A Little Thing

AMR Internal Client Judges
17 Hats PeerStreet
Alan Edgett - CMO Jay Hartman - Head of Finance and Investments
Niel Mclean - VP, Product Development Marc Heenan - Head of Commercial Organizations & Asset
American Homes 4 Rent Management
Bryan Smith - President and COO Phyn
Cameron Wu - Manager, Pricing and Analytics Brad Beckman - Uponor Finance
Amgen Sunny Choi - Belkin Corporate Development
Greg Barnes - Chief Information Security Officer Ryan Kim - CEO
Jerry Gross - Head of Technology Innovation SnapChat
Chris Nardecchia - VP, Business/Digital Technologies Chad Bendall - Business Operations
AT&T Brian Theisen - Director of Revenue
Jeff Ezell - VP, Strategy and Business Development Radhika Kakkar - Director of Customer Operations
Tony Goncalves - SVP, Strategy & Business Development Dan Grossman - Product Strategist
Brad Bentley - EVP & CMO (Entertainment Group) Strategies for International Development
Blizzard Gear Scott Hansen - Board of Directors
Graham Hill - Senior Manager, Global Product Planning & Jim Swoboda - Board of Directors
Operations, Business Development & Licensing Survios
Choice Hotels Mike Domaguing - Head of Marketing
Janis Cannon - SVP, Upscale Brands Chris Hewish - Head of Studio
Bill Carlson - SVP, Performance Analytics Mike McTyre - Design Director
David Ginsburg - Sr. Director, Market & Consumer Research Swell Energy
Rebecca Mervis - Director, Brand Strategy & Marketing Alex Fraenkel - Member of Board of Advisors
Cricket Wireless Andrew Meyer - Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Chris Hegge - Senior Associate, Corporate Strategy Matt Rising - Co-Founder, Managing Partner
Conor Murphy - ED, Business Planning and Strategy Switchfly
Nataraj Rao - VP, Business Operations and Strategy Sylvie Charbonnier - VP Partnerships, Business
Edison International Development & Marketing
John Harris - Manager, Strategic Planning Michael Chua - Strategic Account Manager
Doug Kim - Director, Advanced Technology Jinwah Lau - Director of Product Management
Terang Kim - Principal Advisor, Strategic Planning The Jim Henson Company
Sergej Mahnovski - Director, Strategic Planning Laurie Don - CFO and EVP
Katie Sloan, Sr. Manager, Strategic Planning Lisa Henson - CEO
Headspace Jessica Mansour - Manager of Financial Operations &
Dan Kessler - VP, Business Development & Partnerships Administration
Sean Brecker - CEO UCLA Anderson Admissions
Hofman Hospitality Group Elvia Delgado - VP of Sales & Marketing, AltaMed Health
Ashley Pedersen - Brand Manager Services (see bio)
Jim Upchurch Pat Godefroy - Associate Dean, Marketing &
Paul Williamson - VP, Operations Communications
Intellectual Technology Verizon
Lender Price Alex Toumayan - Development Executive
Clay Christensen - Director, Analytics Steve Woolf - Head of Programming
Rod Lake - Cre8Tech Labs, Inc. Veolia
Lubricating Specialties Joy Ulickey - Director, Enovity Inc.
Kyle Schlutz - Sr. Associate, Vintage Fund Management Michael Byrnes - SVP Sales and Marketing
Sydney Thwaites - President and CEO Lanita McCauley-Bates - SVP, Western US Municipal &
Commercial Services
AMR & BCO Judge Bios | 1

AMR & BCO External Judges
Deborah Arnold Dino Gioia Keyvan Peymani

Val Babjov Scott Gladstone Matthew Pierce
Jill Baldauf Paul Habibi Jim Pickell
Bryan Banta Eric Hebel Merrick Posnansky
Bianca Barredo Wesley Hein Danny Qin
David Bauer Steve Helper Dr. Jeannine Rahimian
Jason Beck Matt Hersh Tariq Rana
Marc Becker Angela Horne Kevin Randolph
Paul Burtenshaw Mike Huntley Marvin Riley
Natalie Cariola Buck Jordan Wilton Risenhoover
Sarah Chambless Uday Karmarkar Matt Sand
Daniel Cheng Ken Klar Jeff Scheinrock
Dr. Tom Coates Nick Kreider Pam Schulz
Brent Cohen Larry Kutcher Archie Sharma
Jeffrey Cohen Mark Lee Jason Sheasby
Scott Cohen Vandana Mangal Robert Sichinga
Itai Danovitch Todd Maurer Michael Silton
Todd De Mann Adam Mendler Brette Simon
Kevin DeBre Michael Montgomery Raj Singh
David Dowling Richard Morganstern Bhavna Sivanand
Aimee Drolet Rossi Brett Morrison James Somes
Alan Duke Brian Murphy Robert Spich
Sheri Dunn Berry Jim Myers Emily Taylor
Jeff Durbin Arman Nadershahi Stephanie Wander
Gonzalo Freixes Jerry Nicklesberg Thomas Webster
Mamie Funahashi Chris Ochs Jeremy Weiner
Judith Gasson John O'Connell Per Welinder
Dwayne Gathers Tom Oser Edward Wolfman

Deborah Arnold
President, DAZ Systems, Inc.
Deborah Arnold is President and cofounder of DAZ Systems. Deborah is responsible for defining strategy
through marketing for DAZ services, Cloud and software-related sales into Oracles largest prospect base
across North America.
With early and frequent success in selling ERP solutions, Deborah has helped build a thriving ERP practice
at DAZ, which has grown to a major partner in the Oracle PartnerNetwork and embraced by Oracle.
Val Babajov
CEO, Partners 1993
Val Babajov is an entrepreneur and angel investor with more than three decades of software development
and business management experience. Val is currently Founder and Managing Director of Voivoda
Ventures, a family investment fund focused on B2B software technology startups. Voivoda has provided
initial and follow-on funding for fourteen companies since 2010.
Prior to founding Voivoda ventures, Val spent 33 years in the software development industry. He founded
his first company, WebMessenger in 1993 in his garage. Val enjoys working with entrepreneurs who have a
strong value system and personal drive. Having immigrated to the United States from communist Bulgaria
before of the collapse of the system in February 1989 with only $100 in his pocket, Val knows first-hand
the struggles that early entrepreneurs face in trying to build their business. His goal with Voivoda Ventures
is to help entrepreneurs avoid many of the common mistakes and accelerate the growth of their company.
Bianca Barredo
Director of General Industries Asset Based Lending, MidCap Financial
Bianca Barredo is Director of the General Industries Asset Based Lending Group focusing on originating
and structuring financing solutions with investment banks, restructuring advisors, and debt investors for
public and private companies. Bianca has provided financing for middle market companies for over 10
years. Prior to joining MidCap, she was Senior Vice President at GE Capital, Corporate Finance Group,
where she was responsible for sourcing and executing cash flow, ABL, and unitranche transactions.
Additionally, she spent eight years at Comerica Bank, most recently as Vice President, Team Leader where
she was responsible for the entire deal process with emphasis on financing lower middle market

investments for private equity sponsors. Bianca holds an M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of
Management and a B.S. from USC Marshall School of Business.
Jill Baldauf
Associate Dean of Alumni Relations at UCLA Anderson School of Management
Jill is a double Bruin 30+ year veteran of the advertising industry. Her career has spanned both coasts
with key positions at DDB, Grey, Ogilvy & Mather and Benton & Bowles. Her clients included Procter &
Gamble, Nestle, Mars, Henkel as well as toy powerhouses Mattel and Hasbro. In fact, she launched her
own agency, Ampersand, in 2003 with a retainer from Hasbro to work on Disney products.
Jill returned to her alma mater, UCLA Anderson School of Management, as Associate Dean, Alumni
Relations in September of 2014. She served on the Board of Visitors of the Anderson School from 1992 to
1997.
Jill is extremely active in the community. She is Chairman of the Board of Chrysalis and President of The
Blue Ribbon. She is currently on the boards of the Music Center and LA Opera. Additionally she has
served on the Boards of The Broad Stage, Wildwood School, and the Stanford Parents Advisory Board. Jill
has a B.A. from UCLA and also received her MBA from UCLAs Anderson School.
David Bauer
Principal, Jacobs
David Bauer has more than 25 years of experience in technical, business development, and strategy roles
in domestic and international markets. He has held leadership roles driving business growth in
technology, aerospace, renewable energy, and building design & construction business sectors. He is
currently a Principal in the Buildings & Infrastructure practice of Jacobs -- a global provider of technical
and professional services -- and Vice President of Education for the Southern California chapter of
CoreNet Global. David is a 2004 graduate of UCLA/Anderson, and earned an M.S. in Systems
Management from USC, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC Santa Barbara.
Jason Beck
Principal, Vicente Capital Partners

Jason Beck is a Principal with Vicente Capital Partners, where he focuses on sourcing, executing, and
monitoring investments in software, internet, technology, and healthcare businesses. His current board
seats and board observer positions include Campus Explorer, MedBridge Healthcare, and iBwave
Solutions.
Prior to joining Vicente Capital, Jason was responsible for sourcing new investments, performing due
diligence, and working with senior management teams to structure and execute transactions at Shepherd
Ventures. Prior to Shepherd Ventures, Jason worked in design engineering, project management, and
technical marketing roles at Entropic Communications (Nasdaq:ENTR) where he was a key contributor to
the development of the MoCA cable home networking standard (the de facto connected home networking
standard in the U.S.) and was responsible for the design and development of the c.Link home networking
chipset that is currently deployed in Verizons FiOS service.
Earlier in his career, Jason founded and ran a business that provided design services and developed
intellectual property used in a variety of integrated circuit and chipset applications, and he also worked in
design engineering and management roles at ViaSat, Broadband Innovations, Logic Innovations, and
Tiernan Communications. Jason is the holder of multiple U.S. Patents related to Channel Response
Calculations in OFDM Receivers and he also holds a Bachelors and a Masters degree in Engineering from
Harvey Mudd College with distinction, and an M.B.A. with high distinction as a Carter Fellow and a Venture
Fellow from the Anderson School of Business at UCLA.
Marc Becker
CEO, The Tangent Agency
Marc spent 7 years of his career at Universal Pictures as an Executive in the Global Brand Marketing team.
There he worked closely with filmmakers, key stakeholders and brands to ensure a consistent global brand
strategy for Universals films and franchises. He helped develop unique, synergistic campaigns to
integrate films across the various NBCU/Comcast platforms collaborating with TV networks, digital
channels, Comcast and Universal Parks & Resorts. In 2014, while working full time at Universal, Marc
earned his MBA at the USC Marshall School of Business. At Universal, Marc lent his talents to the success
of many film campaigns and brand extensions. Most notably, he helped launch the Despicable Me
franchise and enhance the Fast & Furious saga.
After using Tangent as a trusted vendor for several years, Marc left Universal and joined the Tangent team
to oversee business operations and lead the charge for future business development.

