Social Business and Microcredit Forum

Suhas Apte
Vice President – Global Sustainability, Kimberly Clark Corporation

Thirty two years of professional experience (2 years in Europe, 12 years in Asia-Pacific, 19 years in USA) covering all facets of business management – strategic planning, marketing, finance, product development, operations, alliances, acquisitions, customer and supply chain management. Experience includes - Leading European Family Care business ($1.8 billion sales in 18 countries) Managing high growth Developing Emerging Baby & Child Care business ($1.8 billion sales in 30 countries) Developing Asia – Pacific Personal Care business ($750 million sales in 13 countries) Classic Brand management assignments in USA. Key accomplishments – Developing & executing portfolio road-map for category-countries to make European business a re-investable business Delivering double digit top & bottom line growth ahead of the category for Developing & Emerging markets Baby & Child Care business Establishing Huggies® leadership position & improving Kotex® to strong 2 position in Asia – Pacific region Negotiating tax and training concessions amounting to US$ 50 million with the Singapore government to establish mega business center for Personal care business Creating two joint ventures in China Acquiring a US$ 150 million Personal Care business in Taiwan Integrating Kimberly-Clark businesses with Scott Paper Co. businesses in Asia Developing & building brands and categories in USA. He is a Mechanical Engineer from India and has an MBA from Univ. of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Daniel Austin
Architect, Paypal

Daniel Austin is Chief Architect at Paypal, where he is focused on large-scale payment systems. In a past life, he’s worked for organizations such as CERN, NASA, Sun, Yahoo! in pursuit of making the Internet faster and smarter.

Richard Bernhardt
President and COO at Silicon Valley Investment Group and Owner & CEO, Bernhardt Communications Co.

For over twenty-years, Richard has worked with Silicon Valley firms in leadership, management. Executive, and strategic advisory roles.
He has worked directly with management teams, CEO’s, BOD’s and investing entities to enhance their businesses performance, guide them into new or expanded markets and focus on plans for funding and strategic alliances. He has assisted them in developing and implementing effective operational strategy and internal growth management to be effective organizations for organic building, reaching milestones and liquidity events. Richard is a seasoned corporate communications, public and external relations director and has successes in both business development and marketing with direct demonstrable bottom line results. Richard has a proven record working with companies to review their functional, directional and internal operations to assure that they are tuned to provide the best results as well as for investors to understand the dynamics of deal-flow potential. Richard also is Chairman of Bangla Hope (http://www.banglahope.org) which serves children and families in need and provides a safe, stable, and learning environment for children throughout the country of Bangladesh. His specialties include: Marketing & Marketing Communications, Executive Management and Advising/Consulting, Government and External Affairs, Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Critical Negotiations & Contracts, and Business Strategy and Development.

Paula Boggs
Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Starbucks

In her role as Starbucks evp, general counsel and secretary, Paula Boggs leads the Law & Corporate Affairs department, advising a wide range of Starbucks partners (employees) on legal and business issues. Since joining Starbucks in September 2002, she has been passionate about hiring and nurturing partners to grow, develop and reach their potential. Inquisitive by nature, she believes that by being curious she will learn about those she leads, understand differences and successfully work through issues that begin as challenges but ultimately result in creating a better solution.

Paula’s legal career began in 1984 as a United States Army officer assigned to the Pentagon. She also worked as a staff attorney for the White House before leaving the service in 1988. From 1988 to 1994, Paula served as assistant United States attorney in the Western District of Washington and was responsible for prosecuting fraud and regulatory crimes before trial and appellate courts. Paula was a partner at Preston Gates & Ellis in Seattle, one of the premier, full-service law firms in the country. During her tenure with the firm from 1995 to 1997, Paula was a trial lawyer specializing in corporate civil litigation. Prior to joining Starbucks, Paula served as Dell Computer Corporation’s Vice President, Legal for Products, Operations and Information Technology Systems from 1997 to 2002. She also supported the Audit Committee of Dell’s board of directors.

