A Few Things with Jim Barrood

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys2. The mental health crisis3. Jen's vision/promly4. Danielle's research and vision for Thrive Genetics + The Child Code5. Trends, challenges and opportunities in healthJennifer Libby has been a psychotherapist for over 20 years treating at-risk adolescents. Jennifer has been sounding the alarm for many years about the rapidly emerging youth mental health crisis exacerbated by less than responsible social media platforms. Frustrated by the slow movement by the social media industry to “do better” for kids, and in response to her own family tragedy, Jennifer founded Promly as a healthier alternative to legacy social media. Jennifer’s advocacy for better treatment of youth by Big Tech was well received recently in Washington, D.C. where she spoke to a large group of U.S. House Representatives regarding her on-going efforts (informed by client experience and Promly’s Gen Z advisory board) to have YouTube remove and/or disrupt the algorithm for the “how to tie a noose” and “how to hang yourself” videos that provide step by step video instructions often created by teens themselves. Of note, suicide by hanging in children and teens has increased by exponential numbers in the last 10 years. It is examples like this that drive Promly to re-imagine how social media can “do better” for teens. Jennifer also speaks publicly on a variety of other mental health concerns impacting teens and has provided consultation with numerous agencies including Center for Humane Tech (producers of the “The Social Dilemma”) on best practices for teens and tech. ---Danielle Dick, Ph.D. is the Greg Brown Endowed Chair of Neuroscience and a Professor of Psychiatry at Rutgers University, where she directs the Rutgers Addiction Research Center. She is an internationally recognized and award-winning expert on genetic and environmental influences on addiction, child development, and human behavior. She has led and contributed to more than 20 grants from the National Institutes of Health, with grant funding totaling 55 million dollars. She has 450 peer-reviewed publications and has won numerous national and international awards for her work. She has been named one of the most highly cited researchers in the world across all fields of science. Her first book "The Child Code: Understanding Your Child’s Unique Nature for Happier, More Effective Parenting" was published by Penguin Random House in September 2021.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

On Jan 30, 2024 we discussed a few things including the latest  state of AI in #healthcare and #pharma. Panelists include:Kash Patel is the Executive Vice President and Chief Digital Information Officer, Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey’s largest and most comprehensive health network. Mr. Patel has more than 25 years of experience in technology leadership, ranging from start-ups to multinational corporations and is a seasoned leader in health care with a strong focus on innovation and building great teams. Before HMH, Kash was the Vice President and Chief Digital Technology Officer at Penn Medicine.Donna Conroy has 25 years’ pharmaceutical industry experience as both a Fortune 500 pharma executive and entrepreneur. Her career has focused on bringing science to patients. First as a microbiologist, then at Schering-Plough, where she led sales and marketing teams and built a $1.2B line of business.Named one of NJ’s Top 25 Leading Women Entrepreneurs, Donna led SciMar’s acceptance into the Merck Digital Science Studio 2023 cohort and 2021 acceptance into Microsoft for Startups. She is a graduate of Microsoft’s prestigious Women in Cloud Accelerator and was named 2021 Top 10 Most Successful Women in Cloud Entrepreneurs.Rohit Vashisht is the co-founder and CEO of WhizAI, a generative AI-powered analytics platform purpose-built for Life Sciences and Healthcare. WhizAI was recently recognized by Inc Media as one of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the US. He has over 20 years of experience in enterprise software sales, product management, development, and strategy. As a tech entrepreneur, Rohit has built successful businesses and was CEO and co-founder of Sverve – an influencer marketplace that was acquired by Bloglovin and rebranded as Activate.#lifesciences  #drugdiscovery #innovation #podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

On Jan 31, 2024 we discussed a few things including the latest  state of #entrepreneurship, #funding and #acceleration. Speakers included:Kange Kaneene, is the Vice President of SAP.iO Foundries North and Latin America and Caribbean, SAP’s global network of no-equity ask external startup accelerators. SAP.iO Foundries provide technical and go-to-market support to help startups integrate into SAP’s portfolio and accelerate entry into SAP’s ecosystem to be easily accessed and deployed by SAP customers. In her role she has overseen sourcing for 6 cohorts and has accelerated 38 startups, 66% of which are led by underrepresented individuals. This has resulted in 1 exit and $570M+ raised by the startups collectively.Gary Stewart is the Managing Director of the Techstars New York City Accelerator powered by J.P. Morgan. Born in Jamaica, he grew up in the Bronx, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science before attending