Biography

Gerardi got her start in entertainment industry as a hobby in the early 2000s in parallel with her university medical studies. Of Italian descent, she was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She received a master degree from NASA in 2018, and entered politics in 2020. She also reads pretty voraciously, mostly about analytical psychology, and obsessively follows philosophy and ethics. This habit gave her a broad perspective of why political science needs political philosophy. She have co-authored papers in space policy and she has increasingly concentrated on the fight to tackle the problem of technological literacy among historically marginalized groups. Her personal mission: Creating America’s first collectively-owned robotics as key driver in reversing the inequality spiral.

Unlike traditional career paths, where one position leads naturally to the other, Sheyene have followed a course in which a combination of factors has led her to launch a non-traditional enterprise. For the past few years, Sheyene have served as the CEO of a privately-owned mining business founded by her family in Venezuela; pioneering automation and robotics in mining, Gerardi is working on automation of these processes in both Space and Earth-bound applications. In partnership with SBIR/STTR, Sheyene established the Sheyene Institute, a robotics R&D laboratory to develop fully autonomous operations suitable for deployment in extraterrestrial planetary settings. 

The recognition that leadership success requires a multifaceted approach, led her to pursue a robust internal education; in 2018, Sheyene earned a master in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) offered by NASA, with 100% final grade, later the same year, she co-founded the NASA Planetary Landing Research Laboratory. Sheyene is member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and to the Committee on Professional Ethics, Rights, and Freedom. Gerardi's interests include international relations between OECD States and developing countries; the broad issues to which it attends integrally involves technological globalization, space law, human rights, international security, sovereignty, federalism, war, peace, terrorism, and so forth. Academic programs from institutions such as Harvard and Stanford University have further enhanced her executive learning and development. In 2020, she joined the University of Naples Federico II to acquire a degree in Political Science, her background also include four Micro-Masters in International Law from the University of Louvain's Law Faculty, in Belgium; Law and public policy from Harvard University; Space Law from University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln. She has recently completed the campaign-training program for candidates from the NDTC in USA.

Gerardi operates two philanthropic organizations through the Sheyene Gerardi Foundation.  Sheyene e-health, an electronic healthcare delivery program for rare diseases and Sheyene School, to address technological literacy. In 2021, the Foundation started the implementation of a food program to help fragile communities facing shortages due to the effects of Covid pandemic, environmental issues, or humanitarian crises. She is working along with governments and international partners to introduce robotics education into low-resource communities in concert with entertainment productions for social change through her Foundation. 

Sheyene is also active in the area of robotics towards self-driving cars; in 2017, Sheyene established a robotic company spun out of the Sheyene Institute to commercialize a robotics product line for commercial uses. The company specializes in technology integration focusing on mobility needs for organizations across public sector organizations, large enterprise corporations, government agencies and military forces. In 2022, the firm obtained the SBA Women-Owned Business certification used by U.S. federal agencies for federal contract. The firm is trusted government supplier to the NNSA`s Sandia National Laboratories; most recently, we have been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) as team partner to carry out research and development in Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) and Seeding Critical Advances for Leading Energy technologies with Untapped Potential 2023 (SCALEUP 2023). Sheyene Technology is a privately held business, wholly owned by Sheyene Family Office. 

Sheyene Gerardi Story So Far…

EARLY LIFE & CAREER

Sheyene was born in Caracas, the only child of a family of Italian and Brazilian descent. She holds dual-citizenship with Italy, from where her mother hails. During the sixth month of her mother's pregnancy, Sheyene's biological father tragically died in a car accident. Her mother was both a veterinarian and the CEO of the family-owned mining company located in southeastern Venezuela. She was educated at a private bilingual Spanish/English school; she then went on to study French and Portuguese. Sheyene studied Medicine at the Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV).  Prior to attending university, she represented her school in a mathematics and chemistry competitions, ranking at the highest levels. While pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor, she worked as a model part time and participated in the Miss Venezuela Pageant. Due to a mass opposition protest plunging the university into turmoil Sheyene’s university year was prematurely ended. Around that time, a prominent TV producer discovered Sheyene leading to starring roles in highly rated prime time soap operas broadcasted internationally. Productions such as “Camaleona” and “Mujer con pantalones” further paved the way to international renown. Sheyene is known for her work in more than 30 countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Germany, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, airing over several different time periods with record overseas sales. Sheyene´s entertainment productions have been affiliated with Telemundo, NBC's Spanish-language network, broadcasting over cable or DTH systems (DirecTV Latin America), translated and dubbed into more than 15 languages. She studied at the RCTV Acting Academy, in Venezuela and recognized institutions such as the University Carlos III of Madrid and Sotheby's Institute. She has received various accolades, such as the 2 de Oro and the Imagen Award; she has also adds stellar credits in her role as a TV host and producer. 

