Executive Vice President/CIO - Manufacturers Bank

Mr. Adrian Danescu received his MBA from the Academy of Economic Science in Romania. His experience covers a full spectrum involving technology, financial operations, risk management, compliance, audit, application and data development, management and more. He currently serves on the Management Committee of the Manufacturers Bank and is the Division Manager to its Operations & Technology sector.
Mr. Danescu has more than 27 years of leadership experience in enterprise technology, banking operations and corporate business strategies. He has guided companies with his futuristic vision and deployment of leading edge products and services that ensure an organization’s excellence in their industry.

A range of varying industries have benefited from Mr. Danescu’s tactical expertise such as mid-size to large-scale financial institutions, insurance, value added reseller, along with an oil and energy company. He is credited for the record profitability achieved by these organizations through his revitalization and reinvention of existing technologies, operations, product mix and design as well as sales and marketing.


Mr. Danescu’s track record is based on a philosophy which combines vision, strategy, and revenue achieved through resource maximization and corporate efficiencies. His horizontal knowledge across various technology platforms and products had significant impact on his successes at First Interstate Bank, ARCO, Norwest Bank and most recently at Manufacturers Bank.

Mr. Danescu is a frequent key note speaker in various technology trade organizations in US and overseas. He also serves on the Advisory Committee of CocoCommerce Inc, a leading web enabled payment system.
Beyond his duties at Stanford University, Gannes serves as Director of the Earthpledge Foundation in New York, whose ’sustainability’ initiatives highlight the connections between everyday choices, personal well-being and a healthy world.

Torsten M. Kracht is lawyer at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in Washington D.C.  He represents foreign and domestic clients from diverse industries involved in complex civil litigation and arbitration. 

Mr. Kracht has conducted internal investigations and litigated and arbitrated claims across a spectrum of substantive legal areas, including antitrust, unfair competition, contracts, and patents. He has also litigated multibillion-dollar restitution demands under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Victims Protection Act, and has specific experience in issues of jurisdiction and discovery, particularly as they apply to entities outside the United States. 

He received his B.B.A. cum laude in finance and operations from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1993 and his J.D. with honors and distinction in international law from Rutgers University in 1998. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 1995, during which time he studied law in Berlin, Germany. He is a member of the District of Columbia, New York and New Jersey Bars, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd and D.C. Circuits and multiple U.S. district courts.

Mr. Kracht is the executive editor of the International Law Practicum, published semi-annually by the New York State Bar Association. He is a also a member of the International Commercial Dispute Resolution Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  Additionally, he serves as a board member and general counsel of the Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology, a nonprofit entity dedicated to the advancement of global science & technology issues and education.

Senior IT Architect, Infrastructure Support Services, Global Technology Services, IBM Corporation - United States

Mr. Alan Stuart holds a B.A. in Mathematics and Theatre Arts from Hunter College and an M.S. in Computer Science from Pennsylvania State University, and has more than 40 years experience in the computer industry. He joined IBM in 1972 as an application programmer. He has since held a variety of technology and management positions in sales, corporate staff, storage, strategy, internet architecture and operations and IBM Global Services, where he was the lead architect responsible for the transformation of IBM’s PC business to an On Demand business. Mr. Stuart has also been a technical assistant and advisor to multiple IBM executives and was the strategist responsible for the creation of Netview.
From 1988 through 1996, Mr. Stuart was Vice President, Retail Banking Systems, Integration and Testing Architecture, Manufacturers Hanover Trust where he invented new techniques for large system testing. These techniques were used to facilitate the merger of the IT systems of MHT and Chemical Bank, and then Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank.

In his previous position at IBM, Mr. Stuart was the worldwide executive responsible for IBM’s storage archive for long term data archiving and regulatory compliance. He was responsible for guiding the strategic direction and architecture of IBM's retention managed data solutions. Mr. Stuart holds three patents in this business area. He has written papers on the impact of legislation on Information Technology and was a frequent speaker at conferences and symposia on this subject. In his current position, Mr. Stuart is within the Infrastructure Support Services part of General Technology Services. He is working with IBM Research to infuse state-of-the-art infrastructure technology into this traditionally reactive and highly labor intensive business process. 

Attorney at Law.

