Advisory Board - Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship Open Hours – Mondays on Zoom!

Marianne Klinker — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 20:54:17 +0000

Entrepreneurship Open Hours – Mondays on Zoom! Marianne Klinker Fri, 02/18/2022 - 15:54

In This Story

Questions About Entrepreneurship? Drop in on the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship’s Entrepreneurship Open Hour on Zoom with Associate Professor James Wolfe, our Entrepreneur in Residence.

Sessions are open to Mason students, alumni, staff, faculty, and the community-at-large.

Beginning Monday, January 24 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and every Monday thereafter throughout the Spring 2022 Semester via Professor Wolfe’s Zoom Room.

Topics

Business Buzz

Advisory Board - Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Ibi (Ibrahim) Pashaei, '15

Marianne Klinker — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:27:05 +0000

Ibi (Ibrahim) Pashaei, '15 Marianne Klinker Tue, 01/18/2022 - 16:27

Founder and CEO, Northern Virginia Landscaping

Biography

Ibi Pashaei is the founder and CEO of Northern Virginia Landscaping and a Mason alumnus (BS Kinesiology, 2015). As an undergraduate student, he engaged in CIE programming and studied entrepreneurship while earning his minor in Business. Ibi is an emerging entrepreneur in the region. In his free time, he enjoys rock climbing and traveling.

Matt Curry

Marianne Klinker — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:23:44 +0000

Matt Curry Marianne Klinker Tue, 01/18/2022 - 16:23

Serial Entrepreneur and Automotive Industry Expert

Biography

Matt Curry is a serial entrepreneur and automotive industry expert. He started his flagship company, Curry’s Auto Service, in 1997 with one shop and grew the company to 10 locations.

Under his leadership, Curry’s won numerous awards, including being named Motor Age magazine’s Top Shop in North America, Northern Virginia Magazine’s Best Auto Repair Shop in Northern Virginia, and a Top Shop Finalist by Tire Review magazine. Curry's was named to the Inc. 5000 three years in a row and was recognized by The Washington Business Journal as one of the Fastest 50 Growing Businesses in the Washington, DC area two consecutive years. Matt was also hailed as a “Home Grown Hero, Entrepreneur of the Year” by The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).

Matt is the founder of The Hybrid Shop and in 2014, led the company to win the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Product or Service by Stevie© American Business Awards. Matt has also authored a Wall Street Journal best seller, The A.D.D. Entrepreneur: How To Harness Your Superpowers To Create A Kickass Company, published in April 2015.

In 2017, Matt and his wife Judy opened Craftsman Auto Care and expanded the brand to 6 locations in 5 years. Matt recently branched out into competitive racing with Team Craftsman hitting the American Endurance Race circuit, World Racing League, and most recently, a professional stint with Copeland Motorsports.

Judy Curry, '90

Marianne Klinker — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 21:20:34 +0000

Judy Curry, '90 Marianne Klinker Tue, 01/18/2022 - 16:20

Chief Creative Officer, Curry's Auto Service

Biography

Judy Curry (’90 BS Business) has been a creative leader in the auto repair industry for over 30 years. As the Chief Creative Officer and driving force behind the Curry's Auto Service brand, founded by her and her husband Matt, she took Curry’s Auto Service beyond the traditional boundaries of auto service marketing and established a variety of innovative programs that clearly distinguished Curry’s from its competition. Growing the company to 10 locations with over 150 employees, the Currys sold the business in 2013.

Judy then went on to create the brand for The Hybrid Shop, a hybrid vehicle battery conditioning and repair franchise that was sold in 2015. With the opening of Craftsman Auto Care in 2017, the newest brand in the Curry's lineup, Judy has continued to raise the standard for effective marketing and customer retention strategies in the auto care industry, embracing new technologies and optimizing social media platforms. Among her initiatives for Craftsman are the highly anticipated, successful Community Cars & Coffee events, Women's Car Care clinics, Craftsman Motorsports, and a variety of sponsorships that support vibrant groups in the communities Craftsman serves. Her efforts, and those of the entire Craftsman team, have resulted in unprecedented growth with the successful opening of 6 locations within 5 years.

