University
Follow Christopher Manning:
About Stanford University, Stanford University, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Irving L. Weissman
Director, Stanford University Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine of Stanford University
Irving L. Weissman, M.D., (Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board) is the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor for Clinical Investigation in Cancer Research at Stanford University. He is also the Director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. His research encompasses the developmental biology, self-renewal, homing, and functions of the cells that make up the blood-forming and immune systems. His main focus for the last several years has been the isolation, biology, transplantation, and evolution of stem cells. His Stanford lab was the first to isolate any stem cell from any tissue in any species. The isolation of mouse HSCs was followed by the isolation of human HSC by Dr. Weissman and his colleagues at SyStemix where he was a co-founder and director. He has also served on the founding scientific advisory boards of Amgen Inc., DNAX, Inc., and T-Cells Sciences, Inc. (now Avant, Inc.). He was a co-founder and is currently a member of the board of directors of StemCells, Inc., where he is co-inventor of the human brain stem cell composition. Dr. Weissman has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and to the American Association for the Arts and Sciences. He has received the Kaiser Award for Excellence in Preclinical Teaching, the Pasarow Award for cancer research, the Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Institutes of Health, the E. Donnall Thomas Award for Outstanding Achievement in Hematology, the deVilliers Award for Outstanding Achievements in Leukemia Research, the J. Allyn Taylor International Prize in Medicine, the American Diabetes Association Elliott Proctor Joslin Medal, and the Society of Neurological Surgeons Bass Award. In 2002 he was awarded the California Scientist of the Year, covering all fields, and in 2004 was awarded the Rabbi Shai Shacknai Memorial Prize in Immunology and Cancer Research from the Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology, and the Jessie Stevenson Kovalenko Medal from the National Academy of Sciences Council. He is also the 2004 Alan Cranston Awardee from the Alliance for Aging Research, and the 2005 recipient of the Linus Pauling Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Science from Stanford University.
Follow Irving L. Weissman:
About Cellerant Therapeutics, Forty Seven, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
David C Yeomans
Professor and Director of the Stanford Pain Research Center of Stanford University
David Yeomans is the director of pain research and a tenured associate professor of anesthesia at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the chair of the scientific advisory board of three companies and an advisor to numerous pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as venture capital firms and intellectual property law practices. Dr. Yeomans has authored more than 90 peer reviewed articles and 11 book chapters in the field of pain, and has been the recipient of numerous NIH grants. He has authored numerous issued patents and patent applications and co-founded two companies devoted to the management of pain. Dr. Yeomans earned an AB degree from Dartmouth College, received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Florida, and completed his research training as a NIH fellow at the University of Illinois.
Follow David C Yeomans:
About SiteOne Therapeutics, Stanford University, Trigemina, Yeomans Consulting Group: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Mark Blumenkranz
HJ Smead Professor Emeritus, Director of the Ophthalmic Innovation Program (Byers Eye Institute) of Stanford University
Mark Blumenkranz is Kedalion’s Executive Chairman, CEO, and Co-Founder, and also the Chairman and Managing Director of Lagunita Biosciences, a venture incubator that creates and grows early-stage companies to commercialize impactful translational science that addresses significant clinical needs. Dr. Blumenkranz is now the HJ Smead Professor Emeritus at the Byers Eye Institute and Department of Ophthalmology at Stanford University and served as departmental Chairman from 1997 to 2015. He played a leading role in the planning, fundraising and construction of the Institute which opened in 2010. Mark has a longstanding interest and expertise in university corporate technology transfer and early-stage biomedical companies and was a Founder and Director of Macusight, Peak Surgical, Optimedica Corporation, Adverum Biotechnologies, Oculeve, and Digisight Corporation (now Verana Heath). He has also served on the Boards of Directors of a number of other private and publicly traded ophthalmic drug and medical device companies including Oculex Pharmaceuticals, OIS, Midlabs, Presbia, and Beaver-Visitec (BVI Inc). He completed the Stanford Executive Program in the Graduate School of Business in 2004 and received his Undergraduate, Masters degree in biochemical pharmacology, and MD degrees from Brown University (AOA), where he is also a Fellow of the Corporation and immediate past Chair of the Medical School Committee.
Follow Mark Blumenkranz:
About Kedalion Therapeutics, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Guru Parulkar
Executive Director, Stanford Platform Lab of Stanford University
Guru Parulkar is the Executive Director of Open Networking Foundation (ONF), Open Networking Lab (ON.Lab) and Stanford Platform Lab, as well as Consulting Professor of EE at Stanford University. Guru also leads open source projects ONOS® and CORD® hosted by The Linux Foundation. In the field of networking for more than 25 years, Guru joined Stanford in 2007 as Executive Director of its Clean Slate Internet Design Program. At Stanford, Guru helped create three programs: OpenFlow / Software-Defined Networking, Programmable Open Mobile Internet 2020, and Stanford Experimental Data Center Laboratory. Prior to Stanford, Guru spent four years at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and worked with the broader research community to create programs such as GENI, Future Internet Design, and Network of Sensor Systems. Guru received NSF Director’s award for Program Management excellence. Before NSF Guru founded several startups including Growth Networks (acquired by Cisco) and Sceos (IPO’d as Ruckus Wireless). Guru served as Entrepreneur in Residence at NEA in 2001 and received NEA’s Entrepreneurship Award. Prior to this Guru spent over 12 years at Washington University in St. Louis where he was a Professor of Computer Science, Director of Applied Research Laboratory and the head of research and prototyping of high performance networking and multimedia systems. Guru received his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Delaware in 1987. Guru is a recipient of the Alumni Outstanding Achievement award and the Frank A. Pehrson Graduate Student Achievement award.
Follow Guru Parulkar:
About Ananki, Open Networking Foundation, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Josie Garthwaite
Associate Director Of Communications of Stanford University
Follow Josie Garthwaite:
About Discover Magazine, National Geographic, Stanford University, The New York Times: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Caroline Simard
Managing Director – VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab of Stanford University
Follow Caroline Simard:
About Exponential Talent, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Karen Cooper
Associate Dean & Director of Financial Aid of Stanford University
Director of Financial Aid Stanford University.
