1455’s Board of Directors
Chair of the Board
Mark Seferian, CEO, Golden Compass Ventures
Mark Seferian is the CEO of Golden Compass Ventures, which focuses on seed stage capital, early stage business strategy, and founder entrepreneurship and technical advising. Mark’s core competencies are as an entrepreneur, seed stage investor/advisor, micro-business strategist, marketing and brand visionary and highly accomplished C-suite level senior technical sales professional skilled at creating, developing and establishing new brands in the North American and global markets. Mark’s hobbies include talking, thinking and discussing blue ocean business strategy, seeking out the path-less-traveled in all aspects of life, adventuring, embracing the outdoors through all forms of mobility, being an all-in dad, and cooking.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Morgan Ryan, Morgan Ryan Creative
Morgan Ryan is an independent consultant who provides creative direction, graphic design, and website development services to propel marketing strategies forward for growing organizations. As a print and web designer, her work can be found on book covers, the websites of dozens of startups as well as mid-sized business and financial consulting firms, and in the multimedia promotions found across her clients social media platforms. Her advertising design work has been featured on Comcast Sportsnet, as well as large outdoor digital displays in San Francisco International Airport as well as the Washington D.C.’s Metro and the Capital One Arena. Morgan is an active member of the 1455 team and is involved in the daily activities of producing materials to support 1455’s variety of ongoing programs, as well as the e-magazine Movable Type, annual Summer Festival, the ongoing workshop series, and other developing programming.
TREASURER
Phil Noftsinger, VP Finance and Corporate Controller, CBIZ, Inc.
Phil Noftsinger serves as the Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller for CBIZ, Inc. (NYSE: CBZ), bringing with him 27 years of experience in accounting and employee services. Phil has been serving CBIZ for 15 years in a number of roles within the business. Through those years, in addition to his current role, Phil has served as the President of CBIZ’s Employee Service Organization and President of CBIZ Payroll, the employee benefits and payroll processing business lines respectively. Before coming to CBIZ in September of 2004, Phil was controller of Fortegra, Incorporated., a highly specialized IT consultation and integration firm in the energy and health-care industries. Phil is also the creator of the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, which is a metric designed to gauge hiring in companies with less than 300 employees across the United States. Phil can be seen on Fox Business, CNBC and Bloomberg on occasion to discuss the state of small business hiring and employment. Phil’s comments on the state of small businesses have also been carried in multiple print and web outlets including Smart Money, Accounting Today and The Wall Street Journal.
Secretary
Kimberly Drinkwine Churches, President, The Washington Center
Kim Churches is The Washington Center’s fourth President—and first female in the role—as of October 2021. Kim brings nearly three decades of experience in nonprofit and higher education administration, joining the organization after serving most recently as the chief executive officer for the American Association of University Women (AAUW). Prior to her work with AAUW, Kim served as the managing director for the Brookings Institution, an internationally recognized think tank. In that capacity, she strategically guided Brookings, providing vision and problem-solving skills while focusing on expansive partnerships, external relations and advancement. Outside of her official roles, Kim has devoted her leadership skills on behalf of several professional and charitable organizations, including the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights, 1455, Association of Fundraising Professionals, DC Girls Baseball and BUILD Metro DC. She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum of Washington DC, an organization that represents women leaders in diverse fields.
1455’s Advisory Board
Justen Ahren, Poet Laureate, Martha’s Vineyard
Justen Ahren is Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate and founder of the Italy Writing Retreat. In 2007, after returning from a residency in Costa Rica, he founded and directed the Martha’s Vineyard Writers’ Residency which became Noepe Center for Literary Arts in 2013. Mr. Ahren is the author of two collections of poetry. His work is currently on exhibit at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
Horace Blackman, VP, Cognizant, George Mason University Board Member
Horace Blackman is Vice President of Healthcare at Cognizant, a Fortune 200 global Information and Technology Services company. In this role he is responsible for the strategy development and delivery of digital business, digital operations and digital systems and technology to commercial healthcare payers, government and public health programs. Federal Computer Week named Mr. Blackman a 2014 Federal 100 Award winner, which honors government, industry and academic leaders in information technology for the federal government. Other recognitions include ComputerWorld magazine’s 100 IT leaders in 2013, the Project Management Award for Green IT from the Association for Federal Information Resources Management and the Project Management Award for Green IT from the Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC).
Jim Boyer, Doctor of Oncology and Hematology, Martha Jefferson Hospital
Born and raised in Virginia, Jim completed his undergraduate studies at George Mason University before earning his medical degree at the University of Virginia. He furthered his training in residency at the University of Rochester, followed by a fellowship in Hematology/Oncology at George Washington University. Dr. Boyer is board certified in Hematology and Oncology and primarily takes care of cancer patients and their families. Dr. Boyer has lived and worked in his community for over a decade. Upon completing his training, he sought an opportunity to return his family to Charlottesville. He was first in private practice with HOPE, spearheading clinical trial accrual for his group, later serving on faculty at the University of Virginia. He is interested in furthering the development of clinical trials for patients to advance treatments for cancer.