Yale College and Yale Law School. He is a VC-backed, exited serial entrepreneur; an early-stage investor that managed a $1.6 billion start-up portfolio; a professor who has taught entrepreneurship at Yale Law School and IE Business School in Madrid, and been invited to speak at Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford and INSEAD; and a former contributor to Forbes Magazine. He is passionate about ensuring that underrepresented and overlooked founders get access to the social and financial capital that they need and deserve.The co-founder of Cela Innovation, John Lynn is a globally recognized expert and industry leader in startup accelerators. John has spoken on the topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos as well as in multiple locations within China, throughout Japan, Haiti, Aruba, and the USA. His work has been published in Forbes, TechCrunch, Business Insider, and at the Nasdaq. Cela builds startup accelerators with the world’s most influential institutions. Corporations, universities, venture capital groups, and governments all work with John and his team to set up their innovation and entrepreneurship programs. Cela is a venture-backed company, with an active list of corporate, university, and government client partnerships.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys  2. Discuss Raja's vision/European market3. Discuss the 1Huddle story and vision4. Talk about how LinkedIn has helped your business/career  5. Best practices for leaders leveraging LI and other social mediaSam is the CEO and Founder of 1Huddle, a workforce tech company that upskills, trains, and motivates employees through the use of science-backed, quick-burst mobile games. Sam has managed and coached sales and leadership teams for publicly held, private sector, and franchised companies across the globe for more than 15 years.In 2015, Sam founded 1Huddle on the belief that every worker deserves access to the job training, support, and mentorship needed to win on the job. With a diverse array of clients across the globe, 1Huddle has impacted people in a wide range of sectors. Key clients include the U.S. Air Force, UEFA, vineyard vines, Loews Hotels, ESPN, Audible (an Amazon Company), Novartis, Madison Square Garden, the City of Newark, and more.  With a mobile-first approach to preparing the modern worker, a mobile library of 3,000+ quick-burst employee skill games, an on-demand game marketplace that covers 16 unique workforce skill areas, and the option forpersonalized content, 1Huddle is changing the way organizations think about their training – from a one-time boring onboarding experience to a continuous motivational tool. Put simply, 1Huddle is making training more fun, effective, equitable, and accessible for the entire workforce.-----Raja is a Moroccan-born entrepreneur who moved to Switzerland at the age of six. She secured her MBA degree and worked in banking for some time, but her heart was not in it. Raja wanted to feel passionate about the projects she worked on and explore her ideas in entrepreneurship. She began meeting other entrepreneurs in Geneva, but progress was slow due to her limited experience and network.In 2015, Raja moved to Oslo, Norway, where her Norwegian husband had received a job offer. She decided to start her own company and has since launched multiple ventures. She was the CEO of TheFactory, one of the largest accelerators in Norway and launched thehub.io, the largest job platform for startups in the Nordics.Raja is also an angel investor in 70+ startups and has advised thousands of founders since 2015. In 2020, she launched The Visionary Company to give founders access to the best practices and tools to accelerate their fundraising and scaling. Raja is a serial-entrepreneur, Head of Fintech at The Factory, Startup Advisor, and Speaker.#linkedin #branding #entrepreneurship #investing #funding  #podcast #afewthingspodcast 

We discussed a few things including:1. Jordan's entrepreneurial journey2. Everyday AI podcast + Newsletter3. Opps and Challenges related to #AI4. Forecast for 20245. Guidance for young and oldJordan is an AI strategist and founder and host of Everyday AI. Everyday AI is a fast-growing media company helping everyday professionals grow their companies and careers with Generative AI through its daily livestream, podcast and newsletter.Everyday AI is a Top 10 tech podcast on Spotify, and Jordan has taught prompt engineering basics to thousands of people, from entrepreneurs and small business owners to software engineers and Fortune 100 execs. He's been a featured keynote speaker on GenAI, as well as a Coursera instructor for GenAI.Previously, Jordan was an award-winning multimedia journalist and also worked with companies like Nike and Jordan Brand before starting his own Chicago-based digital strategy company called Accelerant Agency.