Founders
Co-Creators:
Jennifer Carolyn King &
Timothy Charles Fredel
Since January 2021, Jennifer Carolyn King, Timothy Fredel, and the Rugged Elegance Foundation have served more than 100 BIPOC, LGBTQ+, women leaders coast-to-coast at their soul sanctuaries, Casa al Mare (The Retreat: SF) and Asante Sana (The Retreat: ME).
Jennifer and Tim are long-time business and social entrepreneurs. In 1995, they launched BioSpace.com. To this day, BioSpace.com is the leading portal for the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.
In 1999, Jennifer and Tim were two of the first nine investors in Baidu, now the leading search engine in China. This small, early-stage investment in Baidu enabled them to self-fund the creation of Rugged Elegance, the soulful network, and Kudos Trading Co. (kudos.tc).
In 2006, the King Fredels, founding trustees of Thrive Foundation for Youth, converted their previous home in the Western Addition of San Francisco into The Thrive House for Youth. For eight years, they served primarily at-risk youth and their mentors. In 2013, after attending a philanthropic systems thinking summit Jennifer had an epiphany. From that day on, they pivoted their philanthropic giving from a focus on positive youth development to the clarity of purpose and amplification of leaders. Since then, Jennifer has been the President of the Rugged Elegance Foundation. In 2018, after renovating their one-of-a-kind home in Sea Cliff, San Francisco, Casa al Mare became their “The Thrive House 2.0” where they are dedicated to serving the PEACE creators of the world including Pioneers, Environmentalists, Activists, Climate champions, and social Entrepreneurs.
Tim received his undergraduate degree in engineering at Dartmouth College (‘81), and his MBA at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management (‘85). Jennifer did her undergraduate work at the University of Colorado at Boulder and received a degree in Business Management from Simmons University (‘84). She often says that she got a Ph.D. from “The School of Hard Knocks” after becoming an Internet pioneer and growing her first company from a sole proprietorship to a thriving, profitable business - which raised $30 million from venture capitalists.
