Ziad K. Abdelnour

Founder and Chairman

Ziad K. Abdelnour is Founder, President & CEO of Blackhawk Partners, Inc. a private “family office” in the business of originating, structuring & acting as equity investor in strategic corporate investments and Founder & Chairman of the Board of the Financial Policy Council; a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization designed to give its select group of supporters the opportunity to have direct face-to-face dialogue with the nation’s quintessential powers brokers and policymakers.

Mr. Abdelnour has over 30-years of experience on Wall Street backing over 125 companies & serial entrepreneurs worth in aggregate over 20 billion dollars in the private equity, high-yield bond, and distressed debt markets. He is also the author of the bestselling books “Economic Warfare: Secrets of Wealth Creation in the Age of Welfare Politics” and “Startup Saboteurs: How Incompetence, Ego, and Small Thinking Prevent True Wealth Creation.”

He holds an MBA in Finance, Summa Cum Laude, from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania & BS in Economics, Summa Cum Laude, from the American University of Beirut.

Mr. Abdelnour continues to be featured on hundreds of media channels and in publications every year and is widely seen as one of the top business leaders by millions around the world.

He was just recently been featured as one of the 500 Most Influential CEOs in the World.  Source: Top 500 Most Influential CEOs Powerlist (2015)”. Richtopia. 24 December 2015 along with one of the Top 10 Disruptors to Watch Out for in 2023 by LA Weekly.

Stanford Silverman

Vice President/Treasurer

With a keen eye for investment opportunities, Stanford Silverman, CEO and Founder leads RVAS Capital Management Inc. (RVAS) with an unwavering vision and bold strategy in the alternative hedge fund industry. Specializing in the acquisition of businesses within the primary, secondary, and higher education verticals, RVAS offers a bespoke, portfolio-company specific approach that yields exceptional performance and value to its underlying investments. Through a bottom-up, dynamic methodology, RVAS is at the forefront of innovative investment practices and delivers unparalleled results to its discerning investors. 

Stanford has over 35 years of experience in marketing and operating for-profit colleges and universities, turning distressed operations into profitable ventures. RVAS has a successful track record in growing education-focused businesses, optimizing revenue growth, and managing debt and financing. 

Stanford’s entrepreneurial talents extend beyond the financial world as he also serves as CEO and Founder of SBS Advertising Inc., (SBS) a leading advertising agency headquartered in the bustling metropolis of New York City. SBS has solidified its reputation as a formidable industry player, having represented over 250 esteemed traditional and vocational private and publicly traded universities, colleges, and schools, generating agency billings in excess of $20 million. With a keen eye for detail, the agency specializes in Political, Automotive, Retail, and Transportation advertising, while also offering SEO, Web Design, and Content Management services. 

Stanford’s notable achievements span the fields of publishing, media, and academia. As a contributor to Prentice Hall’s Advertising Procedures-7th Edition by Otto Kleppner, his expertise has been recognized as a valuable asset to the industry. His insights on media negotiation and target marketing have been shared with students at prestigious universities such as NYU, Pace, Hofstra, and Cornell. Furthermore, his contributions to Advertising Age, Media Decisions & Radio-Television Age, as well as his participation as a panelist on NBC Network-Demographic Marketing in the U.S. and as a radio personality on Marketing & Demographic Studies, have further solidified his reputation as a thought leader in the field. 

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from Hofstra University and has pursued post-graduate studies for his MBA at both Hofstra and New York University. In addition to his professional interests, Stanford actively nurtures his passion for reading, opera, and cultivating exquisite orchids. He also enjoys delving into religious philosophy, engaging in photography, and appreciating art. Furthermore, he actively participates in various charitable endeavors. 

Bret Siarkowski

Board Secretary

Bret Siarkowski is a founder & GP of MedScience Ventures (MSV) and a Member and General Partner. Mr. Siarkowski is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience initiating and leading technology companies in the design and application of innovative market-demanded solutions, as well as creating new markets. His extensive experience spans the mobile, gaming, healthcare, software, semiconductor and electronics industries. 

Mr. Siarkowski is a Limited Partner at Kodiak Venture Partners, angel investor and serves on the Board for several technology companies. 

He has held visionary roles at industry leading corporations including GSN Games, Cadence Design, Synopsys and Digital Equipment Corporation and as well as startups such as Chrysalis Symbolic Design and Verplex Systems. 

Bret is the founder of CaseNET Inc., an enterprise care management healthcare software company. He is a co-founder of AbleRoad, a community effort that connects people with disabilities, families, friends and caregivers with accessible places. Bret is also co-founder and board member of Biofficient Inc., the “Match.com” for the Biotech Industry, automating the RFP/procurement process for clinical trial sponsors and service providers. 

