A cellist turned entrepreneur Margo Drakos is a Principal at Redwall Advisors, LLC, a strategic consultancy group working with public and private sector institutions at growth or pivot stages to design and implement positive disruption to thrive.  Ms. Drakos also focuses on identifying early-stage technology company investment, advising and fundraising.  She is a Venture Advisor to Otto Capital Partners focusing on technology investments in Asia and the United States.  Prior, Ms. Drakos was a Partner at The SwitchCase Group, a partner capital firm and Vice President of Business Development for Morphlabs, Inc..  In 2007, she co-founded InstantEncore.com, the premiere digital asset management platform for performing arts organizations and artists.  In 2010, Ms. Drakos was honored by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a community of extraordinary global leaders under forty.

Committed to empowering communities through technology and access to information, Ms. Drakos founded AppBridge, an initiative of the World Economic Forum and the Clinton Global Initiative.  AppBridge is designed to bring education and economic opportunity to those at risk through mobile applications and in 2012, launched the first “Ideas & Apps Challenge” in the Philippines in partnership with Globe Telecom and local organizations.

As the spouse of an active-duty US Army officer, Ms. Drakos is passionate about military family and veteran issues.  She is a member of the Military Advisory Group for the Franklin Project with General McChrystal and Walter Isaacson at the Aspen Institute, and a volunteer with the Family Readiness Group of 10^th Mountain Division at Ft Drum.  

Ms. Drakos began her professional career in childhood as a cellist, performing as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Asia, Europe, South America, and the US. The former cellist of the American String Quartet, Ms. Drakos also held posts as Acting Principal Cellist of the San Diego and Seattle Symphonies and the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony. Ms. Drakos served as Artist-in-Residence and Faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and the Manhattan School of Music from 2002-2008.  She has recorded for Sony Classical and Arabesque Records, and produced for Longhorn Records.

At fifteen, Ms. Drakos entered music conservatory as a double major in cello and composition. She is a graduate the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.  Ms. Drakos received a Master Degree in Human Rights from Columbia University, and an Executive Degree in Global Leadership and Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  Her academic publications have appeared in The International Affairs Review, The Stanford Social Innovation Review and The Cornell International Law Journal.

Ms. Drakos is a frequent guest speaker on entrepreneurship and the arts. Highlights from her 2012-13 speaking engagements include the Global Competitiveness Forum of Saudi Arabia, Louisiana State University, NetImpact, TechVenture in Singapore, and the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos.