Paul Donald is the founder and president of Branch, an online retail store specializing in house wares, furniture and gift items that are high-design and sustainably made. Before founding Branch in 2005, Paul spent 12 years in the graphic design and magazine publishing industries. Living and working in New York and then San Francisco, he has helped craft the look and feel for such magazines as Spy, Wired, The Industry Standard and Sunset. He has been a staff designer for Alexander Isley Design; his freelance clients include Chronicle Books and the Long Now Foundation, among others.

A cum laude graduate of Williams College, Mr. Mandle holds a MA from New York University and a Ph.D. in Art History from Case Western University. He was appointed President of Rhode Island School of Design in 1993. A nationally known figure in the field of education in the arts and humanities for the past twenty-five years. his previous credits include Associate Director of the Minneapolis Museum of Art, Chief Curator of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and presidentially-appointed member of the National Council on the Arts, on which he served for eight years. Mr. Mandle is a published scholar and teacher on the subjects of aesthetics and Dutch art.

Bernhard Dietz has a background in both Industrial Systems Design, and Natural Resources and Environment. He earned a degree from the School Natural Resources and Environment, a specialized school at the University of Michigan. Bernhard's Masters in Science from UofM, and Master of Design from the University of Kassel came together by completing detailed Life Cycle Analysis on office furniture. The bilingual designer has since worked for consultancies to help clients figure out their environmental footprint. Past experience includes the Associate Creative Director at Bruce Mau Design. Bernhard currently lives and works in Toronto, Canada.

Grant Kristofek holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT. In 2005, he joined Continuum, a Boston-based design and innovation consultancy, where he has developed a variety of medical devices and consumer products and helped to pioneer a grassroots sustainability initiative. Since 2007, he has served as Sustainability Champion, fostering a series of ongoing programs to build internal knowledge and aid client organizations with sustainable design. His interest in the path toward a sustainable world began as a graduate student at MIT, where he helped develop a low-cost prescription device to improve vision problems in developing countries. Since then, Grant has advised companies like American Express, SUN Microsystems and Procter & Gamble on incorporating sustainable thinking into the design, production and distribution of their products and services. He also served as a panelist at the first annual Greener Gadgets conference held in NYC in February 2008. His free time typically finds him involved in a musical endeavor or on his bike on the way to one.