Rachel Payne
Rachel Payne is the CEO and co-founder of FEM Inc., a holding company focused on research and development at the intersection of media, technology and gender. In 2015, FEM Inc. launched Prizma, an Artificial Intelligence tech startup for major media, telecom and tech companies. Prizma was acquired by Nielsen / Gracenote in June 2018.
She has built an exceptional career as a technology executive and entrepreneur, while actively involved in philanthropic activities. A recognized thought leader in the advancement of technology to reshape our world, she champions policies that make a meaningful place for everyone in the new economy.
After graduation, Rachel worked for International Data Group and the publisher PC World to help build their digital network, which is where she discovered the power of technology and joined the first wave of Internet companies in Silicon Valley, including eBay, Hotwire and Razorfish.
Rachel returned to school at Stanford Graduate School of Business, studying public management and international development, working in Mexico City and Kampala for microfinance organizations that provide financial services and access to technology for low-income individuals in Latin America and Africa. After earning her MBA, Rachel joined the founding team of Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google, which focused on Poverty Alleviation and Climate Change in their grants, projects and investments. Rachel and the early Google.org executives created the first blueprint for this type of organization – a hybrid corporate philanthropy and investment vehicle.
While at Google, Rachel led International Business Operations in Emerging Markets, spending several years living and working in sub-Saharan Africa. Rachel served as Country Manager, Africa Leadership Team, with the goal of building the foundation for an Internet Economy. She focused on infrastructure, localization, strategic partnerships, and public policy to ensure broad-based participation in the opportunities created by mobile phones and emerging technologies. Her team’s work was recognized in 2010, where she accepted Google’s first award at Mobile World Congress for “Best Mobile Apps for Economic and Social Development” for building and scaling critical mobile services in agriculture, trade and health that serve people in poor, rural areas. She also worked with heads of state on policy relating to Internet access and job creation. She moved back to Southern California to lead the Technology vertical for Google, managing cross-platform media sales teams. She later became Principal, Global Strategic Alliances, and managed Google’s most important strategic partnerships in Media & Entertainment
Rachel served on the Board of Directors for BRAC USA, ranked the #1 NGO in the world. She is a Guest Lecturer on Business Applications of Artificial Intelligence at Loyola Marymount University.
3 words to describe Nature?
Profound. Awe-inspiring. Harmony
3 things Nature taught you?
Self discovery
Infinite possibility
Humility
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Patagonia, Argentina
Amazon, Peru
Pacific Ocean (anywhere!!!)
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Free, joyful, in alignment
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Protected, safe, joy
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Power, feminine, creation
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Sublime, tranquility, peace
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Exuberant, curious, alive
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Curious, respect, humble
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
All of the above, don’t make me pick one.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
As a child, we want camping a lot in National Parks like Bryce Canyon and Zion. Our parents taught us about living on the land in harmony with nature, appreciating the bounty and beauty, reminding us we were only visitors and needed to show respect and care. These golden memories are filled with joy and awe.
Denise Thomas
Denise is a proven and dynamic leader who has spent more than 20 years helping entrepreneurial companies develop breakthrough ideas. Her public and private company expertise spans the financial services, technology, healthcare, hospitality and online services industries, and she has led companies backed by leading venture capital firms, including Kleiner Perkins, Mohr Davidow and Sequoia Capital.
In the FinTech industry, Denise is considered a visionary and highly respected executive leader. She is one of the few women to receive venture funding for a FinTech startup. Denise founded ApplePie Capital to create a new, more efficient source of capital for franchise businesses.
Denise has founded three other companies, and held executive and management positions with SharesPost, Healthiest You, Navigenics, LesConcierges, OffRoad Capital, Onyx Microcomputer, Post Communications, Kao Infosystems, and National Semiconductor.
She has been a guest lecturer at both the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley.
3 words to describe Nature?
GROUNDING. INSPIRING. FEARSOME
3 things Nature taught you?
WE ARE NOT IN CONTROL
THERE IS MUCH TO LEARN
THERE IS WONDER AND FEAR
3 most treasured Nature spots?
HALEAKALA CRATER
YOSEMITE
WALDEN POND
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
EXPANSIVE
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
ADVENTURE
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
SAD
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
INSPIRED
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
EXCITEMENT
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
LIKE RETREATING
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
OCEAN
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
8
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
MY MEMORIES ARE NOT FROM MY CHILDHOOD UNFORTUNATELY. MY FAMILY DID NOT SPEND TIME IN NATURE.
Ken Gart
Ken Gart has been a partner at The Gart Companies since its inception in 1992. Prior to that time he was Co-President and Chief Merchandising Officer at Gart Bros. Sporting Goods, a family-owned and operated corporation, from 1983 to 1992. Ken started Specialty Sports Venture, LLC (SSV) in 1994 and built it to over 140 stores and into the nation’s leading specialty ski and bicycle retailer. SSV included Aspen Sports, Telluride Sports, Boulder Ski Deals, Colorado Ski and Golf and roughly 30 other trade names. The company was sold to Vail Resorts in 2010.