Follow Karen Cooper:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Maryam Sarah Hamidi
Associate Director of Scholarship & Health Promotion – Stanford Medicine WellMD Center of Stanford University
Follow Maryam Sarah Hamidi:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Khari Jones
Assistant Director of Innovation/Video Production of Stanford University
Follow Khari Jones:
About Golden State Warriors, Stanford University, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Christopher Field
Perry L. McCarty Director, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment of Stanford University
Follow Christopher Field:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Juan Carlos Niebles
Associate Director of Research at the Stanford-Toyota Center for AI Research of Stanford University
Follow Juan Carlos Niebles:
About Stanford University, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Jaimie Henderson
Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery of Stanford University
Jaimie Henderson, M.D. is director of the Stanford program in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and co-director (with Prof. Krishna Shenoy, PhD) of the Stanford Neural Prosthetics Translational Laboratory (NPTL).
Follow Jaimie Henderson:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Anna Lembke
Medical Director of Stanford University
Follow Anna Lembke:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Ron Davis
Director of Stanford Genome Technology Center of Stanford University
Ron Davis is Director of Stanford Genome Technology Center at Stanford University.
Follow Ron Davis:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Larry Leifer
Director, Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research of Stanford University
Follow Larry Leifer:
About Stanford University, Stanford University, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Jim Leape
William and Eva Price Senior Fellow; Co-Director, Center for Ocean Solutions of Stanford University
Follow Jim Leape:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
James Sweeney
Professor of Management Science and Engineering; Director, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center of Stanford University
Follow James Sweeney:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
James Sweeney
Professor of Management Science and Engineering; Director, Precourt Energy Efficiency Center of Stanford University
Follow James Sweeney:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Larry Leifer
Director, Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research of Stanford University
Follow Larry Leifer:
About Stanford University, Stanford University, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Nadia Roumani
Director, Effective Philanthropy Lab, Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society of Stanford University
Follow Nadia Roumani:
About Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Keith Devlin
Director of the Stanford Mathematics Outreach Project of Stanford University
Keith Devlin joined Stanford University as Director of the Stanford Mathematics Outreach Project in 2019.Keith Devlin is the Executive Director of the Human-Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute (H-STAR) at Stanford University and The Math Guy on NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Follow Keith Devlin:
About Brainquake, Stanford University: Stanford University is a teaching and research university that focuses on graduate programs in law, medicine, education, and business.
Romina Ederle
Senior Director, Global Communications of Udemy
Romina Ederle is the Senior Director, Global Communications at Udemy.
Follow Romina Ederle:
About Udemy: Udemy is an online learning platform that helps students, companies, and governments gain the skills they need to reach their goals.
Alex Mozes
Senior Director of Customer Experience of Udemy
Alex Mozes is a Senior Director of Customer Experience at Udemy.
Follow Alex Mozes:
About Udemy: Udemy is an online learning platform that helps students, companies, and governments gain the skills they need to reach their goals.
Neil Poloso
Executive Director, Biological Research of Allergan
Follow Neil Poloso:
About AbbVie, Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Tory Brady
Director of Product Engineering of Allergan
Tory Brady’s passion is building software with a keen eye on the customer and the jobs they’re hiring a product to do in their lives. He loves when beautiful design, performant code and comprehensive data intersect. He’s had a fruitful career as a Software Engineer, working for a variety of technology start-ups. Now Tory is applying these learned start-up methodologies to Allergan’s medical aesthetics business as they work to revitalize the digital relationship with their consumers.
Follow Tory Brady:
About Allergan: Allergan is a global pharmaceutical company.
Richard Swart
Director of Research of University of California Berkeley
Dr. Richard Swart is a PhD in Information Systems, an international award-winning academic and a recognized thought leader in the crowdfunding industry. Richard is a founding member of the Crowdfunding Professional Association (CfPA), the Crowdfunding Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CIFRA), and an early leader in the field. Richard co-organized the first major national conference on crowdfunding and coordinated several educational events on the JOBS Act throughout the United States. As Director of Research and Analysis for Crowdfund Capital Advisors (CCA) Richard works closely with the University of California, Berkeley in the Innovation in Entrepreneurial and Social Finance Program which is dedicated to academic research on crowdfunding and has CCA principals as founders. Richard is currently collaborating on a research project for the World Bank’s InfoDev group exploring crowdfunding and funding models for innovative technology.
Follow Richard Swart:
About iFundRE, University of California Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley is a public institution for higher education.
Adam Sterling
Executive Director, Berkeley Center for Law and Business of University of California Berkeley
Follow Adam Sterling:
About University of California Berkeley, University of California Berkeley, University of California Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley is a public institution for higher education.
Michèle Huff
Director of University of California Berkeley
Follow Michèle Huff:
About University of California Berkeley, University of California Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley is a public institution for higher education.
Erik Stallman
Associate Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic of University of California Berkeley
Follow Erik Stallman:
About University of California Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley is a public institution for higher education.
Erik Stallman
Associate Director of the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic of University of California Berkeley
Follow Erik Stallman:
About University of California Berkeley: University of California, Berkeley is a public institution for higher education.
Ikhlaq Sidhu
Founding Director and Chief Scientist, Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology of UC Berkeley College of Engineering
Ikhlaq Sidhu is the Chief Scientist for the Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley and has been the primary architect of its T-shaped curriculum and applied research program. He joined UC Berkeley in 2005 as founding Director of UC Berkeley’s highly successful Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, which has grown to become the cornerstone of the Fung Institute. Ikhlaq received recognition as the 2009 Emerging Area Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at UC Berkeley for his contribution to this new research and teaching area. He brings valuable insight to the Berkeley community by building the connections between teaching and current innovation topics within Silicon Valley. Within industry, Ikhlaq has established new businesses and developed new technologies at U.S. Robotics Corporation, 3Com Corporation, and Cambia Networks. He was 3Com’s “Inventor of the Year” in 1999, and has been granted over 60 US Patents in networking technology, IP telephony, and PDA functionality. Technology and intellectual property from his work has been cross-licensed to Palm Computing, 3Com, and UT Starcom. Ikhlaq also designed hardware for the first generation of laser printers at Hewlett Packard. Ikhlaq received his bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his master’s degree and doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Follow Ikhlaq Sidhu:
About UC Berkeley College of Engineering: Berkeley Engineering is ranked among the top three engineering schools in the world.
Laura Oppenheimer
Marketing Director of Quizlet
Follow Laura Oppenheimer:
About Quizlet: Quizlet is a learning platform that uses activities and games to help students practice and master what they’re learning.