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including: 1. Mark's entrepreneurial journey 2. Creative Good timeline 3. His radio show, Techtonic 4. Forecast for 2024 - state of technology; CES; AI 5. Future trends Mark is the founder of Creative Good, the New York-based consultancy and creative platform that he founded in 1997. He has spent his career writing, speaking, and advising teams about how to create better products and services. He has created a number of his own projects, too.For over two decades, Mark Hurst and his team at Creative Good have advised a wide range of clients - in media, healthcare, technology, financial services, ecommerce, and more - about how to build better businesses by treating customers well.Hurst is also the creator of the Good Todo mobile productivity platform, the world's first cross-platform todo list, which he described in his first book, Bit Literacy, which introduced the "empty inbox" method of managing email (now better known as Inbox Zero).Since fall 2017 Hurst has hosted Techtonic - see techtonic.fm - a weekly FM radio show on WFMU. Here's the Techtonic podcast.Also in 2017 Hurst ran two Skeptech events questioning today's digital technology, held at WFMU. Hurst is also the founder and host of the Gel conference, which featured the first stage presentations of Khan Academy, Wikipedia, and other world-changing projects.In 2015 Hurst released the 2nd edition of his book Customers Included, which describes how teams and organizations can create successful products and strategies by including customers.In 2013 Hurst's column The Google Glass feature no one is talking about went viral, gaining worldwide media attention (and translations into six languages) and starting a conversation about the privacy implications of Google Glass and wearable tech.Brooklyn 1776, the educational mobile videogame by Hurst and the Creative Good team, won the 2016 Brooklyn Innovation Award for best indie video game.Mark holds bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from MIT. He's also an Eagle Scout, a patented game designer (U.S. Patent #5048839), and studies Mandarin Chinese in his spare time. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Their impressive career journeys2. The OpenAI/Sam Altman drama3. Best practices for leaders of various size and types companies4. For-profit versus non-profit boards5. Differences between boards of directors and advisory boardsBenjy is an executive with broad experience incorporating strategy, finance, operations, organization design, executive coaching and leadership development with extensive investment experience in venture capital, private equity, public markets and investment banking. Have served on the boards of numerous public and private companies. Experiences have included working with both for profit and non profit enterprises and have crossed biotech, higher education, technology, health care services, media, Internet, digital, financial services, telecommunications, alternative energy, agriculture, aerospace, steel, energy, defense, industrial, consumer and China. ----Brandon has a dynamic, 25-year leadership career spearheading several businesses with emphasis on growth, revenue, and sales performance. He has run many high-growth environments, including start-ups, turnarounds, and $1B+ dollar businesses. As a serial entrepreneur, he has a proven record of founding new businesses and advancing them through growth and acquisition, merger, or roll-up including ScripPoint, Veridian, and AviaraMD. He is the driving force for Xevant’s vision, new market strategy, revenue growth, technology development, and partner alliances. #boards #governance #leadership#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys  2. Their unique leadership experiences3. LEAP overview4. Advice for young peopleMicheline Nader, BSN, MPH, DESS is a serial healthcare entrepreneur, best-selling author of “Leap Beyond Success/ How leaders evolve” Amazon: https://a.co/d/apvf7td and “The Dolphin's Dance/ Discover your true self through five steps powerful journey into conscious awareness,” and the President of Jesra Foundation Inc. She also serves as a trustee of Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU), chairs the Board of Advisors at Silberman College of Business, and serves on national boards and other nonprofit organizations.As a healthcare entrepreneur, Micheline was the founder and CEO of the Blue Dolphin Healthcare group, a long-term care company that owned and managed a chain of skilled nursing homes facilities in the Midwest. After 15 years of operations, Micheline successfully sold her company to a public healthcare group.As a best-selling author in the areas of self-development and leadership, Micheline creates value for individuals and organizations with a focus on personal development, leadership growth and cultural transformation though embracing a mindset and creating passionate and purposeful engagements.Micheline is also an active philanthropist through her family’s Jesra Foundation, which focuses on education and health.Prior, Micheline led a successful career in hospital administration where she held executive positions at the American University Hospital of Beirut and the American Hospital of Paris and co-founded Chateau Westmount, a long-term care facility in Montreal, Canada allied with McGill UniversityMicheline holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the American University of Beirut and a doctoral degree (DESS) in Healthcare Management from Paris-Dauphine University.https://www.michelinenader.com/  -----Stephen Bozer is currently the Senior Vice President of Human Health at Flavine North America, a diversified global pharmaceutical company. He is leading the Sales & Marketing team in the U.S. office. He is an analytical chemist by training, and has held senior positions in Quality Control and Marketing & Sales during his career.Stephen has over 25 years of global pharmaceutical experience at several companies, including Teva API, Berlex Laboratories (now Bayer) and Key International. He travels extensively in Europe and Asia and excels in a diverse multicultural business environment.  Stephen has a BS in Biology from Binghamton University (SUNY) and an MBA from Fairleigh Dickinson University.#leadership#podcast #afewthingspodcast 

