John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO

Terry Gardiner, Business Director, The Herndon Alliance

Celia Canfield, Communications Director

John Karatzas, California Project Director

Ben Geyerhahn, New York Project Director

Steering Committee

Advisory Council

John Arensmeyer is the Founder and CEO of Small Business Majority. He has established the organization as one of the leading advocates for small business interests. The organization's primary focus is healthcare reform, including mobilization of small businesses, media outreach, research, and education of national and state political leaders. Most recently, SBM has launched the Affordable HealthCare Project, a national coalition of small businesses that support comprehensive healthcare reform.

Previously, John spent 12 years as the Founder and CEO of ACI Interactive, a California-based, 35-employee, successful, award-winning e-commerce company. Earlier, he was an attorney and worked in national and municipal politics.

A native of New York City, John received his J.D. from Rutgers University and his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He has written numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on small business policy issues and a regular guest on TV and radio, including The CBS Evening News and NPR’s Marketplace.

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Terry Gardiner is the Business Director of the Herndon Alliance, a national coalition of more than 100 national and state minority, faith, labor, advocacy, and provider organizations, advocating for comprehensive healthcare reform. The Herndon Alliance runs the Small Business Affordable HealthCare Project in partnership with SBM.

A native of Alaska, Terry is the former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, in which he served for 10 years. He also spent 22 years as the Founder and CEO of Silver Lining Seafoods and NorQuest Seafoods, where he grew the company to over $100 million in sales, one thousand employees and markets in twenty-two countries. After the sale of NorQuest in May, 2004 he returned to public policy work focusing on healthcare reform.

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Celia Canfield directs Small Business Majority’s communications and outreach operations, particularly its soon-to-be-launched online communications strategies. She was the Founder & CEO of San Francisco-based Tendo Communications, a marketing communications company where she developed content programs for global companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, and Aon. Previously, she held executive positions with M&T Publishing, IDG, and Ziff Davis, where she led the launch and marketing of ZDNet, the company's critically acclaimed Web site, and served as launch publisher for PC Week Inside.

A native of Alabama, Celia graduated from Troy State University, completed graduate work in mass communications at the American University of Cairo, and attended Jesus College, Oxford University, on scholarship in the English-Speaking Union Program.

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John Karatzas oversees Small Business Majority's California operations. He has over 25 years of business experience, both in the corporate and small business worlds. He spent the past 10 years as the co-Founder of Ma Maison, a San Francisco retail and wholesale business specializing in French home products. Family owned and operated, the store has given him hands-on expertise in the joys and challenges of owning a small business.

Previously, John spent 15 years working for various corporations, such as Lear Siegler and The Clorox Company, where he managed the marketing and distribution for a range of consumer products in their international divisions. Throughout his career, John has also used his business experience to teach and train business executives and entrepreneurs, focusing on small business development and marketing. A native of New York City, he received his M.A. in International Relations from the University of Denver and his B.A. in History & Political Science from Queens College of the City of New York.

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Ben is a business, political and communications strategist with over 10 years in government, politics, and law, and wide range of experience serving as field director and consultant on national and state-level campaigns and public policy initiatives. His recent accomplishments include serving as the President of Blue Tiger Group, which invests in and launches progressive ventures, including businesses that used the leverage of group buying to reduce the cost of heating oil, insurance, and other necessities to consumers.

Ben is a Principal with HudsonTG, where he has guided a Rockefeller Foundation-supported project exploring ways to finance the rising cost of health care expenses paid by the insured and uninsured. Previously, He served as New York Director for NDN, a progerssive think-tank and advocacy organization. A native of Maine, he began his career as an attorney for national law firms in New York City and Portland, Maine. He received his J.D. from Fordham University and his B.A. from Tufts College.

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John Arensmeyer - Founder & CEO (Sausalito, CA and New York, NY) See bio above.

Celia Canfield - Communications Director (San Francisco, CA) See bio above.

Terry Gardiner - Business Director, the Herndon Alliance (Seattle, WA) See bio above.

Kenneth Henderson (New York, NY) is a partner at Bryan Cave LLC, a global law firm, where he is co-leader of the corporate finance and securities client service group, a member of the firm's executive committee, and a member of the transactions and the entrepreneurial, technology & commercial practice client service groups. He is on the board of directors of Activision, Inc, and is past chairman of and counsel to the board of directors of Population Communications International.

A native of Georgia, Ken received his J.D. cum laude from New York University and his B.A. with high honors in political science and economics from Auburn University.

Kip Howard (Larkspur, CA) has spent the past 30 years founding and running a variety of highly successful small businesses in the San Francisco Bay area, most recently Navis LLC, a 200-employee international software and professional services company. Kip founded and ran Wood-Howard Products, Inc., a consumer goods invention concern, Daggett Assembly, Inc., a 25 person general contracting firm, and HowBroad, an income property development partnership.

A native of Washington, D.C., Kip received his B.S. in geology from Stanford University.

Michael Paolucci (Washington, CT) is Founder & President of US Assistant, an-online small business services company, and Slooh.com, a start-up technology company connecting the general public to powerful mountain top telescopes. Previously, he co-founded 24/7 Real Media, Inc., a pioneer of Internet advertising. He also launched SavetheHubble.org, an on-line campaign to save the Hubble telescope that has attracted substantial financial support and media interest.

A native of Southern California, Mike received his B.A. in Economics from Cornell University, and spent 10 years at the school of hard knocks in New York City before moving to Connecticut.

Marshall Toplansky (Irvine, CA) is the Founder and Chairman of Core Strategies, a marketing communications company that specializes in revitalizing how companies project themselves and their products to customers, analysts, the press, and investors. Previously, Marshall served as vice president, customer & competitive intelligence for Gateway Computer and as vice president of marketing for U.S. Robotics. He is a member of the board of directors of The Computing Technology Industry Association, and a member of Tech Coast Angels, one of the oldest and largest networks of angel investors in the United States.

A native of upstate New York, Marshall received his M.B.A from the Harvard Business School, and his B.A. magna cum laude in political science and Chinese from SUNY at Albany.

Renn Vara (San Francisco, CA) is Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of SNP Communications, Inc., a 15-year-old multimillion dollar San Francisco-based executive communications firm, serving Fortune 500 business leaders in high tech, financial, and health services. Previously, Renn worked with the homeless community at Covenant House in New York City. He has also been active in politics, including a run for Congress in California's 6th Congressional District and as a congressional staff member.

A native of northwest Florida, Renn received his B.S. in business administration from the University of West Florida.

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Scott Hauge is the president and owner of CAL Insurance and Associates in San Francisco, and is the founder of Small Business Advocates and Small Business California, two non-partisan small business advocacy groups. He is the treasurer and past chair of the San Francisco Small Business Network, and serves on numerous boards, including National Small Business United, the California Workforce Investment Board, and the Center for Small Business and the Environment. He has received numerous awards, including Small Business Advocate of the Year from the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Jonathan Koppell, Ph.D is associate professor of Politics, Policy, and Organization at the Yale School of Management. His research focuses on the design and administration of public/private hybrids and government-created entities that operate in the marketplace to achieve public policy goals e.g. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and government-backed venture capital funds. He has advised political candidates on economic policy, and authored the small business policy put forth by 2004 presidential candidate, Howard Dean. He received his Ph.D and M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and his A.B. from Harvard College. He is the author of numerous articles published in academic publications such as Cambridge University Press and Journal of Politics , and in other publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal .

Peter Kostmayer is a former seven-term United States Congressman from Pennsylvania. He currently serves as President of Citizens for New York City, an organization that mobilizes New Yorkers to improve their neighborhoods in the areas of environment, safety, poverty, community service, and youth entrepreneurship. Previously, he was president of Population Connection in Washington, D.C., and before that was the regional administrator for the Middle Atlantic States for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ted Lempert is a former four-term Assembly member from California. He is currently president and CEO of Children Now, a national children's advocacy organization. Previously, he was the founding CEO and co-founder of EdVoice, a California grassroots education organization. He also serves on the San Mateo County Board of Education and has previously served on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. While in the California Assembly he was recognized five times as the "High-Tech Legislator of the Year" by the American Electronics Association.

Dennis Mehiel, based in Westchester County, New York, is the chairman and principal shareholder of Four M Capital, a private holding company. He was the Founder of Box USA, one of the largest full-service producers of corrugated shipping containers and interior corrugated packaging in North America (recently sold to International Paper Company) and Sweetheart Cup Co. He was the 2002 Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York and the former chairman of the Westchester County Democratic Party. He served as National Chairperson of Business Leaders for Kerry in 2004.

David Pottruck is the managing director of The Pottruck Group and the former president and co-CEO of The Charles Schwab Corporation. Previously, he was senior vice president at Shearson/American Express. He has served on many national boards and commissions, including current service on the board of directors of the Intel Corporation and as a trustee of the University of Pennsylvania. He is the co-author of Clicks and Mortar: Passion Driven Growth in an Internet Driven World. He has long advocated the need to reach out to America's small businesses.

Andrew Rasiej is a successful small business owner and community leader in New York City. He founded Irving Plaza, the internationally known concert venue in Union Square, founded the New York Nightlife Association, and worked in real estate, including a position as project manager for the South Street Seaport. He has been at the forefront of the development of technology as a tool for small business development, education, and civic engagement, working as tireless advocate for the deployment of wireless technologies in New York, and founding MOUSE, a non-profit organization focused on integrating technology into public schools. He has served as an advisor to national, state, and local political leaders and sits on numerous boards and commissions.

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