About Trestle Group Foundation
Trestle Group Foundation is a registered (No. CH-440.018.28-4), tax-exempt, non-profit, private Swiss foundation without any political or religious affiliations.
Trestle Group Foundation Board
• Ralph Schonenbach, Trestle Group, Switzerland
• Daniel Testi, BDS Consulting AG, Switzerland
Advisory Board
• Madhura Chatrapathy, ASCENT, India
• Prof. Johanna Mair, IESE, Spain
• Sheetal Mehta, Innovative Social Ventures, United Kingdom
• Edie Okamoto, RioVida Networks, United States
• Vickie Regan, IBM, Asia Pacific
• Päivi Rekonen, Switzerland
• Prof. Christian Seelos, IESE, Spain
Executives
• Dana Brice Smith, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Switzerland
• Rebecca L. Self, Ph.D., Director of Coaching Programs, Switzerland
• Margo Clare Cummings, Development Manager, Switzerland
Trestle Group Foundation has hired BDS Consulting AG for tax consulting, audit and controlling services.
Ralph Schonenbach, Switzerland
Ralph is the CEO of Trestle Group and on the Board of Trestle Group Foundation. He has held senior positions with the firms Andersen and Ernst & Young. Over the span of his career, he has established several successful consulting practices with a primary focus in the financial services industry and has advised high-level executives around the world on how to transform the way they manage and deliver services, as well as how to tackle the pressures brought about by resource constraints. Through Trestle Group Foundation, he is passionately involved with providing support to both women and emerging entrepreneurs in developing countries. Ralph frequently speaks at conferences and has authored a variety of publications. Ralph earned a degree in Business Management from Goucher College.
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Madhura Chatrapathy, ASCENT, India
Setting up a pioneering organisation AWAKE, the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Karnataka, Madhura took it to the heights of global model inculcating the spirit of volunteerism among women entrepreneurs combining with the spirit of enterprise and women empowering women. The collaborative effort of AWAKE and the Government of Karnataka put the women entrepreneurs of Karnataka on the global map and earned much recognition from the Government of India. Madhura works with the missionary zeal, entrepreneurial vision and institutional commitment to foster an entrepreneurial society for the past 2 decades. Through ASCENT – The Asian Centre for Entrepreneurial Initiatives, she has been working in micro enterprise development, technology transfer and entrepreneurship development in Asian and African region, and in other developing countries with a particular focus on rural and group enterprise development.
She has authored handbooks and training manuals on entrepreneurship. She is considered an authority on women and rural entrepreneurship and has brought laurels to the country and the State through her pioneering efforts and many firsts like the:
• First business incubator for women entrepreneurs
• First international exposition on food AHARA’82
• First school on air on women entrepreneurship
• First and only Research And Resource Centre for women entrepreneurs
• First Young Entrepreneurs Asian Conference with focus values and the like
• First woman Rotary District Governor in South Asia
She has been providing expert advise and facilitation to programmes of UNDP in India, the African Regional Bureau, ILO, UNIDO, World Bank, International Trade Centre, Economic Commission of Africa, ESCAP, EU – India Economic Cross – cultural Programme and many other agencies. She has served and continues to serve on several Government of India and State Government Committees, and organisations contributing to shaping of enabling policies. She has been serving on the Governing Boards of Centre for Entrepreneurship Development of Madurai Kamaraj University, Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Ahmedabad, and also on the National Advisory Committee of SIDBI and IDBI, also is a member on the National Entrepreneurship Development Board, Government of India. She has served as Director of State Bank of Mysore.
As an entrepreneur she has distinguished herself, obtaining a simple technology from CFTRI and building on it to be an industry leader in the area of food ingredients. Her company, Food Associates Bangalore, today has an international market and major MNCs as customers.
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Johanna is Professor of Strategic Management at IESE, the Business School of the University of Navarra in Barcelona, Spain. She teaches Corporate Strategy and Entrepreneurship for Social Impact in the MBA program, executive programs and the PhD program at IESE. Her current research lies at the intersection of traditional strategy and entrepreneurship. More specifically she is interested in how institutions stifle and enable social and economic progress and the role of entrepreneurial actors in this process. Johanna’s work has been published in leading academic journals, the Financial Times, the Economist, Business Week, and the Herald Tribune. Her research on Innovative Business Models in the Context of Deep Poverty (co-authored with Christian Seelos) has received the 2007 Strategic Management Society "Best Paper for Practice Implications Award" and the 2008 Gold Award of the IFC – Financial Time Essay Competition. In 2007 she was recognized as a “Faculty Pioneer” by the Aspen Institute and received the “Ashoka Award for Social Entrepreneurship Education. Johanna serves on the editorial board of Strategic Entrepreneurial Journal and Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice. She sits on the advisory board of a number of companies, foundations, and social investment funds, and consults with large multinational companies and international organizations such as the World Bank.
