Intersect’s founder, chairman, and CEO is Peter Rinearson, a Pulitzer Prize winning former journalist who has founded several successful technology companies, served as a vice president at Microsoft, and co-written a best-selling book with Bill Gates.

Peter won the Pulitzer for a series of articles he wrote about the Boeing 757 project for the Seattle Times. In the mid 80s, he became captivated by the potential of software to transform people’s lives and so left life as a daily journalist to pursue his interest in technology.

After writing the leading books on how to use Microsoft Word, Peter founded Alki Software, where he conceived several aspects of Microsoft Word, including its first table feature. He also designed the first toolbar for Word for the Macintosh, which he subsequently licensed to Microsoft as the signature feature of Microsoft Word 5.1. Later his company published Microsoft Office Proofing Tools, which let people work with Microsoft Office in a variety of languages.

In the mid 90s, Peter co-authored The Road Ahead with Bill Gates and Nathan Myhrvold. The book rocketed to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and introduced millions of readers to the concepts of “friction-free capitalism,” a term Rinearson coined to describe the potential efficiency of the Internet as a marketplace, and the “digital wallet,” a term Gates coined to describe a handheld device that someday would be your phone, navigation system, camera, email client, identification, and wireless connection to a world of information.

After The Road Ahead, Peter assembled a team of 17 software developers, formed a company called Intype, and set out in the hope of helping to transform the newspaper industry. As somebody with a deep belief in journalism’s watchdog function, Peter wanted the newspaper industry to do well in the face of the Internet. Peter believed that Intype could help online newspapers be focal points of community-created content, and that community content was key to the long-term viability of local journalism. (This was before the word “blog” was known.) When news companies showed little interest, Peter sold Intype to a new cable television network, Oxygen, where he served as a senior vice president, splitting his time between Manhattan and Seattle.

In 2002, Peter joined Microsoft as one of five leaders in Microsoft’s Information Worker Business Unit, which published Microsoft Office and other productivity tools. In 2005, he returned to his entrepreneurial roots and soon after started a company that would ultimately become Intersect.

Peter is a former member of the National Advisory Board of the Poynter Institute, a leading educational institution for working journalists, and has served on the Visiting Committee of the University of Washington Department of Communications.

Monica has lived on the bleeding edge of high technology for more than 20 years in both the for-profit and nonprofit worlds. She’s been the Chief Marketing Officer for two hugely successful Seattle-area startups: Valve (makers of Half-Life) and Picnik (which was acquired by Google in March 2010). Between startups, she worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she managed the central communications team and served as media advisor to Bill and Melinda Gates. Before startups, she was an award-winning marketer at Microsoft.

Monica started her marketing career as a product manager on Microsoft Word, which is where she met Peter Rinearson. By then, Peter was known within Microsoft as The Word Guy because of a comprehensive and very readable book he’d written about Microsoft Word.

At the time Monica joined the Word team, WordPerfect was the overwhelming market leader — so overwhelming that many court systems in the U.S. would accept documents online only if they were formatted in WordPerfect — something Monica still finds deeply ironic. Among her many assignments was developing and implementing a strategy for unseating WordPerfect in law firms and corporate legal departments across the country.

After helping to launch Word for Windows 2.0, Monica moved to Microsoft’s central marketing group, where she led the Applications and Developer Tools PR team during the critical time period when Microsoft overtook Lotus, WordPerfect, and Borland to become the world’s leading applications company. She later was recruited into the Consumer Division, where she won the Market Maker Award, which was the division’s highest marketing honor.

Monica left Microsoft to help her husband, Valve co-founder Mike Harrington, and his partner and fellow co-founder Gabe Newell launch their debut game Half-Life, which ultimately sold more than 10 million copies, won more than 50 Game of the Year Awards, and was named the Best Marketed PC Game Ever by the leading industry publication, PC Gamer. (If you’re an avid gamer, you know about Half-Life and Valve.)

After Valve, Monica took five years off to recharge and refresh. She was considering a return to startup life when she was invited to join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a senior communications strategist and as media advisor to Bill and Melinda. During her time at the foundation, Warren Buffett made his historic gift, Bill and Melinda appeared on Oprah to discuss the dire state of high school education (their first major joint television appearance), and TIME magazine honored the foundation’s work by naming Bill and Melinda as its Persons of the Year.

In 2007, Monica left the foundation to help her husband and his partners launch a new business - this time Picnik, which won early and widespread acclaim from technology, business, and consumer press as an exemplary cloud-based application. Fueled by positive word-of-mouth, Picnik became the world’s most popular photo editing site before being acquired by Google.

