CONFLICT IN THE BUSINESS

Unconstrained by the scrutiny of public shareholders, family businesses can focus on long-term goals.

However, management decisions can be inﬂuenced by nepotism and lead to trouble. These issues make family

businesses more complex to operate, which is why less than 4% survive to the fourth generation.

The Steinbeck Family Business Program oers a series of workshops and conferences focused on leading

eective and proﬁtable family-owned (or closely held) businesses.

STEINBECK FAMILY BUSINESS SEMINAR

May 11 and 12, 2023

– 2 –

1:00 – 1:25 P.M. INTRODUCTION (A201)

1:25 – 2:15 P.M.

2:15 – 3:15 P.M.

HOLLY HAN (’02)

Director of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar, Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation,

UCLA Anderson

OLAV SORENSON

Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies; Professor of Strategy; Faculty Research Director, Price Center for

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UCLA Anderson

JAY STEINBECK

ROUNDTABLE INTRODUCTION TO FAMILIES (A201)

THE ACQUISITION AND EXPANSION OF MCCONNELL’S FINE ICE CREAMS (A201)

Moderated by Daniel A. Nathanson | Faculty Advisor and Continuing Lecturer, UCLA Anderson

Michael Palmer grew up in Santa Barbara with McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams. Founded in 1949, McConnell’s makes its ice

cream from scratch with decadent, high-butterfat dairy ice cream and features signature ﬂavors ranging from Eureka Lemon

and Marionberries to Toasted Coconut Almond Chip. When their house burned down in the wildﬁres, Palmer, a winemaker,

and his wife, Chef Eva Ein, decided to buy McConnell’s instead of rebuilding. The owner at the time chose them over other

buyers because he wanted McConnell’s to remain a family business and maintain its artisan reputation.

In the ﬁrst year post-acquisition, they won best dessert in America at the Fancy Food Show in New York City. The Palmers

used their insurance money, along with other funds, to rebuild the dairy operation and purchase new equipment. The company

makes 100% of its products and everything that goes into them (cookie bits, swirls, etc.). Today, McConnell’s is now sold in

more than 2,000 stores throughout the U.S., operates its own scoop shops, sells to restaurants and ships products nationwide

through its website. Palmer is an advocate of slow growth to ensure products are unique and compelling.

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2023

AGENDA

MICHAEL

PALMER

Chief Executive Officer,

McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams

MODERATOR

GEORGE ABE

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, UCLA Anderson

– 3 –

3:25 – 4:00 P.M.

ACQUISITIONS: AN OPTION FOR GROWTH (A201)

Family enterprises often overlook business acquisition as a path to growth or expansion. Families may consider a va-

riety of growth strategies and alternatives to preserve their assets. Business acquisition makes sense for most people

who want to run their own business. The retirement and passing of baby boomers means there is a large number

of good businesses available for sale today. This session will present pointers for buying (or selling) a business and

improving odds for future growth along with a due diligence checklist for the buyer.

MAY 11

4:00 – 5:00 P.M

FAMILY FOUNDATION ENGAGEMENT (A201)

Family foundations range in asset size from a few hundred thousand dollars to more than $1 billion. The holdings of

family foundations total approximately $294 billion, which is about 44 percent of all foundation holdings ($662 billion).

Yet, 3 out of 5 family foundations hold assets of less than $1 million. Family foundations can provide a framework for

philanthropy, expand pathways to giving, engage broader perspectives, create solutions that lead to a better future for all

and include income tax and estate tax beneﬁts.

Join us to hear about the creation of the Roddenberry Foundation, which was inspired by the legacy of Gene Roddenberry,

the creator and producer of the original Star Trek television series. The series spawned over 700 TV episodes, 14 movies

and comic books, animated series and a global following. Its enduring resonance is a testament to Roddenberry’s

vision for a future where diversity and tolerance are encouraged and in which inclusivity and equality are the norm. The

Roddenberry Foundation supports innovative thinking, original ideas and extraordinary people who can change the world.

HEIDI

RODDENBERRY

President and Board Chair,

Roddenberry Foundation

MODERATOR

HOLLY

HAN (’02)

Director of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar,

Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UCLA Anderson

MODERATOR

GEORGE ABE

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship,

UCLA Anderson

3:15 - 3:25 P.M. BREAK

5:00 – 6:00 P.M. NETWORKING COCKTAIL RECEPTION (C ATRIUM)

– 4 –

9:00 – 9:50 A.M. CONCURRENT SESSIONS

8:00 – 9:00 A.M. BREAKFAST (C ATRIUM)

CONFLICT AND THE FAMILY BUSINESS (C315)

ESTATE PLANNING IN UNPREDICTABLE TIMES: PLANNING STRATEGIES THAT

PROVIDE FOR FLEXIBILITY WITH IMPERFECT OR UNKNOWN INFORMATION (A201)

Conﬂict is inevitable when working with family and scaling the business. The challenges and complications increase when

your parents, cousins and siblings work together. Elizabeth Tene of Access General Contracting will share her experiences

transitioning the family business from her parents to her and her brother and navigating their sibling dynamic as they grew

the enterprise.

Family business conﬂicts may arise from emotional baggage, vastly dierent communication styles, and conﬂicting goals

and priorities. To address these issues, we will discuss techniques such as negotiation, mediation and collaboration, as well

as establishing boundaries and roles.