Paul Burtenshaw
Director, Projects for Sustainable Preservation Initiative
Paul Burtenshaw is Director, Projects for Sustainable Preservation Initiative, an international NGO which
aims to 'Build Futures and Save Pasts' by creating sustainable community businesses in locations with
vulnerable archaeological sites. Paul researches and teaches globally on how cultural heritage can be use
as a resource for sustainable development.
Natalie Cariola
Vice President of Sales, Zumper
Seasoned multifamily executive with proven experience driving revenue growth, developing go-to-market
strategy, and leading sales operations. Aptitude to pursue innovative growth strategies and pivot quickly
as needed, while implementing necessary procedures for maximum efficiency. Extensive experience
identifying go-to-market strategy, financial projections, developing top talent, presenting to the C-Suite,
recruiting and hiring. Known for ability to identify growth opportunities, show significant revenue and
customer growth, build high performing teams, turn around failing divisions and effective crisis
management.
Sarah Chambless
Partner, Manatt
Sarah Fergusson Chambless is a partner with the corporate and finance practice group in the Los Angeles
office. Sarah practices in the areas of start-up company formation, early-stage finance, governance and
compliance, intellectual property licensing, venture capital investment transactions and fund formation,
and mergers and acquisitions. Sarah advises emerging companies in the digital media, technology,
consumer products, social enterprise and nonprofit sectors in issues related to company formation,
corporate compliance and intellectual property licensing. She represents both emerging companies and
venture capital investors in seed and venture capital financings (both equity and debt), and has
represented buyers, sellers, issuers and investors in investments, business combinations and buyout
transactions in the digital media, technology, consumer products and healthcare sectors. Sarah also has
experience in the planning, structuring and formation of venture capital funds and joint ventures. Prior to
joining Manatt, Sarah taught elementary school in Compton, California, as a Teach for America corps
member. She continues to represent special needs students on a pro bono basis in matters relating to
access to free and appropriate public education and school discipline.

Daniel Cheng
Head of Product Marketing, Sengled
Daniel Cheng is the head of Product Marketing at Sengled, a leader in Smart Home technology. Sengled is
reinventing the way people think about smart home by embedding consumer electronics into the
ubiquitous light bulb. At Sengled, Cheng has successfully launched multiple award winning products in the
consumer Internet-of-Things (IoT) space and has given talks on the development of smart home
technologies. In his current role, Cheng runs the Product Marketing unit with responsibilities including
market research, product definition, business development and products launches.
Cheng has over a decade of experience in managing innovative products and bringing them to market.
Prior to joining Sengled, Cheng managed product lines at Semtech and Micrel (acquired by Microchip) with
revenues exceeding hundreds of million dollars.
Cheng graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 2006 and
received his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2015.
Dr. Tom Coates

Professor, UCLA Center for World Health
Dr. Coates joined the Division of Infectious Diseases as Professor in 2003. His areas of emphasis and
expertise are HIV prevention, the relationship of prevention and treatment for HIV, and HIV policies. His
domestic work has focused on men who have sex with men, and he is currently finishing a nationwide
clinical trial of an experimental HIV preventive intervention focused on this population. He is also finishing
domestic trials of post-exposure prophylaxis. He is directing a community-randomized clinical trial in
South Africa, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Thailand to determine the impact of strategies for destigmatizing
HIV on HIV incidence community-wide. He is also leading a prevention clinical trial in South America as
part of a 5-country effort. He is co-principal investigator of the NIAID funded HIV Prevention Trials
Network, and is conducting policy research domestically and internationally. He was cited in Science in
2002 as the 4th highest funded scientist in the clinical, social, and behavioral sciences and was elected to
the Institute of Medicine in 2000.
Brent Cohen
Executive Advisor, Originate

Executive Advisor at Originate, has been CEO of both private and private companies including companies
funded by soft bank capital. Brent was President of Packard Bell, he has experience in helping start-ups
grow and obtain funding. He's also a significant Angel Investor.
Jeffrey Cohen
Business Law Partner, Cohen Business Law Group
Jeff is business lawyer and pioneer in the area of Internet business law and Internet litigation. In 1999 he
founded InternetLitigators to serve the needs of internet and technology companies which it continues to
do to this day. In 2010, Jeff founded the Cohen Business Law Group, apc where today he provides broader
business law services and consultation in areas including business strategy, contracts, employment,
intellectual property and commercial real estate to businesses in many verticals including his original
focus of internet and technology companies. In addition to having represented hundreds of companies in
many industries, Jeff is an entrepreneur at heart having personally participated in the formation, launch
and operation of numerous ventures in areas including social media, consumer products, internet
marketing, web hosting, domain names, and data center operations.
Dr. Itia Danovitch

Dept. Chair of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Dr. Danovitch is the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He earned his bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, and his
medical doctorate from UCLA. He completed psychiatry residency at Columbia, an addiction psychiatry
fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and a Master of Business Administration at the UCLA Anderson
School of Management.
Dr. Danovitchs research interests have focused on substance use disorders, particularly marijuana, as
well as the integration of medical and mental health services. He is the author of over 40 original articles
and book chapters. He was co-editor of the 2012 Psychiatric Clinics of North America special edition on
addiction. As an educator, Dr. Danovitch has been recognized with the Golden Apple Award for Excellence
in Teaching.
Dr. Danovitch serves as Immediate Past President of the California Society of Addiction Medicine. He is a
Distinguished Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and Fellow of the American
Psychiatric Association. In 2016 he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to serve as a Commissioner
on the California Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.

Todd De Mann
Managing Partner, Paradigm Developers LLC.
Todd DeMann founded Freshology in 2005, based on the firm conviction that healthy nutrition and top-level
cuisine were not mutually exclusive, but in fact were natural partners. Recognizing the rapid growth of the
organic food movement over the last several years and combining that inspiration with the management
and client service skills honed over years of entrepreneurial experience, he quickly built Freshology into the
premier Gourmet Home Meal Replacement service in the US. Currently, Todd is leading a new luxury real
estate development company focused on single and multi-family residential developments in Beverly Hills,
Hollywood Hill and Bel Air.
Kevin DeBre
Partner at Stubbs, Alderton & Markiles, LLP
Kevin D. DeBr is the chair of the Firms Intellectual Property & Technology Transactions Practice Group.
Kevin advises entrepreneurs and companies that use intellectual property to build their businesses. Kevin
has particular expertise in structuring and negotiating technology commercialization and patent licenses,
strategic alliances, research and development collaborations, trademark licensing and brand
merchandising agreements and manufacturing, distribution and marketing arrangements. He also
counsels clients on compliance with data security and privacy laws and regulations. Kevin is a business
lawyer, a registered patent lawyer and a former engineer. He focuses on representing software companies,
semiconductor design firms, mobile commerce businesses, e-commerce enterprises, electronics and
hardware manufacturers, media companies, content developers and publishers, biotechnology companies
and medical device manufacturers both in the United States and abroad.
Kevin is a frequent guest lecturer in undergraduate and graduate level entrepreneurship courses at UCLA
Anderson School of Management, UCLA School of Engineering, USC Marshall School of Business,
Pepperdine University and Chapman University, and serves as Chairman of the Caltech Entrepreneurs
Forum, an organization that facilitates the growth and success of technology-based entrepreneurial
ventures in Southern California.
Kevin received his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law in 1989 and his B.S. degree from the University
of California, Davis in 1982. He is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Elvia Delgado
VP, Health Care Business Development and Marketing AltaMed Health Services
Ms. Delgado has over twenty years proven success optimizing revenue, membership growth and
profitability in various industries including health care and consumer products. Her most recent role was
the Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Branding at AltaMed Health Services Corporation, a non-profit
health care provider that operates 46 facilities in Los Angeles and Orange County. She is known for
building and scaling businesses and developing strategic partnerships and was responsible for developing
and executing AltaMeds Affordable Care Act/Covered CA strategic plan. As a result of her work, AltaMed
has been the number one enrollment entity in the state of California for Covered California for the past
three consecutive years (2014-2016).
Prior to her work at AltaMed, she held various marketing and strategic planning positions at Fortune 500
companies, including The Walt Disney Company. Her strengths include building and scaling businesses in
resource constrained environments, an ability to build a tight-knit and high performing 80 member sales
team, a strategic understanding of how both healthcare providers think and operate (clinical results and
financial metrics), and how to identify and serve the needs of unmet communities. She received a BS
degree in Marketing from California State University, Northridge and her MBA in Marketing and Strategy
from The Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles. She is a graduate of
the University of California, San Franciscos Emerging Leaders, Clinic Leadership Institute at The Center for
Health Care Professionals and has served as an invited advisor to the Program since February 2015. Ms.
Delgado also serves on Covered Californias Marketing, Outreach and Enrollment Advisory Board and
volunteers her time at various programs associated with The Anderson School at UCLA including: The
Riordan Scholars and Fellows Programs, the Marketing Association and the Latino Business Association.
David Dowling
Co-Founder and CEO at ScreenTime Solutions
David has over 20 years of experience in marketing, digital media, and business development. In the early
1990s, he was the founder and president of media.com, an innovative interactive marketing agency in New
York City with clients including Proctor & Gamble, Dell, Intel, and Sprint Business. David is recognized as a
pioneer in performance-based digital media buying, as he created and successfully implemented the first
cost-per-click media buys on the Internet.
Aimee Drolet Rossi