Paula is an active volunteer in both legal and civic organizations. She serves as Washington State Delegate to the ABA’s House of Delegates; is on the Johns Hopkins University Board of Trustees; is a member of the KEXP Advisory Council; serves on the American Red Cross Board of Governors. She is also currently co-chair of Washington State’s Campaign for Equal Justice (fundraising on behalf of legal services for the poor). Her past activities include serving on the board of Premera Blue Cross, as Chair. Paula and Starbucks were awarded the Washington State Bar Association’s 2005 “Excellence in Diversity” Award. She is also the recipient of the ABA 2006 Spirit of Excellence Award and the 2006 Sargent Shriver Award for Equal Justice. Her awards and recognition include the 2006 Seattle Chapter Urban League Spirit Award, the 2008 National Bar Association Wiley A. Branton Award for her demonstrated service in the area of civil rights, and being named NASDAQ’s 2009 Top General Counsel. In 2010 President Obama named Paula to the White House Council for Community Solutions.

Paula received her bachelor of arts degree in international studies from The Johns Hopkins University, where she was awarded the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus(a) Award and her juris doctor from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, where she was named the “1998 Recent Alumna of the Year” .In her spare time, Paula enjoys running and is a singer and songwriter who in 2010 released her debut CD, “A Buddha State of Mind.”

Philip Bolton
President of Agio Press Inc. and Publisher of GlobalAtlanta

Philip Bolton founded the Agio Press Inc. in 1991 and started publishing a bi-monthly newsletter titled The Global Business Reporter. In 1995, Philip launched the GlobalAtlanta Web site and email newsletter. Since then, he has initiated the GlobalGeorgia and GlobalSavannah news services. He and his GlobalAtlanta team have ambitions to continue their work providing Atlanta with “locally international” news and serving as the city’s premier source for information on international business. His specialties include Journalism and reporting, conference and event coverage, all aspects of international business in Atlanta and Georgia, networking among professionals, representing local and overseas culture and commerce. He was a Correspondent in Paris, France and Editorial Director of the Atlanta Office at Laffert. He has written articles for Lafferty newsletters including Retail Banker International, Bank Marketing International, Financial Technology International, Management Consultant International, European Banker, Cards International, the International Accounting Bulletin, Private Banker International, Bank Financial Management International, Electronic Payments International, etc. He was educated at the Johns Hopkins School of Advance Studies (SAIS), Bologna, the Johns Hopkins University - Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), the Columbia Teachers College Peace Corps Training, Williams College and Milton Academy. His Honors and Awards include recognition by Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as the individual winner of the Governor’s International Award.

Colin Brady, OBE
President and CEO of Pinnacle Partners International, Inc.

Colin Brady is the President and CEO of Pinnacle Partners International, Inc., a management consultancy focused on serving the broad needs of small and start-up companies. Prior to founding PPII, Mr. Brady spent 16 years in senior management and consulting roles for several global executive search firms. Earlier, he was a division president and corporate officer of Philips Industries, as well as CEO of Portals, Inc, and a board member of the UK parent company. Mr. Brady is the founder and Chairman-Emeritus of the International Leadership Council, a forum for the leaders of the 35 bilateral international chambers of commerce in Atlanta. He is a member of the Institute of Directors (IOD) in London, an organization devoted to promoting good corporate governance. He has lectured and published articles on leadership and global business issues and was an instructor in the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Mellon University. The New York Times and Business Week magazine have featured Mr. Brady as a technologically astute businessman. Colin Brady received his Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas and earned his MBA from California State University at Fresno. Mr. Brady is one of only a handful of Americans inducted into an Order of Knighthood by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Karen Robinson Cope
Vice President Out-of-home Media, NanoLumens Inc.

