CARL BASS

Carl Bass is a former president and chief executive officer of Autodesk, Inc.a maker of professional 3D design software and consumer applications, and was a co-founder of Ithaca Software, which commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system. Bass has been credited with expanding Autodesk beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product developments and transitioning from 2D to 3D model-based design.

Mr. Bass was born in New York, New York to a chemist father and schoolteacher mother. He attended Cornell University and graduated with Bachelor of Arts in mathematics in 1983.

In 1981, Bass co-founded a computer graphics company called Flying Moose Systems and Graphics Ltd., which became Ithaca Software in 1986. The company commercialized HOOPS, a 3D graphics system originally developed at Cornell University in the mid-1980s. Bass served as Ithaca Software’s chief technology officer and CEO. He joined Autodesk when the company acquired Ithaca Software in 1993, serving as the chief architect for AutoCAD.In 1995, Bass was forced out by Autodesk’s then-president and CEO Carol Bartz, only to be rehired five months later, after top Autodesk engineers said they needed Bass’s software development skills.

Bass left Autodesk in 1999 to launch Buzzsaw, an online service for management of construction projects, where he served as president and CEO. Bass returned to Autodesk when it acquired the company in 2001. In addition to being the company’s president and CEO from 2006 through 2017, Bass held a number of high-level positions at Autodesk, including executive vice president and chief strategy officer (2001 to 2002); senior executive vice president of the Design Solutions Group (2002 to 2004); chief operating officer (2004 to 2006); and interim chief financial officer (2008 to 2009).

During his tenure as CEO, Bass focused on expanding the company beyond its core AutoCAD software through acquisitions and new product development and transitioning from 2D to 3D design.He emphasized vertical markets focusing on model-based design, simulation, and lifecycle management. Under his direction, Autodesk introduced consumer-oriented products such as SketchBook, a mobile painting and drawing app with more than 7 million users as of Nov. 2011. Bass helped lead the company to develop Building Information Modeling (BIM) and generative design technologies. In March 2008, Autodesk was ranked number 25 on Fast Company’s list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.”

Bass serves on the Board of Directors of Autodesk, HP Inc., Zendesk Inc., Planet, and Formlabs Inc. He also serves on the board of trustees of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Art Center College of Design, and California College of the Arts, and is a member of the advisory boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science, UC Berkeley School of Information, and UC Berkeley College of Engineering. He previously served on the board of McAfee and iRise.He currently acts as an advisor to Zoox Inc. and a special advisor to Alphabet CEO Larry Page.

Bass announced that he would be stepping down as Autodesk’s CEO effective on February 8, 2017. He remains a board member and special advisor to the company.

 

CARL LIEBERT

Mr. Carl Clinton Liebert, III, has been Chief Executive Officer and President since March 11, 2019, at AutoNation, Inc. formerly, he served as Chief Operating Officer and executive vice president of USAA. The San Antonio-based United Services Automobile Association is a financial services company with about 13 million members. He previously was CEO of 24-Hour Fitness, executive vice president of store operations for The Home Depot, and has held leadership roles with General Electric and Circuit City. Liebert is a former Naval officer.

He obtained his MBA from Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management. Mr. Liebert was responsible for the overall business strategy and delivering a seamlessly integrated omnichannel customer and member experience in the companies he has worked for in the past.

Liebert described his management style as collaborative and emphasized that he's a learner first. AutoNation has 26,000 employees and about 250 new-vehicle rooftops nationwide. "The only way we're going to be successful is to unleash 26,000 associates to get after this," he said. "Being a part of a team, that's what makes organizations successful."

 

BILL INGHAM

As Vice President of Global Human Resources at Visa, Bill Ingham sets the talent strategy for employees worldwide, giving him a broad view of the industry’s transformation. He discusses Visa as both a financial services and a technology company, the battle against cash, how he hires, and the challenge of becoming an authentic leader.

Prior to Visa, Ingham led international HR for the Banana Republic brand at Gap Inc. Before joining Gap, he spent eight years with the Clorox Company, where he led people and talent strategies for a multibillion-dollar global business unit.