Stephanie Zimmermann, '93

Marianne Klinker — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 15:51:55 +0000

Stephanie Zimmermann, '93 Marianne Klinker Thu, 09/16/2021 - 11:51

Owner, Founder, and Chief Box Engineer, Lend A Box LLC
Women in Business Initiative Past Chair

Biography

Stephanie Zimmermann is co-owner and co-founder of Lend A Box LLC. Lend A Box offers one of the most innovative, easy, and smart ways to move in the Washington, D.C., metro area. They aim to make residential, commercial and government moving projects less stressful, offering moving logistics, delivery, and pickup of rental boxes, and concierge based storage solutions. Zimmermann has led her team in building a solid logistics company with plans for expansion.

She is a graduate of ��AV with a BS in Decision Sciences and Management Information Systems. In 2017, Zimmermann was recognized by Mason Business as a Prominent Patriot.

An active member in her community, she sits on several local advisory boards and volunteers time with the Girl Scouts.

Eileen Ellsworth

Marianne Klinker — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 19:07:09 +0000

Eileen Ellsworth Marianne Klinker Wed, 09/15/2021 - 15:07

President, Community Foundation for Northern Virginia

Biography

Eileen M. Ellsworth has been the President of the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia since 2005. With $37 million in managed assets, the Community Foundation engages donors to help grow philanthropy in the region. During her 10 years as President, Ellsworth has grown the Community Foundation’s discretionary grant making levels from $12,000 in 2005 to $506,000 in 2014. She created the Future Fund, a giving circle for young professionals in Northern Virginia, created the Loudoun Impact Fund for strategic philanthropic investments in Loudoun County, created the Healthy Kids Grants to promote children’s health and help prevent childhood obesity, created the Innovation Fund to support programs that nurture inventiveness, creativity and new design, and launched the new Business Women’s Giving Circle to support women’s entrepreneurship and STEM education for girls. She led Community Foundation efforts to commission and publish the first ever Child and Youth Needs Assessment across the region, and in 2014, the Community Foundation published two additional comprehensive needs assessments – one addressing the needs of the aging population and the second addressing the needs of military personnel, veterans and their families in Northern Virginia.

An attorney by training, Ellsworth was a trial attorney in private practice in Connecticut and New York and later the General Counsel of Best Software in Reston, VA. Eileen serves on the Community Foundation National Standards Board, the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Board, and the Loudoun County CEO Cabinet. She lives in Oakton with her husband Bob Weil.

Sumeet Shrivastava, '94

Marianne Klinker — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:22:27 +0000

Sumeet Shrivastava, '94 Marianne Klinker Mon, 09/13/2021 - 14:22

President and CEO, Unissant

Biography

Sumeet Shrivastava is an accomplished executive and proven business leader with more than 30 years of experience in the government IT industry. Most recently, as Chairman and CEO of ARRAY, he provided overall corporate leadership for the company’s growth and operations strategy, included a successful graduation from Federal small business programs, leading a management buyout of ARRAY of the founder and independent investors, and ultimately having a successful exit through ARRAY’s sale to CGI Federal.

Prior to ARRAY, Sumeet was SVP for Public Sector at Keane (now NTT Data) and spent time as the SVP for North American Commercial Sales and Marketing. As EVP and COO of ANSTEC, a Government IT contractor, he architected the company’s sale to Keane. Sumeet’s experience has traversed the full range of early-stage small business to a competitive, mid-tier contractor.

Sumeet has been committed to his alma mater, ��AV (GMU MBA ’94), and the regional community throughout his career. He is currently Vice Chair of the GMU Foundation Board of Trustees and the Past President of Mason’s Alumni Association. He was also instrumental in launching the Center for Government Contracting and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Within the community, Sumeet is Vice-Chair of the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation, President of TiE DC and is Project Committee Chair of the GO Virginia Region 7 Advisory Council

Sumeet has been a resident of Fairfax County since 1974 and is a product of the public school system in the Commonwealth of Virginia from 2nd grade through his MBA. He currently resides in Chantilly, VA with his wife, Joya (GMU BS EE ’96), and is incredibly proud of their four children – Neelesh, Rohan (GMU, Dec ’23), Pranav (GMU, May ’26) and Janya.

