Our TEam
At Exponential Destiny one of our key ingredients that we feel is most effective for serving our purpose and mission is the peer-to-peer mentorship, empathy, and relatability that our core team has with the communities we serve. The majority of our founding leadership team are youth leaders from similar low-income and marginalized communities (e.g., south-central Los Angeles) and/or have worked to serve these communities for years.
Therefore, when we collaborate with a school or engage with an impact-organization that is doing outreach with similar communities, the youth and even adult learners, as well as local educators and administrators, express a level of increased trust considering their confidence in knowing we understand their broader context and thus have insights on how best to optimize this emerging technology to achieve benefits for them and their community. We also find it highly effective for a peer to be teaching a peer, i.e., “I was in your shoes in high school not too long ago, and now look at me! I was able to upskill myself into learning this new emerging technology and apply it to help my school and other organizations… and so can you! I will show you how!”.
For more on how this founding team evolved to form Exponential Destiny, please review our Origins & History story
The Exponential Destiny Leadership Team
Marcus Shingles
CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Los Angeles, California
MARCO VARGAS
CO-FOUNDER & COMMUNITY OUTREACH LEAD
Los Angeles, California
SAMANTHA AGUILAR ARAUJO
EXECUTIVE MENTOR & CHIEF DESIGN OFFICER
Los Angeles, California
MARCUS SHINGLES
CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Marcus is the co-Founder and CEO of Exponential Destiny. Marcus met his co-founder and the leadership team at Exponential Destiny when they were students still in high school as part of an initiative he championed when “adopting” a south-central Los Angeles public high school to establish a new curriculum to teach “exponential entrepreneurship” in 2015 (see: https://www.laschoolreport.com/pilot-program-at-nava-prep-robotics-drones-and-entrepreneurship/).
Marcus has a passion for mentoring youth leaders who show potential for growth, particularly individuals who are overcoming challenges within marginalized and under-served communities and education systems. As a mentor, he brings his knowledge and insights from his decades of work in industry; Marcus was previously the CEO of the XPRIZE foundation, a non-profit and the global leader in prize and crowdsourcing models for innovation and technology breakthroughs used to solve humanity’s grandest challenges. In addition, Marcus comes from the Management Consulting industry, where he was a Partner at Deloitte and Bain Consulting as a leader in the technology and innovation practices. Currently, Marcus is the Chief Innovation Officer at an international development firm, where he is leading a global team on an initiative to design and build a new future urban community/”smart-city” on over 7,000 acres in northern Thailand.
Marcus’s expertise in innovation and technology has been featured on leading broadcasts and publications. He is an Advisory Board member of Stanford University’s “Disruptive Technology & Digital Cities” Program, and is also currently a member of the World Economic Forum- Expert Network, focused on “4th Industrial Revolution”. He also serves on the board and/or is an advisor to several non-profits focused on education for low income and underserved communities.
Marcus grew up in the Midwest (Michigan, Chicago), resided in California for many years, and now resides in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He has an amazing daughter and a son, both out of college and exploring their destinies.
Follow Marcus on Twitter: @DisruptionAlert
MARCO VARGAS
CO-FOUNDER & Head of community outreach
Marco is highly experienced with developing and managing community events, programs, and projects.
Featured Achievements:
- First Generation College Student
- $1M+ direct financial management experience
- 50+ public speaking events (Spokesman, elected representative, community member)
Career Goal: “Through social entrepreneurship, I will bolster the economies of marginalized communities and increase education and career opportunities for low income students.”
Marco currently is a sophomore at Dartmouth studying Spanish and Economics. While this mean he spends most of his time in Hanover, New Hampshire, Marco leverages tools and technology to coordinate teams, manage events, and give back to low income communities.
Marco founded Fifth Sun Pictures, a marketing agency to support nonprofits and small businesses. The firm is best known for using design thinking to create and execute marketing campaigns for political candidates, advocacy organizations, and movements.
Marco founded Waiters in Distress, an event staffing company that provides youth work experience at weddings, birthdays, and other private events. This business started with a $500 grant from Operation Hope and grew to $75k in gross sales after 2.5 years.
In 2018, Marco joined the fight against gun violence with Students Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety. He organizes rallies, host panels, and speaks out against gun violence in South Central and all around the country. From his college dorm room he launched the Students Demand Action Summer Leadership Academy, a summer program that helps low income students of color and survives of gun violence became leaders. In 2020, summer programs will be launched in Atlanta, Baltimore, Nashville, and South Central.
Hobbies; tennis, public speaking, and event planning
SAMANTHA AGUILAR ARAUJO
Executive Mentor & Chief Design Officer
IRIS OCHOA GARCIA
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
Los Angeles, California
PABLO GONZALEZ
Los Angeles, California
JUAN FELIX
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
Los Angeles, California
IRIS OCHOA GARCIA
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
Iris Areli Ochoa Garcia was born August 26, 2002 and lives in South Central Los Angeles. She went to Nava College Preparatory Academy for high school where she was Salutatorian. Now she attends University of California Santa Barbara and is a first generation student. She’s currently studying to receive her bachelors in Biology.
