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Nelson started Minerva in 2011 with the goal of nurturing critical wisdom for the sake of the world through a systematic and evidence-based approach to learning. Over the past decade, Nelson has built Minerva University into the most selective and effective university in the US, and has developed a business -Minerva Project- to share Minerva's unique approach with other like-minded institutions.

Prior to Minerva, Nelson spent more than 10 years at Snapfish, where he helped build the company from startup to the world’s largest personal publishing service. With over 42 million transactions across 22 countries, nearly five times greater than its closest competitor, Snapfish is among the top e-commerce services in the world. Serving as CEO from 2005 through 2010, Nelson led the company's sale to Hewlett Packard for $300 million.

Nelson’s passion for reforming education was first sparked at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he received a B.S. in Economics. After creating a blueprint for curricular reform in his first year, the principles from which he drew to frame Minerva, Nelson went on to become the chair of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education (SCUE), a pedagogical think tank that is the oldest and only non-elected student government body at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Brittany Brown Ceres, MFA (SPHR/SHRM-SCP) is the COO at the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity. Her impact spans businesses for tech entrepreneurs, artists, renowned experts, and high net-worth philanthropists, at the intersection of vision, equity, expansion, and wellness. Previously, as the Chief People Officer at Skywalker Holdings, LLC, she partnered with leaders to navigate complex organizational structures to foster collaboration across six diverse businesses. She has worked in private, public, start-up, educational, non-profit, wilderness and municipality environments, catalyzing the human-dynamics that connects them all. 

As a Bay Area artist, Ceres ran Dance Ceres for 12 years, described by critics as, "swift and irresistible" (Allan Ulrich), “profoundly affecting” (Mary Ellen Hunt) and "lucid and voluptuous" (Rita Felciano). She was the Associate Director of the WestWave Dance Festival, Theater Manager at ODC Theater and she taught choreography at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts for a decade under the direction of Elvia Marta. In New Zealand, she danced with Dance Core in Christchurch and taught at Hadley College and St. Margaret’s College. 

Ceres holds a BA in Theater and Dance from UCSD, which led to roles at the La Jolla Playhouse and San Diego Repertory Theater. She was a member of the first graduating class in the MFA program at SUNY, Purchase College in 2000. She received a second MA in Education at Stanford and became a multi-year winner of the Mary Edith Clifford Award for Alumni Choreography in Stanford’s dance program, in conjunction with Stanford Lively Arts. She has collaborated with Austin Forbord, Kate Mitchell, Bianca Cabrera & Claudia Hubiak, danced with Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Black Label Dance and in projects with Robert Moses’ Kin and the Joe Goode Performance Group. In addition, Ceres trained with Janice Garrett, Kathleen Hermsedorf, Jean Isaacs, Nina Martin, Mary Carbonara, Diane Frank and Kim Epifano, among others

Ceres is also a mother, a widow, and she checks her privilege regularly.

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Tim Stallings is a seasoned operations executive with a proven track record in managing value, quality, and performance across various industries. With a robust background in problem-solving and implementing innovative solutions, Tim has excelled in roles ranging from engineering to executive leadership.

Tim co-founded Sacramento Republic FC, a professional soccer team, where he held multiple key positions, including Vice President of Operations, Merchandise, IT, and Finance. His leadership was instrumental in building the team’s merchandise program, negotiating with investors and Major League Soccer, and managing critical infrastructure and operations.

Prior to his work in sports, Tim was involved in several industries, from medical devices at Johnson & Johnson Interventional Systems and Hand Biomechanics Lab to construction at Red Hammer Building Services. His contributions include developing regulatory compliance systems, reducing operational costs, and driving business growth and profitability.

Beyond his professional achievements, Tim has been actively involved in community service. He served as Board President for the Sacramento Soccer Alliance and the Cal Middle School PTSA, among other roles, where he demonstrated his commitment to youth development and education.

Tim holds an MBA from the UC Davis Graduate School of Management and a BS in Industrial Technology from the University of Wyoming. He is also a Certified Manufacturing Engineer (CMfgE) and a lifelong learner, continually expanding his expertise in various fields.

