Advisors
We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support of NEXUS’s Advisors who lend their names, time, and expertise in ways that amplify the work we must do.
Aaron Berger
Aaron Berger is a research scientist specializing in global catastrophic risks, geopolitical spillover events, and complexity. Working at the delta of deep tech, government relations, and impact, he has spent his time contributing strategic and critical thinking to organizations on multiple global issues, with a particular focus on climate change. A diverse background in international relations has engendered a broad understanding of how to reach individuals across different parts of the political spectrum. He serves as a strategic advisor to individuals and organizations interested in finding important solutions to difficult problems. In his effort to help others see a more systemic perspective, his research methods break down problems into their foundational elements, analysis of which yields new angles and novel solutions.
In addition to being an Advisor to NEXUS, he’s Special Advisor on Innovation and Technology to The Rainey Center for Public Policy, and UN Representative for NEU Global.
Ruma Bose
is a serial entrepreneur, business executive, philanthropist and author with over 15 years working in executive roles with numerous early stage companies in the consumer industry. Having founded and led a number of successful for-profit companies globally, Ruma has advised or provided venture capital to over 100 consumer-related companies in the US, Europe, India and China. She has been a member of the Young President’s Organization and continues to offer the benefits of her experience to various foundations and not-for-profit organizations as an active Board member and philanthropist. Ruma serves as a mentor for the US State Department’s Program to Propel Women’s Entrepreneurship in Pakistan and in 2011 she founded the Pars Fortuna Institute to teach entrepreneurship and leadership skills to women in the developing world.
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Ruma co-authored the bestselling book “Mother Teresa, CEO” that demonstrates the management and leadership principles of Mother Teresa, for which Ruma spent time working alongside Mother Teresa herself. Ruma has delivered addresses to Heads of States, CEO’s and executive teams of multinational companies and regularly speaks on themes of entrepreneurship and philanthropy at conferences around the world. Ruma has been featured in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Financial Chronicle, Investor’s Business Daily and Smart Company and was named a “2011 Next Generation Change Maker in Philanthropy” by Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Perspectives in Philanthropy. Ruma is passionate about mentoring, teaching and providing resources and opportunities for young people and under-served communities around the world. She has an MBA from Dalhousie University in Canada, has lived in and traveled to over 50 countries, and currently lives in New York City.
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SANDFORD R. CLIMAN
Sanford R. (Sandy) Climan is CEO of Entertainment Media Ventures, which he founded in 1999. EMV is active in media investment and strategic advisory work, with a particular focus on innovative technologies and entities currently impacting the traditional boundaries of business, media, and entertainment. He is an investor, producer, and considered a media visionary. He previously served as part of the senior management at Creative Artists Agency, representing such talent as Robert Redford, Robert De Niro, Kevin Costner, Danny DeVito, and director Michael Mann. In addition, he was the founding head of CAA’s corporate practice. Throughout his career, Mr. Climan has held senior executive roles across the entertainment industry, including Corporate Executive Vice President and President of Worldwide Business Development for Universal Studios, and leadership positions in production and distribution for
MGM.
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His productions include “U2 3D,” the first digital live-action 3D film, and “The Aviator,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Martin Scorsese, for which he was awarded a Golden Globe and a British Academy Award. He serves on several charitable boards, including the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, the American Cinematheque, and the World Arts Forum Foundation of the World Economic Forum. He holds a BA in Chemistry from Harvard College, an MS in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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Nashelley Kaplan- Dailey
Nashelley is in perpetual pursuit of visionary solutions to our growing natural resource challenges. Through Nash2O, she acts as a strategist and executionist, helping social entrepreneurs scale their impact and change the world. An attorney by training, a consultant by circumstance, an advocate for justice and equity by privilege. Advancing an evolved ethos of win-win solutions where stewardship is not the enemy of ROI and the value of healthy, functioning systems exceeds those broken down to their constituent parts. Nashelley brings a suite of experience and interests to the Futurism Working Group: start-ups, emerging tech, law, policy, governance, markets and people.
