Board
Marc R. Benioff
Robert Thurman
Alan Hassenfeld
Rebecca Enonchong
Dave Moellenhoff
Laura Scher
F. Warren Hellman
Marc R. Benioff - CEO, Chairman of the Board and Founder, salesforce.com, Inc.
Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. He founded the company in March 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) solution that would replace traditional enterprise software technology. Benioff is now regarded as the leader of what he has termed "The End of Software," the growing belief that on-demand applications can democratize CRM by delivering immediate benefits to companies of all sizes at reduced risks and costs. Under Benioff's direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services.
Benioff, a 25-year software industry veteran, is internationally recognized as one of the preeminent thinkers in information technology. Most recently he was named as number three on Computer Business Review magazine's “Top 10 Most Influential Movers & Shakers” list who reported, “Benioff (has) learned a thing or two about how to achieve market dominance….that is what he has achieved in the on-demand enterprise applications space, and there are no immediate threats to his empire….” In addition, Benioff was recently ranked number 11 on the “50 People Who Matter” list published by Business 2.0 magazine, which recognized Benioff as a leader whose “vision of the future proved prophetic, foreshadowing the rise of the Web 2.0 phenomenon and creating nightmares for software vendors like Microsoft, SAP, and Siebel (RIP).” Additional recent awards and acknowledgements from leading business organizations include: “Silicon Valley Visionary,” awarded from the Software Development Forum, the leading source of information and education to the technology community, which recognized Benioff for his contributions both in computing and the community; “Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year,” from the University of Southern California's (USC) Marshall School of business; “Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year,” from Ernst & Young; and “Entrepreneur of the Year,” from SunBridge, the leading incubator in Japan, which recognized Benioff for his work in catalyzing technology change. Benioff has been the recipient of many industry honors as well: Selling Power named Benioff “International CEO of the Year”; FORTUNE magazine called Benioff one of its “Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch”; Business Week named him one of the 25 people responsible for turning e-business around; CRM magazine recognized him as one of the 20 most influential people in the industry; and Silicon.com named Benioff to its list of Agenda Setters.
Throughout his career, Benioff has been determined to use information technology to produce positive social change. In July 2000, Benioff launched the Salesforce Foundation, a multimillion-dollar global philanthropic organization aimed at bridging the digital divide. Pioneering the "1 percent model"-where the company contributes 1 percent of profits, 1 percent of equity, and 1 percent of employee hours back to the communities it serves-the Salesforce Foundation has demonstrated the power and impact of integrated philanthropy.
Benioff coauthored Compassionate Capitalism, the first-ever best-practices guide for corporate philanthropy that illustrates the success of the integrated model. The book was launched in conjunction with the World Economic Forum's 2004 meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Previously, members of the World Economic Forum selected Benioff as a "Global Leader of Tomorrow," one of 100 leaders in business, politics, and the arts committed to addressing social issues. In addition, Benioff received the “Promise of Peace” award from the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu for his work using technology as a means to further Middle East peace and the “Bridge Award” from the nonprofit organization HEAVEN (Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer, and Empower via the Net) for providing Internet access to the underserved in America's inner cities.
Prior to creating salesforce.com, Benioff spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, where he held a number of executive positions in sales, marketing, and product development. Before joining Oracle, Benioff worked at Apple Computer and founded Liberty Software. Benioff received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986.
Robert Thurman - President, Tibet House
Robert Thurman is a scholar, author, former Tibetan Buddhist monk, Director of Tibet House in New York City, a close personal friend of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, and father of five children including the Hollywood actress, Uma. He has lectured all over the world; his charisma and enthusiasm draw packed audiences.
Thurman currently holds the first endowed chair in the Tibetan-Buddhist field of study in the United States; he is the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He is a prolific translator and writer of both scholarly and popular works, including Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold: Reason and Enlightenment in the Central Philosophy of Tibet, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Essential Tibetan Buddhism, and his most recent, Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness.
