Andrew Hamilton

Partner – Morgan Lewis

Http://www.morganlewis.com/

Andrew Hamilton is a partner in Morgan Lewis\’s Business and Finance Practice. Mr. Hamilton practices in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, securities law, and general corporate counseling. Mr. Hamilton has represented both public and private companies in a wide array of industries, including telecommunications, distribution, manufacturing, healthcare services, computer software, information technology, business services, publishing, and transportation. Mr. Hamilton\’s transactional work is focused on mergers and acquisitions and private equity and venture capital transactions, although he regularly advises clients in all aspects of their growth cycle, from business plan development and startup structuring to exit strategies, including initial public offerings and change in control transactions.

In addition to transactional matters, Mr. Hamilton frequently functions as outside general counsel on behalf of clients with a large part of his practice being devoted to general corporate counseling, including corporate governance matters, board of director and fiduciary duty issues, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and related issues. In addition, Mr.Hamilton spends a significant amount of time working closely with colleagues in other substantive practice areas, such as employee benefits and executive compensation, labor and employment law or intellectual property law, to ensure the delivery of expert legal advice that is carefully coordinated with a client\’s business objectives.

Many of Mr. Hamilton\’s clients are private equity or venture backed companies and rely on him both for his experience in handling transactional matters and for continuing guidance on general corporate matters.

Mr. Hamilton received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1993. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Hamilton worked for a startup healthcare company located in Exton, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1988. Mr. Hamilton is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania.

Beth Cohen, JD, MBA 

Advisory Board member - Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures

Beth Cohen - Cohen pioneered the practice of providing holistic services and counsel to law firm clients, and joined the firm after five years as the Director of Global Emerging Growth Services at Greenberg Traurig LLP. Cohen, along with RCCB’s David Gitlin, were recently recognized as leading startup attorneys in the Philadelphia region by Technical.ly Philly. Cohen has served as Vice President of Strategic Business Development, General Counsel and International Counsel in large and small companies, in the US and abroad, and has led many domestic and international technology conferences. Her work with companies and investors from around the world will enhance RCCB’s international capabilities. Cohen will also work with clients and practice groups in many areas including transactions, restructuring, dispute resolution, and tax and estate planning.

Cohen earned her MBA from The Wharton School, where she received the Wharton Distinguished Alumna Award. She earned her JD from Rutgers Law School, where she was Associate Editor of the Rutgers Law Review, and her BA, Magna Cum Laude from Brandeis University. Cohen will practice out of the firm’s Philadelphia office and is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Israel. In addition to her professional career, Cohen is a leader in the local community. She is a board member and past president of the Philadelphia Israel Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Forum of Executive Women. In the past, Cohen has held board seats with Citizen Diplomacy International and The Enterprise Center.

Ben Goldberg, MBA

Managing Director – BSG Advisors

Www.bsg-advisors.com

Ben is the founder of BSG Advisors, a consulting firm with a practice focused on providing financial and operating management expertise to emerging growth and middle market companies, particularly in the technology, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing industries. He serves these clients as an interim or part-time CFO and/or COO, or on a project or transaction, such as an acquisition or divestiture, due diligence, profitability analysis and improvement, cash flow management, turnaround and crisis management, financing, or systems selection and implementation. He also performs due diligence for early stage investors and assists them in transactions.

Prior to founding BSG Advisors, Ben served as CFO of a $20 million manufacturer of packaging materials and a $25 million manufacturer of bar code scanning equipment. As CFO of the bar code scanning manufacturer, he served as a key member of a team that prepared the registration statement and prospectus for the company\’s initial public offering effort. His experience includes both high growth situations and successful turnarounds. Earlier in his career, he worked for several Fortune 100 companies in positions in Engineering, Operations, and Financial Management. He also taught in the Graduate Business School at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Ben received his Bachelor\’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Delaware. He is active in a number of civic and charitable organizations and is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Senior Executives Group, Regional Biotech Council, MidAtlantic Angel Group, and Financial Executive Networking Group.

