People
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Robert C. WolcottDr. Wolcott is a leading academic and applied thinker with over 15 years of experience developing innovation and growth strategies with both global companies and entrepreneurial start-ups from a range of industries. He is a faculty member at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, where he teaches corporate innovation and entrepreneurship in Evanston, Miami and Hong Kong (with HKUST). Wolcott’s new book, with Dr. Michael Lippitz, Grow From Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation (McGraw-Hill) launched in October, 2009. Wolcott’s work has appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Business Week, The Financial Times (UK/European Edition) and the New York Times. In 2003, Wolcott founded the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN), a network of senior executives dedicated to driving sustainable innovation, a global organization he continues to lead. He is an advisor to NORDEN, the Nordic Innovation Center, Nordic Council of Ministers, Oslo, Norway, a member of the Global Technology Council of Kraft Foods, Inc, and a frequent speaker at events worldwide. Wolcott holds a B.A. in European and Chinese History and Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering & Management Sciences from Northwestern University. |
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Allan L. PlattMr. Platt is a financial executive with over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, financial strategy and new venture development. He is a co-founder of Clareo Partners and has led the creation of new businesses, both for start-up companies as well as for established corporations. Mr. Platt started his career at Accenture where he was a manager in the financial services group. He next joined the mergers and acquisitions team at Salomon Brothers where he worked with global telecommunications and media companies. He later served as Chief Financial Officer at ExtendMedia, Inc. Mr. Platt earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the Masters in Communication Program at Northwestern University, where he teaches Corporate Ethics. |
Scott D. BowmanMr. Bowman is a leader in sales, marketing, business development, strategy, and mergers & acquisitions. He has built several businesses, and has advised companies in the technology, business services, consumer products, for-profit education, and non-profit industries. Prior to Clareo, Mr. Bowman led a $50 million business unit at X-Rite Incorporated. He has also held leadership positions with Siebel Systems (now Oracle Corporation) overseeing teams responsible for Alliance Business Development, Global Channel Operations, Product Management and Worldwide Sales Operations. Mr. Bowman holds an M.B.A. from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He serves on the Advisory Board for Partners in Compassionate Care, a non-profit organization building a hospital in Southern Sudan. |
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Peter J. BryantMr. Bryant is an executive business strategist with more than 30 years of experience developing and driving high-growth strategies for companies in the U.S., Asia Pacific and Europe. He has advised executive teams at a range of enterprises, from emerging businesses through to Global Fortune 500 companies. He has expertise in a broad range of sectors including resources, energy, CPG & technology. He has held senior leadership roles at companies that include GE and Computer Associates. Mr. Bryant holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and is an alumnus of the Kellogg School of Management. Peter is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Chartered Accountant of the NZ Institute of Chartered Accountants. He is a Senior Advisor to the investment bank Q Advisors and a Senior Fellow of The Kellogg Innovation Network. He also is a member of the prestigious World Class New Zealand Program and holds numerous board positions including a directorship at a nonprofit for under privileged children. |
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Core Team |
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Stacy BenjaminMs. Benjamin specializes in innovation strategies, ideation, and user-centered design. She worked for nine years at IDEO, where she led projects and innovation workshops across a broad range of industries including medical, business, industrial, and consumer products. She currently directs the Certificate in Engineering Design program at Northwestern University, and coaches student teams paired with industry clients on effective design process, team dynamics, and project management. In consulting, Ms. Benjamin focuses primarily on innovation and project management. She has taught best practices in these areas by co-managing multi-cultural design teams; facilitating workshops; and analyzing company design practices to provide recommendations for growth and improvement. Ms. Benjamin has a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester and an MS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA. |
