As CEO of Third Place, Inc., Rob helps facilitate investment in Vermont-based food and beverage entrepreneurs, assisting with strategic planning, entity and capital formation, real estate procurement, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational development. Rob is also a Co-Founder of Zero Gravity Craft Brewery; Flatbread Ventures; Milkweed Confections and Catamount Hospitality, which owns Farmhouse Tap & Grill, El Cortijo Taqueria, Guild Tavern, Pascolo Ristorante, and Bliss Bee.  Rob graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in History and Vermont Law and Graduate School with a JD, MSL, Masters in Environmental Law and Business Transactions.

CEO and Founder of Library Ideas, LLC, which is dedicated to keeping libraries and schools supplied with innovative products to support their core missions.  Library Ideas has a suite of 7 exciting products for public libraries, K-12 and military installations around the world:

• Freegal Music, 15 million plus songs that can be streamed or downloaded for free, from a subscribing library.
• VOX Books. Books that talk. The read-along for early readers of any age. A book and permanently attached speaker.
• iVox. The digital Vox. Using AR technology.
• IR Books. Virtual Reality Books. You won't believe it.
• Online Book Club. Create a book club community, that is available 24/7. Content included.
• Rocket Languages. The best online language learning program in the world.
• Freading eBooks. 250,000 titles at no upfront cost. Unlimited simultaneous access.
• Library Ideas, LLC is located in Fairfax, VA with an additional office in Chattanooga, TN.

Gloria Griskowitz is a co-founder and co-owner of Putnam Market in downtown Saratoga Springs, NY.  Putnam Market is a gourmet food and wine store that specializes in catering, imported foods, charcuterie, bakery, meat and seafood, and deli.  It opened in 1995 and will celebrate 30 years of business next year.  Gloria developed significant experience in retail mix management during her 7-year career with Bristol Myers Squibb and Clairol.  Gloria has a business degree from Gettysburg College.

Emily Paxhia ’02 is the co-founder and managing partner at Poseidon, a venture firm that specializes in investments in the cannabis industry.  Emily has worked with countless founders in many capacities. She had helped to shape founders' pitch preparations, their go-to-market strategies/ product launches and advised on day-to-day business operations. Emily has held board seats for multiple portfolio companies and participates as an adviser to multiple teams.

Emily is extremely active in the investment decision making and ongoing investment oversight processes, she works closely with her partners to create meaningful deal structures, ensuring that proper governance is carried out at the company level. Further, Emily has dedicated time and energy to supporting policy groups and has served on the Board of Directors of the Marijuana Policy Project. She also currently serves on the Board of Athletes for CARE and The Initiative.  

Emily has over 10 years of experience working as a consultant and researcher, and as such, has become an expert at extracting actionable insights from research and applying them to make corporations function more efficiently and successfully. She also leverages this experience to engage in detailed market analysis for determination around product-market fit and potential scalability.

Emily graduated from New York University with an M.A. in Psychology in 2008. She graduated from Skidmore College with a B.A. in Psychology in 2002.

Jordan Ramer is a climatetech investor, Founder and former CEO at EV Connect and Board Member at the Celiac Disease Foundation.  His mission is to drive practical and impactful change through technology, addressing the pressing climate challenges the world faces. His expertise lies in climate tech, energy solutions, clean technology, impact investing, business development, and strategic partnerships.

With over 27 years of experience, he haa spearheaded initiatives and projects at pioneering companies including EV Connect, LG NanoH2O, and AeroVironment, among others.

Stella Smart is a Policy Operations Manager at Etsy and a Logistics and Supply Specialist for the United States Army Reserve, in Austin Texas.  In 2015, Stella Smart took home first place in the New York State Business Plan Regional Competition and won the Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition for her presentation of Double Dee’s, Kenya’s first indigenous undergarment business.

Mrs. Smart graduated from Skidmore with a BA in Economics.