Bernard C. Rudnick, MBA

Founder and Managing Partner – CapGenic Advisors, LLC

Http://www.capgenic.com/

Bernard C. Rudnick is Founder and Managing Partner of CapGenic Advisors, LLC. He has 36 years of experience in executive-level strategy, finance, and management. Bernie has senior merger, acquisition, capitalization leadership experience with companies ranging from start-up to Fortune 50. He has held positions of CEO, COO, President, and Executive Vice President in a number of companies, and has been transactional as a financial advisor to McKesson, Mitsui and many more. He was a founder and President of West Consumer Electronics, a business with revenues exceeding $60M that achieved market leadership. As founder and COO of RMI Financial Services, the business grew from start-up to a firm with $600M in sales.

With substantial experience investing and guiding investments in entrepreneurial companies Bernie has led capital formation totaling over $380M in the past six years and $3B over the last 15 years. He is a founding member and Chairman Emeritus of Mid Atlantic Diamond Ventures within the Fox School of Business. Corporate and charitable board service includes Vice Chairman, Delaware and Maryland Eastern Shore March of Dimes, Director, Perinatal Board of the State of Delaware, Director and CFO of GTAC, Director of GrantAdler, Observer and CFO of Immunomic Therapeutics, Director and CFO of Tinnitus Otosound Products.

Mr. Rudnick recently completed a refinancing for Promosome, a cell line engineering company, led by the scientific tem of Nobel Laureate Gerald Edelman. He has served as an advisor to NGN Capital in designing and facilitating investment portfolio exits. Focused on Healthcare and Software, Mr. Rudnick led the merger of Postgraduate Institute for Medicine into Jobson Publishing, Inc. to create one of the first on-line venues for professional medical continuing education and certification. He co-led of the HealthStar Communications team which facilitated and funded a $250M industry consolidation in the medical marketing sector. He led the sale and recapitalization of a Mitsui subsidiary, Mitrix and the merger of its new incarnation, Amitive. Bernie currently advises companies in the clinical software space, therapeutic, medical device, and in the cell line engineering areas.

Bernie received his BS in Biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University and was conferred a MA in administration at Northwood University.

Christina Pellicane

Assistant Director of Innovation, Lead Instructor - Northeast I-Corps Hub

https://icorpsnortheasthub.org/

Christina Pellicane is Assistant Director of Innovation and the Lead Instructor of the Northeast I-Corps Hub at Princeton University. She is also COO & co-founder at Lignolix, a chemical tech startup, and an independent consultant specializing in entrepreneurship education. She is a nationally certified NSF I-CorpsTM Instructor and Lean Launchpad teacher and coach at schools and incubators around the world.

Previously, Ms. Pellicane served as the first-ever Director of Commercialization for the University of Delaware (UD) Horn Entrepreneurship Center with board members such as Pat Riley, CEO of the Global Accelerator Network and GAN Ventures, Tanya Bakalov, CEO of SevOne and Kris Vaddi, CEO of Prelude (NASDAQ:PRLD). In this role, she developed and/or managed several initiatives including a $2M Proof of Concept fund, the Horn Venture Mentoring Service and the UD I-Corps Site.

Prior to UD, she served as the first Executive Manager of the NYC Regional I-Corps Node, funded by NSF for nearly $4M, led by CUNY in partnership with NYU and Columbia. She also served as CUNY’s manager of the PowerBridgeNY cleantech accelerator, funded by NYSERDA for $10M, with top-tier NYC institutions such as Columbia University, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cornell Tech.

Before helping scientists become entrepreneurs, she was one herself. Ms. Pellicane held positions as a Clinical Business Administrator and Study Monitor at a veterinary clinical research organization, AlcheraBio, and a Research Associate at a biotech startup, Venenum Biodesign.

Christina has also been an independent consultant through her company, Antevasin, with projects including the U.S. Department of State’s Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST) with VentureWell and The New York Academy of Sciences’ NYSERDA Proof of Concept Center Metrics and Evaluation Project.

