About the Contributors
Extraordinary individuals share their stories in the second volume of Because You Believed in Me. Learn about their influences and what motivates them.
Ken Blanchard is co-founder and chief spiritual officer of The Ken Blanchard Companies®, a global management training and consulting firm. He is the author or coauthor of 50 books that have sold more than 20 million copies, including the iconic bestseller, The One Minute Manager®. The College of Business at Grand Canyon University bears his name.
Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway. Often called the “Oracle of Omaha,” he is noted for his adherence to value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to charitable causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation.
Marilyn Carlson Nelson is former chairman and CEO of Carlson, a global travel and hospitality company, which includes such brands as Radisson Blu and Radisson hotels, Country Inns & Suites and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Forbes named Marilyn one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” U.S. News and World Report called her one of “America’s Best Leaders.” She serves on the boards of the UN Global Compact, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and is a former board member of ExxonMobil. Marilyn is the author of the bestselling book How We Lead Matters.
Dale Chihuly is renowned for his architectural installations around the world in historic cities, museums and gardens. His work is included in more than 200 museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass. Major exhibitions include Chihuly Over Venice (1995-96), Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem (1999), Garden Cycle (2001–present), de Young Museum in San Francisco (2008), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2011), and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2013). Chihuly Garden and Glass opened at Seattle Center in 2012.
Maxine Clark is one of the true innovators in the retail industry. During her 40-plus year career, her ability to spot emerging retail and merchandising trends and her insight into the desires of consumers have generated growth for retail leaders, including department, discount and specialty stores. In 1997, she founded Build-A-Bear Workshop®, an interactive retail-entertainment experience. In 2012, Build-A-Bear Workshop was named to the FORTUNE 100 “Best Companies to Work For®” list for the fourth consecutive year. Maxine’s first book, The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart, was published in 2006.
Mike Derheim is CEO of The Nerdery, the technology agency he co-founded in 2003 and led to several consecutive years on Inc. Magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing companies. Headquartered in Minneapolis, The Nerdery has offices in Chicago and Kansas City, with hundreds of web developers, UX designers, QA engineers and other Nerds who have voted The Nerdery onto multiple top workplaces lists. Mike’s Ted Talk on the power of distributed leadership urges all to make themselves co-president of whatever they’re truly passionate about in work and life.
Joyce DiDonato is an American operatic lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano, particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart and Rossini. She has performed with many of the world’s leading opera companies and orchestras and in 2012 won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo.
Ira Flatow is the host of Science Friday® on PRI, Public Radio International. He anchors the show each Friday, bringing radio and Internet listeners world wide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space and the environment. Ira is president of ScienceFriday, Inc. and founder and president of Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit company dedicated to creating audio, video and Internet projects that make science a topic of discussion around the dinner table, Twitter or Facebook. His most recent book is entitled Present At The Future.
Bill Gates, Sr. is a lawyer, philanthropist, civic activist, husband, father and grandfather, not necessarily in that order. He currently serves as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates guides the vision and strategic direction of the foundation and serves as an advocate for the foundation’s key issues.
Ilene Gordon is chairman and CEO of Ingredion Incorporated, a $6.5 billion global company that produces ingredient solutions for food, beverage and industrial customers. Previously, Gordon held executive positions at Rio Tinto Alcan, the Packaging Corporation of America. and Signode. She began her career at the Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant based in Boston, London and Chicago. She holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a M.S. in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Adam Grant is an award-winning management professor with tenure at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has been named one of Businessweek’s favorite professors and designed experiential learning exercises in which students have raised over $118,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He is the author of Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.
Erika James is the Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education and professor of business administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. She conducts research in two primary areas: crisis leadership and workplace diversity, with an emphasis on women in leadership. Professor James joined the Darden faculty in 2001. Previously, she served on the faculty at the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and the Goizuetta Business School at Emory University, and was a visiting faculty member at the Harvard Business School.