Professor and Marketing Area Chair, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Professor of Marketing Aimee Drolet Rossi specializes in consumer decision-making and teaches in the
full-time MBA, Fully Employed MBA and doctoral programs at UCLA Anderson. Currently, she is the
schools marketing area chair. Her research looks at the mental processes underlying consumers choices,
specifically focusing on decision-making among older consumers (age 50 or older), consumer habits and
meta-preferences.
She co-authored and co-edited The Aging Consumer: Perspectives from Psychology and Economics,
named one of Choice Magazines Top 10 Outstanding Academic Titles in Business, Management and
Labor in 2011. It examines how population aging and the changing consumption habits of older adults may
alter the consumer market. Her latest research focuses on the development of habits and on moderation
that is, avoiding excess in consumption. It could be any kind of garden variety consumer experience,
whether consumer packaged goods or durables, she says of her research.
Drolet Rossi received a B.A. in classical history and an M.A. in public policy at the University of Chicago,
and an A.M. in psychology and a Ph.D. in business at Stanford University.
Alan Duke
Principal at Alan Duke, Attorney at Law
Alan Duke, a former senior business executive for major studios, networks and production companies,
currently runs his own Entertainment Business Consulting and Private Legal Practice in Century City,
California, representing writers, directors, producers and the studio production division of a Fortune 75
internet-based retailer. Prior to establishing his own practice, Mr. Duke served in various senior business
and legal capacities for The Walt Disney Company, including ABC, Walt Disney Television, Touchstone
Television and Miramax Television; G4 Media, a division of Comcast Corporation; Tribune Entertainment;
and New Wave Entertainment, a talent management, production and creative services company located in
Burbank, California. Mr. Duke began his entertainment career with Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
as an attorney in the legal department working his way up to Senior Vice President and head of business
affairs for Twentieth Century Fox Television.
Mr. Duke received his BA in Political Science from UCLA as well as his MBA from UCLA Anderson School
of Management. Mr. Duke received his JD from Southwestern Law School.
Sheri Dunn Berry

Director of Programs, Community Partners

Sheris extensive experience within the complexities of urban environments and the nonprofit sector -
around public policy, knowledge-sharing, and shaping organizational effectiveness -- is uniquely suited to
her role as our director of programs. Sheri leads and oversees the success of the fiscal sponsorship
program, coordinates our partnerships with grantmakers, and much more. She is the former executive
director of the Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation and previously served in policy and
development positions at RCNO Training Center, Children Now and the Urban Strategies Council in
Oakland, where she went on to become the executive director of the National Community Building
Network. Sheri currently serves on the board of directors for PolicyLink and on the investment committee
for the board of the California-Pacific United Methodist Foundation. She holds an undergraduate degree in
public affairs from UC Berkeley and a Master's in public administration from USC.
Jeff Durbin
CFO, F. Gavina & Sons
Jeff is currently CFO of F. Gavina & Sons, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in Southern California
this year. He has thirty years of finance and accounting experience in both large companies such as
Eastman Kodak, First Interstate Bank, DIRECTV and McLeodUSA as well as smaller companies.
That experience has included working with McKinsey & Associates and J. Alix Partners consultants as well
as with three different private equity firms. The focus has been on senior financial management, expense
rationalization, prepackaged financial reorganization, acquisitions & divestitures and shared services
separation.
Gonzalo Freixes
Adjunct Professor, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Gonzalo Freixes is an Adjunct Professor at UCLA Anderson School. He holds a J.D. degree from Loyola
Law School and a Masters in Business Taxation from USC. He has been teaching at UCLA Anderson for 27
years and currently serves as Associate Dean of the Fully-Employed MBA Program.
Prof. Freixes teaches courses in law, taxation, international business, corporate governance and business
ethics. He has led global study programs with Anderson students to more than 25 countries. His previous
roles at UCLA Anderson include Associate Dean of the Executive MBA Program and Faculty Director of the
Applied Management Research Program. Prof. Freixes has received several teaching awards including the
Neidorf Decade Teaching Award and the FEMBA Outstanding Professor Award. Mr. Freixes is the Faculty

Advisor and Coach for the UCLA Mock Trial Program. UCLA has won the National Collegiate Mock Trial
Championship four times in the last 12 years.
As an attorney, Prof. Freixes represented small to medium size companies entering the U.S. marketplace.
He also served as counsel for the California Department of Corporations and the federal Fannie Mae
program. He has been very active in community activities including serving as President and Member of
the Newhall School District Governing Board, as well as on the State Bar Commission on Judicial
Nominees Evaluation.
Mamie Funahashi
Chief Financial Officer, Community Partners
Mamie oversees and directs all aspects of Community Partners finance and administrative operations.
She brings to Community Partners over 16 years of experience leading the financial functions of both
nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Prior to joining Community Partners, Mamie spent 8 years at Los
Angeles Universal Preschool (LAUP) where she played an integral role in the design, development and
oversight of the finance and accounting department. A graduate of USCs Leventhal School of Accounting,
Mamie began her accounting career at Arthur Andersen LLP and worked in the entertainment field for
companies such as Fox Filmed Entertainment and Ticketmaster. She has extensive management
experience in accounting, finance, auditing, technology and nonprofit taxation. Born and raised in Los
Angeles, her heart has always been in community service and advancing the public good. Mamie currently
serves on the board of directors for Dannys Farm Charitable Foundation and Education Spectrum.
Judith Gasson
Professor and Director, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Judith C. Gasson, a professor of biological chemistry and medicine, became director of UCLAs Jonsson
Comprehensive Cancer Center on Sept. 15, 1995. A molecular biologist, Gasson is responsible for one of only 39
institutions nationwide designated as comprehensive cancer centers by the National Cancer Institute. In addition
to her administrative duties, Gasson also is a gifted scientist. She was instrumental in purifying for the first time a
hormone-like substance that increases the speed of bone marrow cell reproduction. That substance, called
GM-CSF, is used to help prevent infections in cancer patients, and to allow patients to tolerate more
chemotherapy and radiation than had previously been possible. In 2005, Gasson was named a co-director of the
UCLA Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Medicine and she recently testified before a key Senate subcommittee on
the promise of stem cell research in cancer. Gasson also serves as a board member for the American Association
for Cancer Research. She earned a bachelor?s degree in microbiology from Colorado State University and a
doctorate in physiology at the University of Colorado. Gasson did post doctoral work at the Salk Institute in La

Jolla. In 1983, she left the Salk Institute to join UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center, which comprises more than 240
researchers and clinicians engaged in research, prevention, detection, control, treatment and education. One of
the nation's largest comprehensive cancer centers, the Jonsson center is dedicated to promoting research and
translating the results into leading-edge clinical studies. In July 2005, the Jonsson Cancer Center was named the
best cancer center in the western United States by U.S. News & World Report, a ranking it has held for six
consecutive years.
Dwayne Gathers
President of Gathers Strategies, Inc.
Dwayne Gathers is President of Gathers Strategies, Inc., an international business, economic development and
governmental affairs consulting practice based in Los Angeles, California. Gathers Strategies provides advisory
services to entrepreneurs, companies, trade and investment promotion organizations and foreign governments
seeking to develop cross border partnerships in the U.S., with a focus on the Western USA. Gathers has thirty
years of diverse professional experiences and relationships in the private, public and non profit sectors.
Gathers has developed and managed a number of trade and investment development projects for African
governments, including the Mauritius Industrial Development Authority, the Export Promotion Council of Kenya,
the Uganda National Farmers Federation and the Government of Ethiopia, amongst others.
Dwayne began his professional career as a Corporate Banking Officer in the Energy & Minerals Division of
Chemical Bank in New York City. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College with an A.B. in Economics and
Government.
Dino Gioia
Senior Vice President of Finance, Legendary Entertainment
Dino Gioia has served as Legendary Entertainment's senior vice president of finance since 2013. In this
role, Gioia oversees a broad range of functions including treasury, insurance and finance operations. He is
also responsible for identifying, evaluating and implementing finance technology solutions that automate
processes, improve productivity and increase operational visibility. Prior to his promotion, Gioia served as
Legendary's vice president of finance since 2006.
Gioia began his professional career in the audit practice of KPMG. His entertainment finance career spans
more than 23 years, during which he has held various controller and VP of finance positions at such
companies as Spyglass Entertainment Group, Spectacor Films, and Music Imaging and Media
International.

Gioia has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Southern California's
Marshall School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Global Management
Accountant and a member of the AICPA. He is also a regular guest lecturer at USC's Marshall School of
Business course, "Choosing and Planning a Career in Business."
Scott Gladstone
Executive Director, DineEquity
Scott Gladstone is an Executive Director with DineEquity, the publicly-traded franchisor of the Applebee's
and IHOP restaurant brands. In his current capacity, Scott supports senior leadership teams with brand
and development strategy and real-estate market planning. Prior to DineEquity, Scott spent 5 years with
The Boston Consulting Group, where he worked across industries and functions on strategic and
operational initiatives. Scott is an undergraduate from Emory University and has an M.B.A. from UCLA
Anderson School of Management.
Paul Habibi
Continuing Lecturer of Finance and Real Estate, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Paul Habibi is a Continuing Lecturer of Finance and Real Estate at UCLA Anderson Graduate School of
Management and Lecturer in Law at UCLA School of Law. He is consistently a top finalist for the Teacher
of the Year Award and began his teaching career at UCLA in 2004.
Outside of campus, Professor Habibi is Principal and Co-Founder of Habibi Properties, LLC, which owns
and manages three divisions: (1) multi-family apartments in the Los Angeles area; (2) single-family homes
in Kansas City, Missouri (Arrowhead Residential Funds); and, (3) almond and pistachio orchards in
California's San Joaquin Valley. He is also Principal of Grayslake Advisors, LLC, which provides expert
witness and litigation support services to large multinational law firms, Fortune 500 companies, and
government and regulatory agencies, whose clients include Goldman Sachs, McKinsey & Company, the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. He serves as an Industrial Advisor for EQT Partners, a Swedish private equity group of 18
funds with $30 billion in capital. He is also an early investor and Member of the Board of Advisors of
Knock, a venture-backed real estate startup led by founding team members of Trulia.