Ms. Pellicane is a patented inventor and holds a B.S. in Biology and Animal Science from the University of Georgia and a Master of Business and Science with a concentration in Biotechnology and Genomics from Rutgers University.

Ellen Weber

Executive Director – MADV

Ellen is passionate about innovation and about helping build great companies in Philadelphia. She has served as the Executive Director of Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures since 2016. She is also the Executive Director of Robin Hood Ventures, a leading angel group helping to fuel startup growth in the Philadelphia region.

Previously, Ellen was the COO and co-founder of VisionMine, which provides a specialized Open Innovation portal to large corporations.

Ellen has more than 25 years of experience creating strong teams and building strong leaders for emerging companies as well as Fortune 500 clients. She has been a Managing Director and Founder of Antiphony Partners, LLC, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in helping companies create sustainable value through innovation. She was involved in the growth of Investor Force, a provider of technology-based solutions for institutional investment professionals, where she created the company’s initial human resources department, facilitated strategic planning, and managed the organizational aspects of the company’s mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, she spent twelve years at Shared Medical Systems where she was responsible for initiatives encompassing organizational development, customer support and corporate communications. She was also a senior consultant for Andersen Consulting.

Ellen graduated from The Wharton School with a B.S. in economics.

Glen Gaddy, PhD

Chair – Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures

Glen Gaddy has experience in technology, advanced materials, real estate, consumer product development and venture funding. He has been an active angel investor since 2003, funding technology, real estate, day care and business services ventures. His prior experience includes heading a research and development laboratory for a leading building materials company, leading real estate services for the world’s largest consulting engineering firm, and running a closely held real estate investment company. He has published in professional journals and has served as the Principal Investigator on over $8M of government research programs. He is an active reviewer of applied research grant applications in both the United States and abroad, an active speaker on startups and early stage funding, and the reviewer of numerous business plans each year. He holds a Ph.D., M.S.E and B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.

Harvey Hoffman

Founder and Managing Principal – HZH Strategy LLC

Harvey has started and been a principal of several companies in the Philadelphia region over the past 35+ years. The industry segments have been diverse including manufacturing, distribution, direct marketing, product development, technology and strategic consulting. The same is true of his roles and responsibilities which include Managing Principal, CEO, CFO, VP-Finance and General Manager. His early career was in accounting and finance, leading to a role as controller and later general manager of a local firm, before leaving to found his first company a few years out of college. He considers himself a true “business generalist” and has had success in many settings.

After exiting his last company, he is currently involved as a mentor, advisor and investor to start-up and early stage companies, and contributes his time to several organizations and programs including Temple IEI, UArts/Corzo Center, NextFab, Villanova and Ben Franklin Technology Partners.

He is a proud Temple alumnus, graduating with a B.S. degree in Accounting and Finance.

Heather Steinman

Senior Vice President, Business Development Executive Director, Technology Transfer

Heather Steinman, Ph.D., MBA, is Senior Vice President, Business Development and Executive Director of Technology Transfer at The Wistar Institute, the nation’s first independent research institution devoted solely to biomedical science and a world leader in cancer, immunology, virology and infectious disease research.

Dr. Steinman joined Wistar in 2014. Since then, the Business Development team has been working to advance Wistar science and technology development through creative partnerships to turn innovative discoveries into transformative treatments. Dr. Steinman’s proactive approach involves removing risk from early stage science by forging new strategic partnerships with industry experts, non-profits and local academic research institutions, and accelerating commercialization opportunities for Wistar’s growing pipeline of biomedical discoveries including small and large molecule therapeutics, diagnostics, vaccines and target discovery/validation platforms in the oncology, immunology and infectious disease space.