During a family trip, her mother and stepfather were killed in an automobile accident, leaving Sheyene with no living relatives. A year after losing her family, she received a diagnosis of advanced stage 4 lymphoma, a very rare type of cancer with only 60 cases reported worldwide and no survivors. The cancer had spread through 85% of her body, and doctors gave her only 3 months to live. Sheyene was treated in Florida in the United States by Dr. Humberto Caldera, suffering no hair loss and maintaining a healthy appearance. Sheyene underwent three years of chemotherapy, but she was never completely disconnected from the entertainment industry. During her chemotherapy treatment Sheyene starred in two films in Mexico. After becoming the only survivor of this rare type of cancer, she started the Sheyene eHealth, a telemedicine program that allows physicians and healthcare professionals to provide patient care, consultation and counseling, via the Internet, email, and even via telephone, targeting primarily people with rare diseases. 

BUSINESS CAREER

Sheyene`s family has owned and operated mining business in Venezuela, since 1954. She serves as CEO of the company after her parents suddenly passed away. She is implementing autonomous mining technology as part of its drive towards robotics under its work program. In 2017, Gerardi expanded operations to work in both space and Earth-bound applications. The recognition that leadership success requires a multifaceted approach, led her to pursue a robust internal education. In 2018, Sheyene earned a master in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) offered by NASA, with 100% final grade, later the same year; she co-founded the NASA CLASS Planetary Landing Research Laboratory. In partnership with the SBIR/STTR, Sheyene jointly established a robotics R&D laboratory and doctoral workstation to further strengthen the iteration of technology. The Sheyene Institute conducts applied research in Autonomous Navigation Technologies (ANTs). The primary technical goal of the Sheyene Institute is to develop fully autonomous operations, navigation, and decision-making capabilities for deployment on in situ planetary and lunar missions. 

Her plan to accelerate human expansion into space and broadening the ownership of space industry resulted in an invitation to join planetary scientists from NASA’s CLASS as the Robotics Outreach lead to organize a series of robotics competitions for universities and to develop robotics for constructing landing pads on the Moon. After becoming heavily involved with NASA, Sheyene’s concern for the plight of the economically disadvantaged had crystallized. A social justice goal of Sheyene´s current project is to address concerns that the exponential expansion of space industry will create deep economic and political disparity in the coming century. As a direct response, Sheyene Institute has a sister non-profit branch called Sheyene School, the school is dedicated to enhance technological literacy, by using robotics education in concert with robotics competitions along with jobs placement and entrepreneurial support. In partnership with non-governmental entities, international and regional governments, the organization has reached over 10 countries across South America, Middle East and Europe. The program is also serving prison systems, providing assistance with education to ease the process for reentry to society for people who have been wrongfully convicted. After relocating to the United States, Sheyene entertainment productions are dedicated to foster awareness related to the space revolution, as part of her global educational initiative. In 2021, Gerardi started the implementation of a food program to help fragile communities facing shortages due to the effects of Covid pandemic, environmental issues, or humanitarian crises. The emergency food is provided to people in need through a network of partners in strategic locations across the countries.

Sheyene is member of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and to the Committee on Professional Ethics, Rights, and Freedom. Gerardi's interests include international relations between OECD States and developing countries, the diffusion of the Internet, the politics of foreign aid and the impact on policy. The broad issues to which it attends integrally involves technological globalization, space law, human rights, international security, sovereignty, federalism, war, peace, terrorism, and so forth. Academic programs from institutions such as Harvard and Stanford University have further enhanced her executive learning and development. Sheyene has knowledge and expertise working with Red Hat® Enterprise Linux, Red Hat JBoss, Enterprise Java Beans, Java Persistence API, and JAX-RS for REST services. In 2020, she joined a program offered by the University of Naples Federico II to acquire a degree in Political Science and she has recently completed the campaign-training program for candidates from the National Democratic Training Committee in USA.

Sheyene is also active in the area of robotics towards self-driving cars. In 2017, Sheyene established a robotic company spun out of the Sheyene Institute to commercialize a robotics product line for commercial uses. In 2022, the firm has obtained the SBA Women-Owned Business certification used by U.S. federal agencies for federal contract. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, CA, the company specializes in technology integration focusing on mobility needs for organizations across public sector organizations, large enterprise corporations, government agencies and military forces. Sheyene Technology is a privately held business, wholly owned by Sheyene Family Office.