Ms. Cole received her B.A. in philosophy cum laude from Vassar College, with general and departmental honors. She was also the recipient of the Harry Ordan Memorial Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in Philosophy. Ms. Cole received her J.D. from the New York University School of Law, where she was awarded a Furman Fellowship in the area of International Criminal Law. She completed her clinical work in comparative criminal justice with a focus on domestic violence. She has also studied philosophy, politics, and economics at St. Peter’s College, Oxford University in the United Kingdom and international law at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. Before beginning her legal studies, she undertook a year-long public interest fellowship in Israel, where she worked with various social service organizations to develop and implement programs for underserved and minority populations.

Ms. Cole completed her judicial clerkship with Trial Chamber I of The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands. In addition she co-facilitated a workshop for the United Nations’ forum on "Our Common Humanity in the Information Age," held at the United Nations headquarters in New York.


Ms. Cole has also worked on women rights and family law matters and has worked on best practices in this area, overseen the legal aspects of pilot programs in this area, and monitored legislation, court cases, and policy impacting women. She has also provided domestic violence trainings for community members and law enforcement officers and contributed to an NYU law school seminar on family violence law.
Other topics for which Ms. Cole has provided legal analysis and writing include: community reconciliation, victims’ rights, judicial oversight, children’s rights, international criminal law and international gender issues. She has also represented asylum seekers, drafted sections of the American Bar Association guidelines regarding the legal rights of juvenile asylum seekers and provided in house non-profit legal assistance for a variety of organizations. She currently serves as a legal consultant for, Initiatives For Medicines, Access, And Knowledge (I-MAK); based in Delhi, India. Her duties include legal research, analysis and writing on patent, health issues, the impact of HIV-AIDS on women and advice on the human rights framework.

Debra Cole is an attorney admitted to practice law in New York State. She has a background in international and domestic human rights law and specializes in women’s rights and the legal issues surrounding humanitarian crisis and genocide.

Dr. Fredric J. “Fritz” Hibbler has over 20 years experience with information technologies, organizational design and business process in both the for-profit sector and in higher education. Dr. Hibbler is an authority in several technical and managerial areas, including Managed Services, wireless mobile voice/data, billing systems, Application Service Providers, Systems Outsourcing, Enterprise Resource Packages and IT organization. His most recent experiences include being the founder and CEO of several highly successful companies: Soma-Richter, Inc., a boutique consultancy company specializing in organizational change management; OuterBounds Technologies, a managed services provider, Open Book Concepts, an open source software integrator and TMS-NorthAmerica, a software applications company specializing in knowledge management systems. Previously, Dr. Hibbler was the CIO for Rural Cellular Corp, a publicly traded, $500M cellular service carrier, VP of Operation for Global Mobility Systems a cellular software company, Vice President of Information Technology and the Chief Information Officer for the University of Wyoming, director of Computer Services at the University of Idaho, director of Computing Technology Services at Michigan Technological University.

Dr. Hibbler holds a BS in biological sciences, an MS in molecular biology, and an MBA from Michigan Tech. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Idaho. Dr. Hibbler has numerous publications, and is a sought after speaker and lecturer. He is very active in his community where he is currently on the boards of several local organizations.

Gautam Dasgupta, Professor of Civil Engineering at Columbia University, was co-founder of the International Mathematica Symposium in 1994, and the Chair of the Executive Committee. His research areas are High Accuracy Finite Elements, Wave Propagation in Random Media and Geometric Modeling in Life-science applications. He is currently working on "Security Engineering" and "Emergency Management" of Intelligent Civil Infrastructure. He was Chair of Elasticity and Bioengineering Divisions of the America Society of Civil Engineers.

He is honorary visiting professor at the Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse FRE 2960 CNRS, Anthropobiologie et Imagerie Anatomique and Laboratoire d'Optique P-M Duffieux, Universite de Franche Comte, Institut des Microtechniques Besançon cedex France. He was a Humboldt Fellow and Fulbright Scholar.He completed his Bachelor and Master in Engineering from Calcutta University and Doctoral degree from UC Berkeley.

John Jackson, former Education & Public Outreach Coordinator for ANDRILL (ANtarctic geological DRILLing) at the University of Nebraska, received his MS from the University of Southern California and his BS from California State University at Los Angeles. His professional career is diverse and extensive. His international experience has taken him to all seven continents. In Antarctica, in a leadership role, he coordinated ANDRILL’s education and public outreach for a multi-national collaboration comprised of scientists, educators, students, technicians, drillers and support staff from Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. ANDRILL’s goal is to uncover the elusive geological history of Antarctica. In Africa, he served as a consultant to the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) researching and assessing bilateral training in Integrated Pest Management for the Africa Emergency Locust and Grasshoppers Abatement Program in Tanzania, Ethiopia, Namibia and Botswana.  In Egypt, Mr. Jackson trained and evaluated performance of administers, school masters and teachers within the Egyptian Ministry of Education in science methods and critical thinking. In Japan, he presented a keynote address to the Tokyo Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.