Chris Welton’s interactive session will focus on answering the three basic questions of estate planning: Where do your

assets go? Who is in charge? What are the rules? He will discuss four “weapons you can use with your illiquid assets to

ensure that your estate is tax-ecient and your wealth passes to your desired entity.

ELIZABETH

TENE

President,

Access General Contracting

CHRIS

WELTON (’12)

Wealth Management Advisor and

Managing Director, Northwestern Mutual

MODERATOR:

KEN

GILBERT

Co-Founder,

Business Consulting Resources

MODERATOR:

JEAN

SANTOS

President and Co-Founder,

Business Consulting Resources

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023

– 4 –

– 5 –

10:00 – 11:00 A.M.

11:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M.

NAVIGATING A FRAGILE ECONOMY (A201)

Inﬂation, interest rates and employee layos remain extremely high. Banks are in crisis, but that may not lead to an

immediate recession. Higher-income households saved money during the pandemic, but even they are starting to feel the

pinch of inﬂation. Low- and middle-income households are reeling from high prices. Increased political unrest will pose a

risk to the global economy’s recovery, as it can have a lasting impact on economic performance. In an environment with

so much uncertainty and risk, what might the economy and investment markets look like for the rest of 2023 and beyond.

Professor Eric Sussman will cover the complex market, economy, regulations and technology, and oer his predictions.

Sussman has been voted Teacher of the Year 15 times by Anderson’s MBA students and was awarded the Citibank

Teaching Award in 1998, the Neidorf Decade Teaching Award in 2008 and the University-wide Distinguished Teaching

Award in 2015. He has also been recognized by Bloomberg Businessweek as one of the Top Ten Most Popular Business

School Professors in the country.

MAY 12

ERIC

SUSSMAN

Adjunct Professor,

UCLA Anderson

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT (A201)

Conﬂicts frequently occur in many day-to-day interactions in family businesses, and if left unresolved, may jeopardize the

business. Professor Bendersky will present information and answer questions about best practices for managing conﬂicts. She

will share ways to de-escalate emotionally intense situations and identify each person’s concerns and interests in order to pursue

mutually satisfying outcomes. Participants will gain new tools for navigating the complex relationships in family businesses.

Corinne Bendersky is an expert in workplace conﬂict, status, justice, and diversity and inclusion in teams and organizations.

Bendersky’s research contributes to both academic knowledge and organizational practice. In recent projects, Bendersky has

developed interventions to reduce the gender bias experienced by women who work in extremely male-dominated professions,

like the U.S. ﬁre service, and conducted a workplace DEIB climate assessment for public-sector employees of the City of Los

Angeles. Dr. Bendersky is the Faculty Director of the Human Resources Roundtable at UCLA, known as HARRT, and Founder of

Morpho Leadership Development consulting.

CORINNE

BENDERSKY

Professor and Area Chair of Management

and Organization, UCLA Anderson

– 5 –

9:50 – 10:00 A.M. BREAK

– 6 –

1:00 – 1:50 P.M. CONCURRENT SESSIONS

1:50 – 2:00 P.M. BREAK

MITIGATING RISKS IN UNSTABLE MARKETS (A201)

ECONOMIC INSIGHTS FOR TODAY’S TUMULTUOUS TIMES (C315)

If you own a business, you have risk. With all the challenges businesses face on a daily basis, carving out time to identify,

assess and plan for these risks can be daunting and time-consuming. However, the businesses that are prepared are always

better o.

Join us to learn more about timely topics like cybersecurity, employment practices and supply chain risk. We’ll also share the

causes of broad insurance rate increases and some immediate steps you can take to control these expenses for your venture.

Ryan Martinez will moderate a discussion regarding the economic outlook and insights in today’s environment. This

session will include an overview of and update on the stability of banks, the state of M&A and drivers for market value for

private businesses moving forward.

Bernstein is a leading global investment management and research ﬁrm with $780 billion under management. In addition

to managing capital for institutional investors, It manages money for successful business owners and entrepreneurs.

12:00 – 1:00 P.M. LUNCH (C ATRIUM)

MAY 12

DAVID

MELNICK(’96)

CEO, Ledger Works, Inc

CLAY

BRYAN

Senior Managing Director,

Financial Sponsors Group,

B. Riley Securities

JONATHAN

SCHRETER (’00)

Executive Vice President,

Bolton & Company

AYTAN

DAHUKEY

Partner,

Corporate Practice Group,

Sheppard Mullin

MODERATOR:

RYAN A.

MARTINEZ

Principal, Bernstein Private

Wealth Management

– 6 –

– 7 –– 7 –

2:00 – 3:00 P.M.

3:00 – 3:30 P.M. CLOSING (A201)

A FAMILY AFFAIR (201)

Galpin has been family-owned and -operated since 1946. Over the last 76 years, Galpin has reached the pinnacle

of the automotive industry, being credited with countless industry ﬁrsts and earning the recognition as the most

honored dealership group in America. Galpin Ford has been the No. 1 Ford dealer in the world in terms of volume

for a record 29 consecutive years, and every Galpin dealership — Porsche, Land Rover, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Lotus,

Lincoln, Honda, Mazda, Volkswagen, Volvo and Polestar — has reached exceptional sales levels. Galpin Studio Rentals

is a leader in the entertainment industry. Galpin Auto Sports, its in-house customizing shop, has earned worldwide

recognition and been featured in two TV shows, “Pimp My Ride” and “Car Kings.” Galpin’s Horseless Carriage

restaurant is the ﬁrst-ever in-dealership restaurant. Galpin’s latest venture, The Autopian, is the fastest-growing

automotive enthusiast website. Automotive News has ranked Galpin Motors in the top 50 automotive groups, with

over $1 billion in annual revenue.

