New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

Sara Thomas

Sara lives in San Francisco and is a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, LLP. She first joined The Idea Village as an MBA student participating in IDEAcorps in March, 2009. A transformative week led several exciting months working with The Idea Village and many inspiring New Orleans entrepreneurs and she is thrilled to rejoin the excitement as a Corporate Partner during NOEW 2010. Sara is from Cincinnati, Ohio and has an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business and a BS in Finance from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Ashley Payton

As a native New Orleanian, Ashley was very excited to be a co-leader of the Stanford GSB team for IDEAcorps week in March 2009. The week kicked off a lasting relationship with the Idea Village as Ashley returned to work with Idea Village team and entrepreneurs as an independent consultant through the summer and fall of 2009 and is excited to participate as a Corporate Partner during NOEW 2010. Ashley currently lives in Atlanta and is a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, LLP. She has an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University and a BA in Economics from Barnard College.

Tara Canobbio

Project Lead

Tara Canobbio has enjoyed holding many diverse positions during her 6 years at Google. She began her Google career in Recruiting, transitioning to a position with the Online Sales and Operations Training Team, eventually joining Google.org in May 2006. The mission of Google.org is to use the power of information and technology to address the global challenges of our age. In her position with the team, Tara has been responsible for much of the day-to-day operations most recently as a Program Manager for Google's employee engagement and community involvement efforts (Googler Social Responsibility). Keenly interested in increasing diversity in corporations, Tara is actively engaged with the Black Googlers Network (BGN) as Team Lead for Development Programs, responsible for creating programs and tools that encourage, educate and guide the overall development of BGN Members. In her precious spare time Tara is an avid foodie (and former Personal Chef) and enjoys creative writing, traveling and is an avid student of personal development.

Ed Bailey

Team Captain

Ed is currently a manager on the Talent and Outreach Programs team in People Operations at Google. In this role, he manages recruiting programs and strategy for Engineering and Operations roles across Google, focusing on campus and industry talent. Prior to that, he was a manager on the Business Analytics team in Online Sales and Operations where his team supported the Global Online Sales and Operations management team on strategic initiatives and operational decision making. Ed is also president of the Black Googler Network. Ed received a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master of Arts in Education from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Michigan State University.

German Freiwald

German is most passionate about working with others to find and realize new ideas aimed at making the world a more equitable place. He was born in Argentina, grew up in Los Angeles, and studied psychology and theater at the University of California Santa Cruz. After graduating, German worked for four years at City Year, an AmeriCorps non-profit. During this time he founded and managed an educational theater program and a couple of school partnerships. Next, German spent a year in sales at Google before transitioning to Google Grants, launching Grants in Argentina and Mexico and working to re-engineer the Grants work-flow.

Jaime Forman-Lau

Jaime works as an Online Operations Strategist at Google, consulting with product teams to improve the user experience and provide online help resources for users of Google's consumer products. Prior to Google, Jaime was an NCAA Division I Head Softball Coach. She competed in DI softball for both Stanford and Santa Clara Universities while earning degrees in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (B.A.), Spanish (minor), and Higher Education Administration (M.A.).

A lifelong resident of California, Jaime is a fitness buff and enthusiast of the culinary and mixology arts. Her most recent adventure was a trip to New Orleans during the 2010 Super Bowl - WHODAT! Geaux Saints!

Jennifer Miller

Jennifer joined Google in 2007 to work on the Google Checkout Finance team. Prior to Google, Jennifer attended Fairfield University in Connecticut where she studied Marketing and English. At Fairfield, Jennifer was an active member of the student government, ran the university's intramural department, and led a FACE AIDS student chapter as well as organized and hosted a national conference focused on mobilizing students to fight AIDS in Africa. Jennifer just completed her MBA concentrating in Finance at Masagung Graduate School of Management at the University of San Francisco. While at USF, Jennifer designed and co-taught a course in Microfinance for the MBA program. Jennifer has a passion to volunteer and is currently the CFO for a non-profit called Global Health Corps (which aims to mobilize a global community of young leaders to build a movement for health equity) and volunteers as an entrepreneur coach for 7th grade girls. In Jennifer's free time, she loves baking, traveling, and doing craft projects!

