Founding team

Organizers of this event

Arnav Kannan, Founder

Arnav is currently a senior at Guilderland High School. He became very interested in entrepreneurship after attending Startup High School Michigan. He was so inspired by this event that he decided to create Startup High School New York. Arnav enjoys playing soccer and traveling the world. Arnav is a humanitarian. He is intrinsically motivated to make a difference in society and he is dedicated to making the world a better place.

Robert Manasier, Co-Founder

Robert Manasier is a serial entrepreneur and brand builder with experience in over 128 global startups and hundreds of acceleration/commercialization campaigns. Robert currently serves as Entrepreneur-in-Residence of Innovate 518, UAlbany Innovation Center, and the Sage Colleges. In addition to this, he is the CEO of In Focus Brands (a branded go-to-market acceleration firm); Managing Director of the EDA Fund and the Diamond Point Co-Development Fund; Chief Strategy Officer for the SaaS firm: The CrowdBuild; Board Member for Autonomy Distributors and Parkhurst Field Foundation and President of IFP Films, EDA Labs and Empire Custom. He also currently serves as Saratoga Springs Sports Tourism Chair and Saratoga Springs Recreation Commission Member.

Joan McGrath, Co-Founder

Joan has been teaching a wide variety of business courses focusing on College Accounting, Business & Personal Law, and Coordinating Internships since 2002. She is also the coordinator of the Guilderland High School Investing in Your Future Club and the School to Work Program. In March 2017, she co-founded a Weekend Meals Backpack Program for food insecure students at Guilderland HS. Before she was a teacher, she worked in the financial services industry as a Vice President.