LaCapra Founded Simpliziti on the premise that there should be one platform where Goodwill can be shared, verified, followed, supported and grown.
A Founding Member of S2 Global, LaCapra has more than a decade of international management experience developing, implementing and managing long-term concessions and security operations with governments and private sector. Today, the company has more than US$1 billion in contracts and 1,000+ employees globally. LaCapra has also invested in multiple early stage technology companies, some notable ones are Cabify, EatsReady, and Biocynetic.
LaCapra raises money for non-profits while running marathons and acts as Advisor to the Amal Alliance, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), dedicated to empowering displaced children through social development programs at refugee camps and informal settlements around the globe.
LaCapra graduated with a B.S. in International Business from Barry University and holds an MBA from Georgetown University. He is a four-year letterman with the Barry University Men’s Soccer Team, having participated in two Final Fours and a National Championship. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Additionally, he is an avid marathon runner; his PR is 2:51.
Based in Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s (SVCF) New York City office, Milton rejoins SVCF as the Director of Development for the Eastern Region. He is responsible for supporting the foundation’s work as a global social enterprise and the premier philanthropic partner for charitably minded individuals and corporations.
As the son of Jamaican immigrants, Milton has a personal commitment to poverty alleviation and cultivating relationships that maximize resources to achieve the greatest impact. He holds a Psychology Degree from The University of Hartford where he captained the Men’s Soccer Team. He also serves on several advisory boards, including the Madison Council, a volunteer arm of the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club, Seeds of Africa, and We Are Family Foundation.
Senior Product Manager and Strategist with almost a decade leading product design and development efforts for both startups and the Fortune 500. Co-founded two startups and a software design/development consulting firm. Proven track record guiding strategic decision-making and delivering great products.
I drive product success by applying lean, data-driven, rapid-iteration methodologies to deliver timely innovation and product differentiation to end users and stakeholders. I drive product decisions by distilling user behavior and industry/consumer insight. I lead teams to find creative solutions together by testing our assumptions to discover winning results.
Ms. De La Fuente has vast experience in peacebuilding and diplomatic efforts stemming from her work at the US Department of Defense’s Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, the British Embassy, and the Embassy of Argentina. Her passion for striving to achieve sustainable peace by addressing issues at their root cause, led her to form the Amal Alliance. She has spoken about her initiative at the World Bank, at the International Refugee Congress in Istanbul, and at the UNHCR Global Compact for Refugees Thematic Discussions in Geneva. Like her work, Danielle’s own background is rich in culture as she was born in San Diego to immigrant parents from Mexico and Iran, and has lived in 4 different countries. She obtained her BA in International Relations from Boston University and MLitt in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Rocha is a media executive and Emmy-Award winning journalist. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. For the past 15 years, Rocha interviewed politicians and leaders for the most respected Spanish language news program in the U.S. "Aqui y Ahora.” She was also the Senior Strategy Executive Director for Univision Network and Fusion Media. Currently, Rocha is the president of Project M Media, a Digital Strategy Corporation that focuses on management, content development, and marketing. She is also an advisor to the Scale Up program at Miami Dade College, where her cross-functional expertise in finance, strategy, operations, and marketing, help small businesses scale up to the next level. She is a contributing Business Expert for Univision Network’s flagship shows Primer Impacto and Univision Noticias.
Vice President, Wealth Strategist at NorthernTrust based in Miami. Mr. LaCapra actively represents the bank within the South Florida community, working closely with centers of influence on community boards and projects as well as maintaining a consistent presence at community events. Prior to joining Northern Trust, he worked with the Miami Dolphins and the United Way of Miami-Dade managing their business development efforts throughout Miami-Dade County. Mr. LaCapra started his finance career in 2000 as an investment banking associate at Salomon Smith Barney in New York City.
Mr. LaCapra grew up in Miami where he continues to be active in the community. Having attended Miami Country Day School from first grade through high school graduation. Mr. LaCapra is a member of Connect Florida and Leadership Florida. He has served on the boards of Connect Florida, Young Arts Foundation, The Awesome Foundation, City Year Miami, uAspire, Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, Aventura Marketing Council and United Way Young Leaders. He is currently a member of the University of Miami Planned Giving Advisory Board as well as Best Buddies Advisory Board.