Jessica Smallman

Jessica joined Google in 2007 to work on the Google Checkout product, supporting and educating buyers and sellers and protecting them from fraud. Prior to Google, she studied marketing at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. Jessica has a particular passion for entrepreneurship, and she currently volunteers as a coach for a team of entrepreneurs at a local girls middle school. Outside of business she likes to "relax" through sports, and she is an assistant coach for a local university club volleyball team.

Jordanna Chord

Jordanna graduated in 2006 from Gonzaga with a BS in CS. She has competed in and won several regional Business Plan Competitions while at GU with a special interest in social returns on investment. Jordanna works at Google, spending the first two years there building tools for Adword advertisors to better leverage the platform for their advertising needs. Since then she has worked on automation and testing frameworks in areas as diverse as search, ChromeOs and Google Bookmarks.

Karen Tang

Having led a bit of a nomadic life, Karen Tang is excited to finally settle down in San Francisco. She's lived and worked all over US and China, and has mastered the art of packing four months worth of personal items into a single suitcase. Along the way, she's dabbled in a variety of areas including engineering, finance, and now sales. Currently, Karen is a manager in the Online Sales and Operations Group, working with a team much smarter than she is to help AdWords advertisers grow and stay happy.

Megan Hellerer

Megan is a native New Yorker who transplanted to California for college and hasn't left yet! She enjoys spending time at her timeshare in Tahoe and frequent trips to Napa. At Google, she has worked in several different roles on their emerging platforms group, including managing the operations for their Print Ads initiative and launching the west coast brand sales group for TV and video ads. She has also done some consulting for young entrepreneurs with dosomething.org, who are launching socially-focused new businesses. This is her first time to New Orleans and she's thrilled to be here!

Peter Harrison

Peter's program management role helps in assimilating the hardware of acquired companies into the Google family. He is the author of the acclaimed Linux Quick Fix Notebook, and is the curator of simiya.com a website dedicated to Latin American and Caribbean art. He provides pro bono consulting for online micro businesses serving Nicaragua and Peru and is always interested in seeking new avenues in this field. In his quieter moments Peter enjoys the guilty pleasure of cycling through the scenic valleys of the San Francisco bay area. He also likes relaxing with his wife Diana and children Blaze and Jade.

Phineas Mhlanga

Phineas joined Google in September 2009 after graduating from Howard University. As an Account Strategist in AdSense, Phineas works with the Torso Business Development Team, which helps website owners in the North America Region earn revenue through partnerships with Google. Phineas specializes in dealing with small to medium sized businesses helping them optimize and maximize their revenues through testing and implementing various strategies. As an entrepreneur himself Phineas understands the needs of business owners and loves solving complex business issues, developing sustainable long term strategies to help grow business and help them achieve profitability.

Rachael Sordo

Rachel is an AdWords Account Strategist at Google and has been at the company since graduating from UCSD in 2006. In her time at Google, she has gained extensive experience working in the online advertising industry, with a focus on Retail and Agency client relationships. She also co-founded a volunteer program within Google to encourage employees to work together to give back to the local communities. Around the office, Rachael is known for her slight obsession with the L.A. Lakers basketball team, and her beagle pup that frequently visits the SF office. His name is Kobe Bryant Sordo.

