Kelli Cullinane joined Next Legacy in 2009 and as Managing Partner and Chief Financial Officer she manages all aspects of the firm’s operations including financial reporting, investment operational due diligence, human resources, and IT infrastructure. She leads the day-to-day operations and financial management and reporting process, along with back-office operations. As Chief Compliance Officer, Kelli ensures Next Legacy is in compliance with standards set by the Registered Investment Advisers Act. Kelli is a member of the exclusive Society of Kauffman Fellows, the premier leadership organization for the venture capital industry. Kelli joined Next Legacy 15 years ago from HRJ Capital, a fund of funds with over $2B in assets under management. At HRJ, Kelli focused on all aspects of thirteen multi-asset-class funds. She began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young, serving primarily financial services clients in Chicago and information technology companies throughout Silicon Valley. Kelli is a certified public accountant and earned her B.A. in Economics and her master’s degree in accounting from the University of Michigan.

Sharon Matusik is a distinguished scholar and teacher whose professional expertise spans strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. As an academic leader, she has a strong record of accomplishment in critical areas, including student success; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and community engagement.

A first-generation college student, Matusik earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and English with honors from Colby College. She earned a PhD in strategic management from the University of Washington School of Business Administration.

Matusik initially pursued a successful career in consulting. She joined the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University as an assistant professor after completing her PhD. In 2004, she moved to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder as an assistant professor, later rising to full professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. She became the 14th dean of the Leeds School in 2017.

At the Leeds School, Matusik served in a number of leadership roles, including academic director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship and senior associate dean for faculty and research. As dean of Leeds, she launched critical initiatives, including an innovative partnership between Leeds and the College of Engineering Applied Science; the End the Gap program, aimed at achieving gender parity; and Career Impact, designed to align the student experience with skills needed for long-term career success. Her term as Leeds dean saw substantial increases in student achievement, diversity of the faculty, fundraising, and community engagement.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved Matusik to serve a five-year, renewable term as dean of the Ross School of Business beginning August 1, 2022.

Matusik’s research has been published in top academic journals and is frequently cited in the management field. Her teaching and research areas of expertise include strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, and knowledge assets. Matusik has received multiple awards for research, teaching, and service to her profession, including the Excellence in Leadership Award from the University of Colorado four-campus system. She has served on several nonprofit boards, including a current appointment with the Strategic Management Society.

Amy Wildstein is Managing Partner of Suttona Capital.  She has over 25 years of experience in private equity and venture capital. Suttona focuses on growth equity investments in tech-enabled consumer brands.  Ms. Wildstein started her career at the Blackstone Group, working on buyouts and growth equity investments.  Subsequently, she joined Morgan Stanley Capital Partners where she evaluated and structured buyout and growth equity investments. Ms. Wildstein is a co-founder of Solera Capital, a private equity fund launched in 2001 by an investment team of all women, and Boldcap Ventures, an investment club with all women investors.  Ms. Wildstein has served on public and private boards in the consumer, media, technology, and healthcare sectors.  Current board and advisory roles include Hint, Fleur du Mal, the Ross School Advisory Board, Michigan Social Venture Fund, and the Springboard National Advisory Board.  

Sharon Matusik is a distinguished scholar and teacher whose professional expertise spans strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. As an academic leader, she has a strong record of accomplishment in critical areas, including student success; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and community engagement.

A first-generation college student, Matusik earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and English with honors from Colby College. She earned a PhD in strategic management from the University of Washington School of Business Administration.

Matusik initially pursued a successful career in consulting. She joined the Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University as an assistant professor after completing her PhD. In 2004, she moved to the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder as an assistant professor, later rising to full professor of strategy and entrepreneurship. She became the 14th dean of the Leeds School in 2017.

At the Leeds School, Matusik served in a number of leadership roles, including academic director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship and senior associate dean for faculty and research. As dean of Leeds, she launched critical initiatives, including an innovative partnership between Leeds and the College of Engineering Applied Science; the End the Gap program, aimed at achieving gender parity; and Career Impact, designed to align the student experience with skills needed for long-term career success. Her term as Leeds dean saw substantial increases in student achievement, diversity of the faculty, fundraising, and community engagement.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents approved Matusik to serve a five-year, renewable term as dean of the Ross School of Business beginning August 1, 2022.