Zecki Dossal
is a Senior Vice President at GLG – a global platform for on-demand professional learning – where he leads strategy, service and operations for the private equity and venture capital business. He also launched the company’s social impact initiatives, to help high-growth social entrepreneurs accelerate their decision-making and scale. Zecki has extensive experience working across sectors, and has helped developed GLG’s business with a number of corporations, strategy consulting firms, start-ups and non-profit organizations. He was previously responsible for managing the global research team for the Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) practice.
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He joined the firm in 2002 as a Research Analyst, responsible for recruiting and development of GLG’s global TMT network. Zecki earned a BA in Economics from Columbia University, after initially starting undergraduate work at Johns Hopkins, and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School. He serves on the boards of United Hatzalah, the Columbia College Young Leadership Council, The Resolution Project, the Global Partnerships Forum, and the junior board of CITYArts. He is also an Advisory Board Member of the Columbia University Center for Sustainability Policy & Management.
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Daniel Erem
Born & raised in Toronto, Canada, Daniel founded, E2 Global, a boutique advisory firm that develops and implements value strategies on behalf of corporations, governments and high net worth individuals. Prior to founding E2 Global, Daniel ran the human capital operations at Lifestyles Magazine, the premier platform perpetuating the culture of high philanthropy. He focused on building and maintaining relationships between the publication and their extensive network of Ultra-High Net Worth philanthropists. Today Daniel spearheads the relationship between NEXUS and Lifestyles, finding creative ways to profile more next gen philanthropists in the publication. Daniel sits on several philanthropic boards and committees including: Federal Law Enforcement Family Support (FDAF), The Prostate Cancer Foundation, as well as a number of cultural not for profits around the world. Daniel speaks 4 languages and holds a B.A. in Political Science from York University and an MBA from the Stern School of Business at New York University. Daniel is married to his wife Haley, who is also a proud NEXUS member.
Mary Galeti
currently serves as the Executive Director and Vice-Chair of the Tecovas Foundation. The Tecovas Foundation funds social innovation and entrepreneurship by focusing on leveraging new service models and sustainable economic development both locally and internationally. A member of the board of trustees since 2000, Mary has led Tecovas to develop a concrete vision to increase the foundation’s capacity and effectiveness. Recently the foundation has added impact investing and PRI work to their portfolio. Through her leadership of the Tecovas Foundation, Mary also serves as strategic stakeholder consultant to several non-profit entities.
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By focusing on appreciative inquiry, and experiential learning, she helps non-profits move from objective-oriented to relationship-oriented strategies, thereby empowering those the nonprofits serve to be a partner in the problem solving process. Previously, Mary worked for Grassroots.org as the Director of Development and Strategy. Grassroots.org is a non-profit organization that aids fellow nonprofit organizations build their capacity through free technology and business services. With experience as both a grant maker and grant seeker, Mary became inspired by the interactions between philanthropy and the ever-evolving social entrepreneurship space. Mary serves as the Chair of the Family Philanthropy Committee at the Council on Foundations. She also serves as the Vice-Chair of the StartingBloc Social Innovation Fellowship Program. She serves on the board of Directors of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, and the City Club of Cleveland Endowment Foundation. She has spoken on the issues of generational transition and leadership cultivation in philanthropy and the nonprofit space at many venues, including the Council on Foundations, Advisors in Philanthropy, and The Youth Summit on Social Innovation and Philanthropy at the United Nations. She has also been a frequent contributor to WNYC’s The Takeaway on supporting military families during deployment. She is a 2008 Startingbloc Social Innovation Fellow. She was a participant in the Next Generation Leaders summit at the White House in 2010, and the NEXUS Youth Summit in 2011. She is the Curator of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Washington, D.C. Hub. She and her husband currently live in Washington, D.C.
