Advisory Council
Eric Bleke
President and COO of StarPound Technologies
Eric Bleke, President/COO of StarPound Technologies is an entrepreneurial executive with a track record of building high performing teams in early-stage companies to achieve revenue growth, market leadership and shareholder value. Mr. Bleke joined Enterprise Computer Systems (ECS), an early stage software company in 1980 and quickly became a member of the executive team and a significant shareholder. ECS grew to a position of dominance in its markets and was ultimately acquired by Activant. Bleke left ECS in 1992 to co-found Technologic, Inc. where he was a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Technologic’s customers included BellSouth, The Coca-Cola Company, Turner Broadcasting, and Delta Air Lines. Technologic, acquired by eSoft (NASDAQ: ESFT) providing significant shareholder returns. Bleke joined Xcellenet (NASDAQ: XNET) in 1997 to spearhead sales to major accounts such as MCI, Ford Motor Co., Pepsi/Frito-Lay, Blockbuster and GE. In 1998, XcelleNet was acquired by Sterling Commerce (NYSE: SE). Bleke then co-founded Catalysta Partners, LLC, to provide growth and revenue strategies for early stage portfolio companies often resulting in significant benefit to shareholders. Mr. Bleke holds B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Georgia.
Shahla Butler, PhD
Principal, Butler Strategic Consulting.
Dr. Shahla Butler is an expert in technology architecture and strategy and provides consulting services in these areas to corporations, especially financial services organizations. She is currently the Principal at Butler Strategic Consulting. Her past positions include Vice President of Technology Strategy and Architecture at Freddie Mac, Vice President and Director of the American Management Systems (AMS) Center for Advanced Technologies and Knowledge Management, Vice President and Program Manager for Intelus a Workflow and Imaging Start-up Company, Director of Office Automation and Distributed Client/Server Systems at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). She has been a winner of the Computer World’s “Premier 100 IT Leaders” in 2000 and 2004. This annual awards program honors people driving strategy and innovation in the country’s leading IT departments. She was honored as one of the “Top 100 Women in Technology” by the McGraw Hill/Business Week in 1996. She has been a pioneer in the innovative use of technology in practical applied business situations. She has been a frequent speaker at major technology conferences and had a monthly byline in Data Management magazine on Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence until 2001.
Education
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry - University of Chicago 1974
Master of Science, Physical Chemistry – University of Chicago 1972
Bachelor of Science, Chemistry – University of Michigan 1968
Winston Chung, PhD.
Chief Technology Officer, American Red Cross
Dr. Winston Chung has 25 years experience in information technology including technology research, product development, strategy consulting, enterprise architecture and system governance. While working at IBM, he invented IBM's multi-protocol networking technology, developed IBM's first firewall solution and successfully modernized IBM's mainframe TCP/IP products. He then became the Director of Internet/Web Technologies at AMS, where he directed Internet technology research and consulted AMS clients on Internet-enabled business application. He co-founded an Internet consulting practice in AMS and served as its Chief Technology Officer during the Internet-boom years. In the last 6 years he served as an Enterprise Architect at Freddie Mac, where he was responsible for the architecture and governance of all business systems supporting Freddie Mac's Investment and Capital Market business.
Perry Flinn
Co-founder and CTO, VoiceQuilt, LLC and Independent Consultant
Mr. Flinn earned BS and MS degrees in Information and Computer Science with high honors from Georgia Institute of Technology. From 1977 to 1984 he held the position of research scientist at Georgia Tech where he deployed the university's first local area network, built and maintained software development tools and desktop publishing software for the faculty, staff and students, and coordinated the university's early participation in the Internet community with the introduction of electronic mail to the campus. From 1984 to 1988 he led the communications and networking group at Massachusetts Computer Corporation where he was responsible for the design and development of the company's LAN and WAN connectivity products. From 1988 to 1992 he was a senior member of technical staff at SecureWare, Inc. where he was a principal contributor to the design and development of military-grade trusted operating system, networking, and window system technology for UNIX. In 1992, he co-founded Technologic, Inc. as a spin-off from SecureWare, and served as the company's VP Technology and CTO until selling the company in 1999. At Technologic, he architected and led development of the company's line of turn-key firewall and VPN appliances and managed-security services. From 2000 to 2002, he served as Director of Research and VP Technology for WebTone Technologies, Inc. where he had overall responsibility for architecture and security for the company's suite of multi-channel relationship management products for the financial services industry. Since 2002 Mr. Flinn has maintained an independent IT consulting practice. In 2005 he joined VoiceQuilt, LLC as a co-founder, and currently serves as its CTO.
Michael "Mike" D. Hobbs Jr.
Partner, Troutman Sanders, Atlanta
Mike is actively involved in intellectual property registration, licensing and litigation throughout the United States and internationally. He frequently represents clients in Federal Court and specializes in intellectual property and technology matters. Mike has represented clients in actions and negotiations across the spectrum of intellectual property, including trademarks, copyrights, advertising, trade secrets, covenants not to compete, covenants not to disclose, computer software, publishing, endorsements, the Internet and domain names.
Representative Experience
Intellectual property counsel to ING North America, Chick-fil-A, Inc., Mizuno Corporation, The Southern Company, Dollar General Corporation, AGCO Corporation, Mohawk Carpet Corporation, The Step Company, ChoicePoint, Inc., Integrity Toys, The PGA Tour, Inc., Davidson College and NewsBank, Inc.
