Leadership & Mentors
MentorShop is your gateway to an extensive and continuously evolving multidisciplinary network of independent advisors, leaders, influencers, sector champions, NXDs, research specialists, mentors, coaches, trainers, strategists, and other professional service providers. Use the links below to connect directly to anyone, or follow the steps at the bottom of the page to get some help deciding who might be the best fit for you and your work.
BOB CREIGHTON, MBE
CAPITAL, COACHING & CONSULTANCY
Bob is Chairman of MentorShop, a co-located US and European business development consultancy, and an advisor to a number of high-growth technology companies in Europe and the US.
Bob was made an MBE by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth and has also been honored with appointments to the Smithsonian in Washington DC. He is also the recipient of the 2020 National Tartan Day Award. He is a past President of NHSCOT and currently chairs their Council of Advisors. He is also founder of UI-Global.com.
JENNIFER HOUSE, PhD
SPECIALIST IN EDUCATION FUNDING, ED TECH PRODUCT ANALYSIS, EXPERT SUPPORT FOR MARKETING PRODUCTS & SERVICES TO EDUCATIONAL MARKETS
Jenny provides intel to companies selling into education about funds institutions can use to purchase their products.
Jenny monitors funding policies at the federal, state and local levels to help companies strategize where to invest their personnel and resources to help grow their business.
Jenny works with C-Level teams to ensure product development plans align with current policy and funding requirements. This informs geomarketing activities identifying where and when to target their sales and marketing initiatives, including the marketing mix – product, price, promotion, and place.
Jenny provides professional development for marketing and sales teams to help them understand what funding schools can use to purchase their products. This includes how to identify the appropriate decision-makers with the money to buy the product, when and how to discuss optional funding sources, and tools – including corporate, community or private grants – that will help them accelerate final decisions.
Jenny is President of RedRock Reports, an education marketing and funding services company. A noted education market leader, Dr. House is a former teacher, reading specialist, school and district administrator, university instructor and educational technology innovator. In the private sector, she has led engineering education and marketing programs for Hewlett-Packard, Apple Computer, held executive positions with multiple startups and other leading K-12 organizations. She currently serves as an advisor to ed tech companies and venture capital firms investing in education. She has also served on non-profit and for-profit boards in both public and private sectors.
GARY BERTOLINE
STEM EDUCATION REFORMER • ACADEMIC LEADER • WORKFORCE OF THE FUTURE STRATEGIST
Gary is an advisor to institutions, school systems, and education ventures working to prepare the STEM workforce of the future. For more than four decades, Dr. Gary Bertoline has led change across K-12 and higher education, connecting classrooms, universities, and industry so that learners gain the technical depth, problem-solving mindset, and real-world experience that today’s economy demands. As founding Dean of Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute, he led one of the largest transformations of a college of technology in the United States, rebuilding curriculum around experiential, team-based, and convergent learning. He then carried that model into K-12 as a founding leader of the Purdue Polytechnic High Schools in Indianapolis. These tuition-free, project-based STEM high schools serve students who are underrepresented in STEM and give them a direct pathway to Purdue and to high-demand careers.
He guides leaders through large-scale reform, from building a shared vision and earning faculty buy-in to designing new programs, partnering with industry and K-12, and securing outside funding. As a Principal Investigator on National Science Foundation initiatives, including the Engineering Mindset project with the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) effort to re-engineer the engineering education system, he works with national partners. Today he is applying AI and digital-twin approaches to personalize learning and improve student outcomes.
He is Dean Emeritus and Research Professor at Purdue, the author of 8 textbooks in engineering and technical graphics used worldwide, and a mentor to doctoral students and emerging education leaders.
KETI BURDULI
LEGAL EXPERT • EDTECH FOUNDER • AI & LEARNING INNOVATOR
Keti Burduli is the Founder and CEO of NODI, an AI-powered adaptive learning platform reimagining personalized education for the next generation of learners. She works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, learning science, and educational innovation, building technology that enables every student to receive instruction tailored to their individual pace, abilities, and learning journey. Her work is driven by the belief that intelligent, personalized education should be accessible to every child, not just those who can afford private tutoring.
As CEO, she leads the company’s vision, product strategy, market expansion, and strategic partnerships, working alongside educators, researchers, and technology leaders to develop scalable learning solutions for schools and families. Under her leadership, NODI has secured competitive innovation funding, assembled an international network of advisors, and established partnerships that position the company for regional growth and long-term international expansion. She advises on the responsible application of AI in education, with a focus on improving learning outcomes while empowering teachers rather than replacing them.
