Janne Kouri, who sustained a spinal cord injury himself in 2006, is the Founder and President of NextStep Fitness, CA non-profit for people living with paralysis. Mr. Kouri was the North American Regional Director for Sulake Corporation, a world leading online community entertainment and media company. Mr. Kouri was responsible for Sulake’s overall North American business strategy and management of its property Habbo, a new type of youth brand, which is based on one of the world's fastest growing online communities and virtual worlds for teenagers. Prior to Sulake, Kouri worked in venture capital and was co-founder of Orchimedia, a mobile gaming pioneer. In 1997 he earned a B.S.B.A from the Georgetown University Business School. He also played football for Georgetown and was named the teams Most Valuable Player, an All-American, and was recipient of the 1996 MAAC Defensive Player of the Year Award. He also holds the record for most sacs in a single season (16) and career (31.5). Mr. Kouri currently resides in Hermosa Beach, CA with his wife.
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Board of Directors
Susan Moffat currently works in the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan in the firm’s Los Angeles office. She is responsible for helping develop and maintain client relationships, including
advising clients on personal wealth management and delivering to them the firm’s investment, generational planning, trust and banking services.
Ms. Moffat was employed in the financial services industry from 1998-2006. While in New York City, Ms. Moffat worked for the investment bank of J.P.Morgan and fixed income platform at Barclays Capital before moving out to Los Angeles where she then worked in the equities division of Wedbush Morgan Securities. Susan also serves as the vice-president and secretary for the Board of NextStep Fitness, a not for profit organization she co-founded. Ms. Moffat holds a B.S. in Accounting from Wagner College.
Chris Colman As Director of Finance for Reliance Globalcom Services, Inc., Mr. Colman holds management responsibilities for the company's financial planning and project analysis functions. Mr. Colman has worked with Reliance Globalcom Services, Inc. for over 7 years in various roles with in the Finance department. Currently, he oversees RGSI’s financial planning & analysis staff and is responsible for the preparation of the company's financial reporting, conducts the cost-benefit analyses around company spending, and coordinates the company's outlook and budgeting processes. Prior to joining RGSI, Mr. Colman was a Sr. Financial Analyst for Peerlogic, Inc., a software company where he did corporate financial and M&A analyses that were instrumental in the sale of the company to Critical Path, Inc. in October 2000. Before moving to San Francisco to work for Peerlogic, Mr. Colman was a Financial Analyst for the investment bank Morgan Stanley in New York. Mr. Colman holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University.
Michael Callahan is a Managing Director at Man Investments, a global leader in alternative asset management. Since joining Man, Mr. Callahan has been involved in new business development and product management, as well as servicing existing client relationships. Additionally, Mr. Callahan is a committee member of The Man Group Charitable Trust.
Before joining Man Group in 2011, Mr. Callahan was a Vice President at Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, Blackstone’s Hedge Fund Solutions Group, where he was responsible for the High Net Worth and Distribution businesses. Prior to that, Mr. Callahan was a Principal at Great Horn Capital, a convertible arbitrage hedge fund. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade in institutional sales and trading at Morgan Stanley and Prudential Securities.
Mr. Callahan received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University. He is an active member of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Chicago Commonwealth Club. In addition to his work with NextStep, he is also a Director of the Fabretto Children’s Foundation, where he chairs the development and investment committees.
Kareem Raymond is a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and works in the firm’s Investment Banking Division (IBD). Kareem helps to manage the firm’s Pension Strategies Group (PSG) where he works with corporate clients on managing and mitigating risks inherent in their corporate pension plans through strategic corporate de-risking transactions. PSG was initiated in the U.S. in early 2009 and Kareem has been in the group since its inception. Prior to working in PSG, Kareem worked in the Merchant Banking Division (MBD) where he focused on evaluating, executing and monitoring senior loan and mezzanine principal investments across a broad range of industries on behalf of Goldman Sachs Loan Partners and the Goldman Sachs Mezzanine Partners series of funds.Prior to joining MBD, Kareem worked in IBD in the Consumer – Retail Group where he advised clients on mergers, acquisitions and other corporate finance matters. Kareem originally joined the firm in 2003 as a Summer Associate. Kareem began his career at A.T. Kearney, Inc. where he was a management consultant in the firms Financial Institutions Group and advised leading corporate and not-for-profit entities on strategic, financial and operational issues. Kareem received an A.B. in Government from Harvard College and an M.B.A in Finance and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. While at Wharton, Kareem was a Goldman Sachs Fellow and was on the Dean’s Graduate Student Advisory Committee.
