Carol Agate
Administrative Law Judge, State of California

Carol Agate is an Administrative Law Judge in California where she hears cases involving unemployment insurance, disability insurance, and employer taxes. Her legal background includes the practice of criminal law, in both prosecution and defense, and holding the positions of clinical professor at Loyola Law School, and research attorney to the Chief Justice of American Samoa.

Advertising was Ms. Agate's first career. Law school was a late decision, after her two children were in school all day. Shortly before graduating from the University of Connecticut School of Law she moved to California and finished at UCLA Law School. In public service and politics in Westport, CT, she served on the Democratic Town Committee, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Norwalk board of the NAACP, and as a Justice of the Peace. She was also a member of the Westport Public Library Board, and was made an honorary life trustee when she resigned to attend law school. Currently, in Santa Monica, CA, she serves on the city's Disabilities Commission. Judge Agate was the attorney of record in the United States Supreme Court case that required Rotary Clubs to admit women. Her publications include several law journal articles on women's rights and legal advertising.

Ms. Agate has personal experience with desmoid tumors. She originally had an inoperable desmoid tumor in her neck, which was treated with radiation. Six months later the tumor recurred on her clavicle, but was misdiagnosed as arthritis. Five years later it was correctly diagnosed as a recurrent desmoid tumor and removed. The area was able to be radiated again because the heaviest dose was given intraoperatively.

Judge Agate, a proud grandmother of two granddaughters, resides in Santa Monica, CA. Her daughter is a minister in Boston and her son is a printing broker in Los Angeles.

David W. Checketts
Chairman, Sports Capital Partners, LLC, New York, New York

David W. Checketts founded Sports Capital Partners (SCP) in September 2001. He is the Chairman of this growing consulting and investment firm for sports teams and media assets which in 2004 acquired a significant interest in the upstart television network, College Sports Television (CSTV). Also in 2004, SCP acquired the twelfth Major League Soccer (MLS) team and launched Real Salt Lake in Mr. Checketts' hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah. In 2002, SCP acquired SportsWest Communications. Mr. Checketts serves concurrently as Chairman for SportsWest Communications, a syndicated broadcaster of college sports for the Mountain West and the Western Athletic Conferences (NCAA).

Mr. Checketts created his sports media companies after a successful ten-year career at Madison Square Garden (MSG). As President and Chief Executive Officer for seven years, he oversaw all operations of one of the most powerful sports and entertainment companies globally, including the "World's Most Famous Arena" and its three sports franchises, the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA, the New York Rangers of the NHL, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA - along with the award winning MSG Network and FOX Sports Network. In 1997, while at his post, Mr. Checketts took on the ambitious acquisition and comprehensive restoration of New York's historic Radio City Music Hall. Although MSG, under his leadership, was awarded with many accomplishments such as being named Arena of the Year for six straight years, the achievement he takes most pride in is the establishment of the MSG "Cheering for Children" foundation which created after-school programs for thousands of New York City school children.

Mr. Checketts began his career at Madison Square Garden as President of the New York Knicks in March 1991. In the four seasons he served as President, the team finished twice in first place, made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and captured the Eastern Conference Champion Title in 1994. During this time, the team set records in attendance, ratings and revenues including setting the all-time sellout streak of 460 games at The Garden. Forbes named the Knicks the most valuable franchise in the NBA.

In his role as Governor of the Knicks (NBA), Rangers (NHL) and Liberty (WNBA), Mr. Checketts was instrumental in all three leagues development and mission. For the NBA, he was part of both the Planning Committee and the Labor Relations Committee which including being a lead negotiator in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 1999. For the WNBA, he was one of the founding partners and served on the League's Operating Committee.

Prior to joining the Knicks, Mr. Checketts spent one year as General Manager of NBA International, working with NBA Commissioner David Stern on building a presence for the league in broadcasting and licensing around the world. In 1983, he was named President and General Manager of the Utah Jazz. At 28 years old, he became the youngest chief executive in the history of the NBA. During his six year tenure, the team captured two Midwest Division titles and enjoyed a multi-million dollar economic turnaround.

Mr. Checketts did his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and earned his MBA from Brigham Young University (BYU) in 1981, where he graduated with top honors. Upon completion of his studies, he joined the Boston based consulting firm, Bain & Company.

He is on the Board of Directors of JetBlue Airways, Citadel Communications, Republic Mortgage and Cablecom based in Switzerland. He plays an active role with each company, serving as the Chairman of the Audit Committee for Citadel and Chairman of the Compensation Committee for JetBlue.

He resides in Connecticut with his wife Deb. They are the parents of six children.

Deborah Spaide
Founder, Kids Care Clubs and FamilyCares
Author, Teaching Your Kids To Care, The Day Care Kit

Deborah Spaide and her family founded Child Charitable Development in 1990 with a mission of encouraging the development of philanthropy in children. The non-profit corporation initiated two unique programs, Kids Care Clubs and FamilyCares, which became national charities and were adopted by thousands of families, schools and churches across the country. The organization also produced a quarterly magazine, Young Heroes, and two comprehensive websites, www.kidscare.org and www.familycares.org. In 2001, the programs were merged into the Points of Light Foundation in Washington, D.C. where they continue to expand the message of children and charity worldwide.