Staz is a founding board member of 777 Partners. Prior to joining the board of 777, he founded 1221 Partners, a Miami based private equity firm. Prior to 1221, he was a partner at 1848 Capital Partners, where he helped manage 1848’s control investments in Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museums, managed the capital raising process for Eastern Air Lines Inc., served as a Director of Business Development at TOA Technologies, a global cloud-based software company, and founded and served as President of Pacific Capital Partners, a hedge fund catering to high net worth individuals and focused on leveraged derivative investments in fast growing technology and internet infrastructure companies. Previously, he was at UBS, PaineWebber and Smith Barney, where he focused on bond issues and bond-based derivative products for large public sector utilities and transportation agencies across the U.S. He has a B.S. in Engineering Sciences from Dartmouth College.
Josh is a co-founder of 1221 Capital Partners LLC. He has co-managed the firm since 2015 and is a member of the firm’s investment committee. Josh is primarily responsible for oversight of Jet Support Services, Inc. and Arqueiro Telecom, LP in Brazil. Josh serves as the Managing Partner of Arqueiro Telecom LP and is the company’s acting Chief Financial Officer. Josh actively raises capital for 1221’s investments and provides strategic and financial guidance to 1221 the portfolio businesses. Josh serves as a board member for Arqueiro Telecom LP and Simpliziti and oversees tax matters for 777 Partners LLC and all 1221 companies.
Joseph is one of the most traveled young artists in the world. In 2009, Joseph created a photographic study of happiness during the FIFA World Cup™ Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola which covered fifty African nations over seventy-five days. He captured a selection of some of the most uplifting and inspiring imagery of the African people. The iconic portraits depict African people of all ages, races, religions and nationalities, uniting them through the medium of happiness. The Book of Happiness: Africa was given to 2500 global leaders, dignitaries and stakeholders at the 2010 World Cup Final in South Africa by Coca-Cola. A special handmade edition was also presented to Nelson Mandela (The Official Book #1) and his grandsons, Ndaba and Kweku Mandela.
In 2011, the book inspired a campaign led by Dr Hamid Al-Bayati, Ambassador of Iraq to the United Nations, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the 66th President of the General Assembly, H.E. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, and Prime Minister Jigme Thinley of Bhutan, to create an International Day of Happiness. It was adopted on June 28th, 2012 by consensus of all 193 member nations, declaring March 20th of every year the official global day to celebrate and recognize Happiness as a universal goal.
With a background in brand development, William Kercher has more than 30 years of experience in business with more than 20 years as an entrepreneur, having started, built and run a number of successful technology and consumer product companies.
Since 2005, William has served as President/Founder of K3 Enterprises, Inc. an incubator for the creation and development of numerous consumer brands currently sold in more than 50 countries worldwide. As an inventor, he holds patents for a number of consumer products and trademarks for a wide variety of brands.
William holds a Bachelors of Science in Communications from the University of Miami and attended the Graduate Program for International Studies at Florida International University. His interests include art, music and sports. He is the father of triplets. He holds a youth coaching license from US Soccer and he teaches at a top youth soccer academy.
Pedro better known as AMOS is a Miami native and Co-Founder of Miami’s Best Graffiti Guide in world-famous Wynwood. AMOS launched his graffiti career in 1994 and since has taken him across the world leaving his name in places such as Paris, Detroit, Costa Rica, Brazil, and New York City, to name a few. Today, AMOS has evolved into a professional muralist and artist, walking the line between traditional graffiti and abstract expressionism. He paints “scenic backgrounds” for TV shows and films and is also a curator and collaborator on many art projects. AMOS is the authentic voice of a street artist, and leader within his community supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the Monica Burguera Foundation with Art Sales, Donations and Live Demonstrations.
Rivero is a computer scientist with expertise in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data mining. She received her M.S. degree in computer science from Nova Southeastern University in 2018. Ms. Rivero’s expertise in machine learning and big data have allowed her to build powerful neural networks libraries, recommender systems, conversational agents, and anomaly detection algorithms, among others. She is a frequent public speaker at technology events and appears frequently on TV discussing artificial intelligence in healthcare and other areas.
San Cristobal is an executive with a strong track record of leadership and business development. He has a diverse background with Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial experience; Johann has developed start-up businesses from inception and led them to over +1M in revenue. He has also held leadership roles for a global multi-billion dollar leader in Med Tech, managing multi-country organizations across different industries in both developed and emerging markets. Over the last 4 years, Johann has co-founded business in the US in Sports Apparel & Healthcare and a Market Place in Europe.
Creeden is the Founder of Connection Coin, the author of Blue Goat and a Partner at Melvin Financial. Connection Coin is designed to create a global community of individuals who believe that connecting with others has the power to change the world. His firm Melvin Financial specializes in helping families and business owners with intergenerational wealth management through strategic insurance planning.
