Santa Monica-Based Gently Expands Executive Team
Executives from SpaceX, Amazon, the State Department and the intelligence community have joined the last-mile start up
Leading last-mile logistics innovator Gently, has expanded its executive team with the appointment of several key roles: Michelle Saks is promoted to Chief Operating Officer; Peter Yang joins as senior vice president of business development; Ted Kalmbach joins as senior vice president of strategy and partnerships; and earlier this year, Frank Gambish joined as senior vice president of logistics.
Since launch in April, Santa Monica-based Gently has operated in the greater Los Angeles Area, with plans to rapidly expand to Northern and Southern California by the end of 2023, and major U.S. cities in 2024. The expansion of a highly-experienced executive team over the past several months supports this goal.
Gently is an innovation-driven, same-day fulfillment and delivery provider enabling e-commerce and retail brands to offer lightning-fast, cost-efficient and sustainable same-day delivery and returns. The company offers a proprietary system that includes both technology and the physical infrastructure including an all-electric fleet and network of nano fulfillment centers.
“Our team represents the best in the business across logistics, sales and operations. I’m thrilled to welcome these accomplished executives to the Gently team. They share our vision to make same day delivery achievable and accessible to all U.S. brands and retailers,” said Gently Co-Founder Elian Pres-Gurwits. “Same day should be a standard, not a premium. By owning and cutting the last mile, we can optimize the most expensive part of logistics.”
As COO, Michelle Saks is now responsible for Gently’s day-to-day operations, ensuring alignment with Gently’s long-term vision and strategic growth. Michelle is an experienced program and operations manager with 12+ years in national security and the emerging technology ecosystem. She joins Gently from Disruptive, a growth equity firm specializing in late-stage investments across technology verticals, including emerging and defense technology investments. Additionally, her experience as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer and CIA Operations Officer exposed her to the transformative power of emerging technologies, particularly in their ability to democratize access to education and entrepreneurial opportunities.
Yang is responsible for crafting Gently’s overall sales strategy, building both a team and a pipeline to support Gently’s hyper growth. He joins Gently from SpaceX, where he was a Sales Manager for commercial rocket launch services with a focus on the Asian market.
Kalmbach is responsible for establishing partnerships that align with and enable Gently’s strategic vision. He previously worked with the U.S. State Department, serving as a diplomat in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Austria, and for the Institute for Defense Analyses, supporting the Pentagon’s counter-insurgency strategy.
Joining the team pre-launch this past January, Gambish is responsible for the functional infrastructure of the Gently logistics organization. After spending 25 years as an executive leader in over-the-road medium and long haul semi-truck transportation, he joined Amazon to build a scalable, robust middle mile transportation solution using carriers with excess capacity to haul Amazon-owned trailers and middle mile freight within the Amazon network.