Dr. Steinman brings more than 25 years' experience in technology transfer and commercialization of early stage-life science discoveries. She previously served as Director of the Penn Center for Innovation, Perelman School of Medicine Office at the University of Pennsylvania. There, she played an essential role in supporting Penn’s UPstart program. Before that, Dr. Steinman spent more than a decade in roles of increasing responsibility as a technology licensing professional in the Office of Technology Management at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Steinman holds a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and an MBA from the university’s Isenberg School of Management. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Baldwin-Wallace College with dual degrees in biology and psychology in the honors program.

Heather is a member of Robin Hood Ventures, the chair of the Life Sciences Sreening Team at Delaware Crossing Investor Group; Advisor on the Healthcare Investment ERC, Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Life Sciences Advisory Board, Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies, Board Member of BioStrategy Partners, WorldUpstart and Advisory Council Member of Dornsife School of Public Health.

John Sider

Director of Second Stage Capital – Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Philadelphia

Http://benfranklin.org/

John Sider is the Director of Second Stage Capital for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania. In this role, Sider is responsible for assisting the Center’s portfolio companies in attracting additional investment capital from sources such as angel investors, institutional venture capital, banks and government sources. In addition, he is responsible for identifying and obtaining additional funding resources to support the mission of the Center.

Sider was most recently a Senior Policy Advisor to Pennsylvania State Senator Vincent Hughes where he did fiscal analysis for the Senate Appropriations Committee and managed economic development projects in the Senator’s district. Previously, he was Managing Director of Statewide Initiatives for Pennsylvania’s four Ben Franklin Centers. In this capacity, he played a central role in the conception, development, and passage of Pennsylvania’s 2013 “Innovate in PA” legislation which will provide $100 million in tax credits to fund a continuum of capital formation activities in the state. From 2005-2010 Sider worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development where he managed more than $400 million of venture capital and angel investor initiatives and was ultimately appointed Deputy Secretary for Technology Investment by Governor Rendell in 2009.

Before his work with DCED, Sider was Lending Group Leader for Community First Fund, a Lancaster-based Community Development Financial Institution. In this role, he chaired the Fund’s loan committee, arranged financing for more than 200 startup and established companies, and conducted more than a dozen nationally certified entrepreneurial training classes. Sider began his career with Fulton Bank as a teller, then a management trainee and eventually managed two branches, having responsibility for all mortgage and small business lending in the city of Harrisburg, PA.

John Sider is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois and earned his MBA from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.

Sider lives in the City of Harrisburg with his wife and two children.

Jordan Warshafsky, MBA

Partner – Ashton Tweed

Http://ashtontweed.com/

Jordan Warshafsky has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device sectors of the Life Sciences industry. He has held corporate and division level leadership positions in business development, global marketing and strategic planning. In addition to being responsible for P&L goals for early stage and mature organizations, Jordan has extensive marketing/sales, market research, and licensing/acquisition experience. He has also completed strategic acquisitions for public and private companies.

Prior to joining as a Partner of Ashton Tweed, Jordan served as President and Director of TYRX, Inc., a biotechnology company specializing in polymer drug delivery.
Before that, he served as the Vice President, Strategic Development for Integra LifeSciences, a maker of medical and biotech devices.

Jordan has significant big pharma management experience and previously served as Associate Director, Worldwide Franchise Management at Bristol–Myers Squibb. In that position, Jordan was responsible for the worldwide management of hospital anti-infective products. He was also Senior Manager, Worldwide Product and Market Planning, Wound & Skin Care, ConvaTec (a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb) where he was responsible for the acquisition and in-licensing of wound care products and companies.

Jordan is an active participant and leader in a number of life science industry organizations such as BioNJ, PA Bio, Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures (MADV), Pharmaceutical Consulting Consortium International (PCCI), Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), AdvaMed, American Israeli Chamber of Commerce (AICC), Greater Philadelphia Senior Executives Group (GPSEG), BioStrategy Partners, and others.

Jordan holds an MBA and a BS in Earth Science.