Regena Thomashauer is a revolution: an icon, teacher, author, mother and one of a handful of pioneers on the planet researching the nature of pleasure and dedicating her life to the discipline of pleasure and fun. Self-taught in the social, cultural and economic history of women including the ancient Goddess religion, which dominated for 30–50 centuries of recorded history, Regena uses her more than 20 years of research and her knowledge of female pleasure to open doors for women today by giving them a context in which to maximize their power, passion, enthusiasm and creativity. The result is a curriculum, including the Womanly Arts Mastery Program, Inner Circle Program, Pleasure Bootcamp and SisterGoddess.com. Mama Gena’s Programs teach women to discover the power of pleasure and create their dreams. In addition to being the Creatrix and CEO of the School of Womanly Arts Regena is the best-selling author of three books published by Simon & Schuster—Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts: Using the Power of Pleasure to Have Your Way with the World (2002), Mama Gena's Owner's & Operator's Guide To Men (2003) and Mama Gena's Marriage Manual (2004). Regena has also created the sassy and sexy TV series, Mama Gena's School of Womanly Arts, in partnership with Mag Rack, based on her best-selling book and school of the same name. She is a frequent guest on NBC-TV's Today show and has appeared on 20/20 (where one of her segments garnered a 20/20 record of more than one million website hits), many appearances on Late Nite with Conan O’Brien, Lifetime Live, The Other Half and has been interviewed on a multitude of national and regional broadcasts including NPR's The Next Big Thing. Regena has also hosted Starz Encore's Love Stories channel. Regena's programs at the School of Womanly Arts have been profiled in The New York Times, Elle and New York magazine. Her views on personal development and the power of women have been featured and quoted in several national publications including Glamour, Newsweek, Marie Claire, Allure, Self, InStyle and The Washington Post.
Tim Plunkett focuses his practice on commercial litigation and public policy and regulatory affairs. Prior to joining McKenna Long & Aldridge, Plunkett worked as a Senior Policy Advisor to the New York State Assembly Minority Leader’s Office on matters relating to the events of September 11, 2001. Prior to his service in government, Plunkett worked as a technology consultant focusing on globalization and also as an investment banker at Citigroup specializing in Public Finance transactions. He was recently appointed to a Merit Selection Panel of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, which is responsible for making recommendations on whether Magistrate judges should serve an additional term. Plunkett earned a J.D., from Fordham University Law School in 2005 and a B.A. from Georgetown University in1997. He is admitted in Connecticut, New York, Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York.
Aaron W. Gross has been Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Aron Streit Inc., a specialty food manufacturer and distributor, since May of 2004. Mr. Gross is responsible for sales and marketing as well as sits on the three-man management team with oversees all aspects of the company. Mr. Gross has sat on the Board of Directors of Aron Streit Inc. since 2005. Mr. Gross has also been on the management team and Board of directors of Sundance Foods Inc., a specialty foods co-packer, since spring of 2006. Prior to working at Aron Streit Inc., Mr. Gross was a senior account manager at Diversified Financial Concepts, a comprehensive financial services firm, from July 1997 to May 2004. In 1997, Mr. Gross graduated from the Georgetown University School of Arts and Sciences with a degree in Economics where he also was a letterman on the football team for three years.
David Brinkley is the founder and Managing Director of Castellum Capital Advisors and brings fifteen years of industry experience to his advisory work, focused on middle market firms in the government space specializing in national security. Prior to founding Castellum Capital, David served as Managing Director of Aronson Capital Partners, where he managed the firm’s buy and sell-side investment banking engagements. While at Aronson Capital, he completed more than 10 transactions, aggregating more than $600 million in value. Prior to his work at Aronson Capital, David co-founded and managed DFI Investment Partners, an M&A advisory firm providing due diligence and valuation services to financial investors in the federal sector.David began his career as a consultant with DFI International, a leading consulting firm in the defense, aerospace, and national security sectors. David holds a B.S. from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia University. He also serves as Vice President of the Caribbean Education Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing affordable primary and secondary education to challenged youth in Caribbean nations. In addition, David holds an active TS/SCI security clearance, enabling him to advise on the most sensitive transactions in the government sector.
Lauren Forbes is a real estate broker at Shorewood Realtors, serving the South Bay area. She also holds a law degree from Loyola Law School, with 7 years experience in litigation. She is also an expert in risk management. Ms. Forbes and her family have been active members of the South Bay community since 1989. Lauren has extensive community involvement, local business connections and general marketing knowledge.