Thinking Differently: Blending the Private and Social Sectors with panelists Brizio Biondi-Morra, Marc Benioff, Jacqueline Novogratz and Kurt Hoffman speaking at the 2007 Global Philanthropy Forum Conference held at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA. Iqbal Paroo moderates.
Bio
Marc Benioff
Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. He founded the company in 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand information management service that would replace traditional enterprise software technology. Benioff is regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End of Software," the now-proven belief that multitenant, on-demand applications democratize information by delivering immediate benefits at reduced risks and costs.
Brizio Biondi-Morra
Brizio Biondi-Morra joined AVINA in 2002. He is currently AVINA´s President, as well as President of the Board for INCAE and Fundes Internacional.
He served as Dean of INCAE from 1991 to 1999. He worked for several years in strategy at Du Pont in Europe and with Arthur D. Little in the United States of America. Also, he founded a transportation company in Africa and a chemical business in New York. In both companies he served as President for several years.
Brizio holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in Economy from Bocconi University (Italy).
Kurt Hoffman
Kurt Hoffman joined Royal Dutch/Shell in 1997 initially to help assess and restructure the Shell Group’s global social investment activities. This led to the design and launch of the International Shell Foundation in June 2000. Under his leadership, the Foundation developed a portfolio of more than 80 initiatives spread across more than 20 countries. Prior to joining Shell, Kurt Hoffman’s career as development professional included ten years as a Reader in Development Economics and as a Senior Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex, Brighton, UK. His career also included a decade and a half in senior advisory and operational assignments throughout the developing world, foundations, and international agencies such as the UN, European Union, and World Bank. In parallel, he pursued a career in business as a strategic advisor to international companies setting up manufacturing facilities in developing countries and as an entrepreneur raising venture financing to launch and run two small-business start-ups. Until recently, he also served as chairman of one of the longest running small family businesses in the UK. Kurt was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2003, and serves on the boards of a small number of for-profit and not-for-profit entities.
Jacqueline Novogratz
Jacqueline Novogratz is founder and CEO of Acumen Fund. Prior to starting Acumen, she worked at the Rockefeller Foundation, where she created and directed the Philanthropy Workshop and the Next Generation Leadership program.
Novogratz has also worked at the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation and has served as a consultant to UNICEF and the World Bank in various African countries. She helped found a micro-finance institution for women in Rwanda and began her career in international banking with Chase Manhattan Bank.
Novogratz holds an MBA from Stanford and a BA from the University of Virginia.
Igbal Paroo
Iqbal Paroo has long committed his energy, passion and intellect to making good things happen. His career includes domestic and international leadership in complex health care delivery organizations, academic institutions, the social sector, technology companies and venture-funded startups.
Iqbal joined Omidyar Network as president and CEO of the Omidyar Foundation in April 2002. Previously, Iqbal specialized in turnaround, change and transition management for venture-funded companies and academic health care centers as president of IFP and Associates. Prior to IFP, he was founder and CEO of Qualitas Healthcare International, a venture-funded company that was formed to develop, own and manage health care facilities and systems in emerging economies and transforming markets.
From 1987 to 1993, Iqbal was president of Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. Prior to Hahnemann, he was CEO of a number of hospitals in the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) system. From 1977-1980, he served the Aga Khan Foundation as both director of commissioning for the initial phase of the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, and as an operational and planning consultant for health care facilities funded by the Foundation in Asia and Africa. He later served on the Board of the Aga Khan Foundation-USA from 1993 to 2000.
Born in Nairobi, Kenya, Iqbal's diverse background has allowed him to develop a global network that enhances his ability and commitment to make a difference.
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