Dr. Wan has extensive experience in launching and building life science companies and has successfully commercialized disruptive technologies that resulted in successful exits. These technologies include the analytical systems for drug development at ForteBio, Inc (acquired by Pall Corp. in Dec, 2011); the anatomical pathology systems for cancer diagnosis at Becton Dickinson, the cell analysis systems at Guava Technologies, Inc (acquired by Millipore); and the HIV drug testing model at SyStemix, Inc. (acquired by Novartis). Winnie held CEO or executive management positions at OncoHealth Corp., BEING Biopharma, Inc., ForteBio, Inc., GeneTrol BioTherapeutics, Becton Dickinson’s CIS Division, Systemix, etc. She currently serves on the board of Nanotech BioMachines, Inc., Bell Biosystems and Life Science Angles. She received her B.A. from Skidmore College; Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Yale University, M.B.A. from Columbia University, and post-doctoral training in cell biology at Rockefeller University.

As CEO of Third Place, Inc., Rob helps facilitate investment in Vermont-based food and beverage entrepreneurs, assisting with strategic planning, entity and capital formation, real estate procurement, mergers and acquisitions, and organizational development. Rob is also a Co-Founder of Zero Gravity Craft Brewery; Flatbread Ventures; Milkweed Confections and Catamount Hospitality, which owns Farmhouse Tap & Grill, El Cortijo Taqueria, Guild Tavern, Pascolo Ristorante, and Bliss Bee.  Rob graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in History and Vermont Law and Graduate School with a JD, MSL, Masters in Environmental Law and Business Transactions.

Tomer Dicturel is the Managing Director of Premium Financing at WealthBridge Financial Group, where he spearheads efforts to deliver bespoke insurance solutions, catering specifically to the unique needs of surgeons and high-net-worth individuals.   Tomer is a recognized speaker at key industry events, such as the AICPA Annual Conference and NAIFA conference.  Tomer is also a serial entrepreneur, who was most recently the Co-Founder and CEO of @Epic.Ai, a Startup Venture Studio Platform.  @Epic.Ai created products to help solve problems at scale and accelerate growth in new ideas. Their goal was to help new startups achieve success.

Tomer has a Masters degree in Business Administration/Management and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration.

Natasha is a serial entrepreneur and currently is the Vice President of Operations for Impact Reality XR, a VR gaming Marketing & PR agency for Virtual Reality games. Natasha is a seasoned start-up Operations Vice President with experience spanning across Finance, People Operations, Strategy, Marketing, Partnerships, Legal, & General Operations. Natasha also acts as an advisor to a variety of emerging start-ups, owns a short-term rental management company, and also contributes to a creative cocktail blog. Natasha graduated with a BA in Economics and Political Science and a MBA with concentrations in Finance and Marketing from the Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business.    

Mark is a serial entrepreneur and currently the Co-Founder and CEO at Castiron, a mission-driven e-commerce company that elevates how independent kitchen-based creators sell to their customers and provides them with resources and community to support their whole business. Prior to that Mark was CEO of Bitly after holding leadership roles at AOL, Outside.in, Seevast Corp. and About.com. Bitly helps businesses such as Disney, Amazon, The New York Times, and more to shine by transforming their links into positive tools for marketers and customer support teams. Bitly sold to Spectrum Equity in 2017 and Outside.in sold to Aol in 2013.  Mark majored in psychology at Skidmore College.

Andrea Paulson is the Vice President of Product Engineering & Human Performance at Saucony. She leads different, yet connected, divisions that work on every aspect of shoe design, construction, and future innovations, as well as biomechanical testing, gathering performance & personal preference data.  Andrea’s team transformed how they design and produced the new Jazz Court RFG to have just 7 materials and no plastics!  The team worked through multiple challenges and innovated their processes and used new materials to make their most eco-friendly shoe ever. Andrea has a BS in Health and Human Physiological Science (not the name when she graduated) from Skidmore College.

Craig is a Partner at Rubix Ventures.  Craig has been involved in almost every aspect of energy trading since 1989.  He has worked as a floor trader, portfolio manager, physical trader, desk manager and senior originator.  He has traded futures, options, and physical markets for refineries, trading companies and hedge funds. Most recently, the culmination of Mr. Poler’s trading experience resulted in BP naming Mr. Poler as Senior Originator in Oil and Refined Products.  At BP North America, Mr. Poler identified, structured, negotiated and closed long-term crude oil, refined products, natural gas, NGL, and bio-fuels transactions.  Deals included longer-term pipeline and storage contracts, assets divestitures and acquisitions, USGC basis arbitrage and EtOH production worldwide.  Craig has successfully completed over $500mm in asset acquisitions while at BP.  Craig is a graduate of Skidmore College.

