Advisory Board

 

George A. Polisner

George has been working in most aspects of Information Technology since 1981. As a Director at Oracle Corporation, he most recently built the technology and infrastructure for the Critical Engagement function, and formed the Global Innovation and Quality business groups within the On Demand hosting business unit for Oracle Corporation. George joined Oracle in 1993, and ran the Southwest Performance Architecture Oracle Consulting. His career has been predicated upon product and service innovation. He is a frequent contributor to newspapers.

 

Mike Mallo

Mike Mallo has 13 years experience in software development, management, and business experience leading teams for IBM's Tivoli brand.  He is a thought leader in the areas of data center inventory management, data warehousing, and application and server discovery.  Mike is a visionary in the field of social conscious buying and filed a patent with IBM in 2004 for a mobile device tailored to deliver consumer information while shopping. Mike is a graduate of Marquette University and a founder of ImpactBuying.com, a non profit focused on bringing consumers information about the manufacturers they are supporting with their day to day purchases.  This site has both a forum on topics educating the public on consumer purchasing and a prototype of a consumer accessible database serving as an example of how social values data can be transformed into an easy to consume format for consumers.  Mike now participates on the Alonovo advisory council.

Brad DeGraf

Brad has been an innovator in computer animation in the entertainment industry since 1982, particularly in the areas of realtime characters, ride films, and the Web. In 2000, Wired called Brad "an icon in the world of 3D animation," and it's been all downhill since then. Since 2000, he has concentrated on work at the intersection of media, technology, finance, and social change. In addition to his current role as co-founder and CTO of the Interra Project, that work has included a variety of consultancy roles focused on next-generation digital media technology, particularly lately in international development work with the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and the US Agency for International Development. Other recent roles include executive producer of Youthgive, executive director of the Internet Bookmobile project , co-director for Moving Images at the Internet Archive, and senior analyst for Jon Peddie Research. In his copious spare time, Brad also develops web-based social applications, most notably Books We Like and Smartocracy .

Allison Wolff

In 2006, Allison founded Mass Roots Project, an "incubator" backed by Pierre Omidyar, that provides entrepreneurs focused on business and consumer-based solutions to the climate and ecological crises with the expertise and funding they need to more rapidly get their ideas to market. Prior to founding Mass Roots Project, Allison founded Vibrant Planet, a strategic consulting firm that works with the leadership teams of Fortune 100 companies and nonprofits to catalyze positive social and environmental change. Clients include eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Conservation International, GlobalGiving, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, The Interra Project, and Leapfrog. Prior to Vibrant Planet, Allison was a lead strategist at Stone Yamashita Partners, one of the country’s leading consulting firms helping CEOs and executive teams articulate and implement visions for change, build cultures of innovation, and create unique customer experiences. While there, Allison led engagements with the senior leadership teams of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Nike, PBS, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, GlobalGiving, among others. Allison's early work experience was managing international sales and marketing for both Ryka, a women's athletic shoe company, and Mossimo, a men's sportswear brand. Later she became Director of Marketing for Netflix, an online DVD rental service. Allison helped Netflix grow from a little-known niche player in 1997 to a mainstream, successful service by forging strategic partnerships with both movie studios and consumer electronics manufacturers, employing viral marketing techniques, and later, through print and television advertising. Allison also serves on the board of Pinhead Institute, a Smithsonian affiliate, in Telluride, CO.

Bob Hornsby

Managing Partner, JOBOMAX Global LTD For almost two decades Bob has worked both in the US and overseas in education, outreach and strategic communications. He has more than ten years of experience as a business development and project management executive in entrepreneurial settings, having led technology services company Slingshot Solutions, and directed new business unit development for Overseas Strategic Consulting, before co-founding JOBOMAX. A featured panelist at the 2007 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum in Ghana, Bob is a frequent contributor to conferences and publications focused on socially responsible business and economic development in Africa. Bob received his MBA from the Wharton School, where he was appointed to a Teaching Assistantship in Finance and elected to the WGA Executive Council as representative of International and Cultural MBA student groups. He received an MA in International Economics and African Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and a BA in Economics at Davidson College. Prior to entering the private sector, Bob served in the Peace Corps in West Africa, taught in the Atlanta Public Schools, and received an appointment to serve as a Foreign Service Officer with the US Department of State.

Bruce Cahan

Bruce is an Ashoka Fellow, recognized for his social venture investment research and implementation strategies. As a finance lawyer, Bruce practiced corporate, municipal and real estate finance law with the international law firm of Weil Gotshal & Manges for 10 years in New York City. Bruce is also a Non-Residential Fellow at the Stanford Center for Internet & Society. Bruce is creating an ethical and transparent bank at which conscious consumers, responsible businesses and nonprofits will receive better interest rates and lower fees by sticking to self-made plans for responsible living trends that raise neighborhood quality of life indicators and reduce risk.

Suzanne Stenson O'Brien

Suzanne was Communications Director for National Voice, managing technology systems and branding efforts of the national NOVEMBER 2 communications and GOTV campaigns. For almost 20 years, Suzanne has worked in social engagement and community organizing—including Executive Manager for Institutional Development of the Independent Television Service (ITVS)—and as p.r. and communications consultant to numerous PBS-bound documentary features, non-profit organizations, community groups, and candidates for office. Her work online has included pioneering e-outreach strategies in the '90s—such as organizing over 900 house parties around the THE GOOD WAR AND THOSE WHO REFUSED TO FIGHT IT, and content development, including lead curriculum developer for the Peabody Award-winning SONIC MEMORIAL.