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Winston Ibrahim
Winston Ibrahim is Co-Founder & CEO of Hydros, the makers of fast flow filtering hydration products. The company is dedicated to providing sustainable high quality consumer hard goods as well as to fighting the global water crisis. He is also Co-Founder of the Ibrahim Leadership and Dialogue Project in the Middle East, a pioneering effort to develop a generation of U.S. leaders sensitive to inter-cultural understanding. He also serves on several boards including Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), an organization that works to engage religious diversity by building interfaith cooperation on college and university campuses; and ThinkImpact, a leading social entrepreneurship education company.
Khaliya
is a philanthropist, venture capitalist, public health specialist and active advocate for social change. Both her professional and philanthropic work focus on the intersection of design, technology and social entrepreneurship. In addition to her work with NEXUS, Khaliya is a patron of the TED conference. An avid art collector, she is on the Young Acquisitions Council for the Guggenheim, the Whitney Contemporaries and the Metropolitan Museum’s Apollo Circle. Khaliya also runs an art gallery which features innovative, socially-conscious artists and artisans. She received her Master’s degree in Public Health from Columbia University, her Bachelor’s degree in European Studies and International Affairs from New York University, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria from 1999 to 2001. She also studied Computer Science at New York University and Film at the New York Film Academy.
John Kluge
is Co-Founder of Eirene, a group building purpose driven, radically scalable businesses in the education, water, food, and base of pyramid sectors. John also directs the Digital Safety and Citizenship program at the EastWest Institute, an international, non-partisan, non-profit policy organization, whose mission is to devise innovative solutions to pressing security concerns and mobilize networks of individuals, institutions and nations to implement these solutions. Though his focus has been primarily on cybersecurity, climate and energy resilience, and international space policy, he is also working on integrating gaming, social networks, and music as alternative solutions to peacemaking.
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Prior to joining EWI, John was the Projects Coordinator and Legislative Liaison for Rock and Wrap It Up , an anti-poverty think tank, where he piloted a federal food recovery program at the Library of Congress, and spearheaded the drafting and lobbying efforts of the Federal Food Donation Act of 2008. John served as an advisor to the Ambassador of the Central African Republic before joining the EastWest Institute in December of 2008. A graduate of Columbia University, he holds a B.A. in American Studies. John serves on UNICEFs Next Generation Steering Committee and recently joined the Board of Advisors of award-winning special effects and animation company Digital Domain. He is the author of the book John Kluge: Stories, published by Columbia University Press and is currently producing two documentary feature-length films, The Power of Peace, about the futility of war in the 21st century, staring His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Columbia University professor Robert Thurman.
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Shawn Landres
NEXUS Advisor on Faith-based and Interreligious Innovation, is an entrepreneur, writer, and network curator. The White House has spotlighted Shawn’s work as co-founder & CEO of Jumpstart, a research & development laboratory that the Jerusalem Post says has “changed the global conversation about Jewish innovation”, and the Forward has named him to its list of the 50 most influential American Jewish leaders. Jumpstart supports visionary philanthropic & nonprofit leaders of Jewish & interreligious causes with the perspective & connections they need to achieve impact, build stronger communities, and transform the world.
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A member of the inaugural class of Ariane de Rothschild Fellows, Shawn has more than two decades of experience leading, convening, and writing about interreligious engagement, including evangelical-, Catholic-, and Muslim-Jewish dialogue, as well as international education projects funded by the U.S. State Department. He sits on the Investors Advisory Board for The Mother Company, which creates social & emotional learning products for 3- to 6-year olds, and he is a Founding Member of and early investor in HUB LA, a local co-working event space & global network of social enterprise changemakers. He has been delighted to help catalyze multi-faith philanthropic creativity through designing and facilitating encounters and conversations at NEXUS London, the 2012 NEXUS Summit, and beyond.
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Orian Marx
Orian Marx is an entrepreneur, web developer, personal development educator, and futurist. He was a founder of multiple startups developing software to help knowledge workers more effectively utilize the blogosphere and Twitter, and later was the Developer Advocate for App.net – a San Francisco startup that garnered significant attention for building a social network that would never be funded by advertising dollars. He is currently focused on developing an online personal development program, growing the NEXUS Futurism Working Group, and pursuing his travel, photography, and swing dance hobbies. He resides in NYC, where he was born and raised.