Earlier in his career, Ingham was with PeopleSoft, where he built the strategy for the company’s Human Resources Business Process Outsourcing (HRBPO) division in addition to leading a global staffing team which hired as many as 4,000 people per year. He started his career at Oracle as the company’s first compensation analyst.

As a co-author of The Rise of HR, which has been distributed to over two million HR professionals, Ingham is a frequent speaker at business and talent conferences. He is also active in diversity and inclusion efforts, particularly those dedicated to gender equality.

Ingham attended the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in Ontario, Canada and Evangel University in Springfield, MO, and holds degrees in communications and psychology.

 

BRYAN J. FREEDMAN

Bryan J. Freedman is a top-rated attorney practicing in the Los Angeles, California area. Providing legal representation in California for a variety of different issues. Bryan has been a trial lawyer since 1991 and has extensive experience litigating unique and complex entertainment, real estate, employment, and commercial disputes.

After completing undergraduate studies, Bryan J. Freedman attended law school. Bryan Freedman was enrolled at University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law. He earned a Juris Doctor degree in 1990. Bryan Freedman would be admitted to the practice of law in 1991.

Bryan J. Freedman is recognized by his peers for their outstanding work and commitment to the spirit of the legal profession. Their knowledge of the law, professional work ethic, and advocacy on behalf of their clients allow them to stand out among other attorneys in the field.

Bryan Freedman represents clients with Entertainment & Sports issues. Additional legal issues represented include Business Litigation and Civil Litigation: Defense.

Bryan J. Freedman was selected as one of the most influential entertainment litigators in the country by The Hollywood Reporter in 2008 - 2018 and in all of those years has been named in the Top 100 Power Lawyers list. Additionally, Bryan was recognized as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" in 2007 - 2019 peer-based award reserved only for the top 5% of all lawyers in Southern California. Bryan was also recognized by his peers as a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2004. Chosen as a Life Member of the Kingston's National Registry of Who's Who and the National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals. He was selected as an inaugural Variety500 2017 honoree. The Variety500 is an unranked international professional index of 500 business leaders shaping the global 600 billion dollar entertainment industry.

Bryan's clients include large and small internet-based entertainment companies, the top internet entertainment websites, motion picture, television and production companies, talent agencies, actors, writers and directors, personal and business management firms,regional and national real estate companies, real estate development and management companies, national foodservice distributors, multi-state restaurant companies, banks, financial institutions, and multi-national corporations.

Bryan and his partner, Michael Taitelman have been friends since their college days at the University of California at Berkeley and started Freedman &Taitelman, LLP in 1997 to provide the same large firm litigation expertise and aggressiveness along with smaller firm client attention and efficient cost management. Bryan takes an active role in all matters and focuses on effective strategies to help his clients attain their goals.

 

MICHAEL ZIMBALIST

Michael Zimbalist was born on January 20, 1980, in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA as Michael N. Zimbalist. He is a producer and director, best known for Momentum Generation(2018), The Two Escobars (2010) and Give Us This Day (2018).

Along with his brother Jeffrey, the Zimbalists have collaborated with eminent names in the entertainment industry, such as Quincy Jones, Pelé, Shakira, Will Smith, Jesse Jackson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mick Jagger, Joe Roth, Javier Bardem, Russell Simmons, Irving Azoff, Naomi Campbell, Kelly Slater, Aishwarya Rai, and Amitabh Bach Chan, among others.

Their films have been theatrically distributed worldwide and broadcast by Universal, HBO, Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, MTV, PBS, ESPN, Channel 4 UK, the BBC, Fox, DirecTV, and BET, among others. Their production company is called All Rise Films.