Ms. Spaide is also the author of several books on parenting; Teaching Your Kids To Care, The Day Care Kit, The Employer Child Care Report, as well as multiple articles published in magazines, newspapers and webs ites. She has worked with many non-profit organizations, including Parents Anonymous, Goodwill Industries of Maine, and a Legislative Research Committee. She partnered Kids Care Clubs with hundreds of non-profit organizations worldwide, including AmeriCares, several orphanages in Russia, a hospital in Tanzania, schools in Haiti, and refugee camps in Kosovo. In the United States, the program created project partnerships with many hospitals, homeless shelters, after-school programs, nursing homes and service-oriented charities. She currently serves on the Program Committee for the Points of Light Foundation, which is funded by Congress w ith a mission of promoting volunteerism nationwide.

Ms. Spaide is the mother of five adult children and the thrilled grandmother of a two-year old grandson. She lives in New Canaan, Connecticut with her husband, Jim.

Thomas C. Hawes, MD, MBA

As Dr. Hawes prepared for medical school he was awarded a summer clinical research fellowship from the National Cancer Institute and worked on another research project with Westchester Medical Center's Cardiothoracic Surgery Department. Brigham Young University, where he was two-time Captain of the Men's Lacrosse team which won the 2000 MCLA National Championship and three league championships.  He was awarded Academic All-American and All-League honors. 

Dr. Hawes currently resides in Chicago with his wife and four sons where he is a Vice President for Sandbox Industries, a venture capital and business incubation firm that is the exclusive partner with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in managing the Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Fund.

Richard S. Linhart
Founder and President of Opus Capital, LLC

Richard S. Linhart is Founder and President of Opus Capital, LLC,  an investment firm focused on  private equity investing in media companies and on public market investments.  He is also Chairman of Opus Media Holdings, an owner and operator of radio stations in the southeastern U.S.  

Mr. Linhart has spent his career in the investment world.  He began his career in the investment banking group of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and moved on to become a partner at Wesray Capital Corp., one of the pioneer private equity firms.  He has also been a partner of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, the private equity arm of Bear Stearns, and has been an active investor for many years in media companies, public equities, real estate and other private investments.

Mr. Linhart has been actively involved in community organizations for his entire adult life.  Currently, he serves on the board of Congregation Kelilath Jeshurun and the American Pardes Foundation, and is active in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).  He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and lives in New York City with his wife Leora, a pediatrician, and their three children.

David Neeleman
Founder
Azul Brazilian Airlines

Founder of the new Azul Brazilian Airlines, former CEO of Jetblue Airways, David Neeleman has recently launched his fourth successful aviation business.

Mr. Neeleman’s career in the airline industry began in 1984 when he co-founded a low-fare carrier called Morris Air. As President of Morris Air, he implemented the industry’s first electronic ticketing system and pioneered a home reservationist system that is now the foundation of JetBlue’s unique call center.

Following the sale of Morris Air and a short period with Southwest Airlines, Mr. Neeleman took the electronic ticketing system that he had initiated at Morris Air and developed it into Open Skies, the world’s simplest airline reservation system, which he sold to Hewlett Packard in 1999. Also during this period, Mr. Neeleman acted as a consultant to WestJet Airlines, the successful Canadian low-fare start-up airline.

In 1999, after the conclusion of his five-year non-compete agreement with Southwest Airlines, Mr. Neeleman decided the time was right to bring his successful airline formula to New York City. He assembled a hand-picked management team of airline industry veterans and secured $130 million in capital funding from investors such as Weston Presidio Capital, George Soros and Chase Capital, now JP Morgan.

Mr. Neeleman’s non-profit work includes acting as honorary chairman of Smart Kids with Learning Disabilities, and serving on the board of PENCIL, a charity which links corporation heads with New York City public schools. He lives with his wife Vicki and their nine children in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Connie R. Colonnese, BSN, MS
Clinical Project Manager
Upsher-Smith Laboratories, Inc.

Connie R. Colonnese has had a 17-year career in the pharmaceutical industry working for US, Asian and European companies.  Her initial job experience was on the clinical side with positions of responsibility in Cardiac Rehabilitation, Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care at several institutions, including Emory in Atlanta, Children’s Hospital in Boston and St. Vincent’s in Bridgeport, CT.  She eventually moved into cardiac research at Albert Einstein in Cardiac Electrophysiology. Ms. Colonnese then spent over ten years in the pharmaceutical divisions of Bayer Corporation and Mitsubishi Chemical America in various clinical, project management and research positions.  She then joined Purdue Pharma where she held the positions of  Sr. Clinical Trials Manager, Sr. Clinical Research Scientist and Associate Director in Clinical Pharmacology where she was involved in strategic planning, regulatory compliance, study design, budgeting, and reporting of clinical trial data for drug development programs across all four phases of drug development.  Ms. Colonnese then assumed the role of TCM at Boehringer Ingelheim as a Sr. Scientist, where she assumed responsibilities for a global metabolic trial.  She recently joined the Clinical Affairs Department at Upsher-Smith Laboratories as Clinical Project Manager for an exciting NCE in the field of movement disorders. Ms. Colonnese holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Emory University, and a Master of Science in Physiology from SCSU. She is married to Robert J. Colonnese and resides in Plymouth, Minnesota with their two children.