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Sheetal is Founder and CEO of Innovative Social Ventures Ltd (www.innovativesocialventures.com), a London based company that provides advisory services to companies in the area of fundraising, technical due diligence and corporate partnering. The company also serves as a vehicle for socially conscious technologies (in the area of education and healthcare) to reach out to developing communities globally. Examples of her portfolio include a company that focuses on an interactive educational online community (Caspian), digital identity management (WISeKey), new media software (Tribune Capital) and several corporate finance houses which help women entrepreneurs from developing countries access corporate partnerships and angel investing including the Trestle Group Foundation.
In July 2006 Sheetal was appointed by the UK Trade and Investment's Global Entrepreneur Programme as UK Dealmaker. As a liaison between Government and entrepreneurs, she is responsible for accessing Venture Capital funding for technology start ups and assisting entrepreneurs interested in setting up their companies and pursuing opportunities in the United Kingdom.
Previously, Sheetal was Director VC Relations at Microsoft. She worked with the Venture Capital community in EMEA (previously in the Silicon Valley) to help their portfolio companies leverage the .NET initiative. This process is achieved by forging strategic alliances with Managed VCs including Microsoft executive sponsorship in a smooth engagement process building emerging XML technologies via joint development programs promoting open communication with the high tech community regarding MS technologies.
As co-founder and Chief Knowledge Economist for Knowledge Dynamics (London); Sheetal was responsible for the development of an Intellectual Capital (intangible assets) valuation tool. Case projects included the valuation of Swissair code shares (alliances) and the creation of the world's first global knowledge exchange.
Prior to Knowledge Dynamics, Sheetal provided financial solutions to banks (WestLB) and venture capital firms, institutions, high net worth individuals and corporate clients ( USA, Middle East and EMEA).
Sheetal has been awarded 35 Under 35 by Management Today Magazine - an award for the top 35 women in business under 35 in the UK. In 2005, Prince Charles and Cheri Blair awarded Sheetal with the Asian Women of Achievement Award: Social and Humanitarian Efforts for her focus on taking technology to developing communities in India and Africa. Sheetal is a TiE Charter Member and mentor, she sits on several advisory boards including UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women), Digital Diaspora Network for Africa (DDNA), Landmine Survivor's Network, Voices For Innovation, and the LSE alumni mentoring program. Volunteer work includes, Thames Reach Bondway, fundraising for Cancer Research and Feotal Alcohol Syndrome, SOS Childrens Villages, and Presentation (A Social Investment Agency). Sheetal is also a member and active participant in Voices for Innovation which is sponsored by several leading innovative companies including Microsoft. Sheetal completed a Masters in International Relations (Economics) at the London School of Economics and BA (Honours) in International Politics at the University of Alberta, Canada. She is currently writing a book focussing on Social Venture Capital.
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Edie, CEO/President of RioVida Networks (www.riovida.net), has twenty years experience, both in client and agency roles. She has worked as a VP Business Development, VP Marketing and Sales, Media Director, and Market Research Director. She worked with consumer companies such as Piñata Foods, Jelly Belly’s, American Potatoes, S&W Foods, C&W Foods, Macy’s, JC Penney, Cartier Eyewear, Logo Paris, L’Amy, Body Smart System, and Wildlife Works among others. With Media Companies such as International Data Group, PC Week Magazine, Cahners Publishing, The Summit Group, D.E.C.O.I./Tezuka, Imai, Media Synergy, Enchante, Inc., KABL AM/FM, KGO, University of California, Publishing, Bonus.com, and Enchante. She had great impact on the high tech industry with her work with Microsoft, Digital Research, Inc., MicroPro, SBT, Inc., Walker Interactive, Eagle Computers, Altos Computers, Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, AT&T, NCR, Hyundai Computers, Progilog, BMC, and Tymshare, American Microsystems, National Semiconductor, GTE Microcircuits, GTE Lenkurt, and GTE Sylvania, etc. Her services included company launches, international business development, distribution and sales channel development, international communication strategies, market research, media planning, and media relations. She is fluent in four languages including English, German, French and Spanish. Edie has hands-on experience in 23 countries including Europe, the Americas and the Far East.
