Director, Google Emerging Platforms
Mike is Director of Emerging Platforms for Google, with responsibility for TV / Video Ads, Mobile Ads, Local Ads, Online Audio Ads, and Commerce in the Americas. He joined Google in January 2007 as Director of Google TV Ads. Previously, Mike was the General Manager of Strategic Ventures at NBC Universal. While at NBCU, he co-founded and led NBBC (a marketplace for digital video syndication, which is now part of hulu.com) and NBC Weather Plus, the first all-digital broadcast television network. In 2004, NBC Weather Plus was recognized with NBC Universal's GE Imagination Breakthrough award. Mike was Co-chair of the NBC Affiliates Futures Committee and previously served as vice president in the Business Development group, which closed over $20 billion in mergers and acquisitions. In 2000, Mike worked on launching new media businesses for Walker Digital, LLC. He spent the two prior years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He is a named inventor of three digital media patents. Mike was honored as one of Crain’s New York 40 Under 40 professionals in 2008. He was also recognized as one of TV Week’s “Twelve to Watch”, was selected for the Multichannel News “40 Under 40” list in 2007, and was chosen for TV Week's “Hot List” in 2006. Mike serves on the board of directors of the International Radio and Television Society Foundation (IRTS). He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations. Mike lives in Manhattan with his awesome wife & baby boy.
Dan Balzora – Vice Chairman
Senior Associate, Pouschine Cook Capital Management
Dan is a senior associate at Pouschine Cook Capital Management, a private equity firm. Dan is a board director of two of Pouschine Cook’s portfolio companies, R Tape and Great Lakes Home Health and Hospice. He was previously an analyst in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group at Jefferies Broadview and in the Supply Chain Operations Division at General Mills. Dan graduated with a degree in Economics from Yale University.
Angus Dobbie – Treasurer
Senior Recruiting Manager, MF Global
Angus is a senior finance executive with 17 years professional experience working in international securities operations. He has worked across Asia, the US and Latin America and has extensive academic training in both Finance and Political Science. Angus’ background is in sales and management, with specific experience building new securities businesses. His most recent position in finance was as Senior Managing Director of The Macquarie Group (heading the Equity Derivatives group within the US operations). Angus was on the Board of the bank’s US subsidiary, and in addition served on the Finance, Compliance and 401k Advisory Board committees. Angus was also part of the Macquarie Foundation's launch in the US and an active participant in its strategic direction and volunteer activities. Whilst Angus has worked at senior levels within large Financial Institutions (2 of Australia's largest commercial banks and it's largest Investment Bank), equally as valuable is his track record in small business, having been a founding partner in a highly successful Australian broker / dealer, and currently a founding partner of Discovery Consulting LLC. He holds a Bachelors Degree in Economics, Master Degree in Business (Banking and Finance) and Masters Degree in International Relations from 3 of Australia's most respected Universities.
Joan Rothman – Secretary
Joan was a director of technology projects and services at Luminant, IBM and Prodigy Services Company. Joan is retired and is currently serving on the Scarsdale Village Library Board and the Scarsdale Synagogue – Tremont Temple Technology Committee. Joan has also provided support to Dress for Success New York including, grant writing, technology services and helping to suit clients for job interviews. Joan consulted with Career Gear as a grant writer from January 2003 to June 2003. Joan was appointed to the board of Career Gear, Inc. in February 2006. She was recently co-chair of the 2009 Capital PerSuit Dinner.
Matthew J. Canner – Director
Director, Knight Capital Group
Matt graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1994 and has the honor of serving as his elected Class President. Additionally, Matt is a long-standing member of the Penn Alumni Leadership Council, and serves on Penn’s Secondary School Committee Board. In 1997, Matt co-founded and serves on the Board of Game7 Sports, a for-profit sports camp and sports conditioning programming for local elementary and secondary school students, which also serves as a job placement enterprise for high school and college student-athletes. Matt serves on the Board of Directors for the non-profit Long Beach Lifeguard Alumni Association where he is responsible for all fundraising and philanthropic scholarship activities.
Matt lives in Long Beach with his beautiful family, his wife Lauren and their two children Brian and Alison.
Matt Derella – Director
Google
In 2006, Matt founded and co-chairs CAREOKE for the KIDS, a media-industry karaoke event that has raised more than $750K+ for The Valerie Fund, an organization dedicated to helping children with cancer and rare blood disorders. As part of the event, people from across the media landscape perform on-stage at Fillmore East in front 1,000+ of their peers to raise funds to support The Valerie Fund.
Peter Knell – Director
Manager, IMG Models
Susan D. Milmoe – Director
Susan most recently served as Vice President of Merchandising and Strategic Planning at Royce Hosiery Mills Inc., a leading manufacturer of branded (Dockers, Levis, Nine West) and private label hosiery in New York City. At Royce, she was responsible for strategic planning and coordination of the product development, marketing and manufacturing efforts for the company. Before that, she held retail buying and product development positions with May Department Stores, Bradlee’s and Bloomingdale’s. Susan earned her undergraduate degree from Cornell University and her MBA in corporate finance from the Stern School of Business at NYU. Susan has retired after 30 years in the apparel industry but currently serves on the board of The Guidance Center in New Rochelle, NY and is actively involved with Cornell University where she serves on several councils and boards.
Michael Pearson – Director
Principal, Global Coverage Network
Michael is currently Partner and Vice President at Global Coverage, Inc., a full-service family-held New York City-based insurance agency that provides a broad selection of personal, business, life and health insurance products. Michael has long specialized in restaurant, lounge, bar, and nightclub coverage, working with several of the top restaurants in NYC. Michael has also been fortunate to have been involved with several non-profit and networking organizations. He currently serves on the Board of Bonnie Briar Country Club, and was also the president of Network Now, a multi-industry, senior executive networking group based in New York City, from 1999 to 2007. Michael holds a BA in Hotel/Restaurant Management from Denver University, and has been married to his wife, Sue, since 2001. He has two beautiful children, Isabel and Zach.
John Saroff – Director
Lead of Strategic Partnership Development for Google TV, Google
John Saroff leads Strategic Partnership Development for Google TV Ads, the television advertising arm of Google. In this role, John is responsible for leading the development, structure and execution of business development transactions with television programming networks and cable and satellite operators. As a founding member of the Google TV Ads team, John joined Google in 2007. Prior to Google, John was a director at NBC-Universal, leading content acquisition efforts for its digital video syndication arm, NBBC, and subsequently worked on NBC's Hulu.com transition team. Before this, John worked as an attorney at the New York firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore. John obtained a joint degree in Law and Business at Columbia University and is a proud graduate of Haverford College.
Phil Williams – Director
President, The Brand Suite
As President, Sales & Marketing of KMI USA, Williams led the company through a major international expansion. He has the responsibility of managing the entire process from strategic development through execution. Prior to joining KMI, Inc., Williams spent five years as a VP in both brand development and corporate sales for the New Jersey Nets. Among his accomplishments, Williams was instrumental in creating new found territory by developing the enormously popular secondary road jersey. In his pursuit to develop brand promotions, Williams also formed successful strategic partnerships with several Fortune 500 companies including Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Wachovia, generating over $8 million in corporate sales. Before joining the Nets in 1998, Williams spent five years in sales and marketing at General Motors. While with the Nets, he took it upon himself to involve NBA stars in the plight to aid underprivileged children with organizations such as The Jason Kidd Foundation, NSYNC's Challenge for the Children and The Promise Tree Foundation.
