Peter Schott is the owner and president of XLI Corporation.
XLI Corporation is a contract engineering and manufacturing company primarily serving customers in two industries: medical diagnostic devices and defense.
Peter Schott is a graduate of Cornell University.
Terry MacRae began Hornblower Cruises & Events in 1980 as a two-boat operation on San Francisco Bay. Since then he and his wife, Mary, have built Hornblower into a 50-boat, $120 million company with 1,000 employees that serves about six million guests each year. Emphasizing customer service, safety, and teamwork, the firm has emerged as the market leader in each of the seven California ports it serves. Hornblower guests are treated to stunning nautical venues and exquisite cuisine for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, and other major celebrations.
As a result of Hornblower's success in the hospitality and maritime industries, the MacRaes decided to make competitive bids for National Park Service concessions serving the popular icons Alcatraz on San Francisco Bay and Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York Harbor. Alcatraz Cruises commenced service in September of 2006, and Statue Cruises commenced operations in January of 2008. These concessions have contributed to the growth and stability of the company.
In 2008 Alcatraz Cruises launched the nation's first hybrid ferry-a 149-passenger vessel powered by a combination of wind turbines, solar panels, and an efficient diesel electric drive. Hornblower is completing the design and approval for a new hydrogen powered hybrid vessel for use in New York Harbor.
Terry is a recognized expert in the design, renovation, construction, and operation of passenger vessels, and in the marine, fine dining, entertainment, and tourism industries. He holds a BS degree in mechanical/environmental engineering from the California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo. Mary holds a BS degree from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration.
Jim Farrell is the founder and President of f'Real! Foods.
After graduating college in 1979, Farrell founded a company which designed and manufactured insulation systems for commercial greenhouses based on his Master of Engineering design project to reduce greenhouse energy usage by 80+%, receiving a patent for the design of the system in partnership with the Cornell University Technology Transfer Office. This business was successful for a period of time, but ultimately closed when the price of oil dropped to less than half of its late 1970s highs.
Farrell next attended Harvard Business School and received his MBA in 1985. Upon graduation from Harvard, Jim moved to San Francisco to join McKinsey & Company as a senior management consultant specializing in Corporate Strategy with an emphasis on Change Management, which focuses on moving beyond corporate strategy to accomplish successful implementation of the strategy. He later joined Dreyer's-Edy's Grand Ice Cream as General Manager of their FoodService business unit as Dreyer's-Edy's worked to successfully complete their national roll out from their West Coast roots.
While at Dreyer's-Edy's, Jim conceived of the product concept upon which his current company, f'REAL! Foods, is based. Jim founded f'REAL! Foods to pursue a new approach to making frozen blended beverages such as milkshakes, fruit smoothies and frozen cappuccinos. The concept utilizes a f'REAL! patented blender, which blends up frozen drinks right in their serving cups. The serving cups are shipped to retail locations with all of the ingredients for their drinks pre-frozen into the cups.
Jim Farrell graduated from Cornell University with Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in Agricultural Engineering. He received his MBA from Harvard.
Douglas Palmer served as Trenton, New Jersey's first African-American mayor from 1990 to 2010. From 2006 to 2008, he was president of the United States Conference of Mayors.
He was born in Trenton and attended Trenton public schools. He then graduated from the Bordentown Military Institute in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Douglas Palmer is a graduate of Virginia's private black college Hampton University, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management in 1973.
Eli Zabar is the founder of an ever-evolving gourmet food empire in New York City. His empire includes a marketplace, bakery, cafe and wine bars.
The youngest son of Louis and Lillian Zabar, founders of the landmark delicatessen on New York's Upper West Side, Eli Zabar has made a career for himself by pursuing what interests him and following his instincts and passions. He has let his business evolve organically, finding inspiration in the food halls and open-air markets of Europe and in simply prepared dishes that use the finest ingredients available. Although he tried his hand at teaching and real estate, his first love has always been the world of gourmet food.
