Our Team

Aaron Bare

Aaron Bare

CEO
Aaron is the CEO of Delivery Kitchens and author of Reimagining Innovation. Aaron has exited 12 companies in his entrepreneurial career.  He has also built 3 Accelerators and 3 Non-Profits.  He is a results-focused exponential leader that understands how to create a high-performing culture. He has held leadership roles in Strategy, Innovation, Technology, Marketing, and Sales. For 15 years, Aaron ran a high performing Award-Winning Digital Strategy firm with clients such as Google, Coca-Cola, and Telemundo.  He is also a global speaker and facilitator that has facilitated strategic discussions on innovation at over 500 organizations, in 90+ Countries and all 50 States.  To start his career he was a management consultant at Accenture and money manager at the Vanguard Group. He holds an MBA from Thunderbird School of Global Management, MA from Indiana University, and BSc (with Honors) from Indiana Institute of Technology.
Michael Zajas

Michael Zajas

Real Estate
Michael Zajas has expertise in commercial real estate spanning from fund management to acquisitions and development. For Delivery Kitchens, Michael is structuring different strategies for the real estate investments, creating all fund and investment processes, and managing the real estate team and external advisors to aid in the legal, fiscal and capital raising for the fund. He has a Master’s Degree in Real Estate Development with a focus on Finance and Entrepreneurship.
Forbes Shannon

Forbes Shannon

Operations
Forbes is a hospitality expert that excels in consistent high quality guest experiences. With over a decade of experience in the leisure industry, Forbes has managed multiple restaurants and bars, with related management experience in tourism, recreation, and event planning. With Delivery Kitchens, Forbes is directly responsible for restaurant operations, delivery, and order management integration. Forbes graduated from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State with a degree in Nonprofit Management, as an entrepreneurship and innovation fellow, and a Coca Cola Scholar. A community champion, Forbes is the director of guest experience for PHX Startup Week, the largest entrepreneurial conference in Arizona. He is the co-author of the book Reimagining Innovation, outlining nine keys of exponential leadership to embrace technology in business, work, life, and play.
Donavon Ostrom

Donavon Ostrom

Management
Donavon also serves as executive director of Impact Business Accelerators, a consultancy that he founded in 1994. In addition, he serves as portfolio manager for KPG Investments. His focus is strategic planning and implementation, team building, and building business infrastructure. His experience in the integration of acquired companies and corporate re-engineering gives him a unique understanding of the dynamics of productivity and focus. He is one of the founders of Arizona Collaboratory, a non-profit inclusive and collaborative network of entities committed to growing Arizona’s economy. He holds a Master of International management degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management.
Kerr Gelvin

Kerr Gelvin

Management
Kerr serves as managing director of Delivery Kitchens. He founded KPG Investments, an Arizona-based family office and serves as Managing Director. Kerr is an avid tech enthusiast and serial entrepreneur whose interpersonal skills, keen eye for innovation and sharp business instincts have led to his participation in a variety of ventures. He is a graduate of ASU and a father of two with a background in technology. Some of his main interests include the Internet of Things, blockchain development and machine learning. Kerr lives and works in Scottsdale Arizona, where he is actively involved in a number of businesses.

Advisory Board

  • Chef Nicholas Brune

    Chef Nicholas Brune

    Born and raised in the heart of “flavor country” Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he began cooking and experimenting with food at a very young age. This hobby grew to be an obsession when he moved to New Orleans. After working for the Brennen Family for two years, Chef Brune became infatuated with the flavor and design of food. Nick moved to Los Angeles and began coordinating all aspects of the kitchen for some of the biggest events in Los Angeles. It was during this time that he nurtured a passion for organic farming, local ingredients, and sustainable seafood. Chef Brune introduced his conscious-cooking philosophy to a wide array of clientele, including celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Jerry Seinfeld, and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park. He founded Eco Caters in 2007 to bring fresh, seasonal, organic food to events throughout Southern California. In 2011, Brune opened a new restaurant in San Diego called the Local Habit. Since the sale of Local Habit in 2014 he has launched Simply Lunch, a corp lunch caterer, and expanded Eco and Simply from San Diego to LA to Washington DC. Now his focus is on the future of food and “how we get food from our phones to our mouths”.
  • Steve Chucri

    Steve Chucri

    President and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association (ARA), a position he’s held for 18 years. Steve strives to build ARA members consumer loyalty, workforce, and financial success. He has continued to invest in his community and succeeded in public office where he currently serves as the Maricopa County District 2 Supervisor, focused on creating an environment that invites innovation and sustains entrepreneurial growth. Steve also serves as a board member for the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Valley Leadership, and the National Restaurant Association. Steve graduated with his post-secondary degree in Business Administration at the University of San Diego.
  • Alan

    Alan "AP" Powell

    The founding chairman of the Herozona Foundation, an organization he built in 2011 to help Arizona Veterans and Children cross the finish line. A Gulf War Veteran himself, AP is also the Chairman & CEO of AP & Associates LLC, where he has infamously leveraged his network “turning contacts into contracts.” Through his network, he has worked across dozens of industries including music, entertainment, automotive, and beverage. He has advised several Fortune 500 companies, and strategically invested in over 40 companies himself. Most recently, he sold his interest in Napa Smith Brewery & Winery. Through Herozona, AP has fundraised for programs like Phoenix Tools 4 School, The Bridge Forum and Veteran’s Reach to Teach programs.
  • Larry Strain

    Larry Strain

    An in-house development professional who has worked for many years with some of the world’s largest and fastest growing companies (e.g. McDonald’s, Starbucks Coffee, Dunkin’ Brands, Global Partners, etc.). Larry has acquired vast amounts of hands on experience in all disciplines of retail & restaurant development. He has participated in countless expansion initiatives for some of the most successful brands to date. He is a highly respected subject matter expert in his field with one of the most impressive development portfolios of any senior executive in the industry. Today, Larry is a principal partner at Restaurant Development Experts, a unique real estate services group that specializes in the creation, modification and execution of strategic growth plans for companies seeking rapid yet responsible expansion. He operates with one goal in mind: ‘smart development through strategic planning and precise execution.’
  • Russ Wall

    Russ Wall

    Has over 30 years experience in the marketing & design industry. A graduate of Arizona State University with a BFA in Design, Russ has worked in the Phoenix area as Art Director for America West Airlines, Innovative Communications, Arizona Highways Magazine, Snoworld Magazine and Principal of his own design firm Squeeze, Inc. Russ has been founder and CMO for Spring44 Distilling and founder and Chief Creative Officer with Concept2Completion, a full service agency and business accelerator company. He is currently founder and Chief Creative Officer for Namaste Republic, a mindfulness and spiritual lifestyle company. His creative specialties are brand development, corporate identity, publication design, inbound marketing, website development, digital & social media strategy and consumer package design.

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