Kate Hermans

Founder & CEO - Hermans International, LLC

Kate Hermans is an innovative global leader and versatile Pharma professional with a passion for building solutions for stakeholders on the front lines of healthcare.  She is known for her entrepreneurial and incisive ability to transform businesses and lead agile teams to drive exceptional financial outcomes. Kate’s accomplishments span across Pharma, HealthTech and Data Services adding a unique ability to unlock commercial potential, through highly creative, often nonlinear approaches, delivering exceptional financial outcomes from startups to large enterprises. 

Currently she is the acting Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer for stealth biopharma companies.  Operating under her own LLC, she also serves as an investment advisor to a PE firm as well as a regional growth accelerator, providing independent validation for due diligence and go-to-market strategic plans. 

Previously Kate served as an investor and Chief Business Officer (Pharma), for 83bar Inc, a private digital health technology company focused on the patient UX for both commercial and clinical trial applications.  Prior to joining 83bar, Kate held various commercial and operations leadership roles at Radius Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer/Wyeth, and Intel, working in the U.S., China, Africa, and globally.  She has built, managed, and driven value creation across a diverse suite of businesses ($10M-$4B). 

She is an Advisor to digital health and women-owned start-ups, sits on the Advisory Board of the Women’s Resource Center, and is an active speaker across multiple industry forums.

Kate received her Master’s degree in Finance and International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, as well as a BA in International Relations from Wheaton College, MA.  

Katherine O’Neill

Executive Director – JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network

Http://www.jumpstartnj.com/

Katherine O’Neill is the Executive Director for JumpStart New Jersey Angel Network, a member led angel investor group that invests in early stage companies in Mid-Atlantic region. She is an investor in early stage growth companies. She has served on the Board of the Angel Capital Association. Katherine represents the ACA at both national and international events.

Katherine is a member of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of SEPA Advisory Board, AWE Ventures investment fund for women led businesses, NJ Economic Development Authority Edison Fund Advisory Board, NJ Technology CFO Advisory Board, MidAtlantic Diamond Ventures, Princeton University MIRTHE Investment Focus Group, Rowan University Venture Fund Advisory Board and Rutgers Innovation Park Advisory Board.. She is a mentor at regional accelerators Princeton University E-Labs and TechLaunch. In 2015, she was honored as one of NJBIZ’s 50 Best Women in NJ Business and Philadelphia Business Journal Woman of Distinction and the NJ Tech Council Financier of the Year Award.

Katherine is a seasoned financial executive and investor in early stage enterprises with extensive experience in start up and entrepreneurial operations as well as operational experiences in a diverse range of businesses. .She has extensive multi-national experience and financial operation management and expertise in healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals, information systems, e-commerce and social media. She is the president of O’Neill Associates and consults with growth companies.

In addition to her entrepreneurial activities, she was a senior executive in corporate finance in both a Fortune 100 pharmaceutical company the now GlaxoSmithKline and Fortune 500 chemical company FMC. Katherine has served on many non-profit boards focusing on education and women in business. Katherine is also currently active with the Forum of Executive Women, AWE Association of Women Entrepreneurs and the New Jersey Technology Council. She has a BA in Economics from the University of Maryland and a MA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kevin McMonagle

Director, Finance & Accounting Outsourcing at RSM US LLP

After obtaining his Bachelor of Arts in Accounting at Saint Joseph’s University, Kevin began his career in audit
working for a Big Four firm where he had exposure to several industries including Manufacturing, Non-Profit,
Healthcare, and Retail. Kevin has over 14 years of accounting leadership experience from various industries

Including, Life Science, Non Profit, and Technology companies. At RSM Kevin has played the Controller role for pre-
revenue and commercialized life science and technology companies. He has lead companies through all their

Commercialization efforts, inclusive of implementations of ERP, Bill pay and T&E systems. In addition, he has lead
the implementation of Record to Report, Procure to Pay and Order to Cash policies and procedures. Kevin has also
worked for subsidiaries of two public Fortune 500 companies as Controller and Accounting Supervisor. In these
roles he has managed teams of over 10 and helped lead the companies through several acquisitions, an ERP
implementation, and process improvement initiatives.

