Vip Members

Katherine Stewart-Marsh has over 32 years of experience in industries including television(roughly 2 years.) Katherine has been a Personal Assistant at the Official Opposition Leader's Office for the last 4 years. There, she advises the Deputy Commissioner with political issues, drafting correspondence, and acting as a liaison between people. Katherine initially wanted to enter the ministry of foreign affairs, but saw an opportunity at the U.S. embassy and took advantage of it. At this stage in Katherine's career, she is looking to network with like-minded professionals, share ideas, areas of expertise, and knowledge. She would like to gain additional exposure and be recognized for all she has do thus far. Katherine bases her success and many years of experience on hard work, her consistency, and upbringing. Katherine is most proud of her time at Boston College and being a role model to the youth.

Jorge H. Fandiño has over 19 years of industry experience and currently serves as SAP ABAP Consultant working with Projection Core. Jorge's main role is to develop requirements, do SAP consulting, analysis develop, talk work, know what they need etc. Jorge has always enjoyed programming and discovering new solutions, which has helped him naturally progress into his current role. Jorge is most proud of his education and the solutions he has come up with. He credits his success and years of experience on his hard work and consistency, the challenges he has overcome, and good mentors.

Charles E. Ciccotti is a distinguished professional in the Security and Investigation Sector working currently with Coastal Virginia Investigations as The Director of Investigations. Charles has held this position for the past year and a half and is a seasoned veteran working in Investigations for well over 35 years. Charles started his career as a State Trooper for The Virginia State Police for over 17 years and as a Sergeant for over 10 years with The State Police. He has served as a Board Member of The Criminal Justice Services Board and is a registered Private Investigator as well as owning his own Firm Ciccotti Enterprises Inc. for over 11 years. Charles started out his career with an exceptional educational background. He graduated from The Paul Camp Community College with a Degree in Public Service and Police Sciences. He then went on to attain his Bachelors Degree in Governmental Administration from Christopher Newport University. Charles then went on to complete a Post Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement from The Virginia Commonwealth University. Charles is a member of The Virginia State Police Association, The Private Investigators and Security Association, National Association of Legal Investigators, and works with local organizations such as Hampton Roads VA and The Champions for Children, and is a Board Member of The National Center for the Prevention of Community Violence National Advisory.

He has performed as a concerto soloist with the many of the major orchestras in Latin-American. Mr. Goñi has also participated as a principal flutist with the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, the Festival Youth Symphony Orchestras of the Americas and the Sewanee Summer Festival Orchestra. His recitals have taken him throughout Latin America, USA, Europe and Asia. He studied at the Juilliard School of New York and the New World School of the Arts in Florida. Some of his teachers include the renowned Christine Nield, Gro Sandvik, Eldred Spell, Dieter Flury, Susan Milan, and Samuel Baron, among others. He received the Myrna Brown Award for the International Guest Artist at the National Flute Convention in Columbus, Ohio 2000 and the Leadership of the Americas in 2004, and the Costa Rica National Award of Music, 2013. Gabriel is also a certified wind instruments technician from Yamaha Corporation; He studied under the supervision of Hiroshi Nakajima and Osamu Yoshida at the Toyooka Factory in Japan, and with Sarah Merrow in Boston. Mr. Goñi also holded the positions of Academic Dean of the National Institute of Music of Costa Rica, General Manager of the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica and Director of Programs of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas. Actually he is a Flutist of the National Symphony of Costa Rica, General Director of the Costa Rica National Center for Music, teacher of the National Institute of Music, the University of Costa Rica, visiting teacher of the major Conservatories and Schools of Music worldwide. Advisor and consultant of the Emanuel and Haynes Flutes. Gabriel has a love for music. He has wanted to be a flute player since he was ten years old and his grandfather was also a flute player which inspired him to go on and study music and make it his life and way of living. Gabriel also works for the public good to help teach young children in Latin American countries the flute with other musicians. One of the keys to his success is to never stop learning. Gabriel has had many big moments performing all across the world and winning flute competitions, but his proudest and happiest moments are seeing his students go on to win orchestra positions globally and reach new heights which he sees as part of his legacy. Helping young musicians is very important to Gabriel.