Before founding NODI, Keti built her career in law, fintech, and regulatory strategy, leading complex compliance initiatives and advising organizations operating in highly regulated environments. Her multidisciplinary background enables her to bridge technology, policy, and business strategy, bringing together diverse stakeholders to shape the future of education through innovation. She is committed to building a globally recognized education technology company that expands opportunity and transforms how students learn.
JIMM MELOY
PRODUCT, EDUCATION & MARKETING STRATEGIST
MentorShop Co-Founder and seasoned strategic advisor with more than 30 years experience in education and professional development, design technologies, corporate pivots, and helping businesses, cultural and non-profit organizations manage growth & transitions, productize and scale & reframe their identity, using contemporary techniques like Chasm Modeling & Job to be Done, PR/FAQ & AI.
A Seasoned Mentor with experience in the US, UK, EU & Saudi Arabia. Career has led from Academia to Worldwide Director of e-Learning & Training for Autodesk and VP, Marketing & Products of CADKEY to NFP organisations Board Member, successful Entrepreneur and Author on e-learning. Based in New York City.
BRUCE POLDERMAN
SENIOR PRODUCT LEADER • STRATEGIC CONSULTANT • AI & SAAS STRATEGIST
Bruce is a customer-obsessed, senior-level product leader who has helped to shape the future of several household-name consumer software applications. For more than twenty-five years, Bruce has helped global organizations translate emerging technologies into industry-leading AI, SaaS, and mobile applications — creating beautiful, innovative products that solve customer pain and that people love to use.
As a Principal Product Manager, he has held key product leadership roles at small startups to industry giants Google and Amazon, guiding cross-functional teams through complex product lifecycles.
His deep domain expertise spans specialized sectors including AEC (architecture, engineering, construction), cutting-edge mapping and spatial ecosystems like Google Maps, and property management platforms.Driven by purpose-led innovation, Bruce also championed the design of accessible, impactful cloud-based voice-controlled virtual assistant (Alexa) that supports older adults, expertly scaling platforms that marry commercial success with human-centric design.
DAVID PENBERG, PhD
EDUCATOR, FACILITATOR, WRITER EXPERT IN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC SPEAKING, EXECUTIVE COACHING, EDUCATIONAL CONSULTING, WRITING, NON-PROFIT CONSULTING
David Penberg, Ph.D., is an urban and international educator, teacher, and writer whose work is rooted in place-based and intergenerational learning. As a facilitator, speaker, and critical friend, he partners with communities to cultivate more vital, joyful, and intentional cultures of learning and teaching. He currently serves as an education advisor and teacher with Agastya International Foundation (www.agastya.org). He is also a co-host of Educating for the World We Want, a virtual salon series for learners seeking a space of connection across borders and continents, where dialogue leads to acts that strengthen and deepen collective work.
HARUKA NITTA
COMPOSER • ENGINEER • SENSORY DESIGNER • FOUNDER
Haruka Nitta is a Japanese composer, former software engineer, and sensory designer exploring how technology, music, and scent can reshape the way people experience human connection.
With a multidisciplinary background spanning software engineering, product management, UX design, and composition, she brings together analytical thinking and artistic intuition to create experiences that feel emotionally resonant and deeply human. Before pursuing composition full-time, she developed search technologies, led UX and product initiatives for AR/VR and robotics products, and contributed to technology startups across Japan and the United States.
Her work spans film scoring, installation art, brand storytelling, and interactive experiences. Her music has been presented internationally, including performances and screenings at the Music & Cinema Marseille Festival in France, and she has composed for films, immersive installations, and promotional works, including projects related to Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Today, she is also founding a fragrance brand that explores scent as a medium for human connection. Through both music and fragrance, her work investigates how subtle sensory experiences can soften the distance between people and transform everyday moments into meaningful human experiences.
THAÏS DARBLAY
CAREERTECH FOUNDER • WORK PSYCHOLOGY ADVOCATE • FUTURE OF WORK STRATEGIST
Thaïs is the co-founder and CEO of Jurni, an AI-powered career navigation tool that helps individuals identify the roles where they’ll naturally thrive and perform. The paltform is grounded in 25+ years of work psychology expertise and built for the reality of today’s non-linear career paths.
Her work sits at the intersection of human motivation, emerging technology and organizational performance. Having spent a decade navigating her own professional pivots before building Jurni, Thaïs brings both personal depth and methodological rigour to the question most companies are quietly struggling with: how do you retain talented people when they don’t know where they fit next, and neither do you?