Barak Berkowitz
Director of Operations and Strategy of MIT Media Lab
Follow Barak Berkowitz:
About BIND 4.0 Open Innovation and Acceleration Program, MIT Media Lab: MIT Media Lab creates disruptive technologies pioneering in wearable and affective computing and tangible interfaces.
Tim Sommer
Senior Partnerships Director of DonorsChoose
Tim Sommer is the Senior Partnerships Director at DonorsChoose.
Follow Tim Sommer:
About DonorsChoose: DonorsChoose is a nonprofit classroom funding site for public school teachers.
Genein Letford
Member of the Board of Directors of DonorsChoose
Genein Letford is an elementary music teacher from Canoga Park, CA and believes that every child, despite socioeconomic status, deserves a quality education that includes the arts. Genein began her teaching career as a third grade teacher of low-income English language learners. It was there she discovered the power of using music and dance to help teach vocabulary and academic concepts to her students. Genein is now the music director at the same elementary school and has created a dynamic award-winning music curriculum that not only teaches music standards but also incorporates corresponding math, science, language arts and social studies concepts. In 2009, Letford began the Music For All: Instrument Scholarship Fund, which awarded low-income high achieving students with instruments for their ongoing music education. In 2010, Genein was named the Great American Teacher of the Year and was a recipient of the Los Angeles Music Center’s Bravo Arts Educator Award. In 2014, she was honored with the ‘Innovation in Education’ Award from the Valley Economic Alliance for her dynamic arts program and has traveled to Japan and South Korea during the summer of 2014 as part of the prestigious Hilton Worldwide Teacher Trek program. Genein was honored with the Charter School Teacher of the Year Hart Vision Award in March of 2015. Letford received her bachelor degree from UCLA in psychology and completed her master thesis, ‘Integration With Integrity: The Importance of Keeping Music in the Elementary Classroom’ at California State University, Northridge in 2010. Due to her extensive knowledge in arts integration, she was recently appointed as a lecturer of the ‘Interdisciplinary Arts Education’ masters course at CSUN’s Eisner College of Education. She has done numerous professional presentations on this topic and remains focused on bringing arts education to underserved communities.
Follow Genein Letford:
About : DonorsChoose is a nonprofit classroom funding site for public school teachers.
Mike Roberts
Director of Data Analytics of Pluralsight
Mike Roberts comes to Pluralsight with a wealth of experience and a varied background encompassing databases, analytics, visualization, and scripting. Has has worked for Fortune 500 companies as well as small business helping them understand their vast data troves. His analytical style revolves around people and context, and in industry consumed with ‘defaults’, he believes that data intelligence starts with giving people access to their information with collaboration in mind.
Follow Mike Roberts:
About Pluralsight: Pluralsight is a technology learning platform for software developers, IT admins, and creative professionals.
Troy Cosey
Managing Director of FranklinCovey
Troy Cosey is the Managing Director of Franklin Covey.
Follow Troy Cosey:
About FranklinCovey: FranklinCovey is a performance improvement company that helps organizations address issues that require behavioral changes.
Shannon Farley
Co-founder and Executive Director of Fast Forward
Shannon is an experienced social entrepreneur. She is co-founder and Executive Director of Fast Forward. Shannon was also a Board Member at The Whitman Institute since May 2014. She is also co-founder and Executive Director of Spark. Prior to joining Spark, Shannon co-founded The W. Haywood Burns Institute, a MacArthur Award-winning juvenile justice reform organization. Shannon has been awarded the New Leader’s Council “Top 40 under 40 Award”, The Aspen Institute’s Ideas Scholar Fellowship, and The Women’s Funding Network’s Changing the Face of Philanthropy Award. Under her leadership, Spark won the 2010 Outstanding Foundation Award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals and served in the Inaugural Congressional Conference on Philanthropy and Innovation. Shannon attained her BA in American Studies from Georgetown University and MS in Gender and Social Policy from the London School of Economics.
Follow Shannon Farley:
About Fast Forward: The first accelerator exclusively for tech nonprofits.
Bridget Connolly
Director of International Development of wikiHow
Bridget Connolly heads up wikiHow’s international efforts. These have included expansions into over 14 languages. These efforts have led to top 200 Alexa rankings for wikiHow in countries such as Italy, Columbia, and even Pakistan. Growing up with older brothers, she became a devoted soccer player until derailed by an injury. After graduating Stanford University in international relations, she conducted research in some of the poorest areas of South Africa. She is also an aspiring documentary film-maker. She enjoys traveling the world and capturing it in images.
Follow Bridget Connolly:
About wikiHow: wikiHow is a web- and wiki-based community that provides its users with a database of how-to guides.
Konstantin Guericke
Member of the Board of Directors of StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund)
Konstantin Guericke is a Partner at Earlybird. He is based in Silicon Valley. Konstantin is Co – Founder of LinkedIn, where he has led marketing activities from launch to first six million members and profitability as Vice President of Marketing. Previously, he has been CEO of jaxtr (social communications start-up, over ten million registered users, purchased by SabSe Technologies). Konstantin has long-time entrepreneurial experience as founder of successful startups and he has helped established companies towards increased growth. Currently, he is Board member of several startups and Mentor of student entrepreneurs at Stanford University. Konstantin holds a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering from Stanford University.
Follow Konstantin Guericke:
About : StartX is an educational non-profit that helps Stanford’s top entrepreneurs.
Dan Ha
Co-Founder, Sr. Managing Director of StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund)
Follow Dan Ha:
About StartX (Stanford-StartX Fund): StartX is an educational non-profit that helps Stanford’s top entrepreneurs.
Sidney Taurel
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pearson
Sidney Taurel is senior advisor at Moelis & Company, an investment bank. He is chair of IBM’s Executive Compensation and Management Resources Committee and a member of IBM’s Executive Committee.Taurel joined Eli Lilly in 1971 and held management positions in the company’s operations in South America and Europe. He was named president of Eli Lilly International Corporation in 1986, executive vice president of the Pharmaceutical Division in 1991, executive vice president of Eli Lilly and Company in 1993, and president and chief operating officer in 1996. He was named chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company in 1998 and chairman of the board in 1999. Taurel retired as chief executive officer in early 2008 and as chairman in late 2008. He is a director of McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. He is also a member of the Board of Overseers of the Columbia Business School, a graduate member of The Business Council and a trustee of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.Taurel became an IBM director in 2001.