Capathia Jenkins is an acclaimed actress and concert artist whose credits on Broadway include Newsies, Martin Short—Fame Becomes Me, Caroline, or Change, The Look of Love, and Civil War. Her Off-Broadway credits include (mis)Understanding Mammy—The Hattie McDaniel Story (Drama Desk Nomination); Love Loss and What I Wore; Caroline, or Change; and Godspell. On television, she has appeared in 30 Rock, The Practice, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, The Sopranos, and Third Watch. She has performed on film in Musical Chair and on movie soundtracks for Nine, Chicago, Mission to Mars and Legally Blonde 2. www.capathiajenkins.com
Whitney Johnson is a leading thinker on driving innovation via personal disruption and is the co-founder of Clayton Christensen’s investment firm. Johnson is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and a former double-ranked Institutional Investor equity analyst. She is also the author of Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream (Bibliomotion, 2012) and is listed on Inc Magazine’s “12 People to Follow on Twitter in 2012” and Business Insider’s “54 Smart Thinkers Everyone Should Follow on Twitter.”
Diana Mendley Rauner is president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a public-private partnership serving at-risk children and their families from before birth to age five. She has a background in both developmental psychology and finance, and previously worked as a researcher at the University of Chicago and in private equity investing. She and her husband live in Chicago and have six children.
Moshe Safdie has been a visionary force in architecture and urban design for over 40 years. Embracing a humane design philosophy informed by the geographic, social and cultural elements that define a place, Safdie’s works include Habitat ’67 in Montreal, Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in Singapore.
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967. She is a leader of women’s equality in running, which has led to a global fitness and empowerment revolution. She has run 39 marathons, won the 1974 New York City Marathon and still runs marathons at age 66. Today she continues as an Emmy award-winning TV commentator, author of three books, and an activist for women everywhere.
Dave Winfield’s career is a unique chapter of American sports history. Hailed as one of the greatest athletes ever to play professional sports, he is one of only seven players in the history of Major League Baseball to reach over 3,000 hits and over 450 home runs. The 12-time All-Star is among the all-time leaders in hits, home runs and RBIs. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001—his first year of eligibility.
Richard Saul Wurman is an American architect and graphic designer. He has written and designed more than 83 books, and created the TED conference, the EG conference, TEDMED and the WWW suite of gatherings, now in development. Recognizing early that ignorance is his greatest asset, Wurman seeks ways to make the complex clear by sorting through the abundance of information that is available on every topic and designing techniques to make it understandable.
Warren Buffett is an American business magnate, investor and philanthropist. He is widely considered the most successful investor of the 20th century. Buffett is the chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway. Often called the “Oracle of Omaha,” he is noted for his adherence to value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to charitable causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation.
Marilyn Carlson Nelson is former chairman and CEO of Carlson, a global travel and hospitality company, which includes such brands as Radisson Blu and Radisson hotels, Country Inns & Suites and Carlson Wagonlit Travel. Forbes named Marilyn one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.” U.S. News and World Report called her one of “America’s Best Leaders.” She serves on the boards of the UN Global Compact, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and is a former board member of ExxonMobil. Marilyn is the author of the bestselling book How We Lead Matters.
Dale Chihuly is renowned for his architectural installations around the world in historic cities, museums and gardens. His work is included in more than 200 museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Corning Museum of Glass. Major exhibitions include Chihuly Over Venice (1995-96), Chihuly in the Light of Jerusalem (1999), Garden Cycle (2001–present), de Young Museum in San Francisco (2008), the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2011), and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2013). Chihuly Garden and Glass opened at Seattle Center in 2012.
Maxine Clark is one of the true innovators in the retail industry. During her 40-plus year career, her ability to spot emerging retail and merchandising trends and her insight into the desires of consumers have generated growth for retail leaders, including department, discount and specialty stores. In 1997, she founded Build-A-Bear Workshop®, an interactive retail-entertainment experience. In 2012, Build-A-Bear Workshop was named to the FORTUNE 100 “Best Companies to Work For®” list for the fourth consecutive year. Maxine’s first book, The Bear Necessities of Business: Building a Company with Heart, was published in 2006.
Mike Derheim is CEO of The Nerdery, the technology agency he co-founded in 2003 and led to several consecutive years on Inc. Magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest-growing companies. Headquartered in Minneapolis, The Nerdery has offices in Chicago and Kansas City, with hundreds of web developers, UX designers, QA engineers and other Nerds who have voted The Nerdery onto multiple top workplaces lists. Mike’s Ted Talk on the power of distributed leadership urges all to make themselves co-president of whatever they’re truly passionate about in work and life.
Joyce DiDonato is an American operatic lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano, particularly admired for her interpretations of the works of Handel, Mozart and Rossini. She has performed with many of the world’s leading opera companies and orchestras and in 2012 won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo.