Franck has over 10 years of experience in Aeronautics and Technology and graduated from Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology in 2002 with his Bachelor degree in Air Force Management. As a child, Franck always had an interest in math and analysis and is great with numbers. In the past years, Franck has been a Correction Officer. In the next 3-5 years, Franck is looking into forensics and international study. He is opened minded with a willingness to learn and further his knowledge and education. Franck's greatest professional accomplishment is his job and the challenges that he overcomes on a day to day basis. Franck is involved with the firefighters organization and volunteers at local charities.

Cerlos Efrain Angueira, MD has over thirty years of experience in clinical Gastroenterology, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Endoscopy, and hospital administration at the senior executive level. Dr. Angueira attended The Citadel University (1980), where he participated in the Martial Arts Team and received a red belt. Dr. Angueira was also on the Dean's and President's lists. Dr. Angueir continues to teach both within universities and the medical field. His expertise includes clinical risk management, health plan management, business operations and chief of professional services. His services are provided to specialty care and consultative services in Gastroenterology to active duty service members, military retirees, and their families. Carlos also served in a variety of positions including staff physician, Commander 41st Combat Support Hospital- Bosnia and Deputy Commander for Clinical Services, Brooke Army Medical Center.

Virginia Espinosa is a career diplomat who has worked in Nicaraguan relations for over 20 years. Virginia has worked on international relations with German, France, Spain and Italy. Since her career in Diplomacy, Virginia has gone on to do many things including writing and directing. Virginia credits her creative experience from Framingham State University where she earned her Master's Degree. Virginia has a heart for the underprivileged and works tirelessly on helping the unrepresented in her country. Virginia is also a 7 year survivor of Breast Cancer and dedicates a large part of her life educating others in early detection. At this time she is travelling the world working on an article about Mary Magdalene Virginia speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian and a bit of French. When she's not dedicated to the needs of her community and focusing on her writing projects, Virginia teaches theatre to the younger generation in her community and frequently directs live plays in her community with a focus on comedy.

Eric Scott is the Treasury Manager of Republic Bank which is one of the longest serving banks in Barbados, having been in business for 30 years. Eric received his Bachelors Degree from the prestigious Brooklyn University in Economics and has been responsible for an array of financial investments such as personal, commercial, lending, premium, corporate and investment banking. As Treasury Manager, he oversees incoming and outgoing money, monitoring foreign exchange rates, and funded investments. His extensive experience, integrity, and commitment to client satisfaction enable him to evaluate each client’s needs and desires and then formulate a strategy to achieve realistic financial objectives. While studying at Brooklyn College, Scott made the Dean's List for Academic Achievements and was an active member of the Caribbean Student Association. In his spare time, Scott enjoys traveling and soccer.

Kleos has over 25 years professional experience in both the Academic sector and well as private business. He has also consulted over the years for several national and multi-national companies. He has also worked with government administration in quality improvement programs as well. He has written for several publications as well. He received his Doctorate from The University of Leeds.

Karl Sune Tjernström, PhD is an experienced professional with over 45 years of specialization in media management, journalism, international business, and marketing. After a successful career working in the industry, Sune made the switch to academia and research, where he has taught media economics, marketing, finance and management accounting, and international business at the college level. Currently, Sune holds two PhD's, two Master Degrees, two Bachelor Degrees and has authored several books and articles. It was the University of Wisconsin, Madision that made the largest impact on Sune's life and career. While attending the university, Sune was given the opportunity to make international connections and join the Kappa Sigma Fraternity, the largest social fraternity in the world. During his career, Sune has worked in several industries and has gained a true understanding of the impact of the global economy. Sune is looking forward to the opportunity to stay up-to-date with news within his industry, reconnect with fellow alumni from the University of Wisconsin, and meeting alumni from around the world. With a true love for learning, Sune is fluent in several languages including Spanish, French, German, Russian, Swahili, Finnish and the Scandinavian languages just to name a few, and is always seeking to improve himself.

