Experts

Michael E. Porter is a leading authority on competitive strategy, the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states, and regions, and the application of competitive principles to social problems such as health care, the environment, and corporate responsibility.

He is the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor, based at Harvard Business School. A University professorship is the highest professional recognition that can be awarded to a Harvard faculty member. In 2001, Harvard Business School and Harvard University jointly created the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, dedicated to furthering Professor Porter's work.

Professor Porter is generally recognized as the father of the modern strategy field, as has been identified in a variety of rankings and surveys as the world's most influential thinker on management and competitiveness.

He is the author of 17 books and over 125 articles. He received a B.S.E. with high honors in aerospace and mechanical engineering from Princeton University in 1969, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. He received an M.B.A. with high distinction in 1971 from the Harvard Business School, where he was a George F. Baker Scholar, and a Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University in 1973.

President W. George W. Bush appointed Ronald N. Langston to serve as the National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), March 2001 to January 2009. He is the first individual to hold the title National Director and is the longest serving Director in the history of the Agency. He directed the MBDA through a reorganization and transformation from a bureaucratic and administrative agency to an entrepreneurial organization. In 2008, MBDA was recognized as one of the top three agencies in the U.S. Department of Commerce and received the highest ranking in leadership.

Highlights of prior public, private and non-profit experience includes: Vice President, Organizational and Administrative Management, EMCO, Manufacturing, Commercial Real Estate Representative, Director, Economic Development, Institute for Social and Economic Development, Director, National Markets, Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, Iowa. Vice President, Governmental Affairs, Greater Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Federation. Special Assistant, Office of Secretary, Congressional Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, D.C. Legislative Assistant, U.S. Senate. Legislative Research Analyst, Iowa General Assembly.

International experience and travel includes Africa, Europe, Caribbean, Australia and Canada. Official delegate to Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), conference at Mauritius (2002) and Senegal (2005). Official travel to Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Botswana, South Africa (Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durbin), Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, Arusha, Tanzania, and Zanzibar. Delegate, American Council of Young Political Leaders, (ACYPL), to West Germany, France, NATO, Brussels, Belgium. Travel includes official visits to Spain (Madrid and Segovia), and Sydney, Australia to establish business-to-business linkages between the Minority Business Development Agency and the Export Club of Spain and between Aboriginal entrepreneurs.

Upon leaving government service in January 2009, Langston established Langston Global Enterprises, (LGE), LLC, an entrepreneurial and business innovations consulting firm. LGE will focus on business-to-business relations between U.S. businesses and the strategic pursuit of business relationships between Small and Medium Enterprises in Africa, Caribbean nations and Pacific Islanders through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Millennium Challenge Accounts and U.S. Free Trade Agreements.

Langston is the recipient of numerous awards and citations. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa, City University of New York, and Harvard University. He is a member of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, and a fraternal member of Omega Psi and Phi and Sigma Pi Phi Boule. He is married to Inga P. Bumbary, Esq. of Washington, D.C.

Born in the Dorchester section of Boston, Alan Lewis overcame a difficult childhood and family life to become a successful businessman and a leading social entrepreneur. Whether through his business or philanthropic work, his mission has always been the same: to do all that he can to help change people’s lives.

Today, Alan is chairman and owner of $700 million Grand Circle Corporation, the largest U.S. direct marketer of international vacations for Americans aged 50 and older with more than 2,500 employees in more than 30 offices worldwide. Grand Circle owns or charters 60 ships. He also is co-founder of Grand Circle Foundation and Pinnacle Leadership and Team Development, organizations he established in 1992 to create positive social change worldwide through financial support and leadership development, including that of social entrepreneurial leaders.

Since the creation of Grand Circle Foundation with his wife Harriet, Alan has donated or pledged more than $47 million USD to cultural and educational organizations worldwide, including more than 80 rural and urban schools and villages today. Committed to hands-on philanthropy and volunteerism, Alan and Harriet founded a community service program for Grand Circle associates through which more than 90% of them give back to their community each year. Through Pinnacle, Alan has supported the growth and development of more than 1,000 mid-to-upper level leaders and CEOs working at for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations through a series of outdoor and experiential trainings and programs at Pinnacle’s 400-acre property in Kensington, New Hampshire.

