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Executives from SpaceX, Amazon, the State Department and the Intelligence Community have joined the Santa Monica based start up
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Michelle Saks promoted to Chief Operating Officer
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Peter Yang joins as Senior Vice President of Business Development
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Ted Kalmbach joins as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships
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Frank Gambish joins as Senior Vice President of Logistics
Leading last-mile logistics innovator Gently expands its executive team with the appointment of several key roles: Michelle Saks is promoted to Chief Operating Officer; Peter Yang joins as Senior Vice President of Business Development; Ted Kalmbach joins as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships; and earlier this year, Frank Gambish joined as Senior Vice President of Logistics. Since launch in April, Gently has operated in the greater Los Angeles Area, with plans to rapidly expand to Northern and Southern California by the end of 2023, and major U.S. cities in 2024.The expansion of a highly-experienced executive team over the past several months supports this goal.
Gently is an innovative same-day fulfillment and delivery provider enabling e-commerce and retail brands to offer lightning-fast, cost-efficient and sustainable same-day delivery and returns. The company offers a proprietary system that includes both technology and the physical infrastructure including an all-electric fleet and network of nano fulfillment centers.
“Our team represents the best in the business across logistics, sales and operations. I’m thrilled to welcome these accomplished executives to the Gently team. They share our vision to make same day delivery achievable and accessible to all U.S. brands and retailers,” said Gently Co-Founder Elian Pres-Gurwits. “Same day should be a standard, not a premium. By owning and cutting the last mile, we can optimize the most expensive part of logistics.”
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Michelle Saks, Chief Operating Officer
Michelle is responsible for Gently’s day-to-day operations, ensuring alignment with Gently’s long-term vision and strategic growth. Michelle is an experienced program and operations manager with 12+ years in national security and the emerging technology ecosystem. She joins Gently from Disruptive, a growth equity firm specializing in late-stage investments across technology verticals, including emerging and defense technology investments. Additionally, her experience as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and CIA Operations Officer exposed her to the transformative power of emerging technologies, particularly in their ability to democratize access to education and entrepreneurial opportunities. She is a graduate of Georgetown University.
Peter Yang, Senior Vice President of Business Development
Peter is responsible for crafting Gently’s overall sales strategy, building both a team and a pipeline to support Gently’s hyper growth. Peter joins Gently from SpaceX, where he was a Sales Manager for commercial rocket launch services with a focus on the Asia market. Before SpaceX, Peter served for 15 years as a National Security expert, most recently in the Middle East and the United States partnering with USG agencies to achieve counterterrorism policy threats and monitor homeland security threats, respectively. During this time, Peter also engaged closely with the private sector, including several U.S. defense contractors involved in the space, satellite, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) industries. Previously, Peter was a Strategic Research Analyst at the Corporate Executive Board (CEB, now Gartner). He also served as legislative staff to two separate members of the U.S. House of Representatives, including California Congressman Edward R. Royce, who later became the Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee. Peter holds a Juris Doctorate from American University Law School and is a licensed attorney and member of the Virginia State Bar. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley in Psychology.
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Ted Kalmbach, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships
Ted is responsible for establishing partnerships that align with and enable Gently’s strategic vision. Prior to joining Gently, Ted was chief strategy officer for a company focused on advanced materials for the space and defense sectors. Previously, he worked with the U.S. Department of State, serving as a diplomat in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Austria; and the Institute for Defense Analyses, supporting the Pentagon’s counter-insurgency strategy. Ted began his career as a strategy consultant for Accenture in Munich and Berlin, focused on the automotive and energy sectors. Ted graduated from Boston College with a B.A. in International Affairs and completed a Fulbright Scholarship in Duesseldorf, where he analyzed the German and Chinese energy markets. He later earned a M.A. from Johns Hopkins in National Security Strategy.
Frank Gambish, Senior Vice President of Logistics
Joining the team pre-launch this past January, Frank is responsible for the functional infrastructure of the Gently logistics organization. After spending 25 years as an executive leader in over-the-road medium and long haul semi-truck transportation, he joined Amazon to build a scalable, robust middle mile transportation solution using carriers with excess capacity to haul Amazon-owned trailers and middle mile freight within the Amazon network. Moving over to the Launch team at Amazon, Frank was responsible for facilitating over 50 new site launches in the Amazon robotic supported sortable fulfillment network, transferring over 1 billion units of inventory from existing FC’s to new launch buildings saving the Company over $400MM. Frank is a graduate of Ohio State University and is currently pursuing his master’s degree from Eastern Washington University.
