MIKE'S BIO

The Honorable Michael Montelongo, a former presidential appointee and Senate-confirmed official, is a board governance and audit committee financial expert serving on the boards of Civeo Corporation (NYSE: CVEO), Conduent Inc (NASDAQ: CNDT), Palmex Ltd., and the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). He has a broad industry, sector and functional experience which includes government service in the military, the U.S. Senate, the Pentagon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and The Aerospace Corporation. He is a national security, geopolitics, and public policy expert, and a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Michael serves on the Harvard Business School faculty and is president and chief executive officer of GRC Advisory Services, LLC, a private firm specializing in board governance, risk management, and compliance matters. He served as chief administrative officer and senior vice president, public policy and corporate affairs and previously, as chief strategy officer for Sodexo, Inc.

Previously, President George W. Bush appointed him as the 19th assistant secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller and the first Latino in that role, and concluded his tenure at the Pentagon as acting Secretary of the Air Force. He was also an assistant professor teaching economics and political science at West Point.

A native of New York City’s Lower East Side and the first in his extended family to attend college, Mr. Montelongo holds a B.S. from West Point and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

RELATED LINKS

Adam Mendler Leadership Blog

Inside America’s Boardroom

Hispanic Executive Article

NACD BOD Press Release

HBS Faculty Profile

Latino Leaders Maestro Award Video

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JAKE + AMANDA = TRNDSTTRS

This episode is a remarkable master class on all things Gen Z from the Founder & CEO (Jake Bjorseth) and Chief TikTok Officer (Amanda Johansen) of the largest independent marketing agency in the world focused on Gen Z → Trndsttrs. The agency was founded in 2018 and its team has some of the best GenZ content creators, social media managers, influencer marketers and strategists in the world. 25 billion impressions and 4000+ influencer partners redefining how brands and companies reach, interact and create connective tissue with consumers.

Jake is an entrepreneur and a doer with deep insights into what makes his generation tick. He dropped out of college while a freshman enrolled in business school, “why learn about making money, maybe it’s best to go make some”. Trndsttrs is the manifestation of his desire to create and build. Amanda (1.8M followers, 33.7M Likes) had the first ever TikTok video to go massively viral when the platform was called Musical.ly and eventually became TikTok. The video on her TikTok was of her and her mom dancing in their Kansas home’s kitchen. She played softball on a scholarship in college and dropped out of school to join the agency.

They are a very dynamic team and their insights, perspectives and ideas help the world’s largest companies (worth tens of trillions) and most prominent and valuable brands thrive, grow and evolve. You will enjoy this conversation immensely and the wide range of topics we cover are head spinning.

RELATED LINKS

Trndsttrs website

Exploring Life & Business w/ Jake

Amanda’s TikTok

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|Show Notes| This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at The Alumni Society’s Leadership Summit in Brooklyn, NYC on June 13, 2024. It marks our show’s first ever live recording and the audio level is lower than studio quality. Also, today (July 9, 2024) happens to be our guest's birthday - happy birthday Gus!

GUSTAVO’S BIO

Gustavo Alberelli (Gus) is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Sunstone Partners, a growth oriented private equity firm that focuses on investments in technology-enabled services and software businesses. Founded in 2015, Sunstone Partners is headquartered in San Mateo, CA and has +$1.7 Billion of committed capital under its first three funds. He is one of a few Latinos in the country that have raised over $1 billion in capital and allocating it to high growth companies.

Prior to co-founding Sunstone Partners, Gustavo was a Managing Director at Trident Capital. Before Trident Capital, Gus was a Director at Kennet Partners where he led or participated in growth equity investments across the technology sector. Gustavo began his investment career in 2003 at Trinity Ventures, where he primarily worked with early-stage technology companies. Prior to becoming an investor, Gus held several business development and marketing positions at Saltare, a venture-backed enterprise software company. He started his career as an analyst in the technology investment banking group of Robertson Stephens in San Francisco.

Raised in Miami, Gus earned a BA from Swarthmore College, where he was a Swarthmore Scholar, and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

GUSTAVO RELATED LINKS

Sunstone Partners

Alumni Society Leadership Summit

Big Cybersecurity 15X Win

Fund I Closing

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Yvonne Liser is a 4th generation DC native that has been researching genealogy since the mid-1990s. Over the years of research she has met new cousins, travelled, and found how her families lived in history. Yvonne is the historian for 5 families and leads 3 genealogy DNA groups.

