Acceleration Technology Partners was founded with a unique vision.
It was our experience that most management consultancies were not providing advisory from academic, evidence based methods or real world learnings. They were providing unproven, off-the shelf solutions to their clients. In contrast, our firm was founded to bring together three pillars vital to successful advisory:
1. Real-world knowledge and best practices from industry leaders whose experiences range from building the fastest-growing line of business at Google to managing culture during a difficult corporate turnaround at Yahoo.
2. Academic, evidence-based methodologies and cutting edge research from faculty of the world's top universities including UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, Berkeley Law and The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.
3. Implementable consulting solutions and methodologies based on evidence and expertise, not opinions.
Leadership
Nima Shomali, Founder and Managing Partner
Nima Shomali is Managing Partner of Acceleration Technology Partners.
He is an expert in technology strategy and organizational behavior. He specializes in creating high-performance corporate cultures, building elite technology strategy, and leading large-scale corporate turnarounds.
Nima is a Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business Amena Center for Innovation Economies. Previously, Nima was Program Coordinator of the University of California, Davis Graduate School of Management’s MBA Foundations of Technology Program. Nima also holds an appointment as Assistant Professor of Strategy and Organizational Behavior in the MBA and undergraduate business programs at St. Mary’s College of California, where he was awarded the 2016 Outstanding Faculty of the Year. He also serves as an Instructor at University of California, Berkeley Extension, where he teaches Innovation. Additionally, Nima has guest lectured at the London School of Economics, HEC Paris, and New York University Stern School of Business.
Prior to founding ATP, Nima served in the Office of the CEO for Yahoo Inc. under Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer as Corporate Programs, strategic initiative and corporate culture lead. In this role, he created the Yahoo IdeaLab Internal Product Incubator.
Previously, he spent four years in IBM’s elite Strategy and Innovation Consulting Practice. In this role, he worked to create Afghanistan’s first private equity fund and start-up incubator while living for a year on Camp Stone, a NATO operated base in Western Afghanistan. He also operated as Project Lead for the University of California, Office of the President’s key initiative to rebuild their university wide risk management system.
Nima has also worked in the Investment Management Division of the Goldman Sachs Group. Prior to this role, he spent two years designing jet engines for the F22 Raptor and F35 Joint Strike Fighter Planes as part of Pratt and Whitney. Previously, he designed satellites at UC Berkeley’s NASA affiliated Space Sciences laboratory.
Nima also serves as Program Adviser to the Chinese Software Professional Association. He has been the keynote speaker at Silicon Valley Innovation Center’s Leading Digital Transformation Conference. His publications include articles in the Washington Post and New York University Graduate Business Journal. He is fluent in four languages including Farsi, Dari, and Spanish.
Nima holds a Masters of Business Administration Degree from the New York University Stern School of Business, a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is an alumnus of the London Business School’s #1 world-wide ranked MBA program.
Dr. Hamid Shomali, Chairman of the Board
Dr. Shomali is Chairman of the Board for Acceleration Technology Partners.
Dr. Hamid Shomali is a renowned expert in economics and finance. With over 40 years experience in banking, finance, teaching and administration, he specializes in corporate and international finance, strategic planning, and economic analysis.
For over 25 years, Dr. Shomali has served as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, Dr. Shomali has served as an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University in the Department of International Relations.
Previously, Dr. Shomali served as Dean of the School of Business, Dean of the School of Finance and Economics, and Dean of the Graduate School of International Management for Golden Gate University in San Francisco, CA where he is currently a tenured Professor of Finance and Economics.
Dr. Shomali also previously served as an economist at Bank of America in their Economics and Policy Research Department. Hamid was responsible for analyzing risk ratings for select countries, producing position papers on topics of interest to the bank, and making forecasts of oil and gas prices in certain regions.
Prior to that,Dr. Shomali spent two years as an economist for the central bank of Iran. In this role, Dr. Shomali worked to monitor the oil and gas sector of the economy as well as prepare reports on the state of the economy of Iran. He was also Deputy Managing Director of Bank Farhangian in Iran.
Dr. Shomali’s research has been published in nine journals including the prestigious International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, International Journal of Production Economics, Journal of Asia Entrepreneurship and Sustainability and Market Technicians Association Journal.
He has had speaking engagements at CISCO Systems, The Center for Management Technology of Malaysia, Morrison Knudson Corporation, UC Berkeley Extension, Raja Garuda Mas Group, Bank of California, World Affairs Council, Western Economic Association, KPMG Conference on Foreign Trade, KPMG Conference on Energy, Chamber of Commerce of Stockton, Aspen Executive Seminar, International Conference on Economic Development, UN Conference on Basic Human Needs, and Aspen-Persepolis Symposium on Iran’s Economic development.
