Callisto Media CEO and leadership

Founder @callisto-media • Worked at @fliqz, @collabrys • Studied at @princeton-university, @harvard-business-school

I have worked on cognitive semantics, data science and natural language processing since the late 1990's, resulting in a number of product launches, publications and patents. Tools developed by my teams have been generating content (and/or filtering content) in high volume for numerous digital media companies for quite a number of years.Specialties: My specialty is knowing how to cross the chasm between technology and business, recognizing how real-world business needs can be satisfied by synthesizing and productizing research results from diverse sub-branches of cognitive science, including not only mainstream artificial intelligence research but also various sub-disciplines within philosophy and psychology.Meanwhile I have twice led a startup through growth, acquisition, and integration with a new parent company.

Bernadette Aulestia is a global operating executive, investor, independent board director and advisor to public and private companies; specializing in scaled commercialization, international business development, content distribution, B2B/B2C, and cultural transformation. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Denny’s Corporation NASDAQ: DENN, the franchisor and operator of one of America's largest full-service restaurant chains, with locations in thirteen countries. In 2021 Ms. Aulestia was elected to the Board of Directors of Nexstar Media Group NASDAQ: NXST, the largest local broadcast television group in the United States and one of the world’s leading diversified media companies. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Angeles Investors, the largest Latinx angel investing community focused on supporting and funding the best and most innovative Latinx founders. In addition, Bernadette serves as a Trustee of her alma mater Brown University. Ms. Aulestia is a National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Board Leadership Fellow. Bernadette is an active angel investor, a Limited Partner in various ventures as well as an advisor to early stage technology and consumer product companies, with a focus on subscription, enterprise and direct-to-consumer commerce. She has served as a moderator and speaker at numerous domestic and international conferences related to the subscription economy, innovation in media and creating equitable and diverse business cultures.Bernadette has been honored as one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas in Business, Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, and the National Diversity Council’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment.

Mary Amicucci is the Chief Operating Officer at Callisto Media and the former Chief Merchandising Officer at Barnes & Noble, Inc., where she is responsible for planning all merchandising initiatives for the company. Previously, she was Vice President, Adult Trade & Children’s Books, where she was responsible for leading the merchandising initiatives, marketing strategies, and buying staff for Adult Trade & Children’s Books, and overseeing the Merchandise Planning and Creative Departments. Ms. Amicucci joined Barnes & Noble from The Children’s Place Retail Stores, Inc., where she held the position of Vice President, Planning and Allocation. She was responsible for the strategic development of the company’s sales, markdown, inventory management plans, and margin for 915 retail stores and the e-commerce business. In addition to her eight years at The Children’s Place, Ms. Amicucci also held buying positions for Kids and Teen clothing at May Company Department stores, Ames Department stores, and Maurices, Inc.

Patrick Yee is the current Chief Marketing Officer of Callisto Media. He previously worked at Rebel Ventures as a Partner, Chief Strategy Officer. Patrick Yee attended NYU Stern School of Business. Patrick was Executive Vice President of Marketing & Strategy at Refinery29, the largest independent fashion and style media brand in the United States. Patrick was formerly Co-Founder and President/COO of Shopflick, a venture-capital-backed video-eCommerce marketplace that was sold to Sugar Publishing in 2009. Prior to Shopflick, he co-founded and served as VP of Marketing & Strategy at Rocket XL, a full-service interactive marketing agency sold to Cossette Communications Group in 2008. Mr. Yee was an equity research analyst at Soros Fund Management where he covered the technology and telecommunications industries. He began his career at Wasserstein Perella & Co. (now Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein), providing M&A and strategic advisory services to clients in the retail and consumer products industries.

Financial executive with extensive transactional, operational and international experience as a Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at technology-enabled businesses, including B2B and B2C digital media and entertainment, e-commerce and SaaS.Broad experience in all aspects of finance including financial planning, KPI-driven management reporting, M&A, treasury, capital markets, accounting, taxation and auditing.Operating responsibility for information technology, human resources, legal, information security, order fulfillment, facilities and procurement. Led transformational ERP and best-of-breed software implementations and transitions of existing outsourced vendors to best-in-class partners.Led company acquisitions and joint venture efforts culminating in transactions in the US, Canada, Europe and China. Led successful company sale efforts including $841 million sale of PR Newswire and $920 million sale of CMP Media.

Founder @callisto-media • Worked at @fliqz, @collabrys • Studied at @princeton-university, @harvard-business-school