Eric Hebel
CEO & Founder, Production Beast
Eric Hebel is a proven entrepreneur with a track record of success over the last 20 years. In 2012, he
founded ProductionBeast, an online relationship management platform that saves companies time and
money by giving them the tools to quickly find and hire the best freelancers and vendors for any project.
In 1998, Eric co-founded Channel M, which became the leading digital out-of-home television network in
specialty retail. Eric and his partners successfully sold the company to PlayNetwork in 2009 creating an
industry powerhouse. Eric then founded ThreeTwoFive in 2010, a production company dedicated to
producing quality commercial and branded video content for early stage to mid-market companies.
Realizing there has got to be a better way to find and hire freelance talent for his own projects, Eric
founded ProductionBeast in 2012 which is quickly becoming the leading online platform companies use to
keep track of their go-to people and discover new talent they can trust. Eric graduated from Tulane
University with a BSM Finance.
Wesley Hein
Principal, Enigma 2 Consulting / Golden State Business Partners
Wesley works through several consulting groups to provide strategic and operational consulting to
startups, reboots and spinouts; generally things where the status quo is not working. He was formerly the
CEO / COO of MasterChannel and has previously founded numerous venture backed media and technology
organizations. He loves to consult and provide assistance to CEOs and management teams. Past
experience includes being co-founder & president of Enigma Records (acquired by EMI), EVP Hollywood
Records (Walt Disney Company), co-founder Cinebase Software (merged into a division of Kodak), CEO
LogicTier, co-founder Enigma Digital (acquired by Clear Channel Communications) and CEO of
SportsBuy.com, an e-commerce company. Wesley is also involved with the founding of Blackbelt TV and
served as its COO.
Steve Helper
Vice President of Credit & Collections, The Walt Disney Company
Steve has a deep understanding of what drives business success and failure from his many years in credit
risk management. He has insight of what factors create business value from his work in mergers and
acquisitions. In addition, he has had the opportunity in his various roles to lead substantial organizational

change, and significant experience evaluating business plans and strategies from his work managing HPs
venture portfolio.
As an Anderson alum (Class of 1987), Steve currently leads The Walt Disney Companys global Credit &
Collections organization responsible for a $4B+ Accounts Receivable portfolio. Previously, Steve managed
Hewlett-Packards worldwide credit risk management operations. In parallel to successfully protecting HP
from a credit risk perspective through the 2008 economic crisis, he also led the restructuring of HP Credit
to better optimize its efficiency and effectiveness to where it is now considered best-in-class from an
external benchmark perspective. Despite significant change management and workforce reductions, he
was also able to maintain some of HP Finances highest employee engagement scores in HPs annual
Voice of the Workforce surveys. Previous to his experience in credit risk management, Steve managed a
technology-based, venture capital portfolio for HP comprised of 17 companies with $250M invested. Prior
to HP, Steve worked in the Valuation Services practice at Ernst & Young, and for a small investment
banking firm specializing in middle market mergers and acquisitions.
Matt Hersh
VP of Business Development, Enterprise at Factual Inc
An atypical investor, Matt brings seventeen years of hands-on operational experience within early and
growth stage companies and has two successful exits under his belt (JetBlue IPO in 2002 and Envestnet |
Yodlee IPO/acquisition in 2015). Functionally, Matt brings business development, marketing, sales,
pricing and revenue management experience, along with a strong, active network of c-suite relationships
across the Fortune 1000. Matt began his career as part of the founding team at JetBlue and after stints at
Apple and Redpoint Ventures, Matt joined financial software and data giant Yodlee where he focused on
business development and sales across the emerging fintech industry. Most recently Matt was the Head
of Business Development at Factual focusing on strategy and partnerships across enterprise software,
financial services and retail verticals.
Matt lives in Los Angeles and maintains deep roots in his native Colorado. He's an avid skier, fly
fisherman, and an outdoor enthusiast.
Matt holds an MBA from UCLA and a BA in Economics from Boston College.
Angela Horne
Director, Rosenfeld Library and Charles Young Humanities and Social Sciences Division

Angela Horne is Director, Rosenfeld Library and Charles Young Humanities and Social Sciences Division.
She holds dual MBAs from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) and Queen's University (Kingston, ON). Since
arriving at UCLA Anderson in 2013, Angela has provided business research support to dozens of Anderson
field study teams.
Mike Huntley
President, Mexamerica Sales
As the President and Founder of Mexamerica Sales, Mike has created an organization whose mission is to
bridge the gap between the US and Latin America in the fields of sales, marketing, private capital funding,
lean manufacturing and strategy. He brings over 30 years of senior management experience working in
the aerospace, automotive, medical devices, commercial electronics, oil & gas, power generation,
alternative energy fields and non-profits globally in Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Buck Jordan
Managing Partner, Canyon Creek Capital
Buck founded Canyon Creek Capital in 2010 and has over 10 years of experience in finance, media,
consulting and M&A. The firm initially provided early stage advisory services to companies looking to
expand market share, re-evaluate company strategy and raise capital but quickly moved on to deploying its
first fund in 2011. Buck has become known for producing top of market due diligence and providing a
tremendous amount of value for his portfolio companies. He is an advisor to several start-ups in the
community, received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and is a former Army
Captain and Blackhawk Pilot.
Uday Karmarkar
UCLA Distinguished Professor, LA Times Chair of Technology and Strategy
Uday Karmarkar began his teaching career as an assistant professor at the University of Chicagos
Graduate School of Business. He later moved to the Simon School at University of Rochester, where he
was Xerox Chair Professor of Operations Management and directed the Center for Manufacturing and
Operations Management. At UCLA Anderson, he has been the Los Angeles Times Chair in Technology and
Strategy since 1994 and UCLA Distinguished Professor in Decisions, Operations and Technology

Management. His recent research has focused on information-intensive industries, and operations and
technology strategy for manufacturing and service firms.
Throughout his career, Karmarkar has undertaken consulting and research projects on strategy, supply
chain management, e-business, industrial marketing and technology management for a wide array of
companies in the United States, Europe and Asia. Recently, he has been an advisor to or director of several
startup companies engaged in sectors such as eCRM, ERP, Web services, online education platforms and
data mining software. He is the founder and director of UCLA Anderson's global Business and Information
Technologies Project (BIT), which studies the impact of new online information and communication
technologies on business practices worldwide with a network of partners in 16 countries. When Karmarkar
is not conducting research on the U.S. economy, restructuring industry sectors, digital strategies or the
design of consumer experience, he might be found on the squash court.
Ken Klar
Director of Sales and Marketing, VACCO Industries, Inc.
Ken started his career in 1987 at Lockheed Martins Skunkworks, in Burbank, California, and progressed
through a series of design engineering roles at Lockheed Martin ranging from high profile programs such
as the F-117 on-site Engineering Representative (at Holloman AFB) and F-22A structural design engineer.
From 2003 through 2008, Ken assumed various roles at Cobham plcs, Sargent Fletcher Inc., including
eventually serving as Director of Program Management. In that role he was responsible for programmatic
leadership of all Sargent Fletcher programs, reporting directly to the CEO.
Since 2014 Ken has led the Sales and Marketing team at VACCO Industries, Inc. an $85 million business
unit of the international corporation, ESCO Technologies and an industry leading designer and
manufacturer of specialty valves, filters and advanced fluid control productsoffering innovative,
engineered solutions for defense, space, and commercial markets.
Nick Kreider
VP, Account Manager at Lieberman Research Worldwide
Nick has over 10 years of marketing and market research experience solving business problems for clients
in a wide range of industries including technology, agriculture, consumer products, financial, and the
non-profit/ NGO sector. Also, extremely knowledgeable regarding millennial research. In addition to
advising some of our top clients, he also leads LRWs Social Impact (SI) practice. Leveraging LRWs
industry leading capabilities to advise progressive non-profit organizations as well as consulting with our

traditional clients in how they can meet the demands of todays socially conscious consumer. Prior to
joining LRW, Nick worked in the Humanitarian Aid and Development sector and has extensive experience in
disaster recovery focusing on economic development through the creation and management of livelihood
programs. In this capacity hes worked domestically and in countries including Sri Lanka, Australia, Haiti,
Kenya, India, Nepal, Ecuador, and Thailand. He holds a BS in Business and Economics from the University
of Delaware as well as an MBA with a concentration in International Business from Bond University in
Australia.
Larry Kutcher
President & COO, theAdvantage
Larry Kutcher is an operational leader, working with entrepreneurs and growing companies to build and
grow successful businesses by providing strategic, operational and financial services.
Bridging strategy and execution, Larry has 25+ years experience in finance, operations, management,
technology and consulting. In addition to leading his own consulting firm, he has served as COO, CFO and
IT Director for emerging growth companies over the years and has extensive experience in start-ups as
well as in software implementation, negotiation and complex modeling and transactions. Larry also
teaches Entrepreneurship and advises local start-up companies. Previous to this, Larry worked at
Ahmanson Commercial Development Company, a subsidiary of Home Savings of America and KPMG, LLP.
Larry holds a Masters of Business Administration in Finance and Accounting from the UCLA Anderson
School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Iowa. Larry is
President and Chair of Tech Coast Venture Network, on the Board of Directors of MORE Foundation, on the
Advisory Board of Family Autism Network, is a mentor in the UCI Merage E2E Mentor Program and at CSUF
and is active in the UCLA Anderson Alumni Association and several local volunteer organizations.
Mark Lee
Founding Partner, Halo Media Group
Mark E. Lees experience has spanned the feature film, television and music industries for the past fifteen
years, prioritizing great stories by great storytellers. He has experience producing feature films with major
studio distributors as well as successful independent features. Currently, Lee manages a feature film
co-financing fund and is co-producing various projects with Will Smiths Overbrook Entertainment (Sony)
and Ted Fields Radar Pictures. Lees independent films have been official selections at and gained
distribution through festivals such as Sundance and Cannes. He produced a television documentary series