We discussed a few things including the latest #AI trends, #ChatGPT, #GenerativeAI, ethical and #responsibleAI.Speakers included:Neha Shah is the Cofounder and President of GEP and a Certified AI faculty from the VJAL Institute. She has been a pivotal force in developing GEP from its beginnings into a globally recognized leader in digital supply chain and procurement transformation.  A purpose-driven entrepreneur and executive, Neha steers the company's growth strategies, forging and managing strategic relationships at the C-level with clients and spearheading complex transformation engagements.  A constant source of innovation and inspiration, Neha is the key driver of GEP’s AI, sustainability, DEI and social initiatives strategies. In 2023, she was named Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year for New Jersey.Bruce Molloy advises companies on AI, M&A, innovation, and technology. He helps the C-Suite and Board get “directionally correct,” is mentor to new companies and is also an investor.  Bruce holds a patent for a “cognitive processor” and has built and run two AI companies, one which made it to IPO. He has 25 years of industry experience in artificial intelligence and machine learning and is considered a visionary.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:  1. Your corporate and entrepreneurial journey2. Investment banking lessons - Arcus insights3. Y Combinator insights4. State of the funding and accelerator markets5. Future trends domestically and globallyEdrizio is a former Y Combinator visiting partner. A Dominican immigrant raised in Harlem, Edrizio dropped out of college and joined the U.S. Air Force, becoming an aircraft technician to make ends meet. He later returned to college, worked on Wall Street, and earned his MBA from the Wharton School.In 2013, Edrizio co-founded Arcus, a fintech company that raised $20M from Y Combinator, Initialized, Citi Ventures, SoftBank, and a16z. In 2021, Arcus was sold to Mastercard, in its largest Latam acquisition ever.  #podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Jason and JP's career journeys  2. How Jason founded Swear3. JP's assessment of media and misinformation landscape4. How to protect against misinformation and deepfakes5. Tech trends, opportunities + forecastsJason Crawforth, founder of Swear.com, has been building technology companies for over 25 years. Jason has a track record of success and has been awarded multiple times by Inc Magazine as running one of the fastest growing private technology companies in America.  Jason and his teams have designed, built, deployed, and managed hundreds of information technology systems for Fortune 100 companies as well as a pioneer in the mobile app space with over 30 million downloads of his solutions.-----Joao-Pierre S. Ruth covers tech policy, including ethics, privacy, legislation, and risk; fintech; code strategy; and cloud & edge computing for InformationWeek. He has been a journalist for more than 25 years, reporting on business and technology first in New Jersey, then covering the New York tech startup community, and later as a freelancer for such outlets as TheStreet, Investopedia, and Street Fight.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Gary's legal, corporate and entrepreneurial journeys2. Techstars vision3. Tips for entrepreneurs4. State of the funding and accelerator markets5. Future trends   Gary is the Managing Director of the Techstars New York City Accelerator powered by J.P. Morgan. Born in Jamaica, he grew up in the Bronx, where he attended the Bronx High School of Science before attending Yale College and Yale Law School.  He is a VC-backed, exited serial entrepreneur; an early-stage investor that managed a $1.6 billion start-up portfolio; a professor who has taught entrepreneurship at Yale Law School and IE Business School in Madrid, and been invited to speak at Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford and INSEAD; and a former contributor to Forbes Magazine.  As someone who has seen firsthand that talent is distributed evenly but opportunity is not, he is passionate about ensuring that underrepresented and overlooked founders get access to the social and financial capital that they need and deserve.  As an investor, he is particularly interested in companies that aim to change the world with a specific focus on healthcare, health and beauty, edtech and financial inclusion.