Our Team.

Alec is an experienced operator, strategist and product leader. He was most recently a Managing Director with Kroll Bond Rating Agency where he led the development of the company’s financial data and analytics product platform. Prior to this Alec was the Chief Operating Officer of Eurasia Group, the leading provider of global political risk solutions, where he helped develop and grow the company’s suite of products and services for institutional investors, multinational corporations and government organizations. Earlier in his career, Alec was a Vice President of investment banking with Deutsche Bank where he worked on financing and advisory engagements in the US and Europe.

Alka has over 20 years of experience executing innovative growth strategies for Fortune 500 companies as well as startups in IoT and HealthTech.. At American Express she managed a variety of portfolios in the US, UK, and India markets including new card products, digital utilities, eCommerce platforms, and financial back-office operations.

Brent Spitzer is a 20 year + veteran that has held roles in Sales, Business Development and Sales Leadership in the Digital & Mobile Media Industries. Brent spent 10 years at AOL and helped launch Discovery (Communications) Digital Media Network. Brent’s experience in the mobile and technology space spans Millennial Media (Sold to AOL) and two digital technology startups Fuisz Video (interactive digital video technology) and Jellysmack (AI and algorithmic based social digital video publisher). Brent also served as SVP, Head of Brand Partnerships and Revenue at Red Bull Media House, NA. Brent is currently an advisor to startups: Clever Girl Finance, Campus Reel, YW3 and Beachfront Media.

Carlos has been designing and deploying technology innovation solutions for over 25 years, including leadership roles at Andersen Consulting and American Express. He is a product strategist, veteran leader, software developer and artist, Carlos studied at the University of Chicago, London School of Economics and Harvard University.

Cory has been leading the advancement in technology across multiple industries for over 20 years. Cory has served as the CTO for several startups including Revolution Money which was acquired in 2010 for $300MM, and subsequently as the Chief Architect of the Enterprise Growth Group at American Express.

Dan’s expertise, for over 25 years, is in understanding the strategic implications of new technologies and developing new markets: digital media, broadband, energy and now digital healthcare. He co-founded 3 startups and spent 16 years at Time Warner where he led corporate strategy and long-range technology planning at Time Warner Cable.

Gus has spent his 25-year career as a venture capitalist and operating executive at F500 companies, including Time Warner and Samsung Electronics, He was also a co-founder or early employee at 4 technology startups, 3 of which were acquired and the other of which is still independent and has protected the online privacy of over 350 million people.

Jeremy is a 25-year serial entrepreneur in technology and international trade. A longtime adjunct professor at Georgetown University and New York University, he is the author of two popular books on trade and politics, a frequent guest contributor in the media, and a public speaker around the country.

Sherry has been helping companies identify, understand, and capture new opportunities for 20 years across a wide range of industries including telecommunications, media, automotive, and tech. She has held roles in corporate/technology strategy, business development, and product management at F500 companies and startups, 2 of which were as a co-founder. Sherry holds an MBA from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business and a B.A. from Boston University. She’s also a lifelong New England sports fan and “plays video games like a 10-year old and exercises like a 100-year old” (according to her 6-year old daughter).

Stew was Head of Product at CLEAR, the US-based airport security innovation firm. Prior to that, Stew led strategy, technology innovation and product delivery as an executive at American Express and Lehman Brothers.

Allan S. Detsky, MD, PhD, FRCPC, CM is Professor of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and Medicine at the University of Toronto; former Physician-in-Chief, Mount Sinai Hospital; and former Head of the Division of General Internal Medicine at University of Toronto. He received his B.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and his Ph.D. (in Economics) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research has focused on clinical epidemiology, health economics and policy. He has published over 300 papers, commentaries, and editorials in leading medical journals. He has served on the editorial board of the New England Journal of Medicine, and as a Contributing Writer for the Journal of the American Medical Association. He has received 2 Tony nominations and one Olivier Award as producer of Best Musicals (Jesus Christ Superstar and Come From Away). In June 2018, he was appointed to the Order of Canada.

Andy Whitehouse is the founder and managing partner of Copperfield Advisory, a consulting firm that serves founder-led, owner-run businesses. His work focuses on commercial opportunities and threats relating to brand and reputation. With more than 20 years’ experience helping lead major companies and developing government policy, Andy helps leaders to build their businesses, navigate complex public issues, and manage crises. He has worked with clients in sectors including financial services, technology, healthcare, and philanthropy. Andy is also a professor at Columbia University, where he teaches political communications and crisis management. Previously, Andy served as the chief communications officer at IBM, Willis Towers Watson, and McKinsey & Company. Before McKinsey, he was a UK government policymaker, working principally on tackling poverty and social exclusion in England. He is a graduate of Oxford and Harvard, and a recipient of the Distinguished Friend of Oxford University award.

