Panel Speakers

David H. Edwab

Director, Men's Wearhouse

David H. Edwab is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Men's Wearhouse, Inc. and has served as a director of the company since 1991. Edwab has held several positions with the company including Vice President of Finance, Treasurer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer and President. In November 2000, Mr. Edwab joined Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. as a Senior Managing Director, Head of the Retail Group in the Investment Banking Department. At such time, Mr. Edwab resigned as President of Men's Wearhouse, Inc. and was then named Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors. In February 2002, Mr. Edwab re-joined Men's Wearhouse, Inc. and continues to serve as Vice Chairman of its Board of Directors. In 2006, Mr. Edwab also agreed to served as an Operating Partner of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, LLC. In addition, Mr. Edwab currently serves as a director of New York and Company (NYSE: NWY), Vitamin Shoppe Industries Inc. and Stuart Weitzman. These companies are affiliated with Irving Place Capital formerly Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, LLC. Mr. Edwab is a Certified Public Accountant and was a partner with the international accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche where his responsibilities included the Southwest Corporate Finance Group and Retail Practice. Mr. Edwab also serves as Vice Chairman of the Zimmer Family Foundation. Mr. Edwab has given speeches and authored several articles on matters of corporate finance and corporate governance.

Lexy Funk

CEO, Brooklyn Industres

Artist turned entrepreneur Lexy Funk is the co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn Industries, a business that has grown in 10 years from making messenger bags out of used billboard vinyl to a full men's and women's lifestyle clothing and accessories retailer. The visionary entrepreneur has grown the retail company organically to include 11 stores in three states and a successful e-commerce website. Funk is determined to build a global retailer that fills a void in the clothing market with artistic clothing for urban dwellers. She has used her instinct, intelligence and sheer determination to navigate every aspect of the business, from merchandising and finance, to design and photography.

Not only has Funk created a multi-million dollar authority on fashion without a business degree or investment capital, but she has also created a culture of creativity and independence in the workplace, centered around her mantra of LIVE, WORK, CREATE, which encourages creativity in both life and work. Brooklyn Industries has ranked in Inc.'s 500 List and received Crain's Small Business Award. In 2009, ConEdison Solutions and Community Energy, Inc. honored Funk and Brooklyn Industries as one of New York City's "Green Power Pioneers" for using Wind Power in all of its stores and office headquarters.

Funk graduated Magna Cum Laude from Wesleyan University in 1991. She completed the Whitney Museum Independent Studio Program in 1993. In 1995 she started her first business at aged 25. She lives with her husband and two boys (aged 8 and 6) in Brooklyn, NY.

Dan Hoffman
President & CEO, M5

As President and CEO of M5, one of America's leading Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers for small and midsized businesses, Hoffman has redefined the business phone system market by replacing traditional phone systems and phone company arrangements with an outsourced VOIP solution that businesses truly trust.

Hoffman was named one of 18 nationwide winners of the 2006 Best Bosses Award by Winning Workplaces, a nationally known clearinghouse for best practices in workplace excellence and innovative people practices, and FORTUNE Small Business. This national honor recognizes the most dedicated, passionate, innovative, inspirational and driven leaders of small and midsize businesses nationwide for creating tightly knit workplaces and inspiring intensely loyal workers.

Hoffman is a sought after speaker on the topic of Voice over IP and its related issues, having spoken at VON, the INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, ISPCON, The Wall Street Transcript's VoIP Implementation Conference, Telephony Magazine's VoIP for Service Providers Conference, LegalTech, LegalSpace, NY XPO for Business, the 2006 Small Business Summit and numerous other industry-wide and local events. He often shares his experiences as an entrepreneur with those who are looking to follow in his footsteps, having served as a panelist at the 2005 Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference ('Under 40 Success Stories') and speaking to the Wharton Club of New York ('Start-up Entrepreneurship - Alive and Thriving in NYC').

Hoffman joined M5 in early 2001 with more than 11 years of experience managing service providers. Prior to M5, Hoffman co-founded Global Internet Group where he served as President before selling the company to Asia Online, an ISP holding company based in Hong Kong. As Executive Vice President of Operations, Hoffman grew Asia Online to a major pan-Asian Internet services firm with over 1000 employees. Previously, Hoffman advised management teams at several service providers including Interport Communications. Before that he ran operations at Education Loan Services, Inc.

Hoffman graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business and a Masters of International Studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania.

Tomasz Imielinski

Executive Vice President of Technology, Ask.com

As executive vice president of technology, Dr. Tomasz Imielinski is responsible for the Answers technology that power DADSSM, DAFSSM,and AnswerFarmSM products. Imielinski joined Ask.com in 2004 as vice president of data solutions and was promoted to his current position in 2006. Imielinski has been a professor at Rutgers University since 1983. In addition, from 1996 until 2003, he served as chairman of the university's Computer Science department. Prior to joining Ask.com, Imielinski co-founded Connotate Technologies, Inc., a leader in data extraction from the Web and Enterprise. Imielinski holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the Polish Academy of Science and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Poland's Politechnic of Gdansk.

Randal Pinlett

Chairman and CEO of BCT Partners