Jeff Coker, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Shenandoah University
Jeff Coker, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of history at Shenandoah University (Winchester, Virginia), is a thought leader in higher education with more than twenty years of leadership experience at multiple universities. Holding degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Ohio University, Jeff is the author of several books and articles in American politics, culture, and thought. He has served as a student mentor throughout his career, overseeing undergraduate research initiatives, serving on graduate student thesis committees, and traveling abroad with students. He has served as a grant reviewer for the National Endowment for the Humanities, has consulted for the College Board, and has served on multiple university accreditation teams. The U.S. Department of State has tapped Jeff on several occasions to speak internationally on American history and culture and on trends in higher education.
Jade Floyd, Global Strategy Group
Jade Floyd is Senior Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs at Global Strategy Group where her clients include a number of philanthropic foundations, venture capitalists, investment firms and corporate impact practices. Previously she served as Vice President of Communications at the Case Foundation led by digital pioneers Jean and Steve Case (co-founder AOL), and Revolution Venture Capital, a D.C. based venture capital firm. She has led executive positioning, expanded new media opportunities, and worked with hundreds of media outlets securing stories in the New York Times, Fortune, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Forbes, Tech Crunch, CNBC and more. Jade has more than 15 years of communications experience leading strategic communications, reputation management, strategic partnerships, and community engagement initiatives for Fortune 500 companies and social impact organizations.
Lena Derhally, Author & Licensed Psychotherapist
Lena Derhally is a licensed psychotherapist certified in Imago Relationship Therapy and the author of the true crime best seller, My Daddy is a Hero: How Chris Watts Went from Family Man to Family Killer, which has sold 50,000 copies worldwide. Her work and expertise have been featured in O Magazine, SELF, Glamour, The Washington Post, A&E, Hollywood Life, The Huffington Post, Law and Crime, and more. She was formerly a clinical instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington School of Medicine, where she mentored medical students. In her spare time she enjoys coaching soccer, DJ’ing, and raising money for her favorite causes. Lena lives in Washington DC with her husband, children, and pets.
Rebecca Haller, Haller Strategies
By trade, Rebecca Haller is a writer, researcher and recovering journalist based in DC. By heart she’s a storyteller and a seeker with a chronic case of wanderlust and a penchant for passport stamps. She writes Lies I’veTold My Therapist and conducts qualitative research for clients through Haller Strategies. Leveraging design-thinking techniques and 15+ years of media and newsroom experience including at USA Today and POLITICO, she helps brands and organizations uncover consumer insights and develop customer-centric strategies.
A.J. Hernandez, President and CEO, SkyPostal, Inc.
A.J. grew up in the courier industry beginning as a package sorter during his summers off from school in 1986. After two years of playing professional baseball for the California Angels he joined SkyNet Worldwide Couriers in 1993. While at SkyNet A.J. developed a new service called SkyBox and later spun it off into a separate entity. SkyBox gave consumers in Latin America a physical US address wherein they could receive mail and merchandise as if they lived in Miami without assuming the delivery or customs clearance challenges. After successfully selling SkyBox to LanChile Airlines, A.J. along with his father, Albert, started SkyPostal to serve the great need for reliable mail and parcel delivery in Latin America. His experience allowed him to infuse SkyPostal with a courier, time defined, service mentality for the mail and B2C parcel industry.
Jason Herskowitz, Group Product Manager, Spotify
Jason has spent the bulk of his professional career creating software products and platforms for both content creators and music consumers. Since 2016 he has worked at Spotify, leading ideation, definition and development of a number of products and services for recording artists, songwriters, record labels and music publishers. He has recently been tasked with building out an incubatorial ventures team to identify and create new B2B products and revenue lines for the company. Jason (or “J”) joined Spotify after spending over a decade across a range of music/tech projects as a both entrepreneur and product management lead for for a variety of companies, including Tomahawk, LimeWire, TotalMusic (a Sony Music / Universal Music Group joint venture music streaming service), Official.fm (an artist-to-fan engagement platform) and AOL Music. His career began in artist management and owner of a small independent record label before transitioning into product management within the video game industry and then moving into a number of media-focused tech startups as early stage employee, consultant, advisor and entrepreneur.
Jessi grew up on a blueberry farm in rural Virginia. Her essays, short stories and poems have been published or are forthcoming in Oxford American, Carve, Sonora Review, The Pinch, Yemassee, and Appalachian Heritage, among others. Jessi’s novel manuscript, She Spoke Wire, was a finalist for the PEN/Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction. Oxford American chose her short story, “False Morels,” as the 2018 Debut Fiction Winner. Her work has been supported by the Tin House Summer Workshop and Bread Loaf Environmental. Jessi has her MFA from West Virginia University. She now teaches writing in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and is in the final edits of a novel.
Ben Mayrides is Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Cvent, a global events and hospitality technology company headquartered in Tysons Corner, VA. Ben’s information security career spans over 20 years across a number of industry sectors. He’s served U.S. federal agencies like the Department of Energy and Federal Bureau of Investigation and held security leadership positions with three global media and entertainment companies (RealNetworks, AOL/Time Warner, and Sony). Prior to Cvent, he served as CISO at Ellucian, a global technology company serving 2,400 education institutions and over 18 million students in 40 countries around the world.Outside of work, Ben likes to spend time with family and find ways to give back to the community. In addition to VCLA, he also serves on the Advisory Board of the LAYC Career Academy, a Washington, D.C. public charter school for opportunity youth.