Follow Sidney Taurel:
About : Pearson operates as a media and education company that offers a wide range of services to its customers.
Robert Gentleman
Executive Director of Harvard Medical School
Follow Robert Gentleman:
About Harvard Medical School: Harvard Medical School is a medical education and scientific research institution focused on education, research, clinical care and service.
Vlado Herman
Board of Directors of Breakthrough Silicon Valley
Mr. Vlado served as GitHub’s CFO until 2015. Previously, Mr. Vlado Herman served as the Chief Financial Officer of Yelp, Inc. from November 2006 to July 2011. Mr. Herman joined Yelp in December 2006 as Director of Finance and was promoted to Vice President, Finance and Administration in 2007. He held several roles at Yahoo, most recently as Senior Director of Operations Finance for the Search & Marketplace business unit. In addition, he has held finance & accounting roles at Intel Corporation, Ernst & Young LLP and Unocal Corporation. Mr. Herman holds an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and a B.S. in accounting from California State University, Northridge.
Follow Vlado Herman:
About : Breakthrough Silicon Valley is a program for talented and motivated junior high students.
Sarah Zapp
Director of Strategic Partnerships of IVY
Follow Sarah Zapp:
About IVY: IVY is a Social University that provides a lifetime of new experiences, friendships, and inspiration.
Marilu Livermore
Head of Brand and Growth & Director, Marketing & Operations of Founders Circle Capital
Follow Marilu Livermore:
About Founders Circle Capital: Founders Circle Capital is a growth-stage investment firm that focuses on investing in people.
Hunter Gehlbach
Director of Research of Panorama Education
Follow Hunter Gehlbach:
About Johns Hopkins University, Panorama Education: Panorama Education brings the power of data to education through a SaaS platform used by hundreds of school districts across the US.
Stephen Comello
Director, Energy Business Innovations Focus Area, Stanford GSB of Stanford Graduate School of Business
Follow Stephen Comello:
About Carbon Direct, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University Graduate School of Business, University of Mannheim: Stanford GSB is a business management school that creates ideas that deepen and advance understanding of management.
Aenor Sawyer
Director, University of California, Space Health; Dir. Skeletal Health Service of University of California, San Francisco
Aenor Sawyer is an Orthopaedic Surgeon at UCSF and Associate Director of Digital Health in Biomedical Informatics at the Clinical & Translational Science Institute where she co-directs the UCSF T1 Catalyst Digital Health Grants program. Aenor Sawyer is also co-Founder of Trinity, a web-based collaboration technology for Virtual Tumor Board and Multidisciplinary Management of complex patients.
Follow Aenor Sawyer:
About Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), Trinity Labs, University of California, San Francisco: Director of the Lab for Advanced Cytometry (LAC) and the Sony Biotechnology Center at UCSF in the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Sanchita Bhattacharya
Scientific Program Director of University of California, San Francisco
Sanchita Bhattacharya is the Bioinformatics Project Lead at UCSF School of Medicine.
Follow Sanchita Bhattacharya:
About UCSF School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco: Director of the Lab for Advanced Cytometry (LAC) and the Sony Biotechnology Center at UCSF in the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Daniel Lowenstein
Director, Physician-Scientist Education & Training of University of California, San Francisco
Daniel Lowenstein is the Director, Physician-Scientist Education & Training at UCSF.
Follow Daniel Lowenstein:
About University of California, San Francisco, University of California, San Francisco, University of California, San Francisco: Director of the Lab for Advanced Cytometry (LAC) and the Sony Biotechnology Center at UCSF in the Department of Laboratory Medicine
Mari Baker
Member of the Board of Directors of John Wiley & Sons
Mari Baker is the Director of Blue Shield of California.
Follow Mari Baker:
About Blue Shield of California, Young Presidents Organization (YPO): John Wiley & Sons is a provider of content and content-enabled workflow solutions.
David A Barnhart
Director, Space Engineering Research Center; Research Professor, USC of University of Southern California
David Barnhart is an active Research Professor in the Department of Astronautical Engineering at USC, the Director/Co- Founder of the USC Space Engineering Research Center at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI), and co-founder/CEO of Arkisys Inc. David specializes in developing innovative technologies and architectures for 2nd generation space morphologies, RPO technologies/techniques, and hands-on projects with students, faculty and staff through an “engineering teaching hospital” construct. Over 250 students have graduated through the SERC’s laboratories to-date. David was a senior space Project Manager at DARPA, pioneering cellular spacecraft morphologies, satbotics, space robotics and low cost high volume manufacturing on the Phoenix and SeeMe projects. Prior to USC and DARPA David helped initiate two commercial space companies; co-founding and serving as VP and CFO for Millennium Space Systems in Los Angeles CA; and elected member of a startup in Bremen, Vanguard Space, one of the first companies working commercial spacecraft servicing.
Follow David A Barnhart:
About University of Southern California: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
Jonathan Schwartz
Senior Director of University of Southern California
Jonathan Schwartz has spent over 15 years in the corporate video space with a specialization in video production and strategic marketing to fully realize, protect, and enhance a company’s brand. Projects that Jonathan has produced/directed have been featured in national marketing campaigns – distributed both on the web and broadcast television. Jonathan also has an extensive technical background which he leverages to build state of the art and award winning digital delivery systems. Currently, Jonathan is the Director of Video Productions and Operations at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy where he has designed and implemented cost-effective streaming and video solutions/workflows which has allowed the University to reduce costs and bring production in-house. Jonathan came to USC from Celebrity Cruises, where he designed and implemented their on-board closed circuit IP-TV station / delivery system for their Solstice Class of ships. Jonathan also has a passion for the narrative space, and produces / directs short films that are often featured in film festivals around the country. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California – School of Cinematic Arts and is currently pursuing his Master’s Degree in Communication Management from USC’s Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism.
Follow Jonathan Schwartz:
About University of Southern California, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
Hossein Pourmand
Senior Executive Director, Corporate and Foundation Relations of University of Southern California
As Assistant Director for Physical Sciences & Engineering Technology Commercialization for the USC Stevens Center for Innovation, Hossein Pourmand is responsible for developing and implementing IP and commercialization strategies through licensing and other arrangements. Hossein has over 25 years of industry experience in a variety of engineering, strategy, business development and finance roles. He started his career with Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and after that worked with a number of high technology start-ups in various capacities including Venture Capital financing and business development. He has worked closely with innovators and has played a key role in the successful funding and launch of a number of high technology start-ups. Hossein has an MBA from Pepperdine University and a BS in Chemical Engineering from UCLA.