Karen was the President and CEO of Prime Point Media, one of the largest alternative out of home advertising companies in the United States that was acquired by a publicly traded company in 2006. Before joining Prime Point, Karen was chairwoman, President and CEO of Enrev Corporation, a technology company that was sold in 2001. In 2000 she was honored as the Georgia Technology Woman of the Year and Wireless Weekly named her one of the top 20 Women in the wireless industry. She is a frequent speaker at both the regional and national level where she has spoken at MIT, Georgia Tech, Harvard and Emory Universities. She is also a frequent judge, most recently at the Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

Ken Cutshaw
EVP, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Church’s and Texas Chicken

Kenneth A. Cutshaw serves as an Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of the Company. Cutshaw manages the legal affairs of Company and is responsible for global expansion of Church’s and Texas Chicken. Cutshaw has professional experience in a wide spectrum of work experiences, including entrepreneurial ventures, management, foreign policy, law, business, government, academic and politics. He was formerly a partner with Holland & Knight, LLP, one of the larger law firms in the world. In the Restaurant Industry, Cutshaw was co-founder of casual dining restaurants, Cheers Funeatery, in Tennessee; founding partner of the Red, Hot & Blue restaurant chain and a founder of Let’s Go Back, LLC, the first franchisee of the Flying Biscuit restaurants in Atlanta. He is active with the International Franchise Association and the National Restaurant Association. Cutshaw received a Master of Law International degree from American University (1987): a J.D. business law degree from The University of Tennessee (1978): a B.A. public administration degree from The University of Tennessee (1975). Cutshaw graduated from the Executive course at India Institute of Management Ahmedabad and Duke University for Global Leaders Management in 2007.

Grace Fricks
Founder, Access capital for Entrepreneurs

Fricks founded Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (ACE) in 1997 and began the microlending service in 2000. She currently serves on the national Appalachian Capital Advisory Committee of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) and is a member of the Advisory Board for Enterprise to Empower (En2Em), a Georgia Institute of Technology student-led organization. Fricks is a past member of the board of directors of the national trade association, Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), and is past treasurer of Georgia Microenterprise Network (GMEN). Fricks, a small business owner for over 15 years, is a former board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Atlanta chapter. Other community work includes former Board of White County Rotary Club and former Trustee of the Board of North Georgia Technical College. Fricks was the 2005 recipient of the Founders Award for GMEN. Fricks’ undergraduate is in social work from University of Tennessee at Martin and her MBA is from the University of Memphis. Grace, her husband Larry and 3 dogs reside in the Appalachian Mountain Range of north Georgia.

Kazi Huque
CEO, Grameen Intel Social Business

Plays diverse leadership roles in the application and commercialization of information technology. Experienced in software solutions, finance, strategic visioning and implementation. Specialties include strategic planning, financial controls, company startup, acquisition integration, recruiting and board of directors activities. Grameen Intel Social Business is a startup company providing technology solutions in the developing world for healthcare and commerce, with a focus on social impact.

Zeev Klein

Board Member at Digital Wish
General Partner at Landmark Ventures
Co-Founder & Director at Doing IT for Good

Zeev Klein is part of the founding team of Landmark Ventures and responsible for business development, investment banking and venture capital investments working with a portfolio of early-stage technology companies. Zeev gained experience working in the VC & Strategic Investment division of Chase Manhattan Bank (now JPMorgan), where he helped analyze and evaluate emerging technology companies. He was the co-founder of a successful Chicago-based technology services company during the late 1990’s, and has since advised dozens of enterprise software, network infrastructure and digital media firms on their strategic development, operational and financial growth strategies. Zeev founded and is actively involved with Landmark’s corporate philanthropy program, Doing IT for Good, that provides financial and operational grants to deserving technology-related nonprofit organizations such as Year Up, NPower and Digital Wish. He graduated with a BA in Economics from Northwestern University and received his MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

