Leadership Team
The Center for the Future wouldn’t be possible without the amazing people on our team.
Our Board Members
a diverse range of backgrounds and industries, committed to helping the Center achieve its mission.
Jon C. Haass, Ph.D. | Board Chair | President
Jon Haass has been the visionary leader for the Center since first introducing the concept in late 2016 as a natural consequence of the rapid growth of technology innovation at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he serves as a Professor of Cyber Intelligence and Security. A serial entrepreneur, he came to Prescott in January 2013 to start the degree program that has rapidly grown, and been designated a National Security Agency (NSA) / Department Homeland Security (DHS) Center of Academic Excellence. In prior roles he has been CEO of an encryption company, VP of Business Development at Sendmail (acquired by Proofpoint), VP Software Products and WW Marketing at OpenTV (acquired by Kudelski), Group Product Manager at Sun Microsystems (acquired by Oracle) where he has grown business lines, raised capital, and developed innovative solutions. He started his 2nd company LaserPlot while a CLE Moore Instructor at MIT where he received his Ph.D. in Mathematics. He loves speaking to groups, publishing papers and books, and creating new ways to help the next generation succeed. The Center will be a transformative engine for economic vitality for the greater Prescott region with next generation technologies and the brilliant innovations of the areas young people.
Jim Robb | Board Member
Jim Robb is an experienced senior executive and business development professional, and deal maker who has helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars for organizations over the last 40 years, and is connected to senior executives across private equity, venture capital and over a dozen industries. Mr. Robb has provided innovative revenue and value growth acceleration services to early stage, hyper-growth and Fortune 50 companies such as Verizon, Avnet, Sage Software, XO Communications and hundreds of other companies driving billions in new revenue growth and shareholder value. He has worked with leading companies including 3M, U.S. Datacorp and Fiserv and through his various roles has helped create over 34,000 jobs. Earlier in his career, he helped turn a number of companies around achieving hyper-growth, tripling revenue and engineering profitable acquisition exits. Jim brings his enthusiasm and vast network of contacts in the private and public sector to create the transformational change via high quality job growth for the Prescott region. His efforts have made a difference already with companies such as eviation and CP Technology.
Rosa Sosa, MS, CISSP | Board Member
Rosa currently works as an Avionics Systems Cybersecurity Engineer at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Before joining NASA, she spent 5 years working for Cobham Aerospace, a British defense manufacturer. During her times at Cobham, she worked a variety of roles, from joining the IT Security team, to working the Business Development office, to transitioning into Software and Systems Engineering. Rosa started her early days as an International Student from Mexico while attending the IIS English Program at Mission College back in 2006. Rosa is fluent in Spanish, English, and Portugeuse, and has a passion for aerospace and international space communities. Rosa loves to travel the world during her free time, practices yoga, and spends time with her beagle dog Frida.
Veronica Sas, EA | Board Member
Veronica currently owns an Accounting Firm in Phoenix, Arizona. Veronica Sas was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to Westlake Village, California when she was a young adult. Well-traveled at a young age, Veronica appreciated being raised in a bilingual family and journeying through South America, Central America, and North America all before moving permanently to the United States.
Her Accounting career started with AAFES (Army and Air Force Exchange) in Frankfurt, Germany and continued for the past 25 years working with Texas Instruments, Acer Computer and Line 6, Inc. Her scope of responsibility increased over time to include Finance, Payroll, HR, Operations and Sales. Veronica has a degree in Accounting and Business Administration, holds a CMA designation and is a registered agent with the IRS (EA).
Peter Mantas, MBA | Vice President Programing
Peter is leading the development and execution of programming for the Center for the Future. Peter is an electrical engineer and Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur of scalable technology companies. He is experienced in leading organizations from early-stage start-ups to large high-tech public companies. As a consultant and advisor to over one hundred struggling small to medium size companies, he has helped them identify opportunities to partner with others, reduce waste/costs and uncover opportunities for growth. Peter holds an MBA from Lewis University, Romeoville, Illinois.
Peter’s career highlights include the creation of a disruptive strategic business unit, which he grew to over $52M in annual revenue within 5 years of inception. He has mentored well over 3,000 startups during the past 23 years in Silicon Valley and other startup ecosystems, including Tucson Metro, Phoenix Metro and Quad Cities in Arizona. This includes 17 years of mentoring MBA and PhD students at the University of California Berkeley. While he still mentors UC Berkeley teams, he spends most of his time as a commercialization partner and mentor for numerous startups at the University of Arizona. He also mentors global entrepreneurs and supports the MIT Enterprise Forum and other incubators and accelerators. Also participated as an industry mentor in both local and National NSF I-Corps cohorts. Peter also develops startup and small business mentors by cofounding the 300 Mentors initiative.
Interested in joining our team? Contact us today!
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