PABLO GONZALEZ
EXECUTIVE MENTOR & CTO
Pablo’s first hand experiences with facilitating events and groups traces back to his role as ASB President and a plethora of campus chairman positions. As part of the graduating Class of 2020, he recently committed to attending the University of California Merced.
Pablo is also one of the founding Partners of Fifth Sun Pictures. This is where a lot of his engagement and introduction to the world of social entrepreneurship is derived from.
Pablo holds an FAA certified FAA license and leads sales at Fifth Sun Pictures. His involvement in the startup began after a conversation with Marco on social media that quickly turned into a business venture. While Pablo is new to entrepreneurship, he brings a fresh and ambitious perspective. As a mentor, he understands the importance of cultivating intellectual curiosity and leveraging the power of tools and technology.
JUAN FELIX
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
KEVIN VEGA
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
Los Angeles, California
ZACHARY SHINGLES
EXECUTIVE MENTOR & CHIEF
PLATFORM OFFICER
Okemos, Michigan
Abby Pearson
Graphic Design Lead
Manteo, North Carolina
KEVIN VEGA
EXECUTIVE MENTOR
Kevin Vega is an Entrepreneur, current Chief Executive Officer of LopesEat, he is skilled in Sales, Public Speaking, Social Media, Marketing and Videography. Kevin Vega was born in Los Angeles California and attended Nava College Preparatory Academy in south la, he took part in the exponential entrepreneurship course where he says his passion for entrepreneurship was born. He then took this passion and attended Grand Canyon University majoring in Business Entrepreneurship while attending university alongside with a partner Kevin founded LopesEat a food delivery service for private Universities. Kevin peaked the interest of Sodexo, a multi billion dollar organization and was able to form a partnership assuring the success of LopesEat. Grand Canyon University caught wind of what was going on and offered Kevin a space at the Canyon Ventures Center, Arizona’s leading business incubator, where on a daily basis he is offered mentor ship from business professionals who have been very successful in there field and is able to work along people such as Curt Jones, the founder of dippin dots.
Kevin is now running his business full time and loves sharing his story and inspiring others to find and reach their goals. Kevin mentors several high school students in the Arizona area but would love to be able to give back and focus on the community who made him who he is.
ZACHARY SHINGLES
EXECUTIVE MENTOR & CHIEF PLATFORM OFFICER
Graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University with a degree in Social Relations and Policies with a focus on disparities in America. He was first attracted to Exponential Destiny because of its use of XR tech to reach its missions which he believes can help mitigate the disparities he studied in College: Reimagining education, building awareness & empathy for social causes, and upskilling youth in low income communities. Zac is always working to learn as much as he can about creating in VR, and he has managed several projects to create PoC of VR experiences for schools and commercial clients alike. His interests include digital art, story telling, and game design. All of which he uses in order to further the purpose and mission of Exponential Destiny.
Abby Pearson
Graphic Design Lead
Meet Abby, a talented and passionate media and technology professional who shares Exponential Destiny’s commitment to driving transformative social impact through XR digital innovations. As a recent graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in Media & Information and a minor in Video Game Design and Development, Abby brings a deep understanding of gamification to the team, as well as technical skills in Blender and Unity.
Abby’s creativity, technical skills, and problem-solving abilities make her a valuable asset to our team. She is committed to keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in the industry and leveraging them to create dynamic and engaging content that drives positive change.
OUR NETWORK OF LEAD MENTORS
As we do projects with organizations, we leverage our global network of mentors; individuals we have help train and upskill into “Metaverse Entrepreneurs”. We have mentors from dozens of countries (through our work with the United Nations ITU agency on the “Metaverse for SDG Global Prize & VR Competition”), including a special group of young individuals from Africa who help lead our efforts with the ecosystem in their countries.
Lavanya
San Francisco, California
Evelyn Hernandez
Los Angeles, California
Jorge Madrigal
Los Angeles, California
Lavanya
Evelyn Hernandez
Jorge Madrigal
OHIREMA OJEHOMON
Lagos, Nigeria
Muhammad Tajudeen
Lagos, Nigeria
Adeola Aderounmu
Lagos, Nigeria
OHIREMA OJEHOMON
Degree: Bsc computer science, Diploma Software Engineering
A visionary and a pioneer who loves to challenge myself and discover new possibilities. I am passionate about virtual reality because it gives me the freedom to create and experience anything I can imagine. I am always curious and eager to learn from others and share my insights. I am not afraid to experiment and push the boundaries of what is possible. I am a leader and an innovator who inspires others with my enthusiasm and creativity. I am a virtual reality enthusiast who lives in the future.
Muhammad Tajudeen
Adeola Aderounmu
A graduate of Ekiti State University, Nigeria, with a degree in English Language (BA.ed). Diploma certificates in UI/UX design, Spatial Design and Interaction (WebXR).
I love working with creative technologies, which is why I am drawn to Virtual Reality – when wielded properly, VR has the power to fundamentally change every aspect of the society, positively. My passion for technology trends and devices fuels my creativity for user friendly interfaces, hence I’m currently freelancing as a UI/UX and XR designer.
Oluwabunmi Borokinni
Abuja, Nigeria
Oluwabunmi Borokinni
Team Member
Team Member
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