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Raj Fernando started his career in the business and Finance industry soon after completing his bachelor’s degree in economics and history from Beloit College. He served as a volunteer in Chicago Mercantile Exchange. His passion and exceptional skills in finance he was promoted to serve different top executive positions in Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade.

Later on, Raj started his first enterprise, Chopper Trading. Under his leadership, Chopper Trading grew and maintained one of the best financial task force comprised of over 250 employees. Each employee had a unique skill on finance. For this reason, they offered standard bond trading services to their clients on CME, NASDAQ, LSE, ICE, and ICAP- Broketek.

Besides managing his company, Raj Fernando served as a member of US Commodity Trading Futures Commission. He helped the commission to implement financial structures that could help the company to attract financially sound markets.

In 2015, his company Chopper Trading was acquired by DRW Trading Group, a major finance company in Chicago. After selling Chopper Trading, he founded Scoutahead.com, a company that offers innovative communication systems that improve the productivity of its customers.

Raj is a skilled expert who believes in hiring experts with different skills and teaming them up to a single task force where employees complement each other. This is the reason why his employees are recognized amongst the best in the financial industries.

Apart from being in business, Raj Fernando is also a philanthropist who is dedicated to improving the living standards of his community. He supports the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and PAWS, an organization that preserves wildlife. He also supports the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and Clinton Foundation.

With a wealth of experience and skills in the financial industry, he was honored to speak at a conference held by Rosenblatt Global Exchange Leader. Moreover, he serves as a director of the American Security Project, Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Politically, he helped to raise funds to support President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He was also Hillary Clinton’s Illini Finance Chair. During the campaigns, he was privileged to meet with the richest people in United States who inspired him to invest more.

Kenneth Goodgame has been working as the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for True Value Hardware Company since back in 2013. The company is American owned and is a dealer in owned hardware, serving more than 50 countries all around the world. The base location for True Value Company is held in Chicago, and is currently one of the largest owned member cooperatives out there. The strong heritage behind the company gives them a good reputation along with their exceptional support for giving retailers new growth and success.

Kenneth Goodgame earned his marketing and finance degrees from the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and today, he is an expert who has the knowledge and management for controlling profits and losses. He is also highly capable when it comes to creating teams that have strong outputs in performance. True Value Hardware has been able to achieve a high level of success and impressive returns due to the experience and knowledge Kenneth has with products as well as his customer focused attitude. Today, True Value Hardware Company is known all around the globe by providing a top level brand.

Before his current position, Kenneth was working at Ace Hardware as a manager for global materials for the whole of the company. He was very successful here, managing to design long terms plans that exceeded expectations in terms of sales and growth. He improved on the company’s existed products and processes as well as developed some of his own. Part of his extensive experience in management of merchandise comes from his working with The Home Depot and Black and Decker. He was even the Chief Executive Officer for Rubbermaid cleaning products starting in 2002, where he developed many programs that are still in use by the company today.

Not only is Goodgame excellent at product creation and recognition, but is also skilled at planning promotions, and sales. It takes a lot of commitment and drive to see a vision as clearly as Kenneth sees his, which is what allows him to turn his ideas into a reality.

Eric Pulier is a compassionate technology savvy who has accomplished a lot. The entrepreneur has funded, founded and co-founded many ventures. The father of four has been involved in enterprises such as Service Mesh, Desktone, Enterprise Cloud Leadership Council (T M Forum), Digital Evolution, Media Platform, U.S Interactive and Akana. He studied at Teaneck High School and later graduated from Harvard University with a BA in1988.

The venture capitalist funds startups in technology and media and he is involved in many charitable acts. He uses technology to solve problems for physically impaired kids or communities that have economical challenges. Eric Pulier is a US Doctors for Africa Honoree for his technical healthcare innovations in Africa. The philanthropist is associated with Multimedia Educational Programs which helped the Multiple Sclerosis Society. He has supported Starlight Foundation by donating capital and overseeing various projects. The foundation launched computer learning modules for children with diabetes. The game enables children to see their blood sugar levels and how a diet affects their health. Through animation and music, the game provides an informative and fun journey into the world of diabetic kids.

Pulier supports Ace Foundation in building software that is applied to humanity’s challenges such as in the distribution of clean drinking water. He is associated with The Painted Turtle a summer camp that supports children with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. He is also involved in XPrize Foundation which encourages technology development that benefits humans. Individuals, companies, groups and organizations are involved in the competitions where they showcase their innovations. The public speaker supports Campaign for Free College Tuition which seeks free college education to all Americans. He is involved in Clinton Global Initiative where programs that provide cloud-computing resources to under-served societies are initiated.