Mr. Siarkowski holds a BSEE from Northeastern University and an MSEE from the University of Southern California. Mr. Siarkowski is an active Mentor in the Northeastern University Health Sciences Entrepreneurs organization. He holds multiple patents that cover both software and hardware industries. 

Barry Moniês

Resident Expert - Blockchain, Cyber Security

Shortly after earning a Business degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Massachusetts, Barry Moniês started a real estate investing company purchasing multifamily and commercial properties. Since then, he has been involved in analyzing, financing, purchasing and/or managing hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of real estate. Currently, Mr. Moniês owns and manages multi-million dollars’ worth of commercial real estate.

Mr. Moniês also founded and currently serves as CEO of Computronix, a 25+ year-old internationally recognized, full-service technology solutions company that builds, manages, and secures I.T. networks for businesses in real estate, financial, legal, medical, and governmental sectors. Companies of all sizes rely on Computronix to secure and protect billions of dollars’ worth of data on a daily basis. In recent years, Mr Moniês has more than once been honored as one of the World’s Top Managed Services Executives. Computronix has repeatedly been recognized as one of the world’s 100 most progressive managed technology service providers and has repeatedly received top industry awards and media attention in publications such as the Stamford Advocate, the Connecticut Business Magazine, the Fairfield County Business Journal and Forbes magazine.

One of Mr. Moniês proudest recognitions was when he was requested to accompany Connecticut Governor Rowland on his Trade Mission to the European Community. Mr. Moniês had the distinct honor of representing the business community from the State of Connecticut. With stops in Ireland for meetings with the President, Mary McAleese, and high-level governmental meetings in Germany, Mr. Moniês built strong relationships on behalf of the company and the State of Connecticut.

Mr. Moniês is also noted for his expertise in the area of cyber security and the protection of electronic data and has worked with the FBI on several occasions. Several years ago, he was invited to participate in a Congressional Conference in Washington, D.C. on issues relating to cyber security and electronic terrorism.

In 2019, Mr. Moniês joined forces with two of the brightest minds in the fintech industry to start REINNO, a fintech company utilizing blockchain to provide greater liquidity to the commercial real estate industry. REINNO provided tokenization services, lending against real estate backed tokens, interest earning accounts and a marketplace for securitized token offerings. REINNO’s first deal in 2020 was the tokenization of a $105 million-dollar real estate fund.

Most recently, Mr. Moniês has become a recognized expert in blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies and an international BTC buy/sell consultant and broker, helping his clients buy/sell billions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency. In 2022, Mr. Moniês wrote a book titled, “Surviving and Thriving: Bitcoin, Blockchain & The Metaverse,” which at one point was a top seller on Amazon.com.

Mr. Moniês believes strongly in community involvement and actively participates on the Board of Directors for several organizations including the Stamford Chamber of Commerce, the Palace Theater, the Stamford Veterans Park Partnership, and the Financial Policy Council in New York City. Mr. Moniês lives in Stamford with his wife, three boys and two dogs. Mr. Moniês enjoys spending time with his family as much as possible, traveling and when time permits, Mr. Moniês likes to escape the daily business grind by trading Forex or sneaking away to his in-house fully furnished music studio for a meditative session of creating music!

Omar L. Hamada

Resident Expert - Health Care, Personalized Precision Medicine

Omar L. Hamada, MD, MBA, MATS (FAAFP | FACOG | FICS), USA Flight & Aerospace, USN Diving & Hyperbarics, USASOC Sports Medicine, a decorated veteran, former Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army Special Forces (ABN), is an accomplished physician and business executive/entrepreneur living in Franklin, Tennessee.

Hamada earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Chemistry from Union University, a Master of Business Administration (in Finance and Entrepreneurship) from Vanderbilt University’s Owen School of Management, a Master of Theological Studies from Columbia Biblical Seminary, and a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine. He is also an alum of Long Island University and New York Institute of Technology.

After graduating medical school, Hamada completed residencies in both Family Medicine and in Obstetrics & Gynecology and was granted a Fellowship in Sports Medicine for his years serving in the United States Army Special Forces, (ABN) as a Flight Surgeon and Diving Medical Officer. He is currently an Emergency Medicine Physician and has a highly successful private concierge practice for high level executives and celebrities focusing on disease reversal, longevity, and human performance utilizing cutting-edge technologies, alternative regenerative approaches, and biohacking.

Dr. Hamada serves/has served on various nonprofit and for profit boards as Chairman and Member, is a Trustee at Union University, and has held the academic rank of Associate Professor. Hamada has held leadership positions in several Fortune 100 companies to include HCA, Pfizer, and TeamHealth. He is currently Partner at Cocoon Resources, Chief Medical Officer of startups RxGenomix (pharmacogenomics) and Superhuman IV (IV therapy), and CEO of Executive Operations Group (utilizes combat veterans of Delta Force, the Navy SEALs, the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets), and the CIA to train civilians in security and survival skills).

Hamada is in demand as an award-winning speaker and is a regular contributor to FOX News, Laura Ingraham, NewsMax, America’s Voice Live, SekulowLive, Huckabee, EpochTimes, Focus on the Family, Moody Radio, and others on geopolitical, medical/health, social, and business topics, and is a Contributing Editor at the Western Journal and Spy & Survival Magazine. Hamada’s driving passion of representing Christ and advancing His Kingdom in all he does reflects the Special Forces mottos “to liberate the oppressed” and “to win hearts and minds” through relationship, mentoring, serving the less fortunate, living by example, writing, and speaking.

Hamada is a classically trained spinto tenor (NY/Vienna) in the style of Mario Lanza, and plays classical and jazz trumpet. He is multilingual, enjoys worldwide travel, is an aspiring author, and adores his four children Gabriella, Annelise, Nicholas, and Josiah.

Tim Kaelin

Resident Expert - Renewable Energy, Intelligence

Timothy J. Kaelin is CEO of Impact Analytics LLC a media and marketing company specializing in high volume, high profit, aggressive email marketing programs in the health, finance and conservative political space. The company generates several billion customer touches per year on behalf of its clients.

Previously, he was a founder of DigitalSelect the first commercial DSL company on the East Coast (acquired by Primus Telecom), lead online marketer for the $2 billion equipment manufacturer STIHL Outdoor Equipment and served as CTO of Newsmax Media, tripling its revenue in 2 years through his innovations in marketing operations and growth.

Tim began his career with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), running operations and developing technology and analytics, working targets in more than 30 countries in 12 years. He worked against communist insurgencies in El Salvador, Honduras, the Philippines and Nicaragua, Narcotics traffickers in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, terrorist targets in Beirut, Iran, Somalia and India, and counterintelligence in Russia, Liberia, and much more.

Mr. Kaelin is conducting original research in his primary field of expertise, mass influence and psychology. He has written books about socialized healthcare and climate change and has presented research papers at conferences on a conservative capitalist solution to climate change. He trains in mixed martial arts and plays a mean jazz piano.
Tim holds a M.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisville and a Master of Arts in International Transactions from George Mason University.

Vladimir Lounegov

Resident Expert - Banking, FinTech

Vladimir Lounegov is co-founder and CEO of Mbanq, a Silicon Valley-based FinTech. In three short years Mbanq developed and brought to market the next generation digital banking core and became one of the fastest growing and most comprehensive Banking Service (BaaS) providers in the world. 

Vladimir is an expert at the intersection of financial services and technology. He gained deep leadership experience through diverse projects involving FinTech startups, investment, consulting, and M&A due diligence. His key skills are the ability to assemble and inspire top FinTech teams and to build ecosystems of investors, partners, developers and advisors. 

Previously, Vladimir had a senior role at PwC’s FinTech practice, where he led a research and analysis team that evaluated over 1,600 FinTech startups worldwide. He also held consulting roles at EY and KPMG in which he worked to optimize the inner workings of banks. 

Throughout his career, Vladimir collaborated closely with the most influential financial institutions in the world such as Citigroup and Barclays, as well as FinTech leaders like LendingClub and cutting edge innovators including Google. 

Vladimir is adept at spotting and cultivating star-potential new talent. He is founder and co-founder of several other FinTechs and helps to mentor FinTech startups through Mbanq’s FinTech accelerator program. 

Vladimir gained international recognition in this capacity and served as a judge at the Citigroup Citi Mobile Challenge program. 

As a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science, holding a BSc in International Relations, Vladimir keeps up-to-date with global affairs and markets. In his spare time he also enjoys travel, skiing, good food, spending time with his family and the occasional trip to the gym. 

Hiba Osseiran

Executive Director

Ms Osseiran’s work focuses on global networking, communication, database collection and connecting corporate CEO’s seeking business partnership and collaboration.

A professional education and organization fundraiser with more than ten years of experience and a proven record of fundraising success, Ms Osseiran has many years of experience supporting various charitable and non – profit organizations and committed to making a significant contribution.

Hiba is a member of the Society of International Business Fellows, Middle East Leadership Academy Chapter and Co-Founder of an NGO that supports patients with multiple sclerosis.

Ms Osseiran enjoys worldwide travel to explore new destinations with unique experiences and to expand her network of connections. She maintains strong relationships with influential and professional leaders worldwide.