Sarah North

Sarah (an English Bulldog lover and avid NASCAR fan) joined Google in March of 2007 and has since managed a dedicated list of Google Checkout/Google Base merchants, and worked with Google AdWords advertisers focusing on increasing their ROI. She is now manages worldwide DoubleClick agencies and direct marketers in delivery of their online advertising campaigns. Prior to Google she worked for Ameriprise Financial, as a real estate appraiser and in marketing for a non-profit school. Her education includes a BA in Sport Management and Communications & MA in Kinesiology (Non-profit Sport Marketing) from The University of Michigan, as well as an MBA from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Susan Kim

Born and raised in Chicago, Susan Kim is very fond of her good old "mid-western" roots! She attended Northwestern University and triple-majored in Applied Mathematics, Economics and International studies. Upon graduating, she joined Morgan Stanley as an investment banking analyst working on M&A transactions. After completing her analyst program, she moved to California and joined Google's finance division. During her tenure at the company she has supported the sales, marketing and engineering executives. In addition to working full-time, Susan is currently enrolled in Haas' EWMBA program (Class of 2011). This is Susan's first time at the conference and she is very excited to meet all the talented folks gathered in New Orleans this week!

LaFawn Bailey

LaFawn has worked at Google for almost 5 years. She began her career at Google on the Book Search team within Online Sales and Operations. While on the team, she had the privilege of exploring and executing preliminary diversity projects for the company. In 2008, LaFawn joined the Talent and Outreach Programs team as a Specialist within People Operations. The team is an integral part of Google's university campus, alumni and industry outreach strategy. In addition to her core job, LaFawn is a Team Lead in the Black Googlers Network (BGN) and the Employee Resource Group Coalition (ERG-Coalition) which are focused on building a diverse internal community, networking, employee retention, external community outreach and K-12 education. As a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, she has held unique roles for Silicon Valley technology and financial companies such as Analog Devices, Quinstreet, Inc. and Providian Financial. She currently lives in Mountain View, CA with her husband (and fellow Googler) and 10 year old son.

Matthew Yazzie

Matthew Yazzie is responsible for the Creative Development and Project Management in Google's Global Ethics and Compliance team. Because one of Google's core principles is "You can be serious without a suit," Matthew puts the Google voice, tone, look, and feel to compliance-related matters from the company-wide corporate Code of Conduct training to everyday matters on Google Data Security. Matthew also founded the Google American Indian Network (GAIN) and continues to work in securing college scholarships as well as mentorship opportunities for Native American youth. Matthew earned a B.S. in Management Science & Engineering with a Technology, Entrepreneurship & Organizations emphasis from Stanford University.

Sarah Nickerson

Sarah works for Google Inc. in Santa Monica, CA and is the Program Manager for Global Employee Social Responsibility. In this role she works to leverage the strengths and unique skills of Google's employees as well as the power of Google's tools and technology to affect social change in a direct, hands-on manner through service and community outreach. Sarah started her career and her commitment to public service by teaching for the Congressional Youth Leadership Council prior to joining Google. She has been involved with several service projects both internationally and nationally, including work in China, Washington, DC and Argentina. She is currently volunteering with Real Medicine Foundation to implement asthma clinics and health education programs in low income areas of Los Angeles County. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Arts in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond and is currently perusing her Masters in Public Health at UCLA.

Graham Clarke

Graham is a leading Technical Support expert working as a Senior Premier Support Account Specialist for Salesforce.com. He has worked on successful projects for successful companies including Starbucks, Genentech, Harrah's Gaming, Sephora.com and Vivre.com. He helped develop the Mystarbucksidea.com site which won the Forrester Groundswell award for 2008. His normal duties include troubleshooting, development and administration of the Salesforce implementations for his portfolio of clients. Graham continues to deliver success to his clients and is looking forward to his upcoming wedding October 9 2009. Check out a cool video of Salesforce professionals including Graham.

Gabe Eisner

Gabe Eisner is a Technical Business Analyst in Support at Salesforce.com. His responsibilities include resolving complex technical challenges among Salesforce.com's customer base, as well as advising on data-workflow processes that can adapt as business requirements change over time. Gabe has been with Salesforce.com since 2008.

Prior to joining Salesforce, Gabe was Operations & Events Coordinator at the Bay Area Council, a chamber of commerce-like economic advocacy group, where he was system administrator for the Salesforce.com platform. There, he led a five-month project to reengineer the Council's data-relevant business processes, and implement the industry leading CRM automation tool Salesforce.com that continues to evangelize itself in efficiency returns for the organization. Gabe was also responsible for event-related marketing and PR at the Council, including vendor negotiations, sponsor/speaker recruitment, soliciting in-kind donations, and managing direct mail and email campaigns.