MAY 12

BEAU

BOECKMANN

President, Galpin Motors,

Galpin Premier Collection and

Galpin Auto Sports

MODERATOR

ALFRED E.

OSBORNE, JR.

Professor Emeritus, Global Economics and Management;

Faculty Director Emeritus, Price Center for

Entrepreneurship & Innovation, UCLA Anderson

– 8 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

George Abe

Corinne Bendersky

GEORGE ABE | ADJUNCT ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP, UCLA ANDERSON

In 1976, George Abe joined Computer Sciences Corp (CSC). Abe designed the IP data service for CSC’s

spino, Infonet Services Corporation, and later signed on as business development manager at Cisco, where

he became the product manager for data over cable products. In 1997, Cisco published his book Residential

Broadband, an early practical guide to what were then emerging access networks and internet technologies,

which has been published in two editions.

After Cisco, Abe was a venture partner with Santa Monica–based Palomar Ventures and served on

various corporate and nonproﬁt boards. In 2002, he joined UCLA’s technology transfer oce, as Business

Development Manager. In 2003, he joined the faculty at Anderson. Abe serves on the board of advisers

for UCLA’s Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies and Biotech Connection, Los Angeles. He is author of the

newly published Entrepreneurship: A Tools-Oriented Approach (Vandeplas Publishing, 2020).

CORINNE BENDERSKY | PROFESSOR AND AREA CHAIR OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION,

UCLA ANDERSON

Professor and Area Chair of Management and Organizations Corinne Bendersky is an expert in workplace

conﬂict, status, justice, and diversity and inclusion in teams and organizations. Bendersky’s research

contributes to both academic knowledge and organizational practice.

In recent projects, she has developed interventions to reduce the gender bias experienced by women who

work in extremely male-dominated professions, like the U.S. ﬁre service. She has advanced methods to

measure the eects of dierent conﬁgurations of conﬂicts expressed within teams. She also has been using

machine learning techniques to study conﬂict expressions in Wikipedia editorial disputes, and how working

women have been represented in the news media from the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 through

the #MeToo movement in 2018. Bendersky teaches in UCLA Anderson’s Full-Time and Fully Employed

MBA programs, as well as in many of its executive education programs. As faculty director of the UCLA

human resources (HR) roundtable known as HARRT, she engages with a mix of academic, consultant and

practitioner knowledge of cutting-edge HR topics with the roughly 50 corporate HR executives who are

members. As founder of Morpho Leadership Development, she consults with corporate and public service

agency executives, particularly on conﬂict management and diversity and inclusion.

CLAY BRYAN | SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, FINANCIAL SPONSORS GROUP, B. RILEY SECURITIES

Clay Bryan has approximately 21 years of experience in sponsors coverage, debt and equity capital markets,

M&A and special situations, providing solutions to investors ranging in size from middle market to large cap

public companies.

Bryan has advised clients across a range of industries and has covered entrepreneurs, private equity

funds and other asset managers throughout his career. He has worked at both bulge bracket and boutique

investment banks, structuring and executing complex transactions both in the U.S. and internationally. Prior

to joining legacy FocalPoint, now B. Riley Securities, he was a managing director at Cappello Global and

worked in the sponsors coverage and M&A groups at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, respectively.

Bryan received a B.B.A. in ﬁnance and economics from Georgia State University. He is also a member of the

Water Bualo Club, a charitable organization that directs its eorts to assisting at-risk children in Los Angeles.

Clay Bryan

– 8 –

– 9 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 9 –

AYTAN DAHUKEY | PARTNER, CORPORATE PRACTICE GROUP, SHEPPARD MULLIN

Aytan Dahukey is a partner in the Corporate Practice Group in Sheppard Mullin’s Century City oce. Dahukey is

the leader of the ﬁrm’s Private Equity team and is also a member of the ﬁrm’s Healthcare and Emerging Growth/

Venture Capital teams. As an active member of these industry teams, he enjoys a wide-ranging practice that

spans several sectors. He has represented private equity funds in numerous large leveraged buyout, add-on

and divestiture transactions, and has also represented owners of a wide variety of private businesses in sales to

private equity funds and other strategic investors.

Dahukey has extensive experience advising clients and negotiating mergers, asset and stock acquisitions,

divestitures, leveraged buyouts, professional services and management services arrangements, employment and

independent contractor arrangements (both for executive ocers and for physicians and ancillary providers),

and other strategic alliances. He also regularly provides counseling to clients with respect to formation, private

placements, corporate governance, physician and ancillary provider contracting, and other day-to-day operational

matters. He also handles pro bono adoption cases through Public Law Center’s Children’s Rights Program and is a

member of the ﬁrm’s pro bono committee.

BEAU BOECKMANN | PRESIDENT OF GALPIN MOTORS, GALPIN PREMIER COLLECTION,

AND GALPIN AUTO SPORTS

Growing up on the showroom ﬂoor of Galpin Ford and having worked in the business over thirty years, Beau

Boeckmann, a Native Angelino, has loved and lived the automobile business his entire life. He is President of

Galpin Motors which holds franchises for Ford, Porsche, Aston Martin, Land Rover, Jaguar, Lotus, Volvo, Polestar

Lincoln, Honda, Mazda, and Volkswagen. Galpin Motors is America’s most honored and trusted dealership

family. It has held top leadership positions with many of its brands, including Galpin Ford, that not only holds a

twenty-nine-year record as #1 in the world but also nearly every award and recognition that Ford has ever oered.