Ira Flatow is the host of Science Friday® on PRI, Public Radio International. He anchors the show each Friday, bringing radio and Internet listeners world wide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space and the environment. Ira is president of ScienceFriday, Inc. and founder and president of Science Friday Initiative, a 501(c)(3) non-profit company dedicated to creating audio, video and Internet projects that make science a topic of discussion around the dinner table, Twitter or Facebook. His most recent book is entitled Present At The Future.
Bill Gates, Sr. is a lawyer, philanthropist, civic activist, husband, father and grandfather, not necessarily in that order. He currently serves as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Gates guides the vision and strategic direction of the foundation and serves as an advocate for the foundation’s key issues.
Ilene Gordon is chairman and CEO of Ingredion Incorporated, a $6.5 billion global company that produces ingredient solutions for food, beverage and industrial customers. Previously, Gordon held executive positions at Rio Tinto Alcan, the Packaging Corporation of America. and Signode. She began her career at the Boston Consulting Group as a strategy consultant based in Boston, London and Chicago. She holds a B.S. degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a M.S. in management from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
Adam Grant is an award-winning management professor with tenure at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He has been named one of Businessweek’s favorite professors and designed experiential learning exercises in which students have raised over $118,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He is the author of Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success.
Erika James is the Senior Associate Dean for Executive Education and professor of business administration at the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. She conducts research in two primary areas: crisis leadership and workplace diversity, with an emphasis on women in leadership. Professor James joined the Darden faculty in 2001. Previously, she served on the faculty at the Freeman School of Business at Tulane University and the Goizuetta Business School at Emory University, and was a visiting faculty member at the Harvard Business School.
Capathia Jenkins is an acclaimed actress and concert artist whose credits on Broadway include Newsies, Martin Short—Fame Becomes Me, Caroline, or Change, The Look of Love, and Civil War. Her Off-Broadway credits include (mis)Understanding Mammy—The Hattie McDaniel Story (Drama Desk Nomination); Love Loss and What I Wore; Caroline, or Change; and Godspell. On television, she has appeared in 30 Rock, The Practice, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, The Sopranos, and Third Watch. She has performed on film in Musical Chair and on movie soundtracks for Nine, Chicago, Mission to Mars and Legally Blonde 2. www.capathiajenkins.com
Whitney Johnson is a leading thinker on driving innovation via personal disruption and is the co-founder of Clayton Christensen’s investment firm. Johnson is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review and a former double-ranked Institutional Investor equity analyst. She is also the author of Dare, Dream, Do: Remarkable Things Happen When You Dare to Dream (Bibliomotion, 2012) and is listed on Inc Magazine’s “12 People to Follow on Twitter in 2012” and Business Insider’s “54 Smart Thinkers Everyone Should Follow on Twitter.”
Diana Mendley Rauner is president of the Ounce of Prevention Fund, a public-private partnership serving at-risk children and their families from before birth to age five. She has a background in both developmental psychology and finance, and previously worked as a researcher at the University of Chicago and in private equity investing. She and her husband live in Chicago and have six children.
Moshe Safdie has been a visionary force in architecture and urban design for over 40 years. Embracing a humane design philosophy informed by the geographic, social and cultural elements that define a place, Safdie’s works include Habitat ’67 in Montreal, Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort in Singapore.
Kathrine Switzer was the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon in 1967. She is a leader of women’s equality in running, which has led to a global fitness and empowerment revolution. She has run 39 marathons, won the 1974 New York City Marathon and still runs marathons at age 66. Today she continues as an Emmy award-winning TV commentator, author of three books, and an activist for women everywhere.
Dave Winfield’s career is a unique chapter of American sports history. Hailed as one of the greatest athletes ever to play professional sports, he is one of only seven players in the history of Major League Baseball to reach over 3,000 hits and over 450 home runs. The 12-time All-Star is among the all-time leaders in hits, home runs and RBIs. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001—his first year of eligibility.
Richard Saul Wurman is an American architect and graphic designer. He has written and designed more than 83 books, and created the TED conference, the EG conference, TEDMED and the WWW suite of gatherings, now in development. Recognizing early that ignorance is his greatest asset, Wurman seeks ways to make the complex clear by sorting through the abundance of information that is available on every topic and designing techniques to make it understandable.