Follow Hossein Pourmand:
About University of Southern California: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
Michael Suman
Research Director of University of Southern California
Michael Suman serves as the research director of the Center for the Digital Future, where he manages and coordinates the “Surveying the Digital Future” Internet study and the World Internet Project. Suman is also a member of the UCLA faculty in the Department of Communication Studies. Suman holds a Ph.D. in sociology from UCLA, and has taught sociology, anthropology and communication studies in Japan, Korea, China and the Marshall Islands.
Follow Michael Suman:
About Center for the Digital Future, University of Southern California: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
Skip Rizzo
Director of Medical Virtual Reality, Institute for Creative Technologies of University of Southern California
Psychologist Skip Rizzo conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of virtual reality (VR) systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment rehabilitation and resilience. This work spans the domains of psychological, cognitive and motor functioning in both healthy and clinical populations. He is currently designing VR scenarios to address social and vocational interaction in persons with autistic spectrum disorder. Rizzo is currently examining the use of VR applications for training emotional coping skills with the aim of preparing service members for the stresses of combat. He is senior editor of the MIT Press journal, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments.
Follow Skip Rizzo:
About University of Southern California, USC Institute for Creative Technologies, USC Institute for Creative Technologies: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
David Carter
Executive Director of the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute of University of Southern California
David M. Carter founded the Sports Business Group in 1999 following more than ten years of consulting for the sports and entertainment industries. As a sports business consultant specializing in strategic marketing, Mr. Carter has consulted for corporations, sports organizations, sports and entertainment venues, law firms, municipalities, and individual athletes. Additionally, he is currently the Executive Director of the University of Southern California’s Sports Business Institute and is a professor of sports business at USC’s Marshall School of Business. Further, Mr. Carter regularly provides sports-business commentary to national media concerns. He has also authored three books about the sports business industry. Mr. Carter is a graduate of the University of Southern California where he obtained both a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and a Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in finance.
Follow David Carter:
About University of Southern California, University of Southern California: University of Southern California is a private research university offering opportunities for interdisciplinary study and collaboration.
Deepak Chopra
Chairman, Founder & Director of The Chopra Foundation
Founder of The Chopra Foundation, a non-profit entity for research on well-being and humanitarianism, and Chopra Global, a whole health company at the intersection of science and spirituality, is a world-renowned pioneer in integrative medicine and personal transformation. Chopra is a Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, San Diego and serves as a senior scientist with Gallup Organization.
Follow Deepak Chopra:
About Chopra Global, Osi Systems, The Chopra Foundation: The mission of the Chopra Foundation is to advance the cause of mind/body spiritual healing, education, and research.
Brooke Stafford-Brizard
Director of Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Follow Brooke Stafford-Brizard:
About Chan Zuckerberg Initiative: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative supports community-driven solutions to accelerate progress in science, education, and justice.
Ryan Johnson
Director of Science and Analytics of GoGuardian
Follow Ryan Johnson:
About GoGuardian: GoGuardian is an edtech startup that makes subscription software for K-12 schools.
Neil Estacio
Director, Product Design of GoGuardian
Neil Estacio is the Head of User Experience and Design at software startup GoGuardian, where his team builds experiences that help transform education for K-12 students and school districts. Prior to this, Neil managed the visual design team at cybersecurity startup Rapid7. He’s worked with teams from Yahoo, Hulu, and Netflix to design the Smart TV interfaces at Vizio. Previously, he was part of the product team at Google and a founding member of Google Creative Lab, developing and defining experiences for numerous products from Gmail to Chrome and Android. He received his BA in English from UCLA.
Follow Neil Estacio:
About GoGuardian: GoGuardian is an edtech startup that makes subscription software for K-12 schools.
Keith Berwick
Founding Executive Director, Henry Crown Fellowship Program of The Aspen Institute
Keith Berwick is founding Executive Director of the Henry Crown Fellowship Program and the inaugural recipient of the Keith Berwick Chair on Leadership at the Aspen Institute. In this capacity, he serves as a consultant to the Henry Crown Fellowship, the Aspen Global Leadership Network and other programs of the Aspen Institute. Keith is also an Emmy Award-winning television broadcaster, and principal of Berwick Communications, Inc., a newspaper and communication consulting company. Keith has taught at various universities, including UCLA and the Claremont Graduate School. He has been associate editor of Pacific Historical Review and editor of New Management magazine. Among his published works are The American Revolutionary Experience, 1776-1976 and The Federal Age, 1789-1829: America in the Process of Becoming. He is currently at work on The Search for an American Hero, a book on the American presidency.
Follow Keith Berwick:
About The Aspen Institute: The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC.
Terry Chay
Director, Features Engineering of Wikimedia Foundation
Terry started editing Wikipedia in 2006. At the end of February 2012, Terry became Director of Features Engineering at Wikimedia Foundation. Terry’s role is to be administrative overhead at the Foundation. If he is not doing his job, it probably means the others are doing theirs.
Follow Terry Chay:
About Wikimedia Foundation: Wikimedia Foundation encourages the development and distribution of free educational content with projects such as Wikipedia.
Zachary McCune
Director of Brand of Wikimedia Foundation
Follow Zachary McCune:
About Wikimedia Foundation: Wikimedia Foundation encourages the development and distribution of free educational content with projects such as Wikipedia.
Michael Melvin
Executive Director of Rady School of Management
Michael Melvin is Executive Director of the Master of Finance program at the Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego. Prior to his recent return to academia, he spent many years as a Managing Director at BlackRock and Barclays Global Investors (BGI). At BGI, he was head of currency hedge funds and head of currency and fixed income research. After BlackRock acquired BGI he was Senior Research Advisor in the Executive Group of Multi-Asset Strategies. His prior academic role included teaching a quant currency investing class in the Master of Financial Engineering program at U.C. Berkeley. Earlier roles include Fulbright Scholar in Germany and visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Board, the BIS, and the IMF.
Follow Michael Melvin:
About Rady School of Management: Rady School of Management is a school in San Diego.