In addition to her work at Intersect, Monica serves on the board of Code for America, an innovative nonprofit focused on bringing the benefits of the web to cities across America. She is also a pro bono advisor to NetHope, a collaborative technology-oriented nonprofit made up of CIOs from some of the world’s largest nonprofits.

Lawrence Wilkinson is Chairman of Heminge & Condell (H&C) and Co-Founder of Global Business Network (GBN). Through H&C, Lawrence is involved in venture formation work, and as a director and counselor to a number of companies that he helped create, among them: GBN, Ealing Studios, Public Bikes, Intersect, and Character. He also is deeply engaged in several nonprofits, including The Rural Development Institute, Common Sense Media, The Institute for the Future, Public Radio International, Public Interactive/NPR, and New America Media. Lawrence continues to offer strategic counsel to a number of corporate clients and governments around the world. Named a “Jedi Knight of Innovation" by Fast Company, Lawrence is a frequent speaker in public, industry, and corporate settings, and is the author of two blogs, (Roughly) Daily and Scenarios and Strategy.

Lawrence co-founded (in 1987), and served as President (through 1998) of Global Business Network (GBN), a San Francisco, California-based strategic consulting firm (now part of the Monitor Group), where he remains of counsel as a Network member and strategist. Lawrence and GBN have been central to the development and spread of the Scenario Planning technique, an approach to addressing very important decisions and very long time horizons that has become a critical component of organizational and project planning worldwide.

Lawrence serves as Director and Advisor to Ealing Studios, Ltd. Ealing, which celebrated its Centennial in 2002, is the oldest continuously-operating film studio in the world. Lawrence also served as a Vice-Chairman of Oxygen Media, Inc., a cable television programming service that he co-founded in June of 1998 with partners including Geraldine Laybourne, Oprah Winfrey, Carsey-Werner, and Disney. It was at Oxygen that Lawrence met Peter Rinearson, when he oversaw the acquisition of Peter's company, Intype. (Oxygen was acquired by NBC-Universal in late 2007.)

Lawrence helped form, then served as Director and Chief Architect of Wired Ventures, the partnership that built and managed Wired, and Wired Digital//HotWired (now a part of Conde Nast). And he helped form and served as a director of Design Within Reach and Mercantila.

From 1984 to 1990, Lawrence was President of Colossal Pictures, an award-winning film, television, and digital entertainment and commercial production company. Lawrence oversaw all activities of Colossal, its USFX division and Big Pictures subsidiary, and its affiliated companies (e.g., Pixar and Konnick) globally. Prior to joining Colossal, Lawrence was instrumental in founding Business Times, a pioneering cable and radio financial news service that spawned such “children” as CNN/fn and The Wall Street Journal Report. From 1979 through 1981, Lawrence was Senior Vice President of KQED, Inc., San Francisco, where he directed all planning, production, marketing, and publishing activities. From 1976 to 1979, he was director of planning for WNET-TV, New York City.

Lawrence has authored and edited numerous publications and Harvard Business School case studies ranging from Public Broadcasting in the U.S. (Harvard Business School Press) to The Cambridge Milton (Cambridge University Press), and is the author of How To Build Scenarios (Wired, 1995). He has produced and executive-produced numerous television programs, multimedia titles, and feature films, including the Academy Award-winning Crumb (Sony Pictures Classics). His articles and essays have been anthologized in a number of collections, most recently in Strategy Bites Back (edited by Henry Mintzberg, et al., Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005).

Lawrence has taught on the faculties of The World Economic Forum’s annual Davos Summit, the Microsoft CEO Summit, The Salzburg Global Seminar, and several business and graduate schools, and has served as a McKinsey Prize judge.

Lawrence graduated with honors from Harvard Business School, Oxford University, and Davidson College. In addition to serving as Chairman of Heminge & Condell, Lawrence is a Director of Ealing Studios, Ltd., Character, Row Eleven Wine Co., and Peak Road; he is an Advisory Director of Expo-TV and Chumby. He has served on the boards of Wired Ventures (acquired by Conde Nast), Brøderbund Software (acquired by The Learning Company), GBN (acquired by The Monitor Group), Direct Medical Knowledge (acquired by WebMD), Oxygen Media (acquired by NBC-Universal), Design Within Reach, Mercantila, and Colossal Pictures. He is Chairman of the Board of Visitors and a Trustee of Davidson College; an Advisory Board member of both the Bodleian Library’s “Library of the Future” Project and MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics; and he sits on the Boards of The Rural Development Institute, The Pacific News Service, New American Media, Public Radio International, Public Interactive (the not-for-profit that provides web services for public broadcasters nationwide), The Institute for the Future, and Common Sense Media (a non-profit group that he co-founded); he served for years as Vice Chair of the San Francisco Film Society/San Francisco International Film Festival.

