The Alumni Council at the Zell Lurie Institute was formed as an innovative advisory board in 2019. Through their dedication and service, they support initiatives launched for the broad constituency of ZLI Alumni. This council represents all U-M Alumni entrepreneurs, across diverse industries and geographic locations. The Zell Lurie Institute extends our sincerest thanks to our extraordinary council members for sharing their time and talents with the ZLI Alumni network.
Melissa Antal Iftimie – Founder of Fooblie
Michigan Alumni BA ’07
A behavior change specialist and public health nutritionist, who has worked with families from Michigan to Zimbabwe for over a decade, is on a mission to change our relationship with food – starting from the first bites. Foublie leverages technology to deliver nutrition services when and where parents need help. Melissa holds an BA from the College of Literature, Science & Arts at the University of Michigan, an MPH from the Milken School of Public Health at George Washington University and an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Adrian Arvizo – Co-founder of Orbzen
Michigan Alumni ’15
A vetran, with 20 years in the US Navy specializing in cybersecurity and information warfare, co-founded Orbzen, which provides cybersecurity solutions including risk assessments, penetration tests, cyber due diligence, security monitoring, and consulting. Adrian holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, an MS in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School, a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Arizona, and is a graduate of the US Army Command and General Staff College.
Josh D’Angelo – Co-founder of MovementX
Michigan Alumni BS ’10
A doctor of physical therapy and board certified orthopedic specialist who has co-founded and directed global organizations centered around improving access to healthcare and innovating healthcare delivery. Dr. D’Angelo co-founded MovementX, a movement health platform that connects expert providers with patients seeking care to help them move their best, so they can live their best. He is a previous recipient of the George Washington University’s George Washington Award and APTA’s Mary McMillan Scholarship, named after the physical therapy profession’s founder. In 2020, MovementX was the 2020 ZLI Alumni Pitch Competition winner.
Tony Ehrbar – CEO of American Tent
Michigan Alumni MBA ’10
A seasoned strategy consultant and serial entrepreneur, Tony is actively engaged in economic development, local politics, and building positive change in the organizations that he leads. He is currently focused on growing American Tent – a commercial tent manufacturer. Under his leadership, American Tent has grown 7x since 2016, employs 60 amazing teammates and is moving into a renovated mall (expanding their footprint by 4x). His team is also working on bringing a new, sustainable fabric to market to replace PVC. Tony is a 2010 alumni of the Ross School of Business, and a recipient of the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Tamasin Ford – Founder of Power Up Tech Academy
Michigan Alumni MBA ’10
A seasoned BCG Chicago global management consultant, who previously owned a custom software development business for nine years, Tamasin found herself yearning to return to her entrepreneurial roots. She launched Power Up Tech Academy in Chicago in April 2015 and over 1000 students have learned to code at Power Up since then. Classes are offered for ages 6-14, ranging from early coding basics to professional languages such as Python and Javascript. Tamasin holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business.
Sathish Gopalaswamy – Co-founder of Orbzen
Michigan Alumni MBA ’15
A seasoned cybersecurity risk strategist and co-founder of Orbzen, which provides cybersecurity solutions including risk assessments, penetration tests, cyber due diligence, security monitoring, and consulting. Sathish has been invited to lead the development of the cybersecurity curriculum for a new medical school in Dallas and will be teaching to MD students to instill cyber hygiene. He earned a MBA, from the Ross School of Business and also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from Bharathiar University.
Drew Leahy – Co-founder of Hawke Ventures
Michigan Alumni BA ’16
A former entrepreneurial CMO, Drew serves as the managing partner and co-founder of Hawke Ventures, an early stage consumer and B2B marketing technology fund, and an entrepreneur-in-residence at Hawke Media. Drew also served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at memBrain in Los Angeles, making investments with tech and entertainment angel investors Ken Hertz and Liz Heller. Drew holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies from the University of Michigan.
Mary Lemmer – Founder of Improve
Michigan Alumni BBA ‘10
Drawing on her experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and improv comedian, Mary helps leaders and teams grow and improve. Mary founded Improve, a company that improves people’s leadership and lives using techniques inspired by improv comedy and backed by research. She also spearheads a philanthropic fund that empowers startup founders to practice philanthropy, and writes and performs comedy. Mary graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor’s in Business Administration, Minor in Environmental Science, and Certificate in Entrepreneurship from the College of Engineering. Mary studied improv and comedy writing at The Second City, The Upright Citizens Brigade, The Groundlings, among other improv comedy schools.
Alexander Mills – Founder of Fluity
Michigan Alumni BSE ’17
A mechatronics engineer turned accidental entrepreneur, Alexander founded Fluity, an on-demand software service which increases manufacturing throughout, decreases production cycle times, and alleviates a shop’s dependency on highly-skilled machinists, an industry scarcity. He initially developed software to solve this problem for himself, and later discovered a large market of manufacturers suffering the same pain points. Alexander is a 2017/18 Zell Entrepreneurs Program fellow and CSE graduate of the University of Michigan.
Tom Mullen – Co-founder of Prescription Logics, Inc.
Managing Director of RxMarketSCIENCE
Michigan Alumni MSE ’04 + MBA ’07
An expert on the Global Business of Medicines, Tom co-founded Prescription Logics, Inc, a company that combines pharmaceutical business expertise and modern data technologies to develop solutions to improve pharmaceutical drug access, affordability, and patient outcomes. Before founding Prescription logics, Tom held various leadership positions in pharmaceutical industry and pharmacy technology/informatics industry for more than 10 years. Tom is a highly sought-after expert and strategy consultant in the pharmaceutical industry and is the Managing Director of Industry, Policy and Strategy research & analysis at RxMarketSCIENCE. Tom holds an MS in Engineering and an MBA from University of Michigan and an MS in Pharmaceutical Outcomes & Policy from University of Florida. Tom is currently researching on some of the contemporary issues in the US pharmaceutical industry as part of his pursuit of a doctorate degree in business from the Warrington College of Business at University of Florida.
We are grateful for the commitment of these Wolverines who continue to put their heart into the work for the benefit of the global alumni community at U-M. We cannot thank these entrepreneurs enough for guiding and engaging with our alumni programs for the last two years.
For information on the alumni programs at ZLI, please visit our website. To stay connected with the latest alumni news, sign up for our ZLI alumni newsletter.