Arnold Donald
Arnold is currently a Principal at AWD Group.
Prior to this position, he was the President and Chief Executive Officer for the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation headquartered in New York.
Before joining the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in 2006, Mr. Donald
founded Merisant Company whose products include the sweeteners Equal and
Canderel. He held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from its
inception in 2000 through June of 2003, and continued to serve as Chairman of the
Board through 2005.
Previously, Mr. Donald was a senior executive at Monsanto Company in St. Louis.
In more than 20 years at Monsanto, his responsibilities included serving as
President of Monsanto’s Agricultural Company and later as a Senior Corporate Vice
President, officer of the corporation, and a key member of the company's Life
Sciences Leadership team, including strategic roles in corporate expansion,
globalization, and technology initiatives.
A native of New Orleans, Mr. Donald received a BA degree from Carleton College,
a BS degree in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis,
and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Among
many honors, Mr. Donald has been named "Executive of the Year" by Black
Enterprise magazine, and one of Fortune magazine's "50 Most Powerful Black
Executives in America." He also has an extensive history of involvement in local,
national, and international organizations, both professional and civic, including
appointments by Presidents Clinton and Bush to the Presidents Export Council
helping to shape international trade policy for the U. S.
His other Board Memberships include Carnival Corporation, Carnival plc, Crown
Holdings, Inc., The Laclede Group, Inc., Oil-Dri Corporation of America, The
Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and
Carleton College in Northfield, MN.
Peter Einstein
Peter Einstein is a senior media executive with strong leadership, communication and entrepreneurial
skills. He has focused his career on start-up company situations which have resulted in
operational/profitable success on a domestic and international basis, and has achieved success in
multi-cultural/multi-language situations providing both vision and leadership to companies in these
environments.
Currently Mr. Einstein is the founder and managing partner of Einstein Media Capital Partners
(EMCP) a UK and Dubai, UAE based private equity firm specializing in advisory and investment
in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) sector. Less than one year old EMCP
has already gained notoriety for identifying and developing deal flow in the TMT sector
primarily in the underdeveloped Middle East and North African (MENA) region. EMCP's first
portfolio company GINX TV a TV channel and internet portal targeting the lucrative video
gaming consumer is on a rapid global expansion including its launch in the MENA region in 2008.
Prior to EMCP Mr. Einstein was the founding President and CEO of Showtime Arabia, a direct-to-home,
digital satellite pay-TV service for the Middle East/North Africa owned by Viacom, Inc and The
Kuwait Investment Project Company. For 10 years, Mr. Einstein had overall responsibility for all
platform strategy and operations. He oversaw the successful growth of the company from start-up
to over 600 employees serving 16 territories across the Arab speaking world.
Prior to his tenure at Showtime Arabia, Mr. Einstein spent 15 years at Viacom Inc.’s MTV Networks
and was an original member of the team that launched MTV MUSIC TELEVISION and NICKELODEON in the
US. During his tenure at MTV NETWORKS, he held posts ranging from management positions with the
U.S. sales, marketing and ad sales divisions to moving overseas and developing MTV’s international
expansion including becoming President and Business Director of MTV Networks Europe. In this post,
he was responsible for all business and strategic areas of the company including MTV Europe, VH-1
UK and VH-1 Germany. His major strategic initiatives included the launch of VH-1 network in
Germany with a later rollout of VH-1 in additional European territories, and the launch of a
national advertising sales program to maximize the revenue from country specific advertising in
addition to pan European.
Mr. Einstein holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Ithaca College, and an MBA in Marketing
from Babson College.
He lives with his wife and two children in Dubai, UAE and is fluent in the German language.
Jeffrey A. Golman
Jeffrey A. Golman is Vice Chairman of Mesirow Financial, Inc. and head of its Investment Banking Group. Jeff is also a member of the Board of Directors and its executive committee. Prior to joining Mesirow Financial, Mr. Golman was a founding partner of GGW Management Partners, LLC, a management-oriented investment group formed in partnership with Madison Dearborn Partners, Willis Stein & Partners and The Pritzker Organization.