Dr. Shomali holds a Ph.D in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a B.S. with joint honors in Mathematics and Economics from Salford University, England, and has been awarded a winner of the Fulbright Scholarship.
Damian McKenna, Managing Director of Revenue and Growth
Damian McKenna is Managing Director of Revenue and Growth at Acceleration Technology Partners.
He is an expert in sales, revenue generation, and eCommerce. He specializes in product and sales analytics, and technology, and business development.
Previously, Damian served as Head of eCommerce and Retail, US for Facebook, where he was responsible for building and managing a strategically focused sales team, selling Facebook advertising solutions with a focus on performance marketing. Prior to that, Damian served as Director of Measurement and Advertising Technology at Facebook.
Previous to this, Damian served as a Director at Google. In this role, Damian oversaw Doubleclick Americas' sales and business development organizations with responsibility for Google buy-side products and was was also specifically responsible for regional partnerships.
Damian has also worked in the Marketing division of VerticalResponse where he served as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Prior to this, Damian served as Director of Product Management and Research and Tribal Fusion. He built the product management group from the ground up for the Top Three Global Ad Network and directed all primary research efforts and market analysis.
Damian holds a Master of Public Administration degree from The George Washington University School of Business, as well as a B.A in Religion and Computer Science. Damian is also the recipient of The 1998 PEW Graduate Research Fellowship.
Steven Chang, Principal - Product Management
Steven Chang is Principal of Product Management at Acceleration Technology Partners.
He is an expert in consumer-oriented product management and specializes in product strategy, analytics, and user experience.
He most recently served as Director of Product at 1stdibs, the leading marketplace for rare luxury products with more than $100M in funding from VC firms including Benchmark, Index Ventures, and Alibaba. While at 1stdibs, he launched the growth team and testing process while also leading buyer experience initiatives such as search, personalization, and internationalization.
Steven previously served as a Senior Product Manager at Zynga, where he focused on growth for Zynga Poker (the market leading online Poker game), launching features focused on acquisition and retention. While at Zynga, he also served as product lead for Zynga’s casino prototyping team, where he rapidly iterated and measured feedback on new game concepts.
Steven has also worked internationally, working with a Bogota-based social gaming startup through Endeavor and leading a green-tech market research project in Beijing for a Peking University innovation consultancy. Prior to these roles, Steven was a consultant at Broadlane (now Vizient), where he led cost management and technology adoption initiatives for large health systems. He also worked with leadership on the company's strategy roadmap post-acquisition.
Steven holds a B.A in Public Policy Studies and a B.A in Economics from Duke University and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from New York University Stern School of Business and London Business School.
Steven Levine, Principal - Meteorite Advisors
ATP has partnered with Steven Levine's Meteorite Advisors to provide our clients with expertise on effective social impact strategies. Steven Levine is an expert in corporate government communications, having held prominent positions in the White House and in the executive offices of major U.S. media companies.
Most recently, Steven served as Vice President for Univision Communications, the top media company serving Hispanic America. In the office of the CEO at Univision, Steven worked to transform the traditional media company into the defining entertainment, news and political advocacy brand of the Hispanic community in the United States.
Steven worked to establish Univision as the preeminent Hispanic media brand through several award-winning initiatives, including developing the strategy behind the elite Univision Agency, an advertising agency executing cross-channel promotions for internal and external clients. Additionally, Steven developed the strategy for the company’s political and advocacy group, built its social impact brand and lead Univision’s unprecedented 2016 voter engagement initiative.
Previously, Steven served as the White House Associate Director of Communications under president George W. Bush. During Steven’s tenure, the White House Office of Communications executed the media strategy for the 2008 global financial crisis, TARP, auto bailout, economic stimulus, and facilitated the smooth transition to President Obama’s administration.
In this role, Steven was responsible for executing every presidential media event held on White House grounds. Events he ran included the presidential addresses to the nation on the troop surge in Iraq, the 2008 global financial crisis and the president’s farewell address. Under Steven’s counsel, the White House changed longstanding policy, and began utilizing the White House itself, the most iconic building in America, to call attention to policy priorities.
Steven has worked for NBC Universal, developing marketing and production strategies for NBC News, MSNBC and the Today Show, and also supported the production of Saturday Night Live.
Steven’s work has been the subject of articles in the New York Times, Politico, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes.
Steven holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from the New York University Stern School of Business where he served as President of his MBA class. He received his B.A. in Communications from New York University, where he graduated magna cum laude.