Christine Mendonca
Christine LeViseur Mendonça is the CEO and co-founder of Humans on the Move, a social impact advisory focused on connecting private, philanthropic and public sectors to rethink the response to the refugee and migration crisis. Humans on the Move is 1 of 9 firms that has been given special accreditation by the United Nations to join the Global Compact for Migration and worked on President Obama’s Call for Private Sector Engagement in 2016 as well. She has over 15 years private sector experience working for both corporations and as a consultant.
Jenna Nicholas
graduated from Stanford University, class of 2012 with an International Relations Honors Degree, having also read International Development at Oxford University. During her time as a student, Jenna interned at: the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR); the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society; the Siebel Foundation; Global Health Corps and Business for Social Responsibility in Beijing. She was on the Board of the Stanford Haas Center for Public Service, and the Judging Chair of the Business Association for Stanford Entrepreneurial Students Social Entrepreneurship Competition. In 2011, Jenna co-founded a social enterprise, Phoenix Global Impact, which is dedicated to promoting strategic philanthropy and impact investing in China. Currently Jenna is the Executive Assistant for Wayne Silby, Chairman of Calvert Special Equities in Washington, DC. Jenna is also the Senior Vice-President, Social Capital for Gridshare, a renewable energy finance platform.
Julia Paino
Julia Paino is an investor and entrepreneur focused on supporting solutions that promote a more sustainable and equitable food system. Julia is currently a Founding Partner at Trofi Holdings and a Strategic Advisor to Desert Bloom Foods. Previously, Julia co-founded Branch Venture Group, a Boston-based syndicate that provides capital to early-stage companies in the food, beverage, and agtech space. Prior to co-founding Branch Venture Group, Julia joined as a Founding Venture Partner at NextGen Ventures, the first network- driven venture firm investing in innovative technology solutions. In addition to her work in venture capital, Julia founded Swoffle, a nationwide organic food company where she now serves on the board of directors. Through various philanthropic partnerships at Swoffle, the company provides over 8k healthy meals per month to those in need.
Julia has also been a part of several philanthropic initiatives including MIT Solve, Feeding America, MIT Enterprise Forum, and the Northeast Clean Energy Council. In addition to her philanthropic experience, Julia has been a mentor and judge for MassChallenge, CleanTech Open, and MIT. Julia has also been a featured speaker at The Federal Reserve Bank, Harvard University, Nexus Global Summit at the United Nations, among others
Cara Peak
Cara Peek is a Yawuru/Bunuba woman, a lawyer, social innovator and entrepreneur strongly committed to fostering access and opportunity for rural, remote and regional communities. Cara’s speciality is place based, people-centred solutions with global reach. She has worked in the government, non-profit and corporate sectors before co-founding The Cultural Intelligence Project and founding non-profit Saltwater Country with a focus on empowering First Nations people to improve their social, emotional and economic well-being. She believes the success of Indigenous Australians is the success of all Australians. Cara’s recent awards include 2019 Churchill Fellow, 2019 AMP Tomorrow Maker, 2020 Agrifutures Rural Women Award WA. Based out of Broome, Western Australia.
Jennifer Smorgon
Jennifer Smorgon is a Vedic meditation teacher, speaker, and mentor for the NEXUS Global Summit community. She is joining the NEXUS Impact Society as a Scholar in Residence cultivating an awareness of conscious leadership skills for its members. She is passionate about innovative approaches to health, the mind, and the role of technology in humanity. In the United States, she is a founding member of The Chopra Foundation’s Self-Directed Biological Transformation Initiative. She is also the past Vice Chair of the Chopra Foundation Board and a current advisor. In Israel, Jennifer serves on the board of the Mem Foundation supporting an array of social impact and community projects. Jennifer is a mentor to individuals, family offices, and global communities. Jennifer lives in San Francisco along with her husband and their five children.
