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Team

Masschallenge Team Member John Harthorne
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

John Harthorne has more than 10 years of top-tier strategy, technology and startup experience. Before joining Bain & Company as a Strategy Consultant, John received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, graduating with a 4.9/5.0 GPA. While at school, John received Grand Prize in the 2007 MIT $100K Business Plan Competition as the sole MBA student working with two MIT engineers to commercialize a medical device that facilitates the early detection and treatment of lung cancer. Previously that year, John led the 10th annual MIT Global Startup Workshop (GSW) held in Trondheim, Norway. The MIT GSW is the world's premier conference on how to foster entrepreneurship via supportive infrastructure and catalytic events. Keynote speakers in 2007 included Dean Kamen, Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande, Anil Gupta and Ken Morse. Later that year, MIT President Susan Hockfield presented John the 2007 Patrick J. McGovern Award for impact on quality and visibility of entrepreneurship at MIT. John is a life-long Massachusetts resident and an avid Red Sox fan. He currently lives in Somerville with his wife Natalia, their 5-year old son Max and their baby girl Yulia.
Masschallenge Team Member Akhil Nigam
Founder and President

Akhil Nigam received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City (Valedictorian) and his MBA from Harvard Business School. Before business school, Akhil was one of the founding team members (employee number 5) of a high growth startup focused on software, Internet technology and IT services. In this role, he helped grow the firm to 100 employees in 5 years across the United States, India and Singapore. He was the youngest partner elected in the firm and gained extensive experience advising top level executives on technology strategy and trends while leading the firm's new business development initiatives. Akhil has also evaluated investment opportunities in a variety of industries for major private equity firms at Bain & Co. and at Fidelity Strategic Investments. Akhil lived in India until age 12 and then attended High School in Zimbabwe before receiving a full 4-year scholarship to the Cooper Union. Akhil currently lives in Cambridge with his wife Hemali and two daughters Diya and Aisha.

 
Masschallenge Team Member Karl Büttner
Chief Mentorship Officer

With over 20 years of both bootstrapping and VC-backed company experience, Karl is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs. Karl co-founded 170 Systems, an enterprise software company in 1990, and saw it through two decades of growth and profitability, culminating in a successful acquisition. Karl led the company as CEO as it bootstrapped to become a profitable, worldwide market leader with a Fortune 1000 customer base using the company’s software products and services in over 90 countries – all before taking VC funding which fueled further growth. After joining MassChallenge in its inaugural year as a judge and mentor to many teams, Karl is now focused full-time on making the mentorship experience the best it can be for both the emerging companies and the participating community. Karl is also an active supporter of the entrepreneurial ecosystem through other involvements, including as a mentor with programs such as TechStars and the MIT Venture Mentoring Service. Karl received his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and lives with his wife and two sons in the Boston area.
Masschallenge Team Member Scott Bailey
Director of Partnerships

Scott Bailey is the Director of Partnerships at MassChallenge.  In his role, Scott develops annual fundraising strategies, builds partnerships with public and private organizations and investigates new expansion initiatives. Scott also plays a critical role in the day-to-day operations of the accelerator program and competition. He connects finalists with key stakeholders, partners and sponsors, and manages the competition judging logistics and the annual awards ceremony. Scott supports local and global entrepreneurship by frequently hosting international delegations at MassChallenge and volunteers his time to work with entrepreneurs, speak on panels, and mentor college students in the Boston startup community.

After graduating from the University of Vermont in 2009 with a degree in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, he served as the Director of Client Programs at the Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET), a non-profit technology business incubator.  During his time at VCET, Scott prospected early stage companies for the $5 Million Seed Capital Fund, founded the Entrepreneurship Club, and joined a student run startup, BlirpIt, as Director of Sales & Marketing.
Masschallenge Team Member Laura Desmond
Manager of Operations