Galpin’s history of customizing began in 1952 when their custom Ford was featured on the cover of Motor Trend

magazine. Their performance heritage includes deep roots in the many forms of racing including even winning

the NASCAR West Coast Championship four years in a row in the 1960s. With a true passion for automobiles,

Beau opened Galpin Auto Sports in 2006. GAS, as it is often known, became an industry leader in customizing

all makes and models including classic car resto-mods and restorations as well as new-car customization. This

would launch Beau into the next phase of building some of the most unique designs the automobile industry has

ever seen, starring on the #1 rated automotive show and worldwide phenomenon, Pimp My Ride, which was seen

in over one hundred countries with over one billion views. In 2022 Beau starred in a new tv show, Car Kings on

the Discovery Channel.

Beau’s passion for all things automotive didn’t stop there. In March of 2022, he co-founded an automotive

website and media company called The Autopian. The Autopian’s goal is to serve the car enthusiast community

by sharing stories that inform and entertain, while celebrating the unifying quality of automobiles.

As a visionary and enthusiast, Boeckmann’s merits include Petersen’s Automotive Museum’s First Visionary

Award, and he was inducted into the National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame. Beau is a member of both the Ford

Motor Company and Lincoln Product Committees, and the Ford Dealers Advertising Association. He has also

served on the Lincoln Dealer Council, Aston Martin’s Dealer Advisory Panel, Saleen’s Board of Directors, and the

Pasadena Art Center College of Design Advisory Network. In 1992 Beau graduated from USC’s Entrepreneurship

program. He was a member of the Hollywood chapter of YPO and is currently a member of YPO Gold Paciﬁc.

Beau is continuing his family legacy and passion for community involvement and philanthropy. He has been

recognized for his community work by organizations such as New Horizons, which honored him with its

Dignity, Love and Compassion Award, the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, Wheels for Humanity

and the Los Angeles Sheri’s Reserve Foundation which honored Beau with its Twice a Citizen Award.

In addition to all these, he and his lovely wife, Mary, raised six wonderful children together.

Aytan Dahukey

Beau Boeckmann

– 10 –

KEN GILBERT | CO-FOUNDER, BUSINESS CONSULTING RESOURCES

A long-term Hawaii resident, Ken is the CEO/President and co-founder of Business Consulting Resources. He

brings BCR’s clients over forty years of consulting knowledge working with private and public corporations, not-

for-proﬁts, the military and government agencies. BCR has grown over the past 40 years having built consulting

teams focused on Hawaii, California, Texas and Florida.

Under Ken’s leadership, Business Consulting Resources has consulted with well over 400 Hawaii, mainland and

international companies in diverse areas including: succession and transition planning and implementation;

strategic planning; strategic partnering; ﬁnancial management; human resources; mergers and acquisitions;

commercial real estate; new business development; life coaching; career transition coaching and leadership

development.

Prior to co-founding BCR in 1981, Ken founded his own Life Insurance Agency in Hawaii and expanded that

Company into a real estate and development ﬁrm, growing the Company to over 40 employees. Ken has owned

and operated other diverse businesses throughout his career.

Ken is a management consultant and coach to many CEOs and senior executives in a number of industries

including: maritime industry; banking, insurance; real estate; retail, construction; manufacturing; government

and military; and the visitor industry. He works with corporate executives in diverse areas which include strategy

development and implementation, leadership skill development and building and creating eective teams. Ken

is also known as a Master Life Coach, notably guiding individual clients of all ages in creating Life Plans, which

give them a map for achieving their life goals and dreams.

As Hawaii’s premier Family Business Consultant, Ken is the past Chair of the Advisory Board of the Family Busi-

ness Center of Hawaii, which is one of the top-ranked family business centers in the U.S. BCR is one of the major

sponsors of the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management Steinbeck Family Business Program in Los

Angeles. BCR is also in a strategic partnership with Loyola Marymount University (LMU) and is working with

LMU to create and assist in operating and building the LMU Entrepreneurial Family Business Center.

Ken embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and learned early on that providing an objective and high-level per-

spective to BCR clients is the key to the ﬁrm’s long-term success. By instilling this characteristic with Business

Consulting Resources clients, BCR has given clients the ability to navigate any trend, obstacle, or roadblock to

success they may face.

Ken earned a B.S.B.A. in Personnel and Employee Relations; and a Master of Science in Business and Govern-

mental Relations, and International Business from the American University in Washington D.C.

Ken is quite active in the Hawaii business community and has served on the Board of Directors of the Chamber

of Commerce of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Art Museum and numerous other for and not-for- proﬁt organizations.

Ken is very involved with the Family Business Center of Hawaii and was a past chair of this organization’s board

of directors and has served on the board for many years. Ken is a past president of the Metropolitan Rotary

Club of Honolulu and has served several terms as a member of the Club’s Board of Directors. Ken is a volunteer

faculty member at Punahou School and also taught at the University of Hawaii and Hawaii Paciﬁc University for

over 10 years.

Ken is married to Jean Santos. They have twins, Kyler and Miranda, who both graduated from Punahou School.

Kyler is a 2020 graduate of UCLA with a double major bachelor’s degree in business economics and com-

munication. He is working with the Capital Group, Los Angeles, and will pursue an MBA. Miranda earned her

bachelors in political science in 2020 from LMU, and, in 2022, her master’s in literature and gender studies at

The New School in New York City. She plans on obtaining a Ph.D. and pursuing her academic and writing career.

