Meet The Judges

Nicole Anderson is the founder and CEO of MEND HR Solutions and President of MEND Recruiting, a human resources solution and recruiting firm based in West Palm Beach, Fla. 

Nicole recently released her first book “HR is Sexy! Revolutionizing Human Resources”. In her book, Nicole teaches her vision of what HR can be in organizations from working with leaders to develop bottom line strategies to bringing value to companies rather than just be policy makers and enforcers. Nicole is a featured expert on ABC, NBC, CBS, The CW, as well in multiple magazine and online platforms including Forbes.

Nicole has been active in community-based organizations including Teen Mom Choices, A21 to help fight human trafficking, and Young Professionals Community (YPC). She is especially passionate about raising awareness for mental health and educating people on sexual abuse. In 2020, Nicole launched her own non-profit Seersha Baile, (meaning Freedom/Liberty Place) a sanctuary for sexual abuse victims to recover and learn valuable business skills to start their own businesses. In 2022, Nicole will be launching “The Tracey Lynne Foundation” to provide resources for healthcare workers struggling with health and mental health issues as well as scholarships for nursing students.

Greg Shugar is the founder and CEO of Beau Ties of Vermont, an artisan company producing individually handcrafted American-Made accessories for men, women, children and pets.

He has been in the ecommerce space since 2004, when he and his wife founded one of the very first men's fashion brands built natively online. After selling that company to private equity in 2013, Greg worked with a small team to help create FAU Tech Runway.

Since then, Greg has continued work in ecommerce, founding a home bedding brand in 2015 and then acquiring another menswear brand in 2019.

Greg has taught FAU Entrepreneur Bootcamp and now teaches ENT4024 at the College of Business, with a focus on consumer products.

Rhys L. Williams is CEO of Prototype House, a venture focused on digitally transforming the product development process for entrepreneurs across the globe.  

From 2016 to 2021, he served as Managing Director of the highly successful FAU Tech Runway technology incubator/accelerator program & TRIN investor network.  Mr. Williams has more than two decades of experience in the early-stage life sciences realm as well, having co-founding three biotech spinouts from three of Florida’s institutions of higher learning.  He is also an active member of the Florida angel investor community, having co-founded the New World Angels in 2003, Florida’s most established and successful structured angel investor group (chairman emeritus and past president), with several successful exits across the domains of therapeutics, medical devices, and healthcare IT.  Recognized as one of 50 “Power Leaders in Technology” by the South Florida Business Journal, Mr. Williams has also testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Technology and Global Competitiveness. 

Carlton Washington is a healthy lifestyle enthusiast with a passion for the anti-aging industry.

He has a well-rounded background in professional banking, insurance, and real estate sales and acquisition. Carlton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Howard University and an Executive MBA from Kennesaw State University. His diverse business experience helps 4Ever Young stay dynamic and keeps us at the forefront of anti-aging medicine. With a strong personal interest in health and wellness, Carlton made it his goal to educate others on the incredible benefits of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. He’s not just an advocate for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy—he’s also a patient himself. He’s experienced the powerful effects of this treatment firsthand, which makes him a great resource for our patients. Along with his commitment to a healthy diet, regular exercise, and well-rounded nutritional supplementation, Carlton knows that bioidentical HRT is another keystone of healthy aging. His own achievements drive him to help others find their best selves, and this drive inspires the entire 4Ever Young team to do the same.

Olivia Gaudree

Olivia Gaudree is a Partner and Core Analyst on the Fuel Venture Capital leadership team and provides operational and analytical support to the Fuel VC General Partners, Limited Partners and portfolio companies. She is responsible for guiding prospective founders through essential stages of the comprehensive due diligence process and toward possible acceptance in the Fuel VC Private Equity/Venture Capital Fund. Olivia is responsible for assessing and analyzing investment opportunities that flow through the deal screening process, assisting in the detailed due diligence conducted on prospective companies. Additionally, she oversees the growth metrics of Fuel VC Fund investments and allocations, continually reviewing and updating the comprehensive data that is represented through public and non-public medium.

 

Sarah Pearson

Sarah Pearson currently serves as the Executive Vice President for the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce. In this role, Sarah directs a team of Chamber professionals, supporting more than 1,700 Member companies. In her current role, Sarah works to represent the interests of the 150,000 employees of Chamber Member businesses. Her areas of focus are on economic advancement, public policy/advocacy and business development. She is also responsible for overseeing the efforts related to marketing and communications, programs and events, membership development, and The Chamber’s Education Foundation (Golden Bell) as well as the Political Action Committee (BLU-PAC). 