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Atul's corporate and entrepreneurial journey2. Kitchen United's story3. Industry challenges and opportunities - ghost/dark kitchens4. Insights/trends relating to retail, food and delivery5. Lessons learned - importance of relationships/friendshipsAtul was previously the  Chief Business Officer of Kitchen United. Previously, he was most Director of Global Business Development for McDonald’s Digital, a business unit formed to help spur technological innovation across the restaurant. In this capacity, Atul forged partnerships across the technology ecosystem – ranging from payment platforms to voice activated ordering to food delivery initiatives – to help McDonald’s build the ‘restaurant of the future’.Prior to this role, Atul founded and sold a big data start-up in the sales intelligence space. He has also been the turnaround CEO of a company in the Knowledge Process Outsourcing industry, led business development for an enterprise software company, and been an investment banker focused on what was, at the time, a burgeoning e-commerce ecosystem. Across all these roles, Atul has been driven by a desire to hasten the adoption of new technologies and processes for disruptive business growth.As someone who doesn’t cook (he’s cooked fewer than 5 meals all year), Atul is a firm believer in the growing market in food delivery.Atul spent much of his life internationally and has lived in 8 countries including Japan, the UK, and Saudi Arabia. Atul graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys  2. How James founded AI for Good3. Lacey's unique path to social entrepreneurship4. TechAid Vision5. AI trends, opportunities + forecastsAs CEO of the AI for Good Foundation, James Hodson is responsible for building economic and community resilience through technology. Since 2015, the AI for Good Foundation has worked with national and municipal governments, the UN, OECD, and many others to design, develop, and deploy tech-enabled policies/solutions for social, economic, and institutional transformation.  AI for Good works extensively in Ukraine with more than 40 staff on the ground and strategic partnerships with Ukraine's Presidential Administration, Ministry for Digital Transformation, Ministry of Culture, and every regional government, providing sanctions recommendations, infrastructure resilience, deployed technology expertise, and real-time aid intermediation for regions covering more than 8M civilians.  Hodson completed doctoral studies in Artificial Intelligence as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Jozef Stefan Institute in Slovenia, holds undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Philosophy from Princeton University, and previously founded and led the AI Research Group at Bloomberg in New York from 2012-2015. His academic work spans complex network analysis, natural language processing, labour economics, corporate finance, and accounting, as well as holding multiple AI patents and being an active angel investor in the "tech for good" space.----Lacey is the CEO and Co-Founder of TechAid, an application that enables a data-driven approach to humanitarian aid, reconstruction and local economic resilience.  Lacey believes dignified access to proper nutrition, medicine, hygiene and shelter are fundamental human rights for families everywhere, that should not be dictated by the arbitrary nature of one's birthplace or gender. She is passionate about the potential of combining existing technologies to facilitate the connection of food supply with demand, and turning the tide of the escalating global hunger crisis.  Previously, Lacey led Finance and Strategy as a Co-Founder at Proxi.co, a Techstars ‘21 interactive mapping software startup that she joined after 5 years at Amazon as a Principal Product Manager and Finance Manager leading multinational teams in Customer Loyalty, Operations, WW Prime and Hardlines. Her other work in the private sector includes Category Finance at Starbucks, leading Espresso & Brewed North America, as well as working her way up from a rotational Financial Analyst to Vice President/Relationship Manager during the first eight years of her career at Wells Fargo, where her lending experience spanned verticals including: SaaS, hospitality, gaming, restaurants, healthcare and commercial real estate.  #podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Their career journeys  2. How Jim landed in an investing career3. Nina's unique path to entrepreneurship4. State of investing landscape/outlook5. Trends, opportunities in biotech and ecosystemJim Gunton has invested in privately-held growth technology companies for more than 20 years. Before co-founding in 2001 the $80 million NJTC Venture Fund, Jim was a partner at Edison Venture Fund and a manager at Oracle Corporation in the Silicon Valley. He served formerly as a Governor of the National Association of Small Business Investment Companies (NASBIC).Jim earned a BS from Stanford University and an MBA with distinction from Duke University. He has served on the board of numerous private and public companies including Achieve3000, Amber Road (NYSE: AMBR), CytoSorbents (NASDAQ: CTSO), InstaMed, IntegriChain and CareGain.-----Nina Tandon is the co-founder and CEO of EpiBone, a biotech company that grows bone and cartilage for skeletal reconstruction. With decades of experience as a scientist and entrepreneur, Nina is known for her TED Talks, has published in Forbes magazine, and was featured on the Netflix series “Human: The World Within.”  Recognized for her accomplishments as a female scientist and entrepreneur, Nina was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company Magazine; an Ernst & Young Winning Woman; and Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs, among other awards. Nina holds a master’s in Bioelectrical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and two advanced degrees from Columbia University – an MBA and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering.#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

