Sheyene Gerardi (born April 13) is an Italo-Venezuelan former actress, producer, and

media proprietor A media proprietor, also called a media executive, media mogul, media tycoon, or press baron is an entrepreneur who controls any means of public or commercial mass media, through the personal ownership or holding of a dominant position within a ...

. Outside the entertainment industry, her career also encompasses roles as a

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

executive and the Lead of Robotics Outreach at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

(CLASS), where she founded the NASA's Planetary Landing Team in 2018. She has been granted the status of an individual with exceptional ability in the national interest in the United States and has won numerous awards for her work and charitable efforts. Her projects has involved collaborative efforts with U.S. federal agencies, including the Department of Defense through NASA, the Navy and the U.S. Air Force, on national security projects. Her work on tactical weapon systems at Redstone Arsenal was a pivotal moment, leading her to refocus her efforts on developing deterrence strategies aimed at making nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.

Early life and career

Entertainment

Her career as a professional model began in conjunction with her medical education; prior to attending university she represented her school in mathematics and chemistry competitions. Sheyene studied medicine at the

Universidad Central de Venezuela Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. She worked as a model part time and participated in the

Miss Venezuela Miss Venezuela (Spanish: ''Organización Miss Venezuela'') is a Venezuelan beauty pageant operated by the Cisneros Group. Founded in 1952, it currently selects Venezuelan representatives to Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International. ...

Pageant. During her time at the university, the school plunged into turmoil, reaching the verge of closing as students protested. Around that time, a TV producer discovered Sheyene, and she garnered a starring role on a popular

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

series that was broadcast internationally. Sheyene is known for her work in more than 30 countries, including

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. Given her influence on the culture, a non-profit charity foundation in

Barlovento, Venezuela Barlovento is a sub-region of Miranda (state), Miranda state, Venezuela. During Spanish colonization of the Americas, Barlovento was developed as estate owners founded cacao tree, cacao haciendas. The work on the estates was done by African slave ...

— the Sheyene School — is named after her. Gerardi has won several awards such as the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

Award, the 2 de Oro award, She has received the key of the city in Barlovento, the Meridiano de Oro award and the

Imagen Awards The Imagen Awards are administered by the Imagen Foundation, an organization dedicated to "encouraging and recognizing the positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment industry." To be considered for an Imagen Award, a media piece or person ...

. The actress has also credits in roles as a TV host. In 2016, Gerardi was named a Mogul Influencer in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Later career

Later in her career, Sheyene founded the Sheyene Gerardi Network (SGN), a variety of mainstream entertainment forms dedicated to fostering awareness related to the space revolution. On March 9, 2020, Sheyene began hosting a TV show documentary entitled " To the Moon and Back with Sheyene Gerardi" distributed through cable television, where Sheyene aims to educate about leading-edge technological developments. She also served as executive producer for this series.

NASA

In 2018, Sheyene was appointed as the Lead for Robotics Outreach at

, later the same year she co-founded the NASA's Planetary Landing Team. She earned a Master in Space resource utilization and subsequently was granted the status of an individual with exceptional ability in the national interest. The NASA's Planetary Landing Team founded by Sheyene is a node of the Center for Lunar & Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS) at the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in unincorporated area, unincorporated Orange County, Florida, United States. It is part of the State University System of Florida. ...

(UCF). Her role infusing scientific progress into robotics outreach included to develop a series of robotics competitions for universities and to develop robotics for constructing landing pads on the Moon. Sheyene Gerardi started working with

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

Swamp Works and the

Florida Space Institute The Florida Space Institute (FSI) is a research institute of the State University System of Florida and the University of Central Florida located in Orlando, Florida, United States. FSI is currently led by Interim Director Dr. Julie Brisset. Hi ...

(FSI) to teach

planetary engineering Planetary engineering is the development and application of technology for the purpose of influencing the environment of a planet. Planetary engineering encompasses a variety of methods such as terraforming, wikt:seeding, seeding, and geoengineer ...

and creating

robotics Robotics is the interdisciplinary study and practice of the design, construction, operation, and use of robots. Within mechanical engineering, robotics is the design and construction of the physical structures of robots, while in computer s ...

competitions for low-income children through Sheyene School in 2017. In addition to her work with NASA, she also worked with governments, introducing robotics education into low-resource communities or conflict-areas, such as rural schools, refugee camps and non-formal school systems. The program served prison systems, providing assistance with education to people who has been wrongfully convicted.