Karen Walwyn has been a self-employed writer for the past 15 years. Before that, Karen was a journalist for her family owned newspaper in Antigua called The Daily Observer for five years. Her area of expertise has always been writing, editing and journalism. Karen was born in Antigua and went to Trent University in Canada, where she is also a citizen. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Cultural Studies. While at Trent, she was involved in TISA. Karen then returned to Antigua, and received a Graduate Certificate from Penn State University. Karen speaks fluent English, Spanish and conversational Italian. Karen always wanted to be a writer. She worked for her family newspaper and attributes her success to her passion for writing and for helping children reach their potential. Karen mentors young children at different schools, and does speeches for an organization called Optimist International. She also volunteers at St. John's Hospice. Karen wants to continue writing, and hopes to fulfill her secret passion of writing children's books.

Dr. Indu Gupta has been in the healthcare industry for over 13 years. Dr. Gupta is currently working as a Physician with Kaiser Permanente, where her main role is to work in pediatrics. She deals with issues including pediatric weight loss and pediatric eating disorders, and provides patient care and assistance to families. Dr. Gupta was inspired by her aunt who was a pediatrician. She loves what she does and finds that the most rewarding aspect of her profession is being consistent with her patients and seeing the happy faces of families, parents, and children. Dr. Gupta partakes in a lot of lecturing and looks forward to doing more public speaking. At this stage in her career, Dr. Gupta is looking to network with like-minded professionals, establish more of a personal brand, gain exposure, and be recognized for what she has accomplished so far. Dr. Gupta credits her success to drive, ambition, and determination. Within the next few years, Dr. Gupta is focusing on her development and making a difference.

Majella Cogan is an experienced Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist. Holding a senior position within Big White Wall, the UK's leading online digital psychological platform offering peer support and individual therapy to both the NHS and private sector organisations. As a Senior Clinician for Big White Wall's LiveTherapy service, she was instrumental in enabling Big White Wall achieve registration with the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the UK government's independent regulator for health and social care services and the first digital healthcare organisation to achieve this quality mark. Majella's active research interest is in innovative and digital approaches to healthcare as well as Positive Psychology and Wellbeing and its clinical, therapeutic and community application. Majella's personal passion is in enabling individuals to enhance meaning and purpose in life, creating the conditions for flourishing rather than functioning alone. She has lectured at the Royal College of Psychiatrists where she spoke of the challenges and positives of working in an online context and its clinical application. Majella prides herself on being a caring, safe and ethical practitioner and she enjoys demonstrating these values both personally and professionally. She attributes her success to knowing her mission, self-awareness and knowing what she brings to the table. Her goal is personal and professional growth and in doing so enabling others to access support. She hopes to benefit from the WANA by connecting with others who have similar synergy and passion. Majella enjoys travel, reading, walking, singing, and aspires to one day learning how to play the piano. She donates and regularly volunteers to various charitable organizations.

Carolina Russum is a globally recognized pianist. She was born in Guadalajara and earned a Bachelor of Education in the Iteso University in Guadalajara. She later went on to study music at McGill University (Montreal, Quebec,) and Julliard, where took Dalcroze Eurhythmics with professors Dr. Robert Abrahamson and Daniel Cataneo. During the last year of her career she worked at a special center for young delinquents where she offered a Therapeutic Music Workshop, simultaneously taking classes with Guadalupe Parrondo, and she was elected to play as soloist with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco. She worked for two years at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara as a Music Teacher, and was also a member of the team in charge of the "Art Fest" which offers concerts yearly. As soloist, accompanist, and chamber music interpreter, she has performed several times both in Mexico and abroad. Last year, she took part in the Festival Revueltas, where she played with the Russian violinist Alexandre Markov. Concertism is her main interest, but she also works as a piano professor at the American Music Academy established and conducted by Guillermo Salvador Fernandez and Rosalinda Preciado.