Alan Paller
Founder & Director of Research of SANS Institute
Alan Paller founded SANS, a college and training school that has trained more than 145,000 cybersecurity technologists in 72 countries. Paller oversees a global program that celebrates people responsible for remarkable improvement in cyber-risk reduction. He has testified before the Senate and House and was a charter member of the President’s National Infrastructure Assurance Council. In 2010, the Washington Post named Paller as one of seven people “worth knowing in cyber security.” He serves on the NASA Advisory Council, chaired the DHS 2012 Task Force on Cyber Skills and headed the FCC Task Force on Best Practices in Cybersecurity. Earlier, Paller helped build one of the first large software companies, took it public and merged it into a larger company listed on the NY Stock Exchange.
Follow Alan Paller:
About SANS Institute: SANS Institute is a research and education organization that provides education related to information security.
Robert Statica
Founder & Director of Center for Information Protection
Robert is an information security, information technology and homeland security expert with over 25 years of experience. As the CTO and Co-founder of Wickr, he leads the innovation and design of the corporation, provides core algorithm design and co-authored the patents for Wickr’s underlying technology. Robert is the founder and director of the Center for Information Protection (CIP), a computer forensics and cyber security research lab at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He is also the former director and a founding faculty member in the Information Technology Program where he certified NJIT as an NSA Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education (CAE-IA). Prior to NJIT, Robert held leadership positions in the private sector where he lead the innovation, research and development for several technology companies. He also led the design and development of the first intelligent Intrusion Prevention System (i-IPS) to mitigate threats based on correlating, learning, and adapting to threat behavior for a U.S. Army contract. Robert holds a Master of Science and PhD in Computer Science, a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Homeland Security and a Ph.D (ABD) degree in Business Administration – Homeland Security.
Follow Robert Statica:
About Center for Information Protection: CIP hosts many hands-on courses for a variety of classes at NJIT to supplement the theories taught by faculty.
Michael G Ison
Medical Director, Transplant and Immunocompromised Host Infectious Diseases Service of Northwestern University
Follow Michael G Ison:
About Northwestern University: Northwestern is one of the country’s leading private research and teaching universities, located in Evanston, IL.
Salim Ismail
Global Ambassador & Founding Executive Director of Singularity University
Salim Ismail is the Chairman and Co-Founder of OpenExo. He is also the Global Ambassador at Singularity University focusing on its global presence. Salim spent two years as Singularity University’s founding Executive Director and currently serves as its Global Ambassador focusing on its global presence. Salim is a sought after speaker, strategist and entrepreneur – his last company, Angstro, was acquired by Google in August 2010. Prior to that, Salim was a Vice President at Yahoo and the Head of Brickhouse, Yahoo’s internal ‘ideas factory’ where game-changing ideas were brought in, built and launched. Salim also serves as Co-Founder and Chairman of Confabb.com, co-founded PubSub Concepts and is also on the board of Breakthrough, a global human rights organization focused on violence against women, racial justice and immigrant rights. Salim earned his B.Sc. in Physics from the University of Waterloo in 1989.
Follow Salim Ismail:
About EXO Foundation, OpenExo, Rokk3r, Singularity University: Singularity University is a benefit corporation that provides educational programs, innovative partnerships, and a startup accelerator.
Lajuanda Asemota
Director, Diversity and Inclusion of Singularity University
Follow Lajuanda Asemota:
About Singularity University: Singularity University is a benefit corporation that provides educational programs, innovative partnerships, and a startup accelerator.
Lajuanda Asemota
Director, Diversity and Inclusion of Singularity University
Follow Lajuanda Asemota:
About Singularity University: Singularity University is a benefit corporation that provides educational programs, innovative partnerships, and a startup accelerator.
Lisa Solomon
Principal Faculty and Managing Director, Transformational Practices of Singularity University
Follow Lisa Solomon:
About Singularity University: Singularity University is a benefit corporation that provides educational programs, innovative partnerships, and a startup accelerator.
Brian Behlendorf
Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project of Linux Foundation
Follow Brian Behlendorf:
About Hyperledger, Linux Foundation, Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation builds sustainable ecosystems around open source projects to accelerate technology development and industry adoption.
Jim Zemlin
Executive Director of Linux Foundation
Jim’s career spans three of the largest technology trends to rise over the last decade: mobile computing, cloud computing and open source software. Today, as executive director of The Linux Foundation, he uses this experience to accelerate innovation in technology through the use of open source and Linux. At The Linux Foundation, Jim works with the world’s largest technology companies, including IBM, Intel, Google, Samsung, Qualcomm, and others to help define the future of computing on the server, in the cloud, and on a variety of new mobile computing devices. His work at the vendor-neutral Linux Foundation gives him a unique and aggregate perspective on the global technology industry. Jim has been recognized for his insights on the changing economics of the technology industry. His writing has appeared in Businessweek, Wired, and other top technology journals, and he is a regular keynote speaker at industry events. He advises a variety of startups, including Splashtop, and sits on the boards of the Global Economic Symposium, Open Source For America, and Chinese Open Source Promotion Union.
Follow Jim Zemlin:
About Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation builds sustainable ecosystems around open source projects to accelerate technology development and industry adoption.
Lisa Caywood
Director of Ecosystem Development, LF Networking of Linux Foundation
Lisa Caywood is Director of Ecosystem Development for the OpenDaylight Project, the largest open source SDN platform. She has been involved with the SDN movement since 2011 and with the OpenDaylight Project as an employee of Brocade, a founding member, since 2013. At Brocade, she initiated outbound marketing for the company’s SDN strategy, and launched the company’s OpenDaylight-based controller. Prior to Brocade, she served in a variety of data center and security marketing and communications roles at Cisco, with previous experience in the enterprise software and semiconductor sectors. Lisa holds a B.A. in Asian Studies and English from Tufts University; her senior thesis focused on the role of the technology industry in the political economies of mainland China (PRC) and Taiwan (ROC).
Follow Lisa Caywood:
About Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation builds sustainable ecosystems around open source projects to accelerate technology development and industry adoption.
