Team Member

Biography

Wemimo Abbey
Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Esusu

Los Angeles, CA

Wemimo is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Esusu, a financial technology company that enables households to use their on-time rent payments to build credit. Wemimo and his Co-Founder have led Esusu through several rounds of capital raising. Prior to Esusu, Wemimo founded Clean Water for Everyone, a global venture aimed at providing access to clean water, and a data analytics company.

Donnel Baird
Founder and CEO, BlocPower LLC

Brooklyn, NY

Donnel is Founder and CEO of BlocPower LLC, a climate technology startup that identifies energy-inefficient buildings in underserved markets and then works with the owners to develop, install, and finance clean energy systems, resulting in lower operating costs and reduced carbon emissions. Donnel has led the company through raising capital using multiple pathways, including pre-seed venture capital funding, investments from institutional investors, Regulation Crowdfunding, and debt financing.

William M. Beatty*
Securities Administrator of the Washington State Securities Division

Olympia, WA

Bill is the Director of the Securities Division for the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, and has served in that role since 2010. His career at the Securities Division began in 1986. Bill has also held multiple leadership roles within the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), and was appointed to serve as the NASAA representative to the Advisory Committee.

Stacey Bowers
Director, SEC Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation

Washington, DC

Stacey leads the SEC’s Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation. Prior to joining the SEC, she was a Professor of the Practice at University of Denver Sturm College of Law and Of Counsel at 3Pillars Law, PLLC. At Sturm she was also the Director of the Corporate and Commercial Law Program where she taught courses on corporate and securities law, including capital raising. As a practitioner, Stacey represented business owners and entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital, from startups to more established companies.

George Cook
Co-Founder and CEO, Honeycomb Credit

Pittsburgh, PA

George is Co-Founder and CEO of Honeycomb Credit, a registered funding portal that uses Regulation Crowdfunding to provide access to equity and debt financing to independent small businesses. Since 2018, Honeycomb has deployed more than $17 million to nearly 300 businesses in 30 states. George is a sixth-generation community banker and his family has been operating a bank in rural Appalachia for more than 130 years. Prior to co-founding Honeycomb, George worked at TransUnion and ZestAI where he supported the development of credit algorithms and machine learning tools to improve access to credit.

Vincent Cordero
Partner, Co-CEO, and CBO, Mucho Mas Media

Miami, FL

Vincent is Partner, CEO, and Chief Business Officer of Mucho Mas Media, a Latino-owned and operated small business and multimedia company aiming to empower and support inclusive stories, filmmakers, and talent. A seasoned senior executive and venture entrepreneur, previously Vincent was a co-founder of Colossal Biosciences, COO of HBO Latin America, EVP/GM of FOX Sports and VP/GM of Univision. Vincent mentors startups at University of Chicago Polsky Center and MIT Climate and Energy Prize.

Marcia Dawood
Venture Partner, Mindshift Capital

Charlotte, NC

Marcia is a Venture Partner at Mindshift Capital, a women-run venture firm focused on post-seed investing in early-stage women-led companies. Marcia is also Chair of the Board of the Angel Capital Association, a professional society for angel investors in the U.S. and globally. She is the Chair of the Growing Women’s Capital group, which works to build syndication and collaboration among investors focused on women-led companies.

Gregory J. Dean*
Senior Vice President of the Office of Government Affairs, FINRA

Washington, DC

Greg is Senior Vice President of the Office of Government Affairs at FINRA, a not-for-profit self-regulatory organization that regulates member brokerage firms and securities markets. Before joining FINRA, Greg was Senior Director of Regulatory & Government Affairs at the Royal Bank of Canada, and also had served for more than 14 years in a variety of roles on Capitol Hill, including as Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Greg began his career at the U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Advocacy.

Bailey DeVries*
Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment & Innovation, U.S Small Business Administration

Washington, DC

Bailey is the Associate Administrator and head of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Investment and Innovation. In this role, she leads the SBA’s programs that provide high-growth small businesses with access to financial capital and R&D funds to support innovation. Prior to her current SBA role, Bailey served as a Venture Partner at Trail Mix Ventures, a Director at Greenspring Associates where she led efforts to commit capital to female and diverse-led fund managers, and an executive with T. Rowe Price Associates.

Bart Dillashaw
Founder, Enterprise Legal Studio

Omaha, NE

Bart is Founder of Enterprise Legal Studio, a boutique corporate and commercial law practice that represents investors and emerging growth companies. He is actively engaged in the angel and venture capital community in Nebraska, where he is the former President and a current Board Member of the Nebraska Angels and serves on the Board of Advisors of the Entrepreneurship Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

Herbert Drayton III
Founder and Managing Partner, HI Mark Capital

Charleston, SC

Herbert is Founder and Managing Partner of HI Mark Capital, an aggregate fund that is committed to investing in early-stage BIPOC and women founders in the Southeastern United States, with an industry focus on technology, manufacturing and logistics. Herbert is also a Palmetto Venture Fellow with Venture Carolina, which works to bridge the funding gap between entrepreneurs and investors. Herbert is a veteran of the US Air Force and Marine Corps Reserve.

