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SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS
Amy Spurling is the Founder and CEO of Compt, which designs employee lifestyle benefits so they actually work. A serial entrepreneur, it is the time Amy spent as CFO and COO of early and growth stage companies prior to Compt that drives her belief that companies and employees can achieve so much more together when employees are fully supported. Named Boston’s “CFO of the Year” by the Boston Business Journal in 2016, she is a seasoned executive with over 20 years experience in leadership roles at venture-backed companies ranging from early start-up phase through high growth and ultimately exit. Over her career, she has closed over ten rounds of financing totaling more than $200M, and managed two acquisitions to close.
Andrea Bernal / Roads Consulting
Andrea Bernal is Roads Consulting's go-to expert in marketing, with a special touch for understanding what people think and feel. She studied psychology and then went on to get a master's degree in Communications and Marketing. This unique mix helps her create marketing strategies that really speak to people's hearts and minds.
For over 15 years, Andrea has been working in communication and digital advertising, showing time and again that she knows how to lead teams and make projects succeed in different kinds of businesses. She's really good at figuring out what to say to different people online, making sure messages hit the mark, especially for important community issues like health and quality of life.
Andrea uses her knowledge about how people think to make messages that not only grab their attention but also make a lasting impression. This skill is super important for anyone wanting to get better at digital marketing and making their brand stand out.
If you're joining the seminar to learn about digital marketing and brand development, you're in for a treat. Andrea will share her tips on how to use understanding of people's minds to create marketing that really works and connects with your audience
Ariana Lucera / MassMutual Catalyst Fund
Ariana is a Senior Associate at the MassMutual Catalyst Fund, focusing on early-stage impact investments across a variety of sectors. Ariana has a passion for climate and deep-tech investments but also enjoys her wide sector focus which includes healthcare, Fin-tech, future of work and other impactful sectors. She is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and supporting Seed to Series B companies.
Captains of Innovation drive venture and idea creation, leveraging the power of proximity to identify and connect diverse partners. Their high-touch services aid disruptive thinking, instill an innovative mindset, develop strategy, and deliver high-impact activities. Their team of thinkers and innovation builders foster collaborative and future-focused outcomes.
Captains has experience building, developing, and cultivating innovation ecosystems. They provide expertise in innovation district planning, venture studio creation, strategy consulting, concept development, research, scenario planning, startup sourcing, and ecosystem engagement.
With over 15 years in the learning and development space, Dan has been teaching sales teams, marketing professionals, support organizations, and executive leadership how to effectively learn and grow. Dan currently runs Learn to Scale, an organization that helps leadership teams navigate the challenges associated with scaling a business.
David Horne / Gunderson Dettmer
David has worked in the startup and venture capital ecosystem for over ten years. He has developed a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities entrepreneurs and investors face in numerous industries and markets.
David matches founders' and investors’ energy by bringing speed and creative problem-solving to multifaceted legal issues and deals. He is a counselor who supports soaring founder ambitions with pattern recognition gained from advising companies at all stages through a myriad of complex situations. He also brings pragmatism informed by years of engagements across from various counterparties, including investors, commercial counterparties, strategic and financial acquirers and joint venture partners.
David brings Gunderson’s industry-leading experience representing high-growth companies in their financings, IPOs and M&A transactions to every engagement. He also represents several well-known venture capital and growth equity funds in their investments and fund formation activities.
David is actively involved in the Boston startup ecosystem and has worked with a number of Boston-area accelerators and incubators, including the Harvard Innovation Lab, Techstars Boston, Greentown Labs, the Roux Institute, CiC and Venture Lane
Elisa Miller-Out / Chloe Capital
Chloe Capital is a movement-driven venture capital firm investing with a gender and diversity lens. Our mission is inclusive ecosystem building at scale. We focus on diverse women tech leaders who are solving the world’s biggest problems. Our beachhead industry is Climate. We operate funds and accelerator programs across the US with global reach. Our funds offer capital for underestimated founders while providing impact and financial returns to investors and our accelerator programs allow access to unique deal flow and provide networks and opportunities for our founders across the #InvestInWomen Tour. Our superpower is our proprietary ChloECO model, an ecosystem building approach in which we transform founders into funders.
