Business Leader Edition November 2023

A definite ‘NO’ to the question if struggling families had child care asked by a group of committed volunteers in the San Fernando Valley in 1974, urged the volunteers to look for a way to support families struggling to find quality child care, development, and education services for their families.

After more than a decade in the financial world, Mehdi El Jazouli, CEO of Perpetua Investment Group noticed that there are opportunities in the market with big potential of returns but considered at a large institution’s level, time consuming, humanly difficult to manage and regulatory challenging or simply just not scalable.

Dr. Louis B. Lynn, President and Founder of ENVIRO Ag Science, grew up in Darlington County South Carolina before graduating from Clemson University. He has been a member of the Clemson University Board of Trustees since 1988 and takes pride in having attended almost all the 96 Graduation Ceremonies that have occurred during his board tenure.

Kasper Larsen, CEO & Founder, Evendo, is a serial entrepreneur. Originally in Management Training at the headquarters of A.P. Moller/Maersk, the biggest shipping company globally, Kasper’s keen interest in IT took him to the industry in the mid-’90s. In 2001 he co-founded the software company Sitecore – a rare, Danish Unicorn – which he took from scratch to a market-leading position in 40+ countries.

Jay Wright, CEO and Co-Owner of Virgin Wines infectious energy, enthusiasm, passion and drive has been instrumental in creating an environment that encourages talent to thrive and a culture that puts the customer at the very heart of every decision-making process. After 12 years, Jay still sits in amongst all his team, has time for everyone whether it be the newest employee or a long-standing supplier and his charismatic leadership ensures incredible loyalty from not only his direct team but everyone in the business.

Dennis Van Kampen, President & CEO of Mel Trotter Ministries, is a passionate visionary. He is unapologetically never satisfied, believing one can always grow, learn, and do better. To him, that doesn’t mean not celebrating the victories but rather, never becoming complacent. Dennis sees himself as the conductor of an orchestra of brilliant musicians, each of whom is more gifted than he in their craft.

Character Determines Destiny – so said Aristotle. And David CM Carter believes that more than anything else. For David, it has been numerous years of research into codifying Entelechy Academy’s 54 character qualities that underpin everything he stands for as a leader and teacher. “Sadly, despite being foundational skills for just about anything, they have not been taught at school or college or university.

Cláudio Martins, Founder of Martins Wine Advisor has a great depth of experience on all sides of the wine world, combined with a passion for connoisseurship and a playful spirit. He is a master of talking to his clients about wine in a disruptive and engaging manner, making it accessible and unintimidating, whilst never abandoning his finesse, dedication, and commitment to luxury.

One of the most significant leadership and life lessons that have profoundly impacted Carlos Garcia’s life and career is embracing change and taking calculated risks. The Group Managing Director of Total Clean, Carlos, understands that change is inevitable and necessary for growth.

When Vayomar was first born in early 2003, it was a two-person team of undergraduate debate champions (Gur Lavi and Ariel Halevi) that offered public speaking training services. At that time, the market pain point they addressed was the debilitating gap between people’s knowledge and experience and their ability to share it when facing an audience.