that aired on ESPN, and currently oversees development of an original television project for NBCUni. Lee
began working at Universal Pictures with production company Mostow/Lieberman during which time he
worked on Academy Award winner U-571 (Universal), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Warner
Bros/Sony), Around the World in 80 Days (Walden Media and The Walt Disney Company) and the Vacancy
franchise (Sony). Lee has also produced several music videos and commercials on location in China for
US-based Warner Bros Music artists such as Undercover Culture and its Shanghai Restoration Project, one
of the top selling electronic albums in Europe and Asia.
Vandana Mangal
Executive Director, Research Director, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Dr. Mangal is Executive Director for the Easton Technology Leadership Program and the Research Director
for the Business and Information Technologies (BIT) at UCLA Anderson School of Management. As
Executive Director of the Easton Technology Leadership program, Dr Mangal has been involved in the
strategy, design, and creation of the program which was setup by a gift at UCLA Anderson, focusing on
technology leadership. As Research Director of BIT, Dr Mangal has published several papers and articles in
journals and magazines, many in collaboration with global researchers. She is also on the board of the IS
Associates.
Before joining UCLA, Dr Mangal worked at Intel. She also worked at AE Business Solutions Consulting
Company as a Principal Consultant and Business Analyst serving as the primary liaison between clients
and technical developers and managing projects in sectors including education, telecommunications,
recreation, and legal. Vandana has taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison's School of Business
and at the University of Wisconsin, Platteville's Computer Science department.
She completed her PhD from the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University; her undergraduate degree is
in Electrical Engineering from PEC University of Technology.
Todd Maurer
Managing Partner, 3/1 Global
Todd Maurer is Managing Partner at 3/1 Global Research and a career Asia and Emerging Market analyst
with a focus on education, media and technology. For over two decades he has brought analytical
research, strategy, capital markets and cross-border M&A expertise to corporations, governments,
start-ups and private investors worldwide.

Maurer was previously Vice President of Corporate Development, China and North Asia, for Apollo Global,
a joint venture investment company formed in 2007 by Apollo Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: APOL) and Carlyle
Group (NASDAQ: CG), with operations in 14 countries. Prior to this he was a Partner at Lotus Asset
Management Limited, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund and alternative investment firm, which focused
exclusively on the Asia-Pacific and India through both public and private market investments. He has also
held senior corporate finance and equity research positions within Peregrine Investments Holdings Limited
based in Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing. At Peregrine he worked on a number of landmark privatizations,
global offerings and financial restructurings involving both state-owned enterprises and private sector
firms, while also representing some of the worlds leading multinationals on acquisitions in China and
Asia. He commenced his career as a trade economist with KOTRA, a Korean government agency.
Mr. Maurer earned a B.A. in Economics from U.C.L.A, an M.I.A in Political Economy from Columbia
University, and has conducted post-graduate study at Peking University and Nanking University, China. He
speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese, and conversational Korean and Russian.
Adam Mendler
Chief Executive Officer, The Veloz Group
Adam Mendler utilizes his professional, entrepreneurial and managerial background in his capacity as
Chief Executive Officer of The Veloz Group. Under Adam's leadership, The Veloz Group launched and
continues to operate three technology-driven businesses: Beverly Hills Chairs, a leading office furniture
e-tailer; Custom Tobacco, a one-of-a-kind cigar customization e-commerce platform; and Veloz Solutions,
a technology consulting and software development practice. Adam co-founded and served as the interim
CEO of each company, building each idea into a self-sustaining business. As Chairman of The Veloz
Group's portfolio companies, Adam provides strategic guidance and oversight and helps drive initiatives
related to growth. Adam also remains actively involved in new business incubation.
Prior to serving as CEO at Veloz, Adam served as the Executive Producer of Virtually Israel and worked
with leadership at Here Media on Gay.com prior to acquisition. Adam previously worked for D.E. Shaw &
Co., then the largest hedge fund in the world, and Credit Suisse; for the strategic planning groups at
William Morris Endeavor and Universal Pictures; at TWC Sports Management, a leading sports agency; and
on a successful presidential primary campaign. Adam graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of
Southern California, earning a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in Political Science, and earned
an M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Michael Montgomery

Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Management; President & Founder, Montgomery Advisory, LLC
Michael J. Montgomery is an advisor and investor in early stage companies, an active board member, and
a Lecturer at the Anderson School of Business. Michael co-founded and served as President of
Montgomery & Co., LLC, a boutique investment bank focused on media and technology, from 1993 through
2013. Prior to Montgomery & Co., he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sega GameWorks
L.L.C., a joint venture between Sega, Universal Studios, and DreamWorks.
Prior to joining Sega GameWorks, he was a partner and Senior Executive of DreamWorks SKG from 1995 to
1996, where he led their $900 million equity raise in 1995 and their real estate efforts to secure land to
build studios.
He joined DreamWorks after a nine year career at the Walt Disney Company. As Assistant Treasurer and
then Vice President and Treasurer, Michael was responsible for numerous innovative financing
arrangements conceived and executed for Disney.
Before joining Disney, he worked at ARCO in its treasury organization. From 1980 to 1984, he also served
as CFO and later President of Arco Solar Europe, a subsidiary of Arco Solar, in Milan, Italy and later,
London, UK. At that time, Arco Solar was the largest solar photovoltaic company in the world. He received
an M.B.A. from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth College (1977), where he holds a BA degree as a
Rufus Choate Scholar with magna cum laude honors.
Richard Morganstern
Chairman Board of Directors, LA Cleantech Incubator
Richard Morganstern was the former Managing Partner of a Beverly Hills based intellectual property and
business litigation and counseling law firm. He was the former Chairman of a NASD licensed investment
banking firm which focused on arranging funding, principally from foreign sources, for domestic early
stage technology companies. Mr. Morganstern currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Tech
Coast Angels Los Angeles Network and is the former President of the Tech Coast Angels LA Network. Mr.
Morganstern is a Senior Advisor at Originate, which invests capital and en elite team on engineers and
business experts in high-potential startups.
Brett Morrison
Co-Founder of Onestop Internet, Gryphon Films, and ememories.com

Brett Morrison co-founded Onestop Internet in 2003 out of his garage and built the original e-commerce
and warehouse management software that started the company. Throughout his time as Chief Technology
Officer and Chief Innovation Officer at Onestop he oversaw and managed its growth and architected and
helped build the new Onestop 2.0 platform. Recently, Brett spent his time as Director of Enterprise
Information Systems at SpaceX.
Prior to Onestop, Brett co-founded one of the first photo sharing companies on the Internet,
ememories.com, which was sold to PhotoWorks, one of the largest photo processing companies in the
U.S. Prior to that success, Brett held executive technology positions with several high-profile software
companies including serving as Chief Architect at Scopus Technology (acquired by Siebel Systems, then
Oracle). Brett also spent some time in the Entertainment industry, and produced two feature films,
including THE COOLER, which garnered critical praise and an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor.
Brett received a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies consisting of Computer Science,
Management Information Systems, and Communication from the University of Arizona.
Brian Murphy
Principal Process Consultant, Advisian
Brian Murphy is a Principal Process Consultant with Advisian, the technical and management consulting
arm of engineering contractor WorleyParsons. His current responsibilities include engineering, project
management, and strategy implementation on early-phase development projects for oil refining clients, as
well as supporting various business development and marketing efforts. He has also served in
WorleyParsons sulfur technology licensing group, and has participated in various technical roles in oil and
gas, power, and infrastructure projects, all at different phases of the capital project lifecycle.
Brian is proud to be an MBA graduate from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and also holds a
B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.
Jim Myers
Vice President of Enterprise Initiatives for Northrop Grumman
Jim Myers is vice president of Enterprise Initiatives for Northrop Grumman. He leads our efforts to create
partnerships with other enterprises in the commercial applications of our technologies. Mr. Myers has
more than 30 years of experience in the global security, information systems, aerospace and defense
industries. Prior to his current position, Mr. Myers was sector vice president of Global Operations for
Northrop Grummans Information Systems sector. He was responsible for key aspects of the sectors

operations, program management and global business infrastructure. He also led the development and
deployment of the sectors product line management processes and he was responsible for select value
creation initiatives. Previous to that, Mr. Myers was sector vice president and general manager for the
Cyber Solutions division. Previous to that, Mr. Myers was sector vice president and general manager for
the Civil Systems division. The division delivered integrated information systems, applications, networks,
and service solutions for federal civilian agencies and state and local governments. Prior to that, Mr.
Myers served as sector vice president and general manager, Navigation Systems division (NSD). Prior to
joining NSD, Mr. Myers was sector vice president, Payloads and Sensors, for the Space Technology sector,
now part of the Aerospace Systems sector. Mr. Myers has a bachelors in mechanical engineering and a
masters in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Stanford University and a masters in business
administration with an emphasis on finance and strategic planning from UCLAs Anderson School of
Management. He is a former member and chair of the MATHCOUNTS Foundation board of directors, and
he served on the Air Force Association CyberPatriot Board of Advisors. He currently serves on the Advisory
Boards of two organizations, TransUnion Corporation and VEX Robotics.
Arman Nadershahi
Sr. Director: Corporate and Intellectual Property Counsel, The Alfred E. Mann Institute for Biomedical
Engineering at USC
Mr. Nadershahi serves as Senior Director, Corporate and Intellectual Property Counsel. His expertise
includes patent, trademark, and trade-secret protection and licensing; mergers and acquisitions; corporate
law; raising capital for start-up companies; FDA regulatory affairs; quality assurance; competitive strategy
and planning; product development; technology valuation and commercialization; and leadership.
Prior to joining AMI-USC, Mr. Nadershahi practiced intellectual property law at Knobbe, Martens, Olson &
Bear, LLP, where he focused on patent prosecution, licensing, and intellectual property litigation in the
fields of biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Arman is also a co-founder and the CEO of
Proa Medical, Inc., a spinout company from AMI-USC that commercializes medical devices for womens
health.
Mr. Nadershahi is a member of the State Bar of California, is registered to practice before the United
States Patent and Trademark Office, has earned US and EU Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC-US &
RAC-EU), is an ASQ Certified Biomedical Auditor (CBA), and is an ASQ Certified Manager of
Quality/Organization Excellence (CMQ/OE).
Mr. Nadershahi graduated with distinction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor of
Arts degree in Zoology and English Literature. He received a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota
Law School, a Master of Science degree in Biological Science from the University of Minnesota, a Master