Wealth

Gerardi acquired her wealth after her mother and father were killed in an automobile accident, leaving Sheyene with no living relatives. Sheyene's family has owned and operated a mining company, since 1954. Gerardi serves as a CEO of GEMS corporation, she took over the company after her parents died, one of her first major actions following the death of her parents was to implement

automated mining Automated mining involves the removal of human labor from the mining process. The mining industry is in the transition towards automation. It can still require a large amount of human capital, particularly in the developing world where labor cost ...

. GEMS is acronym that stands for Gerardi, Edgar (her father), Marina (her mother), Sheyene. The family office, which opened in 2009, serves as the private investment vehicle for Sheyene. Sheyene's lands are in the Orinoco Mining Arc, in the same area of the Cristinas and the Brisas mine, which, according to a business valuation, the property may be worth more than $1 billion. According to Roberto Mirabal, former minister of the Popular Power for Ecological Mining Development, the Orinoco Mining Arc has tons of reserves of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...

coltan Coltan (short for columbite–tantalites and known industrially as tantalite) is a dull black metallic ore from which the elements niobium and tantalum are extracted. The niobium-dominant mineral in coltan is columbite (after niobium's original A ...

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

cerium Cerium is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Ce and atomic number 58. It is a hardness, soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air. Cerium is the second element in the lanthanide series, and while it ...

lanthanum Lanthanum is a chemical element; it has symbol La and atomic number 57. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes slowly when exposed to air. It is the eponym of the lanthanide series, a group of 15 similar elements bet ...

neodymium Neodymium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth element, rare-earth metals. It is a hard (physics), hard, sli ...

thorium Thorium is a chemical element; it has symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is a weakly radioactive light silver metal which tarnishes olive grey when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft, malleable, and ha ...

and other minerals and it has a potential of about 2 trillion dollars, which would make it the second biggest gold reserve in the world. Another one of her businesses include a robotics product line for commercial use and various projects and activities within

, including the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

, robotic missions and international

Space launch Space launch is the earliest part of a flight that reaches space. Space launch involves liftoff, when a rocket or other space launch vehicle leaves the ground, floating ship or midair aircraft at the start of a flight. Liftoff is of two main ...

Business career

Sheyene Institute

After becoming involved with

Sheyene founded the Sheyene Institute, a company that works on technologies to mining and manufacturing on the Moon, Mars and asteroids. The institute conducts applied research and development in Autonomous Navigation Technologies (ANTs).

Sheyene Technology

Sheyene is active in the area of robotics towards autonomous mining and self-driving cars. In 2017, Sheyene established a robotic company spun out of the Sheyene Institute to commercialize her robotics product line for industrial and commercial uses. Sheyene's company builds its own robots for mining operations. The firm has sold its portfolio of products and services to various organizations, including government agencies in the USA; it also has product research and development operations in Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAV) and for deployment on in situ planetary and lunar missions. Headquartered in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the company products are available for commercial, industrial, enterprise and university research applications. Sheyene Technology is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sheyene Gerardi Family Office with additional offices in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Activism and Politics

Politics

In April 2020, Sheyene enrolled in the

University of Naples Federico II The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...

to acquire a degree in

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

Human rights and Peace activism

In 2020, Gerardi joined the

American Society of International Law American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

and became involved with the

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) is a non-profit non-governmental organization working "to bring together women of different political views and philosophical and religious backgrounds determined to study and make kno ...

. Sheyene has been a featured speaker at several international business and technology forums, including the

World Government Summit The World Governments Summit is an annual event since 2013, held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It brings together leaders in government for a global dialogue with a focus on issues of futurism, technology and innovation. The summit acts as a ...

and the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

Summit. In the "Sheyene Institute founder's letter", Gerardi stressed the importance of the role of entertainment with a long-standing interest in social issues such as technological literacy and the space revolution, as well as settlement work to uplift misrepresented people to Spurring Participation in Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship (S.P.A.C.E), a movement intended to promote citizen participation in, and broadened ownership of, space industry.

Institutional affiliations

Sheyene is a member of the

International Political Science Association The International Political Science Association (IPSA) is an international scholarly association, founded under the auspices of UNESCO in 1949. IPSA is devoted to the advancement of political science in all parts of the world. During its history ...

(IPSA) and to the committee on professional ethics, rights, and freedoms. She is also a member of the

. Gerardi was formerly a member of L'association française de science politique (AFSP),

. She was both a member of the Law and Ethics of Robotics committee group and served as strategic advisor of the Next Generation Committee of The Robotics Society of Japan. She was also a member of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

(IEEE) and its Robotics and Automation Society (RAS).

Education

Gerardi graduated in art from institutions such as

Charles III University of Madrid University Charles III of Madrid () (UC3M) is a public university in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Established in 1989, UC3M is an institution with a distinctly international profile. It offers a broad range of master's and bachelor's degree p ...

