Michelle Howard
Four-Star Admiral (Retired)
U.S. Navy
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A ground-breaking leader during her 35-year career in the U.S. Navy, Michelle Howard was the first female to achieve the rank of four-star admiral and the first woman to be appointed to the position of vice-chief of naval operations (the second highest rank in the Navy). She was also the first African-American woman to reach the rank of three-star and four stars in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces and the first African-American woman to command a ship in the Navy. A veteran of operations that included NATO peacekeeping, Indonesia tsunami relief, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, she was thrust into the international spotlight in 2009 as leader of the counterpiracy task force that rescued civilian Captain Richard Phillips from Somali pirates. The rescue was later depicted in the film Captain Phillips.
Admiral Howard is a former visiting professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University, where she focused on the cyber domain and associated issues in strategy and policy. The appointment highlighted a distinguished career in national defense within the areas of operations, readiness, and strategic planning.
Admiral Howard led Sailors and Marines multiple times in her career as the commander of a ship, an expeditionary task force and a naval theater. This culminated in her final post as Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and U.S. Naval Forces Africa, in which she simultaneously led NATO’s Allied Joint Force Command Naples with oversight of missions from the Western Balkans to Iraq. Admiral Howard is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. She is the first woman graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy to become an admiral. On Admiral Howard's appointment to the IBM board, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said in a statement, "Admiral Howard is a groundbreaking leader with a distinguished career in military service. Her leadership skills, international perspective and extensive experience with cybersecurity and information technology will make her a great addition to the IBM Board."
A gifted speaker, Admiral Howard instantly connects with audiences with warmth and humor. Her keynotes address leadership, cybersecurity, diversity, innovation and team building. To each, she lends experience gained from three decades on the front lines and the highest levels of national defense. Bringing the empowering insights of an African-American woman who spent her career shattering glass ceilings and breaking new ground, she continues to motivate others with her highly inspirational presence.
Greg Rossmann
Managing Partner
DeMille Capital Management
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Greg is the founder and Senior Managing Director of DeMille Capital Management. DeMille is a private equity fund that specializes in the sponsorship and staffing of investments in special situation opportunities.
Previously, Greg was a General Partner at Oak Investment Management ($9+BB under management), where he focused on investments broadly spanning the semiconductor, telecom, and wireless sectors. Prior to Oak, Greg was the Senior Managing Director at GJR Capital, where he led deal origination and actively invested in situations where operational, governance, or financial change was required.
Greg holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Cincinnati and an M.B.A. from the University of Santa Clara.
Aniketh Rallabhandi
Sr. Test Engineer
Tesla, Fremont, CA
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Aniketh is a Senior Test Engineer at Tesla where he works on evaluating battery pack safety under abusive conditions. Originally from India, he attended UC for his MSME on a scholarship. He's currently based out of the San Francisco Bay Area and in his free time, he enjoys running, and reading.
Lee Ellen Drechsler
Senior Vice President, Corporate Research & Development
P&G
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Lee Ellen Drechsler’s career at Procter & Gamble has included technical leadership roles across Beauty Care, Baby Care and Corporate R&D, with responsibilities from upstream Disruptive Innovation to downstream Product Supply. Lee Ellen leads Corporate Transformative Platform Technology (TPT), Glad JV, Connect + Develop & Sustainability Innovation organizations with a mission to continue building P&G’s long-held reputation as a world leader of growth driven by innovation. She is accelerating the way P&G delivers game-changing and sustainable products, packages, and services, leveraging early in-market learning as well as collaborations with strong academic and business partners.