In 2000-2002, 2004 and 2006, he served as an Albert Einstein Fellow at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the Division of Graduate Education –Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education Program and in the Division of Elementary, Secondary and Informal Education –Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and served on the NSF committees addressing science initiatives. Prior to his NSF experience,  John was an educator in the Alhambra School District, CA for over thirty years taught seventh grade science –conceived and directed for twenty-five years, Project EARTH, a week-long geological field study trip to Death Valley, CA. Mr. Jackson has many professional achievements including presentations and speeches at international and nationwide professional conferences along with the publication of this article, “K-12 Science and Mathematics Education: Is there a role for the Nation’s Graduate School” the Communicator, a publication of the Council of Graduate Schools.


Professional involvement includes:  Board of Directors, California Institute for Biodiversity, National Science Foundation reviewer, Shell Science Teaching Award and Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Teachers Judging Panels, and National Science Education Leadership Association Policy Committee.  He is an active member of the National Science Teachers Association and frequently presents at its annual meetings.

is many honors include:  Distinguished Science Teacher Award, Middle/Junior High School for involvement in professional and extra-curricular science education endeavors, California Science Teacher Association, Congressional Record Citation in recognition for life-long contribution to science education, Congressman Adam Schiff, Earth Science Teacher of the Year, Los Angeles Geologic Society and the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and the prestigious Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship.

Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Pacific Service -United States

With over 20 years in technology management and consulting, Nannette Cutliff has provided leadership of system design and integration projects in the aerospace, financial services and education sectors. Ms. Cutliff has a broad background in strategic planning, business-focused application software, change management and web-based business tools. Her foray into IT management grew from providing managerial oversight for Savings & Loan start-ups, corporate operations and regulatory compliance. She has maintained a focus on providing cost-effective business solutions enabled through software and technology.


Ms. Cutliff is the Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Pacific Service in Walnut Creek, California. She provides strategic direction in the planning and delivery of technology solutions and related support activities enterprise-wide, as well as oversees all e-business related activities and delivery channels including security, telecommunications, audit/ compliance, conversions, vendor oversight, infrastructure design, record preservation, DR/BCP, and system integration projects.


Prior to Pacific Service, Cutliff worked at Northrop Grumman as Vice President of Information Systems in their Electronic Systems Division, with over 17 years in Operations and Technology Management.


Ms. Cutliff is also a strong advocate of technology access and education for all and is on the Board of Directors of several youth oriented organization. She continues to partners with local schools and business organizations to help get financial support, computers, software, books and other resources needed to support our youth and the other under-served groups. Ms. Cutliff is on the Board of CIO Executive Programs, Berkeley YMCA, and Project Soar. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing with additional educational studies in Business Administration, Systems Management and Computer Science at West Coast University, University of Phoenix, and UCLA.

Director of the National University of Singapore Hollywood Lab - United States

Newton Lee is the founding editor-in-chief of ACM Computers in Entertainment, a nonprofit educational publication to promote research and development in all aspects of entertainment technology. His editorial board members include Roy E. Disney, Quincy Jones, and many Academy Award winners. Mr. Newton is also the founding CEO of the nonprofit Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships (IFERS), with focus on entertainment technology, renewable energy, and human aging research.

Previously, he was a computer science researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories and a senior producer/engineer at The Walt Disney Company where he was instrumental in the commercialization of the Internet for the Disney's lines of business. His Internet work included www.disney.com, www.familyfun.com, www.disneyblast.com, and www.movies.com. Mr. Newton served as a juror for the 2003 Emmy Awards for advanced media technology.

Currently, Newton serves on various advisory boards at the Art Institute of California, Digital Hollywood, UCLA, USC, and Virginia Tech. He has been honored with a Leading Edge Technology Award from Michigan, two community development awards from the California Junior Chamber of Commerce, and four volunteer project leadership awards from The Walt Disney Company. He holds an Electrical Engineering degree and honorary doctorate from Vincennes University, and B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Science from Virginia Tech.