In 2010, Disney / ESPN Films released The Two Escobars" which Michael produced with his brother Jeffrey Zimbalist. It was called "one of the best documentaries in recent memory" by The Los Angeles Times, "masterful" by The Hollywood Reporter, a "knockout documentary" by Variety and "one of the best sports documentaries ever made" by Bill Simmons. In 2011, the Zimbalist's script for The Two Escobar was nominated for the best nonfiction script by the Writers Guild of America and was named 2010 Documentary Of The Year alongside The Tillman Story by Sports Illustrated. Of the over 50 films in the Emmy Award-winning 30 for 30series, Vulture ranked "The Two Escobars" as the best one. The Zimbalists shared the 2011 Peabody Award with this first season of ESPN Films 30for30 filmmakers. Since, in addition to producing other 30for30 films, the Zimbalist brothers have also directed two other entries into the 30for30 series, including "Arnold's Blueprint" with Arnold Schwarzenegger and "Youngstown Boys", which won an Emmy in 2014.

 

JAYSAMIT

Jay Samit(born January 31, 1961) is the Independent Vice Chairman of Deloitte. An American digital media innovator, he has pioneered advancements in music and video distribution, social media, and e-commerce. He is the author of the bestselling book Disrupt You! Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation.

Samit was a recipient of the Presidential fellowship at UCLA where he graduated magna cum laude in 1982. The same year, Samit founded Jasmine Multimedia Publishing where he created some of the breakthrough laserdisc and CD-ROM titles that defined the emergence of video and music on the personal computer, including the first video on a PC. Jasmine's technological breakthroughs include creating the first interactive videodisc arcade game in 1982 and the first laserdisc-based interactive movie theater for the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition.

After Jasmine Multimedia Publishing was acquired, Samit was brought on as the first head of business development for Universal Studios in the New Media Group. Later, as VP of Universal Studios' New Media arm, Samit developed a number of content-driven opportunities for the company to make their new media initiative profitable. In 1998, he created the first million-member social media site for college students called animalhouse.com, which was the first online community to feature free web-based email, VOIP, and ecommerce.Animalhouse.com was hailed as “the leading online community for college students” by Variety in 1999.

In April 1999, Samit joinedEMI (Capitol Records) as EVP of New Media and rose to Global President of Digital Distribution. Under Samit’s leadership, EMI was able to make the company’s entire music catalog Internet-ready. With the goal of being the “first digital label,” Samit led EMI’s strategy to make money by signing deals aimed at developing and owning the technology to distribute music over the Internet and wireless networks. Under Samit, EMI became the first record label to offer digital albums for sale (David Bowie Hours), win a Grammy for a digital release (Lenny Kravitz's In), sign the Beatles to their first digital distribution deal, and record and distribute mobile ringtones. According to Variety, when Samit joined EMI in 1999, EMI had a "negligible Internet presence" but soon became "arguably the most innovative music major spearheading the shift into digital distribution."

Samit left EMI to join Somewhere he was the creator and general manager of Sony Connect and later rose to executive vice president. As Sony, once the biggest player in the portable audio market, was quickly losing market share to Apple and the iPod, Samit was brought in to launch Sony's online music store and "bridge the gap between Sony's engineers in Tokyo and its music team in the United States."Sony Connect, Sony's global digital service for music, video, ebooks, and mobile content. It was once the world's largest online music store with over 2.5 million tracks serving 45 million page views a day.

From 2009-2012, Samit was the CEO of SocialVibe, a digital advertising technology company that powers engagement advertising for some of the world's top brands, including Microsoft, Visa Inc., Apple Inc., Disney, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors, Kraft Foods, Macy's, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Discover Card. Samit managed the company during a time of rapid growth. During his tenure, SocialVibe developed partnerships with major sites like Facebook, Zynga, Pandora, The Huffington Post, IMVU, Zinio and Causes. The company was acquired by 21st Century Fox for $200 million.

Samit served as president ofooVoo, a free, social video-chat service growing the service to a top teen App with more than 100 million registered users worldwide.ooVoo enables people to connect with their friends, family, and community via 12-way video chat over the Web, Facebook, desktop and any Android or iOS-based mobile or tablet device using cloud-based connectivity. The ooVoo mobile application was awarded the 2013 Best App Technology by Appster, the “Best of the Year” distinction in 2011 and named 2012 Venture Summit Company of the Year. Samit was named the 2013 Mobile Ambassador by the MEA.

