Robert C. Wolcott Founder & Executive Director Kellogg Innovation Network

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In 2003, Professor Wolcott co-founded (with Mohan Sawhney) and directs the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN), a network of senior executives dedicated to driving sustainable innovation. Members include Cargill, Cisco, PepsiCo, IBM, DuPont, FedEx, Chamberlain Group, Microsoft, Motorola and SC Johnson, among others.

Professor Wolcott is Lecturer of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management. He teaches corporate innovation and entrepreneurship in Evanston and for Kellogg’s Executive MBA Programs in Hong Kong (with HKUST) and Miami. In 2002 and 2005, he served as Visiting Professor at the Keio Business School (Tokyo).

Professor Wolcott's article, Four Models of Corporate Entrepreneurship, with collaborator Dr. Mike Lippitz, appeared in the Fall 2007, issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. His article with Mohan Sawhney and Inigo Arroniz, Twelve Different Ways for Companies to Innovate, was the most downloaded article of 2006 from the MIT Sloan Management Review.

He also co-founded and serves as Managing Partner of Clareo Partners LLC, a corporate strategy and innovation management consultancy. Clients include ABN Amro, Kraft, Microsoft, ADT, Herman Miller, HP, Chamberlain, Ricoh, TKH Group (Netherlands), Rio Tinto Iron Ore, SAP and Motorola. Professor Wolcott also consults to the Pentagon as an adjunct of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), Alexandria, VA.

Through 2001, Professor Wolcott served as Director of Innovation Process at XL Tech Group (xltg.com), a publicly traded firm (UK) located in Melbourne, Florida, building new technology-based businesses. XLTG owns a $1 billion+ portfolio of firms traded on the public markets in addition to its private holdings.

Kristen DaRosa Communications Manager Center for Research in Technology & Innovation

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Kristen DaRosa is a Media Relations and Corporate Communications manager at the Kellogg School of Management. DaRosa joined the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation (CRTI), directed by Professor Mohan Sawhney, in 2007 where she has managed customized executive education programs for Nissan, DuPont and Microsoft.

DaRosa also manages CRTI’s marketing communications for the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN), directed by Professor Robert C. Wolcott, and Kellogg Technology Network (KTN), directed by Professor Mark Jeffery. She is in charge of asset development for Microsoft’s Ask Kellogg, a monthly online newsletter for marketers, in addition to the development and maintenance of the CRTI website.  

Since 2006, DaRosa has been a communications consultant specializing in targeted publicity and personal identification websites. She is the Co-Founder of Ears on Wheels, an effort to provide Easter baskets to children in the Chicagoland area.

Jeffrey Ernstoff Creative Director KIN Global

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After completing a ten year stint as Special Events Creative Director for Radio City Entertainment in New York City, writer/musician Jeffrey Ernstoff founded Ernstoff Creative Services (http://www.ernstoffcreative.com) in 2002. His diverse clientele has included: Fortune Magazine Conferences, CBS, Omnicom, Proctor & Gamble, Mercedes Benz, Pepsico, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Junior Achievement/The National Business Hall of Fame and the U.S. Open/International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Jeffrey served as Creative Director for Fortune Magazine’s Global Forums in Delhi, India and Washington, D.C. as well as their Innovation Forum in New York City. He began his work in special events as Music Production Coordinator for the 1984 Olympic Ceremonies and has served as Creative Director for Six Super Bowl Halftime shows, as well as tributes to luminaries including Colin Powell, Intel's Andy Grove, Billie Jean King, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Jeff Taylor and their organizations.

His music and non-fiction scripts have been performed at the White House, Boston’s Symphony Hall and on CBS, ABC, NBC, MSNBC and HBO. His one-man show entitled "Exactly 1 Hour with an Unstable American Musician" debuted in Los Angeles in 2008, followed by special performances at Clareo Studios in Chicago..

Jeffrey earned his Masters degree in Arts Programming at Harvard University and is the recipient of National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships in music, musical theater and arts education. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, ASCAP and Phi Delta Kappa (National Education Society).

Michael J. Lippitz, Ph.D. KIN Senior Research Associate Kellogg Innovation Network

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Mike Lippitz researches and develops strategies, policies and management systems to enhance corporate competitiveness and government effectiveness. Areas of expertise include corporate entrepreneurship, innovation management, global technology scouting, and long-term science and technology management. He holds a top secret U.S. government security clearance.

Mike Lippitz is currently a Senior Fellow with the Center for Research in Technology and Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, Illinois, and a Senior Policy Analyst with the Science and Technology Policy Institute of the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, DC. Prior positions include Special Assistant for Strategic Technology Planning in the Office of International and Commercial Programs, US Department of Defense; research positions with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Rockwell International and the Congressional Budget Office; and product line manager at Hewlett-Packard Company.

Mike received a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude, from Brown University, a master’s degree in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, under former U.S. Secretary of Defense William J. Perry.

Stephanie Wolcott Content Director KIN Global

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Stephanie Wolcott is Content Director for KIN Global, identifying global trends and thought leaders relevant to KIN Global companies and partnering with KIN Global delegates to build a deeper and richer summit experience. She also directs all marketing and print collateral for the summit.