Don Burdick was the Senior Vice President of Information Systems of Costco from 2000 to 2010. In this capacity, he oversaw a team of 675 employees including 250 software developers. He had responsibility for all of Costco’s information and data systems including merchandising, inventory control, point-of-sale, networking, security, and costco.com. Don began a personal leave from Costco in February 2010.

Prior to his current technical role, Don was Country Manager and Vice President for Costco in Korea. Before that, he was the company’s Vice President and corporate counsel.

During a brief period away from Costco, Don took Pyramid Ale public, after raising $50 million. In addition to being a lawyer, Don worked as a Certified Public Accountant with Price Waterhouse.

Daniel R. Fung is the first person of Chinese extraction to serve as Solicitor General of Hong Kong, doing so under respectively Governor Chris Patten (British) and Chief Executive CH Tung (Chinese), thereby straddling the territory’s reversion to Chinese sovereignty (1994-8). He is Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Bar and the Chairman of Des Voeux Chambers, voted by Asia Law & Practice as Chambers of the Year for 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2008. He is an accredited arbitrator of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC).

Fung is a specialist constitutional lawyer with expertise in the setting up of Special Administrative Regions (SARs) and Special Economic Zones (SEZs) including the establishment of parliaments and legislative bodies in such regions and zones and has worked with the Central People’s Government in Beijing, the Hong Kong SAR, the Macau SAR, the Shenzhen SEZ and the Zhuhai SEZ Governments. From 1985-1990, he was involved in the drafting of the mini-constitution for the Hong Kong SAR. He has advised UNDP on the Greater Tumen River Initiative and the setting up of a Free Trade Zone straddling China, Russia and North Korea.

Fung is Co-Chair of the United Nations Peace & Development Foundation (UNPDF), President of the International Law Association (ILA) Hong Kong Chapter, Honorary President of the International Association of Industry & Commerce (IAIC), President of the Board of the International Bridges to Justice (IBJ), Vice Chairman of the Salzburg Global Seminar (SGS), Vice-President of the Academy of Experts (TAE), Member of the Board of Governors of the East West Center (EWC), Council Member of International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), national delegate to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), elected Council Member of China Law Society (CLS), Founding Governor of the China-US Exchange Foundation, Chairman of the International Advisory Board to the Government of Shanghai Xuhui District and member of the Strategic Development Commission of the Hong Kong Government.

From 2002-2008, Fung served as Chairman of the Hong Kong Broadcasting Authority, an industry regulator of television and radio broadcasting in and out of Hong Kong, serving as Asia’s media and communications hub.

Among various publications, Fung is the Joint General Editor of Arbitration in China (2004) and a contributing author to Democracy & the Rule of Law (2001) and The Confluence of Affluence: The Pearl River Delta Story (2005). In addition, he has contributed numerous articles in academic as well as popular journals.

In 2003, Fung was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star for services to constitutional development in Hong Kong, and made a Justice of the Peace in 2004.

Valerie Casey, founder of the Designers Accord, is a globally recognized designer and innovator. In 2010, BusinessWeek named her as one of the “World’s Most Influential Designers,” and in 2009, Time magazine hailed her as a “Hero of the Environment.” In 2008, Fortune called Casey a “Guru You Should Know,” and Fast Company magazine named her a “Master of Design.”

Before starting her own practice, Casey held executive leadership positions at the most respected design companies in the world. At IDEO, she led the digital experience group, focusing on maximizing the effects and opportunities of networked culture. Before that, she was the Executive Creative Director at frog design, where she led the design research and design strategy practices worldwide. Casey was also an Associate Partner at Pentagram Design, where she started the interaction design group.

Today Casey consults with start-ups, governments, and companies all over the world on challenges ranging from creating new products and services, to transforming organizational processes and behaviors. Industry leaders such as Microsoft, Samsung, Cisco, and Johnson & Johnson, among others, have sought out her expertise to tackle their design and innovation challenges.

The Designers Accord — a global coalition of more than 700 design firms, universities, and businesses focused on creating positive social and environmental impact — is Casey’s brainchild. She founded the non-profit in 2007 and through her leadership it has grown to be one of the most influential organizations in the design world. Fast Company wrote that Casey’s vision around design thinking and impact is “on a path to change the culture of the creative community from bottom to top, and with it, the way everything is made, from toothbrushes to airplanes.”

