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FLOW comprises leaders and rising entrepreneurs from all geographic, social, economic and political spheres who believe in the core FLOW principles. The FLOW community is an open, free space in which its growing member-base can work together to create global peace, prosperity, happiness, and sustainability.
See our History to learn about the origins of FLOW.
Board of Directors & Advisors
 John Mackey Co-Founder Board Member. John Mackey is Chairman and CEO of Whole Foods Market, a $5.7 billion sales Fortune 500 company, and a "Fortune 100 Best Companies To Work For" every year since 1998. Whole Foods is one of the top 12 supermarket companies in America and the world's largest natural foods retail chain. John Mackey was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in 2003. Mr. Mackey is a strong believer in FLOW principles, including free market principles and empowerment management. Mr. Mackey has lived on a vegetarian co-op, he and his wife, Deborah, both practice meditation and yoga, and spend as much time as they can on their 720 acre ranch west of Austin. John is a voracious book reader and participates in two monthly book clubs. He is always up for a lively debate about politics, economics, history or sports.
 Michael Strong Co-Founder Board Member. Michael Strong is a pioneer in education and independent learning. He is the founder of innovative Socratic, Montessori and Paideia programs in Alaska, California, Texas and New Mexico. Michael is author of "The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice," and is currently completing "Whole Lives: The Creation of Conscious Culture Through Educational Innovation" and "The FLOW Manifesto," with co-author John Mackey. Educated at Harvard; St. John's College, Santa Fe, and the University of Chicago, Michael studied under Nobel laureate Gary Becker working on a dissertation on "Ideas and Culture as Human Capital." Michael co-founded FLOW with John Mackey in 2004 with an uncompromising, idealistic vision for the world.
 Jim Von Ehr Board Member. Jim Von Ehr is the founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Zyvex Corporation, the first nanotechnology development company. He is also co-founder of the Feynman Grand Prize and the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative. Before founding Zyvex in 1997, Jim was the founder, president, chairman and CEO of Altsys Corporation, which he built from a small programming project in his dining room to a major player in the desktop publishing industry with total worldwide sales of over $100M. In addition to FLOW, Jim serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Nanotechnology Initiative, Metroplex Technology Business Council, the North Texas Technology Council, and the New York-based NanoBusiness Alliance. He also manages the Von Ehr Foundation, a private charitable foundation he established in 1999.
Advisors
 Susan Niederhoffer is a working mother trying to create a better world for her children. She is currently President of Manchester Trading, a trading advisor to several hedge funds. With her husband, Vic, she has helped start and run several Niederhoffer trading entities with over $100 Million in assets that in various years were the best performing funds and, once, the worst. Her primary focus has been nurturing the emotional well-being and intellectual passions of her six daughters and stepdaughters. To this end, she has been actively involved on the boards of several Montessori schools and other independent day and boarding schools as well as an active philanthropist for many other educational organizations. Susan holds an honors degree in economics from Harvard where she wrote a thesis on entrepreneurship, and is an avid runner, photographer and optimist.
 Bob Chitester is the Founder and President of The Palmer R. Chitester Fund, Inc., a 501-c-3 public foundation that creates educational media materials and programs covering topical issues and social concerns, including the development of curriculum material based on ABC News John Stossel’s award winning TV specials. Chitester is also President and CEO of Chitester Creative Associates, Inc., creator of Issues USA hosted by David Asman, National School Assembly with David Robinson, and The Idea Channel,® which offers a library of televised discussions between many of the world’s leading intellectuals, including a growing list of Nobel Prize winners. He is managing partner of Free To Choose Enterprise, with co-partners Milton and Rose Friedman. He and his wife Carol Lovell, have four children and eight grandchildren.
 Vidar Jorgensen is the majority owner of six industry based conference and research companies, which in turn own and manage over 200 conferences and several membership-based research groups focused on biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, health care, insurance, financial services, entertainment, and infrastructure development. Mr. Jorgensen's companies include CBI Research, Inc., WRG Research, Inc., Cambridge Healthtech Institute, Cambridge Healthtech Advisory and The World Health Care Congress, which was launched in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal and CNBC. This partnership will be expanding on this new franchise in both Europe and the United States. He resides in Concord, Massachusetts with his wife Kathy and three children Lorens, Nicholas and Kristen.
The FLOW Executive Team
Michael Strong - Chief Executive Officer & Chief Visionary Officer. As Chief Executive Officer, Michael Strong has executive oversight of FLOW, Inc. and the FLOW movement. His top priority as CEO is fostering new and existing relationships with individuals who are passionate about leading and supporting the FLOW vision. As Chief Visionary Officer, Michael applies his extensive leadership experience inspiring diverse people toward a common goal. His work in education has been enormously successful in demonstrating the profound potential for an enormous increase in human flourishing that could be released through widespread innovation and the free flow of ideas.
 Jeff Klein - Executive Director & Chief Activation Officer. Jeff began serving as Executive Director for FLOW in late October 2005. He is charged with developing the infrastructure for FLOW, with an emphasis on communications, program development and management, and facilitating strategic relationships. In his role as Chief Activation Officer, Jeff is producing Peace Through Commerce for FLOW.
Jeff is founder and CEO of Cause Alliance Marketing, through which he develops collaborative cause related marketing programs that address social issues while addressing the business objectives of alliance partners. Through his work with Peace Cereal, Jeff initiated Working for Good, which he is currently producing, and for which FLOW has created content. Jeff has worked in marketing, business development, and general management in the music, natural products, and fitness industries, building companies and talent including Private Music, Yanni, Seeds of Change, Spinning, and ChiRunning.
 Philomena Blees, J.D. (also “Phyllis”) is FLOW’s Vice President, Secretary, General Counsel, and Chief Problem Solver. She also practices law part-time in the areas of business, tax and real property. These are not areas of law chosen lightly by Phyllis, but rather areas of keen interest to her. Phyllis sees her work as helping individuals pursue their dream in every facet of starting and running a business. Phyllis also founded her own business: a for-profit International Baccalaureate school for gifted children, K-5, in Austin, Texas, which she sold in December, 2005. She has dreams of opening a Center for Adult Creativity and Innovation on a for-profit basis, and is in the ideation stage of that business.
Phyllis is a proud member of Bootstrap Austin and co-leads Bootstrap Library and Bookclub...a dynamic group of business founders in Austin who believe in starting a business on the strength of the revenues it generates, and helping each other in that effort. She has also founded and served as the first president of 3 nonprofit corporations supporting education and creativity: the Eanes I.S.D. Talented and Gifted Association, the Eanes Education Foundation., and the American Creativity Association's Austin Chapter. Phyllis Chaired the 2005 International Conference of the American Creativity Association, and continues to serve on the annual conference planning committees. This conference brings leaders from around the world to share their knowledge about creative problem solving in the areas of business, education, science, industry and technology.
Phyllis received her law degree at the University Of Hawaii William S. Richardson School Of Law, where she received the Dean’s Scholastic Award for receiving the highest grade in her first year class. She went on to receive American Jurisprudence Awards (highest grade) in Contracts, Civil Procedure, and Real Property. She served as an editor of the UH Law Review and is a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity. Phyllis received undergraduate awards in business and service from the California Business Education Association. She graduated from California Polytechnic University with a Bachelors of Science, taking a Major in Business, with a minor in Economics, and earning the President’s List award for a 4-year, all-A average.
Phyllis pursues running, hiking, and reading with her two children 13 and 19 as a single mother in Austin, Texas.
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