2009 Leadership Team

Brian Cantwell

Co-Managing Director
Brian is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan, where he is a member of the Entrepreneurship & Innovation program. At Sloan, Brian blends a passion for marketing with entrepreneurial aspirations. Prior to joining Sloan, Brian worked as a management consultant for Accenture, helping clients use technology to improve customer relationships. Brian is a published author of the white paper “Why Technical Breakthroughs Fail: A History of Public Concern with Emerging Technologies,” written for the MIT Auto-ID Center. Brian holds a BA in History from Harvard University. He loves taking photos, reviewing movies, rooting for the Red Sox, and learning about wine. Connect with Brian on Twitter or his blog, B-School with Brian.

Sombit Mishra

Co-Managing Director
Sombit is a second-year MBA student in the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program at MIT Sloan. Prior to coming to Sloan, Sombit managed marketing and web development for GlobalGiving.org, an Internet marketplace dedicated to connecting donors with social entrepreneurs from around the world. During his time at GlobalGiving, Sombit helped grow the organization from a small startup to a leader in the web philanthropy sector, now with over 400+ high-impact grassroots projects in 80 countries. Sombit holds an MSc from the London School of Economics and a BA from Northwestern University. His long-term aspirations include learning to play “Oh Yoko” on the piano and starting a socially responsible company that captures the elusive double bottom line. Connect with Sombit on Twitter.

Rajiv Bhatia

Sponsorships Co-Lead

Rajiv is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan, where he is concentrating on technology strategy and product design. Rajiv is also part of the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program. Prior to attending MIT, he worked as a computer engineer at IBM, designing and prototyping next-generation microprocessors for servers and supercomputers. He has an BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Emmy Linder

PR Lead

Emmy is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. In addition to her involvement in the $100K, Emmy is actively involved in the Management Consulting Club. Before leaving sunny Israel for MIT Sloan, Emmy established and led the Project Management Office at Verint Systems’ Contact Center division. She was promoted after successfully managing tier-1 global customers. Emmy holds a MSc. and BA in Computer Science from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya. Outside of school, Emmy enjoys scuba diving, reading, and the pleasures of city life.

Kelsey McCarty

Elevator Pitch Contest Director

Kelsey is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to matriculating to MIT, Kelsey worked as a healthcare consultant for Strategic Management. As a consultant she focused on Medicare and Medicaid regulatory analysis, risk assessment, and compliance for hospital-based clients. Before Strategic Management, she spent four years conducting pediatric oncology research at the Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center. Kelsey holds a M.S. in Tumor Biology from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Biology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. In addition to her involvement with $100K, Kelsey loves to sing and play guitar and is a member of the MIT Sloan cover band, the Rolling Sloans.

Amanda Peyton

Events Director

Amanda is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan. Before Sloan, she worked as an intelligence briefer and consultant focused on geopolitics in the East Asia region. Amanda spent the summer of 2009 interning for New Atlantic Ventures, an early-stage technology-focused venture capital firm. Amanda has a BA in Urban Studies and History from Northwestern University. She enjoys building websites, cooking and eating, and riding her bike around Cambridge. Find Amanda on Twitter or her blog, Save Me From B-School.

Francesco Renzo

Judging Lead

Francesco is an MBA student at Sloan, fervent about new technologies, entrepreneurship and new venture financing. Before seeing the light, he used to work as a management consultant at McKinsey. During his consulting career, he worked in a range of different industries, including energy, travel and logistics, insurance and banking, mostly in Italy. He was also awarded a fellowship by the McKinsey Global Institute, the independently funded economic research arm at McKinsey, editing the McKinsey Quarterly. At MGI, Francesco co-led an extensive research project on the future implications of Chinese urbanization, based in Shanghai. Holding a summa cum laude MS in Finance from Bocconi University (Milan, Italy), he also painfully experienced a summer internship for UBS Investment Bank, based in London. He is passionate about whatever relates to (preferably Southern) Italy, with a clear bias towards the three F’s (football, food, Ferrari). Francesco spends his (little) spare time playing guitar, singing, sailing or planning trips with friends.

Emily Short

Alumni Engagement Lead

Emily is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management and member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Emily is interested in high-tech startup ideas and hopes to start her own venture in the near future. Prior to coming to Sloan, Emily was a software engineer in Silicon Valley, working on neuroscience-based educational software. She also was a project leader for the Hands On Bay Area organization and a campaigner for the California Clean Money Campaign. Prior to that, Emily got her B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In her spare time Emily likes to participate in community service projects, listen to NPR, cook and ski.