Judge Business School, University of Cambridge
Chief Editor to Journal of Internet Banking & Commerce -United Kingdom

Dr. Nikhil Agarwal is currently at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. Previously, he was Professor of Information Systems at SPJIMR, India. He is closely associated with Diplo Foundation, Switzerland; Global Knowledge Partnerships, Malaysia; IBM Developer Research Panel, USA and various other international organizations in different capacities. In 2006 he has been invited as High Level Advisor to United Nation's Global Alliance for ICT & Development (UNGAID). His research areas are eGovernance, Technology Policy & Strategy, ICT4D and Internet Governance. He has wide international teaching experience and published over 27 research papers. He has interest in oil-painting, sports activities and watching movies. He has extensively travelled across the world and currently lives in Cambridge, United Kingdom with his wife and son.

Executive Vice President – Computerworld- United States

Ron Milton is Computerworld’s primary relationship with VP-IT and CIO-level customers. He manages the events business and strategic business programs for IT executive titles in next-gen IT leadership, storage networking, mobile and wireless, infrastructure/data center and business intelligence market sectors. Mr. Milton leads the team responsible for creating and managing awards programs, content, sponsor sales, operations, marketing and audience development for all of Computerworld's brands. He is also responsible for the management of International Data Group’s not-for-profit awards foundation, which governs The Computerworld Honors Program. Before his current role at IDG, Ron was Senior Vice President of CXO Media and General Manager of CIO Magazine's Executive Program Division. He has 20+ years of experience in information technology, serving in both vendor and information services management positions.


Prior to joining Computerworld in 1999, he was President and CEO of IDG's Internet Commerce (ICE) business unit, which he founded in 1996 as a start-up business, and was a pioneer in using e-commerce systems and web marketing. He was a 1996 recipient of the IDG Chairman's Award for the most successful start-up business globally.


Before joining IDG, Milton spent five years as Vice President/Partner of GLA computer Systems in Toronto, a software developer and channel integrator with market share leadership in wholesale travel solutions. Prior to GLA, he also held a variety of management positions in channel management, field sales and marketing at Honeywell Information Systems and Bull HN. He holds degrees from Concordia University and Sir George Williams University in Montreal.

Director of the Stanford Digital Vision Fellowship Program -United States

Stuart Gannes graduated with a BA from the University of Michigan, and received his Masters in Education and Social Policy at Harvard University. Working as a journalist in New York, he covered the field of higher education, and then moved to Time-Life Books where he edited numerous “How-to” books for popular audiences. Later, as Associate Editor at Discover and Fortune Magazines he covered science and technology and focused on the expanding use of computer technology in business and society at large. In 1988-89, Mr. Gannes was a journalism fellow at Stanford University. Afterward he remained in Silicon Valley and entered the computer industry, working for Mips Computer Systems, before founding a software company, called Books That Work, where he served as CEO and publisher. Books That Work developed award-winning software tools that made it possible for non-professionals to design and visualize projects with 3-D graphics.

Ted Bongiovanni is the Director of Programs for MOUSE, a nonprofitorganization that creates technology-based opportunities that motivate underserved students to succeed in today¹s information society. In the past, Ted's helped develop online learning experiences for ColumbiaUniversity, served as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Lithuania and was alegislative aide to US Congressman Sam Coppersmith. He earned his BA atSusquehanna University and an MPA from Columbia University's School ofInternational and Public Affairs.

Tomasz Janowski is the founder and head of the UNU-IIST Center for Electronic Governance (www.egov.iist.unu.edu), an international center of excellence in Electronic Governance, part of United Nations
University - International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST), located in Macao, China. He is also a Senior Research Fellow of UNU-IIST.


An author of numerous publications in Computer Science, Software Engineering and Electronic Governance, Tomasz Janowski has led a number of research, development and capacity-building projects in the area of Information and Communication Technology and Electronic Governance; organized many schools, workshop and conferences with governments and universities around the developing world; and served as a Program Committee (PC) member and PC Chair at numerous international conferences. In particular, Tomasz Janowski founded a series of International Conferences on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV - www.icegov.org), established an initiative to build a global Community of Practice for Electronic Governance (UNeGov.net - www.unegov.net), and led a unique government program to build a foundation for Electronic Government in Macao (e-Macao - www.emacao.gov.mo).  His research interests include foundations and frameworks for sustainable Electronic Governance, tools and applications of formal engineering techniques, and rigorous development of enterprise systems, particularly systems for the public sector. Tomasz Janowski holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Warwick, England, and an MSc in Mathematics from the University of Gdansk, Poland. He can be contacted by email at tj@iist.unu.edu.