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Kris Stanec’s leadership focuses on co-creation, critical pedagogies, and on-going assessment. She intuitively sees the threads that wind through a course or organization, brings them together in a coherent whole, and helps others extend their thinking. She revels in the process of discovery, research, and experimentation to arrive at unique solutions. Kris is known for her ability to develop impactful relationships and generate powerful teams.

Currently a senior lecturer in the Education Department at Colorado College (CC), she has served in a multitude of positions. As the first Director of Museum Education at The Fine Arts Center at CC, she built and iterated a ground-up community education program meeting needs of multiple constituents across education, non-profits, and public service. Her work centered critical pedagogies that develop brave spaces through arts-integration and objects-based learning. Awarded an Andrew W. Mellon Faculty Fellowship in 2017, she created an inclusive approach to arts education titled Multiple Narratives, which prioritizes students’ voice and lived experience. Now as a Faculty Fellow in Creativity & Innovation at CC, she develops courses and programs that inspire people to embrace the creative process for deeper reflection and learning. She generates over 35 workshops each semester by constructing new pedagogies to enhance faculty and student understanding of innovative trans-disciplinary thinking. Her recent project, Visual Notebooks deconstructs traditional methods of education by introducing modes of learning that have been excluded from colonial-based academic inquiry and provides space that centers various identity perspectives as assets.

Kris’ 25+ years at Colorado College include roles as: chair, professor, director, grant-writer/PI, program creator, and curriculum developer. Her courses include: ED370/529 Teaching the Expressive Arts, ED210 Power of the Arts, Theory and Practice, and ED478 Advanced Methods: Critical Pedagogies in Literacy, Curriculum, and Instruction. She developed the Specialized Internship Program required for all Master of Arts in Teaching candidates and taught the associated CBL course which combined field placements with system-analysis, enabling students to design and implement a curriculum tailored to the partner’s needs. Skilled at data-driven assessment, Kris applies best practices to transform learning and cultivate communities. Many of her conference presentations have led to additional consulting work, both remote and in-person, including specific sessions on diversity, equity, and inclusion that are tailored to the constituent’s needs.

Kris holds a Master of Arts in Teaching, earned her BA in Psychology cum laude along with a minor in Theory and Practice of the Arts from Colorado College. She has also taught in Zermatt, Switzerland and Los Angeles. An artist and writer, Kris believes in the power of visuals combined with story to speak to us as individuals connected to others, using metaphor & imagination to create better spaces for our collective humanity

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Rei Chou’s purpose is to create experiences that help people realize they’re part of something greater. A leader, facilitator, and healer, she draws on 15+ years of experience in convening, experience design, and purpose-based innovation with organizations ranging from NASA to Intel. One of Fast Company's 100 most creative people, Chou founded The Feast, which brings together a global community of innovators and creatives to support each other in living their fullest lives, purpose, and potential with over 600 dinners hosted around the world to date. The Feast has inspired and facilitated collaborations among leaders and organizations from the White House to MTV and the Rockefeller Foundation. Attendees and participants included CEOs, heads of foundations, catalytic innovators and artists from across disciplines.

Chou works with leaders to understand their true selves, create clarity of action and vision that are aligned accordingly, and uses her community skills to build teams that operate at their peak. She is a master Usui Reiki practitioner, teacher, and KAP practitioner. Above all, she is passionate about helping each person realize the fulfillment of their true heart's desire, thereby creating the kind of world we want to see.

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Michelle has more than 20 years of marketing and sales experience. With a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Michelle started refining workflows and rolling out new systems when she worked for Swift Communications as an editorial and production manager for newspapers like the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Vail Daily and Summit Daily News.

Michelle took her detail-oriented nature and deadline driven results to Vail Resorts in 2013 and worked as a Group Sales Manager. There she developed a love of data analytics and worked to find data driven workflow solutions to be implemented at resorts located around the world. In 2018,

In 2018, Michelle took her business, marketing and systems expertise to lead a small performing arts non-profit called Valhalla Tahoe. With the goal of moving this treasured historic site into the digital age, Michelle put in place finance, sales, marketing and reporting systems that will serve as the foundation for Valhalla Tahoe’s future success.

Michelle continues to focus on helping other’s achieve their goals. She is proud to work for companies that is dedicated to supporting communities. She believes dance connects people and nature on a deep level, and that the stories we tell through dance become the backbone of our cultures.