Carlo Tursi

Sponsorships Co-Lead

Carlo is a second-year MBA student at MIT Sloan. Prior to MIT, Carlo worked in Milan for A.T. Kearney, a management consulting firm. As a consultant, Carlo worked in several industries, from Automotive to Pharma, from Retail to Logistics, focusing mainly on Supply Chain and Business Strategy projects. He has worked in Italy,France, UK and Germany. Carlo has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Politecnico di Bari (Italy). His main areas of interest and focus at MIT are renewable energies, automotive and entrepreneurship. Carlo is also part of the MIT Sloan Entrepreneurship & Innovation track.

Joshua van Aalst

Event Lead, Business Plan Contest Finale

Joshua is a unique MBA student with a strong history in events management. Prior to MIT, Joshua founded, managed and grew a Sydney events and promotions company. In this role he oversaw the creation and execution of large-scale conceptual public events. Joshua’s career also includes 10 years of experience in the technical financial services industry. Joshua has a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Master of Technology Management from the University of New South Wales. Joshua is a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation program where he specializes in marketing and entrepreneurship in the creative and entertainment industries.

2009 Track Leads

R. Carter Dunn

Development Lead

Carter is a second-year MBA candidate at MIT Sloan and a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation track. Over the summer he worked for Infosys in their Pune office, evaluating opportunities in the Indian healthcare IT market.  Prior to coming to MIT Sloan, Carter worked as a Senior Engineer for Boston Scientific in the Operations group of their Cardiac Rhythm Management division. While at MIT Sloan, Carter will continue to explore the startup space around global health delivery, with an eye towards founding his own firm or working at a startup in business development. Carter holds a BS and MS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. His hobbies include Muay Thai and cooking.

Crede Kinder

Mobile Lead

Crede is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Before coming to Sloan he worked as a technology strategist for StarHub, a mobile, fixed line, cable, and broadband operator located in Singapore. In that role he developed StarHub’s network roadmap, selected technologies for capital investment projects, and negotiated major vendor contracts. In addition to his involvement in the MIT Venture Capital Conference, he is an organizer for the MIT $100K competition and in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Crede holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin where he graduated with High Honors.

David McClain

Life Sciences Co-Lead

David is a 5th year doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. His thesis is focused on cell line engineering for improved therapeutic protein production. He has worked in BioProcess R&D at Merck and has consulted for a number of local biotechnology companies. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Cornell University.

Thomas Meese

Life Sciences Co-Lead

Thomas is currently a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management and member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Prior to coming to Sloan, Tom worked as a biomedical engineer for InfraReDx, a Boston area startup that has developed the first device cleared by the FDA to assess the chemical composition of the coronary arteries. From 2006-2008, Tom helped InfraReDx reach the market by performing activities ranging from heart dissection to algorithm development. He holds a BS in biomedical engineering from Duke University. In addition to his work with the $100K, Tom is a VP of the Sloan biomedical business club and is embarking on a project with Sloan Entrepreneurs for International Development focusing on improving health care access in Nigeria.

Sam Hawes

Products & Services Lead

Sam is a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program. Prior to coming to Sloan, he worked as a product manager for SaaS-based solutions for banks and investment firms. At Thomson Reuters, he developed and managed the firm’s first customized solution for hedge funds. At Wolters Kluwer, Sam oversaw the business focused on fighting discriminatory and predatory lending, and drove it to profitability despite the problems in the banking sector. More recently, Sam worked on Business Development and Product Management with WordStream, a local Boston startup in the Search Engine Marketing space. Sam holds a BA in Mathematics and Computer Science from Bates College. During his increasingly infrequent bouts of free time, Sam can be found skiing or backpacking in the mountains of New Hampshire and Maine.

Ann Verbin

Web/IT Lead

Ann is currently a second-year MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Prior to Sloan, she was a senior analyst in the New York office of Analysis Group, an economic consulting firm; she has also worked as an operations research analyst at ZS Associates, a sales and marketing strategy consulting firm. Ann holds a B.S.E. in Operations Research and Financial Engineering from Princeton University. In addition to her work with the $100K, Ann is actively involved with the MediaTech and Marketing clubs. In her spare time, Ann enjoys reading cooking blogs and trying out new recipes.