Gabe grew up on Long Island and escaped to the Bay Area in 2006. In between, he graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor's degree in Business and Linguistics, and cultivated a love for warm weather and Soul food.

Chi Ho

Chi works at Salesforce.com as Premier Support Account Specialist. Soon after he graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in 2007, he is responsible for solving cases by providing consultative, expert knowledge support to Premier customers, which includes conversations with customers to troubleshoot and understand the issue, research and discovery to solve the issue, and escalations to appropriate channels for further investigations and closure. These duties combined with his special interest in Information Systems and software development has made him very successful in evangelizing Software/Platform as a Service or more commonly known as Cloud Computing.

Albert Vanderley

Albert currently works within the Salesforce.com financial services vertical sales team. Albert has been with the company for 4.5 years and is consistently one of the top ranked account executives. Prior to his time at Salesforce.com Albert started his career as a pilot and has almost 2000 hours of flight time and an equal amount of time training students on the ground. Using his abilities as a teacher and a presenter Albert has held successful positions both in front line sales as well as in management spanning a 10+ year sales career.

Ayori Selassie

Ayori Selassie is a Technical Engineer at Salesforce.com. She began her professional career in 1999 as a System Administrator at a small start-up company based in Oakland, CA. Since then she has increased her expertise in On Demand and Software-as-a-Service technologies. From demand response, metered data information systems to security analysis and performance tuning Ayori maintains herself as a cutting edge consultant and a leader in implementing innovative technology. Ayori's technical skills are complimented by exceptional communication, training, project management and coordination abilities. At Salesforce.com Ayori drives resolution of technical variations and provides implementation best practice expertise for SFDC's Top 100 Customers. She is a highly sought resource for customers seeking to push the limits of Cloud based technologies.

Ayori lives in Oakland, CA with her husband, 4 year old daughter and a huge library of books on Meditation and Information Technology. When she isn't working she is taking photos of her family or travelling the beautiful California Coast. Ayori can be reached at iayori@gmail.com.

James Goerke

James is a Technical Support expert working as a Premier Support Account Specialist for Salesforce.com. He has worked as a complicated account management expert turning around poor customer experiences for 2 years at Salesforce.com. His normal duties include consulting in business strategy, business process logic and design, and best practices in support of the Salesforce implementations for his portfolio of clients. He also serves as a company commander for C Co. 319th Expeditionary Signal Battalion in the US Army Reserves. In his spare time James is a movie buff, an avid connoisseur of craft beers, and enjoys traveling around the country.

Mylinh Tu

Mylinh is a Senior Business Analyst at Salesforce.com based in San Francisco, California. Since January 2000, She has worked for Sun Microsystems, KLA Tencor, and Salesforce.com where her jobs have included Project Coordinator, Program Manager, Senior Business Analyst, among others. In her current role, Mylinh Tu is engaged with customers on a daily basis to consult and design a tactical plan in order to achieve customer success and acts as a strategic advisor to advise and support over 200 different business organizations and 25 dedicated accounts by developing and executing plans to address their business objectives using Salesforce.

Mylinh lives in Milpitas, California. When not working, Mylinh enjoys reading, hiking and hosting dinner parties for friends. Mylinh can be reached at mylinh.tu@gmail.com.

Anthony Lupo

Practice Areas
Anthony Lupo, a partner at Arent Fox and a member of the executive committee, co-chairs the entertainment/intellectual property group of the firm. Anthony was named as the number one intellectual property attorney by the Washington Business Journal. Although Anthony primarily works in the area of entertainment law and intellectual property law, he also acts as general counsel for a number of high-end Italian fashion and luxury goods companies, including handling corporate, real estate, employment, and re-organization. He has a very diverse practice but specializes in copyright, entertainment, trademark, advertising and e-commerce law, and has significant experience in representing movie studios, computer and gaming companies and television stations. His practice also covers right of publicity, counterfeiting, sweepstakes and contests, online gaming, product recall and CPSC, international market entry, gray-market goods, distance learning, technology transfer and licensing. Anthony is also on the board of the Smithsonian National Zoo and Discovery Channel Global Education Fund.