Gregory Raiz is a recovering entrepreneur and the General Partner of Raiz Capital, where he guides early-stage founders in their quest to create game-changing companies. Before Raiz Capital, Greg was the Managing Director of Techstars Boston and the founder and CEO of Raizlabs, a four-time Inc. 5000 winner and a pioneer in mobile technology development and design. Under Greg’s leadership, Raizlabs earned numerous accolades for innovation and excellence before he sold the business in 2017, remaining with the acquiring firm as Chief Innovation Officer.
With a wealth of experience in executive design and engineering, Greg has shepherded hundreds of products to market, including apps for industry giants like AAA, Dunkin Donuts, GE, Macy’s, Sanofi, and many others. His technical acumen and customer-focused approach have made him a sought-after speaker, engaging thousands of executives and tech leaders on the subjects of innovation, mobile, AI, VR, and the future of technology.
A proud alumnus of Tufts University with a degree in Computer Science, Greg is dedicated to giving back to the startup community in Boston, where he is an active angel investor and advisor to companies with a passion for shaping the future of software.
“As technology becomes intertwined into our lives, it’s crucial that the fusion between innovative design and software is seamless.”
Greg Raiz
Greg lives in MA with his wife and two daughters. For fun Greg enjoys sailing, snowboarding, playing the piano, and is learning how to Kite Surf.
Jason Kraus is the founder and CEO of Prepare 4 VC, a visionary platform dedicated to empowering startup breakthroughs and guiding founders towards success. Beyond his role at Prepare 4 VC, Jason is a respected investor, having made impactful investments in over 20 ventures in a diverse range of startups, reflecting his commitment to fostering innovative ideas across various sectors. Jason is also the acclaimed author of 'Venture Forward: Lessons from Leaders,' a book that distills extensive experiences from a range of entrepreneurs into actionable advice for up and coming founders.
John is a best selling Author, Coach, Trainer and Keynote speaker who focuses on the neurobiology of effective leadership communications and being TED-Worthy
Dr. Jose Perez, an accomplished entrepreneur, boasts over 15 years of expertise in business creation and strategic management. As the co-owner of DPV Transportation, a globally recognized chauffeured service enterprise with over 250 employees and four offices across the United States, Dr. Perez has led the company to remarkable heights. His adept leadership has secured over $100 million in corporate bids, expanded operations to Medellin, Colombia, and garnered consecutive accolades from the Boston Globe for "Best Places to Work" in 2020 and 2021. Dr. Perez's commitment to workforce development is evident through his receipt of grants and his establishment of support systems benefiting staff and fostering job creation. Additionally, he is the visionary behind Roads Consulting Group, a minority-owned consultancy empowering disadvantaged communities and businesses. Alongside his entrepreneurial ventures, Dr. Perez imparts knowledge as a faculty member at Baystate College and contributes as a board member of Dorchester Bay Economic Development. Driven by a passion for community service, Dr. Perez finds fulfillment in guiding aspiring entrepreneurs on their journey to success.
Kim Dawson is a results-driven business strategist who believes the key to a successful business is deciding what you want and creating an action-oriented plan to make it happen. Kim helps small business owners optimize pricing and procedures, navigate niche markets, and grow their team. Kim has helped her clients reach their revenue goals while doing more of what they love and gaining their free time back. Kim is the author of “Passion to Profits: Your Guide To Building a Successful Business You Love,” and is the host of the Sassy Strategist podcast, where she shares advice on how to build a business that brings higher profits, long-term success, and a fulfilling life.
Kelly Colón / Eledex Consulting
Strategic advisor & speaker, Kelly Colón, innovates in human-space interaction, enhancing workplace culture and wellbeing.
