Executive Action Board
Several of PCI’s positive #ChangeAgents are volunteers, doing what they can to help bring together a diversity of perspectives, experts, and leaders with a proclivity towards action across different sectors and communities globally. This includes the members of the PCI Executive Action Board (EAB), who represent expert PCI Consultants, chosen for their talent, ability, and willingness to help lead a specific PCI Team effort. Current members of the EAB include:
Matthew Rantanen
Matthew is the Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA) and Director of the Tribal Digital Village (TDVNet) Network/Initiative that was started in 2001 designing and deploying wireless networking to support the tribal communities of Southern California. A “cyber warrior for community networking,” focused on technology development and connectivity in the Tribal community, he was 2-term appointed member, FCC Native Nations Broadband Task Force, Appointed by Chairman Genachowski, reappointed by Chairman Wheeler. Matthew was called upon by the White House during the Obama administration to work with the CTO and staff to identify and solve connectivity issues in the communication deserts of the USA. He helped create the UMOYA Corporation (not for profit), and the Tribal International Carrier component, mapping and cost analyzing the missing middle-mile piece of connectivity for Tribal communities in North America.Mariel Triggs
Mariel is the CEO of MuralNet, coordinating deployments, partnerships and policy advocacy efforts. She has taken part in every aspect of builds from applying for licenses and funding to staging and mounting equipment. As an engineer, educator and researcher, she has pushed innovation in STEM classrooms through project-based service learning for over a decade. Her work in online math curriculum proved how important access to Internet resources are for content as well as mindsets. Because of this, Mariel strives to make the Internet accessible for all students. Prior to her work in education, she designed and tested medical devices to treat strokes, recyclable replacements for polyurethane and more efficient methods of producing photo-chemicals at scale. Mariel earned two degrees in engineering at UC Berkeley and a Master’s at Stanford in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education.
Ray Wang
R “Ray” Wang is the Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Silicon Valley based Constellation Research, Inc. Wang has held executive roles in product, marketing, strategy, and consulting at companies such as Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of the best selling book, Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press and has thrice won the prestigious Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) Analyst of the Year Award, and has been in the #1 slot in the AR Power 100 list for over 7 years.
John Taschek
John is Senior Vice President of Strategy at Salesforce. He is responsible for corporate product strategy, corporate intelligence and market influence. Described by at least one person as a seething mass of enlightenment. Loves road trips. Has wanderlust of the mind. John previously was the Director of eWeek Labs. Taschek got his start in IT in Washington D.C., holding various technical positions at the National Alliance of Business and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. There, he and his colleagues assisted the government office with integrating the Windows desktop operating system with HUD’s legacy mainframe and mid-range servers.
Desire Banse
Desire Banse has worked on evaluations and technology metrology at NIST designing large-scale multi-purpose online platforms for researchers in Machine Translation, Speaker and Language Recognition, and Mobile Network Technologies. His work at Prometheus Computing as the UAS Innovation Group Lead spans computer vision, sensors hardware and AI for Industry and Government use cases. Coming from Burkina Faso, and having studied in France, Desire is working on experimental designs for innovative solutions to problems like food security, access to power/energy and information in West Africa. He has worked with farmers and electricity professionals in Burkina in order to use drones to help them in their respective domains. He has written about the Internet Connectivity in Africa and his vision on a connected world that works for everyone especially Africans. He’s a strong advocate of technology that empowers people to improve their lives. His work leverages modern tools for fast delivery, rapid prototyping and a special focus on user education and technology adoption in challenging environments.
Karin Nilsdotter
Karin Nilsdotter is the CEO of Spaceport Sweden with a vision of creating a world leading spaceport enabling widespread access to space. Karin is determined to build Spaceport Sweden into a platform for cross-sector innovation, establishing commercial human spaceflight as a new industry for tourism, research and education. Karin has led the development of a space training and experience programme, collaborating closely with academic and commercial partners. Spaceport Sweden has already received several innovation awards.