David A. BernalMr. Bernal has more than 15 years of experience in growth strategy, marketing, sales, new products and ventures with multinationals and leading organizations in the U.S., Latin America and Asia. Formerly a strategy consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton, Mr. Bernal has built and run several businesses and assisted companies to conceive, develop, build and launch new products and businesses and solve complex growth strategy problems at corporate and business unit levels. Mr. Bernal holds an M.B.A. from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, Masters in Finance and Marketing from Universidad de los Andes and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. He is an Adjunct Professor of International Management at the Graduate School of Communications at Northwestern University and also Adjunct Professor of Management at the School of Business Administration at Loyola University. He is a native speaker of Spanish, fluent in English and has working knowledge of Portuguese. |
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Paul R. DonnellanMr. Donnellan is a business advisor with more than 12 years experience leading strategic product and marketing initiatives at global companies and startups. Prior to Clareo Partners, Mr. Donnellan led sales and marketing for a startup technology division of Navistar, a $15 billion truck and engine manufacturer. In that role, he defined telematics hardware and software product plans and directed national account sales, dealer channel sales, marketing communications and product management. Mr. Donnellan has more than eight years experience as a management consultant with IBM Business Consulting Services and predecessor firms across multiple industries including automotive, telecom/wireless and financial services. His consulting experience included advising firms on business strategy, technology, sales and marketing. Mr. Donnellan has an MBA from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgetown University. |
Christopher DooleyMr. Dooley has 14 years of experience advising companies of all sizes, on a wide range of issues from business planning, strategy development, sales, and marketing. Mr. Dooley has experience in telecommunications, health care, insurance, financial services, technology, business services and consumer products. Prior to his current position, Mr. Dooley held positions with Siebel Systems (now Oracle Corporation) in sales, marketing and business development. During Mr. Dooley’s tenure Siebel grew revenue and headcount 400%. Mr. Dooley also helped found and run Siebel System’s Venture Capital group, investing in and advising early stage technology companies. He also served as a valued strategic advisor to fortune 500 companies as a consultant with Mercer Management Consulting (now Oliver Wyman). Mr. Dooley has experience living and working in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Haverford College and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Dooley speaks Spanish fluently. |
Kulvir Singh GillMr. Gill has over ten years of experience in strategic planning, organizational effectiveness and post-merger integration. Mr. Gill started his career with Oliver Wyman as a management consultant before holding several positions with Barrick Gold Corporation. At Barrick, he played a key role in establishing the corporate supply chain practice, a turnaround plan for a regional business unit and a next-generation mining innovation strategy. Mr. Gill has also managed several post-merger business integrations and annual strategic planning cycles. Subsequently, he has consulted with a junior mining company and a global engineering firm on corporate strategy development and post-merger integration reviews. In addition, he has facilitated workshops with the Canada Mining Innovation Council. Mr. Gill holds a B.Sc. and a B.Comm. from the University of Calgary. He is a 2010/11 Action Canada fellow and a co-founder of the Seva Food Bank. Mr. Gill also serves on the Board of Directors for the William Osler Health System Foundation and Habitat For Humanity in Brampton, Ontario. |
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Jason Bennett HarrisMr. Harris brings significant consumer and corporate experience in strategic planning, stakeholder alignment, communications, and retail execution. As a former executive of McDonald’s Corporation, Mr. Harris led large-scale business planning and execution initiatives across 14,000 US restaurants. With 25 years of business experience, Mr. Harris is known for his collaborative approach, customer-centric methodology, and problem solving skills. Mr. Harris specializes in co-creating a company’s business strategy, breaking down the implementation into sequenced steps, and coaching for execution at the highest level. Mr. Harris holds a Masters of Science in Communications from Northwestern University, and a BA in Economics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. He contributes his time and experience in his local community of Winnetka, IL, serving as chairman of the Business Community Development Commission. |
Janvi JhaveriMs. Jhaveri brings significant experience counseling companies on business and marketing strategy, brand positioning and stakeholder engagement. Her industry experience spans consumer packaged goods, technology, defense, energy and financial services. Prior to joining Clareo Partners, Ms. Jhaveri was Vice President of Business + Social Purpose Strategy at Edelman. In this role, she designed metrics-driven purpose programs (from sustainability to social innovation) for companies such as Best Buy, Wrigley, HP, AOL and ITT Exelis. |