Kristina Klaas / Chloe Capital
Chloe Capital is a movement-driven venture capital firm investing with a gender and diversity lens. Our mission is inclusive ecosystem building at scale. We focus on diverse women tech leaders who are solving the world’s biggest problems. Our beachhead industry is Climate. We operate funds and accelerator programs across the US with global reach. Our funds offer capital for underestimated founders while providing impact and financial returns to investors and our accelerator programs allow access to unique deal flow and provide networks and opportunities for our founders across the #InvestInWomen Tour. Our superpower is our proprietary ChloECO model, an ecosystem building approach in which we transform founders into funders.
Rachel Grail / Interaction Associates
Rachael’s goal is to enable peak performance in teams through effective communication, strengths-based collaboration, and sustained well-being. As an experienced facilitator and coach, she skillfully weaves new concepts and awareness into practical actions. She leverages a breadth of experience and numerous evidence-based frameworks to be highly responsive to the unique needs of each group she supports.
Before her work as a leadership development specialist, she was an educator at a private school in the Silicon Valley for six years, where she designed and delivered custom curriculum to a group of neurodiverse students. Prior to that, she worked for ten years as an executive producer of large-scale events in the San Francisco Bay Area. This taught her volumes about team dynamics in high stakes situations and is where her interest in team development originated.
In her spare time, Rachael hosts pro-bono workshops empowering social emotional development in women and girls. She also sits on the advisory board of the Appleseed Project, a 501c3 dedicated to building community and creating access to music and maker arts.
Rachael holds a BA with Honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She holds certificates in Women in Leadership, and Persuasive Communication from Cornell University. She is a CPCC certified coach from the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI,) and an ACC Certified Coach from the International Coaches Federation (ICF). She is also an LHEP certified practitioner of The Human Element model for Organizational Effectiveness
Rachael supports leaders and teams in global companies, high growth startups, and NGO’s. Her experience includes engagement with clients at: Amazon, Adobe, DocuSign, Meta, Outside PR, PG&E, Service Now, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Linda Ugelow (YOU-guh-lo)is a speaking confidence coach, podcast host, and author of the book, Delight in the Limelight: Overcome Your Fear of Being Seen and Realize Your Dreams. Formerly stricken with public speaking fear herself, she now helps entrepreneurs, authors, business professionals, and corporate leaders transform their experience of speaking from dread to delight whether online or on stage, in the media or the meeting room. She has cultivated a dedicated TikTok following of 160K through engaging and relatable content and is the host of the podcast and live show Delight in the Limelight where she continues to inspire and empower individuals on their journey to confident self-expression.
Dr. Marissa Alert is a licensed clinical health psychologist, consultant, speaker, and founder of MDA Wellness, a company dedicated to helping employers prioritize mental health. Dr. Alert delivers high-energy training, workshops, and presentations that equip employees and leaders with practical and sustainable strategies to manage stress, prevent burnout, and improve their resilience and well-being. With over ten years of experience, she is skilled at making meaningful connections with audiences, who love her down-to-earth approach that keeps them laughing while learning. Dr. Alert has been invited to speak nationally and internationally on panels, podcasts, and at conferences and companies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Dartmouth College and obtained her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Miami. Her predoctoral and postdoctoral training occurred at Brown University and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She has also been featured in Forbes, Newsweek, Mashable, and Authority Magazine.
As the founder of iFund Lab, Narine has established a successful track record in securing non-dilutive capital for startups, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations through SBIR and other federal grant programs. Her expertise lies in identifying suitable funding opportunities for clients, developing data-driven project proposals to strengthen competitiveness, and preparing and submitting compelling grant applications.
Narine works with all major federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, United States Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, and others.
Having secured over $3 million in awarded grants and contracts, she is committed to helping innovators and nonprofits obtain non-dilutive capital to pursue their missions and achieve their strategic objectives.