Josh Tanenbaum
Josh has been investing in early stage companies since 2014 upon exiting his early stage social enterprise, LOCAL VIBES, where he first discovered the concept of scalable social DNA. The company was a tech-enhanced artist scouting, development, and cause marketing platform that supported quality emerging live bands. Post-the exit from LOCAL VIBES, Josh joined Korn Ferry’s Global Asset Management & Alternatives Practice, where he participated in the founding of the Impact Investing practice and Transactions & Transformations (M&A) solution in addition to supporting searches and team lift outs of Asset Management CEOs and senior investors. Josh transitioned to investment banking at Citi in its Financial Institutions Group, supporting Mergers & Acquisitions of Asset Managers, Insurance firms, and Marketplace Lenders. Josh then launched Clearstone’s decentralized venture fund in an effort to redress inequality for low and middle income communities.
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Josh is a Board Trustee and Investment Committee Chair of the Polonsky Foundation, a Young World Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award and a member of the University of Michigan Ross School of Business’s Erb Institute External Advisory Board. Josh previously judged the President Clinton-backed Hult Prize and was a Environmental Finance & Impact Investing Fellow at Partners Group Impact Investing. He has received the FiNext Award as a “Leader of Excellence in Financial Services” and The Forward’s “Take the Lead Award” for Transformational Impact Investing.
Josh holds an MBA from Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management and a dual-BA in Politics & International Studies and Sociology from University of Melbourne, Australia.
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Joshua Thomas
got his first taste of business in his work in radio as the youngest Assistant Program Director in the country at Hot 97.1 FM in New York City. From there he rocketed through his Bachelors in Business Entertainment at Indiana University, while maintaining his successful international DJ career. His knack for entrepreneurship has lead to his partnership status with Dale & Thomas, the largest gourmet popcorn company in the country. Most recently Joshua has partnered with Edward Jamele to birth crowdMGMT, a Creative Experiential Marketing & Media Agency satisfying the needs of clients ranging from popular venues & hotels to leading accessories brands. At this pace, Joshua Thomas has no plans of slowing down any time soon.
Claudia Welss
Claudia Welss is a social activist at the intersection of practical consciousness research and global transformation. She’s Board Chairman and current CEO of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), a nonprofit scientific research institute based in California, founded in 1973 by Apollo 14 astronaut and 6th man to walk on the moon Capt. Ed Mitchell after having an epiphany during his return to Earth about the true interconnected nature of reality. She’s Vice-Chair of the Space for Humanity Board of Directors (“To Space, For Earth”) where she also helps prepare Citizen Astronauts for flight; lead citizen scientist for GCP 2.0, the next-gen version of the science-based Global Consciousness Project (Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research lab); co-investigator on a UC San Diego study exploring shifts in perception and psychophysiology in response to virtual reality simulations of the Overview Effect, and convenor of the IONS Overview Effect and Collective Consciousness webinar series. Claudia is a contributing author of the Gold Nautilus award-winning anthology, Our Moment of Choice (Simon & Schuster), and was founding chair of one of the earliest NEXUS working groups (Invest in Yourself), created to illuminate the relationship between personal, social and planetary change. Claudia also founded NextNow Collaboratory, described by the director of MIT’s Center for Collective Intelligence as an example of “a new kind of collective intelligence,” and was a director at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business where she helped develop and deliver programs on strategy for global corporations while pioneering social responsibility and sustainability curriculum. This experience led her to explore consciousness as providing the most powerful leverage for inspiring a regenerative culture.
Wesley Wittkamper
began his career in Hollywood as a screenwriter and later as a director. He wrote and directed the social impact feature film “Making Change” which stars Steve Guttenberg, Ed Begley Jr, and Cam Gigandet. Wesley worked for the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television where he consulted graduate students on their thesis projects. Wesley is also passionate about building communities. He cut his teeth in the 500 acre community of Koinonia which is known for being the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity. As a 21st century social engineer he currently turns online activism into off line communities believing that a rural setting in nature allows for more meaningful relationships and purposeful existence. He specializes in closed looped systems of renewable energy, water purification and permaculture. Wesley graduated from Bowdoin College with a bachelor of science.
Emeritus Advisors