Matusik’s research has been published in top academic journals and is frequently cited in the management field. Her teaching and research areas of expertise include strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, and knowledge assets. Matusik has received multiple awards for research, teaching, and service to her profession, including the Excellence in Leadership Award from the University of Colorado four-campus system. She has served on several nonprofit boards, including a current appointment with the Strategic Management Society.

Jen Baird is a venture and angel-backed CEO that has raised over $75M and led the development of products in microelectromechanical systems, ultrasound transducers, life science tools instruments, utility-scale wind energy systems, and FDA-regulated medical device software. She has joined startups in progress and co-founded three from scratch. Baird has recruited hundreds of tremendous team members, investors, and stakeholders to contribute to the efforts. Baird has spent time as a speaker, panelist, guest lecturer, and mentor to CEOs. She received a degree in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan and a Masters Degree in Management in Finance and Corporate Strategy from Northwestern's Kellogg Graduate School of Management. 

You can read more about Jen's experience and thoughts on her blog, Startup CEO Reflections.

Crystal Brown is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CircNova. Mrs. Brown most recently served as Director of Operations for Ocuphire Pharma, Inc. With more than 15 years of operations experience, she has served in senior leadership positions with General Motors partners, FCA Chrysler and Alta Resources. Mrs. Brown received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her Executive MBA from Michigan State University Eli Broad School of Business.

Monica Wheat is a strategist, educator, and venture developer. Wheat is founder and executive director of Venture Catalysts, a nonprofit venture and ecosystem development group focused on investor and founder education as well as innovation hub, seed fund, and large-scale entrepreneurial initiatives for more than 30,000 attendees. 

Wheat is also managing director of Backstage Capital's Detroit startup accelerator, a four-city, global tech accelerator in investing three months and $100,000 in scaling startups for underrepresented founders. She is additionally the Techstars Startup Programs lead, heading programs in Detroit and globally. her work is featured in Crain's, Huffinton Post, Black Enterprise, and Forbes.

Alison Todak is a Co-Founder of Shine & Rise. She is a leader and connector in the Midwest tech ecosystem. As a Michigan native, Alison has a decade plus of experience in building communities and operations in high-growth orgs. She builds entrepreneurial programs, manages operations and community outreach for tech companies and venture firms, and coaches budding founders, all while dabbling in politics. 

Natalie Levy is the Founder of She’s Independent, a women-first investment group offering an entirely new way to support women’s financial independence and influence through investing and board placements. As a member-led investment group, She’s Independent marries empowerment and action, with the ultimate mission of closing the power gap in investing by getting more women on the cap table, in the boardroom, and into positions of influence. Over the next 12 months, She’s Independent plans to deploy $1.5M of capital collectively, and has invested in 9 deals since its formation in January 2022.

An accomplished engineer turned Wall Street derivatives trader, investor, and advisor, Natalie has over a decade of tech operational experience, a portfolio of 30+ seed through later stage private investments and has experienced liquidity events across 3 of the first 4 investments in her growth technology portfolio with an average return >20X. She successfully negotiated compensation package increases at almost every employer she worked with and achieved 40+% YoY increases on behalf of herself and coaches others to achieve similar results

Natalie graduated magna cumme laude from University of Michigan with a BSE of Industrial Engineering and resides in Boulder, CO with her loving rescue pup Beans and is passionate about gender equity and mental health awareness.

Priya Gogoi is an entrepreneur, social change-maker, and author with published work in national media. She co-founded Celsee, Inc., in 2010, a life-science tools company developing products for cancer research and single-cell sequencing. In April 2020, BioRad Laboratories acquired Celsee for $100+MM. Priya recently graduated with an Executive MBA from Ross, UofM, adding to her Master’s degree in Molecular Biology. She specializes in due diligence on Biotech startups, which involves technical due diligence, IP and competitive landscape, operations, and team efficiency. She also mentors several Ann Arbor area startups in preparing their Business Plans. Currently, Priya serves as a Board member in several local and international nonprofits and a contributing author in the national publication: Entrepreneur media.