Larry Rosenberg / Interaction Associates
People-focused Leadership Coach | Making Change Land Softly & Stick | Facilitator | Skill Builder | Consultant at Interaction Associates - Work Better Together & Achieve What Matters
Sara is the CEO of the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MTLC), a technology association representing 200 technology companies in Massachusetts. Prior to her role as CEO, Sara was MTLC’s Vice President of Programs and Policy and served as Executive Director of the MTLC Education Foundation. Sara’s leadership touches hundreds of technology executives, academic and non-profit leaders, and policy makers across the Massachusetts ecosystem.
In addition, Sara serves on the Board of Directors of the Technology Councils of North America (TECNA), representing over 60 technology trade organizations, encompassing 22,000 technology companies across the U.S. and Canada and sits on TECNA’s U.S. Policy Committee.
Sara has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Northeastern University and Master’s in Public Affairs from the McCormack School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Stephanie Roulic / Startup Boston
Startup Boston is your go-to resource for the New England startup community. Our mission is to elevate and celebrate the Boston and New England startup ecosystem by organizing events, brokering access and sharing knowledge.
Tino Chow comes into branding with an unexpected background. As a former military officer in the Singapore army who went to art school, Tino discovered his niche by combining his experience in operations with creativity. He works with companies and startups to leverage the power of brand strategy, design thinking, and design doing in order to maximize their position in their market.
Before starting Giant Shoulders, Tino spent over a decade building creative cultures and collaborative teams with agencies in New York and startups in Silicon Valley. Tino holds a design degree from Rhode Island School of Design, where he is an Adjunct Professor. He frequently gives talks on branding and design thinking and is a TED Fellow.
MENTORS
Aja Hardy
20 years of experience in new product design, human data science, business strategy and operations, and Big 4 consulting, Aja is a system level thinker and a cross-silo leader who makes ideas manifest. As a Digital Health Advisor at the newly formed Digital Health Center of Excellence at FDA, Aja leads the strategic direction and execution of initiatives that advance health equity, interoperability, and bias mitigation in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for medical devices and health care.
Aja leverages her academic background in public health and business, as well as her solid experience in the tech sector, to establish and manage strategic partnerships and regulatory science research collaborations with diverse stakeholders, including the U.S. Census Bureau, the AI Caucus, and various academic institutions, accelerators, and venture capitalists. She also contributes to the HHS Action Plan for Strengthening Primary Care and serve as a mentor and a thought leader within and outside the agency. Her mission is to impact health disparities with technology enablement and innovation.
Ben Greene
Ben Greene is a serial startup co-founder/CTO who has spent his career building early stage startups across numerous industries using his expertise in product, engineering, strategy, management and culture.
Bob Mason
Bob Mason is a Managing Partner at Argon Ventures, leading pre-seed, deep tech investments with a mission to amplify founder energy to launch cutting-edge products and build impactful, global businesses. He has been a Managing Partner at Project 11 Ventures and was previously part of the Techstars Boston investment committee. His portfolio includes dozens of startups and access to a network of hundreds of founders. Before his career as an investor, Bob helped found and build industry-shifting products and businesses for two highly successful public companies: ATG, a leading e-commerce and personalization platform, and Brightcove, the market-leading online video platform for enterprise and premium media. In both roles he provided engineering and product leadership in support of the companies’ vision and strategy.
Gabor Bethlendy
Gabor, is a 3-time founder, with one exit. He is currently working on Gravl a platform democratizing access to cutting-edge research tools and services. As the founder of Meenta, he built a marketplace for diagnostic tests to provide healthcare professionals unlimited access to the #1 tool that drives healthcare decisions. He also built and sold Parabase Genomics, which was a genome-scale diagnostic test for newborns. His prior years were spent at the University of Rochester, Agilent Technologies, and Roche Diagnostics where he moved from the lab to collaborations, sales and management. He also took a short detour to get his Master's In Family Therapy.