Following the sale of the company in 1997, Mr. Gannes accepted a position as Vice President of Internet Applications for AT&T Labs in Menlo Park, California. At AT&T he was responsible for advanced development and service prototyping. Under his leadership, research scientists worked on a variety of practical projects, including wireless data services, e-mail clients, computer-based voice response systems, and authentication tools.


In early 2002, Mr. Gannes was recruited by Stanford University as the inaugural Director of the Digital Vision Program at the Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI). Over the past two and a half years the DV program has evolved from an independent fellowship experience to an integrated prototyping course that focuses on supporting the design, concept-testing, and sustainability modeling of technology solutions that address humanitarian needs in the developing world.

Dr. Tschangho John Kim, Endowed Professor of Urban and Regional Systems at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) began his education in his native South Korea in architectural engineering and completed graduate study in planning at Princeton University in 1976. He has worked in Austria, Germany, South Korea, Indonesia, Sweden, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, Saudi Arabia and the United States. In 1979-80 he served as the project director of the National Comprehensive Transportation Study of Korea, sponsored by the World Bank. He also directed the Optimal Transport Sector Development Project in Indonesia in 1990-1991. He served as Associate Director, International Programs and Studies and Director, Office of Overseas University Collaboration, UIUC for the period of 1984-1991. He has been a Fulbright Scholar to Germany (1986 to Deutcher Akademie Austausch Dienst-DAAD) and Senior Fulbright Scholar to Korea (1994-Hanyang University and 1995-Seoul National University). He was Special Advisor to the Governor of Illinois on International Affairs (1985-1987) and Chair, National GIS Advisory Committee, Korea (1994-1998). He was Editor of The Annals of Regional Science for the period of 1994-2005.

He has been a member of the Technical Committee for International GIS Standardization (TC 211) of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) since 1995. He is Convener of the Joint Task Force of the Technical Committee for Intelligent Transportation Systems (TC 204) and GIS (TC 211) of ISO since 2003 and is Co-Chair of the Joint Advisory Group for ISO TC 211 and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) since 2003. He is an advisor to the Ar-Riyadh Development Authority (ADA) in Saudi Arabia since 1994.  He is a Fellow of Regional Science Association International and President of Western Regional Science Association in 2008. He has published 8 books, 30 book chapters, 60 journal articles, and 40 professional articles.

Recently he was invited as a keynote speaker at the 2006 New Town Ubiquitous City International Symposium, July 7, 2006, held at Hotel Shilla, Seoul, Korea and delivered a speech titled, “Planning for Sustainable Future Cities in Ubiquitous Spaces: Opportunities and Challenges”. He was also invited as the keynote speaker at the International Symposium on Digital Livings, January 26, 2007, Bergen, Norway and delivered speech titled, “Planning for Cities in Ubiquitous Spaces”. He also delivered presidential address titled, “Technology and Urban Space” at the  47th Annual Meetings of the Western Regional Science Association, Kona, Hawaiii on February 16, 2008.

Tsvi Gal is a general partner at EC Capital, a private equity fund based in New York and San Francisco. Prior to joining EC, Tsvi was managing director and the Chief Technology Officer for Deutsche Bank Capital Markets (Investment Banking and Asset Management, a global IT organization with 1,600 people).

Known as one of the most innovative minds in Financial Services IT, Tsvi is credited with the creation of the first Internet Bank (at Wells Fargo Bank), the on-line payment standard (at Bank of America with Visa and Master Card), the first truly global trading system (at ABN AMRO), the first major brokerage on-line trading system (at Merrill Lynch) the first to introduce on-line music (at Warner Music and Apple) and the first to introduce ring tones in the USA (at Warner Music and Sprint) and the first to introduce corporate social network at a major financial house (at Deutsche Bank with IBM). As a result of these achievements, he was presented with the Einstein Award for achievements in Science and Technology by the State of Israel President.

At Deutsche Bank Tsvi is responsible for constructing an industry leading, state of the art, evolutionary architecture which has competitively positioned both the buy side (Asset Management) and sell side (Investment Banking) for future growth through innovation, processing scale and efficiency. Tsvi’s leadership is key to the bank’s move toward Service Oriented Enterprise, high performance computing/low latency and STP.

Prior to Deutsche Bank, Tsvi was Chief Information Officer at Time Warner Music Group (WMG) where he led the introduction of the ring tones to the USA, and was the first partner of Apple’s iTune/iPod drive. Among his accomplishments was the transformation of WMG’s web assets into a full fledge eCommerce environment with 1,400 sites and over 14 million unique users. At AT&T Tsvi was president of ATT.COM which he grew from revenue of $140M per annum and a loss of $120M to revenue of $400M and EBITDA of $95M. In the late 90s Tsvi was a General Partner at GBS, a $1B Private Equity Fund which was later purchased by Marubeni of Japan.