C.N. (Madhu) Madhusudan
CEO VectorSpan Inc. and President of TiE Atlanta

C.N. (Madhu) Madhusudan is an accomplished executive with over 25 years experience in setting up, acquiring and operating businesses in Europe, India and the United States. His expertise areas include launching new businesses, turnaround management, outsourcing, strategic investments, and acquisitions. As an early member of the team that built the NIIT Group in India, he held key roles including setting up NIIT Bangalore operations, turning around NIIT Mumbai (Bombay) operations, and establishing NIIT HR, IS and Corporate Planning functions. In 1991, he relocated to the United States to build the first overseas presence of NIIT for its software, training and knowledge process outsourcing businesses. He led several new venture investment initiatives and acquisitions in the US and Europe. He is the founder and CEO of VectorSpan Inc., an enterprise focused on enabling companies to plan their growth strategy, engineer inorganic growth and make integration and cross border transactions successful. He is a TIE mentor and past Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (GIACC). He studied at the St. Josephs College, Bangalore, and the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. His professional education includes Business Evaluation at the Harvard Business School.

Andrea T. Mills, MBA, CPA, CCSA®
Fiscal Management Associates, LLC

Andrea T. Mills is the Director of FMA, works with nonprofit organizations, individuals, and foundations to strengthen fiscal decision-making and improve effectiveness. She assists organizations in developing fiscal management tools, establishing appropriate fiscal policies and procedures, and advising on strategic decisions. She helps lead FMA’s training initiatives in New York, Chicago, and across the country for executive directors, fiscal staff and board members of organizations and foundations. Andrea recently has been a presenter at the City of Chicago’s Department of Family and Support Services Annual Fiscal Conference, and is a faculty member of Donors Forum of Chicago. Andrea came to FMA with over 15 years of public accounting experience with nonprofit organizations and start-up venture capital companies through her association with a regional accounting firm and as a supervisor in the Philadelphia office of Grant Thornton LLP. At FMA, she was named to partnership as a Director in 2006. In her volunteer work for the New York Chapter of Soroptimist International, the world’s largest professional women’s service organization, Andrea is a nongovernmental organization representative, providing reports to organization members on biweekly United Nations briefings that address economic development and human rights policies. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Unifem/USA, NY Metro Chapter and the Board of the Ireland/US Council. Andrea holds the Certification in Control Self-Assessment (CCSA®) awarded by The Institute of Internal Auditors to practitioners who are able to provide guidance on risk, controls and business objectives. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and The Institute of Internal Auditors, and is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education, where she lectures on accounting issues for nonprofit organizations. Andrea earned an MBA degree from Drexel University, and graduated magna cum laude with a BBA from Temple University.

Tamela G. Noboa
Chief of Strategy and New Business,
Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership

Tamela Noboa has worked with DCGEP for 12 of its 14 year history, playing a key role in the strategic growth and direction of the organization, which now reaches over 3 million people in 16 countries. Noboa has developed and managed partnerships among government, private and non-profit partners, and directed project implementation in Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. As Chief of Strategy and New Business, she leads the organization’s strategy and program design, and oversees global partnerships to further the organization’s reach and impact. Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization using the power of media to transform education and improve lives in the developing world. Established by Discovery Communications in 1997, DCGEP brings quality educational content – created in collaboration with local communities – equipment, and long-term teacher training to under-resourced schools and communities around the world. http://www.thepoweroftv.org

Rajan Palaniswamy
Chairman & CEO, Virima Technologies

Palaniswamy “Raj” Rajan co-founded Virima Technologies and serves as the company’s Chairman & CEO. With more than 15 years experience in the technology industry, Rajan has a deep understanding of current technologies and has the ability to articulate the application of these technologies in various business contexts and models. A highly versatile and proven entrepreneur, Rajan also founded Vigilar, Inc, a leading network security technology firm; eLaunchpad, LLC, an early stage venture capital firm/incubator focusing on Internet infrastructure and network security technologies; and Emerald Systems, a boutique technology consulting firm. During his tenure at Vigilar, he grew annual revenues to $32M from 2000 to 2005, during the most difficult technology industry climate. Another previous success, financial aggregator VerticalOne was sold to S1 in 1999 in a deal valued at $166 million. Rajan was instrumental in establishing the Atlanta CEO High Tech Council, where he serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, and he co-founded and serves on the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE). Rajan was honored as Georgia Trend’s “40 Under 40” Rising Stars in 2000. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Kristin Peterson
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inveneo

