TJ Kostecky is the lead innovator of Vision Training for Life, a leadership developmental program which empowers individuals to discover their full potential and form meaningful connections through subtle shifts in perspective. In an academic career spanning three decades and six universities, he has served as a coach, athletic director, professor, and entrepreneur. TJ is currently the head men’s soccer coach and assistant athletic director for leadership at Bard College. He resides in Tivoli, NY, where his play involves longboarding through the village streets, hiking the Catskill Mountains, and engaging everyone he meets in conversation. He is the proud father of two young women who both work at the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Crispin Kott is the coauthor of Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to New York City, Rock and Roll Explorer Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area (both Taylor Trade), and The Little Book of Rock and Roll Wisdom (Lyons Press). A longtime journalist covering music and beyond, Crispin has been published in PopMatters, Please Kill Me, Nerve, Legsville, Chronogram, Roll, and many other online and print media outlets.
Mary Robinette Kowal is the author of Shades of Milk and Honey (Tor, 2010) and Glamour in Glass (Tor, 2012). In 2008 she received the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and in 2011 her short story “For Want of a Nail” won the Hugo Award for Short Story. Her work has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards. Her stories appear in Asimov’s, Clarkesworld, and several Year’s Best anthologies. Mary, a professional puppeteer, also performs as a voice actor, recording fiction for authors such as Seanan McGuire, Cory Doctorow, and John Scalzi. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Rob, and over a dozen manual typewriters. Visit www. maryrobinettekowal.com.
Harley Jane Kozak, a sometime actress, lives in Topanga Canyon, Calif., with her trial lawyer husband, two big dogs and three small children. Her debut novel, Dating Dead Men, won the Agatha, Anthony and Macavity awards. Its sequel, Dating Is Murder, came out last spring, and she’s now writing number three, working-titled Dead Ex. Her short fiction has appeared in Ms. Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, the Sun and the Santa Monica Review.
Peter Kozodoy is an Inc. columnist, keynote speaker, Inc. 5000 serial entrepreneur and business coach. In his largest company, Peter serves as the Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of GEM Advertising—a full-service strategic communications agency for high-growth B2C companies. His work at GEM has been featured in CNBC, Yahoo!, Bloomberg, Reuters and MarketWatch, and has earned him Telly, Pixie, Communicator, Aurora, Davey and W3 awards. He is a member of both Entrepreneur’s Organization in New York and the Young Entrepreneur Council, and holds both a B.A. in Economics from Brandeis University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
Norbert Kraft, MD, received “The NASA Group Achievement Award 2013,” one of the most prestigious awards a group can receive, presented to selected groups who have distinguished themselves by making outstanding contributions to the NASA mission. In 2010, Kraft received the 2010 Award for “Outstanding Accomplishments in the Psychological and Psychiatric Aspects of Aerospace Medicine.”
He has over 20 years of experience in aviation and aerospace research and development. His primary area of expertise is developing physiological and psychological countermeasures to combat the negative effects of long-duration spaceflight. Dr. Kraft’s experiences span Europe, Asia, and the United States, where he has worked for several international space agencies, including the Russian Space Agency and the Japanese Space Agency. Dr. Kraft is an author of over 40 papers in the field of aerospace medicine, including a seminal paper on intercultural crew issues in long-duration spaceflight. He has an M.D. from University of Vienna, Austria, and is a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association.
Jonathan Krane is the founder and CEO of KraneShares, an asset management firm delivering China-focused exchange traded funds to global investors. KraneShares focuses on providing expert access and products for investors to gain exposure to China’s capital markets. Jonathan has spent the last 15 years working with companies in China. He previously founded a leading media and entertainment company in China which was later sold to a publicly traded multi-national corporation. Jonathan received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Connecticut College. He is on the board of the US-China Strong Foundation and is a member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
In his 25-year prosecution career, Ken Kratz has handled many complex and high-profile cases including homicides, sexual assaults, child abuse cases, and property crimes. Widely considered one of the state’s best criminal trial attorneys, Ken dedicated his career to advancing the rights of crime victims, serving on the Attorney General’s Crime Victim’s Council, and as Chairman of Wisconsin’s Crime Victim’s Rights Board from 1997 to 2009. Ken also proudly served as President of the Wisconsin District Attorney’s Association in 1996.
For his work on the Teresa Halbach homicide case, Ken was named “Prosecutor of the Year” by the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators in 2008. Ken has also received recognition from the Wisconsin District Attorney’s Association, Wisconsin Department of Justice, and Wisconsin Judicial Council.
Marguerite Krause’s favorite activities involve the printed word. In addition to writing, she works as a freelance copyeditor, helping other writers to sharpen their skills, and for relaxation loves nothing better than to curl up with a good book. She is married to her high school sweetheart; they have two children. You can find more of Marguerite’s writing in the anthologies Seven Seasons of Buffy and Five Seasons of Angel; her two-part epic fantasy, Moons’ Dreaming and Moons’ Dancing, co-written with Susan Sizemore; and her fantasy novel, Blind Vision.
Adrienne Kress is a Toronto born actor and author. Her books are Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and Timothy and the Dragon’s Gate (Weinstein Books). She is a theatre graduate of the University of Toronto and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in the UK. Published around the world, Alex and the Ironic Gentlemen was featured in the New York Post as a “Post Potter Pick,” as well as on the CBS Early Show. It won the Heart of Hawick Children’s Book Award in the UK and was nominated for the Red Cedar. The sequel, Timothy, was nominated for the Audie and Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards. Her debut YA novel, The Friday Society, will be published by Dutton in 2012. Visit her website at www.adriennekress.com.
