Alexsis de Raadt St. James

Alexsis is the Founder and Chairman of The Althea Foundation, a social venture fund based in San Francisco and London. She has a rich background in technology and international business development that spans 20 years and 25 countries. Alexsis and her foundation team have designed pioneering software in the mental health sector that is used daily by the U.S. Army, Scotland Yard, Ministry of Defence ( UK) and thousands worldwide.

Her foundation funds diverse social initiatives ranging from providing free psychiatric treatment to adolescents San Francisco, California to funding an Internet based children’s newspaper to promote global literacy. Prior to creating The Althea Foundation, she spent 13 years with Shell International and Royal Dutch Shell in London and The Hague in various management positions including Director of Mergers and Acquisitions and Senior Treasury Advisor. Before joining Shell Alexsis worked for the Investment Bank Kidder Peabody in London and Boston.

She is currently Trustee of Autism Speaks U.K., Chairman Osher Endowment for Integrative Medicine, Chairman Kid Scoop Foundation, Trustee of International Business Leaders Forum North America and United Kingdom, Founder’s Circle Astia - Women in Technology and Life Sciences and Board member of Youth Business America. Alexsis was awarded a Commendation by Scotland Yard in 2007 for her innovative design and development work in software. In addition to her M.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has an M.B.A. from Erasmus University, and a B.A. from University of Texas at Austin.

Betsy F. Perry

Betsy F. Perry is a strategic marketing, branding and public relations consultant for corporations and non-profits. She formed her own company after more than 20 years of experience in the print, television and internet arenas. Additionally, she is currently a columnist for The Huffington Post, writing about the unique lifestyles of New Yorkers. She was also a columnist for Jim Cramer’s website, Mainstreet.com.

Prior to forming her own company, Ms. Perry was the East Coast Director for Special Projects, Marketing, Development and Public Relations for The Milken Institute, a nonpartisan economic think tank, and FasterCures, a medical action foundation.

Additionally, she worked at Bloomberg L.P. creating global news and marketing events and writing for television. Ms. Perry, a published writer and former Senior Editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine, has also been a senior producer and on-camera personality for the Fox Broadcasting morning show “Good Day, New York” where she developed the advice segments for young women. Ms. Perry was also part of the creative team that launched Premiere Magazine and had been the Literary Editor for Harper’s Bazaar. She is the co-author of two books, What Every Daughter Wants Her Mother To Know and What Every Daughter Wants Her Father To Know (Sourcebooks). Ms. Perry is a graduate of the Brearley School and Barnard College.

Ellen Creane

Ellen Creane began her career in education as a high school journalism and English teacher in northern California. She was recruited into the educational publishing industry, where for 25 years she worked as a sales and marketing manager for Random House Education Division, Lee Canter & Associates, the Daily Breeze (Torrance, California), the Portland (Maine) Press-Herald, and The New York Times. She hired and trained sales representatives nationally and managed a staff of 38 consultants who presented more than 1,000 teacher and parent workshops annually.

She has conducted dozens of training workshops for K-12 teachers on the inquiry approach to social studies and using the newspaper for instruction in English/language arts, ESL, and social studies. She has also published freelance features on education in newspapers and education journals and has written and edited more than 25 curriculum guides for using the newspaper in the classroom. She was the co-author of a daily newspaper feature, "Help a Friend Learn English," published in several newspapers.

Now retired, she teaches adult ESL part-time in Connecticut. Ellen earned her B.A. in journalism at San Francisco State University and held a California General Secondary Credential for 35 years. She is now certified in adult ESL in the state of Connecticut where she lives with her husband, Frank.