Client Work
Anthony's entertainment and media expertise includes representing major movie studios and a number of media/television companies in all aspects of their entertainment business, including clearances of rights, content agreements, production agreements, music and media distribution agreements, international market entry and protection and litigation of intellectual property rights.

Anthony has a great deal of experience in enforcing and protecting postmortem publicity rights, including representing the estate of Albert Einstein, the Wright Brothers and Steve McQueen. Anthony's intellectual property and e-commerce experience includes representing automotive-related companies, software, hardware and electronic companies as well as trade associations in their efforts to exploit and protect their intellectual property and technology on a global basis. Anthony also negotiates and drafts agreements regarding intellectual property rights, multimedia transactions, technology transfer, co-branding revenue sharing, procurement, product and software development, distribution, outsourcing, system integration, Internet home page development, e-commerce sites, corporate e-mail policies, hyperlinks, electronic data interchange, delivery of distance education, online auction site liability and advertising.

Anthony's international intellectual property experience includes assisting the Indonesian government in revising its intellectual property laws to comply with GATT; advising the Saudi Arabian government on international intellectual property issues in its effort to join the WTO; advising the Egyptian government on revising its intellectual property laws; advising the Vietnamese government on implementing the US-Vietnam Bilateral Copyright Agreement; lobbying USTR, the Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) and the Copyright Office regarding intellectual property and counterfeiting issues; preparing international licensing and technology transfer agreements; and counseling clients on how to protect their intellectual property in foreign markets.

Anthony's advertising experience includes assisting electronics, gaming and media companies with clearance of advertising claims, stealth advertising, defending against ambush advertising and challenging or defending comparative advertising claims.

Ross Buntrock

Practice Areas
Ross Buntrock, a partner in the firm's telecommunications group, has over 14 years of experience in virtually every aspect of communications law, including regulatory, transactional, litigation, legislative and privacy matters. Ross has extensive experience drafting and negotiating a wide variety of telecom and technology agreements, including interconnection agreements, capacity agreements, wholesale voice over internet protocol (VoIP) agreements, traffic termination agreements, infrastructure sharing arrangements, and dark fiber agreements. Ross has experience structuring transactions and obtaining regulatory approvals for applications, mergers and asset acquisitions involving large and small telecommunications companies and complex financings. In addition, he routinely represents telecommunications resellers - including VoIP resellers, long-distance resellers, telecom sales agents and equipment manufacturers - in the structuring and negotiation of contracts with carriers and Internet content providers.

Client Work
Ross' clients include traditional voice-focused local exchange carriers, mobile content companies, social networking and infrastructure companies, wireless carriers, equipment manufacturers, retail product manufacturers, and large end users of telecommunications services.

In addition, Ross provides privacy, data security and breach notification advice, and he advises clients on issues relating to the Federal Communications Commission's Customer Proprietary Network Information (CPNI) rules, compliance with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA), and compliance with CAN-SPAM and the Telemarketing Sales Rule (and "do not call" rules).

Additionally, Ross helps clients create and evaluate compliance programs for local, state, federal and international laws regulating the collection, use and disclosure of the personally identifiable information of consumers and employees. He drafts privacy policies, Web site terms of use, and agreements concerning data uses and list management.

Ross is a frequent author and speaker on telecommunications and privacy matters.

David Carter

Practice Areas
David Carter is an attorney in the telecommunications practice group, with a particular emphasis on intercarrier compensation disputes. He also has experience litigating cases and counseling clients in variety of areas involving contract, commercial real estate, and employment issues.

