Wharton Peer Perspectives on Leadership Student Lecture and Discussion Series

1. Wharton Peer Perspectives on LeadershipStudent Lecture and Discussion Series “Leadership Through Resilience & Adaptability”- Charles de Villaines WG ‘15 Wednesday, November 12 JMHH 24512:00 – 1:20 pm, Lunch will be served Overcoming seemingly insurmountable hurdles, fighting against discrimination, and pushing established boundaries develop resilience and adaptability - two essential components of leadership. Charles de Villaines will share how he became blind at age 18, adapted to this new life and turned his disability into strength.Charles is a 2nd year Wharton MBA student, concentrating in Finance & Entrepreneurial Management. Prior to Wharton, Charles worked in investment banking at RBS and Rothschild. As a VP in the Global Industrials Group, he financed private equity-led acquisitions and advised multinational firms on mergers & acquisitions and capital markets transactions. At Wharton, Charles is a Principal with Wharton Venture Partners' Technology team, where he focuses on assistive technologies. During his first year, Charles co-founded Scribe, a real-time captioning software company with two computer scientists from Carnegie Mellon University and a fellow Wharton classmate.Charles is a marathon runner, an avid traveler and an extreme sport addict. He slalom water skis, wakeboards & snowboards. With the help of his college roommate, he drove a snowmobile during a 600 mile expedition in the Arctic Circle.