Thurman is not only a scholar, but also a champion of the preservation of Tibetan culture. In 1987, he and actor Richard Gere founded New York City's Tibet House, a nonprofit institution devoted to preserving the living culture of Tibet. Thurman writes, "What I have learned from these people [Tibetans] has forever changed my life, and I believe their culture contains an inner science particularly relevant to the difficult time in which we live. My desire is to share some of the profound hope for our future that they have shared with me."
Alan Hassenfeld - CEO and Chairman of the Board, Hasbro, Inc.
Alan Hassenfeld took the helm at one of the world's leading toy companies in 1989, and was faced with managing and growing a company with annual net revenues of more than $1.3 billion. Today, Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time entertainment with $2.9 billion in revenues and an impressive blue-chip portfolio of familiar and popular brand names under one roof. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, SUPER SOAKER, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world.
Hassenfeld is active in many charitable and social causes both nationally and locally in Rhode Island. He is Chairman of the World Scholar Athlete Games and served as Chairman of Families First. He spearheaded the formation and launch of the RIght Now! Coalition, an effort created to foster ethics and campaign reform, as well as enlighten the Rhode Island state government to its constituent’s concerns. The coalition remains strong today and Hassenfeld has served as chairman since its inception in 1991.
In addition, he has been a leader in rallying corporate executives to work with elected officials to end childhood hunger, and has been very involved in issues impacting refugee resettlement in the state of Rhode Island by serving on the Board of Directors for Refugees International. Hassenfeld is on the advisory board of Big Brothers of Rhode Island and serves as a board member of the company's two philanthropic divisions, the Hasbro Charitable Trust and the Hasbro Children's Foundation. Hassenfeld is married and lives in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Rebecca Enonchong - CEO and Founder, AppsTech, Inc
Rebecca Enonchong brought world-renowned Oracle expertise and a strong Consulting and Finance background to AppsTech, Inc. Her company is a leading global provider of enterprise application solutions. Powered by industry leaders like Oracle, SAP and PeopleSoft, AppsTech helps clients streamline their operations.
In addition to her professional achievements, Enonchong's accomplishments also include an extensive list of personal initiatives in the non-profit arena. Enonchong, as a native of Cameroon in Western Africa, devotes much of her life to promoting African interests, both in Africa and in the U.S. She is founder and Chairman of the Africa Technology Forum (www.africatechforum.org), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting technology in Africa. She also serves on the UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) Global Advisory Committee on the Digital Divide. She has also instilled into AppsTech, a focus of giving back to the community through initiatives such as Children First, Entrepreneurial Commitment, and Leveraging Economies Worldwide.
Recipient of Enterprise Africa's 2001 African Entrepreneurship Award, Enonchong was also named a Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT) by the World Economic Forum of Davos, Switzerland, as part of the annual award that recognizes outstanding leaders around the world. Enonchong has been featured in several leading newspapers and magazines including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, MBE magazine and ComputerWorld and has appeared on both CNN and CNNfn. Enonchong holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Economics from the Catholic University of America and is fluent in English and French.
Dave Moellenhoff - Chief Technology Officer, salesforce.com, Inc.
Dave Moellenhoff, along with Marc Benioff, Frank Dominguez and Parker Harris, founded salesforce.com in 1999 with the goal of revolutionizing the concept of enterprise software. As CTO, Moellenhoff is responsible for the architecture and design of the salesforce.com systems, developing the vision of software as a utility.
He has been recognized as a Premier 100 IT Leader by Computerworld magazine, and a Top 10 Technology Innovator by InfoWorld magazine. Prior to founding salesforce.com, Moellenhoff was president of Left Coast Software, a San Francisco-based Java consulting firm he co-founded. Among the clients Moellenhoff worked with at Left Coast were industry leaders such as Excite@Home, NCI, and SBC. Prior to founding Left Coast, he was a senior developer at Metropolis Software (later acquired by Clarify), an early innovator in sales force automation software. Moellenhoff, a new member of the board of the Foundation, will serve a key role in the vision to integrate philanthropy and business as he represents the employees and daily operations of the company.
