Gary Mendell is the Founder and CEO of Shatterproof and the Chairman of HEI Hotels. Mendell founded Shatterproof following his son Brian's death in 2011 due to addiction. Since founding Shatterproof in 2012, Mendell has been a national leader in the addiction field creating solutions that will ensure that substance use disorder will be prevented and treated for generations to come, including providing the support needed to those in recovery and removing the shame and stigma so often associated with those afflicted with this disease. He is a frequent speaker on how our society can end the stigma unjustly associated with addiction, has been honored numerous times for his leadership related to reversing the course of the opioid epidemic, testified in front of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on Treating Substance Misuse in America, and has been a guest several times on CNBC and MSNBC to provide his perspective on commonsense solutions to the opioid epidemic, and his opinions are frequently reflected in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The Washington Post. He has also appeared on the "Grieving Out Loud" pocast. Mendell is a member of the National Leadership Steering Team for the Grand Challenge to Eliminate Stigma around Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder with the Huntsman Mental Health Institute, a member of the National Quality Forum's Technical Expert Panel for Opioid and Opioid Use Disorder and is an advisory member of The Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Mendell received his B.S. from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and his MBA with distinction from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.