Montclair Kimberley Academy Podcasts Spotlight Influential Alums

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Montclair Kimberley Academy. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.

For the past two years, Montclair Kimberley Academy (MKA) has brought together some of the school’s most influential alumni to discuss various topics from innovation and technology to breaking down barriers in the workplace on its podcast channel, Inquiry to Insight. Today, MKA is excited to announce its newest episode, Building the Future.

In this explosive episode, host Steve Valentine brings you three visionaries in their respective spaces of Finance, Technology, and the Arts. These thought leaders are entrepreneurs, innovators, and idealists who shape the conversation and trends in their fields. They will inspire you, challenge you, and teach you how to think big, create better, and live smarter. Hear how they got their start, learn about the movements they’ve built, and explore what they feel a company looks like when Building the Future.

• Explore how paradigm shifts bring both opportunities and disruptions.
• Learn about the rapid pace of technological change and its impact over the next decade.
• Be part of a thought-provoking journey to understand how agility in people and adaptability in organizations can shape our future.

Building the Future launching today, features:

Antony Brydon ’90

Antony Brydon ’90 is a Venture Advisor at AI Fund and a partner at Social Ventures, an LLC he owns with his technical co-founder Jeff Patterson. Social Ventures focuses on developing new technologies and helping other companies scale or spin out new ventures. Previously, he was the co-founder and board member at Directly, from inception through acquisition by Movate in 2022. He also served as the company’s CEO for its first decade. Directly helped companies deliver better customer service while creating economic opportunities for people in the AI era. Companies like AT&T, Microsoft, and Samsung use the platform to put their expert users at the core of their AI, resolving more questions with greater satisfaction. Before Directly, Antony co-founded and/or led three startups: ShopWell (backed by IDEO, acquired by YottaMark); Visible Path (backed by Kleiner Perkins, acquired by Dun & Bradstreet); IUMA (angel-backed, acquired by eMusic). Antony started his stretch in Silicon Valley as an Analyst at R. B. Webber & Company from 1995 to 1998, after bicycling out from Washington, D.C. during the Netscape IPO that launched the Internet era. At Yale University, he founded and was the Executive Director of the Habitat Bicycle Challenge, a cross-country cycling non-profit that raised money for low-income housing and ran from 1994-2006. He graduated from Yale with a BA in Philosophy, a concentration in Psychology, and coursework in Statistics.

Owen Jennings ’07

Owen Jennings ’07 joined Block in February 2014 to lead Business Operations for Square. He then began working at Cash App in 2016 as one of the first product managers and became Chief Operating Officer in June 2022. As COO, Owen is responsible for overall business performance and steering critical functions across the organization. He currently leads the Product, Business, Operations, Payments, and Marketing teams. Owen started his career as an Investment Associate at Bridgewater Associates and has been fascinated by monetary policy and the future of money since college. At Dartmouth, Owen majored in Philosophy and feels lucky that he gets to help work on one of the most important problems in the world: how can money work better for everyone? Outside of work, Owen can be found exploring Park City, UT with his college-sweetheart-now-wife Kelly, their two sons Beckett (2 years) and Britton (8 months), as well as their dog Otter.

Kristen Connolly ’98

Kristen Connolly '98 is an American actress. She began her career with recurring roles on several CollegeHumor digital shorts, and appeared in the films Mona Lisa Smile, and The Happening, among others. She had recurring roles on two CBS daytime soap operas, Guiding Light and As the World Turns. Kristen gained recognition in 2012, after starring as the protagonist Dana in the Joss Whedon/Drew Goddard film The Cabin in the Woods. She also starred in Barry Levinson’s horror film The Bay. In 2013, she had a starring role as Christina Gallagher on the Netflix series House of Cards. On September 1, 2014 the A&E Houdini miniseries premiered with 3.7 million viewers, Connolly plays Bess Houdini opposite Academy Award-winner Adrien Brody as Harry Houdini. Connolly also portrayed Jamie, a passionate journalist in the CBS drama-thriller series Zoo and co-starred on the drama series The Whispers. More recently, she has been seen in the films The Wizard of Lies for HBO, and Deep Water with Ben Affleck and Ana DeArmas. Her stage credits include roles in Shakespeare’s King Lear, and Richard Nelson’s Illyria at the Public Theater, and Desdemona in Othello opposite Blair Underwood at the Old Globe in San Diego. Connolly attended the Yale School of Drama. She married to Stephen O'Reilly, with whom she has two children.

Unlike previous episodes, Building the Future will follow a new format. The trio will each present a problem in their respective fields that is attracting the most attention and resources right now. As a group, they will need to come to a consensus on which is the biggest problem that needs addressing and design a hypothetical company to address it. Each panelist will share something they have learned or were inspired by from the discussion.

The podcast is hosted by Steve Valentine, MKA’s Associate Head of School. He is an educator, school leader, writer, and keynote speaker. His most recent book, published by Wiley and co-authored with Dr. Reshan Richards, is called Make Yourself Clear: How to Use a Teaching Mindset to Listen, Understand, Explain Everything, and Be Understood.

“The last two years working on Inquiry to Insight has been an incredible journey, and I am thrilled with where it is going,” said Steve Valentine. “This new episode has so much to offer listeners. While the business case will be hypothetical, we can all learn from hearing how experts uncover solutions to real-life business challenges. I think anyone who listens will walk away with valuable insights. The power of knowledge sharing has no boundaries.”

For more information on the podcast and to listen to the episodes visit mka.org/inquirytoinsight.

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