LeRoy E. Jones

Founder CEO – EREflow (“airflow”)

https://www.ereflow.com/

LeRoy Jones (Lee) is the CEO of EREflow, a management consulting firm which drives clients toward aggressive growth through unique programs tailored to a business’ stage of life. EREflow is a cross-industry consultancy, with particular emphasis on technology-product management, financial management and sales strategies. In addition to coaching and targeted consulting, EREflow experts serve as fractional C-Suite executives (CFO, CTO, CRO, CEO) within its client organizations.

Prior to founding EREflow, Lee founded and operated GSI Health, a software-as-a-service platform servicing the healthcare industry in population-health management, interoperability and digital health. As CEO, he drove innovation in healthcare IT to create a world in which data-driven technology optimizes care delivery, and ultimately makes patients healthier. Lee has helped develop national archetype architectures and operational models for healthcare information exchange, and has contributed to many federal programs and industry initiatives that establish standards and shape the future of healthcare IT. Under his leadership, GSI Health has pioneered working models for effective collaboration in community-based care delivery and become an industry leader in population health management solutions. These industry achievements were mirrored by business achievements such as being listed as one of America’s fastest growing companies on the INC 5000 list for three consecutive years.

In October 2019, after leading GSI Health for 16 years, Lee sold his company to Medecision, a leading solution provider in care-management and related technologies, providing a successful exit and return for all founders and investors.

Lee holds an M.S. in Engineering in the Management of Technology jointly from The Wharton School and the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Lee serves on several Boards and has also received numerous accolades from the business community including: Technology Circle of Excellence Winner (SmartCEO), Healthcare Innovator of the year (MARCUM), CEO of the Year (Acquisition International) and Small-Business Person of the Year (Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce).

Morgan Churchman

Vice President & CFO – Avgant Solutions

W. Morgan Churchman is a graduate of Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. After serving in the Army during the Vietnam War, he worked for the First National Bank of Atlanta and later owned and operated a construction company, Architectural South, Inc., in Atlanta, In 1976 he moved to Philadelphia and started his own company, Ad-Vant Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of HVAC energy efficiency products. In 1982 when the energy crisis balloon burst, he took the opportunity to buy one of his customers, Central Atlantic Distributors, Inc., a multi-branch HVAC distributor in the Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey Area, which he ran as CEO until sold in 2001. In addition to his investment activities at various times with Private Investors’ Forum, Minority Angel Investment Network and Investors’ Circle he currently serves on the Trustee Boards of Roanoke College, Kieve-Wavus Education, Inc. and the C.A.B. Foundation. He is married with four children and currently lives in Malvern, PA.

Marie Mazur, PharmD

Chairman & Board Member of PharmaJet® | Strategic Advisory Board of PIVI

Marie Mazur is a visionary biotech executive grounded in innovation and new business development. She loves finding opportunities that could disrupt the status quo in innovation. She is persistent in pursuing good ideas, passionate in engaging with teams in research and development as well as with teams focusing on policy shaping and go-to-market strategies. Marie is known for her ability to build partnerships, to drive products to market, and to nurture a creative mindset while leading cross-functional teams around the world.

Marie Mazur serves on the Board of PharmaJet® (which she Chaired in 2023-2024) and on the Strategic Advisory Board of PIVI (the Partnership for International Vaccine Initiatives, a leading program from the Task Force for Global Health). She is experienced in Corporate Strategy/Investment prioritization, Business Development and Partnership building. With over 5 years of Board experience, she has been involved in Governance, Compensation, Audit, and Talent management.

Marie was previously Vice President of the Pandemic Response Solutions global business unit at CSL Seqirus, where she had, until early 2020, full P&L responsibility for over $220 million in annual revenue. In a prior role as President of the bioCSL Inc., Marie led the commercial due diligence efforts that resulted in the Novartis influenza business acquisition (2015) as well as the integration of the commercial teams in a single team, bringing to bear her ability to lead under significant changes. CSL Seqirus is now one of the world’s largest influenza vaccine providers (>$2 billion revenue, FY24) in a highly competitive market.

In addition to her role at CSL Seqirus, Marie was Co-Chair of BDPAC (Bio-Defense Policy Advisory Committee) at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BDPAC is comprised of CEOs and senior leaders of biotechnology companies invested in the development and manufacture of medical countermeasures.

Prior to joining CSL, Marie held successive global commercial leadership positions at Sanofi Pasteur, 3M Pharmaceuticals, and GSK, in Europe and in the United States.

Marie received her Doctorate in Pharmacy and a Master of Science, Regulatory Affairs, from

Paris University (France). She is a graduate from INSEAD Business School.  She is a member of several professional organizations such as NACD, PDA, and the New York Academy of Sciences.

Marie holds dual citizenship (France and United States) and is fluent in French and English

Mark Mitchell

Screening Committee Chair – Delaware Crossing Investor Group

Mark is an active investor with the Delaware Crossing Investor Group (DCIG), a regionally focused angel investor group in Bucks County, and Chairs their Screening Committee. He mentors local start-up and early-stage companies, and has had the pleasure of speaking at several entrepreneurial class discussions. Prior to DCIG, he spent 21 years with Tyco International as an Operating CFO, responsible for various global manufacturing and service/installation operations, primarily in the Fire Protection & Electronic Security industries. He has extensive Financial, Strategic, Analytical, Compliance and M&A experience with domestic and global operations.
Mark was born and raised in Australia, and graduated from the University of New South Wales in Sydney with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Law. He later earned an MBA in International Finance from INSEAD in France. He has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years, and now resides in Bucks County, PA with his wife (also Australian) and 2 teenage sons. When not helping start-ups, you’ll likely find Mark in his woodworking shop building furniture.

Mike Rinkunas

Board Member - Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures

Mike currently serves as the Director of Business Acceleration & Client Development with responsibilities for the suite of services and resources enabling science driven entrepreneurs to advance their businesses faster. Prior to joining the Delaware Innovation Space, Mike coached early stage startups on growth, commercialization, and fundraising strategies both in his role at Dreamit Ventures and as an independent advisor. Mike is a lifelong entrepreneur and has founded and led several boutique digital media & marketing companies. He holds both a Masters and Bachelor degree in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University. When not accelerating businesses, Mike can at times also be found in the cab of a steam locomotive while volunteering as a railroad locomotive engineer and conductor at the Steamtown National Historic Site.

Nick Valeriano

IT Consultant

IT Consultant with many years of software implementation experience. 2012 Temple MIS Program Grad. Investor in, knowledgeable and interested in business in many areas: Tech based marketplaces, Bitcoin/Cryptocurrency, Consumer Products, SaaS businesses, Marketing (Social Media), Vegan food based opportunities and businesses with Sustainability as a focus.

Sean McConnell

“Senior Counsel – Troutman Pepper
www.troutman.com”

Sean P. McConnell is a senior counsel in the Philadelphia office of Troutman Pepper LLP and is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Practice Group. He also is a member of the firm’s Emerging Company, Cannabis, and Technology Groups.

Mr. McConnell’s practice concentrates on the development, management, monetization, and protection of all types of intellectual property assets, with a particular focus on trademarks, brand development, brand protection, marketing, and advertising. He assists clients in developing and procuring comprehensive IP portfolios (both domestically and abroad) and leveraging practical returns on those assets through sales, acquisitions, and licensing. He also helps clients protect their IP from and against infringement through litigation in the courts and before US and foreign IP administrative agencies.

Mr. McConnell has experience working with early stage technology companies and entrepreneurs to help develop, enhance, and protect their innovations. Mr. McConnell is active in both the entrepreneur community and the investment community, and regularly connects those in need of funding with appropriate sources of funding. His extensive experience cuts across a wide spectrum of industries including alcohol, clothing and fashion, commercial retail, restaurants and convenience stores, technology/software products and services, consumer electronics, energy, financial and insurance services, agriculture and food manufacturing, health and beauty products, industrial and building products, pharmaceuticals, the recording industry, and tobacco and cannabis/CBD products.

