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Tim Zak, Executive Director
Tim Zak is Executive Director of Carnegie-Mellon University's Heinz School of Public Policy and Management branch in Adelaide, Australia and Co-Director of the school's Institute for Social Innovation. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Operations Management and Manufacturing at CMU's Tepper School of Business where he teaches MBA electives in Manufacturing Strategy and Supply Chain Management, and in the Executive Education program.
Prior to heading up the ISI, Tim was the CEO of the Social Innovation Accelerator, a private operating foundation originally established as a nonprofit in the fall of 2002 by the Richard K. Mellon and Charles McCune Foundations to support the development of earned-income ventures and innovative solutions to social issues by nonprofits, and to establish the Pittsburgh region as a leader in social enterprise and innovation. He sits of the boards of the Pittsburgh-based Coordinated Care Network, a globally recognized social enterprise, and the Social Enterprise Alliance, North America's leading membership organization for advocates, investors, and practitioners of nonprofit earned-income initiatives. In addition, he is on the Advisory Board of The Forbes Funds, a Pittsburgh-based foundation focused on capacity building, applied research, and leadership development in the nonprofit sector.
Prior to launching the Accelerator, Tim was a consultant in the Business Technology Office of McKinsey and Company and a leader in the firm's e-Operations practice. While at McKinsey, he served clients in a variety of industries, including Media and Entertainment, Health Care, and High-Tech, and focused primarily on enabling new, technology-based business ventures.
He is an experienced entrepreneur with senior management stints at both a B2B e-commerce company and a technology research and consulting firm. He was also a Manager in Arthur D. Little's IT Practice and a manufacturing engineering manager at IBM where he specialized in start-up production processes and the development of enabling IT systems.
Tim is a frequent speaker to corporate, nonprofit, and government leaders around the world and is the host of Globeshakers, an acclaimed podcast highlighting people who transform the world through technology, social innovation, and sustainable solutions (www.siconversations.org). He received a B.S. in Computer Science and Industrial Management from Carnegie-Mellon University and an M.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He also earned an M.B.A. from New York University in Finance, Marketing, and International Business.