Samit served as CEO of SeaChange International a NASDAQ company, the world's leading provider of multi-screen video products and services that facilitate the aggregation, licensing management, and distribution of video programs and television advertisements to cable system operators, telecommunications companies, mobile communications providers and media companies worldwide.SeaChange pioneered the field of Video on Demand and won a number of awards, including three Emmy Awards in the category Technology & Engineering and in 2015, the Technology Services Industry Associations STAR award.

 

MARK GARRETT

While in college, Mark Garret hoped to become a veterinarian, but quickly found out that accounting, not organic chemistry, was the right fit for him. He graduated from Boston University with bachelor's degrees in accounting and marketing and started at IBM in Upstate New York, where he worked himself out of his first job in six months.

He was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Adobe Mark believes that bold decision-making and transparency are critical to transforming and growing a company. Under his guidance as Executive Vice President and CFO, Adobe has completed the fastest transition to a cloud-based subscription model among companies in the software industry. A “people’s CFO” with an MBA in organizational behavior from Marist College, Mark is just as comfortable talking about numbers as he is about leading and developing teams. He regularly shares his views on these topics with top media and influencers and is a member of CNBC’s Global CFO Council and the Wall Street Journal CFO Network.

An 18-month assignment in Silicon Valley as a region accounting manager for IBM morphed into multiple leadership roles at several software, hardware and internet companies, and a permanent Bay Area address. Before joining Adobe in 2007, Mark co-led the $1.7 billion sale of Documentum to EMC as Executive Vice President and CFO of Documentum and was Senior Vice President and CFO of EMC’s Software Group.

Mark sits on the board of directors of GoDaddy Inc., Pure Storage Inc., The Adobe Foundation and The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. He was named “Public Company CFO of the Year” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2015. In 2017, Institutional Investor Magazine ranked him No. 1 in the Best Software CFO category by sell-side analysts.

He serves as the Chief Executive Officer at Marquard&Bahls AG since August 1, 2018, and has been its Member of Executive Officer since 2018. He served as Chairman of Executive Board of Borealis AG from 2007 until July 2, 2018, and as its Chief Executive Officer from 2007 until June 2018. Mr. Garrett served as Head of the Water & Paper Treatment Segment of Ciba Holding, Inc. from 2001 to February 2007 and served as its Executive Vice President of Water. He has over 30 years of experience in senior management roles in the chemical sector. He served as Vice Chairman at Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Ltd. (Borouge ADP), a leading provider of innovative, value creating plastics solutions, established in a joint venture with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC). He serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Borealis Agrolinz Melamine GmbH. He has been a Director of NOVA Chemicals Corporation since November 10, 2009. He has been an Independent Non-Executive Director of Umicore S.A. since April 28, 2015. He has been a Director of Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. since June 20, 2016. He served as a Non-Executive Director of Ciba India Limited from October 2001 to February 1, 2007. He serves as a Member of the Advisory Board of Webster Vienna Private University. Mr. Garrett holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Melbourne in Australia and a Graduate Diploma of Applied Information Systems from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.

 

STERLING ANDERSON

Sterling Anderson is a three-time NAACP Image Award nominee for best screenwriter and winner of the Movieguide Faith & Freedom award and the Christopher for 'The Gabby Douglas Story'.

He has written for some of the most popular network television shows, such as 'The Unit' on CBS, as well as NBC's 'Medium' and 'Heist.' His teleplay The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, written for CBS starring Sidney Poitier, garnered a 'Best Actress' Emmy nomination for Dianne Wiest and won an Image Award. Sterling's extensive resume also includes screenplays written for Lifetime, Lions Gate, Disney, HBO, TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

A graduate in English from St. Mary’s College, the accomplished writer also spent five years teaching screenwriting courses as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Sterling has written two books on writing: Go To Script: Screenwriting Tips From A Pro and 15 Steps To Becoming A Successful (Artist) Screenwriter and a fiction book called Five Seconds To Go.