Beginning with a small shop on Madison Avenue, selling pots, pans, and packaged foods, Zabar's world has evolved over the course of 35 years to include E.A.T, a gourmet deli, café, and caterer; Eli's Bread, one of the largest artisanal wholesale bakeries in the United States; Eli's Vinegar Factory, an ever-changing food hall that serves a weekend brunch New Yorker's have come to call "the best"; and Eli's Manhattan, his 20,000 sq. ft. flagship store.
In 2002, he opened TASTE, a restaurant and wine bar, which was followed by W.I.N.E., a boutique wine store that reflects Zabar's preference for affordable wines from lesser-known producers. In August 2008, he partnered with the Peconic Land Trust to reopen the historic Amagansett Farmers Market on Long Island.
Eli Zabar is a graduate of Columbia University.
Andrew (Andy) J. Dolce founded Dolce International in 1981. Dolce turned the company into the world's leading conference center company in the hospitality industry, with 21 properties throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Dolce began his career in the meetings and hospitality industry while working for the American Management Association, where he managed 600 conferences a year, throughout the U.S. While there, Dolce recognized the need for both outstanding hotel facilities and a well-orchestrated meeting experience.
Dolce went on to become executive vice president for Harrison Conference Services. From there he moved to Houston and was responsible for the development and operation of the Houstonian, the first integrated hotel, conference center, spa and fitness center. After the successful completion of this project, Dolce made the final and decisive move to the meetings segment of the hospitality industry and started his own company.
Andrew Dolce studied Economics at Iona College. He earned a Master's Degree from Cornell University where he wrote and published a book on economics for the food industry. Dolce served in the U.S. Marine Corps, earning the rank of Captain.
Chester Elton is an author, motivational speaker, trainer, and employee engagement expert. He is the New York Times best-selling author of several books on leadership and organizational management, including The Carrot Principle (co-written with Adrian Gostick), The 24-Carrot Manager and The Invisible Employee. Elton's books have been translated into over 20 languages and have sold more than 1,000,000 copies worldwide. Chester is Senior Vice President of the Carrot Culture division with the O.C. Tanner Recognition Company.
Chester Elton and Adrian Gostick's flagship book, The Carrot Principle, was based on a 200,000 person study from 1996-2006. The second edition published in 2009 included a 2008 global survey of 10,000 people in 13 countries. The results of these studies revealed the surprising advantages of recognition on employee performance, including its effects on morale, productivity and return on equity. Their collaboration, The Orange Revolution (publish date September 2010), is a follow up based on a 350,000 manager and employee survey on the power of teamwork.
Chester was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communications from Brigham Young University.
Hugh Mitchell became Chief Human Resources and Corporate Officer at Shell on July 1, 2009.
Hugh graduated from Edinburgh University, Scotland, with an MA (Hons) in Modern History in 1979. Later that year he joined Human Resources in Shell Exploration & Production in Aberdeen. Further HR and business roles followed across the UK and Brunei in both the upstream and downstream businesses.
In 1997 he became HR Vice President for the Global Oil Products business. Hugh moved to Shell headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 2003 as Director International. His responsibilities included coordinating the company's worldwide government relations activities.
In March 2005, Hugh was appointed Human Resources Director of Royal Dutch Shell. He became a member of the Executive Committee in October 2007.
Gil Crawford is the CEO of MicroVest Capital Management. He has over 20 years experience with microfinance institutions and capital markets and has worked extensively in Latin America and Africa, as well as in Asia. MicroVest Capital Management is the first private microfinance investment firm in the United States. Crawford has grown the company from a single $30MM debt and equity fund to a global microfinance intermediary, most recently originating and servicing a $39MM collateralized loan obligation with Lehman Brothers and acting as a sub-advisor to eBay's MicroPlace.
Previously, Crawford worked for the Latin American Financial Markets Division at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and focused on investments in microfinance institutions. Prior to joining IFC, Mr. Crawford created and ran Seed Capital Development Fund, a US based non-profit firm, involved in creating financial instruments and attracting funds to capitalize microfinance institutions, primarily in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Before founding SCDF, Crawford was the Assistant Project Director for Africa Venture Capital Project, a $7.1 million USAID contract designed to create risk capital firms in Africa. Crawford received his bank training at Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid-80's after working in Africa for the Red Cross and State Department.
Gil Crawford graduated from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in 1983 and Bates College in 1980.