Gary Winnick, a global financier and philanthropist, has helped raise billions to fund transformative technologies and corporate innovation, providing capital and leadership to companies in a wide range of industries, including advanced telecommunications, financial services, healthcare, real estate, consumer products, digital technologies, and entertainment.

Mr. Winnick and two companies he founded built the first global fiber optic network, spanning a 130,000-mile IP-based system connecting continents and countries around the world, making today’s global connectivity a reality.

Prior to forming Winnick & Company, Mr. Winnick was a senior financial executive specializing in high yield and convertible bonds for Wall Street and for global capital markets, bringing new resources and financing to companies and industries such as mobile telephony, biotechnology, and gaming.

Mr. Winnick has been a member of the board of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) for more than 20 years, one of the premiere arts institutions in the world, and he served on the Executive Board of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a leading human rights organization.

The Winnick Family Foundation, founded by Karen and Gary Winnick in 1983, focuses giving in the program areas of education, literacy, health care, art, culture, animal welfare and the needs of the worldwide Jewish community.

Mr. Winnick is a recipient of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s highest honor, its Humanitarian Laureate Award. He has also sat on the National Advisory Board of JP Morgan Chase and was on the boards of directors of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Hillel International, and The Special Olympics.

He has received an Honorary Doctorate from Long Island University, his alma mater.

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is Chairman of the Board.

Mayor Villaraigosa is today a respected voice in American political and education circles with a keen understanding of the technology and funding needs of underserved American communities.

Mayor Villaraigosa is a graduate of both Catholic and public schools in East Los Angeles. He is also a graduate of UCLA, has a law degree and has served as a fellow at Harvard University and as a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of California, Merced.

In 2013, Villaraigosa finished his two terms as 41st Mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Prior to his election as Mayor, Villaraigosa was a member of the Los Angeles City Council. Villaraigosa also served in the California State Assembly as Democratic Whip, Majority Leader and Speaker of the Assembly.

Susan Wegleitner is Chief Financial Officer and  member of the executive team at WCO Spectrum.  WCO Spectrum invests in Educational Broadband Service (“EBS”) spectrum licenses in the United States with a mission of creating maximum value for over 1,000 not-for-profit EBS license holders who serve millions of students across the country.  Ms Wegleitner is also Managing Director of private investment firm Winnick & Company, which includes WCO Spectrum among its portfolio companies.   

 She is a member of the Executive Advisory Committee and financial advisor for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest Catholic Archdiocese in the United States with over five million members. Ms.  Wegleitner is also currently a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County, the third largest performing arts center in the United States. 

Prior to joining WCO Spectrum, Ms.  Wegleitner held executive management positions with some of the nation’s most important financial institutions including most recently JPMorgan Chase.  She holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Business and has extensive knowledge of corporate finance, capital markets, corporate governance, financial reporting and risk management.   

Kale Speaker is Senior Vice President of Acquisitions at WCO Spectrum. He has over 20 years of experience in leasing, business development , as well as underwriting and credit analysis. Prior to joining WCO Spectrum, Mr. Speaker was Senior Vice President for Landmark Dividend where he negotiated and purchased telecom lease and license contracts. Previously, Mr. Speaker was Senior Managing Director for Speaker Oil & Gas, LLC where he specialized in raising capital for oil & natural gas drilling exploration projects in Texas and Oklahoma, as well as negotiating for the divesture of mineral rights and determining ownership in minerals through research of public and private records.

Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow and director of the Center for the Economics of the Internet at Hudson Institute. Mr. Furchtgott-Roth founded Furchtgott-Roth Economic Enterprises in 2003. He frequently comments on issues related to the communications sector of the economy. From 2001 to 2003, he was a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where he published A Tough Act to Follow, chronicling the difficulties implementing the Telecommunications Aact of 1996. From 1997 through 2001, Mr. Furchtgott-Roth served as a commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. In that capacity, he served on the Joint Board on Universal Service. He is one of the few economists to have served as a federal regulatory commissioner, and the only one to have served on the Federal Communications Commission. Before his appointment to the FCC, he was chief economist for the House Committee on Commerce and a principal staff member on the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Earlier in his career, he was a senior economist with Economists Incorporated and a research analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses.

Andreas Bitzarakis supports WCO Spectrum on issues of licensed spectrum and customer communications. Andreas has served as an executive in the telecommunications industry for more than a decade, working with and advising operators that are managing and operating licensed wireless spectrum. He is also an experienced advisor to educational institutions holding licensed spectrum rights.

Daniel A. Rivetti is an associate professor of finance at the University of San Diego School of Business. As an international finance consultant, with expertise in real estate financing, he directed all funding activities for the largest private investment along the U.S. and Mexican border. He established a first and second floor lending arrangement with Banamex and Bancomext respectively for Matrix Aeronautica S.A.de C.V. This project resulted in the largest heavy jet repair facility in Latin America.

His consulting experience includes the use of real option theory and has utilized state of the art derivative instruments for one of the largest Crown Corporations in Canada, Ontario Power Generation. He has served on two publicly listed board of directors: (BHBC) Beverly Hills Bancorp (assets sold to Mitsubishi and Sanwa Banks) and (TGRA) Tigera Group. Rivetti created a special purpose corporation for Rohr to facilitate the sale and refurbishment of Boeing 727 aircraft to primarily Latin American customers. Rivetti served on the board of directors for Polexis, where he helped arrange an Imperial Bank (U.S.) led management LBO. Currently, Rivetti is on the board of Forward Slope, Inc. FSI is a high technology communication oriented company in the defense space.

John C. Cushman, III is a global leader in the commercial real estate industry. He currently serves as Chairman, Global Transactions, where he is responsible for formulating and articulating strategic policies and initiatives for Cushman & Wakefield on a national and global basis.

Over the course of his 50+ year career, John has played an instrumental role in advancing Cushman & Wakefield to its position as one of the top commercial real estate firms in the world. Prior to his becoming Chairman of the Board and subsequently Co-Chairman of the Board of Cushman & Wakefield, John was acknowledged by a variety of media sources as the top office leasing broker in the United States.

John began his career with Cushman & Wakefield in 1963 in New York City. In 1967, he moved to Los Angeles to open Cushman & Wakefield’s first office in Southern California. In 1965, he was responsible for 60% of Cushman & Wakefield’s offices in the United States. John and his twin brother, Louis B. Cushman, started their own firm in 1978, Cushman Realty Corporation, which they grew from two offices to operations in eleven US cities with over 200 employees.