Donald A. Kurz has over 30 years’ experience in strategy, finance, marketing and public company leadership. He is currently the executive board chair and majority shareholder of Omelet LLC, a fast-growing, pioneering firm operating atthe convergence of marketing, media, entertainment and technology.
In the past, Mr. Kurz has served as a managing director at leading West Coast investment banking company Diamond Capital Advisors, where he provided strategic advisory services to the media, entertainment, marketing and financial services industries. He was previously managing member and CEO of Artemis Capital Partners LLC, an innovative hedge fund organization he co-founded in 2006.
From 1990–2005 Mr. Kurz led and was the largest common shareholder of EMAK Worldwide Inc. (Equity Marketing), a global NASDAQ national market-traded company that provided Fortune 1000 clients with a variety of measurable, integrated marketing solutions that positively affect consumer behavior. He was chairman and CEO from 1999–2005; from 1990–1999, he was president and co-CEO.
Prior to EMAK, Mr. Kurz spent 10 years as a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers) and Cresap, McCormick and Paget/Towers Perrin (now Willis Towers Watson), where he was elected a senior partner and managed the New York office. His consulting specialties included strategy, organization planning and operations improvement for industries including financial services, consumer products, media and telecommunications, among others.
Mr. Kurz is an emeritus trustee of Johns Hopkins University, having served 12 years as a trustee. He is also a member of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council at Johns Hopkins. Mr. Kurz is a board member of A Better LA, an organization dedicated to reducing gang violence. He has served as an adjunct professor or guest lecturer on various topics at Johns Hopkins University, Columbia Business School, the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Young Presidents’ Organization. Mr. Kurz has been active as a donor, fundraiser and guest teacher with Teach for America, and as a donor and advisor to Project Angel Food in Los Angeles.
Mr. Kurz received an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA from Johns Hopkins University, where he was a key member of its NCAA Division 1 national championship lacrosse team.