Meet the Fellows
Featured Fellows
Ali Sheppard is a designer and operations strategist at Factorli in Las Vegas. This year she joined with three other VFA Fellows to spearhead the first City as a Startup conference, bringing together over 100 VFA fellows and partners to hear leaders speak about turning their cities into entrepreneurial hubs.
Ali Sheppard '13
MIT
The Downtown Project,
Las Vegas
Max Nussenbaum '12
Wesleyan University
Are You a Human, Detroit
James Fayal '12
University of Maryland
Next Fab,
Philadelphia
Stella Safari '13
Dartmouth College
Invest Detroit, Detroit
Max Nussenbaum is a product designer and web developer at Are You a Human in Detroit. Last year, he joined with three other VFA Fellows to start Rebirth Realty, a real estate restoration project in Detroit. He is also the co-founder of Castle, a startup that provides communication streamlining tools for landlords.
Stella Safari is the CEO of Startup Effect, a non-profit that helps empower middle school age students through entrepreneurship, which was founded by another VFA Fellow. In addition, she works for Invest Detroit where she helps find and invest in new startups in the Detroit area.
James Fayal is the co-founder of Zest Tea, a caffeine-packed line of teas that provides an alternative way to stay alert without the side effects of coffee and with additional nutritional value. Zest Tea is growing quickly and has already fulfilled over 400 orders since January.
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Baltimore
Adam Rhoades-Brown '13
Washington University in St. Louis
Vigiland Medical
Adam graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in biophysics from Washington University in St. Louis. In his free time, Adam loves to travel, scuba dive, play soccer and is an avid Manchester United fan.
Brian Schwartz '14,
Northeastern University
ZeroFox
Brian will graduate from Northeastern University with a degree in International Business, concentrating in Finance with a minor in International Affairs.
Harrison Tan '14,
NYU Abu Dhabi
Avhana
Harrison is a Bay Area native that found himself on the other side of the globe as part of NYU Abu Dhabi’s inaugural class. At his first hackathon, his team created a SMS-driven service helping small businesses in the MENA region establish a web presence.
Michael Tucker '14,
Emory University
Everseat
Michael studied strategy and management consulting at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School. Michael is an avid traveler, and enjoys fishing, playing golf, and the outdoors.
Sean Wen '14,
University of Texas, Austin
ZeroFox
Sean graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. While at UT Austin, Sean became very involved with a program called 3-Day Startup, further stoking his entrepreneurial spirit.
Alexander Baca '14,
Washington and Lee University
ZeroFox
Alex (@Toivikki) will graduate from Washington & Lee University with a major in Computer Science and concentrations in Chemistry, Engineering, and Business.
Chris graduated from Brown University with a degree in Computer Science. Chris has always been interested in entrepreneurship, starting a moped resale business in high school, interning for a tech startup in Silicon Valley, and working with a local non-profit startup his senior year
Christopher Holter '14,
Brown University
ZeroFox
Joanie Thompson '14,
Middlebury College
ZeroFox
Joan will graduate with a degree in English & American Literatures from Middlebury College where she has worked in a variety of roles with Middlebury’s Programs on Creativity & Innovation in the Liberal Arts.
Mike Patterson '14,
University of Pennsylvania
ZeroFox
Mike graduated with a Computer Science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. After an edtech trek, he discovered his desire to develop new educational technologies to help fix the broken system.
Ben Platta '14
Northwestern University
ZeroFox
Ben is a Midwestern man who recently finished up at Northwestern University where he studied Math and Economics.
Clara studied Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a focus on Technology and Security at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Washington, DC.
Clara Gustafson '13,
Georgetown University
ZeroFox
Kavan Mceachern '13,
Vassar College
ZeroFox
Kavan graduated from Vassar College, where he majored in computer science. He spent the past two summers researching motion-planning algorithms and multi-robot communication at Vassar and at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute.
Moss Amer '13,
Brown University
TEDCO
Moss graduated from Brown University, where he studied both public policy and entrepreneurship. Moss spent the summer of 2012 in Cape Town conducting research for Brown’s Global Entrepreneurship Initiative on the intersection of healthcare and mobile technology.
Ben Snowden '14
Duke University
ZeroFox
Ben is currently pursuing a dual major in Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University. Ben has a penchant for outdoor activities, particularly hiking and skiing.
Dimitri Fautsch '14
Northwestern University
ZeroFox
Dimitri is currently a Learning and Organizational Change major at Northwestern University. He spent the past summer as Product Manager for FindTheBest, a tech start-up based in Santa Barbara, CA.
Malavika Kesavan '13,
Case Western University
Pegged Software
Malavika finished her master’s in Neurobiology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She graduated from CWRU in 2011 with a major in Biology and a minor in Biomedical Engineering.
Peter studied International Economics and Film at Middlebury College in Vermont. He has worked in the NYC Parks Department’s Marketing office, directed Public Relations for the Cherry Creek Arts Festival in Denver, and performed financial research at a NYC hedge fund.
Peter Diprinzio '13,
Middlebury College
Pixelligent
Wesley Verne '13,
Princeton University
ZeroFox
Wesley graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Computer Science and a minor in Astrophysical Sciences. A longtime multidisciplinarian, he found his interest in entrepreneurship while working on a hybrid wind-solar power module for disaster relief settings.
Cincinnati
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Cincinnati
Cleveland
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Cleveland
Columbus
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Detroit
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Las Vegas
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Miami
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New Orleans
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Philadelphia
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Providence
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San Antonio
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St. Louis
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