VP of strategy at Classic Soft Trim,
Andrei Duta was born and raised in Bucharest, Romania. After the fall of communism, while still a teenager Andrei came to America with fifty dollars in his pocket and a big dream in his heart. An entrepreneurial spirit, Andrei is involved in for-profit and nonprofit ventures covering areas such as technology, energy, real estate, and social enterprise. Andrei Duta is the founder and chairman of His Little Ones, a nonprofit organization that supports abandoned and orphaned children in Bucharest, Romania. He received his Ph.D. from Texas A&M. His research focus on governance dynamics, dialectics, and leadership succession. Andrei Duta has taught organizational behavior, leadership, and mediation at Pepperdine University for four years. He also served as Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law. Andrei’s responsibility with the Palmer Center was to head-up the microfinance program in partnership with the Union Rescue Mission in downtown LA. Currently, Andrei lives in Austin, Texas. After two years as VP of strategy for Classic Soft Trim, an aftermarket-solutions automotive company, Andrei Duta is launching a microfinance program in partnership with Freedom Church. He continues to lead the work with His Little Ones with bold aspirations that purposeful social change initiatives will lead to significant improvements in the lives of abandoned and orphaned children in Romania.