Starting his IT career in the Israeli army in 1976, Tsvi also served in executive management roles as CIO & CTO at Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo Bank, ABN AMRO Bank and Bank of America.

From 1996 to 2001 Tsvi served on the USA technology delegation to the G7 conference of leading economy nations.

Tsvi is a Computer Science graduate of Rutgers University and holds an MBA form Golden Gate University.  He is the author of Distributed Computing Management and serves on the Board of Directors at Fundtech (FNDT), Expand, Cardean University, MobileSec and Dati and as an advisor to Rutgers University president.

MARIA ZAGHI, of Guatemala, is currently the ICT Project Coordinator for the Chamber of Commerce in Guatemala. She is part of the Information Committee in the National Science Council; she heads the National E-commerce and Information Society Commission of Guatemala and is also a professor in ICT programs for Universidad Del Valle, Francisco Marroquin University, Landívar University and Universidad Galileo in Guatemala. Her expertise in education includes the following areas: System Analysis, Operations Research, Computer Science, Administration of Projects, Strategic Administration, High Tech Seminars, Leadership/Entrepreneurship courses and Computer Science applied to Education.

Ms. Zaghi has an MBA degree from the University of Maryland in College Park, with a specialization in MIS and an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala and a 20-year experience in the implementation of projects and entrepreneur efforts related to ICTs in Latin America.

She has been a senior consultant for local projects in Guatemala related to financial systems, energy sector financial systems, Internet, e-commerce, e-education, e-inclusion, among others, but she has also been an international consultant for projects related to ICTs for the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, the European Community, ICDF (Taiwan), World Summit Award, US AID programs, Gateway Development Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, Non-Aligned Movement Centre for South-South Technical Cooperation (Singapore), GAIA (Spain), Pan-American Health Organization, Exxon and Price Waterhouse Coopers.

She is currently involved in several projects related to e-commerce, technology parks and electronic fundraising for sustainable development projects for the environment in Guatemala and in Latin America for Red Clara (Internet 2).

Diane Kaufman Fredette is a Member of the Council of Experts. A registered Architect working in Manhattan, she is a LEED® Accredited Professional and a Professor with Pratt Institute. She is licensed to practice in New York and Ohio, certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).

Ms. Kaufman Fredette’s 30 years of architectural practice include project leadership with distinguished national and international firms. She has developed expertise in strategic and master planning, programming, design, and orchestrating the flow both decisions and documents for large-scale, multi-phased, fast-track institutional projects nationwide. Her keen skills involve project management, client and team leadership, and creating inventive solutions. Ms. Kaufman Fredette’s experience in leadership, communication and mentorship build rapport and exceptional teamwork.

Ms. Kaufman Fredette’s degrees in architecture from Columbia University and The Ohio State University involved international studies in Oxford, England and Genoa, Italy and these diverse perspectives give breadth and depth to her problem-solving and design. She approaches Design as an act of thoughtful optimism.

She has served on the faculty for Schools of Architecture and as a guest critic at ten universities for student projects in Schools of Architecture. As Chairperson for the Construction Management and Facilities Management Department, Pratt Institute she launched a new Culture of Pro-Active and Creative Makers & Builders for the programs.

Architecture and education are linked in advancement of the quality of the built environment – enabling architecturally significant structures and space to reflect cultural values, emerging technologies and sustainable practices. The impetus to create responsive, innovative design solutions is central to her work.
She serves on Advisory Boards for the New York City Department of Education, Advisory Council for Career and Technical Education, and the Greater New York Construction User Council. Currently, a partner with Fredette Architects, PLLC, her architectural practice bridges a diverse range of projects with a concentration in educational environs and heritage structures.

Victor K. Inada, M.D.
Medical Director
APICHA Primary Care Clinic
Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Inc.

Dr. Inada is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. He received his training at the Residency Program in Social Medicine, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York. His medical training was at the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine. He received his Master's degree at the University of California, San Diego and his Bachelors' degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is on the medical staff at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dr. Inada is a credentialed HIV Specialist by the American Academy of HIV Medicine.

Dr. Inada’s role as APICHA’s Medical Director is to oversee the clinical operation of the APICHA Primary Care Clinic, provide HIV Primary Care to APICHA’s clients, perform STD screening and treatment, and coordinate the quality assurance and continuous quality improvement efforts of the clinic and APICHA’s HIV testing program.

Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Inc.

(APICHA) Established in 1989, APICHA is a premier non-profit AIDS service organization based in New York City, primarily serving the vastly diverse Asians and Pacific Islanders (APIs) of the city. It was founded to combat AIDS-related discrimination and to support, empower, and enhance the quality of life of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the New York City area, particularly those living with AIDS and HIV.

APICHA started as a grassroots organization. It was founded in response to the lack of services for APIs. APICHA has developed a one-stop model of service delivery incorporating a whole range of HIV services to help individuals at risk for infection to remain healthy and, for those who are infected with the virus, to access treatment. APICHA serves populations that collectively represent 12% of New York City’s total population -- speaking over 100 languages. APIs are overwhelmingly immigrants – as much as 75% in New York City. For this reason, APICHA developed programs that are responsive to the cultural and linguistic needs of its constituency. The organization has prevention programs for youth, women, and individuals that identify themselves as gay, bisexual and transgender. APICHA has a budget of $3.2 million with 27 full time staff.

Dr. Richard Velayo, Professor of Psychology, obtained his Ph.D. in Psychology and Education from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, specializing in Cognitive Psychology and Educational Technology. He obtained his M.A. in Applied Behavioral Analysis from the University of the Pacific, B.A. in Psychology and B.A. in Sociology-Anthropology from De La Salle University (Magna cum laude), Manila, Philippines. His scholarly interests focus on multimedia and internet-based technologies as pedagogical tools.

More specifically, his current scholarly interests include:

(1) development of an assessment tool for multimedia learning,

(2) applications of Internet-based technologies (IBTs) as pedagogical and research tools, and

(3) internationalization of the psychology curriculum through IBTs and multimedia technologies.

He has published in peer-reviewed journals such as The International Journal of Instructional Media, Journal of Instructional Psychology, Teaching of Psychology, Reading Improvement, NYS Psychologist, Educational Technology, and the International Psychology Bulletin.

The courses he has taught include Experimental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Instructional Psychology: Multimedia Applications, Research Design and Statistics, General Psychology, Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Developmental Psychology, Behavior Modification, Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, and Psychology of Personal Adjustment.

His scholarly works have been presented in various regional, national, and international psychology conferences including those of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Psychological Society (APS), the Eastern Psychological Association (EPA), the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology (NIToP), and the International Council of Psychologists.

Dr. Velayo has taught at Montana State University, University of Michigan, and De La Salle University before coming to Pace University in 1994 as a full-time faculty member of the Psychology Department. In addition, he is an active reviewer of a number of psychology and education journals including Associate Editor of the Journal of Research on Computing in Education and the International Psychology Bulletin, and editorial board member of the International Journal of Instructional Media and the Journal on School Education, and a Reviewer for the Computers in Teaching Section of the Teaching of Psychology.

The New York State Psychological Association awarded him the Virginia Staudt Sexton Award for Early Career Contributions to Academic Psychology (1997), the Distinguished Service Award (2002), and the Wilhelm Wundt Award for Outstanding Research Contributions to Academic Psychology and Service to NYSPA (2007). He is also the recipient of the 2000 Distinguished Award for Outstanding Service at Pace's Employee Recognition Ceremony. Dr. Velayo is a full member of a number of many professional and academic organizations including the American Psychological Association (in which he is a Fellow of Divisions 1, 2, 46, and 52), the American Psychological Society, the International Council of Psychologists (ICP), International Association of Applied Psychologists, (IAAP), the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), the New York State Psychological Association (Academic Division), the Eastern Psychological Association, Psi Chi (The Honor Society in Psychology), and Sigma Xi (The Scientific Research Society).

He is the Past President (2004) of the Division of International Psychology (Division 52) of the American Psychological Association in which he also served as chair of the Membership Committee, Program Committee, Webmaster and Chair of the Website Technology Committee, and a member of its Curriculum and Training Committee. In addition, he is Chairs the International Teaching of Psychology Task Force for the Society for the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. He is also an active member of APA’s Committee on Divisions and APA Relations (CODAPAR), and is the Chair of the Technology Task Force of the Society for General Psychology (APA Division 1). Moreover, he currently serves as the Chair (2006-2008) of the Psychology Section of the New York Academy of Sciences. He is also actively involved as the International Council of Psychologists' Communications Director, and also as its NGO-DPI Representative to the United Nations where he is part of the Ageing Committee (Member-at-large) and the Committee on Human Settlements (Habitat). He has been elected as Member-at-large of APA Division 52 and is currently (2008 President of the Academic Division of the New York State Psychological Association.

