Ms. Sarit Firon

Sarit Firon is Managing Partner of Team8 Capital, the new investment vehicle of the Team8 Group. One of Israel’s most accomplished investors known for helping to build companies and bring them to IPO and acquisitions, Sarit brings more than 26 years of global investment and operational experience across Silicon Valley, New York, and Tel Aviv. She has held numerous operational and leadership roles, serving as CEO, CFO, Chairperson, and board member at prominent high-tech companies. She served as CFO at MediaMind during its Nasdaq IPO and acquisition by DG Corp for $517M, as well as at P-Cube during its $200M acquisition by Cisco. She also led the seed round of Datorama, taking an active board member role until the company’s $800M acquisition by Salesforce.

Prior to joining Team8 Capital, Sarit was Managing Partner of Cerca Partners, which invested in tech companies in the Israeli ecosystem and was part of some of the most notable acquisitions and IPOs including Armis (acquired by Insight Partners for $1.1B), Alooma (acquired by Google), Demisto (acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $560), Dynamic Yield (acquired by McDonalds for $300M) and Fiverr (NYSE: FVRR).

Sarit’s experience gives her both exceptional insight and instincts about the viability of a startup, as well as the proven ability to be an active partner in its development and growth. Sarit sits on the board of Shitufim, a social impact non-profit organization. She holds a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Tel-Aviv University in Israel.

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Mr. Daniel Growald 

Daniel Growald is Co-Chair of BankFWD, a network of individuals and organizations using their collective wealth and public standing to persuade banks to phase out financing for fossil fuels and lead on climate change. He serves as a founder, investor, and partner of organizations working to align the power of capital with the intelligence of nature. He has previously founded startups in digital media and carbon-negative power finance; worked alongside renowned social entrepreneur Paul Polak to commercialize ventures in safe drinking water and village-scale renewable energy in India; designed and co-facilitated a life coaching academy; and conducted scientific fieldwork on the intersection of land use, bioenergy, and climate change in Central America. Daniel is a Trustee of the David Rockefeller Fund, a former trustee of the Growald Family Fund, and a Morris K. Udall Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University with a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

 

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Mr. Andrew Karsh

Andrew Karsh currently serves as Portfolio Manager for the Investment Office of CalPERS, a $400 Billion public pension fund.  In addition to direct investment responsibilities, he served as a member of the Absolute Return Strategies Advisory Board and has worked to advise the organization regarding Private Equity opportunities.

Outside of his daily role, Andrew has spent the last seven years advising and investing in disruptive startup companies across all industries, and the last two years as part of the advisory team to Berkeley’s top ranked SkyDeck Accelerator Program.  He was also nominated in 2020 as member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal’s 30 organization GISD working group, which has been tasked with creating investment opportunities which will support the success of these critical initiatives.

Prior to his current position, Andrew was a Portfolio Manager at Credit Suisse Alternative Investments, managing investments for the world’s largest institutional investors. His previous responsibilities have included senior global markets positions in both New York and London as part of Credit Suisse’s Securities Division. In addition to focusing on innovative investment strategies across public and private markets, he has extensive experience advising senior executives at many of the world’s largest corporations.

Andrew was Founding Advisor to Fast Forward, the largest technology focused non-profit accelerator which through its fellowship program has helped 63 million people since 2013.  In addition, he is a Founding Board Member at Think of Us, which utilizes a proprietary technology platform to improve the success rates of 400,000 youth in Foster Care.

Andrew is an alumnus of Columbia Business School and the Board Directors College program at Stanford University.

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Mr. Anthem Hayek Blanchard

A co-founder of software development company Hera Software Development and ransomware proof solution Hercules protocol (www.herc.one), asset-backed blockchain software company AnthemGold Inc. (AnthemGold.com) and co-founder of precious metals dealer Anthem Vault Inc. (brands: AnthemVault.com, AmagiMetals.com), Anthem Hayek Blanchard also serves as Chief Executive Officer of these companies well as a member of the Board of Directors of parent company Anthem Holdings Company.

He was raised by legendary goldbug and precious metals pioneer, James U. Blanchard III, who helped restore Americans’ right to own gold and also founded rare coin and bullion company, Blanchard & Company – once, the world’s largest. As Director of Strategic Development and Marketing with European-based GoldMoney, Anthem helped develop and implement their current business model, overseeing marketing and product development efforts which resulted in an increase of total value held by the company from $1 million in 2002 to $368 million by 2008; today, the company holds over $2 billion in client assets. He also assisted thousands of clients personally over the years, answering their questions regarding buying and selling gold and silver.

From 2010-2014 Anthem served as an independent director and member of the audit committee, compensation committee and nominating committee at Pernix Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (ticker symbol: PTX, traded on NASDAQ), a pharmaceutical company based in The Woodlands, Texas.

Anthem holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Goizueta Business School at Emory University, with concentrations in Professional Accounting and Finance.