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Vickie Regan, Asia Pacific
Vickie Regan is IBM’s Vice President Business Transformation & IT, Asia
Pacific, a position she has held since October 2007. In this role Ms Regan
is responsible for operations to support and assist the Asia Pacific regions
with IT and Business Transformation. She previously held this position
within Europe from January 2006.
Prior to her role in Europe she was the Vice President Operations Asia
Pacific, following her role as the Vice President and General Manager,
Business Innovation Services A/NZ.
From 1998 until 2000 Ms Regan held the challenging position of Vice
President of Olympic Technology for IBM in A/NZ. In this role she led the
team who delivered the technology solution for the Sydney 2000 Olympic and
Paralympic Games recognised as one of the largest, most complex IT
infrastructures ever built to manage and distribute Games information.
Ms Regan joined IBM Australia in 1976 and has held many varying and
increasingly challenging and senior roles. Starting as librarian for IBM’s
Information System department in Australia, Ms Regan has worked in
logistics, distribution, market research and management roles. In 1994 Ms
Regan became IBM Australia’s first Chief Information Officer and was also
asked to take on the additional role of Transformational Executive, leading
change management across the IBM Australia organization. In 1996 Ms Regan
was appointed Asia Pacific Director of Information and Telecommunication
Systems, responsible for IBM’s technology across the Asia Pacific region,
including Japan. The following year Ms Regan’s responsibilities expanded to
include business reengineering as well as technology across Asia Pacific.
Ms Regan holds an MBA from the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) in Australia.
Ms Regan is Australian and comes from Sydney. In her many roles within IBM she has also lived in Tokyo, Japan and Zurich, Switzerland. She currently lives in Shanghai, China.
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Päivi Rekonen is a senior executive with extensive experience in general and functional management. She has track record in creating new company strategies, corresponding transformation frameworks and approaches, followed by successful implementation. Päivi has established herself with proven results as professional line manager capable of leading different teams regardless of domain/functional expertise or geographical location. Päivi is a native of Finland. She has lived and worked in The UK, The Netherlands, China and Singapore and currently lives in Zurich, Switzerland. She has more than 15 years of industry experience in telecommunications and networking, having worked for Nokia and Cisco in various senior roles. Most recently she worked for Credit Suisse´s IT division as Managing Director in charge of a global IT organization. Päivi is currently on sabbatical, enjoying la Dolce Vita, and contributing her valuable time and experience to Trestle Group Foundation.
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Christian is Director of the IESE Platform for Strategy and Sustainability. He teaches "International Business”, “Global Strategic Management”, “Sustainable Development", "Social Entrepreneurship”, and “Innovative Business Models for Social and Economic Impact" at IESE and other business schools in Europe, Africa and the United States. His research focuses on emerging topics at the interface between company strategy and issues of the global sustainability agenda such as climate change, water stress, poverty and neglected diseases. He also studies a number of innovative business models that create new markets and economic and social development in the poorest countries. His research informs new curricula for MBA and executive education and he advises companies and organizations on a number of sustainability issues. Christian has recently worked as Director of FSG Social Impact Advisors (Geneva), a consultancy co-founded by Harvard Prof. Michael Porter. His industry experience includes positions at British Telecom Global Services as Senior IT Contract Director and Head of CSR Europe (London/Munich). He was also with Siemens Management Consulting (Munich) and was Vice President for Portfolio Strategy at Transclick Inc. (New York). In the 1990s he was appointed Adviser to the Chairman of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq (New York/Baghdad) where he led the inspection and disarmament efforts on biological weapons. In the 1980s and early 90s he was Assistant Professor for cancer research at the University of Vienna. Christian received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Vienna/Baylor College of Medicine, Houston; an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business and a Master of Science from the University of Vienna. He has authored more than 50 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and in a number of books.
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Prior to joining Trestle Group, Dana served as public affairs professional with extensive experience in strategic communications, nonprofit administration, governmental and media relations. Dana has worked with government leaders at the highest level in both the Executive and Legislative branches in the State of Ohio, as well as with key Members of Congress at the federal level in the United States. He has extensive experience developing and managing legislative programs, strategic communications efforts and public awareness campaigns on behalf of a broad range of clients including nonprofit organizations, Fortune 100 companies, as well as state and national trade associations. Dana earned a degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University and he currently resides with his wife Elizabeth in Luzern, Switzerland. Dana serves as Managing Director of Trestle Group Foundation.
