GET TO KNOW US
NIMBLE's mission is two-fold. First, we aim to promote the development of leadership AQ skills such as empathy, teamwork, problem-solving and mindfulness that are hallmarks of disruptors and innovators . This mindset is not taught in fact-oriented, memorization-bound schools, but is necessary for success in the 21st century. Secondly, we seek to broaden access to mentoring and education for entrepreneurs and emerging leaders and promote the entrepreneurial, nimble mindset of innovative problem-solvers.
Our research on creativity and innovation aims to unlock the mysteries of the creative process, understanding influences and drivers. We seek to provide actionable insights and methodologies for individuals and organizations so that complex problem-solving and creativity are embedded in company DNA rather than needing to be acquired.
We recognize women in leadership with the goal of inspiring others to excel as well as create an inclusive culture where all have the potential to thrive.
NIMBLE mentors and trains future leaders through original, engaging workshops for business leaders and summer programs for emerging leaders in high school.
For the 2020 Global Business Awards, NIMBLE was awarded Best in Professional Training & Coaching Solutions - USA by London-based Corp Today Magazine.
Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley, NIMBLE is the 501 (3) (c) corporation National Institute for Mentoring Business Leaders & Entrepreneurs.
A video created by NIMBLE intern Kelly Tung:
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Meet Our Team
MARIETTE JOHNSON WHARTON
Founder & CEO
Mariette is an entrepreneur and angel investor and has served as a mentor for entrepreneurs at Columbia Business School and in Middlebury College's MiddCORE program. She co-founded Vidtel in 2008, the first any-to-any cloud-based video conferencing service, with a successful exit in 2013. She designed a pioneering video voicemail product, earned 7 industry awards for the company and received recognition in the Power 100: The Most Powerful Women in the Channel in 2012. She started the strategy and innovation firm Change Agent Partners in 2014, following innovative work at Fortune 50 and Fortune 100 firms with PricewaterhouseCoopers and boutique firms. She was an Internet strategist for the pioneering e-commerce development company Proxicom from 1998-2001. Previously, Mariette was a Director at the Management Institute for Environment & Business, where her research was published by the US EPA. She is guest speaker, an early investor in 75+ companies, including in the first round for Ring. She holds a BA cum laude from Middlebury College and an MBA with honors from Columbia Business School.
LAURA TORRES
Laura is a Board Member of NIMBLE.
She has over 20 years of experience in product marketing, product management, strategy and communications in both B2B and B2C. Laura is a positioning consultant with Firebrick Consulting. Laura was VP and Director of Product Marketing for Eyefi, CMO Strategy Group and Peoplesoft and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
LAUREN BERMAN
Lauren is a NIMBLE Board Member. She co-founded the Berman Skin Institute and was instrumental in operations for two decades. Lauren has also written, produced and directed numerous children's theater productions and delivers improv and presentation training for NIMBLE. Lauren previously served on the Board of TheatreWorks and currently serves on the Board of the Palo Alto JCC. She holds a degree in Theatre from Sacramento State University.
JACQUE RUPP
Jacque provides NIMBLE program content on careers and networking.
She has over 30 years of experience in staffing and sales and marketing. For more than 11 years, she was the Director of Staffing for Apple Retail. She is the Chair of Jury Selection for the United States Association Film Festival and a fine art photographer. She holds an MBA from Santa Clara University in International Marketing.
LALIA HELMER
Lalia is a career and leadership coach who has worked with executives and entrepreneurs. Previously she was a coach/consultant at the PCO Group (People Centric Organizations). Prior to that she taught Undergraduate Business Psychology courses at Palo Alto University.
She holds a MS in Education and Industrial / Organizational Psychology, and is a ICF, ACC (Associate Certified Coach).
PEGGY McGRATH
Peggy provides mindfulness and meditation for NIMBLE programs. She has been a yogi for over 20 years and has a wellness coaching practice. Peggy previously held executive roles in enterprise sales for over two decades at Silicon Valley tech companies and has extensive experience in SaaS, B2B sales and product reviews. Peggy holds a B.A. in Government and Spanish from St. Lawrence University.
SHEIRA ARIEL, Ph.D.