Kathy Pattison
Kathy Pattison is a seasoned marketing leader with over 30 years of experience in bringing transformative technologies to life across hardware, software, and SaaS. With expertise spanning B2B, B2C, and channel strategies, Kathy has played key roles in launching ventures, steering companies through growth phases, and strategizing for exits, including involvement in an IPO.
Notable positions include serving as CMO for Mogul, CMO & Head of Sales for Kaarta, and senior leadership roles at Fiksu, Color Kinetics, and Psion. Kathy has mentored and consulted to various startups, including Testive, Ecovent, Ketra, EcoSense, Torrent, MailWise, and Beekeeping.io. She cut her teeth at Apple and Quark during the early stages of her career.
Kathy earned a dual degree from the Whitman School of Management and the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
She served as a board member and Marketing Committee Chair of The Advent School and holds board positions with the Nauset Heights Association and Beaver Country Day School PA Executive Committee.
Jess Lynch
Jess Lynch is a partner at Raiz Capital, an angel investor, and a start-up advisor who recently sold her company, Wishroute, to Suggestic, Guidely, and Runzy. Wishroute was a Boston-based tech company that made it easy for health and wellness brands to add human accountability coaching to their products or services to help drive user engagement and retention. Jess has her MBA and MSA from Babson and is also a CPA. Prior to becoming obsessed with start-up life, Jess worked in forensic consulting at PwC.
John Brzezenski
Mr. Brzezenski has developed perspective from “all sides of the table,” having been a Partner with a Strategy/Mergers and Acquisition advisory firm, senior operating executive, and investor and member of the investment committee of a venture capital firm. His experience has spanned all stages of a company lifecycle and all aspects of business planning, strategy development, business development, marketing strategy/execution and acquisitions/financing. Industry experience includes many areas within the high-technology industry (enterprise software, communications, AI, sports tech), medical and health-related products/services, manufacturing and industrial distribution. He has served on multiple nonprofit and for-profit boards, including the Board of the Launchpad Venture Group and is an active angel investor and advisor/mentor. Mr. Brzezenski graduated with honors from Harvard University with an AB in Economics, and holds an MBA from the Kellogg School at Northwestern University.
Paul Griffiths
Paul helps founders build healthy, durable, and performance-oriented businesses. Primarily, he invests in emerging funds who seek to deliver capital to unlikely places and providing coaching to portfolio companies. Paul excels at workshopping problems from blockers to actionable next steps.
COACHES
Laura Sorensen
Laura Sorensen, a strategic design partner and the brain behind Atelier LKS, has a rare mix of right and left-brain skills. Both a mechanic and detailer to the "car" that is your brand, Laura helps companies harmonize their content so that it can be better understood by the right people. Sorensen loves exploring what's different about someone and what they do and finding the most effective way to show and tell that story so the right people listen, love what they see, and want to buy what you're selling.
Mike Valdes
Mike Waldes is a social innovator and systems thinker with a background in community development, communications, and operations for both nonprofits and for-profit sectors. Mike has over 15 years of experience in public speaking, and loves helping leaders better understand and cast their vision in a way that creates community and rallies people around a mission to make the world a better place.
Nako Adodoadji
Nako Adodoadji is a writer, director, producer, actor, story consultant and writing coach. With a multidisciplinary background in theatre, film and television, and 10+ years of expertise in performance, stage presence, speech techniques, writing and directing, she brings a versatile and unique perspective to the world of consulting, communications and public speaking that focuses on the innate power of storytelling and connecting with audiences. Through her consulting and coaching work, she has helped clients garner placements in top entertainment industry competitions, festivals and awards, including qualifying for the Academy Awards consideration. She has also consulted within Ivy League academic institutions and the tech industry, and is now embarking on a new chapter as she launches Wild Crux Productions, an immersive production company that will bring clients and audiences into the heart of theatrical and cinematic stories that come to life.
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