Dan Cauchy
Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux of Linux Foundation
Dan is the General Manager of Automotive at The Linux Foundation and the Executive Director of Automotive Grade Linux. He is responsible for the overall management and execution of the Automotive Grade Linux collaborative project, an industry effort to build an open source automotive reference platform backed by leading car manufacturers around the world. Dan has over 22 years of experience spanning the automotive, telecom, networking, and mobile business verticals. Prior to his current position, Dan was the Vice President and General Manager of MontaVista’s Automotive Business Unit (acquired by Mentor), responsible for P&L and worldwide execution of MontaVista’s automotive software strategy, sales, marketing, products, and services. During this period, Dan served on the Board of Directors of the GENIVI Alliance and was responsible for the creation of the GENIVI Compliance Program, a group that he chaired for its first three years, which led to the release of the GENIVI Specification, a widely adopted standard in the automotive industry. While at MontaVista, Dan previously held the position of VP of Marketing and BD, where he was responsible for the development and execution of MontaVista’s global marketing strategy, which led to an acquisition by Cavium. Based in Silicon Valley, Dan has extensive startup experience. He was the Director of Product Management at Atrica (acquired by Nokia-Siemens Networks), a carrier Ethernet equipment provider startup. Prior to Atrica, Dan was the Director of Architecture and Strategy at BlueLeaf Networks, a tunable laser optical networking startup (now Picarro). He also previously held senior management positions and engineering leadership positions at Cisco Systems, Newbridge Networks (acquired by Alcatel), and Nortel. Dan earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (with a Computer Engineering major) from the University of Ottawa. He holds three patents in the areas of routing and networking, with several others pending.
Follow Dan Cauchy:
About Automotive Grade Linux, Linux Foundation: The Linux Foundation builds sustainable ecosystems around open source projects to accelerate technology development and industry adoption.
Stephanie Durand
Director of Enterprise Sales & Business Development, North America of Coursera
Stephanie Durand leads international expansion in EMEA and LATAM at Coursera. In this role, she has led Coursera’s launches in Brazil, Latin America, and India. Stephanie has a decade of experience in strategy, partnerships management and international business development. Prior to Coursera, she worked at the UNAOC, an initiative of the United Nations Secretary General where she managed a wide range of projects including in education. Previously, she was Associate Director at Sciences Po Center of the Americas where she went on to join the journalism school to lead international expansion. She has a B.A. from Sciences Po Paris and a double Masters Degree from Sciences Po and the London School of Economics in International Affairs. She is of French German origin, speaks five languages, and is passionate about the potential to decreasing traditional barriers of access to education.
Follow Stephanie Durand:
About Coursera: Coursera is an online education company that partners with universities and organizations to offer classes on their platform.
Michael Vilardo
Co-Founder, President, COO, and Board Director of Emile Learning
Michael Vilardo is the Co-Founder, President, COO, & Board Director at Emile Learning.
Follow Michael Vilardo:
About Emile Learning: Building the Netflix of HS education, where students can earn HS and College credit for engaging with our premium videos.
Diane Samandi
Board of Director of Mona Foundation
Diane has been a lingerie designer for over thirty years. In 1980, Diane founded Jonquil, a romantic, old Hollywood inspired lingerie line well known for its lavish laces and intricate detail. A favorite with brides, Jonquil is one of the most sought after lines in the lingerie world. In 2007, Diane created In Bloom by Jonquil, giving the feminine, graceful elements of Jonquil a fresh, flirty flair.Recently, after a meeting with Dr. Leelee Luders from the Mona supported project CORDE, Diane realized a dream when she combined her creative energy for design with her passion for building capacity at the grassroots. Diane facilitated a meeting between CORDE and the factory in Cambodia that produces the In Bloom line. As a result, CORDE has started a program to educate the employees at the factory. The curriculum will focus on maternal and child health as well as child education. All parties involved, from the factory workers, to the factory owners, to the members of CORDE, are excited about this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many.
Follow Diane Samandi:
About : Mona Foundation exists because we want to build a better world for our children.
Rainn Wilson
Board of Director of Mona Foundation
Rainn holds an MFA from New York University’s Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. He has had a successful acting career, as well as co-founded SoulPancake, a multimedia platform to “chew on life’s big questions.” Rainn became involved with the Mona Foundation in 2007 and since then he and his wife, Holiday, have visited schools that the Mona Foundation supports in Haiti and India. In 2013 they started an initiative called LIDE, a non-profit organization, which empowers impoverished adolescent girls in Haiti through artistic educational programs. In 2014 Rainn joined the Mona board of directors
Follow Rainn Wilson:
About : Mona Foundation exists because we want to build a better world for our children.
Amy Li
Board of Director of Humanity+
Amy Li is a multidisciplinary creative director and designer, specializing in branding, creative marketing strategy, and user interface design for global brands like Yahoo, AT&T, etc. She is passionate about combining design, technology, and human factors to create state of the art products that impact our daily lives. One example of this is the iPhone app Have2P. It is a fun and creative app that addresses a universal human need in a new high-tech fashion. It was showcased as “App of the Week” in the New York Times, and also featured in Gizmodo. Amy also has years of experience specializing in designing visually engaging web sites with intuitive interfaces, flash animations, emails and landing pages with a strong focus on branding and UX design. Her portfolio can be seen at www.meidesign.net and she is easy to connect with on LinkedIn and Twitter. One of Amy’s true passions in life is to use her skills to help members of the scientific community become better communicators, one typography at a time :). Born and raised in China, Amy immigrated to the U.S. and received her BFA with honor at CSULB, one of the top eight graphic design programs in the country, and later continued her education in Advanced Web and Interactive Design at UCLA.
Follow Amy Li:
About : Humanity+ is a non-profit 501(c)3 educational organization[1] dedicated to elevating the human condition.
Peg Maddocks
Executive Director of NapaLearns
Follow Peg Maddocks:
About NapaLearns: Non-profit organization in Napa County, California which encourages the success of every student.
Peg Maddocks
Executive Director of NapaLearns
Follow Peg Maddocks:
About NapaLearns: Non-profit organization in Napa County, California which encourages the success of every student.
Karlie Krieger
Director of Global Events & Partnerships of Startup Grind
Karlie is the Director of Global Events + Partnerships at Startup Grind. She focuses on the planning and production of Startup Grind’s Global Conference, bringing thousands of entrepreneurs to the Silicon Valley every February (more at startupgrind.com/conference). In addition to the event, she also runs strategic partnerships and sponsorships for the company as a whole. Previously, she ran all major conferences at Inc. Magazine while living in New York City. She now lives in San Francisco.