Cal McAllister is a Seattle-based author, entrepreneur and business owner. After working as an advertising writer and creative director at multinational agencies, Cal founded Wexley School for Girls in 2003. Known as one of the most respected and award-winning creative agencies on the West Coast, he ran Wexley as CEO and ECD until 2018. He then founded The Paper Crane Factory, a creative brand development studio, both an active product incubator and agency re-defining the traditional compensation model. Paper Crane Factory is ultimately a venture capital firm where the capital is creative time. Cal graduated from THE Ohio State University.

Charles Freeman is the senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, DC, where he helps companies navigate complex challenges in the world’s most dynamic markets. Prior to his role at the Chamber he held senior international capacities in government, business, law and academia. In government, he served under President George W. Bush as the principal U.S. trade negotiator with China as Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, and earlier as legislative counsel in the U.S. Senate, where he concentrated on Asian economic and trade issues. He has since consulted on Indo-Pacific policy issues to numerous agencies in the executive branch and the U.S. Congress. Charles has also assisted dozens of the world’s leading businesses during market entry, expansion, and crisis phases in China, the Middle East, Africa, India, and other parts of Asia. He holds a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and a B.A. in Asian Studies and Economics from Tufts University.

Doc Searls is veteran journalist and author who Thomas L. Friedman of The New York Times calls "one of the most respected technology writers in America." Best known as a co-author of the landmark Cluetrain Manifesto (Basic Books, 2000), Doc is also author of The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge, (Harvard Business Review Press, 2012), which describes work he began as a fellow the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University in 2006, and which continues today as ProjectVRM, which fosters development of tools that increase personal agency in the digital world. He is also a fellow with the Center for Information Technology and Society at UC Santa Barbara, and a visiting scholar with the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University. A frequent headlining speaker at conferences, Doc also co-organizes the Internet Identity Workshop (IIW) twice yearly at the Computer History Museum, and hosts the podcast FLOSS Weekly for the TWiT network.

Dr. Steinberg is a nationally known expert in population health management, data analytics, and quality measurement/ improvement. He has worked in academia (as Professor of Medicine and Professor of Health Policy & Management at Johns Hopkins); at a large health insurer (as SVP of Clinical Strategy, Quality & Outcomes at Anthem); at a renowned integrated health system (as EVP of Innovation at the Geisinger Health System); and has been a founder and CEO of two venture backed start-ups. He currently works as an independent consultant. Dr. Steinberg received his A.B. degree from Harvard College (Summa Cum Laude), his MD degree from Harvard Medical School and a MPP degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. His residency in internal medicine was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and Academy Health and has published more than 135 articles in peer reviewed journals.

Sam Eberts is an accomplished executive and board member with companies in health care, and consumer services. He chairs the Daerter Group, a venture firm focused on health care and is a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke Law School. He recentlyretired as the Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Affairs for LabCorp (NYSE: LH) with enterprise-wide responsibility for the Legal, Compliance, Government Relations, Communications, Privacy and Security functions. Eberts serves on the Board for Endicott College and the advisory board for the Woodrow Wilson Center. He was a partner with MedCap Funds in Boston and served on the Health Care Policy Leadership Council and Corporate Governance Forum at Harvard. A guest lecturer at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Baylor’s Medical School and Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, Eberts has also served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Division of Management and Community Health.

Jonathan is an executive in the medical diagnostics field. He is currently the founder and COO of Inflammatix, a molecular diagnostics company developing novel tests for acute infections (including COVID19) and sepsis. He has served in commercial leadership roles at other diagnostic companies including Veracyte and CareDx. Previously, Jonathan pioneered electronic prescribing at iScribe (now part of CVS) and was a business strategy consultant for Bain & Company. Jonathan earned his Bachelor of Science in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and his MBA from Stanford University, focusing on medical technology innovation.

John W. Warren, MD is Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He received his MD and training in infectious diseases at Harvard Medical School. He then joined the highly respected infectious diseases unit at the University of Maryland, eventually becoming its head. His clinical expertise is in viral and bacterial infections, particularly in patients in intensive care units and those whose immune systems are compromised. His research is in two areas: 1) molecular means by which micro-organisms infect human cells; and 2) the epidemiology of risk for a variety of infectious and non-infectious diseases. He holds patents on several diagnostic tests. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health for 30 years and has been reported in more than 170 scientific and medical articles.

