CBI Team

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CBI Team & Advisors

Peter Matthies

Tom Schulz

Bill Sechrest

Hazel Henderson

John Katovich

Beata Lewis

Charly Kleissner

Robert Wagner

Hans Phillips

Dan Mapes

Bob Vitamante

Paul Taylor

Sascha Kugler

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Peter Matthies, founder of the Conscious Business Institute, is an investor, business advisor and leadership coach. He is the author of 3 books and more than 100 articles on technology, investing and Conscious Business practices.

Prior to founding his own investment and leadership advisory business, Peter was a Principal at Apax Partners & Co., one of the world’s largest Venture Capital and Private Equity firms with more than US$ 20 billion under management. He also served as Investment Manager at b-business partners, a US$ 800 million technology venture capital firm backed by blue chip corporate investors (Hewlett-Packard, Ericsson, ABB, Astra Zeneca etc.).

Peter has worked in the IT and financial market for 16 years and started his career at Andersen Consulting in Germany. He co-founded a systems integration and IT-consulting company. After selling his share, Peter worked as an IT analyst and US-correspondent in California. He founded an accelerator in Silicon Valley, focusing on financing and growing German and American IT start-up businesses.

Tom Schulz worked for the Boston Consulting Group's High-Tech practice in Munich and San Francisco before he became an entrepreneur. In 1993 he founded Bay NetWorld to provide Internet e-commerce solutions to the local real estate market in the Silicon Valley.

In 1995, he co-founded Germany's first publicly traded Internet Service Provider, Cybernet AG (NASDAQ: ZNET), for which he successfully built the technical infrastructure and overall corporate marketing organization.
Since 1998 Tom serves on the advisory board of Earlybird Venture Capital, Hamburg/Munich/Palo Alto. Tom invests as an angel investor in Internet start-ups. Tom holds an M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Karlsruhe and an MBA from Stanford University.

Bill Sechrest is a founder of Winstead Sechrest & Minick, a Texas based law firm of approximately 300 attorneys. Bill graduated from Stanford University in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and from Southern Methodist University Law School in 1967 with a Doctor of Jurisprudence Degree.

Bill has close to 40 years of experience practicing law, counseling clients and serving as a legal and business consultant in a wide range of disciplines including corporate, banking and real estate concerns. Bill also founded Winco, Inc., the predecessor to Winstead Consulting, and in that role has advised financial institutions concerning a broad range of financial issues. Bill is a member of the Texas Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the American College of Real Estate Lawyers. He has served on the board of directors of Esalen Institute, The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, the Unity Church of Dallas and is a past chairman of The Real Estate Council (Dallas), The Real Estate Council Foundation and The First Tee Dallas. He is currently a member of the board of directors of The Men's Warehouse and the Ojai Community Bank, and for the latter he is a co-founder. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the World Business Academy.

Bill is an author of a number of books and articles including "Beneath Words", a book of photographs and poetry having as its focus the Monterey Peninsula and Big Sur. Throughout his business career, Bill has presented papers and been engaged in social concerns involving both law and economic issues.

Hazel Henderson, founder, Ethical Markets Media, LLC and Series Creator and Co-Executive Producer of its TV series - Dr. Hazel Henderson is a world renowned futurist, evolutionary economist, a worldwide syndicated columnist, consultant on sustainable development, and author of Beyond Globalization, and seven other books. Her editorials appear in 27 languages and more than 400 newspapers syndicated by InterPress Service, Rome, New York, and Washington DC. Her articles have appeared in over 250 journals, including (in USA) Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, and Challenge, Mainichi (Japan), El Diario (Venezuela), World Economic Herald (China), LeMonde Diplomatique (France) and Australian Financial Review. Her books are translated into German, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Swedish, Korean, Portuguese, and Chinese.

Since becoming a TV producer, Hazel has stepped down from her many board memberships, including Worldwatch Institute (1975-2001), Calvert Social Investment Fund (1982-2005), and other associations, including the Social Investment Forum and the Social Venture Network. She remains on the International Council of the Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social, Sao Paulo, Brasil. Hazel remains a Patron of the New Economics Foundation (London, UK) and a Fellow of the World Business Academy.

In addition, she has been Regent's Lecturer at the University of California (Santa Barbara), held the Horace Albright Chair in Conservation at the University of California (Berkeley), and advised the U.S. Office of Technology Assessment and the National Science Foundation from 1974 to 1980. She holds Honorary Dr. of Science degrees from the University of San Francisco, Soka University (Tokyo) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts (USA). She is an active member of the National Press Club (Washington DC), the World Future Society (USA), a Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation and a member of the Association for Evolutionary Economics. Henderson has many awards and is listed in Who’s Who, USA 2005, Who’s Who in the World 2005, and Who’s Who in Business and Finance 2005. She shared the 1996 Global Citizen Award with Nobelist A. Perez Esquivel of Argentina.