Ken Gilbert

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 10 –

– 11 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

HOLLY HAN (’02) | DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL PROJECTS AND STEINBECK FAMILY BUSINESS SEMINAR,

PRICE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION, UCLA ANDERSON

Holly Han is an entrepreneur and business strategist who founded and led media, technology, consumer

products and fashion businesses in New York and Los Angeles for over two decades. Han began her career

at Vera Wang and developed product for Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie, authoring the Vault Career

Guide to the Fashion Industry. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management,

where she received fellowships from the Young Presidents’ Organization and Asian Business League. She

also holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the Fashion Institute of Technology, with

additional studies at Caltech and Parsons School of Design, and was a professor at Marylhurst University’s

MBA program.

Han was a co-founder of MyShape, an innovative online retailer with over 700,000 members backed by

Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Tenaya and featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

As COO of SmartWear, she developed a new class of patented energy-generating textiles in partnership

with DuPont, Nike, the NIH, NSF and NASA. She restructured luxury chocolatier John Kelly Chocolates

as COO, with a focus on proﬁtability and targeted expansion. She was a founding account director

for the Taproot Foundation in Los Angeles, providing pro bono consulting for deserving nonproﬁts. As

the managing director of 64North, she led business strategy, branding and digital media for clients

including MIT, Target, Yves Saint Laurent and Motown’s Berry Gordy. She is the vice president on the

board of directors for CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts and runs marathons.

ELAINE K. HAGAN (’91) | ASSOCIATE DEAN, ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES AND EXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR, HAROLD AND PAULINE PRICE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION,

UCLA ANDERSON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Elaine Hagan is executive director of UCLA Anderson’s Harold and Pauline Price Center for

Entrepreneurship & Innovation. She leads the Price Center team in managing a portfolio of teaching,

research, extracurricular and executive development programs in the areas of entrepreneurship and

innovation, including UCLA’s undergraduate minor in entrepreneurship and the UCLA Anderson

Venture Accelerator. Her role also includes collaborative eorts related to development, alumni and

other entrepreneurial ecosystems.

Previously, she worked for Stanford University’s Oce of Development and on the turnaround team

of a privately held manufacturing ﬁrm in San Diego. She received her bachelor’s degree from the

University of California, Irvine and her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Holly Han

Elaine Hagan

– 11 –

– 12 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 12 –

Ryan A. Martinez

RYAN A. MARTINEZ | PRINCIPAL, BERNSTEIN PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Ryan A. Martinez, CFP®, is a ﬁnancial advisor and principal at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. He

works closely with family business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate executives as their outsourced

CFO and conﬁdant. By proactively recognizing issues and opportunities, he empowers his clients to make

educated, well-informed decisions that result in a more meaningful life and legacy for them and their families.

Prior to beginning his career as a ﬁnancial advisor, Martinez successfully led a business unit for a Fortune

100 Best Company to Work For. He earned a B.S., cum laude, in business, with a minor in economics,

from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a Certiﬁed Financial Planner and has

completed the advanced ﬁnancial planning program at Boston University.

Martinez is passionate about giving back to the community. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council

at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo College of Business, as well as on the board of the Latino Deal Makers. In

addition, he acts as an advisor to UCLA Anderson’s Steinbeck Center and the University of Hawaii’s Family

Business Center, and was the past president of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council. His involvement

in these organizations helps him develop key learnings, best practices and resources that he can share with

his clients.

Martinez resides in West Los Angeles with his wife, Amanda, and their two young sons. They enjoy

adventure travel and outdoor activities.

– 13 –

Daniel A.

Nathanson

David Melnick

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

DANIEL A. NATHANSON | FACULTY ADVISOR AND CONTINUING LECTURER, UCLA ANDERSON

Dan Nathanson is an entrepreneur, executive, investor, consultant and educator. Nathanson has a 25-year

record of success in building businesses, creating ﬁnancial value and helping entrepreneurs succeed. He

is a visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where he teaches Small

Business Management and Business Plan Development, and is a faculty advisor in the AMR, GAP and SMR

ﬁeld study programs.

Nathanson began his executive career as the chief corporate planner in charge of mergers and acquisitions

at Vernitron Corporation, a publicly traded diversiﬁed electronics ﬁrm. He then founded and served as

CEO of Computerized Retail Systems (CRS), a nationwide turnkey point-of-sale computer company. After

selling CRS in 1993, he became a clinical assistant professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, where

he taught entrepreneurship and business strategy. In 2008, Nathanson accepted a teaching position as a

visiting assistant professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and has resumed his mission of

helping entrepreneurs succeed as the CEO of the Entrepreneurs Resource Group.

Nathanson holds a Ph.D. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from NYU’s

Graduate School of Business and a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis. His publications include

Strategy Implementation: The Role of Structure and Process (Galbraith and Nathanson, West Publishing

Company, 1978) and various articles on business strategy and organizational design.

DAVID MELNICK | MANAGING DIRECTOR OFWEBLIFEFUND AND CEO OF LEDGER WORKS

David was formerly Vice President Web Isolation at Proofpoint and previous founder and CEO of WebLife,

brings almost 25 years’ experience in technology and security. David speaks internationally about the

intersection of cyber security and Web3

– 13 –

– 14 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 14 –

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr.