Alan has received more than a dozen awards and wide recognition for his entrepreneurialism and unique approach to philanthropy, including the late Paul Newsman’s Committee to Encourage Corporate Philanthropy’s CEO Leadership Award, Ernst & Young’s New England Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the government of Tanzania’s Humanitarian Award.

Bruce Crocker is an internationally recognized and awarded graphic designer specializing in brand and corporate design and has been practicing professionally since 1977.

In 2003 he joined Modernista as Design Director, and has worked on accounts including Product (RED), TIAA-CREF, Rockport, and General Motors. Bruce also headed up the recent redesign of BusinessWeek magazine.

Prior to joining Modernista, Bruce founded Crocker Inc, an award winning brand design firm based in Boston, which has been active since 1986. Before launching Crocker Inc., he was Art Director at BBDO Advertising, New York as well as Art Director and Creative Director at Cipriani/Kremer and Altman & Manley Advertising, respectively. His responsibilities have included print, broadcast, interactive, and multimedia productions and has provided a full range of services including: strategic planning, direct mail, advertising, product/package design and development, corporate identity, annual reports and interactive web design.

Bruce’s work in support of his clients has won him well-deserved recognition – and many national and international awards – from such organizations as The Boston, San Francisco and New York Art Director’s Clubs (including gold awards), Communication Arts, The American Institute of Graphic Arts (including best of show), Graphis International, The American Center for Design, and The Clio Awards. He is an active member of the AIGA and has lectured to numerous business organizations and educational institutions on brand design and creative brainstorming.

Bruce has taught advertising and design at the Art Institute of Boston and has also been chosen to judge many prestigious design competitions and is co-founder of the Robert Manley Scholarship fund at The University of Connecticut.

Marcia Lamb has had almost forty years of senior leadership roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors. She is currently consulting to a number of organizations, both non-profit and for profit.

Ms. Lamb is a founder of the Minneapolis based firm of Hansen, Henley, Yoder and Lamb which provides a full range of development services to non-profits across the country.

Ms. Lamb is also a Director of the Allworld Network, a company with offices in Boston, Johannesburg, London and Riyadh that is promoting entrepreneurship in developing countries.

Previously she served as Executive Vice President of the National Park Foundation (NPF) reporting to the President and leading all of their development efforts. The National Park Foundation, a 501C 3 organization based in Washington, DC, is the Congressionally chartered philanthropic partner of the National Park Service and raises private funds to support our National Parks. During her tenure the Foundation instituted regional fund raising events in key markets across the country and held an inaugural NPF Gala in New York. She also worked on a national leadership Summit on the future of Park Philanthropy and Partnerships that was led by Mrs. Laura Bush, Honorary Chair of NPF.

Prior to this, Ms. Lamb served as Co-Executive Director of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) for nine years. ICIC is a national non-profit organization founded in 1994 by Harvard Business School Professor Michael E. Porter and based in Boston. ICIC’s mission is to eliminate economic inequality in America’s inner cities through private sector engagement that leads to jobs, income and wealth creation for local residents. Ms. Lamb helped build the national organization, the Board of Directors, and the programs. ICIC is recognized as one of the premier organizations of its kind in the country. Ms. Lamb developed significant and sustained relationships with major corporate, foundation and individual donors raising over $4.5 million a year. Ms. Lamb was named an ICIC Fellow in 2008 and serves as a consultant to this national organization.

Before joining ICIC, Ms. Lamb was Manager of Administration for Fleet Investment Advisors, the investment management business line of the Fleet Financial Group (now owned by Bank of America). From 1985 until 1991, she served as Assistant Secretary of Housing for Massachusetts where she managed most of the State's publicly and privately financed housing programs. She also ran the Broadway Project in Louisville, KY, one of the nation’s first public-private downtown redevelopment corporations. She also held a senior position with the Kentucky Housing Corporation for several years increasing the supply of affordable housing. She also worked for a citizen based environmental organization in Western Massachusetts focused on the Hoosic River basin.