John Katovich founded Katovich Law Group in 2002, representing new/emerging businesses in funding, licensing, and general counseling. John was SVP and GC at the Pacific Stock Exchange for twelve years, also responsible for new product and partnership development. He represented PCX before the SEC, CFTC and Congress, and helped shape rules, arbitration, and regulatory policies. Prior to that, John was the enforcement attorney over the trading floors, following two years as an Assistant Specialist on the trading floor. After PCX John joined two high-tech companies using computer-based trading methods and providing enterprise-class software as SVP and GC, and as a dealmaker, strategist, manager, and policy maker with expertise in funding, licensing, human resources and IP related issues. John is also co-founder of two for-profit companies, and two non-profit foundations, and is still an active participant in their direction and operations.

John is also currently a Professor at Presidio School of Management, teaching Law and Capital Markets in the MBA curriculum, and was an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, teaching Options Trading and Regulation. He consults to emerging/developing sovereign nations for Capital Market development, and provides training in supervision, compliance and regulation programs around the world. John has been a speaker and participant in front of congressional committees, as well as a participant as an exchange team member in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

John received his law degree in 1979 after attending Southern Illinois University School of Law and John Marshall Law School in Chicago, and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1976). He completed the Executive Program on Negotiation at the Harvard Business School in 1996, and received his NASD Series 7 License. He is licensed to practice law in the state and federal district courts in both California and Illinois. John lives in Oakland CA with his wife, Lisa, and two children, Kiefer and Scout, ages 19 and 17.

Beata C. Lewis is an Executive Coach and Change Consultant. Beata provides focused, pragmatic guidance to facilitate intentional transformation. Beata works with highly accomplished individuals and teams to achieve new levels of mastery for effective and wise leadership that promotes sustained, creative and energized collaboration.

Her coaching, consulting and seminar clients include High-Tech & Bio-Tech Companies, Boards of Directors, Individual Entrepreneurs, Professional Services Providers, Non-Profit & Arts Organizations, Educational Institutions, Municipalities, Federal and State Agencies. Some of her clients include leaders in organizations such as: Bayer Corporation, GlaxoSmithKline, Cisco Systems, Aerovance, Entelos, Sandia National Laboratories, NSF, Kaiser Permanente, Calvert Foundation, Monitor Consulting, CalSTRS, Stanford University Graduate School of Business (Management Communication Program) and the Women’s Technology Cluster.

Beata is certified as a Master Somatic Coach™ by and is an Associate with the Strozzi Institute in Petaluma, CA. Beata is also an Associate of Executive Skillworks, a leadership development firm located in the Washington DC area.

Beata draws on cross-cultural experience, having lived and worked in several countries and being multi-lingual (native fluency in German and Swiss-German). She also draws from experience as a visual artist, musician, dancer, instructor of Hatha yoga and alpine skiing, and as a practitioner of healing arts (e.g. Reiki, Somatic Bodywork™, etc.). Beata graduated from Pomona College with a B.A., cum laude, in International Relations and earned her J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Charly Kleissner is a philanthropic entrepreneur utilizing his high technology background in his venture philanthropy. He is co-founder of the KL Felicitas Foundation and the Social-Impact initiative, and serves on the Advisory Board of multiple not-for-profit companies like Acumen Fund, Global Social Benefit Incubator, Alliance for a New Humanity, and Global Philanthropy Forum.

Charly has over twenty years of experience as a senior technology executive in Silicon Valley. He held executive and senior engineering management positions at Ariba Inc., RightPoint, NeXT Software Inc., Digital Equipment Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Company. Charly serves on the Advisory Board of multiple for-profit start-up companies like Papilia and Rearden Commerce Inc.

Charly is now focusing on braking down the barrier between the for-profit sector and the not-for-profit sector by creating social enterprises as hybrid business structures, insisting that both vehicles can be effective for achieving social change. To that end, he has co-founded ‘Flowing Currents’, a for-profit entity in Sri Lanka as well as ‘Aspira’, a not-for-profit entity in Sri Lanka, both focused on providing biomass and other renewable energy solutions to the rural population.

Charly earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science specializing in distributed databases from the University of Technology, Vienna. He authored two software patents and published numerous articles. In 2004, Charly received the ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ award from the University of Technology, Vienna.

Robert Wagner, Jr. After 40 years as a banker, mostly to the oil and gas businesses of Texas, Bob Wagner is in transition to a new life’s work. He is currently a writer on the role of business with regard to issues of sustainability and he is looking to work with companies exploring the development of operational strategies that have zero impact on the environment.

In his 40 year banking career, Bob has been in all phases of investment and commercial banking, originating and executing virtually all types of financial arrangements for clients. For the past 30 years, he focused on the oil and gas businesses in Texas as a Managing Director at Arthur Andersen, Bankers Trust/BT Alex. Brown, and First City National Bank of Houston where he also had responsibilities in equity research and distressed loan workouts. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mythological Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Carpinteria, California. He has a Masters Degree in Finance from New York University and a Liberal Arts Degree in History from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Hans Phillips has been coaching individuals and businesses throughout the U.S. and in Europe for more than ten years. His client list has included doctors, lawyers, corporate executives, entertainers, entrepreneurs, salespeople, other coaches, engineers, and writers. With an emphasis on producing results for clients, Hans’ coaching has created sizable increases in income for his clients (from 30% to 300%); his clients also report 40-60% increases in satisfaction in the areas of their life in which they are being coached. The coaching materials Hans developed have been successfully introduced in France and Italy.