ALFRED E. OSBORNE, JR. | PROFESSOR EMERITUS, GLOBAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT;

FACULTY DIRECTOR EMERITUS, PRICE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr. served as UCLA Anderson’s interim dean from July 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. Osborne’s

areas of academic expertise include social entrepreneurship and the development of a leadership approach

that applies business models and methodologies to the nonproﬁt world. Under his leadership, the Price

Center created a number of management development programs, including ﬁve in partnership with health

care giant Johnson & Johnson: the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Head Start Management Fellows Program,

the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Advanced Management Institute for Head Start, the UCLA/Johnson &

Johnson Health Care Institute, the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program, and the

Management Development Institute (MDI) for health care organizations in sub-Saharan Africa. Several

related, innovative programs include the Institute for the Study of Educational Entrepreneurship (ISEE) and

the UCLA/Los Angeles County Oce of Education (LACOE) Head Start Leadership Institute.

A deep belief in the value of entrepreneurship has guided Osborne’s vision for what is possible throughout

his decades-long tenure at Anderson. In addition to founding the Price Center, he facilitated infusion

of an entrepreneurial approach to leadership into the Anderson culture and curriculum, including and

transcending the notion of business startups.

Osborne is an active participant in the business community, serving as a director of Kaiser Aluminum,

Wedbush Inc. and the First Paciﬁc Advisors (FPA) family of mutual funds. His nonproﬁt aliations include

serving as a trustee of the Geen Academy at UCLA, Fidelity Charitable, the Harvard Westlake School and

the Los Angeles Police Memorial Foundation. He served many years on the corporate boards of the Times

Mirror Company, US Filter Corporation, Greyhound Lines Inc., Nuverra Environmental Solutions Inc., First

Interstate Bank of California, Nordstrom Inc. and K2 Inc., among others.

While on sabbatical from UCLA in the 1970s, Osborne was an economic fellow at the Brookings Institution

and directed studies at the Securities and Exchange Commission that contributed to changes in Rule 144,

Regulation D and other exemptive requirements to the securities laws designed to lower costs and improve

liquidity and capital market access to venture capitalists and emerging growth ﬁrms alike.

Osborne’s research interests also include venture capital and private equity, family and closely held

business, and the role of boards of directors in private, public and not-for-proﬁt organizations.

A corporate governance expert, Osborne established a Director Education and Certiﬁcation Program

designed to help ocers and directors of public and private companies and nonproﬁts prepare for the

ﬁduciary duties and legal responsibilities of governance. This program also addresses best practices and

topical issues confronting directors.

– 15 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 15 –

Heidi

Roddenberry

Michael Palmer

HEIDI RODDENBERRY | PRESIDENT AND BOARD CHAIR, RODDENBERRY FOUNDATION

Heidi Bianca Roddenberry (née van Lydegraf) embraces inﬁnite diversity in inﬁnite combinations. With

an open mind, heart and spirit, she works to elevate the human condition, protect the planet and secure a

beautiful future for all people. At the helm of the Roddenberry Foundation, she draws inspiration from Star

Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in advancing big, bold ideas that can change the world. An explorer and

global citizen, Heidi is a progressive leader in the realm of imagined possibilities, willing to take the risks

necessary to realize a more inclusive, just and collaborative society. With a sense of wonder and eternal

optimism that has guided her since childhood, she truly believes that if we can envision a future of hope

and light, then we can achieve it, together.

MICHAEL PALMER | CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, MCCONNELL’S FINE ICE CREAMS

Founded in 1949, McConnell’s makes their ice cream from scratch with decadent, high butterfat dairy

ice cream with signature ﬂavors from Eureka Lemon & Marionberries to Toasted Coconut Almond Chip.

Palmer, a winemaker, along with his wife, Chef Eva Ein, acquired McConnell’s in 2012 when it was on

the verge of bankruptcy. They now supply over 2,000 grocery stores including Ralph’s, Whole Foods,

Albertsons, Central Market, Target, Wegmans and others. McConnell’s owns their retail shops in Southern

California and operate a growing e-commerce business.

– 16 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 16 –– 16 –

Jean Santos

JEAN SANTOS | PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER, BUSINESS CONSULTING RESOURCES

A founding member of Business Consulting Resources, Jean manages the human resource and organizational

development activities at BCR. She works extensively with family owned companies, private corporations, not-for-

proﬁts and government agencies.

Jean brings over 40 years of experience to Hawaii corporations and family owned enterprises in organizational

development, strategic planning and market strategies, human resources, executive coaching, team building and

leadership development.

Born and raised on O’ahu, she began her career in consulting after earning a B.A. and then her Master of Arts in

Communication and Organizational Development from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Jean is an expert in workplace behaviors and in job-to-skillset matching. She regularly assists clients in employee

selection, team building, training and development, motivation and incentives, internal communication structures and

conﬂict resolution.

Her experience in executive coaching includes assisting top executives in team building, personal and team

performance improvement, and overall business strategy building and strategy implementation processes.

In BCR’s family business practice, Jean plays an active role in guiding BCR’s annual family business research

which BCR has been conducting since 2017. In addition, Jean leads the ﬁrm’s eorts in creating and growing the

Women Leaders In Family Enterprises organization which is a non-proﬁt organization designed for women in family

businesses who are currently in leadership positions or growing into leadership positions, to navigate the challenges,

biases and preconceived notions that women must still manage through, even in family owned enterprises.

Jean embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and knows that business people care not only about bottom-line results

but how they are achieved; she learned early on that objectivity is the key to helping her clients to thrive in the

marketplace. By instilling this characteristic in Business Consulting Resources clients, she shows them how to

navigate any trend, obstacle, or roadblock to success they may face.