 

 

Frank Veros

After receiving his MBA from The University of Detroit, Mr.Veros joined Ford Motor Company in Sales and Marketing. Throughout his career, he attended Ford sponsored Executive programs at the University of Michigan, Duke University, and the University of Paris (France). He held numerous Executive positions at Ford Motor Company which took him to various parts of the world including China, Canada, Mexico, Philippines, Europe, and South Africa. He received numerous awards both inside and outside of Ford for his leadership and achievements in quality excellence. His 30 year career culminated in Mr. Veros being appointed as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for a global joint venture of Ford Motor Company. After retiring he was appointed to Vice President of a global customer service company. After a successful period, he became involved in various charity work.

 

Jerome S. Reinert

Dr. Jerome S. Reinert graduated from New York University with a PhD in finance and has a bachelor’s in management and industrial engineering. Although retired, he has a robust work history in the business sector and was the Founder, President, Chairman and CEO of Reinert and Company Inc. for 30+ years. Dr. Reinert is a distinguished lecturer and a prolific philanthropist, supporting the arts, education, and wellness initiatives. Apart from his business & philanthropic achievements, Dr. Reinert also a survivor and a hero. On July 26th, 1956, the SS Andrea Doria struck another ship and capsized. Not only did he survive, but he also saved 12 young children’s lives. His mantra is to “learn to take risks and that today is the most important part of your life”. He is a father of two sons and a grandfather to two talented grandchildren.

Shay Berman

Shay Berman is the founder and president of Digital Resource, a full-service digital marketing agency in West Palm Beach. Digital Resource partners with forward-thinking companies, assisting them with building reputable, lead-generating online presences. Since starting DR in 2014 at the age of 23, Shay has scaled the business to new heights. Digital Resource has ranked on Inc. 500–the list of America’s fastest-growing private companies–two years in a row and was named the 49th most entrepreneurial company in the nation by Entrepreneur Magazine in 2019. Additionally, Shay is proud to be the youngest 2019 “40 under 40” entrepreneur, as named by South Florida Business Journal.

 

Jonathan Beskin

Jonathan Beskin is a dynamic business executive, entrepreneur and investor with more than 15 years of marketing, sales and leadership experience. He is the CEO and Founder of SinglesSwag, a monthly subscription box for single women in May 2016 with less than 50 subscribers in the US and has grown the company to more than 130,000 subscribers, over one million verified Instagram and Facebook followers and $14 million+ in current annual revenue in less than three years. Beskin also founded Mollie Jacob, an all-natural cosmetics brand with national distribution and the jewelry brand, Violet Harper. Beskin and his businesses featured on the TODAY show, Cosmopolitan, Mashable, USA Today, Fast Company, Marie Claire, INC, Business Insider, InStyle and much more. Beskin holds a BS in Finance from Florida State University and an MBA from Florida Atlantic University.

 

Judith Haddad

Judith Haddad is President and CIO for SD Refinery, an AI technology start-up that converts unstructured language data into actionable and useful outcomes for businesses. Previously she was founder and CEO of hDC Solutions, a visionary company that provides access to high-end digital solutions to the insurance industry. Judith was named one of 25 Most Influential Woman in Business by South Florida Business Journal, and her career was featured in Profile Magazine. Ms. Haddad is known as a dynamic leader and entrepreneur with vast experience building profitable organizations, having a passion for developing new products, software and teams. She has pioneered numerous initiatives in the areas of digital technologies, virtual infrastructure implementations, and AI/enterprise data warehouse solutions. Ms. Haddad is also very active mentoring and advising several start-up organizations. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and received her MBA degree from Nova Southeastern University. She has also completed courses at INSEAD in France and keeps current on new technology with certification courses at MIT.

 

Brian Javeline

Brian Javeline is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of MyOnlineToolbox.com, a leading marketing and website education company for home improvement remodelers. He has raised millions from multiple investors and has written for Fast Company focusing on topics such as The Entrepreneur Way of Life, What Gets Investors Excited, and Angel Investors Are More Powerful than VCs. MyOnlineToolbox was recently awarded a Top 100 Product for the Remodeling Industry.

 

 

Bernard Paul-Hus

Bernard Paul-Hus is the President and CEO of Hypower, Inc. Hypower is one of the southeast USA’s largest specialty electrical contractors and has completed over a thousand projects valued at over $1bn. Paul-Hus grew Hypower from 11 employees to over 600 employees since 1991. He was actively involved in several signature projects including Brightline’s All Aboard Florida, the first Formula EPrix on American soil, and Disney’s Epcot Solar Site where Hypower installed 48,000 solar panels in the shape of Mickey Mouse in four months. Paul-Hus has been a member of the TEC/VISTAGE committee since 1997 and is on the ABC (Associated Builders and Contractors) Board of Directors.  He is personally involved as a leader and a mentor with quite a few local charities – HANDY (Helping Abused Neglected Disadvantaged Youth), Boys and Girls Clubs of Broward County, 4Kids of South Florida and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Hypower donates over $100,000 to local charities every year.

