Overview

The Board of Directors meets twice a year in November and May.  Finances, sponsorship, expense overview, partnerships and organization are all managed through the Board of Directors.  Only past lead organizers are eligible for the Board.

Jeff Sabados
Lead Organizer 2007-2008

Jeff is currently an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management. At Sloan, he is a member of the inaugural Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) program and was a co-founder of Avanti Metals Company, a 2006 MIT Entrepreneurship Competition runner-up winner out of 109 teams. Jeff recently graduated from Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Prior to the start of his graduate school experience, he served as a U.S. Navy SEAL where during his last deployment, he planned, coordinated and led highly successful clandestine mini-submarine missions against trans-national terrorism and illegal arms smuggling as Task Unit Commander and Mission Commander at SDV Team Two. Jeff graduated from BUD/S class 232. Jeff is interested in pursuing a career in sales and business development in a Venture Capital backed or Private Equity managed company.

Karina Drees
Lead Organizer 2006-2007

Karina Drees is the CFO of the Washington DC based startup TRX Systems, developing the most reliable and comprehensive indoor tracking system. Prior to TRX, Karina ran finance and operations for a number of startup technology companies. She successfully co-founded a network vulnerability assessment company, which is still operating today. Karina has a BS From Arizona State University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she ran the MIT $100K from 2006-2007.

Jason Fuller
Co-Lead Organizer 2005-2006

Jason is a senior associate at Third Rock Ventures, a Boston based venture firm focusing on building early stage life science companies.  Prior to Third Rock, Jason completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at MIT under Robert Langer.  While at MIT he was a member of the 2007 MIT $100K runner up team, ImmuneXcite. 

He was co-president of the MIT $100K (with Lawrence Walmsley) during 2005-2006.   While in office they founded the Developmental Entrepreneurship track and doubled prize money (formerly $50K).   Prior to MIT, Jason was a Churchill Scholar at Cambridge University where he earned an M.Phil. in Engineering and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Michigan State University .

Brian Curtis
Lead Organizer 2002-2003

Brian is an Entrepreneur in Residence with Qiming Ventures in Shanghai and its sister fund Ignition Partners in Seattle. He focuses on energy, environment and resource investments. Brian also acts as an independent consultant and advisor to clean energy start-ups and the US Department of Energy. Recent cases include cellulosic ethanol, electrification of cars, synthetic biology for biofuels, nano-materials for clean catalysts and food/air/water quality. Brian came to Qiming from Shanghai New Margin Ventures where he was a Venture Partner.

Brian first came to China in 2003 as founding General Manager for Heritage Technologies Asia, which operates a series of environmental protection joint ventures in South China. Under his management, the company structured its partnerships, built a chemical plant and established a Chinese distribution network. Brian works from a foundation of 2 formative experiences early his career: first, as a hydrogen and alternative fuels engineer for Chevron and, then, as an IT entrepreneur whose company was acquired in pre-bubble popping 2000.

Brian holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and remains active in the global MIT community. He is a judge for the MIT Clean Energy Entrepreneurship Prize and recently co-founded the Shanghai chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum. During school, he was the Lead Organizer for the MIT $100K Business Plan Competition and dedicated much of his time to developing entrepreneurial programs across campus. He received the Patrick J McGovern, Jr Award for outstanding contribution to entrepreneurship at MIT and the Sloan Senate Award for leadership in the MIT Sloan community. Brian holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA.

Brian is a native Californian splitting time between Shanghai and San Francisco.

Joost Bonsen
Lead Organizer 1991-1992

Joost studies Innovation Everywhere, from invention in research labs through action in entrepreneurial startups and innovation ecosystems generally.  He most recently finished the Management of Technology program at MIT Sloan with his thesis The Innovation Institute: From Creative Inquiry Through Real-World Impact at MIT.  Prior to MIT Sloan, Bonsen ran the MIT Founders Project which quantified the economic impact of MIT-related entrepreneurs, findings ultimately published by BankBoston as MIT: Impact of Innovation -- http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/founders  Formerly an entrant, mentor, judge, and Lead Organizer of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, Joost has been instrumental in the growth of and recent doubling of the prize fund to include a Development and Social Impact Track.