Shaily Baranwal is the Founder-CEO of Elevate K-12, one of the largest livestream teaching EdTech

companies that is solving the nation’s teacher shortage. By creating a livestream teaching ecosystem with both schools and teachers, Elevate K-12 is building a new category and transforming the way K-12 schools work now and in the future. Elevate K-12 has grown at a 100%+ CAGR, completed a Series C

round of funding and attracted capital from some of the best investors and venture capital firms focused

on social mission and transformation.

Baranwal is a mission-focused entrepreneur building products and services that deeply impact the lives

of consumers and disrupt traditional markets, challenging the status quo to make an impact in the

educational field and beyond. She leads the company by encouraging a diverse workforce and

embodying a collaborative culture at all levels. The idea of Elevate K-12 was created while she was an

MBA student at the Ross School of Business.

Prior to starting Elevate K-12, Baranwal was a management consultant at Kearney and founded a chain of pre-schools and restaurants in India, which she later sold to India's largest F&B conglomerate, Dabur.

Baranwal is a Production Engineer, with a teaching degree in Early Childhood Education and an MBA

from the University of Michigan-Ross School of Business where she received the Sam Zell

Entrepreneurial Scholarship. She is also on the Board of the University of Michigan Zell Lurie Institute

where she advises students who want to continue the path to entrepreneurship. In her non-Elevate

time, Baranwal can be found immersed in a book, diving or surfing on an island.

Millie Chu is dedicated to economic development, inclusion programs, education and building infrastructures to mobilize equity and equality for BIPOC and the underserved around the world. Millie was featured in Forbes as an immigrant leader who helps and inspires other immigrants to become entrepreneurs. Additionally, she has been in the U.S News and World Report, MLIVE and dozens of other public and media outlets on economic justice and equality for women and people of color. She has provided consulting and growth strategies to over 500 organizations, helped launch more than 90 startups, and taught business and entrepreneurship for 10 years at Michigan colleges and universities. Globally, she created programs in the Middle East to benefit refugees and women owned businesses, and assisted entrepreneurs in the advanced technology industry across Asia, Europe, and South America. When embracing work-life harmony, you can likely find Millie with her loved ones or pampering fur babies and plants. 

Mary Comazzi learned precisely what direction she wanted for her career by taking the right steps on the right course at the right time, and she strives to do the same for her clients. Mary’s general commercial and aviation clients appreciate her honesty, practicality and responsiveness in assessing their issues and helping address problems they are facing, in the air or on the ground.

Mary helps clients craft, negotiate and document mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, joint ventures, and other complex commercial transactions. She also has extensive experience structuring aviation transactions, including domestic and foreign-based aircraft purchases and sales, aircraft leasing agreements, timeshare and interchange agreements, joint and fractional ownership agreements, personal and executive use policies, FAA registrations, and Cape Town Convention and International Registry matters.

An experienced private practice attorney in Michigan, Mary also spent nearly six years as in-house counsel with CHI Aviation, a Michigan-based helicopter services company. There, she developed, implemented and managed programs involving virtually all aspects of its business including human resources, import/export regulatory compliance, Department of Transportation (DOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) compliance, and facility and employee security clearances. She also handled complex corporate transactions, namely asset purchases and sales, contract review and negotiation and finance matters. 

When the stakes and goals are high, Mary leverages her natural determination with her in-house experience and ability to understand the intricacies of the matter at hand and the client’s goals to work through a problem until she finds a solution. 

Mary’s passion, outside of her practice, is giving back to her community – focusing on the next generation. Her husband and her two children have been the impetus for Mary to volunteer her time and support two organizations that help children fighting devastating and life-altering afflictions and diseases, including the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Heather Grisham is a financial and business infrastructure development expert and angel investor. She has spent over 30 years working with start-ups, early-stage technology companies and nonprofits, specializing in the establishment of scalable business processes for administration, finance, operations and fundraising. Prior to joining Navv Systems, Heather was the COO/CFO for Pixel Velocity, an early-stage technology firm creating software for the oil and gas industry. Ms. Grisham has also worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence and a leadership coach for start-up executives.  Ms. Grisham holds a BS from the University of Michigan and a MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.  She is an avid reader, loves to spend time walking in the woods and is a self-development junkie.