where he lives with his wife Jennifer, a Ghana native. Dan has a BS Accounting from Roger Williams University and MST from Bentley University and has held senior management

positions at several Fortune 500 companies.

He also holds a Fundraising Certificate from Boston

University. A native New Englander, he has adopted South Africa as a second home and visits

regularly. Inspired by the work of a relative in Johannesburg who runs Daycare facilities and a

 place of safety for children in Orange Farm and Meyerton, Dan became aware of Starfish about

15 years ago while searching for means to help fund her efforts to provide for the basic needs

of the children of South Africa. Dan provides philanthropic support to a number of non-profit children and health organizations.

where she graduated with a B.A (Law) from the University of
the Witwatersrand, B.Proc (University of Johannesburg) and Higher Diploma in Corporate Law
(University of Johannesburg). She ran a successful legal practice in Sandton before relocating to
Dubai with her family in 2004. Dubai’s laws imprisoned female victims of human trafficking for prostitution. During the 11 years she lived in Dubai, she established a program to help these women and is very proud that all the women she assisted were released. In 2015, she moved to
the U.S., where she continues to live in the state of Connecticut. Candice has a long history of
humanitarian work and is particularly passionate about working with children. For the last 15 years, both in South African and the U.S., she has been an avid supporter and friend to Starfish.
She has a deep knowledge of South Africa and the HIV/AIDS crisis.

having been involved in Starfish since it’s inception in Johannesburg.  Nicola joined Starfish USA in January 2013 to lead our development, run day-to-day operations, and maximize our impact on community
organizations in South Africa. Most recently Nicola coordinated marketing and event
management for Big Brothers Big Sisters’ head office in Philadelphia and was responsible for
their Centennial Celebration in Bryant Park in 2004. Prior to her commitment to the nonprofit
world, Nicola worked as an investor relations’ consultant for the Brunswick Group, both in
Johannesburg and New York.  Nicola volunteered at the Strathyre Home for Girls in
Johannesburg, mentoring young AIDS orphans. Nicola received a bachelor’s degree in Law from
the University of Natal. She lives with her American husband and their two young children in
New York.

She has spent the majority of her professional career in the areas of health care and finance. Before joining Blue Cross of Idaho, Valerie held positions at Touche Ross, Goldman Sachs and Emblem Health. Valerie is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of Women in Health Management and a member of Financial Executives International.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, the New York Better Business Bureau, United Way and the Metropolitan Golf Association. Valerie has a BA in marketing management from Baylor University and an MBA in both finance and accounting from Pace University. 

 She and her husband Michael live in Tuxedo, NY.     

a leading growth focused investment bank, based in New York, NY. Having Stifel joined in 2018, she is responsible for Stifel’s US coverage of the apparel, accessories & luxury sector.  

Justine joined Stifel from Alantra, a Madrid headquartered investment bank,  where she was a Managing Director in their US Consumer sector team based in New York and Co-Head of Personal Care globally. Prior to Alantra, Justine was Global Head of Consumer & Luxury at BDA Partners, a global boutique focused on cross-border deals, from 2011 – 2017 and a Director at DC Advisory Group (previously Close Brothers Corporate Finance) in London from 2003 – 2011. Justine started her career in public accounting at KPMG in Cape Town and London.

Justine is a founding Board Member & investor in Exponent LLC, a New York based woman’s networking organization established in 2017. Exponent is focused on providing woman in the middle market finance sector networking events, access to other influential woman in the industry and content  to promote diversity  and woman in the finance industry.

She was recently selected as one of the “Most Influential Woman in Middle Market M&A 2019” by Sourcemedia and previously received a “40 under 40” award from M&A Advisor 2013,   “Top 50: America M&A Dealmaker” by Global M&A Network in 2013; and included as Acquisition Finance’s “2014 Dealmakers of the Year’.