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"She's a Master of the questions, 'What's next?' 'By when?' and 'How would we do that?'"
TED Fellow Kyra Gaunt calls her the DreamMaker. Renowned Nigerian blogger/gender activist Toyin Ajao calls her, "The Connector of Changemakers." Dr. Rebecca Self helps clients envision their goals and then get there with velocity. From individuals to some of the world's largest corporations, current and past projects have included global rollout of complex training programs and organization-wide cultural transformation for clients such as AP Møeller Mærsk, Volvo, Nokia Siemens Networks, Emerson, Avaya, and StorageTek. Her passion lies in unleashing the potential of young global leaders. She is a co-creator and CEO of the European Summit for Global Transformation, which gathers social entrepreneurs with funders and mentors, creating a community that works together.
Self has written for newspapers, magazines, Fortune and Global 500 companies and the NBC-TV affiliate in San Diego. Self earned her B.A. at Hampshire College and her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she taught for nearly a decade. She has also been a member of the faculty of the University of Idaho and Franklin College Switzerland. She served as Senior Editor for US West's Center for Digital Culture and was Director of Content Development for Gronstedt Group, one of the world's most cutting-edge corporate training firms. She currently designs and leads global programs for telecommunications, shipping and energy sector firms. From offshore oilmen (on coaching and communication offshore) to automotive dealers (on how to use best PR practices), Self moves clients from idea through completion.
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Margo Claire Cummings, Switzerland
Margo Clare Cummings holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and International Relations from Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA, and a Master of Arts in Technology and Public Policy from the Graduate School of International Studies, University of Denver, Colorado, USA.
Ms. Cummings began her career as a journalist in Washington, D.C., where she wrote her first national cover story for Hispanic Magazine at age 19 and later interned as a Production Assistant on the NBC Today Show.
After college, she moved to Wiesbaden, Germany where she worked as the Tours Manager for the United Services Organization (USO), organizing tours throughout Europe for service members and their families stationed in Germany.
She returned to America where she worked as an International Trade Specialist at the US Department of Commerce’s Export Assistance Center and later was recruited as a Project Coordinator for the Alaska World Trade Center, both in Anchorage, Alaska. Prior to imigrating to Switzerland, Ms. Cummings was a radio news anchor, commercial voice talent and freelance journalist in Anchorage.
A 10-year resident of Switzerland, Ms. Cummings’ Swiss experience includes 8 years as an educator, events coordinator, and simultaneous translator at the Ecole D’ Humanité, Hasliberg Goldern, as well as a language specialist for Berlitz. She speaks German, French and Spanish, has travelled to 35 countries, and has spent most of her life living outside the continental United States – including Saudi Arabia and Germany.
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Nerys Wadham is the founder of Style Dynamics (http://www.styledynamics.com/index.php) and provides 20 years of valuable experience to the Trestle Group Foundation Partnership Program¹s executive coaching.
Established in 2006, and built on a breadth and depth of experience in communication and leadership development domains, in consulting (8 years) and in industry (12 years), Style Dynamics is dedicated to the mission of connecting and promoting talented leaders to their full potential, in terms of communication style and leadership style (behavior) with clarity and versatility.
Nerys served at Novartis Pharma in Corporate Executive Group roles from 1998 to 2006: As Global Head of Diversity Pharma (2004-2006), on the CEO staff serving Executive Committee decision making (2001-2003), and as Global Head of Pharma Communications (1996-2001). She pioneered and led several culture and change initiatives, across a range of corporate development phases, from megamerger integration to steady state to fastest growing big pharma.
She joined Novartis predecessor company Ciba in 1994 from a consulting background in financial communication and investor relations (1985-1993), first with Charles Barker Georgeson, later with Citigate Dewe Rogerson. Her first role in professional life was with the BBC film unit (documentary and educational program teams).
Nerys holds an MBA from IMD, Lausanne and undertook further executive education programs at Harvard Business School and at INSEAD (Clinical Organizational Psychology, focused on Culture and Governance, awarded cum laude). She also has significant direct experience of executive coaching programs and processes.
Accessible and proactive, she combines humility with resolve. Her preferred work is with up-and-coming high potential and promotable talents, adding value to their leadership through timely and pre-emptive counsel, as they advance along the arc of their career.
Her interests include the arts, the mountains, and biographies (life often being stranger than fiction).
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