Follow Karlie Krieger:
About Startup Grind: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
Naomi Grange
Director of Orange County of Startup Grind
Naomi Grange is a forward-thinking innovative leader, smart and successful. She maximizes her strengths as a strategist, connector, influencer and motivator. Naomi is inspired by the courage, determination and independence of people who have touched her life in one way or the other. She have over 29 years experience in marketing and business development. Naomi is the vision behind TXTgirl® an on and offline destination created by girls for girls. It’s positive space where girls can in real-time, motivate, inspire, encourage, teach, learn, and connect with other girls who want to live their best life while empowering themselves and others. Naomi expanded her vision and team to create GIVEvolution® the next step in the evolution of giving. Follow her @TXTgirlNaomi
Follow Naomi Grange:
About Startup Grind: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
Michael Gasiorek
Shenzhen Chapter Director & Community Builder of Startup Grind
Learning more every day as a globetrotting lean entrepreneur and startup evangelist. Polish-born, American-raised, Hong Kong-loving, and China-based, he is searching for the next place to call home – but building bridges at every stop. When not traveling, studying Mandarin, or jumping around at a live concert he is a founder at ShopHop, your pocket fashion GPS. Serving Startup Coach focused on international ventures at NU IDEA Boston incubator and event curator for Startup Digest Shenzhen. Previously fueled the China startup fire as founder of Startup Grind Shenzhen and DrinkEntrepreneurs, and volunteer with Startup Weekend HK & SZ.
Follow Michael Gasiorek:
About ShopHop, Startup Grind, Under 30 Changemakers: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
Kyle Shields
Director of Utah Chapter of Startup Grind
Kyle is currently pursuing a Master of Accountancy at Brigham Young University. A large portion of his time is devoted to learning the ins and outs of tax accountancy, but once the books are closed Kyle can be found working on some new entrepreneurial pursuit, or working with professors on research projects.
Follow Kyle Shields:
About Startup Grind: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
John Starr
Director of North by Chapter of Startup Grind
Startup Grind North Bay Director John has worked in the San Francisco Bay Area entertainment and technology fields for more than 20 years. He’s helped start two venture funded tech companies, managed computer networks for several large non-profits, taught computer skills to journalists and produced or acted in lots of media projects. His voice can be heard on commercials, corporate narrations and award-winning children’s audio books. He lives and works in Marin County, CA and is dedicated to fostering the entrepreneurial spirit in the North Bay.
Follow John Starr:
About Startup Grind: Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs.
Tatjana Klein
Regional Director of Room to Read
Follow Tatjana Klein:
About Room to Read: Focus on two areas where we believe we can have the greatest impact: literacy and gender equality in education.
Shivani Sharma
Associate Director, Nano & Pico Characterization Lab, California Nanosystems Institute of University of California, Los Angeles
Follow Shivani Sharma:
About University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university offering a variety of academic programs.
John Hamilton
Director of Graduate Educational Studies of University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Hamilton is the Director of Graduate Educational Studies at UCLA. Dr Hamilton has served as a valuable member of the UEIS Advisory Team and is a key contributor to developing our teacher professional development service offerings. He is a former professor at Pepperdine University, Cal State University Long Beach, National University, and Loyola Marymount University.
Follow John Hamilton:
About University of California, Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university offering a variety of academic programs.
Myron Tong
Director, Asian Liver Program of University of California, Los Angeles
University of California Los Angeles, Director, Asian Liver Program A world-leading hepatologist, Dr. Tong has specialized in liver-disease research and treatment for more than 25 years. His research efforts include anti-viral treatment of patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and he is heavily involved in the treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma at UCLA.
Follow Myron Tong:
About University of California, Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university offering a variety of academic programs.
Michael Micheletti
Senior Director of Corporate Communications and Public Relations of Freedom Financial Network
Follow Michael Micheletti:
About Freedom Financial Network: Freedom Financial Network provides financial solutions such as tools to find mortgage rates, ways to resolve debt problems and more.
Alex Convery
Director of Academic Partnerships of TutorMe
Follow Alex Convery:
About TutorMe: TutorMe is an online education platform that offers on-demand tutoring and online test preparation courses.
Kassia Shishkoff
Director of Communications of Anyone Can Learn To Code
Kassia is the Director of Communications with Anyone Can Learn To Code, a tech education company providing in-person training and workshops, online tutorials, and other resources for coding learners of all levels. ACLTC’s part-time coding bootcamp and apprenticeship program, Actualize, consists of four months of in-class training followed by guaranteed placement in the company’s web development agency, The Difference Engine. Learn more at http://www.anyonecanlearntocode.com
Follow Kassia Shishkoff:
About Anyone Can Learn To Code: ACLTC is a tech education co. w/ resources for learners of all levels. Actualize is our part-time coding bootcamp & apprenticeship program.
Matthew Clough
Director, Enterprise Sales of Degreed
Matthew Clough is Founder at Stone+Cloth.
Follow Matthew Clough:
About Degreed: Degreed is an upskilling platform where individuals and organizations can discover content, build skills, and certify expertise.
Bambi Buckles
Director, Enterprise Sales of Degreed
Follow Bambi Buckles:
About Degreed: Degreed is an upskilling platform where individuals and organizations can discover content, build skills, and certify expertise.
Karen Cator
Director of Digital Promise
Karen Cator is President and CEO of Digital Promise and a leading voice for transforming American education through technology, innovation and research. From 2009-2013, Karen was Director of the Office of Educational Technology at the U.S. Department of Education, where she led the development of the 2010 National Education Technology Plan and focused the Office’s efforts on teacher and leader support. Prior to joining the department, Cator directed Apple’s leadership and advocacy efforts in education. In this role, she focused on the intersection of education policy and research, emerging technologies, and the reality faced by teachers, students and administrators. She began her education career in Alaska as a teacher, ultimately leading technology planning and implementation. She also served as Special Assistant for Telecommunications for the Governor of Alaska. Cator holds a master’s in school administration from the University of Oregon and recently received the 2014 College of Education Distinguished Alumni award. The American Association of Publishers has awarded Cator with the 2014 Visionary Award. She received her bachelor’s in early childhood education from Springfield College, and she is a member of the Aspen Pahara Fellows. She is a past chair for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and has served on boards including the Software & Information Industry Association-Education.
Follow Karen Cator:
About Digital Promise: Digital Promise provides support to advance technologies that can transform teaching and learning.