From his work in finance, he was named one of the top 40 under 40 Business Leaders by the Charlotte Business Journal and has been interviewed by The Wall Street Journal, MSN Money, Dow Jones, Time and countless parenting magazines, blogs and podcasts. Court hosted a weekly segment on Good Day Charlotte called “Money Mondays” and his book Blue Goat has been selected by multiple schools as required reading for their students.
Court’s passion is bringing people and communities together through intentional thought and action. His work has spanned from working on the board for The DreamCatcher Society to support the initiatives for The Levine Children’s Hospital to being nominated for Man of the Year for his efforts to fundraise for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Creeden is a graduate of The University of Pennsylvania, with a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.
Baschuk is Producer of CNBC’s “Crypto Trader,” the world’s first major network broadcast program on blockchain and crypto currencies. He has led groundbreaking coverage of the crypto community globally from South Korea to Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, Israel, Taiwan, Hong Kong, LA, New York, and Miami. The show’s top notch access has featured exclusive interviews with Vitalik Buterin, CZ from Binance, Tim Draper, Roger Ver, Charles Hoskinson, and various funds and projects like Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Lisk, Cardano, Stellar, NEM, Hashed, Polychain, and more. He’s produced episodes from all the leading conferences including Consensus, Satoshi Roundtable, Token 2049, Deconomy, NABTC, ETH Devcon, and more. His work focuses on bringing transparency and exposure to the blockchain and crypto community with specific emphasis on highlighting development behind the scenes at projects. Additionally, as a Miami native, he is especially focused on fostering a blockchain ecosystem in South Florida and help educate the next generation of blockchain developers out of the region through non profit education.
Baschuk is a Peabody Award nominated Producer specializing in global coverage from the likes of the Middle East, Asia, and South America and was formerly with major networks CNN, MSNBC, Discovery, Current TV, and began his career in Miami with ABC News at WPLG. He is also the Co-Founder of Beach Pictures, a Miami based production company.
Vismara is currently a member of the European Portfolio Team of Bain Capital Private Equity. Based in London, Paolo takes the lead on all post-acquisition activities in the European Portfolio Companies with the objective of maximizing equity value creation. Duties can range from actively supporting senior management in leading key initiatives to taking senior operating & BoD roles. While at Bain Capital, he has driven change and value creation at: Cerved, Securitas Direct, Atento, Nets, Nexi, Depobank, EfTD.
Previously, Paolo has worked for The Boston Consulting Group both in EMEA (4yrs) and USA (1yr) developing significant expertise in the Financial Services and Automotive industry. Through his tenure, he worked with clients in: Banking (retail banking, investment banking), Insurance (life, P&C, organization), Automotive (tire industry, car resale market) and Consumer Goods (food distribution). His main projects focused on: due-diligence, M&A, restructuring, turnaround, transformations and large scale PMO.
Over the years, Paolo has also gained significant experience in several entrepreneurial ventures; with roles ranging from operational execution to board member, advisor & investor. He was founder of EatsReady (a retail proximity marketplace platform, primarily focused on food), advisor/investor in Digital Ignition Entertainment (a media and entertainment company, that can count on over 20 movies produced since 2015) and Executive Producer in a movie (to be released in 2019).
For more than 25-years LaCapra acted as President of the Florida Ports Council, Florida’s seaports and maritime industry, and Special Counsel to the International Council of Cruise Lines; a Washington, D.C. cruise industry advocacy group.
During this time he managed and facilitated seaport and maritime issues including growth management, environmental protection, oceans preservation, vessel water discharge, trade relations, harbor side dredging, cruise port development, on-port infrastructure, development, transportation funding, trade logistics, port finance and economic development.
In addition, he administered the Florida Ports Financing Commission, which initiated public financing for seaports of $223 million in 1996 and $157 million in 1999. He was appointed to the 15-member Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida with a statutory charge to envision Florida’s future and develop policies, plans and actions to achieve such a vision.
Ms. Stern is currently Vice President of Communications at OurCrowd, promoting the world's leading global venture platform and Israel’s most active venture investor to the world media, as well as OurCrowd's 220+ portfolio companies. Stern is also founder of London based "Stern Power Limited," a full service tech PR and communications agency made up of ex-journalists that deliver high quality media relations, press strategy and storytelling. Stern served as producer and anchor for the Israeli Government Press Office News in Jerusalem, and continues to act as a multimedia journalist and content producer for Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, The Jerusalem Post, The Times of Israel, and Miami Herald. Stern was formerly the SE Regional Director of NPH USA, a non-profit organization that responds to the plight of orphaned and abandoned children in Latin America.