Conrad Foundation (original) (raw)

Conrad Foundation Board of directors

Nancy Conrad - Founding Chairman

A former teacher, Nancy has become a recognized leader in transformative education and named one of the top 100 leaders in STEM education, serving as a featured speaker at national and international conferences. Her presentations include TED, MIT, and, the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. She also presented at the Global Diversity Leadership Conference at Harvard University and the National Modeling and Simulation Coalition conference in Washington, D.C. Nancy has also testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space and Technology detailing how the Conrad Foundation exemplifies the use of partnership to improve STEM education. She is the wife of late astronaut Pete Conrad, who during the Apollo 12 mission became the third man to walk on the Moon.

Robert Gehorsam - Board President

Robert Gehorsam has decades of experience leading and advising organizations at the intersection of digital media, education, and social impact. He is currently co-director of the Highlands Forum, convening global communities to foster international cooperation and peacebuilding. He also advises early-stage companies and investment funds focused on the climate crisis. Robert contributed to the best-selling Carbon Almanac (Penguin|Random House, 2022) and continues to engage students and organizations on climate action. Previously, he was Executive Director of Institute of Play, a pioneer in applying game design to education, and founder and President of Forterra Systems, a virtual world platform acquired by SAIC in 2010. He also advised DARPA during this time. Robert earned a B.A. in Religious Studies and English Literature from Grinnell College, where he served as Alumni Association President, Trustee, and guest lecturer on entrepreneurship and social impact.

Andy Steinem - Treasurer of the Board

Andy is CEO of Dahl-Morrow International with 26+ years of leadership in Human Capital Services. She built a top Executive Search firm serving global clients in technology and professional services, with offices in Washington, DC and London. Andy works closely with repeat clients to strengthen executive teams and brings expertise in diversity consulting, interim management, M&A, and building international teams across EMEA, Asia, and Latin America. She has guest lectured at Harvard and Oxford’s Saïd Business School and served as President of the Society of Satellite Professionals International Mid Atlantic Chapter and Board Member of the British American Business Association. She is currently Board Chair of District Bridges and an Advisor for the Washington Cyber Roundtable. Andy is an alumna of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.

Laura Peter - Secretary

Laura Peter, named one of the “Most Influential Women in IP” by World IP Review, has over 25 years of leadership experience in intellectual property law within the high technology industry. She served as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO, overseeing agency operations, 13,000 employees, and a $3.5 billion budget. Laura is an active advocate and speaker on STEM, innovation diversity, and IP issues. She holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Cornell, a master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago, a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law, and an LL.M. in International Business Law from King’s College London.

Craig Gelfound

Craig is a partner and head of Arent Fox's Intellectual Property Group in Los Angeles, where he leads more than 30 intellectual property attorneys and legal professionals. Under Craig's leadership, the Intellectual Property Group was ranked nationally by Chambers USA in 2013 and recognized as the best in the country for client service. Additionally, Craig has been recognized by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 25 Intellectual Property attorneys in California. Craig has also been recognized as an Intellectual Property "Super Lawyer" by California Super Lawyer Magazine and selected to appear in the second edition of IP Stars from Managing IP (MIP) Magazine

Simon Glinsky

Simon founded The Glinsky Group in 1990 to transform business performance through leadership development and business strategy management consulting. As an Internet entrepreneur, he co-founded several companies and programs including Match.com, distance-learning services, a healthcare institute, Embark/Princeton Review and Clean Power Finance and was previously with McKinsey & Co., IBM and Wharton. Simon hails from a Cuban-American family and has been an active educator, training the world’s leading MBAs in the Interpersonal Dynamics Program at Stanford Business School as a Senior Facilitator. His avocations include playing the violin and serving as a classical radio program guest host. Glinsky graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School as a Benjamin Franklin Scholar, attended The University of Edinburgh and earned a Stanford University MBA.

Akhil Jariwala

Akhil is a veteran product leader in climate software and data management. Previously, he was a product manager at Persefoni, where he led efforts to help enterprises automate data collection for the calculation of their carbon footprints. As a former Google Cloud product manager, he specialized in designing enterprise software products for scale. In the first part of his career, Akhil developed electric vehicle charging products at ChargePoint and PlugShare, including roaming in the North American electric vehicle charging ecosystem. Akhil is on the Board of the Conrad Challenge and mentors aspiring high school entrepreneurs. Akhil received his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and he’s an alumnus of the UNC Morehead-Cain Class of 2014. Akhil is a proud alumnus of the Conrad Challenge in 2010.

Andrea Lee-Zucker

Andrea is a writer, activist, impact investor and the Washington, D.C. City Ambassador of NEXUS, a movement uniting young philanthropists and social entrepreneurs to scale positive solutions to global challenges. A native of Charleston, South Carolina, she was shaped by early experiences in community activism through her parents' leadership, as well as her involvement in Youth Service Charleston, Operation Understanding and The Coastal Community Foundation. Andrea is a member of the leadership council of South Carolina’s Women's Rights & Empowerment Network (WREN) and serves as an advisor of Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE). She also works with her family’s company, The InterTech Group, Inc., which invests in a diverse, global group of businesses while retaining its core values of innovating, finding synergies and being global citizens making a positive difference in this world. Andrea is the proud mother of three children and the wife of a tech entrepreneur who is helping her discover the potential of our exponential future.

Regina B. Schofield

Regina’s professional career has included key roles in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. She is currently the Director of Corporate Engagement and Education Outreach for Battelle, where she advances innovative efforts to create tomorrow’s workforce by leading STEM education outreach and directing all regional philanthropy engagements. She was previously nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as Assistant Attorney General (AAG) for the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she served as the nation’s AMBER Alert Coordinator and oversaw a range of federal programs. Regina is also a recent recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award and currently serves on the boards of the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, Children’s Science Center, the National Law Enforcement Museum Leadership Council, the National Center for the Prevention of Community Violence (aka Solve Violence) and is a corporate officer of the Battelle Education board. She received her M.B.A. from Jackson State University and her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mississippi College. In 2014, she was honored to receive the Alumni of the Year award from Mississippi College’s School of Business.

Support Conrad Foundation's Mission

Transforming Lives with Conrad Foundation

We are a charitable organization dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals and families facing difficult circumstances. Our programs focus on providing support and resources to those affected by poverty, domestic violence, and homelessness. By working together with our community partners, we aim to create a brighter future for those in need.

Conrad Foundtion donations

Supporting the Foundation

The Conrad Foundation relies primarily on contributions from the public and selected corporate sponsors and private foundations to underwrite the cost of providing its programs. The fees we charge do not cover the actual cost of the work behind the scenes necessary to provide all the benefits of the Conrad Challenge to the public.

We invite you to make a direct donation to the Conrad Foundation, so that we can expand our outreach and invite more great students in underserved schools and areas to participate in the Conrad Challenge.

To donate, please contact: nconrad@conradfoundation.org