Ryan Gembala
Ryan is a multilingual entrepreneur that speaks Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese fluently with a passion for creating positive world change. His personal and professional experiences in 25 countries include Banking in Spain, Management Consulting in Italy and volunteering with AIDS orphans in Brazil. A great assimilator into foreign cultures, he has camel trekked the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa, learned to bullfight in Spain and hang-glided from the cliffs of Rio de Janeiro.
Growing up in Atlanta, Ryan graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in Business. While a student at UGA, Mr. Gembala re-Founded and was President of the international non-profit organization, AIESEC, earning him the prestigious Vision Award at the 30,000-person University. Mr. Gembala recently received his MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he focused on Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship. He is currently employed at a venture capital firm in San Francisco.
As Co-Founder and Co-Executive director of H.E.R.O. for Children, Ryan used his outgoing personality and knack for relationship building to grow fundraising efforts and strategic partnerships and his entrepreneurial experience with H.E.R.O. was chronicled by Business Week. After becoming deeply involved in the Atlanta community, Ryan was the youngest of 40 Atlantans selected to participate in the 2007 LEAD Atlanta class and was the youngest of Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “Top 40 Under 40 Up and Comers” in 2006.
Ryan continues to assist H.E.R.O. for Children’s efforts as a member of the Board of Directors while he pursues his MBA from the University of Chicago.
In addition, Ryan loves to scuba dive, spend time with family and cook gourmet food.
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Garrett Gravesen
An entrepreneur at heart, Garrett Gravesen is an Atlanta native with a passion for international travel and adventure, which has taken him across 6 continents. While an undergrad at the University of Georgia, Garrett became the youngest Student Body President in the school’s history, and was the Graduation Day Speaker for a crowd of more than 30,000 people.
Professionally, Garrett has worked in investment banking for Merrill Lynch and Co. in Hong Kong, and at an AIDS orphanage in Africa. Through his work as Co-Founder & Co-Executive Director of H.E.R.O. for Children, he has addressed entrepreneurs from India to Poland about service and its importance throughout the world. Mr. Gravesen has received several prestigious awards and honors, including being named one of the "U.S. Jaycees 10 Outstanding Young Americans" (previous honorees include John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton), as well as "10 Outstanding Young People of the World."
Currently, Mr. Gravesen serves as co-Executive Director of Global L.E.A.D., an organization whose mission is to transform the trajectory of individuals' lives through global understanding and service, which he co-founded in 2008. He is often asked to speak internationally about rallying future generations around service, and delivers the Global Education curriculum on the "Power of Living/The Power of Giving" and "The Power of WOW, the Power of Now—Following Your Entrepreneurial Passions in the 21st Century" at conferences around the world. Mr. Gravesen continues to assist H.E.R.O. for Children’s efforts as a member of the Board of Directors.
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