Through Jurni, Thaïs is now bringing this methodology inside companies, helping organisations tackle internal mobility and talent retention by starting where most frameworks don’t: with the individual. Her focus is on building environments where employees don’t just stay, but genuinely thrive in their next move.
MICHAEL CARTER, PhD.
STRATEGIC ADVISOR • INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR • LEARNING & TECHNOLOGY FUTURIST
Michael is an advisor to founders, funds, and institutions shaping the future of learning. For more than four decades, Michael Carter has helped organizations translate emerging technologies into meaningful learning experiences — spanning early academic computing, Apple’s education research initiatives, digital media & learning movements, and today’s AI-driven and game-based ecosystems.
He guides founders and leadership teams through innovation, growth, and strategic uncertainty, bridging research, design, and product strategy across education, media, and technology.
He has mentored global edtech ventures and social-impact initiatives operating across six continents.
He is a board member at a global HR firm and the non-profit Text Genome, which he co-founded.
He has held executive positions at Apple, Stanford, and several startups that span digital learning, simulations, games, and media innovation.
NANCY FULTON
GROWTH HACKING, VISIBILITY & VIABILITY BUILDING, MEDIA PRODUCTION, MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION, EFFECTIVE ENABLEMENT & MENTORING
Seasoned serial entrepreneur with decades of experience in creating content and technology across media including print, podcasting, documentary, and feature film development.
Very experienced marketing and PR leader, who has helped thousands of individuals and companies get the attention they deserve. Effective event organizer, community builder, and search engine & AI marketer.
Seasoned business mentor and mentoring team manager, with experience supporting new business owners in the US, UK, Romania, Africa, etc. Has consulted for Autodesk Inc., Walt Disney Imagineering, Frank Gehry & Associates, Arup Structure Engineers, THUMS Islands, UCLA, ITT Tech, School for Creative Startups, Advanstar Media, Eve Brandstein’s Poetry in Motion, Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center, 60,000+ followers, monthly live events.
IDEJA BAJRA
AI ADOPTION · ORGANISATIONAL READINESS · PEOPLE & CULTURE · FUTURE OF WORK
Ideja is the Founder of Edvance AI, a consultancy focused on the people side of AI adoption. She helps leaders and teams across asset management, energy and insurance understand why AI initiatives stall – and how to build the readiness and capability needed to succeed.
Drawing on her own non-technical, cell biology background, Ideja bridges the gap between people and technology. She speaks regularly for organisations including TikTok and Salesforce, and at venues such as the House of Lords, always with the same focus: the human side of AI.
Prior to Edvance AI, she founded Based in Science, a STEM nonprofit recognised by the Prime Minister of Kosovo: an experience that taught her adoption is always about people first, technology second.
ANDREW NEMR
COACH · EDUCATOR · LEADERSHIP · CREATIVITY · TRANSITIONS · NON-PROFIT, FAITH-BASED & SPIRITUAL PROJECTS
Andrew is a coach for leaders who care about the people around them. For more than twenty years, Andrew has supported individuals and groups across creative and non-profit spaces turn challenging environments into clear actionable thinking.
He guides leaders and teams as they navigate transitions, find meaning in the midst of chaos, and learn how to actively engage in the journey of who they are becoming.
His own journey includes developing, producing, and delivering projects across the arts and culture, non-profit, and faith-based sectors. He has mentored leaders in three continents through the earliest stages of their pursuits and remains the founder of the Nemr Institute (for Spiritual Formation and Creativity).
STEVEN ELLIOTT
ENTREPRENEUR · SMALL BUSINESS ADVISOR · COMMUNITY BUILDER · MARKETING AND TECHNICAL WRITER · INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNER
Steven recently retired from operating a large community entertainment space and retail store. For over 20 years he supported families and children seeking creative fun activities. During that time he also served as a board member and president of the National Retail Hobby Stores Association, and was founder and president of a local nonprofit to promote family activity businesses.
As a published author and educator, Steven has written on subjects of computer aided design, computer animation, instructional design, content development, retail store management, and telecommunications. He has also developed and delivered courses on computer aided design and optical networking.
Steven holds a Master of Fine Arts in Architecture and a Master of Computer Science from the University of Illinois.
DAVID KOREN
COMMUNITY BUILDING & INNOVATION, MARKETING & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT, STRATEGY & REVENUE BUILDING, ENGINEERING & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
David Koren is an expert in strategy and revenue generation for mission-driven design and engineering firms focused on the built environment. David is currently the Director of Marketing at DeSimone Consulting Engineering, and has over 20 years of experience leading marketing, branding, communications, and business development efforts and teams for design and engineering firms such as Gensler, Perkins Eastman, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, WSP, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, ESI Design, and Morris Adjmi Architects. David is the author of The Architect’s Essentials of Marketing, a guide to marketing for architects, published by John Wiley & Sons and endorsed by the American Institute of Architects . In January 2008, David was named one of the “40 under 40” in Building Design & Construction magazine. He is a Fellow of the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS), and a past president of SMPS’s New York City chapter.