An entrepreneur committed to people winning in life, Hans has previously founded three successful businesses during the past 20 years, including two coaching businesses: Excellence Coaching and Exco and Company. Hans was a partner for seven years in his wife Desiree’s company, Self Esteem for Teens.

Hans received training from Johnston Consulting and Porsche/Neiderer Inc. He achieved extraordinary results in his first year in coaching and quickly began developing tools and distinctions of his own. After two years, he began training coaches and has trained fifty-three to date.

Hans, his wife Desiree and their son Morgan live in Santa Cruz, California. Their loves include travel, photography, and watching their little scooter pie grow!

Dan Mapes is an inventor, an artist and an entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of new media content and technologies. His background includes designing image-rich rock tours with Peter Gabriel, creating the first music composing software for the Macintosh, producing The First Summit in Cyberspace between Nelson Mandela and Shimon Peres using advanced internet videoconferencing technology, designing a nationwide e-learning system for the Saudi Arabian school system, performing on the Tonight Show with his visual music ensemble

Dan is a co-founder, board member and co-patent holder of Deep Light Displays, a Los Angeles technology company currently producing computer monitors and televisions that deliver 3D content without the need for wearing special eyewear.

Prior to forming Deep Light, Dan was founder and CEO of ECity Studios, a Los Angeles 3D content and technology company specializing in animation and digital characters for film, television and computer games.

He was also the founder of Ditto.com, one of the first visual search engines (still in operation), co-creator of Music Publisher Software, the first music composition program on the Macintosh.

Dan has also been an advisor and consultant to various UN agencies including the General Assembly, UNDP, UNEP and UNESCO, and to the governments of China, Australia, England, Saudi Arabia and Brazil on technology development and implementation.

Dan studied Systems Design in the PhD program at University of California at Berkeley, has an M.B.A. from the American Graduate School of International Management, and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Cincinnati.

Robert (Bob) Vitamante was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Select Personnel Services, a major temporary services company based in Santa Barbara with operations throughout California. He also served as President and CFO of 3Dshopping.com, a B2B internet service provider. In that role he led the company in IPO on AMEX.

Prior to his involvement with Select Personnel Services, Vitamante was the Executive Vice President - Finance & Administration and CFO of Pinkerton’s, Inc., a publicly traded company with revenues of over $800 million from the provision of security staff and other security services on a worldwide basis. Also, Vitamante served as Senior Vice President and CFO of Olsten Corporation, a publicly traded company with revenues that had grown from $150 Million to $1.2 Billion during his tenure.

Vitamante worked as the Assistant Corporate Controller of Columbia Pictures Industries as well as for the international accounting firm KPMG Peat, Marwick.

As a personal philosophy, Vitamante is committed to building financial, professional and personal value and achievement for his firms and his associates. He also brings a strong commitment to the community and to professional and personal development. As such, he has been a Vice President and Director for his Homeowners’ Association and a Director (and panelist) for the Central Coast Chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum. He continues to have a strong interest in training and helping young people gain entry and success in the business world.

A New Yorker until moving to California in 1992, Vitamante received his BBA in Accounting from Manhattan College in 1967 and has been a CPA since 1971. He has resided in Santa Barbara since 2001.

Paul Taylor is the co-founder and President of Conscious Capitalism Consulting, a leading edge strategic consulting firm specializing in the areas of Vision, Strategy, Marketing, Communication, and Corporate Social Investment. The firm is specifically focused on helping Fortune 500 companies and NGOs to develop authentic growth strategies by deepening their understanding of the New Economy of Consciousness, the mega-trend rise of Conscious Capitalism, and the unfulfilled needs of the Conscious Consumers that demand authenticity in all aspects of their lives.

Paul has a unique combination of international Fortune 100 strategy development, consulting, marketing, and innovation experience. He worked as a global executive at The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, where he led the strategic planning for two multi-billion dollar business units, working as the Global Innovation Director for the Coca-Cola Classic & Diet Coke portfolio, and the Global Marketing Director for Bottled Water & Sports Drinks. He has a proven capacity to motivate cross functional teams to develop and execute sustainable growth-oriented strategies. Paul developed his strategic marketing skills working at Colgate-Palmolive, Procter & Gamble, and Hewlett Packard.

Paul is married to his beloved wife, Anne. They have two sons, Kaden and Bodhi, and two golden retrievers. They currently live in Atlanta and are co-owners of a family resort sanctuary on Wood Lake in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada called Caribou Lodge.

Sascha Kugler is the founder of the Alchimedus Principle and Alchmedus Management. The Alchimedus Principle is a holistic business analysis and consultancy approach that assists enterprises to reach their full potential. Prior to founding Alchimedus Management, Sascha worked in several managerial positions in privately held and publicly traded electronics companies. For more than 15 years, he has worked as an advisor, interims manager and turnaround consultant to small and medium-size companies world-wide from incubation to over € 250 million in revenues.

His books about the Alchimedus Principle and the successful vitalization of companies have appeared not only in German speaking countries but also in Korea, China, Poland and Russia.