Jean has always been active in the local business community. She is a past member of the Board of Business Advisors

of the Nu’uanu YMCA and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. She is an active member of the national chapter of

the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM). She is past President of the Parent Faculty Association (PFA)

of Punahou School and is also a past Chair of the Board of Easter Seals Hawaii.

Jean is married to Ken Gilbert, who is also her business partner. They have twin children, Kyler and Miranda, who

both graduated from Punahou School. In addition, Kyler is a 2020 graduate of UCLA with a double major bachelor’s

degree in business economics and communication. He is working with the Capital Group, Los Angeles and will pursue

an MBA. Miranda earned her bachelors in political science in 2020 from LMU, and, in 2022, her master’s in literature

and gender studies at The New School in New York City. She plans on obtaining a Ph.D. and pursuing her academic

and writing career.

Jonathan

Schreter

JONATHAN SCHRETER (’00) | EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, BOLTON & COMPANY

For the past 20 years, Jonathan Schreter (’00) has served commercial property and casualty risks, primarily

for charter and independent schools (K-12) and higher education clients, as well as middle-market businesses

in the technology, manufacturing and entertainment industries. With a diverse background that began in

marketing and advertising, Schreter combines creative thinking and analytics to oer a consultative approach to

risk management. He works with progressive school and business leaders, who appreciate his commitment to

mitigating unexpected losses.

Schreter earned his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2000 and his Certiﬁed Insurance

Counselor (CIC) designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research in 2010. He was president

of Insurance Brokers and Agents San Fernando Valley, is the current president of the UCLA Anderson Alumni Network

in Los Angeles and serves as treasurer of the executive committee for the board of directors of Inner-City Arts, a

nonproﬁt program that unlocks the creative potential of inner-city children in downtown Los Angeles.

– 17 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 17 –

Olav Sorenson

OLAV SORENSON | JOSEPH JACOBS CHAIR IN ENTREPRENEURIAL STUDIES;

PROFESSOR OF STRATEGY; FACULTY RESEARCH DIRECTOR,

PRICE CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP & INNOVATION, UCLA ANDERSON

Olav Sorenson joined the UCLA Anderson faculty in 2020. His primary stream of research pertains to

economic geography, focusing on how entrepreneurship inﬂuences the growth and competitiveness of

regions within countries, and on why some regions appear more supportive to entrepreneurs than others.

“I was in graduate school in the mid-1990s at Stanford, in Silicon Valley, and it seemed like everybody

and their brother was getting involved in a startup,” Sorenson says. “That’s really what got me interested

in entrepreneurship and interested in ‘Why Silicon Valley?’ What was dierent about Silicon Valley than

other places?”

He has called attention to unexpected consequences of the fact that social capital plays an important

role in entrepreneurial success. Largely in recognition of this research, Sorenson received the 2018 Global

Award for Entrepreneurship Research.

His secondary streams of research have addressed the relationships between basic science and

innovation and how organizations can better learn from their interactions with customers and from their

manufacturing experience.

In total, he has delivered nearly 400 research presentations and has had more than 90 papers published

on these subjects, in journals such asScience, theAmerican Journal of Sociology, theJournal of

Financial Economics, theReview of Economics and Statistics,Administrative Science Quarterly,Strategic

Management JournalandResearch Policy. Sorenson serves as a department editor forManagement

Scienceand as a deputy editor at theAmerican Sociological Review. He has also served in editorial

positions at more than a dozen other journals.

Sorenson’s Venture Capital Strategy course is a version of one he’s taught since 2005. “My goal with that

course is to do something that’s a little dierent from the typical venture capital course, which is usually

about valuation and contract terms,” says Sorenson. “This course comes more from the perspective of

someone who would be an active venture capital or angel investor, and some of the types of strategic

decisions that are involved with that.” He’ll also be teaching Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation, an

introductory entrepreneurship course.

In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities, Sorenson joins theHarold and Pauline Price

Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovationas faculty research director. In that role, he plans to build on the

curricular oerings of the Price Center and create a research arm dedicated to entrepreneurial studies.

Sorenson also plans to mentor student entrepreneurial teams within the Anderson Venture Accelerator

and those participating in the school’sBusiness Creation Optionﬁeld study.

From 1999 to 2005, Sorenson taught strategy courses at UCLA Anderson. Prior to returning to Anderson,

he held the Frederick Frank ’54 and Mary C. Tanner Professorship at the Yale School of Management and,

before that, the Jerey S. Skoll Chair in Technical Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of

Toronto. He has also served on the faculties of London Business School and the University of Chicago,

and has held visiting appointments at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, SDA Bocconi,

Universidad Carlos III, Melbourne Business School, Singapore Management University, the National

University of Singapore, BI Norwegian Business School, the Stanford Graduate School of Business and

INSEAD.

Sorenson received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and his master’s and doctoral degrees from

Stanford University. He has also received an honorary doctorate from Aalborg University.

– 18 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

– 18 –– 18 –

Eric Sussman

ERIC SUSSMAN | ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, UCLA ANDERSON

Accepting an oer to teach as a means of earning some additional income may have been one of Eric Sussman’s

more auspicious decisions. Currently an adjunct professor of accounting and real estate at UCLA Anderson,

Sussman ﬁrst taught a certiﬁed public accountant exam review course after graduating from Stanford’s Graduate

School of Business and accepting a position with a small real estate investment ﬁrm. It was a role he thoroughly

enjoyed. So when he was ﬁrst oered a lecturer’s position at Anderson by his mentor and former teacher, David

Ravetch, he jumped at the opportunity.