Moellenhoff graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1994 with bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, as well as an MBA.
Laura Scher - Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer, Working Assets
Laura Scher is co-founder, chairperson and chief executive officer of
Working Assets, a long distance, credit card, and wireless company dedicated to building a world that is more just, humane and environmentally sustainable.
Laura co-founded Working Assets in 1985 on the belief that building a business and building a better world are not mutually exclusive. “We are showing the world that you can create a successful business that is committed to social change,” says Laura. “It’s incredibly satisfying to know that a community of kindred spirits can have an enormous impact.”
Working Assets supports positive social change by donating a percentage of its revenue (from top-line sales, not bottom-line profits) to progressive nonprofit groups working for peace, human rights, equality, education, and the environment.
Under Laura’s leadership, the company has donated $35 million to progressive nonprofit groups such as Planned Parenthood, Amnesty International, Greenpeace and Children’s Defense Fund. Working Assets raised over $4 million in total donations in the year 2003 alone.
As CEO, Laura has helped Working Assets grow to more than $140 million in annual revenue. Additionally, Working Assets has appeared on Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing, privately held companies for five years in a row and is one of the largest private companies in San Francisco.
Working Assets and Laura have been featured in national media, including People Magazine, Rosie O’Donnell Show, Fortune Small Business, New York Times, USA Today and NBC’s Today show. The San Francisco League of Women Voters recently honored Laura as one of four women who could be President of the United States. In 1998, she was recognized by Working Mother Magazine as one of the 25 most influential working moms. She also earned the Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 1997, which recognized her contribution to Working Assets’ profitability, growth, stability and creation of jobs. Laura is also a visiting lecturer at Stanford University, co-teaching “Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the undergraduate level.
Laura graduated in the top five percent of her class at Harvard Business School. Before that, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Yale and studied international economics at the Institute for International Studies in Geneva.
Laura lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, daughter and son. She enjoys traveling internationally with her family. Laura volunteers at her daughter’s school and for an array of nonprofit organizations. She recently contributed to a children’s book titled 33 More Things Every Girl Should Know.
F. Warren Hellman - Co-founder and Chairman, Hellman & Friedman
Warren Hellman, born in New York City in 1934, graduated from Lowell High School in San Francisco, the University of California in Berkeley (1955), and Harvard Business School (1959).
For most of his business career, Mr. Hellman, his wife (Chris), and their four children resided on the East Coast. From 1962 to 1977, he was a Partner of Lehman Brothers in New York, where he served as head of Lehman's Investment Banking Division, President and Director of Lehman Brothers, Inc., and Chairman of Lehman Corporation (a closed-end investment company). From 1977 to 1989, he was General Partner of Hellman, Ferri Investment Associates in Boston, the name of which was changed to Matrix Partners in 1982, at which time he became a Limited Partner.
In October of 1981, Mr. Hellman and his family moved back to San Francisco.
In March of 1984, he and Tully Friedman formed Hellman & Friedman, a private equity firm that has raised capital of almost $5 billion.
Mr. Hellman is currently a Director of Levi Strauss & Co.; Osterweis Capital Management, Inc.; Sugar Bowl Corporation; and D.N. & E. Walter & Co.
Mr. Hellman's civic activities include: Chairman, Voice of Dance; former Chairman and present trustee of the The San Francisco Foundation; board member of the Committee on JOBS; member of the Advisory Board of the Walter A. Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; trustee, UC Berkeley Foundation; board member of the S.F. Chamber of Commerce and Bay Area Council; and trustee emeritus of The Brookings Institution.
Founding Board Members
Marc R. Benioff
Robert Thurman
Alan Hassenfeld
Rebecca Enonchong
Dave Moellenhoff
Laura Scher
F. Warren Hellman
Frank Baxter , Ambassador, Urguay and Former Chairman of NASDAQ
Van Jones - Founder and National Executive Director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights
