Our Board of Advisors
Gulzar Akbar
Gulzar is a Development Consultant with over 30 years of experience in social and corporate sectors. He has worked in telecom and computer peripherals R&D during the formative stage of his career. He has expertise in digital extension services, knowledge management, and capacity building. Gulzar earned his Master in Development Management from Asian Institute of Management, Philippines in 2008 and Bachelor of Engineering from University of Mysore, India in 1987. Gulzar has a life philosophy of ‘Learn and Extend’.
Melissa Andrews
Melissa graduated from Northeastern University with a bachelor of science in accounting and finance. She is also a Certified Financial Planner with over ten years of experience in finance, including starting her career at Invest Diva Capital, where she was responsible for market research and identifying investment trends and opportunities in global markets. Melissa also enjoys wealth management and financial market analysis and is driven by the idea of helping people in impoverished countries to get the education that all people deserve. Being involved with the Locks of Love charity, raising donations, even donating her hair, and volunteering at Global Gift Foundation are other activities she is passionate about.
Gary Bettan
Gary Bettan is a veteran within the video equipment industry. He leads two companies: a retail company, VideoGuys.com, and a distribution company, Broadfield Distribution Inc. Gary enjoys creating and growing markets for the video editing, video production, live streaming and digital content creation.
Bob Gustafson
Bob Gustafson is an Associate Professor of Media Arts in Higher Education. After spending 25+ years producing media for not-for-profit organizations and publishing houses, he returned to the classroom to teach creative video production. Gustafson holds a Masters degree (MA) in Digital Storytelling and a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Film and Television Production. He and his wife Jody live in the Chicago area.
Laurie Kaplan
Laurie’s background in communication, training and education make her uniquely suited for her role as Programs & Communications Associate. She works with project partners and other illuminAid staff to assist in implementing new programs, executing Video Education Workshops and procuring the most updated equipment in the industry.She graduated from National University and Pepperdine University with an MFA and BA in Creative Writing, respectively. Her past experiences include remote education, online technology, hospitality and blogging/editing. In her free time, you can find her listening to audiobooks and podcasts on weird history facts, adopting cats, and trying to learn Turkish.
Hari Thapa
Hari Thapa is a founder of Contemporary Vision, a research based socially aware audiovisual production company in Nepal that works with local and international clients for investigative reports and documentaries.Hari has been active in the media sector for the last 16 years working on educational and social issues. He has been carrying out programs on documentary film making, audio-visual training and holding discussions on social issues by working together with the local community. He has partnered with many organizations including the United Nations Development Programme, Swiss Development Co-operation (SDC), UNESCO and Save the Children. Hari is also a founder of the Teachers Can Make a Difference campaign which has trained more than 20 thousand teachers and guardians of over 40 districts in Nepal.
Tom Tilson
Tom Tilson has been supporting education in Asia, Africa and Latin America since his Peace Corps experience in the Philippines decades ago, including long-term assignments in Nicaragua, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Kenya.Currently he works in Kenya where he is Senior Education Advisor to the DFID-funded Kenya Essential Education Program. His special passion has been the application of appropriate technologies to expand access and improve the quality of basic education and teacher training. He was part of the founding team for Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) in Nicaragua in the mid-1970s and has expanded his interest to include video, tablets, mobile phones and computers.He has had the pleasure of working with Matt York in South Sudan and Kenya. Tom has his BA and MAT degrees from Yale University and Ph.D. in education from Stanford University.
Mike Wilhelm
Mike Wilhelm is Editor-in-Chief of Videomaker based out of Chico, California. He is a 15-year veteran of the media industry, having worked in television advertising, film production and online publishing.A graduate of California State University, Chico, Mike has produced video assets for hundreds of clients and has worked on countless independent film projects. At Videomaker, Mike strives to make video production more accessible by equipping beginners with the knowledge they need to successfully share their ideas through visual media.Mike believes that free communication should be a universal right and that in the 21st century, video is an essential tool in the distribution of knowledge.
Jennifer R. Wilking
Dr. Wilking is the Department Associate Chair and the coordinator of the International Relations Program at California State University, Chico. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from UC Davis in 2010. Dr. Wilking studies and teaches in the field of Comparative Politics, specializing in development and political behavior, with a focus on China. Other interests include research design, local housing issues, and collaborative teaching and learning. With Susan Roll, she was a recipient of a 2020-2021 CSU Faculty Innovation and Leadership Award.Nate Webb
Nate is a resource mobilization and award management specialist in the International Development sector. Through his work in the field with the United Nations and a recent role at Action Against Hunger in New York City, he has contributed to critical humanitarian responses around the globe. Nate holds a BBA and MAs in International Relations and Photojournalism and Documentary Photography, bringing both analytical and storytelling components to his work.
Joel Zimbelman
Joel has thirty-five years experience in higher education as a teacher, administrator, and researcher. He also has experience as a program-builder both domestically and internationally. Strengths in institutional reorganization and administrative oversight, developing and managing multi-million dollar budgets, establishing faculty mentoring and development programs, and improving classroom environments with the selective use of new technologies. Significant collaboration in program development with arts communities (museums, summer arts programs, symphonies), public schools, health care professionals, international and domestic NGOs, regional social service agencies, and religious organizations. Expertise at applied and professional ethics in medicine, nursing, and public health and its relation to religious communities, law, and public policy.
Bob Scaglione
As the SVP of Strategic Channel, Bob is responsible for driving adoption of OwnerIQ’s advertising solutions among key industry leaders at leading manufacturers, retailers and buying groups.
Prior to OwnerIQ, Bob Scaglione served as the CMO at Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America where he was responsible for the management and communications of the Sharp brand across all of its consumer and business-to-business product lines. Prior to that he served as SVP of Marketing for Sharp’s lineup of consumer display, audio, video and appliance products.
Scaglione was ranked #14 in the 2012 ExecRank listing of worldwide marketing executives and he earned Advertising Age’s Top 50 Marketers award in 2004 based on his work on the AQUOS brand of LCD TV’s. He serves on the board for the non-profit Clean the World foundation. Additionally, he was a member of the Academy of Digital Television Pioneers and was on the Board of Industry Leaders for the Consumer Electronics Association.
Prior to joining Sharp, Bob was a Buyer for Abraham & Straus in Brooklyn, NY. Scaglione holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Scranton.Chuan Qin
Chuan Qin is a female entrepreneur and certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) with over a decade of international experience in global trade and venture capital. Fluent in both English and Chinese, she brings a multicultural perspective shaped by her education in the U.S., holding an MBA from California State University, Chico, and a master’s in finance from UC Riverside.Having once been an international student herself, Chuan deeply understands how education can transform lives and open doors to opportunity. This belief in the power of education led her to join illuminAid in 2011, where she helped source portable projectors designed to deliver life-saving information to remote communities, especially for women and children without access to the internet or electricity. That same year, she traveled to Shenzhen, China to identify and meet with projector manufacturers supporting illuminAid’s mission.In addition to her business career, Chuan is also a professional Erhu performer and TED speaker, committed to fostering cultural understanding and lifelong learning through both music and education. Chuan currently resides in Los Angeles.