Erica Duignan, Chair
Founder and General Partner, Reign Ventures

New York, NY

Erica is Founder and General Partner of Reign Ventures, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in consumer technology and business software startups with inclusive teams. Erica has been investing in and advising early-stage companies for nearly two decades, following 8 years as an investment banker with Citigroup and Credit Suisse. Prior to launching Reign, she founded two startups: Mamatini, a wellness beverage brand for new mothers; and 1000 Angels, a digital investment platform for individuals.

Diego Mariscal
Founder, CEO, and Chief Disabled Officer, 2Gether-International

Washington, DC

Diego is Founder, CEO, and Chief Disabled Officer of 2Gether-International, an accelerator supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities. Since launching the first cohort in 2019, more than 70 startups have participated. His work has included collaborations with the U.S. Department of State, and corporate companies, including Comcast, NBC, Universal and Google. In 2017, Diego became the first entrepreneur with a disability from the U.S. delegation to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit.

Laura Niklason
Founder, President, and CEO, Humacyte

Durham, NC

Laura is Founder, President, and CEO of Humacyte, a Nasdaq-listed company working on the development and manufacturing of off-the-shelf, universally implantable, bioengineered human tissues. A physician scientist in regenerative medicine, Laura is also a member of the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine, and serves on the advisory board of Trestle Biotherapeutics. Laura has held several positions at universities and is currently Adjunct Professor of Anesthesiology & Biomedical Engineering at Yale University.

Davyeon Ross, Assistant Secretary
Co-Founder and President, DDSports/ShotTracker

Overland Park, KS

Davyeon is Co-Founder and President of DDSports/ShotTracker, a sensors-based tech company that provides in-depth analytics to help improve athletes’ performance. He has led ShotTracker in raising multiple rounds of financing. Previously, Davyeon founded and later sold Digital Sports Ventures. He is an active angel investor, board member and advisor in the Kansas startup community, and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.

Jasmin Sethi, Secretary
Founder and CEO, Sethi Clarity Advisers

Philadelphia, PA

Jasmin is Founder and CEO of Sethi Clarity Advisers, a boutique consulting firm that advises clients, from large companies to early-stage startups, on business and legal challenges stemming from financial regulation. Actively engaged in the startup community, Jasmin also serves as a business mentor at the Founder Institute. Previously, Jasmin was Founder and CEO of BuildUp Capital, Vice President of Legal and Compliance at BlackRock, and Special Counsel in the Division of Trading and Markets at the SEC.

Aren Sharifi
Attorney, Kutak Rock LLP

Denver, CO

Aren is an attorney at Kutak Rock, a national law firm that represents business and governmental clients across several service offerings.  Aren advises clients of all sizes, from small businesses to large companies, on corporate law matters.  His practice focuses on M&A, corporate governance, and commercial real estate. 

Marc Oorloff Sharma*
Assistant Director and Chief Counsel of the Office of the Investor Advocate, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission

Washington, DC

Marc is Assistant Director and Chief Counsel of the SEC’s Office of the Investor Advocate and leads that Office’s Legal and Policy team. Prior to joining the Office of the Investor Advocate, Marc served in several other SEC roles, including in the Division of Investment Management and the Office of the General Counsel. Before joining the SEC, Marc worked in private law practice where he counseled small businesses on corporate and transactional matters.

Dennis R. Sugino
Founder, Kansa Advisory LLC

Huntington Beach, CA

Dennis is Founder of Kansa Advisory LLC, an independent consulting firm providing fiduciary oversight for clients with Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) relationships. Dennis’s experience includes as Executive Committee member and Partner of Aristotle Capital Management, and President and Co-Founder of Cliffwater LLC, an institutional alternatives investment advisory firm. He serves as trustee on the Aristotle Capital Mutual Fund Board of Directors.

Sue Washer, Vice Chair
Founder and Former CEO, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation

Gainesville, FL

Sue was founding CEO of AGTC, a novel gene therapy platform to develop products designed to transform the lives of patients with severe orphan genetic diseases. Prior to AGTC’s recent acquisition, Sue built the company from a small academic spin-out to a leader in the field. She led the company through raising venture capital funding and an IPO on NASDAQ. In addition, Sue brings experience working with multiple startups and entrepreneurial firms, as well as with Abbott Labs and Eli Lilly & Company.