PCI Advisors and Sherpas
PCI Advisors and Sherpas “go the extra mile” in supporting PCI by taking an active role, often as a volunteer, to advance PCI’s efforts. The PCI Board and Community benefit from their expertise and appreciate their contributions to help PCI’s efforts succeed and scale. PCI Advisors and Sherpas represent a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and activities which is what makes PCI strong. We welcome people freely speaking their views. For details on PCI’s specific positions, please see the PCI website, newsletter, and other official PCI publications. In addition, if you would like to assist with PCI’s efforts, please contact us here: Get Involved »
Linton Wells II
Dr. Lin Wells focuses on the links between policy, technology and decision-making, especially in community resilience and cybersecurity. He has extensive civilian government leadership experience in national security affairs, including service as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and Department of Defense Chief Information Officer. He is the President and CEO of Global Resilience Strategies and Executive Advisor to the C4I and Cyber Center at George Mason University, as well as at its Community Resilience Laboratory.Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP
Dr. Rasmussen is a medical doctor and the CEO for Infinitum Humanitarian Systems (IHS), a multinational consulting group built on a profit-for-purpose model. By training he is an internal medicine physician with both undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and a European Master’s degree in disaster medicine from the UN World Health Organization’s affiliate CEMEC (Centre European pour la Medecin des Catastrophes) in Italy.
Amy Webb
Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist and a bestselling, award-wining author. She is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. She is the bestselling author of three books, including The Big Nine: How The Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, which is about the future of AI, and The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream, which explains how to forecast emerging technology.Doc Searls
Doc Searls is the author of The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge, co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, and Senior Editor of Linux Journal. He is a fellow at the Center for Information Technology & Society at UC Santa Barbara, and founder and director of ProjectVRM at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
Parry Aftab
Parry Aftab was among the world’s first cyberlawyers, helping found the field of cyberlaw 23+ years ago. Since then, as a digital privacy and security lawyer, she has advised nations, UNESCO and the UN, digital and entertainment industry leaders and well-known household brands. Parry has been named to and headed national and global task forces.
Corina LJ DuBois
Corina has worked in government, defense, federal, local, tribal and territorial, and international relations for over 20 years, serving as one of the first females on U.S. combat ships. Corina advocates for digital communication and engagement, having advised and worked in the White House, U.S. State Department, Office of the Secretary of Defense, DHS, NCIS, and as a Strategic Communications Consultant for local and federal government entities.
Amy Wilson
Amy has helped PCI with different articles about positive change agents and their activities. She is a freelance writer based in Orlando, Florida.
Inna Goncharenko
Inna is an actor and social media entrepreneur. Her project management roles have included everything from Anglo-Ukrainian theatre productions to producing mind-controlled multimedia applications.
Felix Velarde
Felix Velarde founded one of the first web agencies in 1994 and is an industry-leading digital strategist and former Adjunct Professor at Hult International Business School. He consults on the applications of Blockchain, and is chairman, board advisor and M&A consultant for fast-growth Machine Learning, PE, VR, digital and creative firms in London, Kiev and Los Angeles.
Bevon Moore
Bevon Moore is an innovative entrepreneur with a unique ability to spot trends and use his skills to turn them into companies. Bevon studied Mechanical Engineering at Old Dominion University and worked for Lockheed Martin as an Engineering Supervisor overseeing a US Navy project involving sonar arrays.
Stephanie Wander
Stephanie Wander is a social innovation strategist and a professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she creates and teaches doctoral courses in social innovation. As a professor, Ms. Wander works with students to create transformational programs capable of exponential impact. Ms. Wander regularly consults with forward thinking organizations and entrepreneurs on the design of high-impact social initiatives and programs.
Melvin Cordova
Melvin Cordova heads Zeus Direct which develops mission critical solutions and capabilities for high stakes environments by accelerating high speed processes for transitioning robust capabilities to operational use. He is the former Director of Innovation for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) who directed investment in more than 100 innovations for the In-Q-Tel Program (CIA’s Venture Capital arm).
Phil Komarny
Phil is Vice President for Innovation at Salesforce currently living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His interests range from cloud to blockchain. He is also interested in Ethereum, DAO, and IPFS.