Yat Siu moved to Hong Kong in 1996, where he set up Hong Kong Cybercity, the first free web page and email provider in Asia. In 1997 Yat joined AT&T Solutions' System Integration practice, but left in 1998 to set up Outblaze, which developed innovative web-based multilingual white label communication and collaboration services.Yat Siu's steady leadership and vision steered Outblaze through the Dotcom Bubble and several subsequent crises. Outblaze became a world leader in white label hosted web services, winning numerous awards and accolades. With over 75 million end-users under management, Outblaze secured clients and partners from all over the world and business sectors, including service providers, telecommunications operators, corporations, academia, media and publishing companies.In April 2009, Outblaze messaging assets were sold to IBM and incorporated in IBM's LotusLive suite of services. IBM also used the Outblaze assets to open its first cloud computing laboratory in Hong Kong. The transaction established beyond doubt that -like banking and finance services- Hong Kong's local information technology can compete on a global scale.Yat Siu was called World Economic Forum Global Leader of Tomorrow and a Young Global Leader of Tomorrow. He has also been awarded for his contributions in business and society: Standard Chartered Platinum Achievers Award, the URENCO Innovation Award, and, for the execution of his vision at Outblaze, the IT Excellence Product Award, Linux Business Adoption Award 2003 and the Asia Pacific Information & Communication Technologies Award 2003. Most recently he won the Young Entrepeneur Award from the Hong Kong Business Awards 2009.

We discussed a few things including:1. Their DEI and entrepreneurial journeys  2. Lessons learned3. Randal's insights on data and diversity + new book4. Gina's experience in the nonprofit, arts world  5. Trends, opportunities and challenges in diversity space Dr. Randal Pinkett, author of DATA-DRIVEN DEI, is an entrepreneur, innovator, and DEI expert. He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of BCT Partners, a global research, training, and data analytics firm whose mission is to provide insights about diverse people that lead to equity.An international public speaker, Dr. Pinkett is the author or co-author of Black Faces in High Places, Black Faces in White Places, Campus CEO, and No-Money Down CEO. He holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Rutgers University; an M.S. in computer science from the University of Oxford; and an M.S in electrical engineering, plus an MBA and Ph.D. from MIT.  The first African American to receive a Rhodes Scholarship at Rutgers University, he was inducted into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame as a high jumper, long jumper, sprinter, and captain of the Rutgers men’s track and field team. Dr. Pinkett was also the Season 4 winner of the reality television show, The Apprentice.----Gina Pisasale (she/her) is a dramaturg, educator, and Director of Equity and Organizational Culture, a newly created position, at McCarter. She has been engaged in formal EDI work within American theater institutions for almost 20 years, and is an alum of TCG's EDI Institute and artEquity's National Facilitator Training program. As an EDI Facilitator, she has designed and implemented trainings and workshops at People’s Light, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, West Chester University, and Drexel University.Previously, she was the Resident Dramaturg at People’s Light, which involved facilitating the company's EDI work and practices of inclusive making. As a freelance dramaturg, she has worked with companies such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, GoKash Productions, PlayPenn, Arden Theatre Company, Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival, and A&E Biographies. She is an occasional Senior Lecturer at University of the Arts and her areas of research include Asian American theater and performance, Korean diasporic performance, American dramaturgy, and representations of race within the American Theatre.She has presented her research and organized panels at numerous conferences including IFTR in Seoul, South Korea, LMDA, ASTR, AAA, PTRS, and CAATA and has given lectures at Villanova University, the University of Maryland, and Temple University. She received a BA from the Univ of Richmond, an MA from Villanova Univ, and is ABD PhD at the Univ of Maryland.#DEI #diversity #culture #talent#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Stacey's corporate and entrepreneurial journeys2. Lessons learned3. Branding and Social Media4. College and career guidance 5. Importance of EmpathyIn the world of branding, few experts possess the savvy and instinct of Stacey Ross Cohen. An award-winning brand professional who earned her stripes on Madison Avenue and at major television networks before launching her own agency, Stacey specializes in finding, cultivating, and perfecting brands.  She is CEO and founder of Co-Communications, a PR, marketing, and design agency headquartered in New York. Since 1998, Stacey has coached individuals and businesses in various industries — from real estate to healthcare to education — and expertly positions their narratives in fiercely competitive markets.  