Ishara Kotagama is the founder and CEO of Allerkids, an organization dedicated to creating an inclusive culture for children with food allergies. Ishara studied and worked in Australia, Europe and Asia, and has over 15 years of global marketing experience in industries including technology, health and consumer goods. In addition to her role at Allerkids, Ishara is also Chief Digital Officer at a physician recruitment firm in the bay, that recruits top medical practitioners for hospitals around the United States. She is an avid supporter of the arts, and has served on the board of San Francisco Ballet ENCORE.
Scott Liebman is co-Founder and CEO of FORT Systems, a SaaS logistics platform for sales, distribution, and supply chain management, primarily in the alcohol industry. He has recently launched a new venture Totem Air, an Augmented Reality technology. A native Californian, he has lived in Europe and Asia, speaks several foreign languages, co-founded with local friends a small boutique winery Geometry Wines, is active in local non-profits like the West Point Inn, enjoys photography, backpacking, bridge, biking, volleyball and the outdoors. He earned his MIA at Columbia University and his AB from Dartmouth College.
Michael Lipson is VP BizDev at Exicon, a mobile services firm. He’s started-up companies for 25 years, subsequent to investment banking at GECC for 10 years. He’s worked alongside numerous founders in groundbreaking industries: CD-ROM, Internet, speech-tech, mobile, psychometrics, LOHAS.He helped launch the first multiplayer online game company, interim CEO’d the first business to post music online, worked at Paul Allen’s Interval Research think-tank and has helped over 250 companies with strategy and deal making. But, Michael is more than business.He’s passionate about living authentically and fully. He facilitates personal growth work, coaches, speaks and recently took his young family on a learning odyssey around the World.
Glenn Martinez is Co-founder of Branditecture which provides award winning design and branding solutions to regional, national and global companies . For many years Glenn was Creative Director and Brand Ambassador for SUN. During this tenure, Glenn was responsible for creative direction of Sun’s brand, marketing, industrial design, user experience and packaging. Glenn helped orchestrate Sun philanthropic endeavors, including Sun’s support of the TED Prize. In the unlikely event of an unscheduled water landing, Glenn may also be used as a flotation device.
Elisabeth Manning is a writer and pioneer on the frontier of human development through what she calls the Fertile Living movement. A former personal assistant to Phil Knight of Nike and a consultant with a handful of high profile individuals for over 15 years, Elisabeth now satisfies her passion for what makes an individual truly successful on all levels by producing and developing self-development workshops. Elisabeth is currently practicing as a Master Certified Spirit Coach, speaker and author.
Robert May is a serial technology entrepreneur, inventor, teacher, and public speaker. He is an expert on “New TV”, intellectual property, and user experience. Conference presentations include World Economic Forum, Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum(HK), Digital Hollywood, MacWorld, CES; TV appearances include CNN, CNBC; interviews include The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Industry Standard magazines/blogs. Mr. MAY’s most recent venture, Ringz.TV, aims to invent the future of television.
Orna Meyer lets her curiosity guide her life. After 10 years as an architect in San Francisco and the birth of her first child, she was diagnosed with a chronic illness. Following her curiosity about mind-body medicine, she studied and became certified in all forms of bodywork, studied with five qigong masters and became certified to teach qigong and tai chi, and continues to explore different forms of energy medicine using her own body as an experiment. What she has found is that the farther away she gets from what we think of as medicine, the closer she gets to a real cure. For fulfillment, Orna volunteers at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and teaches weekly classes in Yuan Gong qigong
Meagan Riley-Grant is a connector and champion of stories, ideas and people, having worked in a wide range of visual media and communications with best-in-class writers, photographers, actors, filmmakers, designers, and technologists. As partner to Charlize Theron she produced the Academy Award-winning film, Monster and Sony music documentary, East of Havana. Drawn to the forward thinking and fresh air in Marin, she relocated from Los Angeles with her husband and two children over a decade ago. She currently works as a Creative Producer at Elixir Design where she facilitates creation and production on a wide variety of branding, design, and messaging projects. She has an endless appetite for stories, news, entertainment, and experiences and is hopelessly optimistic about reimagining the future of powerful storytelling on a variety of platforms.
Tom Short is a senior business consultant for BT Global Services, a division of British Telecom. Tom works with clients on enterprise collaboration, leveraging BT’s world-class network, computing infrastructure and partner eco-system. Over the last 25 years he has consulted to blue chip companies in a variety of industries, helping them operate in a leaner, more collaborative fashion. He has lived in Marin since 2006, and is an avid motorcyclist, hiker and skier.
Rob Sidon Owner/Publisher/Editor of Common Ground Magazine, Owner at High Ground Consulting.Former Manager and Marketing honcho at Disney. Personal Interests: Spiritual philosophy combined with social service.
Wendy Wallbridge, founder of On Your Mark Corporate Coaching & Consulting, Inc. is a strategic advisor and coach to executives from Apple, McAfee, Genentech, Dolby, NetApp and VMware.Wendy has been a pioneer in the coaching field, her groundbreaking coaching techniques have gained her media attention from Fortune Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Times, as well as numerous appearances for such organizations as WITI, PBWC, and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business. Her forthcoming book, “Spiral Up! Rising to Power in your Self, Work and Life” maps the journey women must take to access the inner authority, authenticity and conviction necessary to create a purposeful, passionate life.
Would you like to be part of the TEDxMarin team? Email us