Who We Are
The Invited network is brought to you by the team from Abilitie, a group of seasoned software professionals offering mini-MBA programs to employees at Fortune 500 companies across the globe. Abilitie has its roots at Harvard Business School, where founder Bjorn Billhardt received his MBA and then worked with his former professors to create some of Harvard’s first interactive online simulations. Shortly thereafter, Abilitie’s founding team partnered with the University of Texas’ McCombs School of Business to commercialize a leadership simulation used by the University of Texas MBA students. Building on those early roots, Abilitie has grown to become a recognized brand in corporate leadership development. Since 2015, Abilitie has taught over 20,000 high-potential employees at Fortune 500 companies–including GE, Southwest Airlines, Marriott, Coca-Cola, Dell, and many others–in over 30 countries.
Meet Our Team
The Executive Team
Bjorn Billhardt
CEO
Megan Fanale
VP of Operations
Innovate Toward Excellence
Matt Confer
VP of Strategy
Cara Ferragamo Murray
VP of Marketing
Live What We TeacH
Luke Owings
VP of Product
Nathan Kracklauer
VP of Europe
The Invited MBA Team
Lead With Empathy
Lindsey Schell
Senior Director, Operations
GINA CURRAN
Program Manager
Fred Tally-Foos
Senior Manager, Marketing
Katelyn Powell
Manager, Social Media and Content
ILIAS BEN MALEK
Senior Manager, Growth Marketing
David Sharff
Director, Technology
Ruben Martinez
Software Engineer
Conrad Reese
Senior Software Engineer
Prioritize Progress
Faculty
VALERIE SCHEER
Faculty
MATT RUBINS
Faculty
AZIM NAGREE
Faculty
KATE O’SULLIVAN
Faculty
ALAIN FALKON
Faculty
Our Advisors
Dr. Michael Watkins
Dr. Michael Watkins is the Director of the Transition to Business Leadership executive program and a professor at IMD, a top-ranked business school in Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Watkins is the author of the international bestseller “The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at all Levels,” which The Economist called “the on-boarding bible.” With more than 400,000 copies sold in English, and translations in 27 languages, “The First 90 Days” has become the standard reference for leaders in transition. Recently, “The First 90 Days” was named one of the best 100 business books of all time.
Zeynep Young
Zeynep Young is an E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and was named one of six Women of Influence in Central Texas. She is the founder of Double Line Partners, a technology company focused on delivering data systems and tools to improve student performance in K-12 education. Prior to founding Double Line Partners, Zeynep was a portfolio manager with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation where she oversaw a 150M portfolio of grants, and worked at McKinsey & Company. Zeynep holds a BA from Rice University and an MBA from Northwestern University.
Shon Bayer
Shon Bayer is the CEO, President, and Owner of Spa Partisan, Inc. which owns and operates milk + honey spas and salons in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas. milk + honey has been recognized as the best day spa in Texas and also has been rated one of the Best Places to Work in Austin, TX. Prior to milk + honey, Shon was Vice President of Marketing at Enspire Learning and held various leadership roles at The Princeton Review. Shon holds a BS in Material Science from the University of California at Berkeley.
Adrian Taylor
Adrian Taylor is a principal and co-owner of Pushstart Creative, a multidisciplinary product development agency that he co-founded in 2011. Adrian is an experienced executive and creative director focused on conceiving and executing original interactive solutions that are designed to meet real-world business needs. Prior to starting Pushstart, Adrian built an award-winning multimedia department that produces best-in-class rich-media solutions for dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He has worked with a variety of organizations, including tech startups, software development houses, publishers, and advertising agencies. Adrian holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.
Our Business Community Partners