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sterling spent his early childhood in Tuskegee, Alabama, before moving to Davis, California. He writes screenplays, novels, and non-fiction books on screenwriting from his home in Davis California today. His talents span far outside the world of writing. Sterling has a fifth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and was an award-winning winemaker in Napa Valley

 

JONAH SACHS

Jonah Sachs (born May 19, 1975) is an American storyteller, author, designer and entrepreneur. He is the author of Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell—and Live—the Best Stories Will Rule the Future (2012) and Unsafe Thinking: How to Be Nimble and Bold When You Need It Most. Sachs is the co-founder and former CEO of Free Range Studios, an agency that helps social brands and causes with campaigns built on storytelling strategies.

Sachs was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Nancy Kantor and Allan Sachs. He attended Wesleyan University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper for two semesters. After graduation, Sachs moved to Washington, D.C. where he reconnected with his childhood friend Louis Fox, and the two decided to form Free Range Studios together with the goal of offering social causes the same kind of communication tools and advantages that corporate brands have in the media space. The agency worked with such organizations as Amnesty International, the ACLU, SEIU, Earthjustice, Greenpeace International, Autodesk, the Sierra Club, and the Harvard Civil Rights Project.

Sachs has received acclaim for several online videos that have brought social issues to the attention of the public. The Meatrix (released November 2003), a spoof on the blockbuster movie The Matrix, reveals the truth about factory meat farming. It quickly became the most watched advocacy ad in Internet history.

Sachs also helped produce the video The Story of Stuff, a 20-minute video that has reached over 10 million viewers in over 200 countries. The video is an animated documentary about the lifecycle of material goods. Additionally, Sachs’ interactive work has been honored with “Best Of” awards three times at the South By Southwest interactive festival.

Sachs’ book, Winning the Story Wars: Why Those Who Tell—and Live—the Best Stories Will Rule the Future, traces the quiet supremacy of Empowerment Marketing from the early days of Volkswagen, Apple, and Nike to the viral breakthroughs of Yes We Can, the Tea Party movement, The Story of Stuff, and Patagonia. It offers three simple tools brands can use to break through, earn fans, and become an icon. The book has gained acclaim from such outlets as Forbes, Publishers Weekly, and 800 CEO READ. In 2018, Sachs published a second book, Unsafe Thinking: How to Be Nimble and Bold When You Need it Most.

Additionally, Sachs and his work have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, FOX News, Sundance Film Festival, NPR, The Colbert Report, and in FastCompany Magazine, which named him one of the 50 most influential social innovators.

 

ADAM COHEN

Adam Cohen, recognized as one of the nation’s top young basketball coaches, has made a strong imprint in his first two seasons at Stanford. After serving as an assistant coach for the Cardinal his first two seasons, head coach Jerod Haase elevated Cohen to Associate Head Coach prior to the 2018-19 season.

Cohen owns a decade of experience as a college basketball mentor, including six as a collegiate coach. He enters his third season at Stanford in 2018-19, previously serving as an assistant coach for two seasons at Vanderbilt (2014-15 and 2015-16), and one season each at Harvard (2013-14) and Rice (2012-13).

Regarded as a top-notch teacher with a strong pedigree for developing talent, Cohen has helped mentor several all-conference players. Primarily working with Stanford’s perimeter players, he has made a strong impact on the group. Freshman point guard Daejon Davis earned a spot on the Pac-12’s five-member All-Freshman Team – Stanford’s first member in six seasons. Senior Dorian Pickens was an all-conference selection for his performance on the court and was voted the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year for his efforts in the classroom in 2018.

Cohen has played an important role for a Stanford team that won 19 contests overall, finished third in the Pac-12 and won 11 conference games – its highest finish and most conference wins in 10 seasons – in 2018. The Cardinal earned a postseason berth for the first time in three years this past season.

