Eric Braverman is a CEO, founder, and teacher. He currently serves as chair and CEO of Telescope.
Named by Fortune magazine in 2010 as one of the “40 Most Influential Leaders in Business” worldwide under 40 years old, Eric previously served as CEO of Schmidt Futures, President of Hillspire, CEO of Rex Group, CEO of the Clinton Foundation, and partner at McKinsey & Company and co-founder of its government practice.
For the past half-decade, he served as the founding CEO of Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic initiative that bets early on exceptional people solving hard problems in science and society. Prior to creating Schmidt Futures, Eric oversaw all philanthropic and non-investment efforts and directed the family office.
In his role at Schmidt Futures, Eric launched and led a large number of philanthropic programs. Some of the achievements of Schmidt Futures and its partners during his tenure include creation of a $1 billion philanthropic commitment to talent development across all Schmidt initiatives; more than $400 million of initiatives specifically advancing artificial intelligence (AI) for social good; the Quad Fellowship program for STEM talent, together with the governments of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States; the largest single-country scholarship program in the world for refugees; and a wide range of efforts to support innovation in science and technology worldwide — leading to billions of dollars of public and private support for efforts such as universal broadband, household electrification, organ donation, earth system modeling, and carbon removal.
At the Clinton Foundation, Eric led an effort to secure an endowment, develop infrastructure to support best-in-class operating practices, improve strategic planning and financial management, strengthen Board governance and internal controls, and use data effectively. During his tenure from 2013 to 2015, Charity Navigator awarded the Foundation a perfect score for transparency and accountability.
At McKinsey, Eric was the global leader of McKinsey’s work on government innovation and an expert on the transformation of complex institutions. In a career at the Firm from 1997 to 2013, he counseled heads of state and former presidents, cabinet secretaries, civil service officials, and business leaders in media, entertainment, and technology. Eric also served as an advisor on performance management for President Obama’s transition team in 2008.
Eric has taught at Yale since 2012 on public leadership matters including ethics, innovation, and global competitiveness through science and technology. His classes have been offered at the Yale Law School, Yale School of Management, and Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, and he has been a member of the Jackson Board of Advisors since 2019.
Eric is a member of YPO and the New York State Bar, and serves on the boards of America’s Frontier Fund, the ASPCA, Ready Games, Arena Stage, and other organizations. He also served as co-chair of the Families & Workers Fund to provide emergency relief to those hit hardest by COVID-19 and to create more higher-paying jobs for American workers.
Eric lives in Washington, D.C., with his husband Neil Brown and their children.
Chris Lisi is a communications and public affairs executive with a career journey that started in the White House, to a leadership position in one of the world's most valuable technology companies, and now to leading communications at Telescope.
Before joining Telescope, Chris was Google's Director of Trust Strategy, where she managed various complex global, national, and local communications issues related to competition, privacy, and more to build user trust with the over 1 billion users of the company’s products and services.
Nearly 20 years ago, she founded a highly successful public affairs consulting firm, serving global clients and specializing in increasing brand value, reputation management, executive positioning, and stakeholder development. In this role, she has been trusted by top businesses, innovators, NGOs, thought leaders, high-level government officials, and national advocacy organizations for strategic communications guidance to help shift policy, market, and media environments. Chris’ passion for and expertise in policy and public affairs was first sparked by a White House internship where she worked for Vice President Al Gore; in the more than two decades since she has advised three presidential administrations and served in a senior leadership role in the United States Senate. Focused on impact and the intersection of storytelling, public policy, and media, Chris has advised several federal government agencies at pivotal moments, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in implementing the Affordable Care Act and the Peace Corps' landmark 50th anniversary.
She has also held senior roles at global public relations and marketing agencies, including the Glover Park Group (now Finsbury Glover Hering) and FleishmanHillard.
Chris is proud to have been an adjunct professor at George Washington University and Georgetown University, where she helped to prepare the next generations of communications leaders. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and has completed masters work at Georgetown University. She lives in Washington, D.C., where she obsesses over her kids' education, the best new restaurants, and caring for foster dogs in need of forever families.
A proud diversity and inclusion champion, supporting organizations dedicated to advancing their core values, Chris brings new energy and a fresh perspective to every challenge.
Jacob Zionce is the founding President and COO of Telescope, where he oversees the organization’s strategy, management, and business operations. He also serves as Telescope’s in-house counsel.
Previously, Jacob was the Chief of Staff and Head of Governance at Schmidt Futures, a venture facility for public benefit founded by Eric Schmidt. In that role, Jacob oversaw the design, development, and evaluation of the organization’s programs and operations. He also led the organization’s executive office, including all CEO operations worldwide, and special projects related to national security.
Jacob has also worked as an attorney at the law firm Arnold & Porter, where his practice focused on the intersection of government, politics, and the law. His clients included a senior Biden administration official in their Senate confirmation hearing, the Democratic Party in numerous voting rights suits, and a federal agency in litigation against predatory actors in regulated mortgage markets. Jacob also served as a staffer on a variety of political campaigns at the Presidential and congressional levels.
Jacob holds a B.A. from Duke University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He is a member of the D.C. bar.
Diana Skurka is a founding member of Telescope Foundation and serves as Managing Director.
Diana leads the strategic development and implementation of all convenings for Telescope and its partners, both in person and online. She also joins other leaders in shaping Telescope’s strategic vision and the development of programmatic initiatives.
In previous roles, Diana was Managing Director at Schmidt Futures where she drove convening strategy and production across the company’s program portfolio with a focus on content creation, effective community building strategy, relationship management and the full scale logistical implementation of 50+ convenings on 5 continents every year. In addition, Diana spearheaded the launch of and ran the company's first international office in London, UK. Prior to that, Diana worked in the personal offices of President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton, as well as played an instrumental role at the Clinton Foundation producing the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and other flagship events in New York and on a global scale from 2010-2016.
As a freelancer, she also supported a wide range of large scale events, including the Grammys, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Presidential Campaign Launch, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Conference, Hult Global Prize Awards and the MIT Solve Conference.
Diana has a BA in Political Science and African International Relations from American University and enjoys spending her free time in London and traveling throughout Africa and the Middle East.
Michael is the Managing Partner of Arlington Capital Partners, where he shares overall responsibilities for all management and investment activities of the firm. Michael joined upon Arlington’s formation in 1999. Michael has primary responsibility for the firm’s government services investments and shares responsibility for the firm’s software and business services investments.
Michael has over 20 years of private equity and merger and acquisition transactional experience having been involved in approximately 50 transactions. Prior to Arlington, Michael worked at Lazard Frères & Co. based out of New York in the Telecommunications and Technology practice, where he focused on advising corporate clients on mergers and acquisitions. Michael’s transaction experience includes MCI Communications’ $43 billion merger with WorldCom – which at one point was the largest non-bank transaction of all-time and 360 Communications’ $6 billion merger with ALLTEL Corporation. While at Lazard, Michael also executed a number of transactions in IT services, including Cap Gemini/Beechwood, Intelligent Electronics/Xerox Corporation, and GE Capital Consulting/Metamor Worldwide.
Michael received an A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College.
Michael currently serves on the Board of Directors of BlueHalo, Integrated Data Services, Intellectual Technology, Inc., J&J Worldwide Services, Inc., TRP Infrastructure, and Tyto Athene. Michael previously served on the Board of Directors of Apogen Technologies, Centauri, Compusearch Software Systems, Novetta Solutions, MicroPact, Polaris Alpha, Quantum Spatial, SECOR International, SignalTree Solutions, and Zemax.
