Global Grind

Navarrow Wright, President & CEO
Navarrow was hired at start-up 360hiphop.com and quickly revamped the technology architecture. After the company was sold to BET, that architecture became the new backbone of BET.com. For six years, Navarrow was Chief Technical Officer at Viacom's BET Interactive. Most recently, Navarrow served as Senior Vice President of Technology for Medical Broadcasting Company, a division of Internet marketing firm Digitas Inc. When he isn’t running Global Grind, he can be found dropping it like it’s hot on the dance floor. Check out my GG Profile

Kweli Wright, Managing Editor
Kweli is a Staten Island native—she’s an honorary member of the Wu Tang Clan—and has been writing and producing music and entertainment content for over 14 years. She has experience in print and radio, but her heart is in the Internet. (Where else can you work and shop at the same time? Just kidding, boss!) Her previous haunts include BET.com, Warner Books, 360hiphop.com and MJI Broadcasting. When not on the Grind, Kweli is a devoted mom to 30 pounds of perfection, a.k.a. Sascha Iman, and is a certified pastry chef. Check out my GG Profile

Nicole Alexander, Director of Public Relations
After bouncing from Bora Bora to Isla Grande to Morocco, it’s still not clear how Nicole ended up in NYC Nicole is an urbanista, fashionista and socialite. Her television is never on, which makes her completely useless with small talk, but she’s her own sitcom! Nicole drinks four-olive Martini’s because it sparks her creativity. Contrary to her friends’ belief that she’s a walking Samantha Jones, Nicole’s heart’s desire is to be Carrie Bradshaw. Check out my GG Profile

Vivian Llodra, VP of Product Management
Vivian has an insane and slightly nerdy love for all things Harry Potter. Her cat, Motor, and her dog, Sasha, think that the Salsa music she plays every Saturday while cleaning every inch of her apartment is a bit much. One day, she hopes to rule the world while wearing very cute shoes. Check out my GG Profile

Bill Robertson, VP of Engineering
Bill started working professionally using c++ with Win32 API. He studied mathematics at the University of Arlington. Five years ago he transitioned from the completely unmanaged world to the managed world through ASP.NET. He believes because the world runs on software, and to make the world better he wants all programmers to take on responsibility for their code and make it the best possible. Check out my GG Profile

Gerard Brewster, Director of Advertising Sales
Gerard joins us after a seven-year bid at BET.com. Before joining the 9–5 world – and when he was a much younger man – Gerard was a stunt double for Wesley Snipes and Cuba Gooding, Jr. When he's not on lock at the J-O-B, Gerard enjoys family time with his wife, kids and dog, and a few hobbies: home theater (he owns over 2500 movies!), woodworking (do you know how much kitchen cabinets cost at Home Depot?), and fish husbandry (raising and breeding African cichlids). Check out my GG Profile

Andrea Gouw, Director of Business Development
Don't let the nickname fool you. Dre is like a fish out of water when it comes to hip-hop, but up for the challenge of working in the hip-hop space. An avid music fan, she counts Pulp, Portishead and the Pixies among her favorites...not P. Diddy, Pharrell and Master P. Andrea has spent time working in fashion and retailing as well as online at Walmart.com and Real Networks. She recently graduated from the Kellogg School of Management where she managed to get six stamps in her passport and pick up snowboarding. This bio was brought to you by the letter P. Check out my GG Profile

Larry “Blackspot” Hester, Content Curator
The Blackspot likes anime, toys, music and stuff that lights up. When he's not at Global Grind, you can find him sleepwalking or watching professional wrestling. All in all, he's a nice guy that you can have a beer with, and he accepts monetary donations. Check out my GG Profile

Diana Bernard, Office Manager
Diana is a graduate of Ithaca College. During her time there, she served as a promoter for school concert events and held a studio assistant position at Repert Recording studio. In her hometown of NYC, she worked for J Records, Emmis Communications, Major Key Entertainment, Don Pooh Management, and Wiredset, which introduced her to the world of social networking. Now she just can’t get enough. Besides obsessing over the latest gossip blog, Diana loves to eat and read books about financial empowerment. Check out my GG Profile

Kenny Lai, Lead Developer
There's no sporting event that Kenny can't handle, nor a concert that he'll turn down. He's into great music, and loves the challenges that the Internet provides—which includes answering the age-old question, “How do we evolve the web?” Prior to joining Global Grind, Kenny was employed by BET.com for seven years, and has worked extensively on developing and shaping that web medium into the product it is today. All of Kenny's experience is in entertainment, media, and online properties, with a focus on content management, OO, C# and ASP.NET. Check out my GG Profile

Steve Krichten, Lead Developer
Steve is a developer who specializes in Flash. In his free time he enjoys photography, tennis, pwning n00bs in multiplayer PC games, and spending time with his family. Check out my GG Profile

Brendan Kennedy, Developer
Brendan comes to Global Grind with programming experience in the Entertainment, Pharmaceutical and Insurance industries working at BET.COM, Merck & Company and Chubb & Son. For the past 4+ years he has been enjoying web development in the .NET environment (No not VB.NET!). When not typing code at Global Grind he can be found spending time with the family or wrapped up in one of my hobbies including jet-skiing, attempting to play guitar or burying the Jeep in a great big mud hole! No I am not a redneck. Check out my GG Profile

Chris Jackson, Developer
CJ grew up in Cali and Hawaii but came out to NYC to study computer science and philosophy at NYU. When he is not in front of the keyboard, you can usually find him on a board anywhere there are mountains and snow, or on a barstool anywhere there is beer and loud music. Check out my GG Profile

Anthony Morgan, Multimedia Designer
Born in the Bronx, Ant currently resides in BK with his couch, computer, kitchen-shower and music. He sharpened his crayons at the School of Visual Arts, and has been coloring outside of the lines ever since. When not finger-painting at Global Grind, he’s probably eating a grapefruit, listening to his iPod, editing, shooting, designing or practicing his mouse hand. Check out my GG Profile