Kristin Peterson is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inveneo, a non-profit social enterprise focusing on Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in rural areas throughout the developing world. With more than 20 years of business and new market development experience, primarily from the technology and communications industries, Kristin has been responsible for strategy, partnership and support development since Inveneo’s inception in 2004. She has led Inveneo’s efforts to deliver education, healthcare, economic development and relief projects in Haiti and in 25 countries throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, touching the lives of over 1,500,000 people with life-impacting ICTs.

Prior to Inveneo Kristin was VP of Marketing at an enterprise IP services technology start-up, and she founded Velocity Consulting, an organization that provided go-to-market guidance to a range of networking, wireless and VoIP tech start-ups. Before Velocity, she was Executive Director, Business Development at GoRemote through IPO. She has also held various roles in international product management and market development for AT&T. She has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from NMSU and an M.B.A. in International Marketing from Pepperdine University. Kristin recently awarded the 2011 ITU World Telecommunication and Information Society Award in recognition of her dedication to promoting ICTs as a means of providing a better life for humanity, particularly in rural communities. In 2007 She was named a CNN Principal Voice in Innovation and Technology. Through Inveneo she has been a featured speaker on ABC News, at the Clinton Global Initiative and Global Philanthropy Forum annual meetings, and for various UN and bilateral agencies, advocating on behalf of technology access in developing countries.

Fazlur Rahman, MD.
Founding Partner, West Texas Medical group

Fazlur Rahman, M.D., F.A.C.P. is an oncologist and a founding partner of West Texas Medical group. Dr. Rahman is a seasoned entrepreneur and is very passionate about social business ideas. He is certified by American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Hematology, and American Board of Medical Oncology. He received his M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) from Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and did his internship at St. John’s Hospital, Yonkers, NY. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine - Long Island Jewish Medical Center - Queens Hospital Center and Baylor College of Medicine, Houston and a fellowship in Hematology - Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. Dr. Rahman is a Fellow of American College of Physicians, American Society of Hematology, American Society of Oncology, and American Federation for Clinical Research. He is associated with San Angelo Community Medical Center and Shannon Medical Center. Dr. Rahman is trustee member of the Austin College and has published over 50 articles, essays, and columns in medical and non-medical journals and papers, including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Kanchana Raman
President & CEO Avion Systems, Inc. and TiE Mentor

Kanchana Raman founded Avion Systems in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. Avion is a 600 people global company with offices in North America, South America, Asia. Avion Systems provides comprehensive next-generation broadband communication networks engineering services in 3G & 4G Cellular Networks. Kanchana has been featured in several magazines including most recently in the Fortune Magazine. Kanchana was selected to represent three US delegations, one to S. Africa in 2005, S. America in 2006, London in 2008. Kanchana chairs several board positions, the Georgia Women’s Business Council and represents Georgia on the National Leadership forum for the Women Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the Women’s Leadership Enterprise (WLE) to name a few. Kanchana is the recipient of the President’s “A Shining Star” Award from the Georgia Women’s Business Council 2004, Quiet Storm Technology Award at the 2005 Women’s Power Caucus, National Woman of Color Award for Entrepreneurial Business Woman of the Year 2006 from the CCG group, the “Business Star” Award in 2007 from Women Business Enterprise National Council. In 2008 Avion Systems was named the recipient of the NXTSolution Award at the NXTcomm08 Conference, the most significant telecommunications industry gathering in the world. In 2010, Kanchana has been selected by AT&T to be part of a 30 member AT&T Women Entrepreneurs’ Forum. Kanchana has a MBA from Emory University.