Stephanie is an expert in corporate social responsibility with experience in large-scale implementation of initiatives designed to create brand equity, enhance employee pride, strengthen shareholder value and enhance license to operate in countries around the world. She is experienced in defining the appropriate intersection between business, community and environmental objectives. She currently consults with businesses and academic institutions on sustainability initiatives, strategic philanthropy and related communications.

Previously, Stephanie was the global manager of corporate citizenship for Tyco International, at the time, a $40 billion company. She was responsible for creating a strategic framework for community involvement, including financial resources, product donations and employee volunteerism. She created Tyco's first international grant program, developing projects in China, Brazil, Mexico, India, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya and South Africa to name a few. She has experience with initiatives related to the environment, workforce development, healthcare and disaster relief.

Regarding sustainability, Stephanie worked with the Operational Excellence department to create a system for identifying and sharing best practices related to reducing waste and conserving resources. This system included a worldwide competition and online intranet for spreading winning practices. It also included a supplier policy introducing expectations for fair labor and environmental practices. Lastly, she spearheaded the first Environment, Health and Safety report for Tyco International, measuring the environmental performance of over 100 facilities around the world.

As a result of her leadership, Tyco won the 2005 Corporate Philanthropist of the Year Award from the Community Foundation of New Jersey and the 2004 and 2005 Pacesetter Award from the Red Cross. In 2006, she was honored by both the YWCA of Princeton and the Mercer Alliance to End Homelessness. Most significantly, she was part of the team that helped Tyco to receive an 8 out of 10 score for corporate behavior in July 2005 from Governance Metrics International, a third party rating firm.

She was a judge for the Global Citizenship Challenge at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management and moderated a panel discussion on corporate social responsibility for Northwestern University's Leadership Forum. Stephanie is also a regular guest speaker on social entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management and Net Impact and on communications for social change at Columbia College.

Mohanbir Sawhney McCormick Tribune Professor of Technology

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Prof. Sawhney is a globally recognized scholar, teacher, consultant and speaker in strategic marketing, innovation and new media. His research and teaching interests include marketing and media in the digital world, process-centric marketing, collaborative marketing, organic growth and network-centric innovation. He has been widely recognized as a thought leader. Business Week named him as one of the 25 most influential people in e-Business. Crain’s Chicago Business named him a member of “40 under 40”, a select group of young business leaders in the Chicago area. He is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum.

Prof. Sawhney is the co-author of five books. His most recent books are Collaborating with Customers to Create (2008) and The Global Brain: your Roadmap for Innovating Smarter and Faster in the Networked World (2007). His research has been published in leading journals like California Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Management Science, Marketing Science, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He has also written several influential trade articles in publications like the Financial Times, CIO Magazine, and Business 2.0. He has won several awards for his teaching and research, including the 2006 Sidney Levy Award for Teaching Excellence at the Kellogg School, the 2005 runner-up for Best Paper in Journal of Interactive Marketing, the 2001 Accenture Award for the best paper published in California Management Review in 2000 and the Outstanding Professor of the Year at Kellogg in 1998.

Prof. Sawhney advises and speaks to Global 2000 firms and governments worldwide. His speaking and consulting clients include Accenture, Adobe Systems, Banco Real, Boeing, Cisco Systems, Dell, DuPont, Ericsson, Fidelity Investments, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, HCL Technologies, Honeywell, IBM Consulting Services, Infosys, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg Company, Kraft Foods, Microsoft, Motorola, MTV Networks, Nortel Networks, Nissan Motor, Nomura Research Institute, Raytheon Missile Systems, SAP, Sony, Teradata and Thomson Corporation. He serves on the boards and advisory boards of several technology startup companies, including EXLService, Fieldglass, and VerveLife.

Prof. Sawhney holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; a Master’s degree in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta; and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

Robert C. Wolcott Founder & Executive Director Kellogg Innovation Network

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In 2003, Professor Wolcott co-founded (with Mohan Sawhney) and directs the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN), a network of senior executives dedicated to driving sustainable innovation. Members include Cargill, Cisco, PepsiCo, IBM, DuPont, FedEx, Chamberlain Group, Microsoft, Motorola and SC Johnson, among others.

Professor Wolcott is Lecturer of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management. He teaches corporate innovation and entrepreneurship in Evanston and for Kellogg’s Executive MBA Programs in Hong Kong (with HKUST) and Miami. In 2002 and 2005, he served as Visiting Professor at the Keio Business School (Tokyo).

Professor Wolcott's article, Four Models of Corporate Entrepreneurship, with collaborator Dr. Mike Lippitz, appeared in the Fall 2007, issue of the MIT Sloan Management Review. His article with Mohan Sawhney and Inigo Arroniz, Twelve Different Ways for Companies to Innovate, was the most downloaded article of 2006 from the MIT Sloan Management Review.

He also co-founded and serves as Managing Partner of Clareo Partners LLC, a corporate strategy and innovation management consultancy. Clients include ABN Amro, Kraft, Microsoft, ADT, Herman Miller, HP, Chamberlain, Ricoh, TKH Group (Netherlands), Rio Tinto Iron Ore, SAP and Motorola. Professor Wolcott also consults to the Pentagon as an adjunct of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), Alexandria, VA.

Through 2001, Professor Wolcott served as Director of Innovation Process at XL Tech Group (xltg.com), a publicly traded firm (UK) located in Melbourne, Florida, building new technology-based businesses. XLTG owns a $1 billion+ portfolio of firms traded on the public markets in addition to its private holdings.