Ken was chairman of the Board of Denver Bike Sharing (DBA B-Cycle) where he was appointed to the position by then Mayor and now Governor John Hickenlooper. Denver B-Cycle was the first major city-wide bike sharing to launch in the US. Ken is currently chair of the Board for RPM Events Group which owns the Colorado Classic and Velorama. The Colorado Classic is a global professional cycling competition and Velorama is a music festival. The goals of the RPM Events Group are around health & wellness & economic development for Colorado. Ken has been called by Governor Hickenlooper his “Bike Czar”. This is a voluntary position to make Colorado the most bicycle friendly state in America.
Ken has held various memberships, directorships and chairmanships with The Nature Conservancy, the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Telluride Foundation, Colorado Conservation Trust, Denver Area Council Boy Scouts of America, Denver Metro Boys & Girls Clubs and the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. Further, he serves on numerous other non-profit boards and committees.
Ken Attended Claremont Men’s College and graduated from Middlebury College and Stanford Graduate School of Business. He and his wife Rebecca have three children. Ken is an athlete, having climbed over 30 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks, and is an enthusiast in the sports of skiing and cycling.
3 words to describe Nature?
Passion. Relief. Opportunity.
3 things Nature taught you?
Stop Breathe Relax Listen as you say so well
Instant change of perspective. It forces to think differently.
Self awareness and all the possibilities
3 most treasured Nature spots?
On any mountain with any of my 3 children. The time with my children in nature is priceless. The bond it creates is profound and so rewarding.
Any aerobic outdoor location. I love how exercising in the outdoors makes me feel. It is more than simply getting a shot of endorphins, it is more a full experience of feeling alive.
On a Colorado mountain, in winter, during a powder day, the rush is priceless
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Inspired. Small. and refreshed. It brings me back to this balcony in Italy, 20 years ago, overlooking the sea. My wife and I had just gotten engaged. We were looking at the water and started to cry, thinking about both of our parents who had passed away. There is something about self reflection and the ocean.
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Fresh and full of air. Climbing up a mountain, you pass a point where you loose the trees. It is too high for them to grow, not enough oxygen and moisture. So when you come down the mountain and reach the tree line, smelling the pine cones and all the different aromas, it is comforting and refreshing. It is like coming home after a hard day’s work.
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Reminds me of the smallness of the human species. How little we matter. How our impact on the world (in the big sense) is borderline insignificant.
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
It is a moment of reflection. It puts me in touch with the day that is ahead and the day that has passed. It reminds me of the cycle of life, the beginnings and the ends, the past and the future, what was, is and will be.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
I really like the thunder. It is a cool way to experience nature. Feeling the energy around you, this incredible force of nature that is so powerful. It is inspiring.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
On the other end, the wind howling makes me ominous. When I am hiking, biking, climbing, and its starts to blow, I get the feeling of being threatened.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain through and through
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
9
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Camping. Our family wasn’t too big on camping, but I remember the few moments we did, with my father and brothers. What I remember the most is the campfire. Being in the outdoors, around the campfire, hearing the fire crackle, smelling the wood burning, it is a powerful experiences that touches so many senses. It is extremely comforting yet threatening. As a child, it is life changing.
Alison Davis
Alison Davis is co-founder of Fifth Era. She is a global strategist, finance professional, public company board director and active investor in growth companies. She is currently a director of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Fiserv (FISV), Unisys (UIS) and Ooma (OOMA), and is chair of the advisory board for BlockChain Capital. She is a former director of, City National Bank (CYC), Diamond Foods (DMND), First Data Corporation (FDC), Xoom (XOOM), and many private companies and was the Chairman of LECG (XPRT) until its sale in 2011. She has chaired audit, compensation, and governance committees and is a frequent speaker on corporate governance. Alison was previously the managing partner of Belvedere Capital, a private equity firm focused on investing in US banks and financial services firms. Prior to this, Alison was the Chief Financial Officer of Barclays Global Investors (now BlackRock), the world’s largest institutional investment firm with more than $1.5 trillion of assets under management. Earlier in her career, Alison spent 14 years as a strategy consultant and advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs, boards and executive teams with McKinsey & Company,and as a practice leader with A.T. Kearney where she built and led the global Financial Services Practice.
Alison is also the co-author of the best selling books Build Your Fortune in the Fifth Era: How to Prosper in an Age of Unprecedented Innovation & Corporate Innovation in the Fifth Era: Lessons from Alphabet/Google, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft
Alison is active in the community supporting non-profits and social enterprises as a board director, fundraiser and volunteer. She has been frequently named a “Most Influential Women in Business” by the San Francisco Business Times. She received a B.A. Honors and a Master’s in Economics from Cambridge University in England, and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business after completing the first-year at Harvard. She was born in Sheffield, UK, is now a dual US/UK citizen and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, Matthew C. Le Merle, and their five children.
3 words to describe Nature?
Vast, magical, glorious
3 things Nature taught you?
To breathe
To be delighted
To be in awe
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Any grassy spot where I can sit or lie in the sun and let the earth hold me
A secret bench on Ring Mountain Tiburon from which to view the Bay and coastline and Marin townships
From a canoe in the middle of Lake Tahoe
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Calm
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Alive
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Blessed, happy
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Exhilarated and powerful
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Energized, bold
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean or Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
7
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Rambling in the Yorkshire Moors and Derbyshire Dales with my grandfather and often getting delightfully lost