(UC3M),

Sotheby's Institute of Art Sotheby's Institute of Art is a private, for-profit college in London and New York City. It is a subsidiary of Sotheby's fine art dealers. History Originally conceived as a training program for connoisseurship by Sotheby's auction house in 19 ...

and

Central University of Venezuela Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. In 2018, Sheyene completed a master's level certification program focusing on

In situ resource utilization In space exploration, in situ resource utilization (ISRU) is the practice of collection, processing, storing and use of materials found or manufactured on other astronomical objects (the Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.) that replace materials th ...

(ISRU) at

Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS), earning a certification with 100% final grade. Sheyene entered the

in 2020, to study

and pursue a

Monte Carlo method Monte Carlo methods, or Monte Carlo experiments, are a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The underlying concept is to use randomness to solve problems that might be ...

program at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Personal life

Sheyene Gerardi was born in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, she holds dual-citizenship with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, from where her mother hails. In 2006, her mother and father were killed in an automobile accident, leaving Sheyene with no living relatives. A year later, she received a diagnosis of advanced

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

stage IV, a very rare type of cancer with only 60 cases reported worldwide with no survivors. The cancer spread throughout 85% of her body and doctors gave her three months to live. During her chemotherapy treatments, Gerardi worked in two films in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, first, starred in La virgen de la caridad del cobre. Six months later, in Santa Juanita de los lagos, Gerardi underwent three years of chemotherapy, she suffered no hair loss. Sheyene grew up an avid fan of racing, her father, Edgar García, was a renowned explorer and a race-car driver in Venezuela; he had five consecutive wins before he died. In 1974, García led an expedition to

Mount Roraima Mount Roraima (; ) is the highest of the Pacaraima chain of tepuis (table-top mountain) or plateaux in South America. It is located at the junction of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. A characteristic large flat-topped mountain surrounded by cliff ...

, resulting in the discovery of 11 new

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

species, one of them: Neochactas garciai, was named in his honor for his contribution to the understanding of

species. Sheyene has spoken about her passion for sailing, she is a certified yacht captain and owns a yacht, named after her in Florida.

Philanthropy

Sheyene founded the Sheyene Gerardi Foundation in 2007, originally in Venezuela but re-organized in New York. The foundation is dedicated to harnessing the potential of emerging technologies like AI and space exploration to address global challenges. Through research, education, and outreach initiatives, SGF fosters ethical and equitable solutions in areas such as economic development, environmental sustainability, and social justice. As of Jan 2024, the foundation is organized into four program areas under president Sheyene Gerardi, who sets strategic priorities, monitors results, and facilitates relationships with key partners. * Research and Development Division * Social Impact and Governance Division * Outreach & Education Division * Mission Operations Manager Division In addition to her management positions at the organization, Ms. Gerardi herself led lobbying and public relation efforts for the organization, according to public records.

Program areas and initiatives

Education The Sheyene School, its role is to address technological literacy in robotics and STEM related fields, for low-income children in underdeveloped regions. Food program Launched in 2021, SGF's food program delivers emergency food assistance to vulnerable communities facing pandemic, environmental, or humanitarian crises. CEO Program The Commonwealth Enrichment and Outreach (CEO) Program, established in 2022, fosters financial security through entrepreneurial support initiatives. Telemedicine The Sheyene e-health, an electronic healthcare information delivery network for rare diseases, founded in 2016, after becoming a survivor of an unclassifiable splenic hairy small B-Cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare cancer.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
CNN interview

CNN interview

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerardi, Sheyene Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Venezuelan people of Italian descent Venezuelan philanthropists Venezuelan women in business People in the space industry Space advocates NASA people Life extensionists Businesspeople in information technology Silicon Valley people Stanford University people Stanford University alumni American technology chief executives American technology company founders Businesspeople from the San Francisco Bay Area World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders Businesspeople from New York (state) Actresses from Palo Alto, California Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Businesspeople in mining Women in mining Mining in Venezuela Venezuelan billionaires Italian billionaires Central University of Venezuela alumni

Alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

Venezuelan actor-politicians 21st-century Venezuelan women politicians 21st-century Venezuelan politicians Italian political artists

Women human rights activists Pacifist feminists South American pacifists Venezuelan women activists Venezuelan feminists Venezuelan human rights activists Mass media owners in Latin America Venezuelan mass media owners Actresses from Caracas 20th-century Venezuelan actresses 21st-century Venezuelan actresses Venezuelan female models Venezuelan film actresses Venezuelan telenovela actresses Venezuelan television actresses Venezuelan women philanthropists Italian women philanthropists