Ms. Lamb was a full member of the Urban Land Institute, the leading national organization of real estate professionals, for over 30 years and served for several years as Vice Chair of the Inner City Council. She has spoken and written about urban revitalization, served on ULI consulting teams to Los Angeles and Dallas, and developed a network of relationships with business leaders across the country. She served on the Advisory Board of the Rappaport Institute at the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard University and taught at the Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics. She also served on General Electric’s Commercial and Industrial Development Enterprise Board.

She currently serves as a Trustee of the Alaska Conservation Foundation, a statewide environmental organization, and is playing a leadership role in their development strategy. She also consults to a regional arts organization and an environmental educational non-profit. She has also established a successful business, Joy Jewelry, designing and creating one of a kind pieces that are sold at galleries and craft shows.

Cathy Cranston is a senior media executive with global expertise in sales and marketing, premium content, and digital distribution.

Most recently, she was Executive Vice President at Mansueto Ventures, owner of the Inc. (www.inc.com) and Fast Company (www.fastcompany.com) media brands. At MV, she integrated each brand, built the sales and marketing network, and crafted a global licensing deal with the New York Times syndicate.

Before joining Inc. and Fast Company, Ms. Cranston was world-wide publisher at the Harvard Business Review, the leading journal of management thought and ideas. As chief revenue executive for advertising sales and marketing, she led a global team of 30 professionals in the US, Europe, and Asia. During her four year tenure as publisher online and print advertising revenue grew 27% and profitability remained constant. As a marketer, she crafted a consistent image and context for the HBR brand in all markets and for all reader and advertiser touch points. Before assuming the publisher role, Ms. Cranston served as associate publisher and marketing director, both with world-wide responsibility.

Ms. Cranston began her publishing career at The New York Times, where for 12 years she held a variety of strategic planning, marketing and sales management positions in New York and California.

She began her career in management consulting first at Coopers and Lybrand and then Cresap McCormick and Paget.

She serves and Chairman of the Governing Board of the Chicago-based Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (www.thebulletin.org) the peace and security journal founded in 1946 by veterans of the Manhattan Project. In 2008, she was appointed to the Visiting Committee of the Division of Physical Sciences at the University of Chicago (www.psd.uchicago.edu). She is on the media advisory board of Clickability, Inc. (www.clickability.com) the global web content management company. She is a member of the Economic Club of New York and the Women’s Forum of New York.

Ms. Cranston is a graduate of Harvard University, and lives in Chappaqua, NY with her husband and two children.

As the founder and Director of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program at Clark University, George Gendron is responsible for inspiring and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit of numerous Clark students.

Gendron served as the Editor-in-Chief of Inc. Magazine for two decades, growing the renowned publication into the premier magazine for all small to mid-sized growing companies. Under his direction, Inc. accomplished a great deal. Among his greatest achievements was the creation of the Inc. 500, the first list of America's fastest-growing private companies.

The Inc. 500 became a brand in its own right, and was responsible for identifying many of the world's leading entrepreneurial organizations while they were virtually unknown. Microsoft, Oracle, Patagonia, Timberland, Domino's, Intuit, and Charles Schwab were all companies that were named on the Inc. 500.

In 1997, Gendron formed a joint venture with Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School to publish the Inner City 100, a ranking of the fastest-growing companies in America's inner cities. This list has gone on to play a major role in focusing public attention on the role of entrepreneurship in creating jobs and wealth in America's most economically distressed areas.

Gendron has also co-authored and narrated Inc.'s best-selling video, "How to Really Start Your Own Business", which went on to win the American Film Institute Award for outstanding business and economic programming. Gendron is a well-known speaker before groups of business leaders in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and has lectured at many of the country's leading universities. He is also a frequent commentator on entrepreneurship on television and radio and in print. Appearances include 20/20, 48 Hours, CNBC, CNN, and National Public Radio. He has also been quoted extensively in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other major publications.

Gendron has appeared on the TJFR list of "The 100 Most Influential Business Journalists in America" every year since the list was created, and was named one of the ten most influential magazine journalists in the technology arena in 2001 and 2002.