Carla Davis-Dumesnil is a very successful and multi-talented Artist, Entrepreneur and Consultant. In 1982, Carla co-authored, "An Invitation to Design," which was published by Macmillan. She has contributed articles to professional, architectural, and planning magazines and journals. Her vision for the future is to create an international copy-writing business. Carla looks forward to networking, mutual peer support, and business opportunities.

Selvan Rajan has over 10 years experience with both national and international organizations. Selvan has been involved in all areas of the market, both traditional and emerging. He and his company, including a strategic team of specialists, focus on public and private companies with $100,000,000 in revenue or less. SRM provides C-level strategic and financial guidance to companies while assisting them through significant operational and financial challenges. They do this by facilitating the path to new markets, overcoming significant business obstacles, with an emphasis on business value creation. Prior to SRM, Steven was also the founder of a $50M organization that initially provided outsourcing services in auditing and training, and eventually higher-end environmental remediation and consulting services. They employed and subcontracted over 1,000 professionals to deal with complex environmental, construction, science and technology program challenges. This included developing and deploying a high performance, data-driven strategic business intelligence process, that enabled successful completion of multiple federal and commercial mergers and acquisitions (M&A.) This expanded the firm’s geographical footprint, product and service offerings, executive and technical bench strength, and top-line revenue performance and profitability.

Eliane Fernandes is an accomplished general manager executive with over 20 years of experience in areas such as corporate governance, internal controls, compliance and planning. She had the opportunity to work in the private and public sectors. Since 2012, she has served as Executive Manager, Strategy at the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry – CNI. Eliane's key responsibilities involve strategic planning, budget, monitoring key performance indicators, project management and corporate governance. Her office also proposes guidelines to the National Board of Directors for SESI, SENAI and IEL within the national and state levels. In her professional experience, she has developed, among others, competences in the areas of corporate governance, compliance, internal controls, strategic planning, budget management and monitoring performance in institutions such as: National Confederation of Industry, Brasilprev (Banco do Brasil joint venture with Principal Financial Group), Ministries of Planning and Environment. Eliane graduated with a Master's in Regional Planning and certificate in geographical information systems from SUNY Albany in 1998, and earned a Bachelor's in Statistics at State University of Rio de Janeiro. Eliane likes looking at scenarios around economics and the needs of new development of innovation, and finds it to be a very challenging field. The key to her success thus far is her ability to negotiate and construct new options and to work with groups on solutions. She is confident in her understanding of how to get the organization to the next level. Going forward, Eliane is keen to enhance her network, especially outside Brazil, increase her visibility and branding, and ultimately attain a position abroad. When she's not working, Eliane enjoys reading books about mystery and crimes, watching movies, taking long walks with her dog Gigi, painting with acrylics, and cooking. She likes to experiment with different cuisines, especially Thai and Italian. The Brazilian National Confederation of Industry – CNI. CNI is the official and highest-level organization representing Brazilian industry. Since its founding in 1938, CNI has defended domestic business and manufacturing interests, acting as the main correspondent with the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, as well as with various organizations and entities in Brazil and around the world. CNI represents Brazil’s 27 state-level federations of industries and 1,245 sectorial employer’s unions, to which almost 700,000 companies are affiliated with. In addition, it directly administers the following organizations: Serviço Social da Indústria – SESI (Social Service of Industry), Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial – SENAI (National Service of Industrial Training) and the Euvaldo Lodi Institute – IEL. CNI advances in research, innovation, and technological development of the national industry. Furthermore, it supports initiatives that seek to improve the standing, corporate transparency, and training of workers around the country.