Joann Halpern is the Director of Academic Affairs and Senior Studies at Global College and Assistant Professor of International Education. She received her B.A. in History and German from Dartmouth College, her M.A. in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University, and her Ph.D. in International Education from New York University.

Joann has received scholarships from the following organizations: Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, German Academic Exchange Service and the Carl Duisburg Society.

She has taught German at Harvard University, Dartmouth College and Long Island University as well as Cross-Cultural Communication, ESL and Business English at the University of Magdeburg and Hochschule Harz in Germany. Joann is currently teaching the following seminar at Global College: Cross-Cultural Understanding in a Globalizing world. She speaks German, Spanish, French and English.

Before she came to Global College, Joann was the Director of International Programs at Hochschule Harz (University of Applied Sciences) in Wernigerode, Germany where she taught undergraduates, advised international students and professors, and developed university exchange programs for students and professors in 22 countries.

Joann is currently an active member of NAFSA Association of International Educators and the Comparative and International Education Society where she has presented posters and papers on intercultural training, curriculum development, and the use of Socio-enabling Computing in HIV/AIDS prevention.

She volunteers for AFS where she conducts cross-cultural training programs for visiting teachers from Thailand, China, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic and reentry training for the Congress Bundestag students. She is also involved in the creation of manuals for intercultural trainers and host families.

Dr Simon Moores is Vice Chairman of policy development for the Conservative Technology Forum and Managing Director of Zentelligence (Research) Ltd.

Formerly a member of Prime Minister, Tony Blair's Cabinet Office unit that developed 'UK Online', Simon Moores is a Director of the centre-right Open Market think tank Aediles and advises governments, business and the media on the evolution, development and application of Internet-related technologies and their impact on governance, security and social change.

An advisor and international "Technology Ambassador" "Office of the eEnvoy" in 2001 - 2002, Simon is presently a local government Conservative councillor for the Isle of Thanet in Kent and a member of the "Digital Economy Policy Group", advising Conservative members of the European Parliament and the United Kingdom’s, Westminster opposition, ‘Shadow’ Cabinet.

Working closely with law enforcement agencies as an expert on Internet and computer crime, he chairs the e-crime congress, IP Crime congress and the Tackling Organised Crime congress. He is a one-time runner-up for Computer Weekly's "IT Personality of the Year" and is a columnist for silicon.com.

N. Prelog worked as journalist (editor and editor-in-chief of "Omladinski tjednik" and "Byte magazine"). He founded Information and documentation Center for Environmental Protection at the University of Zagreb. He was responsible for the establishment of information science as a discipline (research field) in the classification of sciences (wrote a proposal and defended it before relevant institutions). At Referral center of the University of Zagreb worked as head of division and as acting director. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California Los Angeles. At "Miroslav Krleža" lexicographic Institute he was assistant director and chairman of the Scientific Council. For 8 years he was a head of Postgraduate program in information sciences. N. Prelog taught at Faculty of Organizational Studies and Information Technology, and Faculty of Political Sciences, Department for Journalism.

N. Prelog worked more than 15 years on high managerial positions (director of institute, deputy director of publishing house, assistant minister). For last 10 years he initiated and headed several complex projects, including “Central European Virtual Library”, “UNESCO Chair for Application of Information and Communication Technology in Teacher Education and Training”, and complete program of introduction of ICT into schools in Croatia together with education of 45.000 teachers for use of ICT (information/digital literacy).

He has written 6 books and textbooks, and more than 50 scientific and professional articles, mostly on usage of computers and new media.He was teaching different subjects, ranging from Information systems to New media, from Office systems to Text processing. For last eight years he was working in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has travelled to more than 40 countries, and chaired about 20 international gatherings and conferences.

He was appointed as Assistant Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000. In the year 2001 he was appointed as Ambassador at Large. In January 2003 he was appointed as first resident Croatian Ambassador to Ireland (where he served until the end of 2006).

He is founder and long time president of Croatian–American Society, Croatian Society for Promotion of ICT in Education. For 14 years he is director of "Information Technology and Journalism" conference in Dubrovnik, and conference “ICT in Education“ – annual meeting of Croatian teachers of information sciences. He was awarded with "The Zagreb Award" (Nagrada grada Zagreba), "The Award of Croatian Informatics Council" and "The Medal for Protection and Improving of Environment". .

Nenad Prelog was elected to the Strategic Council of GAID in April 2008.