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BOARD AND ADVISORS
Click on a team member to learn more.
Joe Studholme
Kirsten Hund Blair
Tom Amato
Chuck Hobbs
Co-founder & Board Chair
Serial software
entrepreneur
Co-founder & Board
Secretary/Treasurer
CFO career; Healthcare
Board Leader
Board Member
Venture Investor
Co-founder, CEO
& Board Member
Social Impact entrepreneur;
leader in natl & local social services
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Bob Lem
Board Member
Retired law partner
Stephen Ban
Advisor
Marketing & Finance
Executive
Marie O’Neill, M.D.
Vin Shelton
Janelle Spence
Advisor
OB-GYN, especially for
high-risk pregnancies
Advisor
Leader in enterprise software development
Advisor
Digital media &
film producer
Benedikt
von Schröder
Advisor
Finance executive
JOE STUDHOLME
Co-founder & Board Chair
Joe, Princeton '84, Executive in Residence at Princeton University, is a serial entrepreneur who has built successful software companies, including Restricted Stock Systems (in the financial field) and PIRXA (in the healthcare field). Joe is the Managing Partner of early stage R&D investment firm Union Atlantic Ventures. Joe guides the Lambent team’s multidisciplinary skills and expertise toward solving critical issues in practical ways through actionable data analytics and user-friendly software.
KIRSTEN HUND BLAIR
Co-founder, CEO & Board Member
Kirsten, Princeton '84, Harvard
MBA '89, Harvard MPA '89, is a social impact entrepreneur with excellent experience in senior management, entrepreneurial social service agencies, consulting, education, and other organizations engaging children and families. She was Executive Director of a non-profit partnering with organizations across the U.S., and led fundraising for a national organization equipping families, social service agencies, hospitals and prisons with fatherhood and other parenting resources. As NYC Regional Manager of an after-school tutoring organization serving low-income families, she expanded the number of school sites, managed teachers, and engaged with parents/guardians and children. She has consulted for a range of businesses and social service organizations, including at McKinsey & Co. and as a solo practitioner.
Co-founder &
Board Secretary/Treasurer
TOM AMATO
Tom, Princeton '67, Wharton MBA '70, has served as CFO for technology-based companies for most of his career, including for publicly-traded (e.g. Dialogic from 1997 to 2000 and Symbol from 1990 to 1997) and private companies. In recent years, he has consulted through Amato Ventures. Tom's also devoted his leadership to non-profit boards. In 2009, he joined the Board of Carrier Clinic psychiatric hospital and addiction recovery center, becoming Board Chair in 2011 and now Co-Chair as Carrier became part of Hackensack Meridian Health. His volunteer service has also included work with Head Start and other organizations helping families.
CHUCK HOBBS
Board Member
Chuck, University of Texas at Austin ’90, has spent more than 30 years within the investment industry. In December 2020, he founded 521 Capital, a solo capitalist venture investment firm focusing on innovative early-stage companies within the global technology sector that seek to achieve superior societal returns. Prior to that, he served as a Managing Director and Senior Partner with Kynikos Associates, a globally focused hedge fund known for its unique investment acumen and fundamental research. During his 27 years with Kynikos Associates, he served as a co-portfolio manager, global research director, and investment analyst. He began his career in finance as an investment banking analyst with Morgan Stanley.
BOB LEM
Board Member
Bob, Princeton '67, Harvard Law J.D. '71, Harvard Kennedy School MPA '71, has served in senior legal positions during his career, with his combined expertise in financial law and public administration. He retired in 2011 as Senior Counsel of Deutsche Bank AG, NYC. Before that, he served as Counsel, Bankers Trust. In his early years, he clerked for a federal judge. He brings his legal perspective, commitment to community-building, and financial acumen to Lambent Data.
STEPHEN BAN
Advisor
CHUCK HOBBS
Board Member
Chuck, University of Texas at Austin ’90, has spent more than 30 years within the investment industry. In December 2020, he founded 521 Capital, a solo capitalist venture investment firm focusing on innovative early-stage companies within the global technology sector that seek to achieve superior societal returns. Prior to that, he served as a Managing Director and Senior Partner with Kynikos Associates, a globally focused hedge fund known for its unique investment acumen and fundamental research. During his 27 years with Kynikos Associates, he served as a co-portfolio manager, global research director, and investment analyst. He began his career in finance as an investment banking analyst with Morgan Stanley.
STEPHEN BAN
Advisor
Stephen, Princeton '84, has spent over 30 years in executive distribution and marketing roles in financial industries including investment management, risk management, and commercial finance. He has built brands and led strategic and marketing plans for global companies including Nuveen, T. Rowe Price, Aon, and Heller Financial. Along the way, he has led large, diverse teams through capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs. He launched his career in advertising and consumer packaged goods marketing.
ANNA (MARIE)
O'NEILL, M.D.
Advisor
Marie is an obstetrician and gynecologist (OB/GYN), specializing in Maternal and Fetal Medicine, particularly in high-risk pregnancies. She's devoted much of her career to caring for low-income women and their families during the pre-natal, delivery and post-delivery stages. She has worked extensively in hospitals. After serving as a nurse, she graduated in 2000 from Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (UMDNJ) and completed an OB/GYN residency and a fellowship in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at Philadelphia’s Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
VIN SHELTON
Advisor
Vin, Princeton ‘80, has led multi-site software development teams (domestic and offshore) of up to 35 people, managing all phases from planning through implementation, delivery and maintenance. He has a track record of delivering innovative products across a range of platforms and hardware-software interfaces. He led a team that converted a WinCE/Windows stand-alone product line to an always-on Android, iOS, Xamarin + Google Cloud Platform product line. While technically expert and strong in forging outstanding engineering teams, Vin also excels in engaging with customers via beta sites and user groups. This enables agile development of products highly valuable to the users.
BENEDIKT VON
SCHRÖDER
Advisor
Benedikt, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München '84, has been active at a senior level in corporate finance and private equity for close to 30 years. In recent years, he's shifted focus to mentoring entrepreneurs and investing as a business angel in start-ups in the US and Europe, mostly in digital health, education tech, and life sciences. Until Jan. 2014, he was a Partner at G.C. Andersen, the NY-based investment banking boutique, where he focused on cross border M&A transactions. Prior to that, he was a Partner at Augusta & Co plc in London and Frankfurt, a Partner at Clayton Dubilier & Rice, and Managing Director at Morgan Stanley, responsible for its German and Austrian investment banking.
JANELLE SPENCE
Advisor
Janelle, Princeton '19, is a screenwriter, director, and curator who advises regarding Lambent Data's digital media and video production. She has experience working as an Associative Producer at the Latin American Film Center where she worked to curate a five-part series highlighting contemporary films from Latin America and the Caribbean. She also worked to help market and promote the 2020 Havana Film Festival New York. Janelle is particularly interested in representations of blackness in cinema and is dedicated to producing film projects that promote positive portrayals of people of color.