Patri Friedman - Executive Director, Chairman of the Board
Patri Friedman received a bachelor’s degree in math from Harvey Mudd College, an MS in computer science from Stanford University, and an MBA from Cardean University. After four years at Google as a software engineer, he founded TSI in 2008. Patri has co-founded two intentional communities, served on the board of Humanity+, is a prolific writer on political theory and philosophy, and an active participant in festivals such as Burning Man and Pennsic (founded by his dad).

James Hogan - Director of Operations
James Hogan received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. After working as a software developer at Nortel Networks, James joined PayPal, where he helped lead the engineering organization as the company scaled from 100 to 4,000 employees. Most recently, James served as a Senior Director in PayPal’s technology organization, where he managed a cross-functional software development team for the PayPal website.
 



Joe Lonsdale - Board
 Member
Mr. Lonsdale is a Principal at a multi-billion dollar global macro hedge fund, where he manages research and trading teams. Previously, Mr. Lonsdale worked with the financial arm of PayPal and served as a Special Correspondent to UPI's Business and Technology desk in 2002. Mr. Lonsdale co-founded and serves as Secretary of the Board at Palantir Technologies, a private company in Palo Alto, CA which develops software analysis products used by governments and financial organizations around the world. He also serves as the Chairman of the Board at OneHopeWine and is active in various philanthropic causes. Mr. Lonsdale received a BS in Computer Science from Stanford University. 



Ajay Royan - Board Member

Royan is a Principal at a multi-billion dollar global macro hedge fund. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science, international relations, and political economy from Yale University. Previously, he served as an analyst for Deloitte/Braxton. He is active in projects aimed at enhancing individual liberty.

Michael Strong – Board Member
Michael Strong is the CEO of Freedom Lights Our World (FLOW), Inc., the nonprofit organization he cofounded with John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market. He was educated at Harvard, St. John’s College, and the University of Chicago, and has created several high-performance private and charter schools. His latest book, Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World’s Problems, was co-authored with John Mackey, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, and others. Michael blogs on entrepreneurial government at “Let a Thousand Nations Bloom” with an emphasis on privately-managed Free Zones and Free Cities.

Peter Thiel - Board Member
Peter Thiel is the Managing Partner of the Founders Fund, an American Investment firm. Previously, Mr. Thiel was the Chairman and CEO of PayPal, an Internet company he co-founded in 1998 that eBay acquired in 2002 for $1.5 billion. Mr. Thiel is active in a variety of philanthropic, academic, and cultural pursuits. He serves as a primary supporter of the Committee to Protect Journalists which promotes press freedom worldwide; the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence; and the Methuselah Foundation which is a medical charity dedicated to extending healthy human life. Mr. Thiel sits on the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution, and has taught "Globalization, Sovereignty & Technological Change" at Stanford Law School. He has a USCF chess rating of around 2300. Mr. Thiel received a BA in Philosophy from Stanford University and a JD from Stanford Law School.

Photo credit for the photos of Patri and James goes to Benjy Feen.