Sandhya C. Rao
Senior Advisor for Private Sector Partnerships at USAID

Sandhya works in the Bureau for Global Health at the US Agency for International Development. Over the past 17 years, she has advised governments, NGOs and corporate foundations on the design, management and evaluation of humanitarian aid programs. Sandhya has devoted much of her career to improving the lives of girls and women around the world, working with organizations such as Marie Stopes International, Nike Foundation and the International Center for Research on Women. In her spare time, she advises social entrepreneurs in India and is a reading judge for the William James Foundation Social Business Plan Competition. Sandhya has lived and worked in over 20 countries and speaks Spanish, Italian and Kannada. Her specialties include: public health, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility, public-private partnerships, market-based health and development approaches, program evaluation, research, strategic planning, management consulting, and business development.

Kenneth Shumard
President & CEO, Precision Practice Management, Inc.

Ken, serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Atlanta at Precision Practice Management, Inc. Mr. Shumard Co-founded Medical Doctor Associates Inc.(MDA) in 1987 and served as its Chief Executive Officer since 1987. He co-founded MDA. Mr. Shumard also served as Chairman of Medical Doctor Associates Inc. He serves on the Boards of community and national organizations and is active in his church. He graduated from Lipscomb University with a degree in Accounting in 1965.

Narayan Sundararajan
CTO, Grameen-Intel Social Business, Intel Corporation

Narayan Sundararajan is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Grameen Intel Social Business. He oversees technology and product development as well as strategy for the company with sustainability and social impact as the key drivers. He is also a core member of the emerging markets healthcare team in the World Ahead Program at Intel. Prior to this, Narayan has traversed various technical, business and management roles at Intel working in diverse groups such as the New Business Initiatives (NBI), Digital Health Group (DHeG) and Corporate Technology Group (CTG). Educated at the Indian Institute of Technology (B.Tech) and Cornell (M.S, PhD), he holds 17 patents issued, with 50 pending and has co-authored a book titled “Micro fabrication for Micro fluidics” published by Artech Publishers. Narayan is also a freelance documentary and film-maker.

Eileen Sweeney
Senior Director of Motorola Giving and Philanthropic Relations, Motorola Inc.

Eileen is heading up a $20-30M annual global Giving budget that includes Motorola Foundation grants and corporate contributions. Her responsibilities include driving corporate strategy for Motorola’s community relations, participating in Motorola’s corporate social responsibility steering committee, leading employee volunteerism and disaster relief efforts. Her specialties include Building global corporate philanthropic programs, Launching corporate employee volunteer programs and creating “Days of Service”, and creating highly focused grants programming, especially on education themes.

Bob Zukis
Global Strategy and Technology Executive

As a trusted C-suite advisor, Bob Zukis’ objective is to help his clients find their future with technology as their key enabler. He advised multi-national companies on a range of strategic and operational advice as they have expanded into new markets globally. His international experience includes fifteen years as an expatriate residing in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and London working with local teams to service a diverse portfolio of multi-national clients. He is a pioneer in helping foreign firms enter and understand the Chinese and Japanese markets. Also known for his thought leadership, broad functional experience and skill at building and leading new practices, He has led diverse businesses from inception through substantial growth curves and realignments. P&L responsibility has included autonomous start-up environments, multi-country practices and a $125M business unit across his 27 years with PwC. His leadership roles within the firm have included seats on the PwC Global and Asia Pacific Leadership teams. He currently participates on the Los Angeles Universal Preschool Corporate Council and Board of Directors IT sub-committee at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. His specialties include Business and IT Strategy, SaaS and Cloud Computing, Social Management, Asia Pacific Emerging Markets, Technology Driven Change and Project Management.