Casey speaks globally on cultural change and sustainability, and is an Adjunct Professor in the graduate design program at California College of the Arts (CCA). She holds a master’s degree in cultural theory and design from Yale University and a BA from Swarthmore College.

Dr. John Wynn, long fascinated by human psychological development and the stages of adult life, received a BA in Philosophy from Yale College and the MD degree from the University of Illinois. Residencies and board certification in both Internal Medicine (at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago) and Psychiatry (at UCLA) were followed by faculty positions first at UCLA and then at the University of Washington School of Medicine, where he is Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Wynn’s private practice encompasses work with a wide variety of individuals, couples and families in office and hospital settings. He teaches and supervises clinicians and trainees in programs at the UW School of Medicine and Swedish Medical Centers. He lectures on a wide range of topics, including primary care mental health, physician well-being, mood and personality disorders, psychooncology and the history of medicine. He has been listed in many “Best Doctors” lists over the years, and in 2005 was designated a Master Clinical Educator by the American Psychiatric Association.

In 2001 Dr. Wynn became Medical Director for PsychoOncology at the Swedish Cancer Institute. In this role he provides program, educational, supervisory and clinical services to patients and the staff that care for them.

Stacy Baird, an intellectual property attorney, served as Senior Policy Advisor to U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, who is a member of the Senate Commerce Committee and a thought leader on issues relating to technology and entertainment. Baird previously served as Technology and Intellectual Property Counsel to the senator when she was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Baird worked extensively on copyright, privacy and antitrust issues and on landmark legislation including the USA Patriot Act, the Homeland Security Act, 2002 immigration and border security reform, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, laws that transformed intelligence, law enforcement and national security information sharing requirements. He also was deeply involved with the education technology provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (“No Child Left Behind”), the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act (TEACH Act), and Senator Cantwell’s legislation to assist victims of identity theft.

Previously, Baird served as Brookings Legislative Fellow to U.S. Representative Howard Berman, who was Ranking Member on the Courts and Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Baird advised Berman on Internet and intellectual property issues including those arising under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, legal protection for databases, protection of trademarks on the Internet and of copyright, particularly with the advent of Napster. Baird was responsible for Representative Berman’s 1999 patent reform bill to address “business-method” and biotechnology patents, and was a principle negotiator on the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN Act).

Baird began his government career in 1993 at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, working on environmental policy. In 1997, he began work on the first cross-agency implementation of the agency’s website, an early effort to deliver federal government services using the Internet.

Prior to entering the field of law, Baird worked as a music recording engineer and producer in Los Angeles and San Francisco for 13 years. His engineering clients included Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos and producers T. Bone Burnett and Rick Nowels. He began his career working on such noteworthy projects as Brian Eno and David Byrne’s “My Life in the Bush of Ghosts” and the soundtrack for Francis Coppola’s Academy-Award winning Apocalypse Now.

In 2008-2009, he was Visiting Fellow at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law and in 2009, Visiting Scholar at the University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. Baird currently resides in Hong Kong and Hollywood, California.

Craig Kinzer is the General Partner of Denny Hill Capital, the founder of a number of Northwest companies, and a long-time venture capitalist. He was the co-founder of Screenlife, the developer of SceneIt?, the DVD game marketed nationally by Mattel, and Mattel’s third largest brand after Hot Wheels and Barbie. SceneIt? was the world’s biggest selling board game after Monopoly. Craig led the company through its startup years as Chairman of the Board, and orchestrated the sale of the Company to Paramount/Viacom.

With 20-plus years experience as a venture capitalist, Craig founded Kinzer Capital in 1998, a venture capital and investment advisory firm specializing in early stage companies with industry focus reflective of the Pacific Northwest economy. He co-founded Capital Partners II in 2000, a venture fund targeted at angel investors to compete more effectively in the financing of Pacific Northwest technology based companies. Both of these funds are significantly outperforming other same vintage year funds, at 21% IRR and 17% IRR respectively.

Craig is also Founder and Principal in charge of Kinzer Real Estate Services (KRES). Over the past 25 years, KRES has managed the analysis, structuring, and negotiation for leases, acquisitions and joint venture developments totaling over $7 billion and over 30 million square feet. His current clients include Russell Investments, Children’s Hospital and Research Center, Starbucks Coffee Company, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Washington. Craig’s real estate endeavors also include land development, focusing on areas in Eastern Washington.

Prior experience includes Touche Ross and Co. where he served as a tax attorney, CPA, and business and real estate consultant to corporate clients. Craig holds both a Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law, and a Masters in Business Administration from the UW School of Business. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from California Lutheran University in political science and economics. While at California Lutheran University, Craig was a Division II all league defense back, and Student Body President.