George F. Schmoll III is a retired professional with over 30 years of experience. He was the Chief Financial Officer & Treasurer of the USS ILLINOIS Commissioning Committee until the commissioning of the boat October 29, 2016 and is now the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the 786 Club. George is also the President of Market Modeling LLC and conducts seminars on how to trade using free software, that he has developed. George is an expert in trade and operating systems. George has been published in several journals throughout his career. He has been published in the Traders' News & Technical Services, Chicago Computer Guide, the Technical Analysis of Stocks & Commodities, and Technology Inc. George has also developed several patents. One of the highlights of George's successful career includes being the Manager of Advanced Technology at Gulbransen division of CBS Musical Instruments, and his work as an International Marketing Manager at Sperry Univac. George enjoys public speaking and has a passion for educating people. He has worked as a lecturer at the Knowledge Systems Institute for the majority of his career. George has taught classes on basic and advanced operating systems, business decision and clinical decision support systems, basic and advance C++, and UNIX. George volunteers at the Navy League and attends city council meetings in his city. He is fluent in English with elementary knowledge of French. He enjoys traveling, reading, and woodworking.

Dr. Rebecca Hierholzer has a laudable educational background. She earned her combined B.A. and M.D. at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine in 1981. She completed her internship and residency in Emergency Medicine at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City. She earned her MBA in Healthcare from American Intercontinental University in 2005. She is licensed in Missouri and Kansas, and is board-certified by the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Additionally, she is certified in advanced cardiovascular life support (ACLS) and pediatric advanced life support (PALS). University of Missouri has designated her as a Clinical Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine. Dr. Hierholzer is founder and chief executive officer as well as Medical Director of COVERSA (Collection of Victim Evidence Regarding Sexual Assault), a nonprofit organization that she established in 2000. Her foundation is dedicated to providing post-sexual assault patient care. COVERSA provides the services of SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) to area hospitals and medical centers in Kansas and Missouri. Their offices are located at 2900 Clay Edwards Drive, Suite 205, NKC, MO 64116 and 1317 W 13th Terrace, Level 3 A, Kansas City, MO 64102. You can find them at www.coversa.org or on Facebook, and they currently provide services at North Kansas City Hospital, Centerpoint Medical Center, St. Joseph Health Center, Cass Regional Hospital, Ray County Hospital, Lafayette Regional Hospital, Liberty Hospital, Research Medical Center, Belton Medical Center, Overland Park Medical Center, Olathe Medical Center, Excelsior Springs Medical Center, Lees Summit Medical Center and Western Missouri Medical Center. She is active member in the Kansas City Medical Society, the Missouri State Medical Association and represents Missouri as a delegate to the American Medical Association, a life time member of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, a member and fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and member in Missouri and Kansas State ACEP groups and also the Forensic Section. Dr. Hierholzer was named Emergency Physician of the Year (2010) by the Missouri Emergency Nurses Association. Also Woman of the Year (2012) by the National Association of Professional Women, Physician of the Year (2012) by Continental Who’s Who, Rising Star (2014) by Non-Profit Connect, Member of the Year (2014) by Bristol Who’s Who, Woman of Outstanding Leadership (2014) by the International Women’s Leadership Association. Also received the Community Service Award (2015) from the Kansas City Medical Society.

Damione Wright is the Joint CEO and Managing Director of Performance On Hand. The company designs, manufacturers and distributes technical work gloves to provide the ideal environment-and-job-specific solution for working hands. Performance On Hand is the recipient of numerous product and business awards including the 40 Under 40, Rising Stars and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In giving back to the community the company actively supports Telethon and Miners’ Promise. Damione holds a Bachelor of Economics with first-class honors and is the Managing Director of glove company Performance On Hand. Prior to this he worked as an economist and foreign currency dealer for the Reserve Bank of Australia and JP Morgan (London). Damione is winner of the '40 under 40' business excellence award and the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Damione's commitment as an executive committee member of the Telethon Adventurers stems from recognizing that "life is a gift" and should not be taken for granted; with particular acknowledgment of his two, young healthy boys and beautiful wife.