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Sanjay KumarMr. Kumar has more than ten years experience in venture capital, business strategy, marketing and consulting. Most recently, he consulted startup companies in Silicon Valley. He has extensive expertise in go-to-market strategy, business planning, and growth strategy. Prior to joining Clareo Partners, he was involved in venture capital investment in early stage companies. He held various corporate positions in business strategy, marketing, and technology in both the United States and Asia and involved in bringing innovative products to market. Mr. Kumar has an M.B.A. from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, an M.S. in Computer Science from IIT Chicago, and a B.S. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NIT Trichy, India. |
Michael J. LippitzDr. Lippitz advises corporations and government agencies on public policy, competitive strategy and management systems. He has recently led research on new business creation within established organizations, the impact of globalization on long-term science and technology investment and the appropriate roles and authorities of a Chief Technology Officer. Prior to his consulting career, Dr. Lippitz served as Director for Strategic Technology Planning in the Office of International and Commercial Programs, US Department of Defense. Dr. Lippitz earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in Management Science and Engineering. He maintains top-secret security clearance. |
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Marty PollakMr. Pollak comes to Clareo Partners with significant experience in business development, financial modeling and analysis, venture deal flow screening, and corporate level strategy formulation for large multi-billion dollar organizations. Prior to joining Clareo, Mr. Pollak was a consultant in Deloitte’s Strategy & Operations practice and was Co-Founder/VP of Business Development at JAS Energy, a cleantech start-up specializing in algae biofuel production. Mr. Pollak holds an M.B.A. from Tel Aviv University and a B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park. In addition, he has strong international experience in 42 countries including China, India, and Israel. |
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Satish RaoMr. Rao brings significant industry and consulting experience in the areas of business and marketing strategy. He helps clients address core issues of growth through new markets, products, channels, and creating sustainable competitive advantage through innovation. His expertise includes business planning, go to market and portfolio strategy, financial modeling, developing operating and organizational models, and program management. He was previously a Managing Consultant with IBM’s Strategy & Change consulting practice. His experience spans high tech, consumer and healthcare products, and the industrial sector. He has an M.B.A. in Strategy from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, in addition to an M.S. and B.E. in computer science and engineering. He has also achieved PMP certification in project management. |
Paul WimerPaul Wimer has over 25 years experience assisting companies, from start-ups to fortune 100 businesses, with corporate strategy development in a variety of industries, including Consumer Products, Enterprise Software, Hardware, Business Services and Pharmaceuticals. His experience spans domestic US and international trade. Prior to joining Clareo, Mr. Wimer was a founding managing director at Topspin Partners, a NY based venture capital and private equity firm, where he was responsible for all aspects of investing from opportunity identification, term sheet negotiation and investment to ongoing management. Mr. Wimer concentrated on Enterprise Software, Business Services, Cleantech, Consumer Products and Internet Services. He joined Topspin from Andersen Consulting, where he led the Manufacturing and Operations Strategy Practice in the Americas as part of the Global Supply Chain organization, and as a member of the Global Strategic Services organization. Mr. Wimer started his career in manufacturing with Procter & Gamble. Mr. Wimer’s work has been featured on The Big Idea, Pharmaceutical Executive Magazine, ASCET Supply Chain Handbook, and Alpha. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Yale University and a MBA from Harvard University. |
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Jenn YeeJenn Yee, Founder of MBA-social.com, a social networking and news site for MBA students and alumni, has more than six years of business development, marketing and editorial experience in the print and online media, energy & sustainability, and non-profit sectors. She brings a wealth of experience in business planning and social media marketing strategies to Clareo Partners. Ms. Yee has worked with high profile media companies such as Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, National Geographic Society, Time Out, and Emphasis Media in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to founding MBA-social.com, Ms. Yee led technology development and social media strategy for NewEquityBusiness.com, an online platform that matches small- to medium-sized businesses with over 3000+ sources of public and private financing in the Chicago and San Francisco markets. Ms. Yee received her M.B.A. from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and her B.A. from Williams College. |