Pulier has been recognized as one of the 30 e-Visionaries by VAR Business. He oversaw Bridge to 21st Century, an exhibition that showcased the effects of technology now and in the future. He managed the event and supervised the shipping and set up of equipment and technology. Pulier is an author, and his mastery was sharpened when he was at Harvard where he was an editor and a columnist for the Harvard Crimson Weekly. He co-authored Understanding Enterprises SOA with Hugh Taylor in 2005.

Additional Links:

http://danielbudzinski.com/podcast/eric-pulier/

http://epodcastnetwork.com/the-importance-of-philanthropy-and-giving-back-to-the-community

With proven businessman James Dondero at the reigns, alternative investment manager Highland Capital Management has become a force to be reckoned with in the industry. As co founder and President of the company he’s played a major role in its growth and development. The Dallas based investment adviser has been a leader in developing credit oriented solutions for institutional and retail investors on a global scale since its founding.

Though Dondero is a very busy man, he has always found time for his philanthropist activities. Given his character and work ethic, his proactive and hands on approach to charitable giving comes to no surprise to people close to him. In spite of, Mr. Dondero’s global business platform most of the funds he contributes are given locally.

Mr. Dondero, having trouble budgeting his ever increasing annual philanthropic investments, decided to start looking for a management partner to help with the budget. His search led to him forming a business relationship with President and CEO of The Dallas Foundation, Mary Jalonick.

According to James Dondero, the company chose to partner with The Dallas Foundation because of it’s years of success and experience in the nonprofit community. On top of that, The Dallas Foundation has a strong influence in the North Texas Community.

The partnership between Highland Capital Management and The Dallas Foundation would ultimately lead to the birth of Highland Dallas Foundation Inc., a supporting organization of The Dallas Foundation.

With help from The Dallas Foundation, Dondero has expanded his philanthropic activities beyond the veteran, education, and healthcare initiatives he’s supported for several years. He now also supports civic organizations like The Dallas Zoo and The Perot Museum. Mr. Dondero plans to continue expanding his philanthropic engagement in the years to come.

About James Dondero

James Dondero is an American businessman with three decades of experience in the credit and equity markets. In 1993 he co founded investment adviser Highland Capital Management, and is also the current President of the company. Under his supervision Highland has produced dozens of award winning product solutions for institutional and retail investors.

Dondero began his career in 1984, as an analyst in the Morgan Guaranty training program. During the same year, he managed to graduate with high honors from the University of Virginia’s McIntire School of Commerce. Dondero is also a Certified Management Accountant.

Source: http://www.dallasfoundation.org/ForDonors/DonorStories/JamesDondero/tabid/449/Default.aspx

John Goullet is a Principal of Diversant Limited Liability Company and an entrepreneur with vast experience in Information Technology Staffing. He attended Ursinus College in The Greater Philadelphia in 1979-1983. He began his professional career as an IT consultant then became an IT staffing account executive and later founded Info Technologies- IT staffing company in 1994 where he was CEO until 2010. Earlier on, John Goullet had worked at Computer Sciences Corporation in Lyndhurst New Jersey from 1981- 1983; he later joined Constell Group in Piscataway in 1983-1986. He also worked at 3D Information Services in Bridgewater for one year after which he joined the TSR Consultants in Island in New Jersey from 1987 to 1990.

Info Technologies goal was to understand the changing corporate trends in the staffing sector and matching them with their client’s skills, work style, and personalities. They offered IT solutions to the Fortune 500 firms in the United States. Goullet grew his company and within five years, it got to the eighth position in the Inc. Magazine rankings of the top 500 fastest growing private businesses in U.S. His specialties include Web Solutions, Application Development, Network Operations and Engineering, Application Development, Data Analysis and Architecture as well as Quality Assurance.

In 2010, Diversant Inc. and Info Technologies merged to form Diversant LLC, which is the largest IT staffing and solutions firm in the US that is African-American owned. The certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) provider combined their new strengths leading to an expansion in their presence and aided in the development of new IT solutions.

Diversant LLC has their headquarters in Red Bank New Jersey with other offices in the country. Their services include IT staff augmentation, direct-hire and innovative diversity solutions. They offer their services to industries such as the information and technology, health care, financial services, energy, insurance and reinsurance, telecommunications and biotechnology among others.