of Science degree in Regulatory Science from the University of Southern California (USC) School of
Pharmacy, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Marshall School of Business at USC.
Jerry Nicklesberg
Adjunct Full Professor, UCLA Anderson Forecast
Jerry Nickelsburg joined the UCLA Anderson Forecast in 2006 as a Senior Economist. At the Anderson
Forecast he plays a key role in the economic modeling and forecasting of the National, and California
economies and the Los Angeles, Bay Area and Southern California economies. He has conducted special
studies into the future of manufacturing in Los Angeles, the distribution of income, the economic impact
of the writer's strike, the aerospace industry, the undocumented construction and manufacturing labor
force, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the garment industry, focusing on the development of
new data and the application of economic theory and statistical methods to sectoral issues. His current
academic research is on organizational and individual learning in manufacturing, and investment in
specific skills. He is a regular presenter at Economic Conferences is regularly cited in the national media
including the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Reuters.
He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Minnesota in 1980 specializing in monetary
economics and econometrics. He was formerly a professor of Economics at the University of Southern
California and has held executive positions with McDonnell Douglas, Flight Safety International, and Flight
Safety Boeing during a fifteen year span in the aviation business. He also held a position with the Federal
Reserve Board of Governors developing forecasting tools, and has advised banks, investors and financial
institutions.
Chris Ochs
Managing Partner, CK-HS Consulting
Chris Ochs is an entrepreneur, senior sales executive, public speaker, and endurance athlete with two
decades of management experience in companies ranging from organic food to software as a service
(SaaS), and online event planning. Known for having an immediate and long-lasting sales impact on
companies, Chris turned two struggling sales organizations around and started up three more from
scratch.
His management consulting company, CK-HS Consulting works with small businesses to improve
operations, finances, and increase customer base. He is also Co-Founder of several companies, including
an organic, cold-pressed juice company named Super Happy Juice, and an exercised-based, mobile app for

college students called GymBud. An Honors Program graduate of the University of Houston and recent
alum of UCLA Andersons EMBA program, he has certificates in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, International
Management, and Finance.
John O'Connell
Founder, knight's path
John O'Connell founded knights path in October of 2010 to provide strategy and business development
expertise for companies looking to employ gaming related content and context. knights path also
provides customized consultation, negotiation and business development services for developers,
publishers and select partners bringing innovative products, services and solutions to market.
O'Connell founded knight's path based on his experience developing the gaming practice for Davie Brown
Entertainment in Los Angeles, an agency of The Marketing Arm owned by Omnicom, where he served as
Director of Gaming. He successfully expanded the gaming discipline from an endeavor on behalf of AT&T
into a practice with a roster servicing multiple Fortune 500 brands as well as high-profile gaming partners,
including Activision, Cisco, Doritos, Duracell, GameStop, Gillette, Harley-Davidson, Hewlett-Packard, and
Nintendo of America.
As Associate Producer of Localization at Tecmo, O'Connell brought to market Tecmo Bowl and Ninja
Gaiden, establishing Tecmos mobile game business in North America. O'Connell brought Dead or Alive to
the Championship Gaming Series and World Cyber Games with the help and heart of the vibrant DOA
community.
Prior to Tecmo, John worked in product marketing at Nyko, Inc. OConnell earned bachelors of science
degree, with a dual major in Digital Media Studies / Interface Design and Advertising & Marketing, from
Emerson College in Boston, MA.
Tom Oser
Principal, Pipeline Strategies Consulting; Professor, UCLA Anderson
Tom Oser is a business and technology consultant and Visiting Professor at UCLA Andersons in the DOTM
department, teaching Management of Technology & Innovation. He is the Founder and CEO of Pipeline
Strategies Consulting, which advises on business strategy and operational execution in post-merger
integration situations. In a career comprised largely of consulting, his experience includes client-side
stints in senior executive roles heading up corporate finance and head of national sales for operating

companies. Earlier in his career, he founded and directed an innovative graduate program in technology
management which was designed and delivered in university and corporate education programs. Through
this experience he established a career long interest in the alignment and interplay of new thinking in the
management of technology and the strategic impact of technology on business strategy and execution.
He continues to serve clients with the combined perspectives of executive, consultant and academic
bridging the gap of technology and business. Representative courses taught: IT Strategy, Managing
Technology & Innovation, Business Development & Sales for Technical Executives at The Wharton School
of Business and UCLAs Anderson School of Management. Tom holds an MBA in strategy and finance
from the Wharton School of Business; a PhD in Computer & Information Engineering, and Bachelor of
Engineering (Civil) at Stevens Institute of Technology; and an M.S. in Telecommunications at Southern
Methodist University.
Keyvan Peymani
Managing Director, Digital Strategy Division for ICM Partners
Keyvan Peymani is the Managing Director, Digital Strategy Division for ICM Partners, serving as the firm's
chief digital executive and reporting to the Executive Board. ICM Partners is one of the largest talent and
literary agencies in the world, representing clients in the fields of motion pictures, television, publishing,
music, theater, branded entertainment and digital media, with principal offices in Los Angeles, New York,
Washington D.C., and London. As the head of the digital strategy division, Keyvans focus is the expansion
of the agencys efforts across all aspects of the technology and digital sectors, creating new opportunities
with the agency and its clients, including the creation of new businesses and investments with long-term
benefits. These efforts span corporate strategy, venture and digital initiatives.
Matthew Pierce
Lecturer, UCLA Anderson; Founder, CEO Versus Systems
Matthew Pierce is an investor, entrepreneur, and a lecturer. He is the CEO of O Labs, a co-founder studio
and incubator in Los Angeles that specializes in early-stage company creation and development, with a
focus on digital media and gaming. Matthew is also the founder and CEO of Versus, LLC, a platform that
allows video game publishers and developers to offer real-money and prize-based tournaments of their
games.
Prior to O Labs, Matthew was Vice President of Strategy at Originate where he worked with early-stage
companies in entertainment, gaming, interactive media, and e-commerce. In addition to his business

ventures, Matthew teaches innovation and entrepreneurship in the economics department at UCLA, and
leads the Entrepreneur in Residence program at Originate.
Matthew graduated from Stanford University where he was an NCAA Champion swimmer, and a member of
the debate team. He received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Jim Pickell
President, HomeExchange.com
Jim Pickell is President of HomeExchange.com, an advisor, angel investor and frequent speaker on the
sharing economy and the future of travel. He joined HomeExchange as the chief operating officer in 2012
and immediately spearheaded three acquisitions, helping to double the company's membership, currently
comprising 66,000+ listings around the world.
Previously Pickell founded several companies including OpenEnglish.com, Latin Americas leading online
language school, now with more than 2,500 employees. He served as Senior Vice President of Sony
Connect, where he led the digital distribution of films, music and ebooks. He started his career as an
attorney focused on mergers and acquisitions, but ultimately sought to collaborate with like-minded
thinkers and pursue ideas that influence positive change. His quest led him to HomeExchange.com, first
as a member and now as a core part of what he calls "a 24-year-old startup."
Pickell is a member of the board of the Family Travel Association and Adjunct Professor of
Entrepreneurship at Chapman University. Pickell holds a degree in economics from UC Berkeley, a law
degree from Loyola Law School, and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Merrick Posnansky
Professor Emeritus, UCLA
After taking his Ph.D. in Archaeology at Nottingham University (1956), Professor Posnansky conducted
research and taught in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana for 20 years. He was successively Curator of the Uganda
Museum, Director of the African Studies Programme at Makerere University College, Uganda and Professor
of Archaeology at the University of Ghana. He joined the faculty of UCLA in 1977. He has conducted
research or served as a consultant in 14 African countries. He is a former Chair of the Archaeology
Program, Director of the Institute of Archaeology and Director of the James S. Coleman African Studies
Center. In 1998 he was honored with the Leadership award of the Arts Council of the African Studies
Association. He has particular interests in Education Abroad and initiated and directed UC programs in

both Ghana and Togo. He is presently engaged in research on the meaning and impact of Africa postal
stamps as well as writing up the backlog of his Ghanaian research which involved a 30 year
ethno-archaeological longitudinal study of the village of Hani. Though he formally retired in 1994 he still
teaches occasional courses including in 2000 an Honors Collegium course on "Reinventing African
History". His most recent papers have been on Dam Archaeology in West Africa, Cultural Conservation in
West Africa and on African American archaeology.
Danny Qin
Partner, Lighthouse Capital Group
Danny Qin is the partner of Lighthouse Capital, an early stage VC fund headquartered in Shanghai, China.
He is responsible for the fund's operations in the U.S. including deal sourcing, due diligence and portfolio
management. He currently serves as the Board Member of 12Twenty Inc. and Bend Labs Inc. and he is
advising iHear Medical on its fundraising and operational activities. Danny graduated from UCLA Anderson
in 2011 and he also obtained the Doctoral degree in Environmental Science and Engineering from UCLA in
2006.
Dr. Jeannine Rahimian

Obstetrics and Gynecology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Dr. Rahimian graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine in
2000. She works in Los Angeles, CA and specializes in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Dr. Rahimian is affiliated
with Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Ctr. She speaks English and Spanish.
Tariq Rana
President, Global Retail and Management Institute
Tariq is a successful retail and management expert trusted by industry leaders worldwide. Starting on the
retail sales floor in 1983, Tariq steadily worked his way up from department supervisor to mid-manager to
corporate management, while continually honing his skills along the way.
For 14 years Tariq served as the director of the Asian American Resource Center at California State
University Los Angeles (CSULA). He provided a life-line to the Center through an era of budgetary upheaval

and coordinated outstanding forums and symposia which received national recognition. Tariq served as
the chair for the faculty advisory board for the center and advised student clubs and organizations.
Tariq holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from CSULA and a Certificate in the
Executive Management Program from Anderson School of Management, University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA).
Tariq has developed curriculum for courses in Retail management and Import-Export Business for LA
International College. He is a frequent lecturer at local universities and in South East Asia.
Kevin Randolf
Executive in Residence, LACI
Kevin brings over 40 years of concept to completion product development and enterprise formation
experience. He has raised hundreds of millions in capital, created billions in economic value and
thousands of jobs on a global scale.
Kevin has been a c-level executive, advisor, mentor and coach to industries including electronic banking,
electronic brokerage, SaaS, social commerce, retail, broadcast television, interactive television, cable
television, radio, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, consumer electronics, airlines, advertising, higher
education, technology transfer, medical devices, nuclear materials, nanotechnology, management
information systems, education technology, decision support systems, competitive local exchange
carriers, pharmaceutical, e-commerce, data mining, terrestrial navigation systems, computer-telephony
integration, transgenic agriculture, commercial real estate, nuclear isotopes and solar power.
His largest project was building a pan-Asia communications company, completing 20 acquisitions in 18
months and increasing enterprise value 500 fold in 24 months from $4,000,000 to $2,000,000,000. Kevin is
currently an Executive in Residence at the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI). LACI was named the
#3 incubator from 1200 reviewed in 64 countries. It has helped over 60 companies raise almost $80M in
investment, will generate over $70M in revenue in 2016 and created over 1200 jobs.
He is an instrumented rated commercial pilot and volunteers as a command pilot for Angel Flight.
Marvin Riley
Director of Engine Development, INDYCAR

Marvin Riley has been the Director of Engine Development for INDYCAR since October 2014. As Director of
Engine Development, Marvin manages the engine manufacturer competition for the Verizon IndyCar Series
and sets the engine rules regulations and performance standards followed by the manufacturers in
building and racing their V6 twin turbo engines. In addition to managing the engine competition, Marvin is
also responsible for most of the car's technology and on-board electronics and negotiating agreements
with relevant engine and electronics supplies on behalf of the INDYCAR series.
Before INDYCAR, Marvin spent 10 years with Honda Performance Development as an engineer and project
leader working on a variety of engines spanning the IRL, ALMS, IMSA, and the INDYCAR series. During his
time with Honda, Honda engines won three Indy 500s (2005, 2012 and 2014) while competing with other
manufacturers. Marvin holds a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of
Michigan-Ann Arbor and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Wilton Risenhoover
Investment Committee, UCLA Venture Capital Fund
Mr. Risenhoover is a hands-on technology and product leader. He has 10+ years on management teams in
the Internet and software industries, with a particular focus on SaaS, consumer internet, data science,
FinTech and AdTech. Current language interests include Java, Scala, and R.
As a member of the Investment Committee of the UCLA Venture Capital Fund, he has the privilege of
working with UCLA entrepreneurs to help them grow their companies. He also assists in evaluating
investment opportunities that come before the Foundation. These opportunities are reflective of the
diversity of UCLA-related entrepreneurship and include software, Internet, health care, biotech, medical
devices, ed-tech, e-commerce, and nanotechnology.
He teaches entrepreneurship and securities analysis at UCLA, and he has a B.S. in Computer Science from
the University of Kansas and an MBA (finance, entrepreneurship) from UCLA Anderson School of
Management.
Matt Sand
President at 3DEO, Inc.
Matt Sand has an extensive background in technology and entrepreneurship. After graduating from Tulane
University with degrees in Computer Science, Mathematics, and Political Science, he joined the U.S. Air
Force as a Communications Officer. While stationed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, Matt was

responsible for all core IT services. After a brief stint in Corporate America, Matt decided to pursue his
passion for entrepreneurship full time. He has consulted with entrepreneurs, invested in early-stage
companies at two venture capital firms in tech and healthcare, and founded four companies. Matt now
actively invests in and partners with early-stage companies across a variety of industries. He recently
became President of an early-stage metal 3D printing company. Matt is a Clinical Assistant Professor at
Loyola Marymount University. Matt earned a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from UCLA
Anderson School of Management. He recently published a book, co-authored by Jeff Scheinrock, called
The Agile Startup.
Jeff Scheinrock
Faculty Director of AMR Program, UCLA Anderson; President & CFO, Originate
A registered CPA, Scheinrock is currently the president and CFO at Originate, which invests capital and
elite engineering talent and startup expertise into high-potential opportunities. The company, the result of
a 2010 merger between Scheinrock Advisory Group and Originate Labs, builds products that define the
future, utilizing expertise that includes software development (mobile, Web, embedded), strategic
consulting (turnaround, product development, market research), and fundraising.
His initial connection with UCLA Anderson was as EMBA faculty advisor in 2006. The following year he
developed a class in business plan development before becoming a continuing lecturer in 2013 and faculty
director of the Business Creation Option program for entrepreneurs. He was recently appointed faculty
director of the Applied Management Research field study program, a role he credits with learning the
most about business and primary research that I now apply to my daily business.
Scheinrock is a former member of GKM Newport Generation Funds, a fund of funds that manages in
excess of $950 million for investments into venture capital funds and private equity buyout funds. Prior to
founding Scheinrock Advisory Group in mid-1997, he served as vice chairman, chief financial officer and
director of Kistler Aerospace Corporation, where he formulated the capital raising plan and all documents,
successfully raising $350 million in equity. From 1989 to 1996, Scheinrock served as vice chairman of
finance and strategic planning for Packard Bell NEC Electronics Inc., where he negotiated equity
investments from Groupe Bull and NEC, and set up operations throughout Europe and Asia. He has
extensive experience in international financial markets, corporate finance and capital structure,
acquisitions and strategic investment.
He is co-author of the book The Agile Startup: Quick and Dirty Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Know,
which offers information on how to build companies that continually adapt to the real world.

Pam Schulz
Principal, PS Market Strategy Consulting
Pam Schulz is an execution-oriented product management and marketing consultant with a successful
track record spearheading revenue growth in new products and markets. Shes had both operational and
advisory experience working with established companies in competitive markets as well as smaller
ventures in early stages of developing business and marketing plans. With a perpetual interest in whats
next, she enjoys working with a range of stakeholders on how to profitably increase revenue and create
enduring value for customers, partners and organizations. Pam describes herself as an Eco-Optimist,
who believes technology innovation can help conservation efforts. Her favorite business book is "How We
Decide" by Jonah Lehrer, 2009.
Archie Sharma
Director of Corporate Development & Strategy, OpenX
Over 10 years of industry experience advising & collaborating with C-Suite/Sr Management and a track
record of leadership and execution. Archie is currently leading corporate strategy initiatives at OpenX, a
global leader in programmatic advertising. At OpenX, Archie works on growth initiatives that continue the
growth trajectory and take it to new levels. These include M&A, go-to-market for new market segments,
and creating real-time strategy development process. Archie joined OpenX from Ingram Micro(Fortune 65
tech company), where he developed and managed strategic initiatives focusing on value creation and
long-term profitability. Prior to Ingram Micro, Archie was a Management Consultant leading the strategy
consulting practice at Bainbridge. As a trusted advisor, he provided actionable recommendations to
C-level executives in Fortune 500 companies & high growth startups using fact-based approach in the
technology, healthcare, financial services, retail, CPG, & restaurant industries. He has invented
methodologies using predictive analytics & machine learning in the field of operations/manufacturing and
holds two US patents.
Jason Sheasby
Partner, Irell & Manella LLP
Described in Chambers USA as having "a remarkable ability to come up with creative solutions," Jason
Sheasby is a partner in the Los Angeles office of Irell & Manella, where his practice focuses on complex
litigation, patents, trade secrets, antitrust, regulatory compliance and internal investigations. His
experience spans a wide range of industries, including bio/pharmaceuticals, medical devices,
semiconductors, telecommunications, electronics, universities, and health care.

