JEFFREY ROSENTHAL - Chairman & CEO

In 1984, Jeffrey acquired Fanfare Media, an advertising company that covered the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The business generated over $2  billion in sales with more than 5,000 employees.  Fanfare created advertising on 1 million shopping carts, 4,000 supermarket billboards, and also created coupon advertising on grocery receipts and distributed 30 billion coupons per year in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.  Jeffrey sold his company to a private equity fund in 2000. He founded his personal investment company in 2000, Rose Investments, which today includes real estate, advertising and aviation interests.

Jeffrey attended the University of Southern California and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.   He has served on the USC Board of Governors for 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is currently on the Board of Governors at Cedars Sinai and he is a supporter of the UCLA medical center.  He has been an active member of Young Presidents Organization (YPO) since 1999 and served as the Chairman of YPO’s Networks Committee and on the International Board of Directors from 2006-2009.

BUDDY TEASTER - President/COO

Combining general management, executive education, association and technology experience, Buddy was most recently the Young Presidents’ Organization Chief Network Officer.  In that role from 2002-2009, he focused on finding new and innovative ways to connect more than 20,000 business leaders from around the world to address business and personal issues. Young Presidents' Organization is an education and idea exchange organization with more than 15,000 member CEOs in 100+ countries.

Prior to YPO, Buddy was President of ClickPatrol, an online advertising management company, which he and his partners sold in 2002. From 1998-2000, he was co-founder and President/CEO at Knowledge Builder, a developer of e-learning programs for clients such as Nokia, Prudential, Ernst & Young and Fox Sports.

Buddy graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia and earned a MA/MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.  He is also an ultra marathoner participating in trail races from 50k-100miles.  He is currently on the board of the North Texas Trail Runners, the Advisory Board for the AT&T Performing Arts Center and a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.  

GULHAN SUMER - Consulting CIO 

Most recently Gulhan was Chief Information Officer at YPO, where he was responsible for all enterprise IT strategy and operations including web applications and infrastructure, IT security and privacy, telecommunications, and IT governance and overseeing a team of 24.  

He was heavily involved in YPO’s upgrade to Telligent’s Community Serve platform.  Prior to YPO, Gulhan was SVP/CIO at Carreker Corporation, a publicly traded multinational provider of consulting, software and management services solutions to banks and financial institutions.  Additionally, he had a long career with PwC serving in a wide variety of director, CTO and CIO roles.

GREG MARTIN - Advisor

LESLIE D. MICHELSON - Executive Producer, Health Issues Network

Leslie Michelson has more than 20 years of experience as a founder, CEO, investor, advisory and/or director for a portfolio of entrepreneurial health care, technology and real estate companies.

At the end of 2006, Mr. Michelson completed a five-year tenure as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the world's largest source of philanthropic support for prostate cancer research. Under his leadership, the Foundation’s revenue nearly doubled.

Prior to joining the Prostate Cancer Foundation, Mr. Michelson co-founded and served as CEO of Acurian, which recruits patients and physicians for clinical trials. He also co-founded and became Chairman and CEO of Value Health Sciences, one of the first disease management companies. He then co-founded and was Chairman and co-CEO of Protocare, a provider of clinical trials site and disease management services to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

Earlier in his career, after practicing law in Washington, D.C., Mr. Michelson served as Special Assistant to the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Carter Administration. He then joined a private equity firm focused on healthcare and real estate investments.

Mr. Michelson serves as a director of Highlands Acquisition Corp. (AMEX: HIA), a special purpose acquisition company focused on healthcare opportunities; American Realty Capital, a retail REIT; and Landmark Imaging, a medical diagnostic and treatment company. Mr. Michelson is also a director of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the ALS Therapy Development Institute, a non-profit research and development institute focused on ALS.

Mr. Michelson received his BA from The Johns Hopkins University and a JD from Yale Law School.

LISBETH R. MCNABB - Executive Producer, Professional Women's Network

Lisbeth McNabb is CEO and founder of w2wlink.com.   After driving high levels of growth as CFO and Strategist for Match.com in October 2007 she launched a professional women’s content and community website business.  Her professional background includes 20+ years in sales and business development, operations, finance and planning in growth and emerging stage businesses at Match.com, Frito-Lay, American Airlines, AT&T and Sodexo. 

Lisbeth is a board of director on the NASDAQ company Nexstar Broadcasting, a Media company, an advisory board member of American Airlinest, Southern Methodist University, company advisor to digital, technology and consumer companies including Sittercity.com and GenGreen.     Lisbeth is a steering committee member of Women Corporate Directors – Dallas and a member of NACD and Entrepreneurs Foundation of Texas.  w2wlink is a portfolio company of Astia.  A mentor at Southern Methodist University, University of Nebraska Cather Circle, and a former mentor at Menttium.

She received her B.S. at University of Nebraska and M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

GLENN ROTNER - Executive Producer, Wine Network

As President and Chief Executive Officer of Dorothy Thorpe LLC and Cindy Crawford’s business partner, Glenn Rotner has played an integral role in creating and licensing Cindy Crawford Home, a line of furniture representing genuine value for a broad range of consumers. In the short time since its launch in 2005, Rotner has helped establish the brand as one of the most successful home collections nationwide.

Working closely with Ms. Crawford, Rotner was able to analyze the potential of Cindy Crawford Home as a stand-alone retailer and increase it into other venues.  The brand was originally designed exclusively for Rooms to Go, the country’s largest independent retail furniture chain, and sold regionally. Following the vast national success of Cindy Crawford Home, Rotner has created a licensing program for Cindy Crawford Style, a new home collection that features linens and home accessories.

1985, Rotner began working for Dorothy C. Thorpe LLC (DCT).  DCT business initially involved glass and ceramic decorating for specialty retailers, department stores, and restaurants.  In 1991, Rotner was promoted to President of DCT, and in 1999, he purchased the company and became the Chief Executive Officer. In the years following, Rotner has expanded the company to specialize in manufacturing and importing private label souvenirs and gifts for casinos, theme parks, airport gift shops, cruise lines, restaurant chains and other specialty retailers. The company also imports, licenses and manufactures furniture for several retailers, including Rooms to Go.

Rotner is a graduate of the University of California San Diego with honors in Economics and Political Science. He is a member of the Young Presidents Organization serving on the Executive Committee and was a previously the Chairman of the Los Angeles Chapter. Additionally, he serves on the board of the Phoenix House of California and the Cedar Sinai Heart Fund.

Rotner, his wife and their three children currently reside in Encino, California.

ROBERT RUSSMAN HALPERIN - Executive Producer, Content

 At RTM, Bob brings more than two decades of executive education, consulting and senior management experience including leadership roles at four premier educational institutions: Young Presidents Organization (Chief Education Officer), Harvard Business School (Managing Director/Senior Vice President), Babson College (Associate Dean), and MIT Sloan School of Management (Executive Director of Executive Education).

Bob has designed, developed and managed educational programs for some of the world's leading corporations, professional associations, and non-profit organizations.   His portfolio of work ranges from one-hour global conference calls to year-long degree-granting programs, and from open-enrollment and custom offerings to multi-company research and education consortia and networks.

Bob is an accomplished presenter on leadership development, organizational change, and information technology topics to executive and academic audiences in the Americas, Europe and Asia; and he has been highly rated as a classroom teacher and facilitator, working with undergraduates, MBA students and executives. He currently teaches in Harvard Business School's Leadership Direct Program.  Bob received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA in economics from Brandeis University.

MICHAEL SHANN - Executive Producer, Events