Sheira is Research Advisor for NIMBLE. She has expertise in individual, group and organizational effectiveness. Sheira has held roles at Sun Microsystems and IBM and most recently, Silicon Valley Bank. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a M.A. in Business Research and a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Panel Experts & Mentors
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ROBIN ABRAMS
Prior CEO of Palm Computing and VeriFone with 30+ years of experience in high-tech, including as prior Managing Director Apple Asia.
BRENT AHRENS
General Partner at Canaan Partners, a venture capital firm. MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Dayton.
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DANNY ANDREEV
Was Automation Engineer at Yubico, a founder and CTO for Microbiota Labs and Charged Inc. He has interned at Columbia and has worked as a Hardware Engineer at Cisco and Kindred.ai. Studied at Washington University in St. Louis and Knox College
JOHN ARLEDGE
Senior executive at Akamai, previously Danger, TiVo, OpenTV. Startup founde, M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
CLARENCE CHUI
CEO & Co-Founder of Outward Inc., acquired in 2017 by Williams-Sonoma Inc. Qualcomm SVP, named on over 140 issued US utility patent, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and a M.S. and Ph.D. from MIT.
MARIA DINCEL
As Managing Director of Global Partnerships, including NBA, Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games, and Tokyo 2020 Olympic & Paralympic Games, The Ellen Show, Jimmy Kimmel live.
DAVID GILMOUR
Managing Director of Blyth Capital Partners LLC, SVP, Oracle, numerous issued patents in machine learning, natural language processing, privacy and security. From Harvard, hB.S. in Engineering and Applied Physics, a M.S. in Engineering and a M.B.A. with distinction.
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KATHERINE GLASSEY
Currently a Venture Acceleration Partner at Sage Partners and serves as an advisor and director for technology startups. She has over 30 years of experience in growing revenue for various innovative tech companies.
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DAVID HALE
Director at TechnoServe and prior CEO at Gigwalk, Entrepreneur in Residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners, B.S. in Engineering, Stanford University, M.A. in Education Administration and Policy Analysis and M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Full Bio
NORMAN HAPP
CEO of EZ Texting, former SVP at Evernote, senior executive in Intuit’s Small Business Group, founder of two technology companies.
MARIKA HOLMGREN
Founder and CEO of Do Good Events, serving Human Rights Watch, the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood, ClimateWorks Foundation, B.A. from Middlebury College.
PIYUSH MANGALICK
Director, Developer Platform & Partnerships at Instagram/Facebook,Lead Sales Engineer and executive at Google. Co-founded multiple companies, B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Santa Clara University and M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
COLIN McGRATH
Colin is a senior software engineer at Netskope. His focus is in network, machine learning and blockchain technologies. Colin was an early developer at Ring and Nubeva and also worked at the pioneering cloud video conferencing company Vidtel.
JONATHAN NORRIS
Managing Director of sales origination for Silicon Valley Bank in life science and healthcare venture capital firms, B.A. in business administration from the University of California, Riverside and a J.D. from Santa Clara University.
JEN PAULSON
Developed Fremont Hills Country Club summer camp as a teenager, ran operations for 10 years, project management at Komo Construction, Realtor at Sereno Group.
IGOR PISTELAK
COO and co-founder of Profit Circles, 12-year tenure at Cisco as Director of Worldwide Business Operations and Sales Operations in Europe and Emerging Markets, M.B.A. from Nottingham Trent University.
DAVID RATNER
CEO of Realm, recently sold to MongoDB, prior CEO of Openwave Messaging, and COO of SEVEN, among other roles, B.A. in Math and Computer Science from Cornell University, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA.
KRISTIN RUSSEL
SVP of Marketing for Carrot. Previously, VP of Marketing at Humana’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Transcend Insights , co-founder of Anachron, sold to ING Bank., M.A. in public administration from Carleton University in Canada and M.B.A. in international finance from École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes, France.
ERAN SANDHAUS
Managing Director, Copia Growth Partners, focusing on smart mobility, autonomous driving, and connected services., senior executive for over 20+ years in Fortune 500 companies including Qualcomm and Marvell, leading global businesses, operations and M&A focused on server communications, storage, mobile handsets and Internet-of-Things (IoT).
JAMES SCHONZEIT
Design Research Lead at IDEO in San Francisco, previously Design Strategist II at fuseproject and a Senior Design Researcher at IA Collaborative., B.A. in Economics, Film & Media Culture from Middlebury College.