About Us

The New York Technology Council (NYTECH) is a New York City-based association dedicated to the furtherance of the technology industry.

Our mission is to help promote New York as a world-class center of technology excellence by improving coordination among business, state and local governments and academia. NYTECH conducts regular member meetings at which we present speakers and panel discussions on topics of importance to our members. In addition to our member meetings, we operate several special programs on specific topics related to our organizational mission. NYTECH also conducts other activities and programs such as a university internship program, sponsor-led breakfast discussions, venture capital round tables, networking events, joint activities with other area organizations and social gatherings.

We are a non-profit organization funded by our members and sponsors and governed by a board of directors. Our board members are:

Donn Morrill - Donn is the Executive Director and founder of NYTECH. He was most recently the CTO of TGP Associates, Inc., a Manhattan-based business and technology consulting firm. Donn possesses a B.S. in computer science and an M.B.A. from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Erik Grimmelmann, Ph.D. — Erik is the Chairman of the Board of NYTECH. He has been active in the technology community for over thirty years. He worked at Bell Laboratories as a researcher and systems engineer, on the business side of AT&T where he served as AT&T's Internet strategist, and as a Senior Vice president of Dun & Bradstreet. For the past ten years he has been involved with a variety of startups including Cometa Networks and Send Word Now. He is currently Managing Director of Triana Technologies Inc., COO of Red Three Consulting Inc., and an independent Consultant (Kosmosys LLC); Erik has served on a number of panels including the White House Science Office, Counter-Terrorism Technology Oversight Panel and the National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, Committee on Review of Switching, Synchronization, and Network Control in National Security Telecommunications, and on the boards of the National Information Infrastructure Testbed, the Information Industry Association, and the New York Software Industry Association.

Paul Ellis - Paul is a founding board member of NYTECH. He is also a partner at Scarola Ellis LLP, a Manhattan-based full service law firm that is active in the representation of technology companies. Paul is a graduate of Harvard University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Ted Brown, PhD - Ted is a founding board member of NYTECH. Ted oversees the PhD computer science program at the Graduate Center, CUNY. He manages collaborative projects with industrial and governmental partners. Prof. Brown is also the Executive Director of CUNY Institute of Software Design and Development.

Michael Lopez - Michael is a board member and treasurer of NYTECH. He is also a partner in the New York office of EisnerAmper LLP where he is responsible for providing comprehensive accounting and tax services to a broad group of clients including companies operating in the software, media, IT services, graphics and telecommunications sectors. Michael heads the firm's NY technology practice, which also includes life sciences and Cleantech. He has over 20 years of experience serving technology companies large and small.

Board of Advisors

Tom Penichter — Tom specializes in helping organizations transform their business operations and bring new products to market by aligning their strategy, marketing and technology efforts. He is the founder of TGP Associates. Recent examples include work developing digital products for Comcast and implementing BI solutions for financial service firms.

Ron Halse — Ron has spent nearly 25 years working with technology companies, Big 4 and regional accounting firms, consulting engineers, and construction managers. He currently works in marketing for Deloitte LLP. His industry experience includes advisory roles with Technology Executives Network, working for Computer Associates, and editing data communications and hardware textbooks.

Jon M. Deutsch — Jon is an operations, sales & marketing executive in the IT software and services vendor industry, VP of Banking, Capital Markets & Insurance at Information Builders, Board of Directors at Ortess, Inc., and Paden Noble Social Media, Program Chair of BI and Advanced Analytics program for NYTECH, and President of the NY/NJ/CT Chapter of The Data Warehouse Institute.

Andrew Brust — Andrew is Chief, New Technology at twentysix New York, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner in Manhattan. He is co-author of "Programming Microsoft SQL Server 2008" (Microsoft Press), is a Microsoft MVP, serves as Microsoft Regional Director for New York and New Jersey and is a member of Microsoft's Business Intelligence Partner Advisory Council. Andrew is also a columnist for "Visual Studio Magazine" and "Redmond Developer News".

Fernando Quinones — Fernando is a VP Relationship Manager at Citibank. He has 15 years financial services experience in areas of relationship management, business development, branch management and investment advisory. Fernando has a B.A from Long Island University and attended the Credit Analysis Program at NYU.

Deborah Brown — Deb is a partner and managing director at Peppercom, a mid-sized strategic communications firm in Manhattan. She has more than 25 years of experience in managing business-to-business and consumer accounts, including many in the technology industry. Deborah is also a frequent guest speaker on public relations at the Fashion Institute of Technology.

William Lessard — As the President & Creative Director of PRwithBrains, Mr. Lessard is responsible for client strategy along with overseeing the day-to-day operations of each account. He specializes in digital and interactive entertainment properties, particularly video games and convergence products that explore the media possibilities of new technology. He is also the co-author of NetSlaves: True Tales of Working the Web and NetSlaves 2.0. The former, translated into over 7 languages, was named a "Best Business Book of the Year" by both Library Journal and The Industry Standard. Mr. Lessard has contributed to Wired, the San Francisco Chronicle and National Public Radio and has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, MSNBC, Time Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.

Our address is:
New York Technology Council
340 West 39th Street
Floor 11
New York, NY 10018
Phone: 646-435-1088
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