Jeremy Neuner, Google
Jeremy Neuner builds strong communities. From flying helicopters in the U.S. Navy, to working in local economic development, to founding the company NextSpace, Jeremy creates great teams and imagines collaborative environments where they can thrive. He is currently the Global Lead for Space + Community at Launchpad, Google’s startup accelerator. Jeremy is the co-author of The Rise of the Naked Economy: How to Benefit from the Changing Workplace (U.S. edition published 2013; Chinese edition published 2016). He is also a frequent speaker on the future of work and the workplace. He has spoken at The Aspen Institute (where he is a fellow of the Business and Society Program), UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, University of Wisconsin’s Institute for Discovery, the Agile Workplace Conference (keynote), the Next Generation Workplace Conference (keynote), the Future of Work Conference (keynote), and many other industry events. Jeremy was honored to give the TEDx Talk “The Office is Obsolete” in 2016. Jeremy holds degrees from Georgetown University and Harvard University, but he’s learned the most by playing LEGO’s with his kids.
Mike Shields, Partner, Convergence Media
CNN Political Commentator Mike Shields boasts more than 20 years of strategic experience at the highest levels of campaigns, Capitol Hill and influential outside groups. Shields served as Chief of Staff to the Republican National Committee in 2013-2014. Prior to these posts Shields served as the Political Director and Independent Expenditure Director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. The American Association of Political Consultants recognized Shields’ expertise by naming him the 2012 election’s “Most Valuable Player” for his leadership in creating a messaging program to defend House Republicans. Born in the United States on a U.S. Air Force Base to an American father and British mother, Clyde and Wendy, Shields moved with his family to Great Britain as a child where he lived for 10 years. Understanding—and translating—the British political scene and the consequences of Brexit is a passion for Shields, as is helping to decode American politics for his British colleagues. Shields lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and is blessed with a son, Aidan.
Rob Simms, Partner, Convergence Media
Simms is a veteran political operative with more than 20 years of experience in campaigns, politics and public affairs. He has advised campaigns for U.S. Senate and Governor, as well as state and local offices from Georgia to Alaska. He has been a partner at a public affairs firm and held senior level positions in Congress and state government, including Chief of Staff to Congressman Bill Shuster and Deputy Secretary of State under Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel. In that capacity, Rob oversaw the 2008 presidential elections and later testified before the U.S. Senate on matters concerning voter fraud and Photo ID. A graduate of George Mason University, he is currently an Adjunct Professor at his alma mater teaching classes on political parties and campaigns. A native of Northern Virginia, Rob is a long-suffering Redskins fan, soccer enthusiast and Nationals season ticket holder with his wife Cindy. They reside in Alexandria, Virginia.
Elizabeth Hillman Stein
Elizabeth Hillman Stein is an award-winning communications executive with a proven track record at global companies where she developed innovative public-facing communications strategies that built brands, launched global talent, preserved the corporate identities of networks and programming franchises. As a communications consultant, Stein provides all facets of strategic communications leadership and develops integrated business strategies that drive results and create passionate communities across education, media, technology, and non-profits. Prior to consulting, Liz spent much of her career at world-renowned organizations including Discovery Communications, Hallmark Channel and National Geographic and managed the press for Discovery’s global hits Shark Week, and Planet Earth, to name a few. An active member in the community, Liz also belongs to the Education Writers Association, the DC/Baltimore chapter of Women in Cable and Telecommunications (WICT) and volunteers with Food and Friends and various children’s organizations to support literacy.
Karen Vasquez
Karen has spent the last fifteen years working in the field of economic development, creating compelling stories to help recruit and retain Fortune 500 companies, non-profits, hotels and more to Arlington, Virginia. With a passion for shaping communities and an inexplicable love of the complexities and idiosyncrasies of local government, Karen has not only helped drive the growth of the community she calls home, but has made sure the rest of the world knows about it as well. When she’s not in Arlington, her second favorite place is the departure lounge of an airport, waiting to embark on her next adventure with her husband and two kids.
Gregg Wilhelm, Director, Mason Creative Writing
Gregg Wilhelm has been Director of Mason Creative Writing (BFA and MFA Programs) since Spring 2018. His expertise covers book publishing, arts administration, and higher education. He started his career at Johns Hopkins University Press, launched three imprints including one with a major independent bookseller, founded nonprofit literary arts organization CityLit Project and launched its CityLit Press imprint, and held adjunct and leadership positions at several institutions. Prior to joining the English Department at Mason, Gregg served as Director of Marketing and Enrollment Development for the Open Studies unit at the Maryland Institute College of Art. He has sat on grant review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts (FY2014 and FY2019), the Maryland State Arts Council, and the RUBYs Artist Grants. In fall 2020, he co-founded Watershed Lit: Center for Literary Engagement and Publishing Practice, a center chartered by the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at George Mason University.