Beyond marketing for design firms, David is an innovator, consultant, and organizational founder in the areas of arts and culture, community building, public engagement, event design and management, social entrepreneurship, and placemaking, with an interest in new innovations in culture, design, technology, and real estate strategy. David led the team that created FIGMENT on Governors Island in NY Harbor in 2007, on the premise that everyone is an artist, and that art should be something that everyone should be able to create and interact with. The NYC festival has grown dramatically, and welcomes 20,000 participants each year who engage with 250+ arts projects. FIGMENT has spread to other cities (80 events in 20 cities in 5 countries so far as of the end of 2025). The Village Voice has named FIGMENT NYC the Best Art Festival in NYC. BBC Travel has written, “If Figment were a country, it would be the happiest in the world – and I would apply for citizenship immediately.” David’s book, FIGMENT (What is this? Why is nothing for sale? Why is everyone smiling?), is available on Amazon. Through David’s leadership and outreach, FIGMENT has recently become the key cultural partner and fiscal sponsor for the ReAL Edgemere CLT, a new BIPOC-led Community Land Trust in Edgemere, Queens, in the Rockaways.
David is a frequent writer and speaker. He is a graduate of NYU (BFA in Dramatic Writing) and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland (M.Phil. in Irish Theatre). He has written two plays that are published by the Dramatic Publishing Company.
LEILANI TIAN
LEARNING EXPERIENCE DESIGNER • L&D SPECIALIST • HUMAN-CENTERED EDUCATION BUILDER
Leilani is a learning experience designer and L&D specialist focused on creating accessible, inclusive, and practical learning experiences across education, sustainability, technology, and social impact.
She helps organizations translate complex ideas into engaging learning experiences, spanning eLearning, curriculum design, facilitation, onboarding-style resources, professional development, and LMS-based course delivery.
Her work bridges learning science, human-centered design, technology, and program evaluation. She has designed online courses and training modules across Coursera, Canvas, Brightspace, Blackboard, and Articulate 360, and has worked with Stanford, Ease Learning, and early-stage education ventures.
She holds an M.S. in Learning, Design & Technology from Stanford Graduate School of Education and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
RÓBERT BALUŠÍK
GAMING ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGIST • GO-TO-MARKET LEADER • FOUNDER
Robert helps game studios treat accessibility as an untapped revenue stream rather than a compliance task, guiding founders and product teams from the business case to the players waiting to buy.
Before gaming, he led the launch of the first car in Czech and Slovak Republics operated by joystick and voice only, drawing ~5 million views in 3 days and helping change national law.
He later took an accessibility software company into the US market on his own, with no prior presence, and has presented the commercial case for accessible games alongside Unity to the largest US game development community.
With a studio, he works less on “which buttons to remap” and more on the whole play: a nominal cost against real returns, testing with real players, and the reviewers who connect a finished game to a new audience. Those who move first reap the rewards.
STANISŁAW PSTROKOŃSKI
COGNITIVE SCIENCE, INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN, LINGUISTICS, SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT, DATA SCIENCE, EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOMETRICS
Stanisław is the founder and director of Panglot Languages, a company creating highly effective apps for learning lower-resourced and endangered languages. Previously he was Senior Data Scientist at language learning app company Busuu, developing machine learning models and algorithms for optimising language learning and assessment. He was formerly host of Education Bookcast, a podcast about pedagogy, cognitive science, and educational psychology research, where he presented articles and books on education for over 10 years. He speaks nine languages including Mandarin Chinese. Stanisław holds a BA and MEng in Chemical Engineering via Natural Sciences from Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
#1
If you are looking for help with your business, non-profit, educational initiative or cultural project, reach out to us. We look forward to learning more about your work. Our email address is mentors@mentorshop.com.
#2
We’ll respond to your inquiry. If we have easy answers for you we’ll share them. If we think one or more of us might be useful in your endeavor we’ll let you know. Note, you can also reach out directly to anyone you like using the links on our mentors page.
#3
We enjoy helping good projects move forward, and our collection of mentors, consultants, and advisors has extensive experience in successfully helping individuals and organizations make big transitions. Check out our Mentors page to learn more about our experience helping people…help people.