Executive Action Board
Several of PCI’s positive #ChangeAgents are volunteers, doing what they can to help bring together a diversity of perspectives, experts, and leaders with a proclivity towards action across different sectors and communities globally. This includes the members of the PCI Executive Action Board, who represent expert PCI Consultants, chosen for their talent, ability, and willingness to help lead a specific PCI Team effort. Current members of the EAB include:
Matthew Rantanen
Matthew is the Director of Technology for the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association (SCTCA) and Director of the Tribal Digital Village (TDVNet) Network/Initiative that was started in 2001 designing and deploying wireless networking to support the tribal communities of Southern California. A “cyber warrior for community networking,” focused on technology development and connectivity in the Tribal community, he was 2-term appointed member, FCC Native Nations Broadband Task Force, Appointed by Chairman Genachowski, reappointed by Chairman Wheeler. Matthew was called upon by the White House during the Obama administration to work with the CTO and staff to identify and solve connectivity issues in the communication deserts of the USA. He helped create the UMOYA Corporation (not for profit), and the Tribal International Carrier component, mapping and cost analyzing the missing middle-mile piece of connectivity for Tribal communities in North America.Mariel Triggs
Mariel is the CEO of MuralNet, coordinating deployments, partnerships and policy advocacy efforts. She has taken part in every aspect of builds from applying for licenses and funding to staging and mounting equipment. As an engineer, educator and researcher, she has pushed innovation in STEM classrooms through project-based service learning for over a decade. Her work in online math curriculum proved how important access to Internet resources are for content as well as mindsets. Because of this, Mariel strives to make the Internet accessible for all students. Prior to her work in education, she designed and tested medical devices to treat strokes, recyclable replacements for polyurethane and more efficient methods of producing photo-chemicals at scale. Mariel earned two degrees in engineering at UC Berkeley and a Master’s at Stanford in Curriculum Studies and Teacher Education.
Ray Wang
R “Ray” Wang is the Principal Analyst, Founder, and Chairman of Silicon Valley based Constellation Research, Inc. Wang has held executive roles in product, marketing, strategy, and consulting at companies such as Forrester Research, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of the best selling book, Disrupting Digital Business, published by Harvard Business Review Press and has thrice won the prestigious Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) Analyst of the Year Award, and has been in the #1 slot in the AR Power 100 list for over 7 years.
John Taschek
John is Senior Vice President of Strategy at Salesforce. He is responsible for corporate product strategy, corporate intelligence and market influence. Described by at least one person as a seething mass of enlightenment. Loves road trips. Has wanderlust of the mind. John previously was the Director of eWeek Labs. Taschek got his start in IT in Washington D.C., holding various technical positions at the National Alliance of Business and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. There, he and his colleagues assisted the government office with integrating the Windows desktop operating system with HUD’s legacy mainframe and mid-range servers.
Desire Banse
Desire Banse has worked on evaluations and technology metrology at NIST designing large-scale multi-purpose online platforms for researchers in Machine Translation, Speaker and Language Recognition, and Mobile Network Technologies. His work at Prometheus Computing as the UAS Innovation Group Lead spans computer vision, sensors hardware and AI for Industry and Government use cases. Coming from Burkina Faso, and having studied in France, Desire is working on experimental designs for innovative solutions to problems like food security, access to power/energy and information in West Africa. He has worked with farmers and electricity professionals in Burkina in order to use drones to help them in their respective domains. He has written about the Internet Connectivity in Africa and his vision on a connected world that works for everyone especially Africans. He’s a strong advocate of technology that empowers people to improve their lives. His work leverages modern tools for fast delivery, rapid prototyping and a special focus on user education and technology adoption in challenging environments.
Karin Nilsdotter
Karin Nilsdotter is the CEO of Spaceport Sweden with a vision of creating a world leading spaceport enabling widespread access to space. Karin is determined to build Spaceport Sweden into a platform for cross-sector innovation, establishing commercial human spaceflight as a new industry for tourism, research and education. Karin has led the development of a space training and experience programme, collaborating closely with academic and commercial partners. Spaceport Sweden has already received several innovation awards.