She has discussed her remarkable family history on the PBS series African American Lives 2 and Nightly News with Lester Holt and her research led her to two free African American ancestors that assisted during the Revolutionary War which led her to joining Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 2011.

Since joining DAR Yvonne has held many positions within her chapter including regent, recording secretary, registrar, historian, and corresponding secretary. She has also served as chair of various chapter committees including Bylaws, Women’s Issues, Chapter Achievement Award, and Historic Preservation.

On June 30, she became the state regent of the nation's capital's, District of Columbia's DAR. In the past she has served DCDAR as State Organizing Secretary, State Registrar, Chapter Development and Revitalization Committee member, Scholarship Advisory Commission member, Long Range Planning Committee member, DAR Scholarship Committee Chair, and Membership Committee Vice Chair. Always finding something new to enjoy in DAR, Yvonne also served as president of the Chapter Regents Club and is a life member of the State Officers Club.

Positions and activities at the national level allows Yvonne to learn more about the organization and bring those skills, knowledge, and opportunities back to DCDAR and her chapter. She currently serves as national chair of the Americanism Committee, Specialty Research Committee member, and Long Range Planning Commission member. In the past, she served as National Membership Committee Chair, Chapter Development and Revitalization Commission member, America 250! Membership Task Force member, National Vice Chair of DAR Scholarships, and National Vice Chair of the Lineage Research Committee.

RODRIGO’S BIO

Four facts: This is our 50th episode, there are 50 states in our country, 50 stars in our flag, and tomorrow is July 4th! The United States of America is celebrating its 248th birthday, which is why we decided to release this conversation today. Rodrigo Garcia is a decorated veteran of the United States Marine Corps who fought in three tours of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars between 2001-2006 and subsequently served as Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs and member of the state’s cabinet. We thank him and all who serve our gorgeous country. Today he is a corporate finance, institutional asset management and sustainable investing leader.

Rodrigo is the global CFO and U.S. President for Talipot*Holdings, a multi-billion dollar global investment enterprise and multinational conglomerate holding company with dozens of control holdings and non-control investments across various sectors and industries. Garcia is also an Adjunct Professor in Public Finance at Northwestern University and is a Certified Treasury Professional (CTP®), an Accredited Investment Fiduciary (AIF®), and holds SASB’s ESG credential.

Previously he served as Deputy State Treasurer and CIO for the State of Illinois from 2015 to 2021 where he directed the Illinois treasury’s combined $52 billion investment portfolios, $275 billion in related banking operations and payment services, and a $3.2 billion agency budget and financial reporting unit. Before that he held roles at BeDoWin360 Capital, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.

He sits on the boards The UBS Funds, Canela Media, Inc., Latino Media Network, Inc, Uniken, Inc. and Neurocytonix, Inc. He is a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association, Independent Directors Council, Private Directors Association, Angeles Investors, the Milken Institute Global Capital Markets Group, and the Aspen Institute’s Global Finance Leaders. He holds a BS from Northeastern Illinois University and two post-graduate degrees, one from the University of Illinois, the other from Northwestern University and completed a senior executive program at the Harvard Kennedy School.

NOTE ON EPISODE| This episode is longer than usual→ ‘Top Of The Game (in) Overtime’ shows are released occasionally

NOTE ON OUTRO MUSIC| "Fanfare, The Star-Spangled Banner" performed by the United States Air Force Band of Mid-America; Composition: John Stafford Smith; Lyrics: Francis Scott Key; Arrangement: Dean W. Smith; Performance: United States Air Force Band of Mid-America; Recording: United States Air Force

NOTE| One of the host’s favorite renditions of our national anthem, as epically and beutifully performed by Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock 1969 → HERE (YouTube)

RODRIGO RELATED LINKS

Rodrigo’s website

Aspen Institute Profile

A Remarkable Journey

Crain’s 40 Under 40

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GRACE’S BIO

Dr. Grace Colon is multicultural in many ways, but having New Orleans and San Juan lineage in equal parts makes for an interesting array of cuisine options growing up. She has 25+ years of experience in biopharma, genomics, diagnostics, synthetic biology, healthcare and industrial biotechnology.

