CHI Equity Holdings, Inc. is made up of a team of experienced entrepreneurial professionals containing comprehensive knowledge of various industries and experience with early stage ventures. The CHI Equity team includes:
Derek D. Nelson - President
Mr. Nelson has acquired over 17 years of substantial expertise in business, organizational and human resource development. His experience inspired the creation of Consumer Humanity, Inc. and the “peaceful capitalism” business model for growing early stage businesses and supporting entrepreneurs. In the quest to transform innovation and intellectual property through the commercialization of those ideas, Mr. Nelson’s Consumer Humanity model as a business management and development company also became thee inspiration for the establishment of CHI Equity Holdings, Inc. an Investment Corporation, which provides business management and development services. Mr. Nelson formed and created the leadership and direction for both corporations. Mr. Nelson serves as President and a member of the Board of Directors. Mr. Nelson has a proven inherent ability to connect and cross-pollinate corporate management, entrepreneurs and industry leaders in cooperative endeavors producing unique business opportunities for the CHI Equity investment company. Mr. Nelson’s creativity and vision positions CHI Equity and its businesses ahead of industry trends which add substantial enterprise value to its shareholders. His expertise lies in the leadership and due diligence skills needed for early stage companies to succeed in competitive markets. In addition, Mr. Nelson founded Sustain Minnesota Inc., a nonprofit corporation dedicated to “Protecting the Future of Minnesota through Economic and Environmental Action.”
James B. Tempesta - Vice President, Corporate Development
Mr. Tempesta brings 20 years corporate business development, national sales, marketing and fund raising experience. Mr. Tempesta earned a Bachelor of Science from UW Eau-Claire. Mr. Tempesta held various national corporate sales management roles with Upsher-Smith Laboratories. In 2003, Mr. Tempesta then founded JBT Marketing, a healthcare business development and marketing consulting business. Mr. Tempesta currently serves as President of CHI Medical and Life Sciences, Inc. a company dedicated to innovations in natural medicine, functional food and complimentary health and wellness. Mr. Tempesta also serves as Vice-President of Corporate Business Development, is one of the founding Principals, and member of the Board of Directors of CHI Equity Holdings, Inc., an investment corporation for early stage, private companies. Mr. Tempesta’s expertise is referenced through his numerous industry alliances to develop investor relations and corporate projects. Also he excels at directing strategic business and market strategy for company growth.
Kyle A. Svee - Vice President, Finance
Mr. Svee brings over 10 years experience in financial and strategic management in the heavily regulated, highly technical medical technology field. He has a B.A. in Financial Economics and a Master in Health Services Administration. Prior to CHI, Kyle was the Chief Operating Officer for Advanced Healing Systems, LLC, responsible for strategic planning and the rollout of new technological advancements. He provided financial management to financially distressed hospitals, successfully turning around these operations by delivering innovative solutions. Additional management personnel are engaged as project opportunities are secured. Other professionals are also secured to fill human resource needs as part of project management teams. CHI Equity will continually expand and improve its intellectual resources by attracting highly skilled professionals to join our teams.
Roland Sullivan
Since the mid-1960's, he has been a full time organization development (OD) pioneer. He has worked with over 1,000 organizations in 18 countries and in virtually every major industry. His writings on OD have been widely published and translated into Chinese, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Swiss and Portuguese. With Dr. William Rothwell, he has just released the second edition of one of the field's seminal books, Practicing OD: A Consultant's Guide, Wiley/Pfeiffer which was the most popular University text-book on Organization Development.
Recently, Mr. Sullivan was awarded the “Change Consultant of the world” by the OD Institute for his innovative work with competencies. More recently, he was runner up to Dr. Beer of Harvard University for having the best global change case for Barclay’s Bank in South Africa. Mr. Sullivan currently serves on the thought leader board of Best Practices Institute. Mr. Sullivan has degrees in Philosophy and Organization Development. He has studied for credit at the following institutions: St. Mary’s University, Loyola University, Pepperdine University (the most known change agent degree program in the world), University of Chicago, University of Minnesota, and the University of St. Thomas. He has taught at eight universities around the world including Pepperdine.
Gary R. Lindberg
Mr. Lindberg brings more than 40 years of communications, marketing, and interactive media experience to the CHI Team. Mr. Lindberg has been a pioneer and innovator in advancing the use of interactive media for effective marketing, public relations, and advertising campaigns. Gary brings the talent and expertise of the entire Pixel Farm Interactive team with him in his support of CHI strategies.
Chris Uhas
Mr. Uhas is a principal with Cutler Investment Group, LLC, a Registered Investment Advisor and Private Equity firm. His responsibilities include equity and fixed income strategy and private equity portfolio management. Prior to Cutler Mr. Uhas spent seven years with Seagate Technology, where he held several management positions in engineering, manufacturing, and operations, including three as Director of Advanced Manufacturing Operations in Singapore. Mr. Uhas started with Seagate after a spending five years as a Nuclear Submarine Officer in the United States Navy. Mr. Uhas holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and a MBA, with High Honors, from the University of Chicago.
JoAnne Liebeler
The current crop of television designers may know a thing or two about wallpaper, but television home improvement expert JoAnne (JoJo) Liebeler knows what’s behind that wallpaper. For nearly two decades years, Ms. Liebeler has been showing viewers how to fix, manage, maintain and improve their homes on national television. She contributed content to a Sunset Publishing book called Big Ideas for Small Spaces and is currently writing a humorous home improvement book for female homeowners slated for publication in early 2007.
In 2004, Ms. Liebeler wrapped production on an hour-long Travel Channel pilot that examines the ups and downs of building a vacation dream home. She served as Host and Executive Producer of a series entitled Passport to Design in 2002-03. She also hosted a series on HGTV called Room for Change from 1995 – 2001. Ms. Liebeler has built a following as a home improvement expert, but has a passion for comedy. While living in Los Angeles, she was the lone female sketch writer on a syndicated series called The Newz. She performed for years in improvisational comedy troupes in both Los Angeles and Minneapolis/St. Paul. She has also had roles in broadcast television sitcoms and feature films.