Before forming GGW Management Partners in 2000, Mr. Golman was a Managing Director at Lazard Frères & Co., LLC and opened its office in Chicago in 1988. He advised boards of directors, CEOs and senior management teams on a broad array of assignments and led teams in mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, IPOs, restructurings, recapitalizations, leveraged transactions and equity and debt financings. Mr. Golman’s corporate finance experience includes the origination and/or execution of domestic and cross-border transactions aggregating more than $50 billion. At Lazard, he focused primarily on companies in the consumer products, diversified manufacturing and business services industries.
Mr. Golman also served as Vice President in Salomon Brothers’ Chicago Banking Group (1981-1988), focusing on mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance. Before joining Salomon Brothers, he practiced law at Katten Muchin & Zavis (now KMZ Rosenman) in Chicago (1980-1981) where he specialized in corporate law and tax.
Mr. Golman is a Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Leadership Council member and a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation’s Greater Illinois Chapter. He is also a member of the University of Illinois Foundation as well as a member of the Development Council of B.U.I.L.D., Inc. (Broader Urban Involvement and Leadership Development) a not-for-profit organization which helps at–risk youth to realize their potential and contribute to the stability, safety and well-being of our communities.
Mr. Golman is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago, a member of the Executives’ Club of Chicago and is a member of the Board of Directors of DHR International, Inc. As both a CPA and attorney, he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the American Bar Association and the Illinois Bar Associations.
He earned a B.S. in accounting from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana (1977) and a J.D. from the Northwestern University School of Law (1980) where he graduated Order of the Coif and was an editor of the Northwestern University Law Review.
Mr. Golman lives in Highland Park with his wife, Cidney and their four children. His interests include golf and tennis; he is also an instrument-rated commercial pilot with a jet rating.
Gary Grom
Gary Grom served as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Sara Lee
from July 1992 to 2001. He has served as a member of Coach’s Board of
Directors since June 1, 2000, the date of incorporation.
From June 1985 to June 1992, Mr. Grom held various human resource
positions at Sara Lee, including Vice President of Sara Lee Packaged Meats
and Executive Director of Compensation , Benefits and Manpower Planning.
Mr. Grom holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration
from The University of Wisconsin – LaCrosse.
Dr. Roger Jenkins
Dr. Roger Jenkins is currently the Dean of the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Dean Jenkins came to Miami University in 2002 from Wake Forest University, where he held the F.M. Kirby Chair in Business Excellence. Prior to his tenure at Wake Forest, he was President and CEO of a Knoxville, Tenn.-based management and marketing consulting firm. From 1993-1995, he served as Director, President and Chief Operating Officer of Goody's Family Clothing, Inc., a retail operation with sales in excess of $600 million. From 1980 to 1993, he served as a faculty member in the marketing department at the University of Tennessee with duties that expanded to include an appointment, first as Associate Dean for Graduate Business Programs, and then as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
Dr. Jenkins’ scholarly work has been published in the Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of Marketing Research, among others. He is past President of the Academy of Marketing Science where he also honored as Senior Fellow of the Academy, and past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Graduate Management Admissions Council. He is a recipient of many outstanding teacher awards and also of the Harold Maynard Award for outstanding article published in the Journal of Marketing. Dean Jenkins’ areas of expertise are in retailing, marketing, and business strategy as well as leadership development.
Other professional experience includes being a visiting marketing professor and an assistant director of graduate programs at Ohio State University, an international accountant with Eastman Kodak Co., an auditor with Kemper Insurance Conglomerate, Chicago, and an accountant with Shell Oil.
Dr. Jenkins earned his undergraduate degree at Berea College, his MBA at East Tennessee State University, and his Ph.D. at Ohio State University.
Pedro Lain-Alonso
Pedro Lain-Alonso currently serves as Chairman and majority shareholder of Class Management, a group of companies developing projects in diverse fields of renewable energies and operating wind farms in production.
