Founder & President, Blue Cure® Foundation

Prostate cancer has long been considered an "old man's disease." Meet the new face of prostate cancer: Gabe Canales, who was diagnosed at 35.

The former Houston marketing and PR executive didn't even know what a PSA was until an inadvertent test of his blood revealed he had prostate cancer -- at age 35.

That galvanized Canales into awareness - and action. He quickly launched the non-profit Blue Cure Foundation, which now has a Facebook following of many thousands across the globe and works to educate all men "but especially a younger generation," Canales said. "Cancer prevention begins when men are boys."

As founder and spokesman for Blue Cure - the men's side of women's "pink" movement for breast cancer - Canales has spoken at conferences across America and has appeared on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox affiliates in New York, Los Angeles, Houston and other cities to alert people that America's top cancer killer of men must be stopped.

Each year, another 240,000 brothers, husbands, sons and fathers are diagnosed. Canales believes many of those cancers are preventable, via integrative medicine and smart dietary and lifestyle changes. Blue Cure supports such preventative measures, as well as research for a cure.

Also a blogger for the Houston Chronicle and the Huffington Post, Canales is especially reaching out to younger males with his message of getting screened for prostate cancer at an earlier age and adopting healthier habits. Blue Cure also shares news on research and treatments, including alternative treatment options, and has an online support group for thousands of survivors and their families: Journey With Prostate Cancer.

President, James G. McClellan CPA

James G. McClellan was born in Houston, Texas and currently resides in Sugar Land, Texas. James is married to a wonderful lady, Bobbie, and is a proud father of two children, Jennifer and Jason, ages 26 and 24.

James is a graduate of the University of Houston's Bauer College of Business, class of 1979, where he earned his CPA certificate in 1981 after joining a public accounting firm in Houston. In 1983, James left the firm to open his own CPA practice, James G. McClellan CPA, in Sugar Land. His 28 years of business includes the practice of public accounting, financial and estate planning, business consulting and as a registered investment advisor. James is a Certified Financial Planner™ licensee and Personal Financial Specialist (CPA/PFS).

I am President and Trustee of the Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation, a private foundation, started by the Parks family in 1985. The Foundation is active in making grants primarily in the area of higher education, medical research and services, and in support of social services for the disadvantaged.

My current board memberships are:

Fred and Mabel R. Parks Foundation, President and Trustee
Child Advocates of Fort Bend, Director and Vice-President
Fort Bend Municipal Utility District #21, Director and Secretary
Foundation for PSP/CBD and Other Brain Related Diseases

President, Stratopy

Mr. Reichard began his career as a robotics and space flight hardware engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. In this position he developed a solid knowledge of space flight engineering through his work on the Robonaut project in NASA’s Anthropomorphic and Dexterous Robotics Laboratory. Additionally, he has engineered and deployed several sub-systems on the Space Shuttle & International Space Station.

After several years in the space industry his entrepreneurial spirit led him to a biotech start-up where he applied his robotics knowledge to genomics and proteomics R&D. He led a team of engineers in the R&D of robotics, electronics, and software systems to support the scientific team’s genomics R&D activities. His team developed high-throughput systems for screening DNA oligonucleotide samples for oncology and drug discovery bioinformatics, a process known as genotyping and gene expression analysis utilizing DNA microarrays.

Mr. Reichard later moved to Sigma Genosys where he led a multi-disciplined team of 13 engineers & scientists in the prototyping, manufacturing, and production deployment of DNA oligonuclitide and peptide synthesis manufacturing instrumentation. His responsibilities included managing and deploying instrumentation to corporate facilities in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Canada.

After nearly 10 years in the biotech industry Mr. Reichard launched a software development firm, Stratopy, which develops smartphone and tablet apps to support small business needs in the mobile technology space. Given the rapid adoption of smartphone and iPad devices, Stratopy is continuously adapting to consumer and business needs as more and more organizations turn to mobile devices to streamline and mobilize their operations.

Mr. Reichard holds several technology degrees including a bachelors of science in mechanical engineering, an associates in computer design, graduate studies in engineering at the University of Alabama and executive business studies at Rice University.

His other interests include his board of directors role for Blue Cure Foundation, a prostate cancer awareness and educational non-profit. He is an avid ice hockey player, racecar driver in training and enjoys fitness other healthy lifestyle related activities.

Vice President and Financial Advisor, Bernstein Global Wealth Management

Vern Montross is Vice President and Investment Advisor in Bernstein Global Wealth Management’s Houston office. He advises high-net-worth individuals, endowments and foundations regarding investment strategies and, in conjunction with the AB Wealth Management Group, works closely with clients and their professional advisors on a wide range of investment matters, including tax and estate planning, concentrated stock positions, spending and investment policies and the sale of privately held businesses. Prior to joining the firm in 2010, Montross was a senior vice president at Wachovia Bank, where he was the bank’s real estate lending group executive for the state of Texas, responsible for managing sales, appraisals, underwriting, training and loan quality control in the state. Before that, he was a research scientist at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, researching in the field of cancer and developmental biology, with a focus on both colon and prostate cancers. Montross earned a BS in biomedical science from Texas A&M University and an MS in biochemistry from the University Of Texas Health Science Center’s Graduate School of Biomedical Science in the research lab of Pierre McCrea. Vern currently serves on the board of the Blue Cure Foundation as a strategic advisor leveraging his expertise in building start-up organizations and developing and executing sales and marketing campaigns. Most importantly, Vern is the proud father of Ana Montross, a Freshman at Louisiana State University and 10 year old son, Parker Montross, a fifth grader at Saint Michael’s School.

Danaher - Chief IP Counsel

President, CGE

Chad Gonsoulin graduated from Houston’s University of St. Thomas at age 22 with an MBA in Business Administration.

Before college, at 17 he worked offshore on supply boats for experience in the oil and gas industry. After college he worked for startup company 2-infinty, one of the first to sell Voice of IP telephony systems, now a standard in corporate America. After the dot com collapse his entrepreneurial spirit took over and he launched technology consultant company CGA Technologies, ranging from networking for small to large businesses to home and commercial audio video automation systems.

In 2006 he sold CGA Technologies and returned to his roots in the oil and gas industry to do consultant work for companies such as BP, Shell and PHI. His projects include a state-of-the-art helicopter transport facility in Houma, LA which he built and helped design for BP. Transporting over 11,000 people per month to offshore oil platforms by helicopters, the unique facility has become a corporate model for BP and is poised for deployment around the world.

Chad has embraced charity work since his teens, when he worked for two years on the Bill Ray Brown and Al Del Greco charity for Multiple Sclerosis and Make a Wish Foundation. He’s helped many other charities over the years and hopes to help Blue Cure® in any way possible.