BEN SILVERMAN
Founder and CEO, Electus
Ben Silverman, executive producer of the Emmy award-winning NBC comedy The Office and the Golden
Globe-winning comedy Ugly Betty, and co-creator and executive producer of the hit reality show The Biggest
Loser, announced a partnership with IAC, led by Barry Diller, in 2009 to launch a new company, Electus,
which will unite producers, creators, advertisers, and distributors under one roof and produce all forms of
content for distribution across a variety of platforms worldwide. Before launching Electus, Mr. Silverman was
co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios from 2007. Earlier, in 2002, he launched
Reveille, a production and distribution company focusing on exploiting worldwide intellectual property rights
through scripted and alternative television formats. Previously, Mr. Silverman was in charge of the William
Morris Agency’s International Packaging Division, where he packaged more than 25 television series that
encompassed more than 500 produced episodes. Before William Morris, he was vice president for New World/
Marvel Entertainment, and held posts at CBS and Warner Bros.
BRIGHT B. SIMONS
President, mPedigree Network
Bright Simons is a Ghanaian technology innovator, development activist, and social entrepreneur. As the
director of development research at the award-winning African think tank IMANI ( www.imanighana.org), and
as the president of the mPedigree Network ( www.mPedigree.Net), he works to promote innovation as the
best response to Africa’s challenges. His insights have been shared through The Economist, New York Times,
the Financial Times, Asian Times, and the BBC, where he is a regular commentator for the World Service. Mr.
Simons is a technology pioneer of the World Economic Forum and a member of its Global Agenda Councils (the
organization’s foremost expert body). A TED and Ashoka fellow, he is also a Tech Award Laureate as well as a
member of the Evian Group’s Brain Trust at IMD, widely considered to be Europe’s foremost business school. In
2010, he was conferred with an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Award.
MARK A. SIMONS
President and CEO, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. ( TAIS)
Mark Simons is president and CEO of TAIS, one of Toshiba’s largest organizations outside of Japan. In this
role, Mr. Simons is responsible for setting strategic direction, achieving revenue goals and profitability,
and identifying new market opportunities for the Digital Products, Imaging Systems, Storage Device, and
Telecommunication Systems divisions, the organization’s four business units. Mr. Simons has served 17 years
with Toshiba in a variety executive management roles. Previously he was the general manager and vice
president of TAIS’ Digital Products Division, where he made significant strides to restructure the division and
re-establish Toshiba as the No. 1 mobile computer vendor in the retail market. Mr. Simons earned his bachelor’s
degree in business administration from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky.
MANJIT SINGH
Chief Information Officer, Chiquita Brands International, Inc.
Manjit Singh, a member of Chiquita’s management committee, is responsible for the company’s global
commercial and operational systems; the enterprise architecture including Latin America, Europe, and Asia;
application and web services; disaster recovery; IT governance and compliance; and the delivery of global
systems managed via a project management office. Mr. Singh sets the strategic direction and governance
for all technology initiatives at Chiquita worldwide with an emphasis on compliance and global utilization of
systems. He has led the initiative to consolidate Chiquita’s IT organizations into a single centralized global IT.
Mr. Singh has completed many compliance and business intelligence initiatives that have led to global data
integrity and real-time access to data across multiple ERP environments. In a continued effort to create savings
and efficiencies for Chiquita, Mr. Singh has brought Software as a Service (SaaS) to the company. Before joining
Chiquita, he was director, Asia Pacific business systems, and regional CIO, at Gillette for four years. He was
named a Computer World Premier 100 Leader.