PCI Advisors and Sherpas
PCI Advisors and Sherpas “go the extra mile” in supporting PCI by taking an active role, often as a volunteer, to advance PCI’s efforts. The PCI Board and Community benefit from their expertise and appreciate their contributions to help PCI’s efforts succeed and scale. PCI Advisors and Sherpas represent a diversity of perspectives, backgrounds, and activities which is what makes PCI strong. We welcome people freely speaking their views. For details on PCI’s specific positions, please see the PCI website, newsletter, and other official PCI publications. In addition, if you would like to assist with PCI’s efforts, please contact us here: Get Involved »
Linton Wells II
Dr. Lin Wells focuses on the links between policy, technology and decision-making, especially in community resilience and cybersecurity. He has extensive civilian government leadership experience in national security affairs, including service as acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration and Department of Defense Chief Information Officer. He is the President and CEO of Global Resilience Strategies and Executive Advisor to the C4I and Cyber Center at George Mason University, as well as at its Community Resilience Laboratory.Eric Rasmussen, MD, MDM, FACP
Dr. Rasmussen is a medical doctor and the CEO for Infinitum Humanitarian Systems (IHS), a multinational consulting group built on a profit-for-purpose model. By training he is an internal medicine physician with both undergraduate and medical degrees from Stanford University and a European Master’s degree in disaster medicine from the UN World Health Organization’s affiliate CEMEC (Centre European pour la Medecin des Catastrophes) in Italy.
Amy Webb
Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist and a bestselling, award-wining author. She is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. She is the bestselling author of three books, including The Big Nine: How The Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity, which is about the future of AI, and The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream, which explains how to forecast emerging technology.
Doc Searls
Doc Searls is the author of The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge, co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual, and Senior Editor of Linux Journal. He is a fellow at the Center for Information Technology & Society at UC Santa Barbara, and founder and director of ProjectVRM at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society.
Parry Aftab
Parry Aftab was among the world’s first cyberlawyers, helping found the field of cyberlaw 23+ years ago. Since then, as a digital privacy and security lawyer, she has advised nations, UNESCO and the UN, digital and entertainment industry leaders and well-known household brands. Parry has been named to and headed national and global task forces.
Corina LJ DuBois
Corina has worked in government, defense, federal, local, tribal and territorial, and international relations for over 20 years, serving as one of the first females on U.S. combat ships. Corina advocates for digital communication and engagement, having advised and worked in the White House, U.S. State Department, Office of the Secretary of Defense, DHS, NCIS, and as a Strategic Communications Consultant for local and federal government entities.
Amy Wilson
Amy has helped PCI with different articles about positive change agents and their activities. She is a freelance writer based in Orlando, Florida.
Inna Goncharenko
Inna is an actor and social media entrepreneur. Her project management roles have included everything from Anglo-Ukrainian theatre productions to producing mind-controlled multimedia applications.
Felix Velarde
Felix Velarde founded one of the first web agencies in 1994 and is an industry-leading digital strategist and former Adjunct Professor at Hult International Business School. He consults on the applications of Blockchain, and is chairman, board advisor and M&A consultant for fast-growth Machine Learning, PE, VR, digital and creative firms in London, Kiev and Los Angeles.
Bevon Moore
Bevon Moore is an innovative entrepreneur with a unique ability to spot trends and use his skills to turn them into companies. Bevon studied Mechanical Engineering at Old Dominion University and worked for Lockheed Martin as an Engineering Supervisor overseeing a US Navy project involving sonar arrays.
Stephanie Wander
Stephanie Wander is a social innovation strategist and a professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where she creates and teaches doctoral courses in social innovation. As a professor, Ms. Wander works with students to create transformational programs capable of exponential impact. Ms. Wander regularly consults with forward thinking organizations and entrepreneurs on the design of high-impact social initiatives and programs.
Melvin Cordova
Melvin Cordova heads Zeus Direct which develops mission critical solutions and capabilities for high stakes environments by accelerating high speed processes for transitioning robust capabilities to operational use. He is the former Director of Innovation for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) who directed investment in more than 100 innovations for the In-Q-Tel Program (CIA’s Venture Capital arm).
Phil Komarny
Phil is Vice President for Innovation at Salesforce currently living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His interests range from cloud to blockchain. He is also interested in Ethereum, DAO, and IPFS.