Richard Edwards is the Director of Planeterra. In this role, he oversees the direction and development of our Foundation with the purpose of ensuring sustainable community development through travel. The company's aim is to create lasting memories and meaningful relationships between travelers and local communities by providing all generations of travelers with ways to connect and give back to our valuable projects around the world.
Edwards has over 20 years of experience in the ecotourism industry, integrated resource management and international community development.
Richard Edwards received his undergraduate degree from Linfield College and his Masters degree from Washington State University.
Sheila Laderberg is co-founder of Punk's Backyard Grill, a fast casual backyard cookout restaurant in Annapolis, Maryland. Her co-founders are Jeffrey Sloan and David McCabe. Laderberg, Sloan, and McCabe came up with the idea for Punk's Backyard Grill while collaborating on a project in the Master of Management in Hospitality program (MMH) at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. After years of refining the concept, planning, and raising capital, they opened Punk's Backyard Grill in February 2009. In its first year Punk's was named one of Washingtonian magazine's "Top 100 Bargain Restaurants" and What's Up! Annapolis magazine's "Best Bang for Your Buck." Prior to launching Punk's Backyard Grill, Laderberg was general manager of Marvelous Market Capitol Hill and worked with other hospitality companies in operations and marketing. Sheila Laderberg is a 2006 graduate of the Master of Management in Hospitality program (MMH) at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. In addition to her Cornell MMH degree, Laderberg holds a BA degree from the University of Virginia.
Ilya Brotzky is an undergraduate student who is working in partnership with Amway Global as an independent business owner.
Ilya Brotzky is an undergraduate student at Cornell University and expects to graduate in 2010.
Audrey Prashker is General Counsel at Verizon Communications.
Previously, Prashker as an associate in the Toyko office of the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
Audrey Prashker received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and her J.D. from Columbia University.
Michael Jaffe is a producer and studio executive.
Jaffe, partner of Jaffe/Braunstein Films Ltd. (JBFL), began his career with his father, Henry Jaffe, in 1971. Together, they have produced 15 television movies and miniseries. He founded Michael Jaffe Films, Ltd. in the early 1980s and developed, produced or executive-produced five feature films during the next several years.
Returning to television, Michael produced The Great Escape, a four-hour mini-series for NBC starring Christopher Reeve, and then established Spectacor Films, a partnership with sports and entertainment businessman Ed Snider, with whom he distributed, produced, financed and executive-produced more than 20 films.
Jaffe is currently partnered in JBFL with Howard Braunstein and, together, they have produced more than 75 television films and miniseries, including Elvis Presley for CBS; Deliberate Intent, with Timothy Hutton, for FX; and The Monkees for VH-1. Jaffe/Braunstein Films also delivered Walking Shadow for A&E and Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific for ABC, starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick Jr.
In 2003, JBFL produced more than a dozen television movies for the various networks, featuring such stars as Susan Sarandon, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Jami Gertz, Tyne Daly, Roma Downey, James Remar, Jacqueline Bissett, Kim Delaney, Beau Bridges, Fred Ward, Cybill Shepherd, Don Johnson, Sharon Lawrence, Marcia Gaye Harden and Jason Priestley. In 2004, the company produced Evel Knievel, starring George Eads, for TNT; The Brooke Ellison Story, starring Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, John Slattery and Lacey Chabert, for A&E; and the joint venture Miracle Run, starring Mary-Louise Parker and Aidan Quinn. They also produced Faith of My Fathers, based on the bestselling book by Sen. John McCain and Mark Salter.
Jaffe is a founding partner and serves on the Board of Directors of Allied Communications, Inc. (ACI), a new distribution company that created a 200-title library of network movies and miniseries purchased by Fremantle Media.
He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Yankton College and did graduate work at the University of Chicago and Cornell University, where he earned an master of arts degree in theater.
Ara Weiss is the Director of Account Planning in the Domestic Home Entertainment division of Twentieth Century Fox. He has been with the organization since 2005.
Previously, Weiss was a Manager in Finance and Planning with the Walt Disney Company. He has also held positions as a Senior Financial Analyst at Warner Brothers and as a Senior Financial Consultant with The Carson Group.
Ara Weiss received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his MBA from the University of Southern California.
Brad Treat is on the Board of Directors of Mezmeriz. He was most recently the Entrepreneur-In-Residence at Cornell University. Brad is also the co-founder and former CEO of SightSpeed, an innovative video and voice communications company. Together with co-founders Aron Rosenberg and Cornell University Professor Toby Berger, Treat grew SightSpeed from a university research project at Cornell into the world's premier video calling software. SightSpeed was acquired by Logitech for $30MM.
Earlier in his career, Treat worked for eight years in the automotive industry at Bowles Fluidics and GKN Automotive, where he was responsible for engineering, operations, and personnel management within the high precision, high volume industrial units.
Brad Treat holds a degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from the Johnson School at Cornell Univesity.
Yaniv Grinstein is an Assistant Professor of Finance at Cornell University's Johnson School.
Grinstein's research and teaching interests are in corporate finance and corporate governance. He has recently completed a stint at the Securities and Exchange Commission as a Visiting Academic Scholar, where he continued his research efforts in these areas. His current projects involve an analysis of the effect of the new governance rules in the U.S. on corporate value, an examination of executive compensation in U.S. corporations, and a look at the role of corporate boards in monitoring firms.
Grinstein has published in several journals, including the Journal of Finance, and the Journal of Financial Economics. His research has been widely cited in major newspapers such as The Economist, Financial Times, Newsweek, New York Times, LA Times, Forbes magazine, Times magazine, Washington Post, as well as in Congress hearings on the new governance rules.
Yaniv Grinstein holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon.
Jacob Wright is a successful entrepreneur in many realms of the hospitality industry. A serial entrepreneur who started his first business at age 18, Wright has founded and led successful businesses in the action sports, website development, real estate development, restaurant and hotel industries. He is co-founder and president of Action Companies Group, which develops, manages and owns restaurant and hotel properties. From his base in Syracuse, N.Y., Wright leads a team of 200 associates who are now focused on building leadership in the limited-service hotel segment.