Other Executives of Diversant LLC are Gene Wandy, the company’s CEO, and the owner. His dedication, personal drive, and professional expertise have led to the growth of the enterprise. Jim Yoshimura who is the chief operating officer offers excellent leadership and management strategy to ensure that the company is operational.

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The financial industry is filled with talented experts. These experts are talented at putting in hours of work on a regular basis and at seeing patterns that others would miss. One of the top experts in the financial industry today is Raj Fernando.

Raj Fernando started working on the trading floor in Chicago when he was still in college. He loved volunteering on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and he knew that he wanted to work there during his career. When Raj graduated he started working on the floor of the exchange fulltime. He spent most of his early career working at both the Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. He managed to work his way up various positions from 1991 to 2001. Raj learned a great deal working on the floor, but he was ready to build his own business.

In 2002, Raj opened his own firm, Chopper Trading. Chopper Trading quickly grew under Raj’s expert leadership. Eventually, the firm employed over 250 people. The firm trades on the NASDAQ, CME, ICE, Eurex, LSE, and other major exchanges. Fernando loves building his own firm.

While Raj spends most of his time working on Chopper Trading he also spends a great deal of time focusing on his work with the US Commodity Trading Futures Commission. He helps promote their mission of building open and transparent markets. Raj knows that these markets benefit all parties in the long run, and is willing to commit a great deal of time towards promoting them. Raj was a featured panelist in 2010 when he discussed disruptive trading practices.

Raj enjoys his work with Chopper Trading, but he also likes to branch out. In 2016, Raj started another business, Scoutahead. Scoutahead is designed to help improve corporate and professional growth by putting quality communication systems in place. The company is already starting to grow, and Raj is enthusiastic about the future.

The markets are rapidly recovering and the wisest investors are sure to rise to the top. Raj Fernando intends to keep reaping profits for years to come because he puts his time and energy into everything he does.

Everyone who is in school and deals with a disability has to get technology that will help them get through each class, but that was not always the case. My kids were in school when Eric Pulier started People Doing Things and gave out adaptive tools that helped kids in all the classes. I saw these things work really well for every kid, and I was so happy to find out that each of these kids was able to graduate given the technology that was provided to them by Eric Pulier. He has been able to help a lot of kids, and he still applies that information to the work that he does to this day.

He works on the X Prize committee helping with the technology that people are creating to get into space, and that is just the same as what NASA was doing a couple decades ago. Eric Pulier is an innovator on the level of NASA, and he has helped kids just as much as he has been able to help kids with their disabilities.

I am able to see my son do well to this day using some of the same technology that was given to us by Eric Pulier, and I know that he is doing very well because school was made just a little easier for him. I have always been impressed with the people like Eric Pulier who are able to do this work, and he has been able to get the help that is needed for a lot of people who have challenges. The challenges that people have are no longer so bad because they are using techniques and technology that was given by Eric Pulier. His work in the 90s even helps people to this day because of Eric Pulier’s skill.

John Goullet is the head of DIVERSANT, an African American corporation that provides IT solutions as well as staffing in the United States. Under his leadership, two businesses, Info Technologies Inc. and Diversant merged to be DIVERSANT LLC. Founded on his areas of specialization, the company has over the years provided its services from the backdrop of an understanding of the corporate environment as well as his clients’ needs. It is through his visionary leadership that the company has experienced continued growth to become an award winning organization. In addition, through his capable leadership, Inc. 500 has twice recognized DIVERSANT as the nation’s fastest growing private corporations. He is also well versed with the emerging markets that have seen him maintain desirable growth over the years.

By placing business stakeholders’ interests under high regard, Goullet has developed a culture of commitment to high-quality service. From this background, he has managed to develop products as well as services that are innovative as well as change-oriented. With a personal dedication to growth, he has ensured that diversity is one of the pillars that define his successes. Despite not having any African descent, his company has embraced diversity with a dedication to African American clients and communities, which they mainly serve.

As the principle at DIVERSANT, Goullet ensures that services to his choice of mid-market as well as Fortune 500 clients. Under his guidance and that of other senior executives, the company has taken up industry leaders to be part of the innovative team that is behind DIVERSANT’s successes.

With over a decade and a half in the helm of leadership of the company, Goullet has grown its revenues as well as wealth. From such experiences, it has managed to continue clinching lucrative engagements that are a sure way of ensuring its continued growth. The passion for developing solutions to new challenges mainly in the IT marketplace is the force that continues inspiring his dedication as well as expanding the company’s presence. With Best-In-Class as the underlying methodology, Goullet continues to guide DIVERSANT through its commitment to excellence in IT staffing and Solutions.

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