1. Betsey Merkel ­ Story Brief
July 5, 2015
Hi, I’m an entrepreneur passionate about the power of technology,
social networks and innovation to change lives. Back in high school I
ranked in the upper 10% nationally, boys & girls, in process
engineering, and in 2014, my ​Catalyst​ personality archetype developed
by NY Times bestselling author Sally Hogshead, How The World Sees
You ​Advantage​ score ranked in the upper 10% globally in Passion and
Innovation.
My paternal great­grandmother Elizabeth Ball fled Wales during the
potato famine crossing the Atlantic as steerage with one, five pound cast flat iron for clothes
pressing. My maternal great­grandfather escaped Palermo, Italy mafia to work the steel mills in
Buffalo, New York bringing each of his eleven children and wife to America one by one. Early
maternal relatives were homesteaders in the Civil War, and another, educated and once largest
landowner in the State of Connecticut.
My father Robert Mason O’Hagan served first as a ​commissioned officer in the U​.S. Coast
Guard​ for 19 years under auspices of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute of
Massachusetts and​ later, ​USCG Research and Development Center in Groton, CT where he
specialized in the coordination of navigational applications. He was ​lead inventor on the first
anti­tracking patent (used to land airplanes, navigate shipping lanes and now, park your car)
and a serial entrepreneur generating patents in areas such as ocean wave action, energy and
fuel cell storage.
Mother Jeannette LoBuglio O’Hagan was an administrative and therapeutic dietitian and
advocate for quality hospital food and healthy diets for diabetic, dialysis and AIDS patients.
I earned a Master of Music degree in Harp performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music.
There, I established the Preparatory Harp Department and under the leadership of President
David Cerone, co­led CIM’s first efforts to establish relationships with Cleveland Chinese
community. In the 1980’s I was invited to perform and teach as a guest of the People’s Republic
of China accompanying mentor and Cleveland Orchestra harpist, Alice Chalifoux.
Professionally, I collaborated with chamber music artists and composers from all over the world.
Over the last ten years, I’ve developed a worldview based on principles and practices in Open
Source Economic Development by applying what I learned in music ­ technical excellence,
developing creative edges, process protocols, and dynamic performances in small collaborating
teams ­ to technology­based economic development. I’ve published under the auspices of MIT’s
Center for Collective Intelligence, Savannah College of Art & Design, and Wayne State
University College of Engineering at ScienceDirect. As a consultant and a Co­Founder &
Director, Institute for Open Economic Networks (I­Open), I design social intelligence systems for
enterprise development and coach entrepreneurs in social networking, project development and
Web 2.0 tools.
Betsey Merkel 7305 W. Clinton Ave., #2 Cleveland, Ohio 44102
Email: ​betseymerkel@gmail.com​ Phone: 216­246­2447 Web: ​http://www.betseymerkel.com
LinkedIn: ​https://www.linkedin.com/in/betseymerkel​ Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/betseymerkel