Most recently, she served as CEO and President of InCarda Therapeutics, where she led the company from a seed stage start-up to one with a best-in-class inhaled cardiovascular disease therapy being evaluated in a pivotal Phase 3 trial and a growing pipeline. She currently serves on the boards of CareDx (NASDAQ:CDNA), the MIT Corporation (MIT’s Board of Trustees),Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR), the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), and served as Executive Chairman and previously CEO of ProterixBio. She was previously a partner at New Science Ventures, a New York based venture capital firm, and served on the boards of Paradigm Diagnostics, PerceptiMed and Cocoon Biotech and started her professional career after her postdoctoral work at MIT as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

She holds a PHD in Chemical Engineering from MIT and a BS in Chemical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania. Grace has three adult children, lives in Northern California and is a runner, yoga practitioner, SCUBA diver, paddle boarder, rabid consumer of science fiction, semi-competent singer and musical theater performer, and aspiring juggler.

GRACE RELATED LINKS

InCarda Profile

MIT Profile

Biotechnology Innovation Organization

Joining Voyager’s Board

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FLORIAN’S BIO

Florian Faber has one of the coolest jobs in the world, he is CEO and on the Board of Directors of MCH Group, which among many endeavors owns, hosts, curates and puts together the incredible spectacles the four Art Basel shows deliver to millions. Last week, they concluded Art Basel in Basel, Switzerland, as he calls it “the mothership” and Art Basel Miami Beach takes place there every December.

He joined MCH's company Expomobilia in 2009 as New Business Manager and in 2014 he became Managing Director of Expomobilia (now MCH Live Marketing Solutions AG). In 2019, Florian Faber took over the management of the Live Marketing Solutions Division as a member of the Executive Board of MCH Group and was responsible for the repositioning and growth strategy of the brands MCH Global (Experiential Marketing Agency), MC2 (Brand Experience Solutions Provider) and Expomobilia (General Contractor Building Experiences). Before joining MCH Group, Florian Faber was responsible for Live Marketing Communication & Interactive Marketing in Europe at the Nissan car group. Florian Faber holds an Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Zurich.

MCH brands include Art Basel Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Paris+ par Art Basel, Art Basel Hong Kong, Design Miami, Habitat Jardin, Swiss Bau, Powertage, Weinfestival, Hack Zurich and the company owns spaces that include Messe Congress Center Basel and Messe Zurich.

MCH Group Ltd., is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and headquartered in Basel. It’s roots can be traced 108 years back to the “Schweizer Mustermesse” (est 1916) and Schweizer Mustermesse Cooperative (est 1920). In 2000, the Cooperative was converted into a joint stock company, followed by it merging with the exhibition company in Zurichin 2001 under the joint umbrella of MCH Swiss Exhibition (Holding) Ltd. The holding company was renamed MCH Group Ltd. in 2009.

FLORIAN RELATED LINKS

MCH Profile

CEO Appointment

Art Basel

On Bloomberg

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BEATRIZ’S BIO

Beatriz sometimes wears a black t-shirt with two simple words - “La Jefa”, en ingles, The Boss. And that, she has been, and continues to be as a serial founder, CEO, trailblazing, Emmy-winning remarkable woman. In her words: “In my life journey, I've always strived not just for personal achievements but to reshape narratives and champion the next generation of Latino leaders.” She has done just that.

Her career began in Mexico, as an 8 year old (yes 8!) radio announcer. Beatriz moved to the U.S. in her early 20s, by then she had won 3 Emmy and an MTV award. She has started several companies, including MiTu and her current venture Suma Wealth - collectively raising over $55 million for the ventures she has led and founded, one focused on media & entertainment representation, the other on economic empowerment - but they are in fact intertwined. Very few people raise any money for their ventures, let alone tens of millions, and as a Latina she is one of a handful.

She is a regular contributor on NBC News, Forbes, Fast Company, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times where she talks about representation, capital access, entrepreneurship, Latinos and the American economy. Beatriz has also appeared on Guy Raz's “How I Built This”, Eva Longoria’s Connections Podcast, and LinkedIn News “Hello Monday”.

She currently serves on the boards of Beneficial State Bank, the Latino Community Foundation, and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Committee among others . She also leads the Acevedo Foundation, initiated by her father in Mexico three decades ago, now focuses on education, representation, economic empowerment, and enabling access to capital for emerging Latino entrepreneurs and leaders.

SUMA Wealth, where she serves as CEO & Co-founder, is attempting to seize on a $182B opportunity – young U.S. Latinos through a fintech platform that expertly combines financial tools with culturally relevant financial education. This unique, community-driven approach has paved the way for collaborations with the largest financial institutions in the world and has about 1 million users.

BEATRIZ RELATED LINKS

Suma Wealth + MiTu

In Her Footsteps - YouTube

Forbes Profile

Beneficial State Bank Profile

Latino Community Foundation Profile

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