Themes: Business Plan Components - Mission Statements

John Alexander is president and founder of The CBORD Group, Inc., a company inspired by his foodservice experience at Cornell University. While earning an undergraduate degree in physics, John worked in several capacities for the Department of Dining Services at Cornell, including managing the university's first two "Pickup Store" convenience stores. Later, as assistant business manager, he developed the dining department's systems for food production and cost control.

John Alexander is a graduate of Cornell University

Michael Crooke's passion for the environment and the outdoors has been with him for many years. Every position that he has taken in his career has been in an outdoor company and his current position as CEO of Patagonia, Inc. and Patagonia's parent company Lost Arrow Corporation is no different.

Following his undergraduate education, Crooke's career in the outdoor world started with jobs at Yakima and Moonstone Mountaineering. He worked as general manager at Kelty Packs for several years and then became CEO/chairman of Pearl Izumi (a Colorado based cycling apparel company) before he joined Patagonia in 1999. Crooke's environmental thinking is a perfect match with Patagonia and he now acts as an entrepreneur within the company. He creatively runs a multi-million dollar company while working toward environmental sustainability within and beyond the company.

Crooke received a B.S. degree in Forestry and an MBA from Humboldt State University.

Michael and Karma Glos began their small, diversified organic farm in Berkshire, New York, located 20 miles east of Ithaca, in 1996. Since then, three of those years have included commercial operations.

They specialize in producing free-range organic meat (poultry, pork, beef) and organic herbs and specialty vegetables, and are certified by NOFA-NY Certified Organic LLC. All the vegetables, herbs and poultry are certified; the pork and beef are raised according to organic standards after 6 weeks of age.

The Glos' launched their business with no formal training, but relied on a love of farming and their experiences as farming apprentices.

Paul Joseph is currently in a leadership position at Netegrity, a technology company which is a leading provider of security software solutions that securely manage identities and their access to enterprise information assets. Netegrity was acquired by Computer Associates in October of 2004.

Prior to his role at Netegrity, Paul was a Vice President at Simon Management Group, a management consulting firm that specializes in assisting senior executives and operating managers of technology-based companies.

As an undergraduate student, Paul consulted to two, Ithaca-based companies, wrote three business plans, and was the co-founder and manager of a profitable business providing server training and risk management certification services to the hospitality industry. Paul continued to run the company as a sole proprietorship for 4 years, prior to attending graduate school.

Paul holds a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and an MBA from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.

Linda Mason is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Bright Horizons. Bright Horizons provides high quality childcare at the work site as a benefit for employees. She founded the company in 1986 with her husband, Roger Brown, and a small team of committed parents in Cambridge, MA.

Prior to founding Bright Horizons, Linda Mason managed large-scale relief operations overseas. She served as co-director of Save the Children's emergency program in Sudan, serving 400,000 famine and war victims, and directed a large feeding program for children in Cambodian refugee camps along the Thai border.

She is a graduate of the Yale School of Management, Cornell University and the Sorbonne University in Paris, France.

Kevin McGovern is the Chairman and CEO of McGovern Capital LLC, which provides Intellectual Property Rights Strategy, and originates, structures and implements capital formation, joint ventures and business alliances. In addition, he is also the principal of McGovern & Associates, which specializes in corporate law and intellectual property strategy with an emphasis on emerging businesses, mergers and acquisitions, securities, patent enforcement, corporate and partnership joint ventures, capital formation and R&D financing.

Kevin McGovern received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and his law degree from St. John's University School of Law. He has also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Mike Pratico, Jr., graduated from Cornell University with Honors in 1998. Prior to graduating from Cornell, Pratico along with two other partners formed Davanita Design, LLC, an e-strategy and implementation consulting firm. At Davanita, Pratico was responsible for many of the business operational needs including new business development, human resources, finance, and legal. Most notably, Pratico oversaw a capital infusion and the later sale of the company to Avatar Technology, Inc. in 2000.

Iberia Tiles was founded in August 1979 by ceramic tile manufacturer Ramon Sugranes, President of Ceramica Sugranes, of Barcelona, Spain and his partner, Jacinto Mas, who quickly transferred the managerial responsibilities to Ramon's daughter, Rosa Sugranes.

Ms. Sugranes reached a significant milestone when she was selected by the Small Business Council of America (SBCA) to receive its prestigious Small Business Person of the Year Award, which was presented at the U.S. Capitol. She was recognized for her outstanding efforts and achievements as a representative of the nation's small businesses.

Rosa Sugranes holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Barcelona.

Barbara Ley Toffler is considered one of the nation's leading experts on management ethics. She is a former Harvard Business School professor who has also taught at Boston University School of Management, Columbia Business School, and Yale School of Management.

Toffler is the Founding Principal of Resources for Responsible Management, Inc., a Boston-based consulting firm. She is also the author of "Final Accounting: Ambition, Greed, and the Fall of Arthur Andersen" and "Tough Choices: Managers Talk Ethics".

Toffler was a National Partner in charge of Ethics at Arthur Andersen for four years in the late 1990s.

Barbara Ley Toffler holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University where she was designated a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Yale University.

Bill Trenchard is currently the CEO of LiveOps, a teleservices company. Prior to LiveOps, Bill was the founder and CEO of Callcast, a call routing technology and outsourced teleservices firm that merged with LiveOps in 2003. Prior to Callcast, Bill was a managing director at idealab! where he served portfolio companies in capacities ranging from a board member to interim CEO. Bill was also the founder and CEO of Jump Networks, Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft in April 1999.

Bill Trenchard has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Science Technology Studies from Cornell University.