Leadership Team

Darren Filson is the Director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Academic Director of the Silicon Valley Program, and the James G. Boswell Professor of Economics and George R. Roberts Fellow at Claremont McKenna College. Professor Filson received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Rochester in 1996, and he has taught at the Claremont Colleges since 1997. Most of his research and teaching focuses on the intersections of industrial organization, finance and strategy with an emphasis on industry evolution and innovation.

Ron is an accomplished senior executive with 25 years of experience in operations, business development, sales and marketing in e-commerce, digital media, SaaS and entertainment industries. He began his career with the Walt Disney Studio’s Home Entertainment Division. In addition to several sales and marketing roles with the company, Ron acted as the GM to build, design and launch an ESPN-branded line of products. As the internet’s commercial opportunities accelerated, Ron transitioned to digital with senior business development roles at GoTo.com (Overture Services) and PriceGrabber.com. During this time, Ron established partnerships with Microsoft, IAC, Yahoo, AOL, Comcast and many others and played key roles leading to Yahoo’s acquisition of Overture and Experian’s purchase of PriceGrabber. Ron has held President, COO and CEO roles with PriceGrabber and IAC’s CityGrid Media. During his time as President at PriceGrabber, he managed a team of more than 200 employees with offices in the US and UK and the company hit its peak of $110 million revenue. At CityGrid, Ron’s team delivered more than $25 million profit after the company had experienced over a decade of losses. Ron co-founded one startup and invested in and/or advised other early-stage companies, including Milo.com . He also took an active leadership role with Milo to help quickly scale the business, and played a key role in negotiating the company’s sale to eBay. Ron has a BA from UCLA in Political Science and earned an MBA in Marketing from the Drucker School, Claremont Graduate University.

Katherine Spada (CMC '08) works with RLCIE Fellows Candidates to identify career goals and issues on which they would like guidance, then pairs them with specifically-selected members of the Claremont Colleges alumni network for semester-long mentorship relationships. An award-winning writer and podcaster, she was one of the founding board members of the Claremont in Entertainment & Media (CEM) alumni networking organization. As a marketing and communications professional, her experience has been in the entertainment industry and non-profit sector, and her work has been featured in publications from The New York Times to Forbes and Billboard. She has guest lectured on digital marketing at UCLA and presented on best practices at industry conferences.

Xinyue (Cindy) Zhang is a senior from Shenzhen, China, majoring in Economics with a Data Science Sequence. She is interested in exploring how innovation & entrepreneurship interact with education. Cindy’s passionate about product and strategy, especially for tech companies. Cindy participated in the first March Capital Venture Fellowship Program and gained experience in developing an investment thesis and pitch deck. She helped coordinate the Fellows Networking Series for 2022-2023 and joined the leadership team as the Associate Events Manager for 2023-2024. In addition to the RLCIE Fellowship Program, Cindy is involved with the International Connection as a Co-President & Mentor, Sparkathon as a Co-President, and TEDx Claremont McKenna College as a VP. Cindy enjoys spending her free time playing badminton, visiting museums, and cooking.

Haven is a senior at CMC dual majoring in Economics and Philosophy with a sequence in Financial Economics. On campus, he is involved in APAM as a Student Mentor, in Sagehen Capital Management as a Senior Analyst, and On The Loose as a trip leader. He is interested in a wide variety of industries ranging from entrepreneurship to consulting. These interests have grown after spending a summer working at Kearney, a management consulting firm, and Endeavor, which helps high-potential entrepreneurs in developing markets accelerate their growth and maximize their potential. In his free time, Haven loves spearfishing, hiking, going to the beach, and exploring the city with friends.

As a student at CMC, Christian Tolksdorf '27 studies Economics and International Relations, whilst pursuing a sequence in Data Science. Within Claremont McKenna, he is involved as a Technology, Media and Telecom (TMT) analyst for Sagehen Capital Management. He also founded the first project-based venture capital club within the Claremont Colleges, 5CVC. Christian is most focused on pursuing a career in entrepreneurship and buy-side finance, which has been complemented by his experience and current projects with the Mandel Family Office and Skygem Solutions. As the Assistant Manager of Networking for the RLCIE, he has both the unique pleasure and responsibility of working with Tudor Galan to coordinate speaker events and networking events both on the Claremont Colleges' campus and remotely. He is also working to develop an online platform where students can engage actively and easily with alumni involved in entrepreneurship and startups. This summer, Christian is working as a finance and funding intern for Yishi, an exciting startup based out of Chicago.

Tudor Galan ‘27 is a student at Claremont McKenna College, majoring in Science Management with a Biotechnology concentration and a Leadership sequence. Originally from Iași, Romania, he graduated from the Costache Negruzzi high school, where he founded NgzNetwork, the first Eastern European podcast dedicated to career guidance for young students. His mission for impact started back in 2021, when Rise for the World selected him as one of the top 500 most promising leaders worldwide following his research on “Ethical Methods of Implementing AI in the Field of Medicine.” On campus, Tudor is also part of the CMC Student Investment Fund, which actively manages $3M+ in assets in the stock market, focusing on and pitching undervalued publicly traded healthcare & pharma companies.

Chloe is from Los Angeles, CA and a junior at Claremont McKenna College. She is majoring in economics and pursuing the data science sequence.

Outside of school, Chloe enjoys the beach and hanging out with friends.

Nikki Tran is a senior at Claremont McKenna College studying Economics and Philosophy. Nikki’s entrepreneurial pursuits began in high school when she founded and ran her own cosmetics start-up. Currently, in addition to her involvement in RLCIE as a UI/UX Manager, Nikki is an Career Services Mentor at the Soll Center for Student Opportunity, a Financial Analyst for Claremont Women in Business, APIDA Student Programming Assistant for the Dean of Students Office, and Marketing Head for Asian Pacific American Student Association.

Amar Kumar ’27 is an economics major pursuing a sequence in data science. In high school Amar created and delivered a class called Effective Entrepreneurship and was elected president of the business club. He completed the MIT LaunchX Program on entrepreneurship, where he and his startup team received honors from the program. Amar has taken coursework in web design, computer science, and data science. His paper The Importance of Break Point Percentage was published in the Wharton Sports Journal. Amar embarked on his entrepreneurial journey at the age of ten, selling his artwork at his local Saturday market and currently runs his business (https://www.amarsawesomeart.com/). He has been selling his artwork in the form of calendars, cards, and prints at the local Saturday market and this summer will be featured in the Art in the Park Festival as one of 300 artists selling their art to over 70,000 visitors. On campus, he is a member of the 5CVC club and is pursuing a finance internship this summer with Nxt Venture Labs LLP.