MANAGEMENT

Rishi U. Shah, CEO

Rishi brings a wealth of strategic, operational and entrepreneurial expertise to ContextMedia. Most recently, he co-founded the Northwestern Business Review, a
Northwestern University-based collaborative publication distributed to more than 60 leading university campuses. Previously, he served as a senior advisor to Senator Kerry’s presidential campaign, where he successfully led the nationwide youth campaign.

In his youth, Rishi founded Simple Solutions Group, a home computer consulting firm whose clients were later acquired by Best Buy. In addition, Rishi founded the Project for the New American Dream, a Washington, D.C. think tank that included several US senators, as well as the Urban-Suburban Domestic Exchange Initiative, which partnered with groups such as the Gates Foundation to facilitate cross-school interaction.

Rishi is also actively interested in venture and corporate finance, with almost 10 years of experience in investments and derivatives. His academic background includes studying economics, learning and organizational change and political science at Northwestern University, Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is past chairman of the Institute for Student Business Education in Evanston, IL and is an avid fan of the Chicago Bulls, ancient Indian philosophy and new media.
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Jim Demas, Controller 

Jim brings over twenty years of accounting, finance and operations experience to ContextMedia. Most recently, as a self-employed independent contractor, Jim provided a wide range of accounting and consulting services to several small to mid-size businesses, including both privately held and publicly traded companies.

Jim spent eight years as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Winston Laboratories, Inc., a pharmaceutical pipeline research company located in Vernon Hills, Illinois. Jim also served on the Board of Directors of Winston. Previously, Jim served as CFO of GenDerm Pharmaceuticals, controller of Curatek Pharmaceuticals, and as an audit manager in the Chicago Office of Grant Thornton LLP.

Jim is a graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana and a certified public accountant. He is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Illinois CPA Society.
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Shradha Agarwal, Director of Marketing & Media

Shradha brings extensive knowledge of marketing and media with experience in management and entrepreneurship. She helped build the public relations strategy for a national law firm based in Chicago, developed the marketing strategy for a local election campaign by integrating new media for the first time at the local level in the district, and did media buying for an international building technologies company. She has also built operations for a large youth nonprofit and created a marketing plan for a nonprofit group focused on empowering young women in underserved communities. While at college, she co-founded the Northwestern Business Review at Northwestern University and served as the Editor-in-Chief for 2 years. While there, she developed the mission, plan and operations for the bi-annual magazine distributing 30,000 copies annually.

Shradha's prior experiences include working on the morning show at NBC Universal and producing the evening news for CLTV - a 24-hour Chicagoland cable news channel. She has participated in media seminars internationally. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a concentration in Economics and Business. She was featured by the alumni association as 1 of 30 most promising graduates from a class of 2,000 students. As pastimes, Shradha enjoys traveling, swimming and dancing and was also the co-founder of an Indian contemporary dance troupe in college. 
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Mike Berning, Media Operations Manager

Mike brings expertise in video editing, motion graphic design and development to the ContextMedia team along with strong managerial and operational skills. With a background in documentary production, film editing, and motion graphics, Mike has over ten years of experience in the post-production industry in Chicago working in various post houses, ad agencies, and creative editorial boutiques. His past work experience includes managerial positions with See3 Communications, MediaVision Productions and FCB.

Mike’s most recent position was as Post-Production Manager & Senior Editor at Adelstein|Liston and Associates, a political consulting firm in Chicago, where he was in charge of coordination and execution of all post-production work, including 100+ aired spots for political candidates from all over the country. Mike also proudly recalls his experience developing and implementing work-flow strategies while at Draft FCB (formerly FCB Chicago), which made the production and post-production departments more efficient and effective, thereby contributing to the overall success of the agency.

Mike earned his Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, Film & Video Editing / Documentary Production from Columbia College, Chicago. Mike has a keen interest in local and national politics as well as digital media and currently resides in Ukrainian Village with his wife.

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Matt Coppola, Logistics Manager

Matt has a strong background in logistical operations and brings expertise in procurement, shipping, and inventory management to ContextMedia. Most recently, Matt was Internet Shipping and Receiving Manager for Active Endeavors, an online high-fashion retail company. At Active Endeavors, Matt oversaw and directed several processes, ensuring accurate and timely order fulfillment, as well as spearheaded new projects including the creation of an online inventory, streamlining of warehousing practices and the integration of shipping policies as the company expanded internationally.

Previously, Matt helped establish shipping standards and procedures for a start-up logistics company in Omaha, Nebraska, where he also coordinated new vendor acquisition and developed his negotiation, coordination and problem-solving skills. In addition, he has prior experience with quality control, customer service and employee training. 

Matt received his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska and is currently pursuing computer networking and programming classes at Loyola University, Chicago. Matt enjoys travel and cuisine and presently resides in the Edgewater neighborhood of Chicago.

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