Leadership

Our Leadership

Toby Nord's Headshot

Toby Nord

Toby Nord is the Professional Director of Carlson Ventures Enterprise, a unique year-long program for full-time MBA students designed to teach entrepreneurial skill through experiential learning. He is also an MBA faculty member teaching Corporate Venturing, New Product Design and Business Development, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Design for Sustainable Development, START-UP, and Business Anthropology. 

Prior to joining the University in 2006, Toby spent 20 years with various Minneapolis based companies including Best Buy, where he worked in Strategic Marketing, Business Development, Strategy and Innovation. Some of this work is highlighted in the Harvard Business Case Best Buy: An Innovator’s Journey. Toby also consults nationally, focusing on growth, innovation, business creativity and strategy. He received his MBA from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota and his BA from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Photo of Dan Forbes

Daniel Forbes

Daniel Forbes is an Associate Professor in the Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship department at the Carlson School. Since joining the Carlson School in 2000, Dan has taught courses on strategy and entrepreneurship to students in the MBA, undergraduate and executive education programs.

He also does research that sheds light on how people can build and manage organizations more effectively. He is especially interested in how people exchange knowledge and make decisions while creating new ventures. He has worked closely with several initiatives that help the U. of M. connect with businesses and communities throughout Minnesota, including the Food Industry Center and the Center for Integrative Leadership.

Prior to his academic career, Dan worked in banking and as a program manager for a non-profit organization. He holds a Ph.D. from New York University, and his undergraduate degree is from the University of Chicago.


Board of Directors

Gregg Forsberg (2004)
Vice President, Best Buy

Diana Flotten (2007)
Director, American Public Media Group

Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas (2010)
Corporate Strategy Consultant

Ryan Petz (2014)
Co-Founder & CEO, Fulton Beer

James Craig (2005)
Marketing Manager, Mettler-Toledo International

Adrienne Peirce (2008)
Product Manager, Leadpages

Thompson Aderinkomi (2011)
Co-Founder & CEO, Nice Healthcare

Tim O'Neil (2015)
Executive Director, Bunker Labs Minneapolis

Chris Goralski (2006)
Vice President, 3M

Alex Haley (2009)
Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing

Mike Robinson (2014)
Field Marketing Manager, Boston Scientific

Elise Maxwell (2016
Founder, Ova Woman


Support Student Entrepreneurs

Carlson Ventures Enterprise (CVE) students are often planning on starting their own business after they complete their MBA. Our business model only allows us to support these student entrepreneurs when we have surplus capacity, but we'd like to offer more consistent and complete assistance. For that reason, we are appealing to our alumni and friends to help support one team per year for a student entrepreneur. The entrepreneur will be a member of CVE and will submit a short proposal on how they would utilize a team to help the launch of his or her business.

It's an excellent opportunity to show your support for the Ventures Enterprise and to build the entrepreneurial community at Carlson. Not only does a student entrepreneur get a boost, but the team members get the opportunity to work on the ground floor of a new business.
 

Ways to contribute

Work with us

Submit a short proposal on how you’d utilize a team of student entrepreneurs to help you launch your business. 

Contact Toby Nord, CVE's professional director, for more details:

Phone: 612-308-7033
Email: [email protected]