Joyce Searls is a serial entrepreneur whose business, management and marketing instincts have been successfully applied across diverse industries, including apparel, hospitality, real estate, and technology. In 1994, following 25 years as a fashion industry professional, Joyce co-founded The Searls Group, with husband Doc Searls, renowned journalist and Internet visionary. As Managing Partner, Joyce is a co-collaborator, editor, advisor and key strategist, with discretionary oversight of all projects. Additionally, Joyce was a founding board member of the Sovrin Foundation and Customer Commons, whose missions advocate for personal agency in the digital world.

Lewis Kohl, DO MBA, is Chief Safety Officer, Chief Medical Information Officer and Senior Medical Director at CareMount Medical in New York. He has been with CareMount since 2010. Prior to this he served for three years as VPMA for Putnam Hospital Center in Carmel, NY, and before that as Chair of Emergency Medicine and Emergency Management and at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, NY. He also served as the hospital’s Director of Clinical Informatics. He is a graduate of the University of Buffalo, the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, and received an MBA in Healthcare from George Washington University. He trained in Internal Medicine, and was Chief Resident at Kings County Hospital/Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is board certified in Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Clinical Informatics. He has been practicing Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care Medicine for 25 years.

Marla Blow is the North America lead at the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. Previously, she was Founder and CEO of FS Card Inc. (sold to strategic acquirer). Marla is long-tenured in consumer finance with experience as an executive, a Federal regulator, an entrepreneur, an angel investor, and public and private board service. Ms. Blow is a Henry Crown Fellow as part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and holds an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and received her BS in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Mickey S. Urdea, Ph.D. is Founder and Partner at Halteres Associates. Dr. Urdea founded and headed the Nucleic Acid Diagnostics business at Chiron Corporation, where he pioneered viral load assays for the human hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency viruses. He became head of the Molecular Diagnostics and Chief Scientific Officer at Bayer Diagnostics. Dr. Urdea founded and served as CEO of Tethys Bioscience, a diagnostics company involved in laboratory tests to help prevent type 2 diabetes. He is a member of the University of California at San Francisco Leadership Council for Global Health. He founded Halteres Associates in 2002, a consulting firm with emphasis on diagnostics products and services. He serves on the scientific advisory boards and boards of directors of a number of biotechnology and diagnostics companies. Dr. Urdea is an author on over 200 scientific publications and has more than 125 issued and pending patents.

Ricardo is a software engineer, entrepreneur, and startup mentor, currently based in Berlin. Over two decades, his career has ranged from CTO and founder at startups, to venture capital for deep tech investments. While at Samsung NEXT, he wrote the operating plan for Digital Identity, which became the backbone for the Consumer Empowerment investment thesis. He also spearheaded the Samsung NEXT Stack Zero program, to fund and bring together a wide variety of teams working on research and commercial decentralization platforms. His focus is on peer-to-peer protocols, privacy-preserving technologies such as secure enclaves, and trustless coordination through technologies like blockchain. He is a vocal advocate for privacy, a humanistic focus for technology, and empowering individuals.

Robert Oden retired in 2010 as the President of Carleton College, a position he had held since 2002. Before assuming Carleton’s presidency, Rob served as the President of Kenyon College and the Headmaster of The Hotchkiss School. He holds an AB in History and Literature from Harvard College, a second BA and an MA in Oriental Languages and Religious Studies from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar, a Masters of Theology and a PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Literatures from Harvard University, an Honorary Master of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College, and an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Kenyon College. Immediately following his retirement from Carleton College, he served as the "President-in-Residence" for the Harvard Education School's Program on Higher Education. Oden began his career at Dartmouth College in 1975, where he rose to the rank of full Professor in nine years and was awarded Dartmouth’s first Distinguished Teaching Prize. Rob has published five books and scores of articles in peer reviewed journals on Near Eastern religions, languages, and history. He continues to lecture on Nile Cruises many winters. Following his retirement from Carleton, Oden returned to Hanover, NH, where he lives with his wife, Teresa. In 2011, he became a Trustee of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Rob served as the Chair of the Board of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Chair for four years and continues today as an active member of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Board Oden serves on a number of other non-profit boards, and leads his own board governance consultancy business, working with boards of and colleges, universities, museums, and learned societies. Rob continues to run many miles every week, to seek every opportunity to explore the woods and waters of northern New England and to lead tours and cruises of Egypt. He and Teresa have two children and three grandchildren, all of whom live in New York or New Hampshire.

R&D Consultant for Facebook. Past co-founder of Firefly Network, The Accelerator Group, and Daylife. Microsoft, TimeWarner, Samsung, and MIT Media Lab alum.