board of creators

Chris Blackwell, is a world-renowned, visionary media entrepreneur and entertainment industry executive, who founded Island Records in 1959. Over the last four decades, he introduced legendary artists, such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, Steve Winwood, Jethro Tull, Cat Stevens, Robert Palmer, U2, Melissa Etheridge, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey and The Cranberries to the world. In 1983, Mr. Blackwell formed the film production and distribution company, Island Alive. More about Chris Blackwell...

A general partner at Venrock, a venture capital firm that funds innovators in the media space, David Siminoff brings impressive entrepreneurial, operational, and investment knowledge to Tonic. He founded and sold EastNet, a syndicate barter company that enables Eastern European TV stations trade American TV programs for advertising time from major brands. As an investment research analyst and portfolio manager at Capital Research, he was a far-sighted early investor in Yahoo!, AOL, Amazon and eBay. More about David Siminoff...

Donna Karan's quest for the perfect jeans, as well as her desire to dress her daughter Gabby, resulted in the 1989 birth of DKNY. It grew so popular and diverse that other brands and labels spun from it, including DKNY Jeans, DKNY Active, DKNY Underwear, DKNY Jeans Juniors, and DKNY Kids. DKNY has an accessories and shoe collection to underscore its New York City street-smart look. In 2006, Donna founded the Urban Zen Initiative to play an active role that raises awareness and inspires change by promoting well-being, preservation of culture and empowering children through forums and special events. More about Donna Karan...

Ellen Siminoff is CEO of Efficient Frontier, a pioneer of dynamic search engine marketing management services. Prior to Efficient Frontier, Mrs. Siminoff had six adventurous years as a founding executive at Yahoo! With her husband, David, Mrs. Siminoff founded EastNet, a global syndicate barter company distributing television programming to 14 emerging market countries in exchange for advertising time. Currently, she serves on the board of directors for U.S. Auto Parts and Journal Communications. More about Ellen Siminoff...

Jennifer Buffett is President and Co-Chair of the New York based NoVo Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused primarily on the empowerment of women and girls. She is responsible for the strategic direction of NoVo and chairs its Grants Committee. She shares leadership of the foundation with her husband, composer and producer Peter Buffett. In September 2008, Jennifer and Peter Buffett received the Clinton Global Citizen Award for their "visionary leadership and sustainable, scalable work in solving pressing global challenges." More about Jennifer Buffett...

Michael has over sixteen years building and managing consumer-facing internet businesses of all shapes and sizes, with a demonstrated record of leadership, achievement, and merriment. He has lived the corporate life running Marketing and Business Operations for the Mobile and Broadband business units of Yahoo!. Before that, Michael was a member of the founding team of Homestead, running sales and marketing, defeating the internet bubble, and learning to truly love startups. He's also held various marketing, product, and Business Development positions at Infoseek, AT&T, and the management consulting division of Grant Thornton, where he had to wear a suit every day. Michael currently serves as an advisor to a few venture-backed start-ups (but not as many as Pankaj), and holds an MBA from Harvard University and a BSE in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, thus proving he is truly a geek at heart.

Peter Buffett, the son of the legendary investor and businessman Warren Buffett, is a musician, composer, and music producer. Peter and his wife, Jennifer Buffett, also on Tonic's board, together oversee the one-billion-dollar NoVo Foundation that was founded in 2002 with contributions from Peter's father and mother. NoVo - the word is Latin for "to change, alter, invent" - addresses the Peter's and Jennifer's most-passionate philanthropic concerns. NoVo empowers women and girls around the world and seeks to bring balance and level the playing field globally. More about Peter Buffett...

Rob Broggi directs technology, media, and telecommunications equity research at Tudor Investment Corporation. Previously, Rob was executive director of Institutional Equity Sales at Morgan Stanley, where he founded the firm's technology specialty sales group in 1999. He also held the position of vice president of institutional equity sales, focusing on technology and healthcare research, at Cowen & Co. More about Rob Broggi...

williamsworks is the realization of Whitney's vision to create a new discipline in the philanthropy field. As a pioneer of strategic advocacy, Whitney is dedicated to maximizing the impact of individuals, foundations, and advocacy organizations. Leveraging her experience in strategic planning, government relations, grassroots advocacy, and high-profile event management, Whitney adds her unique insights to every client engagement. Whitney provides executive leadership, ensuring that the williamsworks approach results in solutions that are creative, unique, and customized to specific client needs. More about Whitney Williams...