Since 1995, Sussman has been teaching courses in the areas of cost/managerial accounting, ﬁnancial accounting,

ﬁnancial statement analysis, equity valuation, corporate ﬁnancial reporting, and real estate investment and

ﬁnance to undergraduate, graduate and executive education students. Throughout his teaching career, he

has remained active in the real estate industry. He is president of Amber Capital Inc., manager of Fountain

Management LLC and Clear Capital LLC, and managing partner of the Paciﬁc Value Opportunities and Clear

Opportunity Fund, which have acquired, rehabilitated, developed and managed more than 2 million square

feet of residential and commercial real estate over the past 20 years. The ﬁrms’ portfolio at present consists of

industrial, multifamily and single-family residential, and retail properties.

Sussman is also audit committee chairman and former chair (2012-2018) of the board of trustees of Causeway

Capital’s group of funds (International Value, Emerging Markets, Global Value, Global Absolute Return Funds,

International Opportunities and International Small Cap), which collectively have more than $15 billion in

assets. With his wide range of expertise, he has consulted for large and small ﬁrms, nationally and globally,

and is a frequent lecturer on varied ﬁnancial, accounting and corporate reporting topics. He has served as an

expert witness and consultant for commercial litigation involving matters of corporate ﬁnancial reporting and

disclosure, audit eectiveness, valuation, real estate due diligence and related practices, and overall damage

analyses. He is a licensed CPA in California.

Sussman relies on his real-world experiences to make his classes relatable and exciting, aspects that are not lost

on students or faculty. He is an eight-time winner of the MBA Teaching Excellence Award, a seven-time winner

of the FEMBA Teaching Excellence Award and recipient of numerous other teaching awards and national honors.

– 19 –

SPEAKER AND PANELIST BIOGRAPHIES

CHRIS WELTON (’12) | WEALTH MANAGEMENT ADVISOR AND MANAGING DIRECTOR,

NORTHWESTERN MUTUAL

Chris Welton (’12) is a wealth management advisor and managing director at Northwestern Mutual,

where he leads a team that works together with its clients to implement a ﬁnancial plan that integrates

risk management, wealth management, tax-ecient strategies and estate planning. Welton earned an

undergraduate degree in political science, magna cum laude, from Amherst College in Massachusetts

and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and he holds both Chartered Financial

Analyst (CFA) and Certiﬁed Financial Planner (CFP) designations. He and his wife, Rosa, are avid health

nuts, love to cook and enjoy having people over for lively discussions and good food.

– 19 –

Elizabeth Tene

ELIZABETH TENE | PRESIDENT & CEO, ACCESS GENERAL CONTRACTING

Elizabeth Tene born and raised in Southern California. The youngest of three siblings, born to immigrant

parents who migrated here from Mexico with nothing but a dream for a better future.

Her parents have always been Entrepreneurs. Every day after grade school and weekends, Elizabeth would

work at her mother’s “shop” from selling wedding décor or loading chairs and tables, to helping her father,

taking pictures of jobsites, invoicing and everything else in between.

While other kids her age played, Elizabeth worked. As she got older, she wouldjokingly say that her

childhood was robbed. What she would later realize is that these experiences instilled a great work ethic

and prepared her for the journey ahead.

Elizabeth Tene graduated from Marina High school, and attended Golden West College. She received

a double Major in Social, Behavioral Science and Humanities. She also has completed multiple courses

including Turner Construction management, mastering business with So Cal Gas, and Goldman Sachs

10,000 small businesses program.

As a young adult, feeling unfulﬁlled with her retail and banking sector jobs she decided to embark onto

something more challenging. She decided to take after her father, and join her brother in the construction

industry. She has since then, never looked back. She is now President/CEO of her family business and

continues to pave the way forward. Elizabeth represents one of few successful women-owned businesses

in the construction industry serving public utility, federal and military clientele.

Elizabeth’s accolades include: 1) Inner City 100 ranking, representing ﬁrms that drive inclusive economic

prosperity in under-resourced communities by creating jobs, income, and economic prosperity for local

residents; 2) Supply of the Year nominations from SoCalGas recognizing key performance on infrastructure

and pipeline safety programs; and 3) INC 5000 Fastest Growing aPrivate Company ranking, highlighting

the fastest growing private companies in the US.

Chris Welton

– 20 –

Ken Gilbert

Co-Founder

Business Consulting Resources

Elaine Hagan (’91)

Associate Dean, Entrepreneurial Initiatives,

Executive Director, Harold and Pauline Price Center

for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Holly Han (’02)

Director, Special Projects and Steinbeck

Family Business Seminar, Price Center,

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Ryan Martinez

Principal

Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Alfred E. Osborne, Jr.

Professor Emeritus, Global Economics

and Management; Faculty Director Emeritus

Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Jean Santos

President and Co-Founder

Business Consulting Resources

Jonathan Schreter, CIC (’00)

Executive Vice President

Bolton & Company

Olav Sorenson

Joseph Jacobs Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies;

Professor of Strategy; Faculty Research Director,

Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation,

UCLA Anderson School of Management

Jay Steinbeck

Christopher Welton (‘12),

Wealth Management Advisor,

Northwestern Mutual to advisory committee

UCLA ANDERSON STEINBECK FAMILY ADVISORY COMMITTEE: