Our Leadership
Meet our leaders, board members, and advisors helping carry out our mission to change the way the world lives, works, and plays.
Alef Executives and Leadership
Our leaders bring the Alef vision to life and support our teams on this journey.
Board Members
Our board is composed of mobility and technology executives with experience in disruptive markets. These advisors provide their expertise and strategic guidance for Alef’s continued growth.
Philip Erdoes
Chairman
Philip Erdoes is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Bear Ventures LLC. As a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in developing new enterprises, Philip is an experienced member of various boards, and works closely with senior management to meet strategic and operational objectives. He has been involved in companies at various stages, including early-stage, growth, buyout, and distressed situations. As a principal, he has been active in various sectors, including technology, media, consumer, manufacturing, transportation / logistics and energy. Among other activities, he sits on the Dean’s Advisory Board of Harvard Business School. Philip holds a BS in Biology and Biomedicine from Oklahoma State University, a JD, with honors, from the University of Oklahoma, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Tom Wheeler
Tom Wheeler is a businessman, author, and was Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2013 to 2017. Presently, he is a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. For over four decades, Wheeler has been involved with new telecommunications networks and services. At the FCC he led the efforts that resulted in the adoption of Net Neutrality, privacy protections for consumers, and increased cybersecurity, among other policies. As an entrepreneur, he started or helped start multiple companies offering innovative cable, wireless and video communications services. He is the only person to be selected to both the Cable Television Hall of Fame and the Wireless Hall of Fame, a fact President Obama joked made him “the Bo Jackson of telecom.”
Mr. Wheeler’s newest book is From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future (Brookings Press, 2019). He is also the author of Take Command: Leadership Lessons from the Civil War (Doubleday, 2000), and Mr. Lincoln’s T-Mails: The Untold Story of How Abraham Lincoln Used the Telegraph to Win the Civil War (HarperCollins, 2006).
Jim Bennet
Jim Bennett is a self-made career entrepreneur who has spent the last three decades building multiple businesses in advertising, cannabis, infrastructure, logistics and technology. Jim’s experiences in building and selling successful companies have given him a keen insight and a hands-on philosophy that enables him to immerse himself with senior leadership, identifying problem areas and strategic shortfalls. This approach results in improved decision making, execution, and increased profits. Jim is in high demand and sits on multiple boards of privately held companies. Jim is a frequent contributor to popular podcasts and a speaker at industry conferences. He earned his B.S. from Ithaca College and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
David Kiger
David Kiger founded Worldwide Express in 1995, a global shipping logistics company for small-to mid-size businesses, turning the company into one of the largest in the United States, serving over 100,000 customers. David led the company’s private equity transactions in 2007, 2013 and 2017, and now serves as a board member. In addition to his role at Worldwide Express, David has stakes in several companies across multiple industries, including technology, transportation, lifestyle, entertainment and more. This includes being a majority shareholder and board member of beGlammed.com and serving on the board of advisors for TEDx, XPRIZE and the American Film Institute. In 2017 and 2018, Kiger was named to the D CEO Magazine 500 list, recognizing him as one of Dallas’ most influential business leaders.