Mentors

Bruce Toyama is an entrepreneurial leader with broad-based corporate experience, contributing over 25 years of achievement in new business development, general management, sales management, and commercializing of advanced material products. Bruce helped found the IgniteU NY accelerator program in Troy, NY, which is sponsored and partially funded by NYSTEC. He last served as Vice President of Product Development for BessTech, a startup commercializing transformative silicon-based anode technology for lithium-ion batteries developed at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Albany, NY. Bruce also serves as a National Visiting Committee member for a National Science Foundation Regional Center in Seattle, Washington. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois-Urbana.

Fascinated by the Digital Age, Kathryn Cartini is always searching for different ways to apply technology to the art of communication.

After graduating from the Newhouse Program at Syracuse University, she began her career in television broadcasting. In the newsroom, she became skilled at asking qualifying questions, learning through listening and above all else, communicating stories across multiple platforms.

She continues to share stories today, representing Upstate's startup ecosystem as CEO of Peacock Media, LLC, and CMO of Upstate Venture Connect - Upstate NY's super regional network for entrepreneurs. Most recently, Kate helped launch Chloe Capital- an early stage VC firm focused on women-led tech companies. As a partner, she assists with communications, deal flow, due diligence and fundraising.

Kate is also a talent scout and mentor with the StartFast Venture Accelerator, and an entrepreneur-in-residence with the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester. Other community roles include: Board of Advisors, Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship at Le Moyne College, Innovate 518 and Spark Saratoga; Mentor, IgniteU NY

Catch up with Kate on Twitter or Instagram @KathrynCartini.

Darrin Jahnel is the founder and CEO of Jahnel Group, a 50 person company headquartered in Schenectady, NY. He specializes in software development and has extensive experience in the full life cycle of the software design process. Darrin earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University at Albany and a Master’s Degree in Information Systems from NYU's Stern School of Business. Prior to starting the company in 2005, Darrin worked for 7 years as a Senior Software Engineer on Wall Street. Darrin has led numerous engineering teams on multi-million dollar projects and is a member of MENSA.

Meg Luce is a strategy designer at Business Models Inc. At Business Models Inc, she develops strategies, business model generation and validation, and designs value propositions for organizations of all sizes across industries. Meg has been able to find the balance between thinking like a business, and thinking like a designer, and has helped organizations alter their mindset in order to become more profitable and innovative. Meg holds an MBA in Design Strategy from California College of the Arts, a BA in Art from Hartwick College and a BS in Business Administration from Hartwick College.

Mike DeBritz is the founder and president of Community Learning LLC, creator of interactive Course Kits designed for K12 schools and community partners. Mike is a true believer in “learning by doing” and encourages young people to get their hands dirty by making, destroying or restoring something. Prior to starting Community Learning in 2005, Mike was a member of two start-up teams in educational technology and held positions at large companies in new product development. Mike also started the local head-shaving event “St. Baldrick’s at Proctors,” raising funds for pediatric cancer research. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Julianne Clouthier is the Industry Engagement Manager for FuzeHub in Albany, NY. Julianne oversees the $1M Innovation Fund including the implementation of the Fund’s commercialization competition and manufacturing grants. Julianne has ten years of economic/community development experience including six years with New York State Homes and Community Renewal/Office of Community Renewal where she was instrumental in managing a large portfolio of grant funds among municipalities and businesses throughout the state. Prior to that Julianne worked in Economic Development for Cornell Cooperative Extension through the Montgomery County Agriculture Economic Development Project where she created a variety of programs to assist farm businesses and value-added producers. Julianne also serves as the Chairperson of the Business Development Committee for the Glenville Local Development Corporation.

Julianne holds a Master of Business Administration from the University at Albany and a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Mercyhurst College.

Beth Bornick is the Solutions Program Manager for FuzeHub, NY’s statewide Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, where she helps connect startups and manufacturers to technology and business experts, to accelerate growth. Beth’s background includes university technology commercialization, and sales roles for computer-aided manufacturing software and industrial 3D printers. She formerly served as Executive Director for a NASA-funded outreach program that provided free engineering assistance to hundreds of small businesses in New York. A life-long learner, Beth holds a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson, an MBA from RPI, and an MS in Technology Transfer from Albany Law School. She’s also a member of the Tech Valley Center of Gravity makerspace in Troy, where she occasionally teaches the laser cutter class.

Mark worked in the IT field for 14 years before co-founding Troy Web Consulting in 2002. Troy Web Consulting’s services have provided him an opportunity to work with a wide range of clients including startups as well as established multi million dollar companies. His broad experience has helped him support all aspects of software development and many aspects of business including finance, sales, marketing and strategic planning.

Mark has always supported the aspirations of young people to gain business acumen. He is an active board member with Junior Achievement of Northeastern New York teaching several courses including the JA Be Entrepreneurial program; a member of the NYS High School Business Model Competition Committee; and, a member of the coaching team for Startup Tech Valley, a monthly meeting for entrepreneurs sponsored by RPIs Severino Center. Mark has also taught marketing as an adjunct at the University of Albany School of business.

Mark holds an MBA in finance and computer information systems from the University of Rochester Simon School of Business.

Marcia is currently pursuing a master's from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Technology Commercialization & Entrepreneurship. She graduated from Tufts University with a bachelor’s in economics. She is currently working on the IBM - Cognitive and Immersive Systems Lab (CISL) team at RPI and will be hosting a workshop in the spring to address the needs of tech entrepreneurs; specifically women of color and diverse teams. Her goal is to create a destination for women like herself; talented visionaries from diverse backgrounds – and provide them with the tools, connections, and opportunities they need to succeed.

Louis Sackal is a Financial Representative at Wealth Advisory Group in Latham, NY. With over two decades of experience being a part of and advising cutting-edge technology firms and startups, Lou now utilizes his expertise and analytical perspective to deliver financial solutions for technology professionals and their families. Prior to joining Wealth Advisory Group, Lou oversaw R&D, manufacturing, operations and international supply chain management initiatives for various technologies across multiple industries from Nanotechnology based Optoelectronics to Military and Defense as well as Solar Cell Predictive Analytics and Telecommunications. His experience transforming innovative concepts into fully developed product and service solutions has gained him invaluable insight into what it takes to turn ideas in to successful businesses.

Lou holds a BS and ME in Chemical Engineering as well as an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was the winner of the 1999 Lucent Technologies Student Business Plan Competition at RPI. He is currently serves on the APICS Board as the VP of Finance and is an active member of Startup Tech Valley Community.