STARMAIL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- President & EVP of Strategic Partnerships
Adrienne Smith's love for television, film, education, and sports has led her around the world and resulted in a myriad of incredible opportunities. As an entrepreneur, Adrienne, an MBA graduate of Columbia Business School, is the co-founder of Harlem Hip-Hop Tours (a company dedicated to edutainment field trips for schools and youth groups), and the founder of Gridiron Queendom (an enterprise dedicated to women and girls around the world who play or are fans of American football). When it comes to media, Adrienne is a multi-hyphenate (writer, actress, and producer) with experience that runs the gamut from producing and hosting a television show in Japan to developing film and television properties for the U.S. market. As an athlete, Adrienne has won two gold medals and two national championships in the sport of women's tackle football. Adrienne has also represented the U.S. in the sport of flag football, having won three silver medals in international competition. Whether on the field or off, Adrienne's personal mission is to "empire" (empower+inspire) others - a concept she strives to incorporate into all of her endeavors.
Jason Kirkhart isn't a fan of boring desk jobs. Rather than doing the same stuff day in and day out, he'd rather be out there finding new problems to solve. This passion for fixing many and varied things quickly pushed him out of corporate America and into the world of start-ups. A survivor of the "dot com" era, Jason is a student of building web-based businesses to endure market and investment pressures. Jason started a company providing world-class technology services to rural communities, helping to promote STEM opportunities in traditionally agricultural and manufacturing areas. Now that his kids are a bit older, Jason and his wife take them on wild adventures around North America when he isn't still volunteering in the community and pretending that he's going to get his golf game back together. Jason is a graduate of The College of William and Mary in Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology.
Zee Rahim is not your typical "type A" leader. He values candid feedback, honesty, kindness and fair dealings with partners, but above all else, he values original thought. He enjoys working on start-ups and growing them into mature companies as well as mentoring young entrepreneurs. He co-founded and grew a series of successful businesses in the basement of his house without the need for outside investment. The first business grew from zero revenue to almost $100 million (annualized) in less than four years, as employee headcount ramped from two to over one hundred and the company distributed over 25,000 wireless phones per month across the United States. The successor company was acquired by a NASDAQ listed company for nearly $25 Million after only four years in business. Zee remained with the publicly traded company for nearly two years as a division President before deciding to retire in order to raise his children and be the type of very attentive father that most kids don't have. He spends his free time coaching youth soccer, volunteering in school, traveling and creating memories with his two boys. Zee graduated from the University of Virginia and the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, and is active as a mentor of young entrepreneurs at UVA.