Leading all recruiting efforts for the Cardinal program, Cohen was instrumental in landing one of the best recruiting classes in school history. Stanford’s 2017 class was regarded by nearly all the recruiting services as a top-10 class, ranked as high as eighth by Rivals. Stanford’s group of signees is 2018 is rated as high as No. 22 nationally.

Cohen is regarded as one of the game’s rising young coaches. The National Association of Basketball Coaches named Cohen to its prestigious 30-under-30 Team, recognizing the nation’s top assistant coaches, at the 2016 Final Four in Houston. He was invited to take part in the prestigious Athletic Director U’s Collegiate Coaching Consortium at the 2018 Final Four in San Antonio.

Cohen has a proven track record in developing point guards. Under Cohen’s tutelage, Max Guercy became the all-time assist leader at Rice, Siyani Chambers developed into a First Team All-Ivy League selection at Harvard, Wade Baldwin IV was an NBA first-round draft pick from Vanderbilt, and Daejon Davis set the program’s freshman assist record and was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team selection at Stanford. Along with Baldwin (Blazers), Cohen's roster of current NBA players he has helped develop also includes Luke Kornet (Knicks) and Damian Jones (Warriors).

Cohen, who serves on the Board of Directors for Rising Coaches Elite, was appointed to the Coaching for Literacy Coaches Council in 2017. He has overseen several elite camps, including the 2007 Nike Basketball clinic in Chengdu, China.

 

DONNA ORENDER

Donna Geils Orender (born February 14, 1957) is a sports executive and a former collegiate and professional All Star basketball player. She was formerly president of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), and senior vice president of the PGA.

Donna Orender is a highly respected corporate business leader having led growth and innovation in several high-profile companies. She has been recognized as one of the top 10 Most Powerful Women in Sports and one of Newsweeks100 most Influential people in the business of sports and is a best-selling author with her 2018 release of Wowsdom! the Girl’s Guide to the Positive and the Possible.

Donna was recruited by Adam Silver to lead the WNBA in its most vulnerable time. She served 6 years as the President/Commissioner of the league, during which time she solidified its base and led double digit growth in all key business metrics. This included 20% plus growth in sponsorship in the height of the recession, 25% growth in television viewership and triple digit growth in digital. Prior to the WNBA, Donna spent 17 years at the PGA TOUR where she was one of 3 senior executives serving in the Office of the Commissioner. She developed and led the global production, programming and digital businesses for the TOUR, building globally recognized businesses in both revenue and prestige. She led the negotiating team that changed the paradigm for how PGA TOUR golf was both packaged and sold for television, resulting in billions of dollars of growth for the TOUR. She took a nascent International television business and grew it exponentially establishing a foothold in all major international markets.

As the Senior Vice President of Strategic Development. She was responsible for developing strategic direction across all business lines including direct oversight of brand management, advertising and digital strategy working closely with the Commissioner.

Donna’s business career began after playing 3 years in the Women’s Professional Basketball League, the WBL, where she earned All-Star status. This experience enabled her to work in network television sports at ABC and later in cable television at SportsChannel before forming her own production company. An accomplished producer, director and writer, she was responsible for the creative development and sales of programming globally.

As the CEO of Orender Unlimited, her current work has included the development of a strategic plan for the golf industry, initiated by the PGA of America, focused on the development of new consumer markets and the accompanying transformational changes necessary to realize success. Donna authored “Connecting with Her”, a guidebook on the impact of the women’s market, and how to understand and access it.

The focus on the betterment of women and girls is at the core of the development and launch of a platform called Generation W. Launched in 2011, GENERATION W and GENERATION WOW have become vibrant communities for enhancing and motivating people’s lives and creating change and impact in their worlds.

Donna’s business building expertise led to being elected as a founding board member of the WSL the World Surfing League. The Association relaunched their global business in 2014 and a global rebranding in 2015.