Mr. Lain-Alonso began his professional career in the steel industry with Forjas de Elgoibar, S.A. and Fundiciones Especiales, S.A. where he was responsible for the international markets. In 1986, he relocated to New York and became the Vice-President of Investronica Inc., the North Americas subsidiary of the Spanish company El Corte Ingles. Mr. Lain-Alonso remained in New York until 1988.
In 1988, Mr. Lain-Alonso joined AT&T España, S.A. to develop to the expansion of the company in Spain and Portugal, becoming CEO until 1998.
In 1998, he was named an Eisenhower Fellow and developed his "fellowship" in North America that same year. From 1999 to 2001, Mr. Lain-Alonso served as CEO for Interoute Communications and created the world’s first VoIP Nationwide telephone operator.
Mr. Lain-Alonso joined the Board of Directors of LAESA (European Laboratory of the Amplifier of Energy), a company that develops systems for the treatment of radioactive waste, in 1999.
He obtained his Master degree in Theoretical Physics by the University of Zaragoza in 1981 with departmental honors. He also has a solid management education from INSEAD, AT&T School of Business, IESE and the University of Michigan. He obtained his Master degree in Theoretical Physics by the University of Zaragoza in 1981 with departmental honors. He also has a solid management education from INSEAD, AT&T School of Business, IESE and the University of Michigan.
Mr. Lain-Alonso has been member of the "American Business Council" (1993-1995), the Royal Society of Physics (1995-1999) and the "International Advisory Council" of the Eisenhower Foundation ((2001 – Present). He has received numerous awards and recognitions in his career including “Spaniard of the Year", by the American Club of Madrid, for his contribution to improve Spainish-North American relations.
Mr. Lain-Alonso is married and has three children.
Kathy T. Osborn
Kathleen T. Osborn is Executive Director of the Regional Business Council in St. Louis, Missouri. The RBC is a consortium of 100 CEOs representing the St. Louis region’s largest mid-cap companies. The Council's mission is to act on high impact business, civic and philanthropic initiatives in order to build a highly competitive and world-class region. Since its inception, the RBC has played a vital role in the region and is focused on numerous issues including Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, infrastructure funding, workforce development and reform of the St. Louis Public Schools system. The RBC’s commitment to the community extends to the United Way, for which it has raised over $50 million since 2002.
Prior to this position, Ms. Osborn was Vice Chancellor of University Relations at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Ms. Osborn is very active within the St. Louis community and serves on a variety of business and civic boards including: the Urban League of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis County Economic Council, Des Lee Collaboration Advisory Board, United Way of Greater St. Louis, St. Louis Airport Commission, St. Louis University Board of Trustees; St. Louis Police Foundation Board, Forest Park Forever Board and Executive Committee, University of Missouri-St. Louis Chancellor’s Council; and Fair St. Louis Board and Executive Committee.
Ms. Osborn received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In addition, she earned a postgraduate certificate from the Institute for Education Management at Harvard University.
Philip E. Ruben
Philip E. Ruben is the Founder and Managing Partner of Ruben, Firsel & Rosenfeld, LLC, a law firm with two offices in Chicago and Bannockburn, Illinois. He concentrates his practice on representing private and public companies and has extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, venture capital investment and both public and private equity and leveraged transactions, contracts, estate and succession planning and restructuring and workouts.
Prior to founding his new firm, Mr. Ruben was a partner at Arnstein & Lehr, a Chicago and Florida based firm and prior to that Mr. Ruben was a partner at Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC in Chicago, where he was a member of the Corporate Practice Group, the Restructuring and Insolvency Group and sat on the Executive Committee and Promotions Committee.
Mr. Ruben served as president of the North Suburban YMCA and recently saved the facility from foreclosure by restructuring loans, attracting new donors and members, and reorganizing management. Mr. Ruben currently serves as an advisory director for the YMCA. He also serves as an advisory director for the American Theater Company in Chicago.
Mr. Ruben is a Certified Public Accountant and frequently donates his legal and business knowledge as a director and advisor for companies. He received a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Illinois in 1980 and a J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law, the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, in 1983.
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