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Ms. Wendy Craft

Wendy Craft serves as Chief of Staff for Fulcrum Equities, LLC, a single family office that invests in real estate and operating companies. The office handles the holdings of its principal, Kent M. Swig, and his real estate family and also co-invests with other family offices on a variety of investments around the world. Previously, Ms. Craft held the position of Vice President and General Counsel for the Shepperd Family which is an international investment family located in Zurich Switzerland. The family co-invests around the world on different projects with other families including social impact investing and healthcare projects. Ms. Craft headed the New York office for the family and worked directly with Fritz Shepperd, a third generation family member, who leads his family office. Previous to working with the Shepperd Family, Ms. Craft worked with the Schneider Family serving as their Vice President and General Counsel and assisted them in separating the existing family office from the family’s business operating company. The Schneider Family is a prominent real estate family in New York and has a charitable foundation that serves children’s charities around the world. Prior to that, Ms. Craft served as the President of Hudson Land Company, LLC, a title insurance company specializing in commercial property transactions. Hudson Land was one of many companies owned by a third generation family member Kent M. Swig, a prominent real estate family. In conjunction with that position, she worked in the family office space, specifically involved with family offices and operating companies. Having received her BA degree from Kalamazoo College Missouri, Ms. Craft continued her education at Thomas Cooley Law School where she earned her law degree with a concentration in international law. She also received the American Jurisprudence Prize Award in Conflict of Laws. She then attended Georgetown University Law School and attained her LL.M. designation in Taxation. Ms. Craft is a member of several prominent bar associations including New York State, New Jersey State, Westchester County, the Women’s Westchester Bar Association, the Brooklyn Bar, New York County, New York City, New York City Woman’s Bar and the New York State Bar Association Divisions of Real Property, Tax, Intellectual Property. She is also a member of the bar of the U.S Supreme Court. Additionally, she is a member of many family office associations. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Family Office Exchange. She is also a committee member for the NYSSCPA Family Office Committee in New York and serves on the Steering Committee for the NYU Sterns Family Office Council. She is a frequent speaker on family office topics including family office/family operating companies and their synergies.

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Mr. Marcus Frampton

Marcus Frampton, CFA, CAIA, FRM serves as the Chief Investment Officer of the Alaska Permanent Fund. Mr. Frampton has been with APFC since 2012 and previously served as the Director of Private Markets and Director of Real Assets & Absolute Return.

Prior to joining APFC, Marcus performed diverse roles in his career ranging from investment banking with Lehman Brothers, private equity investing with PCG Capital Partners, and serving as an executive of LPL Financial, a private equity backed portfolio company.

Mr. Frampton holds a BA in Business-Economics with a minor in Accounting from UCLA.  In addition to his role at the APFC, he serves on the Board of Directors of Nyrada, Inc. (an ASX-listed drug development company), Scientific Industries, Inc. (a leading player in the life sciences tools industry), and the Managed Funds Association (the leading advocacy group for the alternative investments industries).

In his personal investing activities, Marcus is an enthusiastic follower and investor in the micro cap and OTC stock markets.  He publishes a monthly newsletter on this overlooked corner of the capital markets which is available at www.microcapletter.com.

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Ms. Cara Kennedy-Cuomo

Cara Kennedy-Cuomo creates invitation-only platforms to support female leadership in the private equity space as a Partner at Sahar Global Summits. Recently, she served as an associate at 17 Asset Management, a global firm that designs and manages investments aligned with the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Cara has also worked for Jeffrey Sachs on international development efforts, for which she lived in Rwanda, Malaysia, and Colombia. Cara is a board member of RFK Human Rights, and has joined the organization on multiple international delegations fighting for individual rights. Cara received her A.B. in Government from Harvard College. During the present COVID outbreak, Cara has adopted an 88 year old wooden sailboat as a quarantine project.

 

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Mr. Barry E. A. Johnson

A native of Birmingham, Alabama and graduate of Yale College and Harvard Business School, Barry Johnson is a compassionate leader whose multidisciplinary career has traversed Wall Street, Hollywood and the White House; Foreign Direct Investment, Economic Development, and Real Estate; and 69 countries to date with iconic brands like Credit Suisse, Disney, Sony, and Microsoft.

Since departing the Obama Administration in 2012 as a senior economic development policy advisor and founding Executive Director of SelectUSA, Barry has served as a c-suite executive advisor in the public and private sectors, as well as a confidential advisor to Single Family Offices often in the areas of challenge resolution, strategic access, global expansion, diversity & participation, social impact, NexGen guidance, and transformational/impactful philanthropy.

Recognizing the under-utilized power of Asset Management to generate market returns while driving inclusive economic prosperity, as well as social and race equity, Barry co-founded Bedowin 360 Capital, a “fund of vc funds” to provide investors trusted entrée into diverse-led businesses for risk-adjusted market returns,  while providing capital and wraparound services to fund managers investing in companies led by Americans of African and Latin ancestry and other underrepresented populations.

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Mr. Sandro Salsano

Sandro Salsano is an Italian self-made entrepreneur, businessman, investor and philanthropist.

Born in Lecco, Italy on September 25 1979, he grew up in Campania, Italy where he played basketball until he decided to move to Milan to study at Bocconi University.