In addition, she serves on the nominating and compensation committees for the V Foundation for Cancer Research board, was elected to the executive committee of Maccabi USA and contributes to the boards of the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, the DeVos Sport Business Management Graduate Program at UCF, UNF Brooks School of Health, Co-Chairs the UJA Sports for Youth Initiative and a founding member of the board of W.O.M.E.N, a mentoring organization for young women capable of reaching the C-suite. She has also been a Global Ambassador for Vital Voices, traveling to India to help mentor young women entrepreneurs.

Donna has been a recipient of the March of Dimes Sports Leadership Award and was honored by the UJA-Federation of New York’s Entertainment, Media and Communications Division for her dedication to the community. A Hall of Fame athlete at Queens College, her business acumen and experience make her a sought-after speaker on topics such as leadership, teamwork, motivation and gender/diversity issues.

 

MAX HOMA

Homa was born in Burbank, California to John Homa and Bonnie Milstein. He graduated Valencia High School in 2009 and played college golf at University of California, Berkeley where he was a first-team All-American as a senior. In 2010, he reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Amateur before losing to reigning champion and Cal teammate An Byeong-hun. Homa competed as an amateur at the 2013 U.S. Open and won the individual 2013 NCAA Division I Championship. He was selected to the 2013 U.S. Walker Cup squad and turned pro after the event.

In October 2013, Homa finished T-9 at the Frys.com Open, his first PGA Tour event as a pro. In December 2013, he tied for 6th place in the Web.com Tour qualifying school. In May 2014, he earned his first professional win at the Web.com Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am. He finished 17th on the Web.com Tour regular-season money list to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2014–15 season.

In the 2015 PGA Tour season, Homa entered 27 events. He made 12 cuts and won $380,339. He finished 163rd in the FedEx Cup standings and lost his tour card. In the 2016 Web.com Tour season, Homa won the Rust-Oleum Championship in Ivanhoe, Illinois and ultimately regained his PGA Tour Card for the 2016–17 season. In the 2017 PGA Tour season, Homa made only two cuts in 17 events and lost his card. In the 2018 Web.com Tour season, Homa regained his PGA Tour card for the 2019 PGA Tour season.

 

EVAN KLEIMAN

Evan Kleiman is a chef, author, radio host and restaurant owner. She has been the radio host of Good Food on KCRW since 1997. In 2012, her radio show received the Best Audio Series award from the IACP. In 2017, Kleiman was inducted into the James Beard Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. Kleiman grew up in Los Angeles and earned a bachelor’s degree and MA at UCLA. She opened Angeli Caffe in 1984, which served Italian food, closed after 28 years. Kleiman is the author of eight books on Italian food as well as one app, “Easy as Pie.” Kleiman also moderated Food, Inc., an award-winning documentary, has taught college classes on the topic of food sustainability, gives culinary tours in Italy, and was the founder of L.A.’s chapter of Slow Food.

 

Her first visit to Italy at the age of 17 changed her life. Food became linked with cultural experience and was to infect every part of her world. Her University studies in Italian Literature and Film allowed her to graze at the table of Italian food culture at a young age, which created a foundation for understanding and a belief in the role of a food-centered life. She ate, she cooked, she read.  Evan’s insatiable lust for food information led her down a road of wide- ranging personal study and involvement with the subject.

During the early 1980s she co-authored her first cookbook Cucina Fresca that is still in print and considered a classic. Several other cookbooks were to follow, as did more travel, more writing and a lot of cooking. Since 1998 the radio show and podcast Good Food has been the place where she could explore every aspect of food and how it intersects with human (and sometimes animal) life. It’s the place where a lifelong interest in food, reading and asking questions about how people tick comes together each week. The show airs on KCRW, an NPR station in Southern California and has a worldwide audience on the web.

After more than a decade and 6000+ interviews Evan’s interest in food also embraces issues of food policy and the “Good Food Agenda”.

The founder of LA’s Slow Food Chapter she served for a period on the Stewardship Council of Roots of Change, a California focus organization. She is a member of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council.

Evan is an active speaker on culinary subjects as well as issues of food culture and sustainability and, just to keep a balance, she has a very public love affair with Pie.