“I have known Ziad for 7+ years and we have established a professional, personal, intellectual and spiritual relationship. Ziad is the quintessential Renaissance man; a brilliant leader; a dedicated friend and business associate, hard-working and loyal, principled beyond reproach and diligent in fulfilling obligations. In Plato’s Apology, reminiscing on the speech that Socrates gave at his trial after choosing death rather than exile from Athens or a commitment to silence, Plato quoted his teacher…"An unexamined life is not worth living". ZiadAbdelnour’s life has been one of inspection, introspection and achievement. He has transformed the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people who have come within his orbit of influence. Ziad is extraordinarily gifted at getting it right. He has a talent to think out of the box and comfort zone… to step out and step up to solve problems that confront us in today’s world. Ziad is a leader of men and women, an effective supernumerary who makes things happen, adaptable in his interaction to connect successfully with his co-workers and most important, loyalty to the people who work for him and with him. Ziad is principled and conducts himself with honor and integrity in his personal and in his business dealings. Integrity isn’t just about following the letter of the law. It’s about how you treat people, doing business in a fair and above-board way, and of course keeping your word. Ziad is extraordinarily motivated to perform right action in the face of confrontation and respectful but firm with those that differ with him. In the Yale Commencement address in 1886, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. declared “One would sometimes think, from the speech of young men, that things had changed recently, and that indifference was now the virtue to be cultivated. I have never heard anyone profess indifference to a boat race. Why should you row a boat race? Why endure long months of pain in preparation of a fierce half-hour, or even six minutes, that will leave you all but dead? Does anyone ask the question? Is there anyone who would not go through all its costs, and more, for the moment when anguish breaks into triumph, --or even for the glory of having nobly lost? Is life less than a boat race? If a man will give all the blood in his body to win the one, will he not spend all the might of his soul to prevail in the other? Ziad Abdelnour is a winner of races, hardworking, hell bent on success in whatever he undertakes, a true friend, a respected teacher and mentor, charitable with his time and money and the crème de la crème of human beings… I recommend Ziad without reservation! Respectfully, Stanford B. Silverman Founder and Chief Executive Officer Minerva Capital Management.”