Stacey is extremely passionate about helping college-bound students develop and activate their personal brands to become tomorrow’s leaders. A staple at industry conferences, Stacey recently made her debut on the TEDx stage.  She is a contributor at HuffPost, Thrive Global, and Entrepreneur magazine and is frequently featured in national media. She holds an MBA from Fordham University and a Media, Technology, and Entertainment certificate from NYU Leonard N. Stern School of Business.#branding#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Claudette's and Alex's corporate and entrepreneurial journeys2. Lessons learned3. Claudette's startup and the cyber landscape/talent4. Alex's venture and state of tech talent5. Trends, opportunities and challenges in cyber/talentClaudette is a global information technology leader with more than 20 years of success leading digital transformations, optimizing infrastructure and designing new approaches that improve service and cybersecurity experiences. She has worked in the technology industry for several organizations such as Deloitte, Metropolitan Police Services, North York General Hospital, Bank of Montreal and TD Bank.At BMO, Claudette served as the Chief Information Officer, Enterprise Technology Employee Experience, and at TD she was the Global Executive Officer for Protect Fusion & Cyber Experience.Claudette is an active member of the Canadian innovation ecosystem. She is the Founder of the Black Arts & Innovation Expo, and the Chair of the Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism (CILAR), a group of senior business leaders committed to fighting systemic racism within the innovation economy. McGowan recently co-led the launch of Phoenix Fire & The Firehood, a multi-million dollar women-focused angel fund and network for women in technology.Her commitment to community is evidenced by her multiple board/council appointments for leading organizations such as SickKids Hospital Foundation, CILAR, Elevate Technology Festival, Women in the Economy Task Force, and the U.S. Consul General of Toronto U.S. & Canada Innovation Council.----Alex is a patented inventor and has raised $1.2 million dollars for his startup Vipeline. Prior to that he refined the marketing program and raised DX Agency’s revenue by 30% in one year.Previously, he increased Hot Sauce's total revenue by 500% over his tenure. He is an experienced manager of buyer and marketing teams for more than 30 years.#talent #cyber#podcast #AFewThingsPodcast

We discussed a few things including:1. Len and Bud's professional and entrepreneurial journeys2. Family businesses, the opportunities and challenges3. Family business dynamics: favoritism, spouses/in-laws, non-family mgmt/outsiders, death4. Outlook and trends in business and how they might affect family businessesLeonard C. Green is a CPA, MBA, and Entrepreneur. Len is founder of The Green Group, which is a provider of Tax, Accounting, and Consulting Services.Len is also involved in 14 businesses in diverse markets. He is one of the original investors of the NASDAQ publicly traded Blue Buffalo pet food company, the fifth largest company in the United States in this category. In addition, his involvement includes a financial services firm, real estate, thoroughbred horses, sports, a couple of publicly traded businesses, and several charities. Len also sits on the Board of Directors for a number of companies and foundations.In the past 20 years, Len has taught two of the most highly rated entrepreneurial courses at Babson College - one structured similar to Donald Trump's Apprentice TV series, and the other a family business/social entrepreneurship business course. His classes have been featured on CNBC Squawk Box and ABC TV.His featured articles on family business succession planning, company evaluations, structuring organizations, and maximizing tax deductions have appeared in over 200 newspapers across the country including the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Star-Ledger, Boston Globe, Entrepreneur Magazine, INC Magazine, Forbes, and the CEO Forum.Len's best-selling book “The Entrepreneurial Playbook” has been translated in Chinese and Arabic.---Bernard J. D’Avella, Jr. ('Bud') is an experienced attorney and mediator who has advised or led family businesses for his entire professional life. From age 12, Mr. D’Avella worked in his father’s pharmacy, which he went on to help manage in his late teen years.  He relied heavily on that family business experience to become one of the most respected thought leaders in the area of family business and estate planning law, where he has focused his advisory practice for over 45 years.  From 1973 to 1998, Mr. D’Avella represented family businesses and was the managing partner for 11 years at Hannoch Weisman, the second largest law firm in New Jersey. From 1998 - 2011, Mr. D’Avella combined his lifetime of legal and family business experience as President and Chief Operating Officer of Prudent Publishing Company, a mid-eight figure family-owned business based near his home in northern New Jersey.  Bud is an author and conference speaker on topics pertaining to family business, and is a sought-after consultant and advisor to family businesses.#familybusiness  #podcat #AFewThingsPodcast