Justine graduated with a B.Comm and Postgraduate Diploma in Accounting from Rhodes University (South Africa) and is also a CFA Charterholder and qualified as a Chartered Accountant (South Africa).

he worked as a consultant Project Manager for AECOM for 7 years in London. From January 2007, he worked as a self-employed management consultant. In 2012, Sebastian moved to the US and is now based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently the Portfolio Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at IBM. He has over 15 years of experience in the IT, Consultancy and Construction industry with extensive Program Management, Project Management, Financial Management, Process Change and Project Direction skills. He has worked on over 100 projects in over 20 countries in both the private and public sectors. He has strong ties to South Africa with his immediate family still based in Johannesburg. Interests outside of consultancy include cricket (watching and playing), rugby, property development, reading and entrepreneurship.

Chris was previously an associate, patent agent and technology specialist with the firm. His practice emphasizes patent prosecution and counseling, patent strategy and analysis, and development and management of patent portfolios. Technical areas of Chris patent prosecution work include various sub-fields of physics. Chris has substantial experience in a variety of optical technologies.
Prior to joining Fish & Richardson, Chris served as a Senior Research Physicist in the
Optical Systems Division of 3M. He was a graduate research assistant at Brown University and then graduated from Suffolk University Law School. Chris is originally from South Africa, where he received a BS in Physics from the University of Cape Town.

She was a First and Second grade teacher in Syracuse NY and at Cathedral School, part of St.
John the Divine on the Upper West Side. Monica was also an assistant graphic designer and
Department Coordinator for the Anesthesiology Department at Lenox Hill Hospital, before
leaving to live in London for 14 years. Monica currently serves on many Educational and cultural
Boards in NYC. She was drawn to Starfish on a visit to South Africa with Heather Kirby.
Together, they visited a school, AIDS clinic and farm outside of a game park they stayed at.
Monica immediately recognized the needs of the population and the amazing work Starfish
does in South Africa.

Currently, he is a founding partner of Gamma 3 LLC. Gamma 3 provides early stage funding for start-up initiatives focused on IP creation, technology advancement and commercialization. It partners with best-in-class academic institutions, inventors and entrepreneurs to create advanced technology companies in the Maryland area. He has raised more than $2.5 billion in six public offerings and has been recognized as a leader and visionary in several technology fields. His many awards and honors include acknowledgement as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year; Mobile Computing Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2000, and the KPMG High Tech Entrepreneur of the Year. He received the Westinghouse award for Leadership in Research and Development. David also holds a U.S. patent for the airborne
multi-function radar system. He is the Chairman and founder of Terbium Labs. Terbium Labs is an information security company that runs Matchlight, a data intelligence system that monitors the internet for breaches of organizations' most sensitive data. He is also Chairman of
Gemstone Biotherapeutics LLC. Gemstone Biotherapeutics is a leader in the field of tissue
engineering and regenerative medicine. It is developing bioengineering technology for clinical cell therapy solutions and wound healing products. From 2007 to 2010, David was a founding partner of Global Domain Partners, LLC, a managed futures company that uses advanced optimization modeling as a predictive tool for worldwide markets, currencies and commodities.
From 1996 to 2006, he was the Chairman and CEO of Aether Systems, Inc., a leading provider of wireless and mobile data solutions for the financial trading systems, transportation, and public safety industries. He built Aether Systems from a small consulting company with a handful of employees to an industry leader in high-end wireless applications. From 1994 until 1996, David was president of NexGen Technologies, LLC, a wireless software development company. From 1992 until 1994, he was president of the Wireless Data Group at Westinghouse Electric. For a decade prior to that, he directed internal research at Westinghouse Electric, managing large
programs in advanced airborne radar design and development. He currently serves on the
Board of Directors for Evolving Systems, Inc. He is on the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland Baltimore County and is the Senior Executive CEO In Residence. He also is on the
Board of Directors for Paul’s Place, a community outreach center in Washington Village.

Tanya provides policy advice on capital market development to governments and securities regulators around the world. She has over 20 years of experience covering emerging capital markets, having worked for the Standard Bank Group in Johannesburg, Hong Kong, and as a Director in London. Tanya has a Masters Degree in International Affairs from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.