Committee Members

Stephen M. Graham — Co-Chair

Mr. Graham is co-chair of Fenwick & West’s Life Sciences Practice and is the Managing Partner of the firm’s Seattle office. His practice is focused on representing emerging and established companies in the areas of private and public mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, private placements, and corporate governance matters, including advising boards of directors and audit, compensation, and nominating/corporate governance committees, preparation and filing of periodic SEC reports and other securities law compliance matters.

Sara Hanks — Co-Chair

Ms. Hanks is co-founder and CEO of CrowdCheck, which provides due diligence, disclosure and compliance services for online capital formation. Before that, she was GC of the Congressional Oversight Panel, the overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Ms. Hanks was for many years a partner at Clifford Chance, advising on securities and corporate matters, and earlier in her career served in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance and led the team that drafted the regulations governing the capital-raising process by non-U.S. companies seeking to access the U.S. capital markets.

Robert Aguilar

Mr. Aguilar is the CFO and COO of Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC, an investment banking and institutional brokerage services firm. He is also a founding partner and member of the investment committee of Cabrera Capital Partners, an investment management and advisory services firm. Mr. Aguilar also serves on the Board of the Chicago Parks Foundation and as Treasurer for Chicago United, an organization promoting multiracial economic opportunity. Prior to joining Cabrera, Mr. Aguilar was responsible for domestic and international distribution facilities at Schwarz Supply Source.

Xavier Gutierrez

Mr. Gutierrez is President and Chief Investment Officer of Meruelo Investment Partners, which invests in small- and mid-sized public and private companies across industries. Mr. Gutierrez also serves as a member of the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee Chairman of Sizmek Inc. (NASDAQ: SZMK), as Audit Committee Chairman of the Board of National Bank of California (OTCBB: NCAL), and as a Board Director for privately-held Commercial Bank of California. He currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Brian Hahn

Mr. Hahn is the CFO of GlycoMimetics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLYC), a clinical stage biotechnology company that went public in January 2014. Mr. Hahn has over 18 years of senior financial and operations experience in emerging organizations. He began his career as an auditor for the Bank of Clarke County, and over the last 14 years has worked with life science companies from early stages through product launch. Mr. Hahn also serves on the Tech Council of Maryland and as a Steering Committee member of the D.C. Association for Bio Financial Officers.

Jenny Kassan

Ms. Kassan, owner of Jenny Kassan Consulting, is an entrepreneur and attorney who helps companies raise private capital. She is a frequent speaker on topics involving capital raising. Previously, Ms. Kassan worked 11 years at a nonprofit community development corporation in Oakland, CA, where she served as staff attorney and managed development projects including the formation and management of social ventures designed to employ and create business ownership opportunities for low-income residents. Ms. Kassan is a member of the Social Venture Network and the American Sustainable Business Council.

Catherine V. Mott

Ms. Mott is a founder and CEO of BlueTree Capital Group, BlueTree Allied Angels, and the BlueTree Venture Fund, based in western Pennsylvania. Ms. Mott is the past chairman of the Angel Capital Education Foundation, now the Angel Resource Institute, a charitable group that provides education and information on best practices in the field of angel investing. From July 2010 to July 2011, she served as Chairman of the Board of the Angel Capital Association, a trade association for angel networks and angel funds in the U.S.

Jonathan Nelson

Mr. Nelson is Founder and CEO of Hackers/Founders, a Silicon Valley, California founders’ co-operative providing early-stage technology companies with concierge services in exchange for equity. He also is Managing Director of the related investment vehicle, H/F Fairchild Fund. Mr. Nelson also serves as a Community Advisor at the Innovation Law Institute, a start-up think tank at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco.

Patrick Reardon

Mr. Reardon is the owner of The Reardon Firm in Fort Worth, Texas, where he regularly advises privately-held companies, investors, and management. His practice includes securities, finance, mergers and acquisitions, international, corporate governance, and contract negotiations, and his firm offers outsourced general counsel services to mid-sized companies that do not have in-house counsel. Prior to starting The Reardon Firm, he practiced as a corporate, securities, and mergers & acquisitions attorney in Dallas and Fort Worth law firms for 20 years, representing clients of all sizes.

Lisa Shimkat

Ms. Shimkat is State Director of America’s Small Business Development Center at Iowa State University. America’s SBDC Iowa network has 15 regional centers that provide professional business training, advice and consulting to Iowa entrepreneurs and existing businesses with 500 employees or fewer. Ms. Shimkat has practiced in both the public and private sectors, as well as taught at Buena Vista University with an emphasis on business and ethics related courses. She previously worked within the utility industry managing revolving loan and grant programs secured through USDA.

Annemarie Tierney

Ms. Tierney is the Vice President and Head of Strategy and New Markets at NASDAQ Private Market, which provides capital market support for private companies. Prior to her current job, she held positions at various market participants, including as Executive Vice President and General Counsel for SecondMarket Holdings, where she focused on the legal and regulatory issues surrounding private securities transactions. Ms. Tierney also served as Assistant General Counsel at NYSE Euronext, an attorney for Skadden Arps LLP, and in the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance.

J.W. Verret

Mr. Verret is an Associate Professor at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, with expertise in corporate and securities law. He is also a Senior Scholar at the Mercatus Center Working Group on Financial Markets, and is a consultant to the IEX Stock Exchange. Prior to joining the faculty at Scalia Law, he was an associate in the SEC Enforcement Defense Practice Group at Skadden, Arps in Washington, D.C.

Gregory C. Yadley

Mr. Yadley is a partner and chair of the corporate practice group in the Tampa, Florida, office of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick LLP. He represents entities of all sizes in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, public and private securities offerings, contract negotiations and disputes, and advises them on compliance, governance and disclosure matters. Mr. Yadley is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida College of Law and past chair of the American Bar Association Middle Market and Small Business Committee and The Florida Bar Business Law Section.

Laura Yamanaka

Ms. Yamanaka is President and Co-Founder of teamCFO, Inc., a financial and accounting firm offering onsite customized CFO/Controller and accounting services to small to medium-sized businesses and non-profits. Prior to starting teamCFO in 2000, Ms. Yamanaka served in various financial and operational capacities at public and private companies and also provided financial and strategic services to clients with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young. Ms. Yamanaka serves on the National Board of the National Association of Women Business Owners and on the National Women’s Business Council.

Non-Voting Members

Michael Pieciak — North American Securities Administrators Association

Mr. Pieciak is Deputy Commissioner of the Vermont Securities Division, the state agency charged with oversight of the securities industry in Vermont. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Pieciak practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, gaining experience in commercial transactions, corporate governance and investment and financing transactions. Mr. Pieciak was recommended to serve as the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) representative by Judith Shaw, the current NASAA President.

Joseph Shepard

Mr. Shepard is the Small Business Administration's Associate Administrator for the Office of Investment and Innovation. His office leads the SBA's programs for small business investment, innovation research, and technology transfer. Mr. Shepard's prior experience includes investment banking and private equity with Archway Capital Management and Banc One Capital Markets, where he was responsible for originating, evaluating, and processing direct mezzanine and equity investments, as well as providing merger, acquisition, advisory, and investment banking services.