Team
Executive Team
John O’Keeffe
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer
About John
John came to QUBIC from Cristo Rey Boston where he was Executive Director and led their corporate partnership initiative. Previously, John was VP of Business Development in Congress Wealth Management in Boston. John’s expertise covers investments, corporate partnerships, sales and business development, nonprofit management and entrepreneurship.
John graduated from the University of Limerick with a Masters in International Entrepreneurship Management where he completed a thesis on using neuro linguistic techniques to develop leadership skills in entrepreneurs. He graduated from University College Cork with a BA in English and History. John has completed an executive program on dispute mediation from Harvard and holds several financial and investment licenses.
Additionally, John is on the board of trustees at Lawrence Catholic Academy and supports their efforts to help children in need.
Ian Cain
Co-Founder, Executive Chairman of the Board
About Ian
Ian graduated from Boston College with a BA in political science and from Duke University with an MBA. Over the last 15 years, he has worked in commercial real estate with Tishman Speyer, developed and managed power projects around the world with BTU Ventures, advanced impact investing with SJF Ventures, and lead business development activity at Luminoso, an MIT Media Lab spin off, at Valuation Research Corporation and at TriWire.
In addition, Ian is an elected representative to the City Council in Quincy, MA, a member of the Board of Directors at Bay State Community Services, a member of the Board of Overseers at the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital – Milton, and a member of the Advisory Board of GoPetie. Ian is the founder of the Boston College Business Network (BCBN), the Boston Private Equity Network (BPEN), and PorchFest Quincy.
Brandon Wolf
Chief Technology Officer
About Brandon
Brandon’s career also includes pivotal roles in the Benefits Tech and LegalTech sectors, contributing as a Chief and Enterprise Architect. His entrepreneurial endeavors during the late 90s dot-com boom led to the creation and successful sale of two companies, underlining his ability to develop and grow tech businesses from the ground up.
Based in Central Florida, Brandon actively engages with the community, particularly in sustainable agriculture. He works with local co-operative fruit tree growers, applying technology to improve self-sustenance gardening and permaculture, thereby enhancing resource accessibility and sustainability.
Manuel Rinaldi
Program & Community Director
About Manuel
With over 15 years of cross-disciplinary experience spanning venture capital, entrepreneurship and engineering, Manuel brings a diverse skillset to coaching startups. His passion lies in championing early-stage companies and guiding them to expand their footprints in the US market.
As former Program Director at Starta Ventures in New York City, he coached 45+ startups through pivotal growth stages, managed a network of 100+ mentors, rebuilt the internship program from the ground up onboarding partners like Berkeley, Columbia, NYU, Notre Dame and Bocconi, tripling applicant numbers.
Manuel is also a 2x founder, having launched startups in Italy and Silicon Valley. He is a consultant for Stanford Seeds, mentor at Venture Mentoring Team, Founder Institute, Techstars, and other accelerators. He also speaks at VC/startup events worldwide and serves as a judge in international startup competitions.
Beyond his ‘startup life’, Manuel holds a Civil Engineering degree and has worked on complex infrastructure projects for engineering firms in Europe. This foundation in analytical thinking and problem-solving informs his work empowering founders and helping startups expand globally.
Board of Directors
William M. Weddleton
Board Member
About William
Will has extensive business management and executive leadership experience in a broad range of industries (Financial Management Services, Retail, Direct Marketing, Life Sciences, Technical Services). Most recently, as President of Public Partnerships LLC, and previously as Chief Operating Officer, he led the growth of the company from early stage startup to market leader, with an annual growth rate of over 25% for more than a decade. Public Partnerships LLC, a division of privately held Public Consulting Group, provides Financial Management Services for the Personal Home Care industry serving publicly funded participant-directed services programs that enable individuals with disabilities and long-term care needs to remain independent at home and avoid institutionalization (“Age in Place”). Will provided overall strategic and operational leadership for the company, including implementing and scaling the Program Management, Financial Operations, Technology applications and IT infrastructure and Customer Service required to support programs in over 25 states and provide services to more than 100,000 consumers through over 125,000 Personal Care Attendants, providing over $2B in services annually. During his tenure he served on Public Consulting Group’s Audit Committee and was a founding Board Member of the National Resource Center for Participant Directed Services (NRCPDS) Membership Steering Committee (industry association). During 15 years at PerkinElmer (formerly EG&G, Inc.), a diversified, high-technology Fortune 500 company, he served in a variety of senior management positions in both operations locations and Corporate Headquarters. He also has broad new business startup experience, having served as General Manager of several early-stage companies, including World Touch Group, LLC and the online retailer Kozmo.com. In addition, he served as Vice President, Business Manager of Vantage Direct Marketing Services. Will started his career as a Nuclear Submarine Officer in the US Navy. Areas of expertise include team leadership, business operations and process improvement, new system implementation, strategic planning and competitive analysis, project management, financial planning, and financial management.
Will is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology (M&T), receiving a BS in Economics from the Wharton School, and a BS in Applied Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Science. He also has an MBA in Finance from George Washington University. He is a graduate of The American School in Switzerland (TASIS).
Will is a recreational Triathlete and is a member of Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition and USA Triathlon.
Adam Gurwitz
Board Member
About Adam
Adam was formerly COO of True Arrow Capital Management, a start-up, cutting edge quantitative investment group that pioneered equities and futures trading in mainland China. There he forged partnerships with global investment groups interested in the Chinese market and managed all business aspects for the company. These included capital raising, legal and compliance, investment entity structuring, counterparty relations, investor relations, business development and human resources. Prior to that, while based in Brazil, he was Head of International Business Development at Equitas Investimentos, and worked with global investors to structure investment into the region.
Adam previously spent several years with Deutsche Bank in New York City, where he worked extensively with endowments, family offices, pensions and institutional funds of funds to raise capital for the firm’s hedge fund clients. He was also responsible for originating financing transactions for various clients. Prior to that, as head of capital markets for the Chicago Board Options Exchange, he designed and structured packaged derivative investment products in partnership with several investment banks. Earlier in his career, Adam co-founded a financial services start-up on the island of Curaçao, working with international investors focused on North American capital markets. Before pursuing a career in finance, Adam started his career as a corporate and bank regulatory attorney in Washington, DC.
Adam is a CFA charterholder and graduated with a J.D., cum laude, from Boston College Law School, where he was an editor of the Boston College International & Comparative Law Review. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University. Adam is also an Eagle Scout and an avid scuba diver and fitness trainer.
