Who We Are

The Fractor team is passionate about combining the best in human nature with the immense power of networks, statistics and technology to change the world.

Principles

Ben Robison: Co-founder, CEO

Ben is a former director, producer, composer and violinist. He conceived of and implemented the global Music for Peace Project, which resulted in over 350 concerts in 26 countries, raising funds and awareness for charities worldwide.

David Foote: CTO

David is a serial entrepreneur and manager with 15 years experience as visionary, strategist and architect in hi-tech startups and corporations. David sold his first company to top-5 game publishing company. He has seen multiple commercial and enterprise applications from inception to completion and has managed cross functional teams of 50 or more with annual budgets of 2 to 5 million. His interests range from diverse educational communities to proteomics.

Advice and Support

Katie Weisner: Strategy consulting

Katie has over 5 years experience providing strategic and financial consultation. As an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company and head of PR and Finance for Inspire NY, she has successfully provided key analysis and developed marketing, growth and innovation strategies for projects ranging from $100 volunteer efforts to $300 million corporate opportunities.

Heidi Penix: Nonprofit relations consulting

Heidi Penix has worked in nonprofit financial management and university administration over the past eight years.  She has experience managing accounts that range from $100 million endowments to $2,000 grants and has coordinated programs serving more than 1000 individuals in Central Asia to programs serving 25 ninth graders in inner city Houston.  Heidi has her B.S. in government from Smith College in Massachusetts and has studied international relations at George Washington University and business at Harvard University.  In her free time, she serves as handmaiden for an evil stepcat and two step kittens, all of whom are obnoxious, demanding and pitiless.  She is searching for a fairy godmother.

Tom Brown: Database optimization and scaling

Tom Brown, database optimization and scaling, has developed an automated test farm in use by Google Enterprise Division, an online framework for cognitive behavioral therapy, and a bike sharing system that dynamically changes prices to encourage users to redistribute the vehicles.  He his fascinated by the human brain and the tools used to emulate and understand it.  His experience with scalable distributed systems should come in handy as Fractor develops and grows.  He is currently pursuing his master’s of computer science at MIT.

Josephine Dorado: Co-founder, Fractor Corporation (No longer active)

Josephine Dorado is a Fulbright scholarship recipient and social entrepreneur.  She founded ZoomLab and initiated the Kidz Connect program, which connects physical learning communities internationally via creative collaboration in virtual worlds.  Dorado is a professor in the Graduate Media Studies department at the New School and has successfully managed large technology projects from fundraising through final implementation.

Anja Dornieden: Education Coordinator

Anja Dornieden is a current Fulbright scholar in the Graduate Media Studies program at the New School.  She has experience in working with youth media projects that have engaged teens in using film and photography to present their voices and claim their position in society.  She has obtained further experience in communication and public relations through various projects in Germany and Brazil.  In 2005 she was awarded the First Move award, a German young talent award for cross media.

Stanislav Nikolov: Software Engineer

Stanislav Nikolov is a student of mathematics and computer science at MIT.  He enjoys tackling challenging theoretical problems while building innovative and useful systems.  His recent work includes the development of mathematical models of the visual system, novel text clustering algorithms for the high finance industry, and a 3D graphics and animation engine.  His experience in blending theory with a pragmatic approach to problem solving has served him well in developing Fractor’s core recommendation system.  Outside of technology, Stanislav enjoys bringing creative ideas to life through visual art.