San Diego – January 23, 2012 – The Chairmen’s RoundTable (CRT), a San Diego non-profit organization that provides pro-bono mentoring and strategic advice to the region’s businesses, announced today that it has elected Steven Mendell as its Chairman.

Mendell takes the reins from Jeff Campbell, who will remain on the board as Chairman Emeritus.

“Steve has been an active mentor with the CRT for several years,” saidCampbell. “We are excited to have him take the same passion and wisdom he has shared with those companies over the years and channel it to guide our organization.”


Steven Mendell has more than 25 years experience leading established and early stage organizations in the medical device and biopharmaceuticals businesses. He headed European marketing and German operations for Becton Dickinson and is the former chairman and CEO of XOMA Corporation. He served as president and CEO of LMA Medical Corporation and Prizm Pharmaceuticals. Mendell has also served as chairman for a public university foundation and was appointed to the NASDAQ corporate advisory board. Over the years he has been recognized for his achievements including being named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year and being awarded the Gold Chief Executive Award in Biotechnology in 1989 – the highest honor — by the Wall Street Transcript.


The CRT also announced the balance of its 2012 board of directors appointments: Michael Tedesco – Chief Financial Officer; David Oates – Vice Chair, Marketing; Alan Creutz – Vice Chair, Client Evaluation & Mentor Assignments; Terrance Bruggeman – Vice Chair, Partner Relations; William A. Lofft – Vice Chair, Quality Assurance; Jeff Campbell – Chair Emeritus & Vice Chair, Mentorship; Vern Yates – Vice Chair, Program Development; and newest member Cory Grant – Vice Chair, Sponsor Development.


David Thompson and Sayed Ali depart the board after selflessly serving the organization and its mission to strengthen San Diego one company at a time.


About Chairmen’s RoundTable
The Chairmen’s RoundTable is a non-profit volunteer organization comprised of more than 40 current and former Chief Executive Officers, with extensive board experience and diverse industry backgrounds, and 20 sponsor organizations. CRT mentors provide businesses in San DiegoCountypriceless business advice and mentorship without compensation as a way of giving back to the community. CRT’s well-defined mentoring program is ideal for small to mid-sized companies at a strategic crossroad that are looking to gain an outside perspective on key business issues. To date, more than 250 local companies have benefited from CRT’s mentorship. For more information and to read about past client successes, please visit www.chairmensroundtable.com.

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Ake Persson brings more than three decades of management experience from the international telecommunications industry. When retiring from Ericsson in 2004, he was a member of the Group Executive Management Team, the head of business unit CDMA Systems and President of Ericsson Wireless Communications, Inc. Prior to that, Ake was the VP of Marketing and Sales with global responsibility for Ericsson’s portfolio of wireless systems products.

Ake has been the General Manager of several of Ericsson’s business units including Cellular Systems, Mobile Radio, Mobile Voice & Data Systems and CDMA systems. As the Executive VP at Ram Mobile Data Inc from 1991 to 1992, he helped deploy and operate the world’s first wireless data network supporting Blackberry devices. Ake has served on the boards of several Ericsson companies around the world, holds a B.Sc. in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics from the University of Uppsala, Sweden and has received Management and Business Administrative training at Centre European d’Education Permanente atInsead,France.

Residing inSan Diego, he is today active in the industry as an advisor, corporate board member and management coach.

A member of the Chairmen’s Roundtable since 2006, Ake has provided pro bono mentorship to CEOs and management teams of eight companies in a wide range of industries; many of them outside of the technology space. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Jacob’sSchoolofEngineeringat theUniversityofCalifornia San Diegoand is an active board member of several local organizations including CommNexus, EvoNexus, the Swedish American Chamber of Commerce San Diego and The House of Sweden.

We recently caught up with him on his experiences with CRT.

What keeps you involved in CRT?

I get the opportunity to meet with companies and business owners from all sorts of industries. I’ve had the pleasure of working with high-tech companies but also with glass and glazing manufacturers, sport bike and security services companies. I find it exciting and refreshing to look at different industries.

What role do you play for each of the companies that you mentor?

We hone in on strategic issues; helping the business owners outline a path toward profitability and growth. At times, we recommend bringing in experts to help with operational and financial management issues in order to lay the foundation by which we can look at the bigger picture.

How do you relate with owners of companies in industries in which you have no prior experience?

It’s never as much about the particular nuances of a market as it is the leadership and management qualities that must be present in order to succeed. That’s where we as CRT mentors spend our time. We see that time and time again how our experiences are directly translatable to any business.

What elements must exist for a CRT-client relationship to be successful?

The biggest thing is for the business owners and management team to be “coachable.” Defense barriers must be lowered and two-way communication must be present in order for progress to be made. These are traits I still try to uphold in my own day-to-day activities, but they are critical for a company to move ahead.

How did you get introduced to CRT?

A member of CRT, Scott Fox, brought me in to the group, and I’m glad he did. It’s been a rewarding experience these past five years.