Public Service
Board of Directors, Buckhead YMCA
Board of Directors, Children's Museum of Atlanta
Volunteer, Georgia Lawyers for the Arts
Other Distinctions
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Intellectual Property (2008)
Achieved Martindale-Hubbell's highest rating for legal ability and ethical standards
Selected as a Super Lawyer by Law & Politics and Atlanta Magazine for Intellectual Property Law excellence (2004-2008)
Named to Georgia Trend magazine’s Legal Elite in intellectual property (2003-2007)
Recognized as one of America's Leading Lawyers for Intellectual Property by Chambers USA (2006-2008)
Education
Vanderbilt University, J.D., 1991
Davidson College, B.A., 1987
Richard Lutch
Director of Finance, The Atlanta BeltLine, Inc.
Richard Lutch serves at the Director of Finance for Atlanta Beltline, Inc. As Director of Finance he is responsible for assessing and reporting on the comprehensive status of the BeltLine financial plan, including the funding activity and impact of all partner and stakeholder organizations. He is responsible for developing budgets, preparing and analyzing financial forecasts and evaluating project based financial proformas. He supports the efforts of the CEO and COO to identify and structure potential new resources, develop acquisition strategies, pursue funding alternatives and structure leveraging opportunities. He will assist the CEO and COO with long range operations and facilities planning.
Mr. Lutch has more than 20 years experience in all aspects of financial management: accounting, finance, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, financial trend analysis, business modeling, benchmarking, real estate, administration, capital markets, vendor management, joint venture management, mergers and acquisitions. He recently left a consulting role with Revenew Partner, in which he was responsible for financial performance improvements in the real estate, mortgage and title industries.
Prior to joining Revenew Partner, Mr. Lutch served as the Senior Vice President of Finance and Strategic Alliances for Atlanta based HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation, where he managed the joint venture/alliance function within the Finance, Marketing and Sales areas.
Mr. Lutch has a Masters Degree in Finance from The Carroll School of Management at Boston College and an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Massachusetts. Mr. Lutch currentlys reside in Buford.
John O’Callaghan
President & CEO, Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc.
John O’Callaghan assumed the position of President & CEO of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership, Inc. on July 31, 2006. Mr. O’Callaghan brings a varied background in non-profit fundraising, governmental service, housing policy and corporate external affairs to his new role at ANDP.
Most recently, Mr. O’Callaghan spent 11 years as the Regional Public Affairs Director at Fannie Mae. Mr. O’Callaghan helped create and lead Fannie Mae’s housing and community development outreach network for an 11-state region. In this role, he worked with lenders, real estate professionals, homebuilders, elected officials and community leaders to identify and solve community housing needs.
Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Mr. O’Callaghan was the City of Atlanta’s first Director of Intergovernmental Affairs where he directed the City’s State and Federal lobbying efforts. He also served as a special assistant to Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson.
Mr. O’Callaghan spent his early career in fundraising positions with the American Red Cross and United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta. In 1993, Mr. O’Callaghan was elected county wide to serve on the Fulton County Commission. He later filled a two year unexpired term on the Atlanta City Council.
Mr. O’Callaghan currently serves as one of Mayor Franklin’s appointees to the Atlanta Renewal Community Coordinating Responsible Authority (ACoRA) Board. Past community service includes work as Co-PTA President for E. Rivers School and as a Governor’s appointee to the Georgia Future Communities Commission.
Mr. O’Callaghan is a native of Atlanta a graduate of Georgia Tech. John, his wife Jennifer and their four children live in Atlanta’s Loring Heights neighborhood.
Forrest Old
President of Forrest R. Old Associates LLC
Forrest joined the Dun & Bradstreet Corporation in 1977. Some of the positions he held include Manager of Government Services, Vice-President of Product Planning and Research, and Vice-President of Strategic Planning. He was active in senior management for RMS, a unit of D&B, both domestically and internationally, since 1992. RMS, a global leader in Business Process Outsourcing, was spun off to management from D&B in 2001. As Executive Vice President, Forrest was responsible for marketing, technology, the insurance segment, Canada, overseeing strategic initiatives and served on the Board of Directors. He currently is President of Forrest R. Old Associates LLC, an industry consulting firm. He earned a B.A. Degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and his M.B.A. degree from the City University of New York.
Diane D. White, CPA, CMA, MBA
Chief Financial Officer, Workforce Resource, LLC
Diane D. White has over 30 years' experience in mortgage, commercial, and investment banking finance and business management. She has been associated with Workforce Resource as an Advisory Council Member since the company was formed in 2008. Prior to becoming Workforce Resource's CFO in 2010, Diane was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for the Futures Industry Association (FIA), a financial sector trade association based in Washington, D.C.
Before joining FIA, Diane held executive finance positions for Freddie Mac Corporation in McLean, VA; Wachovia Corporation in Atlanta, GA and Winston-Salem, NC; and First Horizon Bank in Memphis, TN. Diane is a Certified Professional Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant. She earned a BA in Journalism and an MBA in Management and Finance from Georgia State University, as well as a Master's in Commercial Bank Administration from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking of Rutgers University. She is also a graduate of the University of Virginia's Darden School of Executive Leadership.
Diane is a member of the AICPA, ASAE, and IMA. In addition to her corporate finance work, Diane is affiliated with Executive Education, Inc. as a frequent finance and accounting seminar leader for state CPA societies across the nation. Diane and her husband Jim live in Beaufort, SC.
Kate Wilson
Senior Mortgage Banker, Fairway Mortgage
Kate is a huge advocate for affordable housing and The Mortgage Banker's Association of America recognized her for her work in this area at the National MBA Convention in 2001. The Kate Wilson Mortgage Team has been recognized by the State of Minnesota for their top leadership in affordable and sustainable home ownership.