At the age of 37, Mr. Sheasby was appointed to a seat on the firms governing body, the Executive
Committee, making him the youngest partner at Irell to hold this position.
Mr. Sheasby is regularly selected for inclusion in industry honors lists. The Daily Journal named him one of
California's "Top IP Litigators" in 2015. In 2013, Law360 named Mr. Sheasby a "Rising Star" and a top
legal talent under 40. He is also consistently recognized as a leading intellectual property litigator in
publications such as Chambers USA, The Legal 500 and Managing Intellectual Property's "IP Stars."
Robert Sichinga
Honorary Consul for Zambia in California
Mr Robert Sichinga Jnr is Honorary Consul and Chief of Post for the Republic of Zambia in California. He
performs delegated functions on behalf of the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia as well as proactively
identify opportunities for Zambia in key sectors including but not limited to trade, investment and tourism.
Robert was born and raised in Zambia and moved to the United States in 1996. He possesses a master's
degree in business administration, and a Master of Science degree in healthcare administration. He has
been employed in the pharmaceutical industry for over 14 years in different capacities. His professional
background includes management, teaching as an adjunct professor in the School of Business, managed
healthcare, real-estate investment, and business development and consulting.
For over 15 years, Robert has exhibited an unrelenting passion for Zambia as is evident in his activities. He
is the founder of the Zambia-USA Chamber of Commerce, an organization whose primary interest is in
promoting and developing commercial and industrial opportunities between the United States of America
and Zambia. He also runs Strategic Shift, a business consulting practice with a focus on facilitating
business activities between Zambia and the US. Strategic Shift also has an agreement with a Zambian
stock brokerage firm to facilitate investment into Zambia's financial markets.
Michael Silton
Managing Director at Act One Ventures LP; Chair Emeritus UCLA VC Fund
Mr. Michael Silton serves as an Executive Chair and Executive Director of UCLA Venture Capital Fund. Mr.
Silton served as the Chief Executive Officer at Rainmaker Systems Inc. since October 1997 until October
2012, Founder, and President since March 10, 2005 until October 2012. He served as the President at the

firm from October, 1997 to April, 2004. In 1991, Mr. Silton founded UniDirect. He served as the Chairman
of Rainmaker Systems Inc. since November 2011 until October 2012 and previously served as its Chairman
since July 2003. Mr. Silton also served as a Director of the firm.
Brette Simon
Outside General Counsel; Transactional Advisor
Brette advises emerging growth and middle market companies on capital raising, strategic alliances, and
exit transactions in various industries, including media, health care, software, and branded consumer
products (including food and beverage). Brette has been practicing in the field of corporate law since
1994, and was previously a corporate partner at Bryan Cave, Jones Day and Sheppard Mullin. She also
practiced at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and OMelveny & Myers. Brette ranked first in her graduating class
and graduated Order of the Coif from UCLA School of Law, where she was editor of the UCLA Law Review.
She has spoken at numerous industry conferences as well as to several chapters of the Entrepreneurs
Organization and Vistage. Brette has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career, including
recognition as one of the top 13 dealmakers in the U.S. for the middle market by "The Deal," and being
selected as a winner of the inaugural "40 Under 40" award by The M&A Advisor.
Raj Singh
CEO, Go Moment
Raj Singh is a Los Angeles-based entrepreneur and product design expert. In 2011, after a creating and
growing a series of previous companies to seven-figure valuations, the energetic and personable Singh
founded his current company, Go Moment. Go Moment's platform, Ivy, is the world's leading automated
customer service platform for hotels. Ivy is able to automatically correspond with and engage hotel guests
and intelligently responds to guest inquiries and concerns via mobile messaging, in real time. Under
Singh's leadership, the Ivy platform has been adopted by hundreds of hotels and casino properties
nationwide-including well-known 4- and 5-star properties-and is available to assist literally millions of
guests.
Bhavna Sivanand
Executive Director of Impact@Anderson, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Bhavna Sivanand (14) is the executive director of social innovation initiatives at the Price Center. With a
background in public health, Bhavna is now merging her passion for making impact on a large scale with
her business degree from Anderson. She has spoken about her passions in public health and the impact of
projects shes contributed to in various conferences, including TEDx Anderson.
James Somes
Managing Partner at AgCap Partners, LLC; Managing Director, Columbia Capital Advisors/Securities, Inc.
Jamie Somes has more than 30 years investment banking, principal investing and leverage finance
experience completing over 60 private equity, VC, leveraged acquisitions, project finance and international
merchant banking transactions amounting to over $6 Billion. His areas are strategic advisory, capital
raising, private placements, sell/buy-side, restructuring engagements and other corporate finance
services. Led /co-led 6 principal transactions with exits in excess of 30% IRR.
Recent engagements include: financial advisory-helping establish and arrange a $100 million financing for
the first special purpose financing vehicle for independent film & digital TV and organizing/founding a
grass-fed beef and sustainable land company with the goal of becoming the largest grass-fed beef
producer in the US. Operational experience includes: Led management team in $160 MM restructure
/recap of Liquid Audio (NASD: LQID) digital music publishing & DRM company. He founded 6 companies in
IT, software and finance & has served as an officer/director for 11 companies.
Jamie Somes was recently Managing Director- Qualia Legacy Advisors (media/entertainment focused
corporate finance advisory) and previously President/CEO of Alexander Dunham Capital Group (a
merchant bank and broker/dealer with offices in LA and London)[1995 to 2012]. Prior to that he helped
establish and was west coast manager of the $80 MM mezzanine fund for Security Pacific. Earlier he was
a Vice President at Citicorps Leveraged Buyout Group as well as in Citicorps Asian Merchant Bank in
Hong Kong. He started his career at JP Morgan, Jamie received his MBA-Finance and Masters of
Science-Urban Planning & Regional Development from Columbia University and BA from Tufts University.
He has Finra Series 7, 79, 24, and 27, 99 licenses as well the 63.
Robert Spich
Senior Lecturer, UCLA Anderson School of Management
Dr. Robert S. Spich is a senior lecturer of the Global Economics and Management department at the UCLA
Anderson School of Management. He has taught courses in international management, emerging markets,
negotiations, organization design and social-cultural issues in global business. He has been an active

regular faculty advisor for field study teams in all three of the Anderson MBA programs (AMR,GAP, SMR)
for over 20 years. Presently he is a faculty member in the GEMBA Latin America.
Following the completion of his BA degree in international relations, Dr. Spich served in the Peace Corps in
Chile and later at the Agency for International Development (AID) in Washington D.C., where his
responsibilities concerned programs in economic development and technical assistance. After completing
both his MBA and Ph.D. programs at the University of Washington, Dr. Spich received several research and
teaching fellowships to Latin America from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University
and the Fulbright Scholars Program.
Emily Taylor
Director, MBA Career Education & Communications UCLA Anderson
Emily joined the Parker Career Management Center in May 2011, where she teaches a career course for all
of the 360 incoming MBA students, advises students 1-on-1, and spearheads communication. Previously,
she was the Vice President of Talent at Revolution Prep, the largest classroom based SAT test prep
provider in the country. As VP, she oversaw Human Resources, Recruiting, Training & Development,
Internal Communications and Company Culture. And as the National Director of Training & Instruction, she
served as the product manager for the core product and ran the Entrepreneurial Management Program. As
a member of the UCLA Anderson Class of 2008, Emily was the Lead Fellow for Management Development
for Entrepreneurship, the MBA Orientation Director, and a strategic consultant for the Johnson & Johnson
Management Fellows Program. Before business school, Emily was an Assistant Professor of Sociology,
and the founder of Taylor Academic Consulting, which provided college counseling, test prep, and subject
tutoring to more than 500 students in the Sacramento area. Emily was awarded a BA in Psychology and an
MA in Sociology from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA Anderson.
Stephanie Wander
Senior Manager of Prize Development, XPRIZE
Stephanie Wander is a Senior Manager of Prize Development XPRIZE, where she recently led the design of
IBM Watson AI XPRIZE: A Cognitive Computing Challenge, as well as the design of competitions for 21st
century skills, urban aviation and tissue engineering. She is also a contributing designer on the Wendy
Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE and the Global Learning XPRIZE competitions.

Thomas Webster
VP at Vintage Fund Management
As Vice President of Vintage Fund Management, Mr. Webster has over ten years of experience in the
middle market including transaction advisory work, principal investing, and operating expertise. Prior to
joining Vintage Mr. Webster was Director of Planning and Assistant to the President of Eldorado Stone, a
leading manufacturer of architectural stone veneer. Mr. Webster provided support in all functional groups
including finance, sales/marketing, manufacturing and administration. During his tenure at Eldorado, Mr.
Webster coordinated and provided leadership in the completion of several acquisitions as well post
acquisition integration. Prior to Eldorado Stone, Mr. Webster was a Senior Analyst at Graham Partners, a
leading private investment fund headquartered in Pennsylvania. While at Graham, Mr. Webster participated
in all aspects of the investment process including business and financial due diligence, transaction
structuring and complex financial modeling. Mr. Webster began his career as a Senior Consultant in the
Transaction Advisory Group of Arthur Andersen performing analytics and transaction due diligence for
both financial and strategic buyers.
Mr. Webster graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Northwestern University. He is a member of the San
Diego Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
Jeremy Weiner
Founder and CEO, Zim Squared
Jeremy is the founder and Chairman of Zim2 (Zim Squared), a youth marketing company targeting kids
ages 3-18 specializing in implementing in-school marketing solutions. They produce and distribute
specialty products that are branded with advertisers key art/creative, and providing them to schools, free
of charge.
A serial entrepreneur, in late 2013 Jeremy sold his latest company, Media X, to News Corporation. Media X
developed a platform allowing companies to securely and reliably manage and share their data with their
media implementers (agencies, internal marketing departments, consultants), enabling them to capture
and effectively utilize critical business intelligence developed throughout the media process.
Per Welinder
President & CEO, Blitz Distribution

A Swedish born pro skateboarder turned entrepreneur. His first business venture, Birdhouse Skateboards,
he founded with fellow skateboarder Tony Hawk.
An experienced leader and CEO, Per has co-founded and built numerous brands from the ground up under
the Blitz Distribution roof, a brand incubator for apparel and skateboard. Today, Per is shifting his focus on
helping start-up entrepreneurs and is an active investor in the action sports business world.
Edward Wolfman
Senior Account Director, Pinpoint Resource Group
A 1985 Graduate of AGSM, Ed Wolfman has been a specialist in recruiting technical talent for the past 20
years, having found opportunities for over 500 information and technology professionals. Previously, Ed
was director of retail strategy for First Interstate Bancorp, a multi-billion dollar money center bank located
in LA, where he developed retirement products, credit card products and a franchisee program. Ed
recently joined the UCLA Institutional Review Board where he reviews and monitors clinical trials for
ethical considerations. He is an active mentor in Walk With Sally and recently rode his bicycle from San
Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.

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AMR Internal Client Judges

AMR & BCO Judge Bios | 1

Deborah Arnold Dino Gioia Keyvan Peymani

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Dr. Tom Coates

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Dr. Itia Danovitch

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Aimee Drolet Rossi

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Sheri Dunn Berry

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Dr. Jeannine Rahimian

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