 

Bob Rubin

Bob Rubin is president of Rubin Wealth Advisors, a Boca Raton-based wealth-advisory firm that provides wealth management solutions to more than 150 clients nationwide. Founded in 1998, Rubin Wealth Advisors is a fee-only registered investment advisory firm specializing in financial planning for business owners and entrepreneurs. Bob is also currently president of Your401kSource.com, a subsidiary of Rubin Wealth Advisors, and co-founded Machine Gun America. Bob is a member on the Board of Trustees for Florida Atlantic University and supports the university as Vice Chairman of the International Center for Emergency Management.

Ilyse Terri Shuster Frohman

Ilyse Terri Shuster is the founder of Ilyse Terri LLC, a full service, 360-degree advertising and creative agency specializing in marketing for medium and large brands. Her firm’s clients include Viacom, Nickelodeon brand, United Talent Agency and Thompson Hotels among others. Ilyse also manages the holding company I Group Ventures, Inc. that owns Ilyse Terri, LLC and other subsidiaries. For 20 years, Ilyse worked in various marketing roles for different companies before opening her own firm. Originally from South Africa, Ilyse hails from a long line of entrepreneurs and lawyers including the founder of Lion Country Safari in Florida that connects her to South Florida business leaders. Ilyse is a visionary, creative entrepreneur, wife and mother residing in South Florida with her family.

 

 

 

 

Jan Bednar

Jan is the founder and CEO of ShipMonk, a third-party order fulfillment and distribution service company. In 2018, Jan became one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Retail and Ecommerce category and ShipMonk was ranked #29 on the INC 5000 list. Jan is an FAU College of Business graduate from the Class of 2014. As an FAU undergraduate, he won the Business Plan Competition and another business contest to gain funding for his startup shipping business. He then enrolled in and graduated from the FAU Tech Runway program to accelerate his business. Now Shipmonk employs over 400 people across four locations and generates over $70,000,000 in annual revenue.

Terri-Ann Brown

Terri-Ann Brown currently serves as a mentor for the Venture Mentoring Team, a nonprofit educational 501(c)(3) dedicated to fostering the startup community by training and credentialing Mentors and then connecting them with the best and brightest entrepreneurs to help startups reach their full potential.  In 2015 she helped to launch the South Florida chapter of the Founder Institute, a global accelerator program that prepares entrepreneurs from idea stage to launch. Terri previously co-founded a startup in the dental technology field and mentors in the Broward College Startup Now program.

 

Tony Chvala

Tony is the Chief Operating Officer of 4Ocean. He has 15 years of executive leadership experience in ecommerce, marketing, merchandising, private label, 3rd party marketplaces, and international expansion. He drove revenue growth for large companies as Amazon, Groupon, GE and Sears. Tony also led ecommerce transformations for private equity and venture capital exits with companies valued between $50M and $100M. Under his direction, the 4Ocean team and business have grown over 5x in the last year. He received his B.A. in Business Management from the University of Wisconsin.

 

Tim S. Marshall

Author, entrepreneur, and speaker Tim S. Marshall (https://timsmarshall.com/) built a Florida-based tech start-up featured as one of Inc. Magazine's "Fastest Growing Companies in America" for 4 years in a row, experiencing record-breaking growth and "thriving through three of the toughest years, seen in the living memory of Corporate America." - Inc. magazine. Tim has consulted with Fortune 500 companies, CEOs, and professional athletes (he was the keynote speaker at the 2016 and 2017 NFL Jacksonville Jaguars Draft Days) and has appeared as a keynote speaker at universities and corporate seminars throughout Florida.

Tony Ramudo

As a founding partner of Urban Solar, Tony delivers a high level of business & construction expertise through his financial services and construction background. Growing up surrounded by architects, developers, and engineers, along with a Degree in Finance from FAU, shaped his ability to help build the solid foundation on which Urban Solar was born. His project management expertise, dedication to the customer experience and attention to detail challenge all departments of Urban Solar.

 

Amalia Santiago

Amalia Santiago currently works for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent administrator where she is engaged in quality, data, and process improvement projects. Throughout her 31 years at the Patent Office, she has worked as the Chief of the Data Analysis and Process Improvement Branch, Chief Administrator of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, and as a patent examiner in the chemical engineering arts. Amalia received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, she is an FAU MBA alum (1987), and received a Master’s Certificate in Project Management from the George Washington University.

 

Alan G. Stanford Jr.

Alan Stanford is currently the founder and Managing Partner of Dash Two Partners. Alan was previously the VP of Finance for Nordic Aviation Capital, the largest lessor of regional aircraft and the fourth largest commercial aircraft lessor in the world. Alan currently heads the company’s Special Projects Group focused on acquisitions, operating and financial strategy and is now based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Before working at Nordic Capital, Alan was the Chief Financial Officer of Jetscape Aviation Group, a private company engaged in commercial aircraft leasing to airlines worldwide based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He graduated from the University of Colorado – Boulder with a Master of Business Administration and from the University of Denver with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.