Gendron began his career in publishing as an arts-and-entertainment editor for Clay Felker's New York Magazine. At the age of 26, he took over as editor-in-chief of Boston Magazine, where he transformed a failing magazine into one of the top city magazines in the country.

Publications under Gendron's leadership have been nominated three times for a National Magazine Award (the Pulitzer Prize for magazines) and won numerous magazine awards for editorial excellence as well as outstanding graphic design.

Gendron is currently at work on a book titled "The Art of the New", designed to demystify entrepreneurship and innovation. The book will synthesize Gendron's 20 years of documenting the rise of many of the world's leading entrepreneurial organizations, and explore the process of transforming an idea into something tangible in business, the arts, education, and government.

For the past 20 years Gendron has been extremely active in the philanthropic arena, serving on the national boards of City Year, Initiatives for a Competitive Inner City, Community Wealth Ventures, the Literary Venture Fund, and many others. He is also an investor in and advisor to numerous start-ups.

Jane Nelson is the Director of the Harvard Kennedy School's CSR Initiative, and a Senior Fellow at the school's Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business & Government. She serves as a Director at the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF) and is a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution. During 2001 she worked in the office of the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, preparing a report for the United Nations General Assembly on cooperation between the UN and the private sector, which supported the first UN resolution on such cooperation.

Prior to joining the IBLF, Jane was a Vice President at Citibank and responsible for marketing for the bank's Worldwide Securities Services business and Financial Institutions Group in Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East. She has worked for the Business Council for Sustainable Development in Africa preparing a report for the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, and for FUNDES (Fundación para desarrollo sostenible) in Latin America undertaking research on small enterprise development. Jane has authored four books and over 50 fifty reports, papers, book chapters and articles on public-private partnerships and the changing role of business in society, especially in emerging markets, and co-authored four of the World Economic Forum's Global Corporate Citizenship reports.

She serves on the advisory councils or boards of the World Environment Center, the ImagineNations Group, the Initiative for Global Development, the International Council of Toy Industries CARE process, the 21st Century Trust, the U.K. Environment Foundation, Instituto Ethos in Brazil, the International Council of Mining and Metals Resource Endowment Initiative, and on the faculty for Cambridge University’s ‘Business and Poverty’ leadership program.

She has a BSc. Agricultural Economics from the University of Natal, South Africa, and an MA Politics, Philosophy and Economics, from Oxford University, and has been a Rhodes Scholar, a Rotary International student, a fellow of the 21st Century Trust, an Aspen Institute scholar, and recipient of the Keystone Center's 2005 ‘Leadership in Education’ Award.

Kyle consults to private foundations, corporate givers, and nonprofit organizations on strategy, evaluation, and communications. Kyle has led all of FSG's international health and economic development engagements, building on his more than ten years of international development experience.

Prior to joining FSG, Kyle served as a strategy consultant at OntheFrontier, a former Monitor Group company that focused on domestic and international economic development. While at OntheFrontier, Kyle researched and wrote a major regional economic study with Professor Michael E. Porter and led a competitiveness consulting project in Rwanda where he advised President Paul Kagame and his cabinet on the country's future economic strategy. Kyle was also the country director in Zimbabwe and Rwanda for Population Services International, a nonprofit social marketing organization that uses the private sector to make needed health products more accessible and appealing. In Zimbabwe, Kyle managed a $20 million program and launched a number of health product "firsts on the continent: mass marketed insecticide-treated mosquito nets and female condoms and a novel network of voluntary counseling and testing centers. These innovations provided thousands of "person years of protection" and are part of the mainstream public landscape in dozens of developing countries today.

Kyle was also an account executive for Hill and Knowlton, serving nonprofit clients and the government of Kuwait; a communications advisor at Consumers Union; and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone. He was also an intern for the U.S. State Department in Mauritius and was awarded a grant to study the democratization process in Zambia for his masters thesis sponsored by Professor Barbara Jordan.

Kyle has spoken to audiences on strategic communications and the competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy. He has supervised dozens of original research studies and is the co-author of a report on behavior change in Southern Africa.

Kyle holds an M.B.A. and an M.P.A., cum laude, from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in International Studies, cum laude, from the American University.