His mother was a teacher and his father worked for the national railway company.

Sandro graduated from Bocconi University Milan with full honors with an MBA program from the University of San Diego California, he also studied at Harvard Business SchoolINCAEPrinceton and Oxford University.

He is President and Chairman of Salsano Group, Chairman of Salsano Family Office and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Salsano Shahani Foundation.

He is a serial entrepreneur, in his early career he started or was a partner of several companies including an investment bank which sold a stake to Goldman Sachs, a factoring company, a UK Fca regulated hedge fund, a real estate company. He started investing in distressed real estate and technology from a very early age.

Sandro has been honoured by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader (YGL). This honor is bestowed by the World Economic Forum each year to recognize the most distinguished and inspiring leaders under the age of 40. Selection Committee is headed by Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan. Past Young Global Leaders from around the world include Mark Zuckerberg, Founder & CEO of Facebook Inc, Larry Page, Co-Founder & CEO, Google; Sergey Brin, Co-Founder/President, Google, Elon Musk, Chairman, Tesla Motors, Leonardo Di Caprio, actor, Jack Ma, founder Alibaba

Sandro is also part of The Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle and he is a YPO.

He is often featured on several medias like CNBCFinancial TimesBloombergForbesCNN.

He is a donor among others of the Elton John FoundationLeonardo Di Caprio FoundationAmfarOlga Sinclair FoundationClinton FoundationOfrece un HogarAspen InstituteProstate Cancer Foundation.

He set up Salsano Shahani Foundation with his wife Johanna Shahani to improve kids’ education in Central and Latin America.

Sandro is the Chairman for Panama of Global Dignity, a non-profit organization founded by H.H. Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway as well as he is part of the Academy of The Global Teacher Prize, founded by the Varkey Foundation, donating 1m usd a year to the best teacher in the world.

Sandro sits on the board of different companies as both a shareholder and as an advisor. He is also on the Steering Committee of 1640society, often referred as the Davos of the Hamptons, together with the Getty, Firestone, Kettering, Pitcairn, Bush, Kennedy & Forstmann families.

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Mr. Tim Gannon

Tim Gannon, Co-Founder of Outback Steakhouse, Inc. is an extremely successful businessman, great sportsman and a staunch polo sponsor.

An alumnus of Florida State University, he studied art history and dreamed of being a museum curator which took him to Florence, Italy, where he became a tour guide for an art gallery. He then went to Aspen, Colorado where he developed his passion for food and cooking. The French chef at the Four Seasons Hotel had offered to train him to be his assistant.

Over the next 14 years he worked at Steak & Ale for Norman Brinker, and then Al Copeland hired Tim to help operate his Copeland’s Cajun Cafe’ in New Orleans. In 1987 Tim sold his saddle for $250.00 and arrived in Tampa with $37.00 in his pocket when Bob Basham and Chris Sullivan asked him to become their partner and launch a new restaurant concept that became known as Outback Steakhouse.

He developed Outback’s iconic “Bloomin’ Onion” recipe, which has generated over $1 billion in worldwide sales, as well as many of the other dishes on Outback’s menu.  Under Tim Gannon’s leadership, Outback Steakhouse significantly expanded it’s global footprint from one restaurant to over 1400 locations.  In 2006, Gannon co-founded OSI Restaurant Partners, an operator of Outback, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, Roy’s Restaurant and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar units.  OSI went public in 2012.

In 1994, Inc. Magazine named Tim Gannon Entrepreneur of the Year. In 1999, The Florida Restaurant Association honored him with its “Lifetime Achievement Award”.  In the year 2000, Tim received an honorary Doctorate Degree in Business Administration and Food Service Management from Johnson & Wales University.  He is also a member of the Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame.  In 2009 he was inducted into the U.S. Business Hall of Fame along with his partners Chris Sullivan and Bob Basham.

In 2011 he launched “Kettle Comfort, Cooking for America” based in West Palm Beach which is Chef inspired food that will be delivered to thousands of hungry or nutrition deprived people each day but at year end 2012 this was dissolved due to economic pressures.

His favorite past time was playing polo of which he had his own team, Outback Polo.  Since 1992 he has been an active polo player and one of the greatest sponsors of the game. In 2001 Outback Polo won their third US Open in a row, which no other polo team has ever done. Tim Gannon also led his team in being the first team ever to hold five US championships (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001).  He has played high goal polo in the U.S., England, Spain, Argentina, Dubai and Uruguay. In 1999, he received the USPA Sponsor of the Year award for his contribution to polo.  He also loves to play tennis.

In 2012 he started the South Florida Franchise of the  PDQ concept with 7 South Florida locations which was founded by his Outback partner, Bob Basham and was purchased back in June 2019.

In 2016 he and his son, Christopher,  created and opened their new concept Bolay which offers a chef inspired, nutrient rich and gluten free menu with 11 locations in South and Central FL  3 more restaurants to open in 2019 and about 10 more in 2020.  Bolay is Florida’s hottest new restaurant concept in the Fast Casual dining scene. This year Bolay was named South Florida Business Journals’s Business of the Year.

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