Laura Desmond is the Manager of Operations at MassChallenge. In her role, she leads the day-to-day operations projects of MassChallenge and the development of scalable processes for future competitions. Laura has over 13 years experience in the nonprofit industry in Washington DC and Boston. After working in Washington DC at Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom, she moved to Boston to become COO of the American Anti-Slavery Group, where she continued her work on issues of human rights abuses, focusing on Sudan and Mauritania. Laura has served as the Foundation Director for the Massachusetts Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation and also gained valuable nonprofit experience at The Bridgespan Group, the world’s leading nonprofit consulting firm, and Earthwatch, a nonprofit matching volunteers and scientists to conduct research. An active volunteer, she is currently the Vice President of the Boston Smith College Club and is also a member of the Junior League of Boston. A dual national (France), Laura holds a BA in French Literature & Language from Smith College and a Masters of Science in Nonprofit Management at Northeastern University. She current lives in Arlington with her husband, Scott.
Masschallenge Team Member Oren Robinson
Chief Web Developer

Oren Robinson has been an artist and web developer since high school. Oren received his undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Wells College, awarded special distinction in computer science and inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. A visiting researcher in machine translation at University of Rochester, Oren also studied language in Shanghai, where he became fluent in Mandarin Chinese, and would later go on to volunteer in post-earthquake relief work in Sichuan, and work as lead website developer for China's largest environmental non-profit in Beijing. Oren currently lives in Somerville.
Masschallenge Team Member Erica Rife
Community Program Manager

 

Erica coordinates the accelerator curriculum for entrepreneurs across various industries and developmental stages. She identifies and recruits experts in the startup growth and expansion fields to engage and connect with top early stage companies. Erica collaborates with like-minded organizations in the innovation industry to build stronger relations and share knowledge and expertise with the local and global community. Additionally, she manages teams of ambassadors, interns, and startup enthusiasts to increase awareness and expand outreach.

Erica received her undergraduate degree in Nutrition and Health Sciences at Northern Arizona University. She implemented the first annual Northern Arizona Healthy Living Expo as her senior capstone project, and has since fallen in love with the event planning business. Erica has since been involved in planning both private and public engagements, and is delighted to be a part of the Boston innovation world. She loves traveling and meeting new people, and hopes to continue exploring the many opportunities the world has to offer.

 
Masschallenge Team Member Jeremy Bersin
Marketing Coordinator

Jeremy Bersin has worked as a mental health advocate since 2002, after co-founding a program dedicated to educating his community about the warning signs of suicide and depression. Since then, he has sat on numerous advisory boards at the local, state, and national level. After graduating from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in political science and sociology, he took his background in advocacy and applied it as the Director of Marketing for Energy Inside, a startup company creating web applications focused on positive behavior change. Jeremy has also worked on projects with actress Glenn Close, BringChange2Mind and 33needs.
Masschallenge Team Member Warren Anderson
Fellow

Warren Paul Anderson received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL where he played varsity football for the Wildcats.  He’s currently pursuing a master’s degree at Harvard University. At the age of 12, Warren started his first company and for the past two years has served as the Founder & CEO of Nimbo Corporation, a Cambridge-based enterprise sustainability software company that specializes in the spatial and temporal analysis of enterprise water footprint accounting. Warren was recently nominated as a Semi-Finalist for the 2010 College Entrepreneur of the Year award, presented by UPS and Entrepreneur Magazine. In between companies, Warren took up filmmaking and served as a research analyst (and resident surfer) for the State of Hawaii focusing on issues related to renewable energy, smart growth and environmental affairs. He lives in the North End neighborhood of Boston, but still refers to California as home.
Masschallenge Team Member Jodi-Tatiana Charles
Media/Community Outreach Coordinator

Jodi-Tatiana Charles has enjoyed bringing people and companies together for over three decades. As a strategic marketing & branding specialist she has combined her passion for photography with her love of business development. While completing her Global MBA at Babson College and traveling to 14 countries within a year, conducting research work on the global effects of tourism on business-to-business (B2B) segments of an economy, she developed La Capoise Galerie, a unique marketing and branding firm, specializing in commercial and corporate imagery for startup companies and small businesses. Prior to creating La Capoise, Jodi-Tatiana managed and coordinated the Massachusetts Conference for Women, a one day event providing a forum for more than 7500 women, engaged as Deputy Press Secretary to Governor Mitt Romney, produced the award winning NECN program NewsNight hosted by Chet Curtis and Jim Braude, and demonstrated her leadership as WXKS Associate Producer for the legendary radio program The Matty in the Morning Show, where she was nominated “Producer of the Year”