Center for Entrepreneurship Advisory Board

Pina Campagna
Partner, Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP

Pina M. Campagna is a partner at Carter, DeLuca, Farrell & Schmidt, LLP (CDFS) in Melville.  Ms. Campagna's practice encompasses both patent and trademark IP protection for U.S. and international business clients, with a particular concentration in trademark and design patent matters.  She focuses her practice on counseling clients and assisting them in protecting their intellectual property rights in the United States and foreign countries.  Over the past 12 years, Ms. Campagna has been instrumental in developing the firm’s trademark practice.  Her extensive trademark practice includes conducting clearance searches and analysis and providing opinions as to registration and use, preparation and prosecution of trademark applications before the US Patent and Trademark Office, sending and responding to cease and desist notices, representing clients in front of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in Appeals, Oppositions, and Cancelations, providing litigation support in trademark infringement cases, counseling clients regarding domain name disputes and protection, and domestic and international trademark portfolio strategy. She also conducts trademark due diligence portfolio investigations and prepares various trademark-related agreements pertaining to concurrent use, consents, licenses and assignments. 

Ms. Campagna's design practice includes conducting freedom to operate searches and analysis and providing non-infringement opinions as to trade dress or design patent, due diligence studies, preparation and prosecution of design patent applications before the US Patent and Trademark Office, sending and responding to cease and desist notices, providing litigation support in design patent infringement cases, and counseling clients regarding domestic and international design patent portfolio strategy.    
With a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry, Ms. Campagna's patent practice includes conducting freedom to operate searches and analysis, patentability studies, due diligence studies, patent application preparation and prosecution, counseling, and portfolio management in a wide variety of disciplines related to the biological and chemical sciences. Ms. Campagna also manages all incoming foreign patent application filings and prosecution from our foreign counterparts and is active in maintaining those relationships with them.

Ms. Campagna followed her passion for science by attending Hofstra University where she earned a B.S. in Biochemistry with a Biology minor.  In 1999-2000, she began her career as a research biochemist for Estée Lauder, conducting skin research while at Hofstra.  She then attended Albany Law School of Union University where she earned her J.D.  Ms. Campagna returned to Estée Lauder after law school by taking on the role of patent consultant in 2004.  Ms. Campagna is admitted to the NY Bar and the U. S. Supreme Court, as well as the Eastern, Southern, and Northern District Courts of New York.  She is also registered to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office.  

Mike Seiman
Chair, Digital Remedy

Mike Seiman is the CEO & Chairman of Digital Remedy, a digital media solutions company leading the tech enabled marketing space, he co-founded as an undergraduate college student at Hofstra University in the early 2000s. The company has grown quickly and is now a major player within the crowded digital advertising landscape. The rapid growth of Digital Remedy, formerly CPXi, led to its inclusion on Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing privately held advertising/marketing companies in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2015. Mike was selected as a semi-finalist in Ernst & Young’s ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ initiative in 2010 and 2013, and as a finalist in 2009 and 2014. He was recognized by the American Marketing Association, receiving their prestigious '4 Under 40' award in 2015 and received the SmartCEO Future 50 award in both 2015 and 2017. In his free time, Mike serves on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Hofstra University. He also focuses on numerous philanthropic initiatives including sitting on the boards of the H.E.S. (Hebrew Educational Society non-profit community center) and continues his long-time support of Children International, where he spearheaded the development of community centers in both Guayaquil, Ecuador in 2010 and Barranquilla, Colombia in 2014. A fan of the arts, Mike has produced a feature length film distributed by Lionsgate.

Barbara Roberts

Barbara B. Roberts is Entrepreneur in Residence at both Columbia Business School and Hofstra University. She is also former NY Chair of Tiger 21 and a speaker and writer about all stages of entrepreneurship, innovation, family businesses and the economic progress of women. An economist by training, previously Ms. Roberts held senior positions on Wall Street and was the first woman to serve on Dean Witter’s board of directors. As president and CEO at the stock photography company, FPG International, now part of Getty Images and the museum audio tour company, Acoustiguide, she successfully built and sold both companies.   Ms. Roberts has served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Small Business and Agricultural Advisory Committee and as a member of the Suffolk County NY Planning Commission. As Entrepreneur in Residence she has helped to launch hundreds of start ups, is an active angel investor and serves on the boards of several private companies. Ms. Roberts is the author of four whitepapers about entrepreneurs: Life after an Exit, The Owner’s Journey, Women’s Entrepreneurial Journeys and Flightpaths. She is certified as a master coach by the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara and trained in facilitation and mediation. Ms. Roberts has an Economics and Philosophy degree from Goucher College.

Thomas J. Garry
Member, Harris Beach PLLC

Tom Garry serves as an attorney leader at Harris Beach PLLC on economic development and public finance projects involving all phases of a commercial and residential development from site plan applications to final approvals. He represents developers and municipalities in litigation involving such matters as land use and zoning, and breach of contract. Garry is recognized for his experience in election law and represents clients in New York state courts, including the Appellate Divisions and the Court of Appeals. He represents municipalities and serves as special counsel to many towns and local agencies and has provided legal advice to municipalities and their agencies on issues such as the development and implementation of a master plan, the creation and impact of municipal easements and restrictive covenants, compliance with the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the creation of planned development districts, zoning overlay zones, transportation issues and smart growth projects. He is a former member of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, an agency charged with developing Long Island's growth strategy. Representative matters include: New York state counsel for the Hillary Clinton Presidential campaign - Hillary for America. Garry has acted as counsel to numerous New York political campaigns including statewide and as Counsel to the Town of Babylon on Wyandanch Rising, a transit-oriented development project, and Counsel to Catholic Health Services of Long Island, advising on economic development projects.

Kevin Hesselbirg
CEO, The Gemini Companies

After more than 25 years leading growth oriented companies in a senior executive capacity, Kevin Hesselbirg currently serves as board member and advisor to multiple private entities ranging from start-ups to firms with more than $100M in annual revenues. Kevin, a three-time Chief Executive Officer (CEO), was first named CEO of OpenLink Financial after previously serving as OpenLink’s Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations Officer. OpenLink Financial is a leading global software developer of financial and energy, trading and risk management solutions with more than $300M in revenue, 1200 employees, and offices in 9 countries. Thereafter, he became CEO of Primatics Financial, a leading SaaS provider of finance and risk solutions for the banking sector. Kevin was more recently the CEO of The Gemini Companies, a leading fund administrator serving more than 600 mutual, private, and hedge funds. As CEO, he led multiple transactions with various private equity firms eclipsing more than $2B in capital activity. Kevin began his career with the Private Owned and Emerging business group at Ernst & Young. Hesselbirg received a B.S. from Fordham University.

Robert F. Hussey

Bob Hussey, MBA International Finance, BSBA Management/Finance Georgetown University. Bob is a New York based, seasoned financial, marketing, operations and technology executive, who after a 10 year career in Fortune 100 multinational packaged goods and media companies, became a successful entrepreneur. He founded the U.S.’s first and largest direct broadcast satellite radio network – POPRADIO Corp – led it’s NASDAQ IPO and eventual $100+ million sale to Heritage Media/News Corp. In recent years, Bob served as CEO of Digital Lightwave Inc. ( NASDAQ ), Chairman of NUR Macroprinters ( NASDAQ/Israel based, before being sold to HP ), Chief Restructuring Officer ( CRO ) of HC Wainwright & Co., the U.S.’s oldest securities broker-dealer. Bob has also acted as Brand Consultant to Dubai based Apparel UAE. Today, he is the lead Director of Digital Remedy, one of the U.S.’s leading independent ad tech, ad network and consumed media publishers, NYC based Amphion Capital Partners, and Eco Water Technologies, a Florida based company that holds 10 “issued” patents for processing municipal wastewater. On a personal note, Bob is Treasurer of the Mercedes Club of N.Y., and Preservation Long Island, while also serving for over 10 years as a Trustee of Old Westbury Gardens. He’s a competitive Trap/Skeet shooter, sailor and skier. He and his wife, Debi, live in Garden City and are the proud parents of 5 adult children.

Ron Yakuel
Founder and CEO of FragranceX.com

Ron Yakuel is the founder and CEO of FragranceX.com. Founded in 2001, FragranceX.com is a fast-growing ecommerce company that distributes authentic brand name fragrances at discount prices to consumers and businesses worldwide. FragranceX.com was recognized three times in Inc magazine’s fastest growing privately held companies. Ron received a bachelors from Hofstra University and his MBA from Fordham University.

Dave Rubenstein
Chief Executive of Salt Creek Capital

Dave Rubenstein is a seasoned executive with a 41 year successful track record in a global business environment.  He received his BA from Hofstra University and started his career as a recording engineer at A&R Recording Studio in NYC.  After Dave’s training at the studio, Dave became the National Technical Manager for Agfa’s magnetic tape division followed by being National Sales Manager for Sony Magnetic Tape Products.  Post Dave’s time at Sony he assumed the position of Executive Vice President of Technicolor Video Cassette and later as a result of an entrepreneurial endeavor to reinvent the high speed VHS duplication process, Dave joined Cinram International Inc. and advanced to becoming its CEO and trustee.  Under Dave’s leadership, Cinram became the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of packaged entertainment media with 18,000 employees, and 23 facilities across North America and Europe serving Warner Bros., Twentieth Century Fox, Lions Gate, MGM, Universal Home Video, Warner Music, Sony Music, Universal Music, EMI Music and many others.

After 16 years at Cinram, Dave capped off his formal career as President of Sony DADC Americas, the division of Sony that manufactures CDs, DVDs, Blue-Ray and PlayStation discs for Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Sony PlayStation and Disney Home Entertainment. During Dave’s career he was the chairman of the Content Distribution Association, the most respected trade association in the package home media entertainment sector.

Today Dave is an Executive Partner at Salt Creek Capital, a Bay area private equity firm. He currently resides in Manhattan and can be contacted at dave@daverubenstein.com.

Richard Mulry
President and CEO
Northwell Holdings and Ventures

Richard is President and CEO of Northwell Holdings and Ventures, the for-profit arm of Northwell Health, which encompasses venture investments, commercialization of internal innovation and development of strategic commercial relationships. In his role, Richard builds new relationships with private organizations and curates innovative ideas within Northwell to drive improvements in patient care and create diversified revenue streams for the health system.

Mr. Mulry has more than 25 years of health care administration and operations experience. Previously, he served as the senior vice president for operations within Northwell Ventures, and worked with a variety of clinical service lines overseeing operations, finance, growth and quality management.

Mr. Mulry joined the health system in 2015 after working for Catholic Health Services of Long Island, where he was senior vice president responsible for the physician network strategy and development within the $2.2 billion, six-hospital health system. Previously, Mr. Mulry was executive director/CEO at University Physicians of Brooklyn at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and held various leadership positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. From 2003 through 2007, he also served as vice president of practice and revenue management for Northwell Health.

Mr. Mulry holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Saint Michael’s College and a Master of Public Health in health policy management from Columbia University, School of Public Health.