Jordan Celkupa is a Financial Planner with Robert J. Oberst, Sr. & Associates. Mr. Celkupa joined the firm in 2004 as a Financial Planner. He is a Registered Representative with SagePoint Financial, Inc., and earned his Certified Financial Planner designation in 2007.
In addition to developing financial plans and managing investments, Mr. Celkupa specializes in optimizing the financial situations of those who are contemplating retirement. He helps individuals affected by a mid-career job separation to assess their options and manage their risks.
Mr. Celkupa has worked for AT&T in the Corporate Treasury department where he managed the company's debt and fixed income derivatives portfolio. Prior to obtaining his M.B.A., he worked for Kwasha Lipton, an Employee Benefit consulting firm, whose successor entity became part of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
Jordan Celkupa received an M.B.A., from the Chicago Booth School of Business in 1997, and a B.S., in Applied Economics from Cornell University in 1990.
Erin O'Connor is a Partner with Cammack Health (formerly Cammack LaRhette). Erin has helped evolve the company's hospital centric services to expand beyond traditional employee benefits by developing strategic partnerships with clients who are migrating to population health management. She works with industry leaders, clients and partners to develop best practices for accountable care.
Erin has 25 years of experience in human resources and health care operations. Prior to joining Cammack Health, she was the chief HR executive at two large healthcare organizations for over seven years, one of which operated several health plans.
Erin O'Connor is a graduate of Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Fordham University School of Law.
Brian Brault is the Founder and CEO of Pure Solutions.
Prior to founding Pure Solutions, Brault led another company, Advanced Facilities Services International for 22 years.
Brian Brault is a graduate of University of Buffalo's School of Business.
David Bornstein is the author of "How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas". In this book, Bornstein tells the stories of people around the globe who are solving many of the world's most intractable problems. Full of hope and energy, exciting solutions and compelling characters, he shows how a growing wave of "social entrepreneurs" - individuals with initiative, creativity, savvy and determination - are reshaping the world for the better. These individuals - from doctors to lawyers, from engineers to journalists - are successfully demonstrating that one person with a powerful idea and a passionate drive to succeed can bring positive changes to the lives of thousands or even millions.
Bornstein is also the author of "The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank", which chronicles the worldwide growth of the anti-poverty strategy "micro-credit." The Price of a Dream, which drew on ten months of research in villages in Bangladesh, won second prize in the Harry Chapin Media Awards, was a finalist for the Helen Bernstein New York Public Library Book Award for Excellence in Journalism, and was selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best business books of 1996.
Bornstein's articles have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, New York Newsday, Il Mundo (Italy), Defis Sud (Belgium) and other publications. He co-wrote the two-hour PBS documentary series "To Our Credit," which focuses on "micro-credit" programs in five countries.
David Bornstein received a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University in Montreal and a Masters of Arts from New York University.
Mark Wilson has over 15 years of experience solving the complex design and process issues involved in launching new products that have generated over $600 million in annual sales. Prior to launching Initiatives Consulting, LLC in 1997, Wilson served in management roles at Bausch & Lomb, Inc, Baxter Healthcare, Inc., and Opkor, Inc, an optics company. His experience includes design, production, quality control, and marketing for a wide range of new health care and optical products for consumers and businesses.
As Principal of Initiatives Consulting, Wilson leads a team of experts that advise clients on the 'fuzzy front end of innovation' - determining whether ideas should move forward and how to move them towards commercialization. Clients include Baxter Healthcare, Xerox, numerous smaller companies, and universities such as Cornell, University of Michigan, and Rochester Institute of Technology.
Mark Wilson received an M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute.
Lance Stewart is the Vice President of the BioStructures Group at deCODE genetics, Inc. (formerly Emerald BioStructures, Inc.), where he manages deCODE's protein crystallography services and products businesses. Prior to co-founding Emerald BioStructures, Inc. , he was a Postoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant Professor in the Departments of Microbiology and Biological Structure at the University of Washington. Lance Stewart has received five Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program grants. Lance Stewart received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Cornell University, his B.S.in Biology from McMaster University, and an MBA from the University of Washington.
James Jorasch currently heads up the R&D department of Walker Digital, the think tank which launched Priceline.com. Walker Digital, LLC invents business systems which solve problems. Founded in 1994 by Jay S. Walker, Walker Digital's inventors have been granted over 200 U.S. and International Patents for unique business systems. The invention teams, lead by Mr. Walker, currently have a portfolio of more than 500 business solutions. Walker Digital is best known for its role as the invention laboratory that created priceline.com, which was subsequently launched by Mr. Walker in 1998. James Jorasch is a graduate of Cornell University.
Scott Blackwell is the founder of Immaculate Baking Company. At first, it was a desperate need for college tuition money that fueled his first foray into the food business. Using his knack for creative resourcefulness, Scott began selling homemade pies (made in his tiny apartment) to local Greenville restaurants. What began as a venture of desperation soon became a viable little business with over 28 restaurants buying his extraordinary pies. After college, several other food ventures followed suit. From driving a seafood truck up and down the South Carolina coast to establishing Ben and Jerry's 9th ice cream distributorship (covering the Carolinas), Scott absorbed everything he learned along the way. At 23, Scott sold his Ben and Jerry's distributorship, paid off his student loans, and moved to Columbia, SC with 30 dollars in his pocket. What began as a spontaneous itch to try something different soon led to the grand opening of his restaurant, Immaculate Consumption, a popular gathering spot with an eclectic menu and home of the only coffee roasting machine in town! Inspired by the cult following of his artisan-roasted coffee, Scott began making cookies and biscotti to be served with the fresh espresso and soon crowds were pouring through the doors not to eat funky sandwiches and sip lattes but to satisfy the cravings for his infamous pancake-sized cookies! It didn't take long for him to recognize the incredible potential of his famous cookie recipes, and he sold the restaurant and moved to Flat Rock, NC in order to pursue that full time. Well, like many people who drop everything to follow a dream, Scott discovered that it wasn't quite as glamorous as it sounded. There he was doing exactly what he wanted to do, but doing it in his two-car garage, and he suddenly found himself lacking both inspiration and confidence. With this in mind, he turned to folk art, an old interest that had never failed to inspire him, and began traveling, often for days at a time, to visit with different folk artists he had befriended in the past. While driving one day, he had a revelation - why not combine his two passions, folk art and cookies, into the start of his new business? With that thought, Scott returned to his garage, newly inspired, and Immaculate Baking Company was born. Almost 12 years have passed since then, but Scott is more passionate about the food business than ever before. He still develops all of the recipes himself and can be found most any day scouring the grocery aisles for signs of new products and new trends. Aside from his overwhelming interest in Immaculate, Scott is also an avid folk art collector, founder of the Folk Artist's Foundation and has even dipped into the world of filmmaking to complete the 10-year documentary project about Southern folk artists entitled "All Rendered Truth."
David Goldsmith is the co-founder of MetaMatrix Consulting Group LLC, a consulting firm specializing in generating strategies that create competitive advantages for his clients. Goldsmith received his B.S. and M.B.A from Syracuse University.