Michael Gallagher, '94

Marianne Klinker — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 15:32:00 +0000

Michael Gallagher, '94 Marianne Klinker Mon, 09/13/2021 - 11:32

Executive Chairman, The Stevie® Awards

Biography

To honor the millions of business executives and workers worldwide who quietly accomplish innovative and extraordinary things in the workplace every day, Michael Gallagher founded the Stevie® Awards in 2002. The name Stevie comes from the Greek name Stefanos, which means "crowned." Prior to founding the Stevie Awards, Gallagher focused his energies on marketing, sales, and product development, including serving as Vice President of Sales & Marketing with the Hoover's Media Technologies division of Hoover's Inc., the leading provider of information on public and private companies worldwide. Most recently, he was vice president of Sales & Marketing with Amazing Media, an online advertising company. Gallagher holds a bachelor of arts from Fordham University in New York City and a master of business administration from ��AV. Gallagher was president of the alumni chapter in 2011-13 and was also a Director at Large.

Alumni Awards

Prominent Patriot, 2016
Alumni Service Award, 2014

Anne K. Altman, '82

Marianne Klinker — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:53:11 +0000

Anne K. Altman, '82 Marianne Klinker Mon, 09/13/2021 - 10:53

Co-founder and CEO, Everyone Matters Inc.

Biography

Anne Altman is the former general manager of IBM Corporation's U.S Federal Government and Industries sector. In this role, Altman was responsible for the strategy, direction, development of solutions, and sales for driving IBM's multi-billion business with Federal Government Clients in the United States. Known as a transformational leader, she has often been tapped to address complex business challenges within IBM and on behalf of clients. Most notably, she helped establish IBM's footprint as a major force in the U.S. Federal market; and led the company's server hardware business during the most important product launch in the history of the mainframe business – the System z mainframe.

Altman is a recipient of the prestigious Eagle Award, one of the highest honors issued to technology partners serving the Federal market. In addition, her outstanding contributions to the information technology industry and its clients include: Federal Computer Week's Top Federal 100, Washingtonian Magazine Top Tech Titans, Washington's 100 Most Powerful Women, the AFFIRM Leadership Award for Industry, and the CIO Council's Azimuth Award for the Industry Executive of the Year. Altman sits on the Board of Directors of SPXFlow Inc, as well as the Treasurer for the NSO and Vice Chairman of NVTC. She also sits on the President's Innovation Council at ��AV.

Her professional success and tireless support of her alma mater were recognized in 2011 when she was honored as Mason's School of Business Alumna of the Year.

Altman earned her BS in marketing from ��AV.

Dale "Dusty" Wince, Jr., '12

Marianne Klinker — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 14:48:19 +0000

Dale "Dusty" Wince, Jr., '12 Marianne Klinker Mon, 09/13/2021 - 10:48

Founder, Aligned2
Immediate Past Chair, Dean's Council
Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting Advisory Board Emeritus Member

Biography

Aligned2 Founder Dusty Wince weds his real-world business acumen with executive coaching and advisory services to help entrepreneurs excel and their companies grow. He draws on his 30-plus years leading start-up companies from inception to acquisition to integration, particularly those focused on cyber security and enterprise technology services, to strengthen individual and enterprise decision-making and deliver better outcomes.

Prior to Aligned2, Wince served as the vice president of ManTech’s Cyber Security Solutions Division after the $68 million acquisition of his Knowledge Consulting Group (KCG) in 2015. He founded KCG in 2000, presiding over its growth from one to 250+ employees and its recognition as the largest privately held cyber security services firm in the federal market. ManTech’s Cyber Security Solutions Division, subsequently grew to 385+ cyber professionals who produced revenues of $138 million annually. Wince's depth of hands-on business experience includes expertise with consulting, technology service delivery, financial management, operations and business development. He also was co-founder and Vice President of Business Impact Systems (BIS), the 1998 No. 1 Fastest Growing Technology Company in Virginia and the District of Columbia. He sold BIS to CIBER for $63 million. Wince began his career with Electronic Data Systems and spent more than 10 years with the Military Systems Division.

Wince has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Finance from the University of Phoenix and a Masters of Business Administration with a National Defense concentration from ��AV. He completed the General Management Program for executives at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. He also completed the Executive and Organizational Coaching Program at Columbia University and achieved Columbia University’s highest certification level for Executive Coaching.

Alumni Awards

Prominent Patriot, 2013
Distinguished Alumnus, 2013
Alumnus of the Year, 2014