Fifteen years working in the field of architecture following graduation from SCI-ARC M. Arch. Program. Diverse experience including construction management, fabrication, and CAD/CAM fabrication.
Prior to Architecture was CTO of a technology company. My diverse background has helped me find creative 'outside the field' solutions to design problems. I have strong design management skills and excel at leading teams through complex design and execution challenges.
LANTANA GROUP, LLC, Miami, FL, US, Owner
Founded a boutique development group focused on sustainable design. Created proformas, negotiated assemblages of real estate, created marketing packages and pursued investment. Developed several hotel concepts and created a large network of capital sources and consultants.
Blair Ellis Design, Los Angeles, CA, US, Principal
Founded a design firm in Los Angeles and continue to work on projects in Miami, developed workflows, procedures, created infrastructure, hired employees, developed a network of contractors, consultants, city employees, developers and property owners. Acquired several high profile clients and successfully permitted complex projects. Taught architecture design studios at SCIARC and served on juries at IFA PARIS, UCLA, Pomona, Woodbury, and Art Center School of Design.
Independent Consultant, Los Angeles, CA, Consultant
CONSULTANT
Business strategy and technology consultancy. Major clients included:
Zentropa Films, US Board Member and consultant for Internet media strategies.
The Brand Lab JPN Developed a business plan for redefining a Danish branding company as a rich media lab. TBL helps companies define their corporate identity through targeted entertainment (such as Fallon’s bmwfilms campaign). Brought in financiers, and opened contact with several Japanese corporations, including Suntory, Takata, and Asahi. Developed cross-agency branding campaigns. Negotiated exclusive partner rights for BT Global Challenge Yacht race in Japan.
AlphaVirtual, Inc. Developed and implemented a plan for deploying AV’s peer-to-peer technology on the Internet -traversing firewalls, NAT and proxy servers.
Card Commerce International. Inc, Los Angeles, CA, US, Chief Technical Officer
Worked closely with the President and other officers of the company to define business goals and create software products for clients like American Express, Citibank and NDC. Hired a team and managed system development and production for innovative loyalty programs like uPromise.com and eScrip.com. Managed relationships with hardware and software vendors, and consultants. Recruited, hired and set up training procedures for several teams of object-oriented developers and network engineers. Also recruited and hired several key technology executives. Maintained 100% retention of all hires during tenure.
RISK MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, INC., Los Angeles, CA, US, Vice President, Systems Design
Charted the technological direction for the company; converting it from proprietary legacy applications to open systems and Java-based technologies. This change allowed the company to convert all of its applications to web based services, significantly increasing the company’s valuation. Identified and managed implementation of technologies that scaled with customer demand while meeting budgetary and technology constraints.
Continually researched and evaluated new products and technologies. Designed and built an 1800 sq. ft. data center.
BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY GROUP, INC., Atlanta, GA, US, System Analyst
Designed and implemented data warehousing solutions at several companies, including Cirrus Logic and the State of Georgia. The warehouses were based on a hyper-cube implementation, and provided OLAP services to executives and managers.
Interviewed all project stakeholders, including manufacturing, accounting, executives, sales, and marketing to model the client’s business and gather requirements for developing strategic data presentations.
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Los Angeles, CA, US, MArch, Architecture
Washington & Lee University, Lexington, VA, US, Bachelors, Economics and Philosophy
Arquine Magazine, 3rd Place
Finalist in Arquine Magazine competition for mixed use project sited in Mexico City.
