Drew Brody is founder of the Los Angeles based The Infinite Monkey Project and is also co-founder and current President of The Scholar Group.
The Infinite Monkey Project produces feature films, scripted series, stage plays, and live events. Previously, in 2001, Brody became company playwright at The MET Theatre in Hollywood, where seven of his plays were performed between 2003 and 2006. Transitioning to producing, Brody brought over two dozen new plays, music performances, and dance works to the stage, including the world premieres of Tight Pants by Beth Henley and It Wasn't Proust by Sam Shepard. In 2005 and 2006, Brody received back-to-back "Excellence in Producing" honors at FringeNYC: for the hit show Fluffy Bunnies in a Field of Daises, which was named "Best of Fringe", and for the critically-lauded one-act play, Chess. His first film, Desert of Blood, was shot outside Tecate, Mexico and was the opening night feature at the Beverly Hills Hi-Def Film Fest.
While pursuing his love of theatre, Brody has also been working with students to improve their higher level thinking skills and academic performance. To this end, Brody co-founded the MBA Centre in Paris, the Visions Scholastic Academy in Brentwood, and The Scholar Group, the premiere academic tutoring company in Southern California. His experience includes tutoring hundreds of students for standardized tests such as the SAT, the SAT Subject Tests, the ACT, the SSAT, the ISEE, and the GRE, and in a wide variety of academic subjects: algebra, geometry, trigonometry, pre-calculus, French language, essay writing, world literature, world cultures, mythology, political science, physics and chemistry. He has also taught courses in mathematics and playwriting at a range of grade levels from middle school through college and adult education, including a teacher-training program for middle school math teachers in New York City.
Drew Brody earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University, a Master of Arts with Distinction from The University of Birmingham, England and completed a post-graduate program at the Sorbonne Nouvelle in Paris.
Carlos Guimarães is the CEO at Biocancer Clinical Research in Brazil. Biocancer is an oncology-focused drug development services company which assists pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and drug development services companies in accessing Brazil's large patient populations. Since 2006, he is responsible for the general administration of the company, including its strategic realignment for venture capital investment.
Previously, Guimarães was the director of a successful Brazilian biotech company where he was responsible for national and international expansion. He has a broad international experience, a strong ability to lead teams, and exceptional performance in the commercial area. Over the last 10 years he has been running different business and since May 2006, was in charge of leading Biocancer to a distinguished position in clinical trials in the world.
Carlos Guimaraes graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) Brazil, and received his MBA Executive International degree at Fundação Dom Cabral (Brazil & Sauder Business School (Canada).
Lindsey Wieber and Gwen Whiting are co-founders of The Laundress. The Laundress provides a luxury fabric care and specialty detergent line to take the chore out of laundry.
Prior to co-founding The Laundress, Wieber was the Manager of U.S. Sales for CHANEL Ready-to-Wear. She managed the CHANEL boutique accounts and other large accounts such as Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. Wieber also worked at Brooks Brothers in men's and women's buying departments before her tenure at CHANEL.
Lindsey Wieber received an undergraduate degree in Textile and Apparel Design and Management from Cornell University.
Lindsey Wieber and Gwen Whiting are co-founders of The Laundress. The Laundress provides a luxury fabric care and specialty detergent line to take the chore out of laundry.
Prior to co-founding The Laundress, Whiting was a Senior Designer of the Ralph Lauren Home Collection for five years. Prior to her work in Home Collection, her experience at Ralph Lauren included women's wear and Polo Store development.
Gwen Whiting received an undergraduate degree in Textile and Apparel Design and Management from Cornell University.
Cristiane Ulbrich is Director of Technology at BCS Tecnologia, a firm devoted to developing medical and hospital equipment being incubated at INCAMP, one of the most prestigious high-tech incubators in Brazil.Ulbrich worked for 14 in the private sector in departments such as product development (CAD/CAM and fast prototyping), quality control, and certification (ISO 9001). She has also participated in several events in the area of innovation and entrepreneurship as invited speaker and lecturer.
Cristiane Ulbrich holds a BS in Mechanical Technology from FATEC-São Paulo, a MS and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UNICAMP and a MBA from IBMEC, all in Brazil.
Paul Breitenback is CEO of Quickstore24 Systems, a company that is leading the transformation of the vending industry into the digital age.
Previsouly, Breitenback was the Chief Marketing Officer at Priceline.com. Breitenback was also responsible for Product Development at Cendant Membership Services.
Paul Breitenback holds a bachelor's degree and an MBA from Cornell University.
David Berry, MD, PhD is a Principal at Flagship Ventures. He joined Flagship in 2005 while completing his M.D. from Harvard Medical School. David was previously awarded a Ph.D. through the MIT Biological Engineering Division, where he studied the biological effects of complex sugars with advisors Professor Ram Sasisekharan and Professor Robert Langer. David also did his undergraduate work at MIT, graduating in 2000 Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, with a degree in brain and cognitive sciences.
He was named as a member of the MIT Corporation - its Board of Trustees - in 2006. David's work has led to 11 peer-reviewed publications, over 20 patents and applications, as well as over twenty-five awards and honors including the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize in 2005 for invention and innovation. David was also named as the Innovator of the Year by Technology Review in its 2007 TR35 list of world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.
At Flagship, David focuses on investing in and founding early stage life science and cleantech ventures and works closely with portfolio companies BG Medicine, T2 Biosystems, Epitome Biosystems and LS9.
César Gon is an entrepreneur in the information technology space and a faithful defender of Brazil's competitiveness when it comes to the global software business.
In May of 1995, he founded CI&T, a pioneering Brazilian business in area of informatics, with the goal of competing in the world markets. He was the first Brazilian vendor to receive the official designation of CMM in 2004 and the second to become CMMI5 by early 2007.
Starting in 2003, he participated in various mobilization efforts in the sector related to exports. In April of 2004, he helped found the consortium called Actminds, helping 10 Brazilian companies from the Campinas regions break into the American market. In November of 2006, he became president of the Organizational Commision of the first meeting of Entreprenerus at Unicamp and helped found Unicamp Ventures, serving as the first president and bringing together more than 150 companies as "daughters of Unicamp."
Currently (2007) he is the director and president of Ci&T Software S.A. leads the advisory board for DigitalAssets, S.A.
César Gon was a Computer Engineering student, with a masters degree in Computer Science from the State University of Campinas.
Jessica Jackley Flannery is a co-founder of Kiva with her husband Matt, and the spirit behind the organization. Flannery first saw the power and beauty of microfinance while working in rural Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda with Village Enterprise Fund and Project Baobab on impact evaluation and program development.
Previously, Flannery worked in the Stanford Center for Social Innovation to launch the inaugural Global Philanthropy Forum, and at Amazon.com, Potentia Media, the International Foundation and World Vision. Flannery has spoken widely on microfinance and social entrepreneurship, and has seen microfinance at work in a variety of communities in more than 30 countries.
Jessica Flannery holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with Certificates in Global Management and Public Management, and a BA in Philosophy and Political Science from Bucknell University.