Keirsten is the founder and CEO of 2aDays. She is also a writer for The Huddle. Being the Chief Executive Officer of 2aDays means that Keirsten is the one held accountable for the success of the company’s efforts, across the board. She is also Chief Amusement Officer; she promotes laughter in her offices, and often an eye roll. Playing varsity tennis and soccer for Skidmore College in New York has given her the endurance to be able to push the company to the next level day in and day out.  Keirsten graduated with a BS in Management and Business from Skidmore College.

Max Walker is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Piton Labs, a tech consulting company that helps startups build their product. His experience in startups and his technical expertise as a software engineer make allow him to help founders get their companies off the ground. He’s worked with big and small companies, but his true passion is helping startups succeed.  Max works work primarily with startup founders, mostly CEOs, and CTOs between seed and Series B.  He’s worked across a variety of industries, but his focus is on fintech. Max graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in Computer Science and History.

Cecilia Frittelli began weaving when her dad helped her make a rigid heddle [loom] out of popsicle sticks. It was the humble beginning of a lifelong calling that led her to study art at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and then took her to New York City's Garment District, where she worked as both a sample weaver and textile designer.  That led her and her husband, and business partner, Richard Lockwood to open frittelli & LOCKWOOD, a textile studio in the Beekman Arts District in Saratoga Springs.  

They use eco-friendly fabrics, including bamboo. The integrity of their handwoven work — sumptuous fabrics worked into elegant yet modern designs for both men and women — speaks for itself, but a little extra recognition never hurts. In 2012, frittelli & LOCKWOOD had the distinction of being named a "Crafts" finalist in Martha Stewart's "Made in America" competition.

Matt Lucas is the 10th Harder Chair of Management and Business at Skidmore College.  He is an accomplished senior sales executive with a robust background in business strategy, marketing, sales, and global management.  Mr. Lucas has held multiple senior leadership positions at leading corporations, including global vice president of consumer sales at Bose Corporation, senior vice president at Samsung U.S., and senior vice president of sales at Coty Beauty U.S. In these and other roles, he has demonstrated extensive experience developing and executing strategic sales and marketing initiatives, fostering long-term business relationships, and achieving market dominance in highly competitive environments.

Jamel Mosely is a serial entrepreneur, traveler, and award-winning visual storyteller in the mediums of video and photography.  He is dedicated to building creative ecosystems that will create jobs and provide equity to underserved and marginalized communities.  He is also a co-founder of Collectiveffort, a creative agency and coworking space for creatives in Troy, NY, and Upstate's Cold Brew, a community-focused coffee brand in Troy, NY.  Mr. Mosely has a BS in Arts, Electronic Media and Communication from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Betsy Olmsted is the woman behind her namesake brand known for its lighthearted designs and cheerful color.  With a childhood dream of becoming a naturalist, Betsy has always adored animals and possessed an intrinsic fascination with the natural world, collecting specimens which have become subjects in her art.  Raised by a design savvy mother, Betsy learned to value objects of meaning: art, culture, antiques, and, most notably, textiles. With a passion for traveling and discovery, Betsy majored in art at Skidmore College and spent four inspiring months studying in India before receiving her Masters Degree in Textile Design from Philadelphia University.  Betsy's love of creatures and flora, hues and patterns, artistic expression and material culture formed the foundation for her company.

Stella Smart is a Policy Operations Manager at Etsy and a Logistics and Supply Specialist for the United States Army Reserve, in Austin Texas.  In 2015, Stella Smart took home first place in the New York State Business Plan Regional Competition and won the Freirich Entrepreneurship Competition for her presentation of Double Dee’s, Kenya’s first indigenous undergarment business.

Mrs. Smart graduated from Skidmore with a BA in Economics.

Nancy Wekselbaum is the owner of The Gracious Gourmet, a line of award-winning condiments distributed to national chains, independent gourmet food retailers and restaurant franchises. Before starting this company, Mrs. Wekselbaum worked with her late husband and built the iconic Manhattan retailer Gracious Home and worked in corporate America in strategic planning roles and on Wall Street as a financial analyst.

Mrs. Wekselbaum graduated from Skidmore with a BA in Economics and later received an MBA in finance from NYU.