David currently represents several Local Exchange Carriers and large end users of telecommunications services in litigation and administrative proceedings pending in federal court, at the Federal Communications Commission, and before several state administrative agencies. He recently served as counsel of record in a proceeding that resulted in the issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order against the enforcement of a state public utilities commission's order. David also has experience working with Educational Broadband Services (EBS) spectrum license holders to evaluate potential uses of their spectrum assets.

Previous Work
Prior to joining Arent Fox, David served as Director of Programs and General Counsel for a nonprofit organization focused on building the capacity of social sector organizations serving economically distressed communities and on preparing college students for successful careers as leaders of nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. In the capacity, David oversaw the organization's regulatory and legal compliance issues and managed a $1.2 million federally-funded effort to improve student service nationally. He continues to provide strategic advice to universities and nonprofit organizations regarding the development of curriculum and programmatic offerings in the field of social entrepreneurship and social innovation.

David also previously served as a business litigation associate at a large regional law firm where he was involved in federal and state litigation, arbitration, and mediation.

Ross Panko

Practice Areas
Ross Panko is an associate in the firm's intellectual property group. He has extensive experience in intellectual property litigation, counseling and transactions.

Client Work
Ross's litigation experience includes the representation of clients in trademark, copyright, patent, trade secret and false advertising cases in federal and state courts and administrative venues. He regularly represents clients in intellectual property disputes in federal courts, in inter partes proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, and in domain dispute proceedings arising under ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. Ross also represents clients in Section 337 actions before the International Trade Commission and false advertising disputes before the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau.

Ross counsels clients in a wide range of industries, including media and entertainment, computer software, consumer electronics, food and publishing. He regularly counsels clients on domestic and international trademark and copyright issues, including the clearance, prosecution and enforcement of trademarks, and the licensing and protection of copyrighted works. Ross has negotiated and drafted a wide variety of agreements relating to intellectual property interests, including licensing and publishing agreements.

Luke Stewart

Luke Stewart is a Product Manager in Cisco's Emerging Technologies Group, an internal incubator for Cisco's next $1B+ business units. He received his MBA in 2009 from the Stanford GSB. While there, he co-led the Stanford team for 2009 New Orleans Entrepreneur Week. Prior to Stanford, he started a technology, social venture. Currently, he serves on the IT Advisory Board of the Petters Research Institute in Belize, a non-profit that advises education, government, and business. He graduated from Duke University as a double major in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Darren Wong

Darren Wong is a User-Centered Design Engineer in Cisco's Emerging Technologies Group, Digital Media Systems. During his many years at Cisco, Darren has worked as a Designer on many projects including Cisco's PoweredBy campaign, Cisco's Annual Report, the Cisco Network Investment Calculator, and the Cisco Interoperability Portal. He is currently the lead User Experience designer for Cisco Show and Share - a social video system that helps organizations create highly secure video communities to share ideas and expertise, optimize global video collaboration, and personalize the connection between customers, employees and students with user generated content. In his free time he enjoys fast cars, even faster motorcycles, and spending time with his wife Tracy.

Ami Badani

Ami Badani is a Business Development Manager in Cisco's Emerging Technologies Group, Business Incubation team. In this role, her primary responsibility is to select, identify, and shepherd new ideas through the incubation process, from the concept stage to a successful new business unit. Ami received her MBA in 2008 from the Chicago Booth School of Business. Prior to receiving her MBA, Ami worked in the Investment Management Group of Goldman Sachs & Company and started a successful medical devices company in Mumbai, India. In her free time, Ami can be found running, shopping, or embarking upon an international journey.

Frank Sullivan

Frank Sullivan is a User-Centered Design Engineer in Cisco Services & Software Delivery IT, where he helps project teams create and refine the user experience for their products. During his ten years at Cisco, Frank has worked with many teams on projects ranging from IP Communications products to e-commerce applications to new service delivery tools.

Originally from Ohio, Frank lived in Seattle, the Bay Area, and North Carolina before moving to the New Orleans area in 2005. He now enjoys a rich life in his adopted home with his wife, children and a small menagerie.