Sushma Rajagopalan

Sushma is a global leader who is extremely skilled in scaling companies and passionate about entrepreneurship & innovation. She is a Venture Partner with Rittenhouse Ventures in Philadelphia. Rittenhouse Ventures is an investor in emerging growth software companies focused in HealthTech, PharmaTech, FinTech, HRTech and general B2B SaaS.

Her framework for success rests on designing and executing strategies that result in rapid scale-up, building an innovation ecosystem, driving a high-performance culture, staying ahead of technology trends and globalization through effective partnerships. Her management style can be described as strategic, entrepreneurial, and inclusive. She leads with 4Cs – Clarity of thought, Courage of Conviction, Charisma to carry the team and True to Character always!

Till early 2019, Sushma was the CEO of ITC infotech, a global technology solutions company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of a $10B+ leading consumer product goods company ITC in India. She grew ITC Infotech to ~$300M prior to returning home to Devon, Pennsylvania. Sushma has more than 25 years of experience as a Chief Strategy Officer, and CEO/President of technology companies in the US and India including LiquidHub (Wayne, PA), Larsen & Toubro (Edison & Mumbai) Igate ( Pittsburgh), Citibank (Mumbai, India) and CMC (Mumbai, now a TCS company).

Sushma has an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, specializing in entrepreneurship & strategy, in addition to a Master’s degree in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.
She was the Chair of IT Services at the National Association of Software Services Companies (Nasscom – The industry body for technology & product companies in India). She was a co-founder of Minority Angel Investor Network, an initiative sponsored by Ben Franklin & Kauffman Foundation, in the early 2000s to boost entrepreneurship in the region. She also serves on the boards of several start-ups, actively mentors companies in the US & India and is on the board of Jenkins Arboretum & Gardens in Devon, Pennsylvania.

Todd Abrams

Senior Director – New Ventures and Business Development at Temple University

Dr. Abrams is presently the Senior Director, New Ventures and Business Development in Temple University’s Office of the Vice President for Research Administration.

His principal responsibilities are to create new industry collaborations to help place new technologies on the critical path for commercial development as well as to shape teams to establish new ventures to implement a commercial plan. Prior to joining Temple, Todd was Manager of JT ABRAMS CONSULTING where he supported institutions in our region to develop new models and programs to support emerging technologies, as well as advise early stage technologies on how to access those resources. Prior to consulting, Dr. Abrams served as Director, Philanthropy and Business Development at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research (LIMR) in Wynnewood PA, a position in which he expanded his interest in advancing early stage technologies.

Among other responsibilities, he oversaw LIMR’s technology development initiative, including its biotechnology incubator, technology transfer office, and philanthropy efforts. Before joining LIMR, Dr. Abrams was Executive Director, New Product Development at Meniscus Limited, a medical education and publishing company. He received a BA in biology from Lafayette College in Easton, PA, and a Ph.D. in immunology from the University of Pennsylvania. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Abrams spent over a decade performing cancer research, with positions at The Wistar Institute, The University of Miami School of Medicine, and Allegheny University of the Health Sciences now Drexel’s School of Medicine. Dr. Abrams also served as President, Foundation for Research Into Diseases of Aging (FRIDA) and Chaired the All Partners Committee of BioLaunch 611 + Keystone Innovation Zone. He previously served on the Board of Directors of BioStrategy Partners. Dr. Abrams is President of Intracell, LLC, which holds patents for the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, and serves as a Board Member for the Philadelphia Israel Chamber of Commerce.

Thomas Penn

Partner – MVP Capital Partners

Http://www.mvpcap.com/

Mr. Penn joined MVP in 2000 from Boston Millennia Partners, a private equity firm where he was a Partner. He has served on numerous MVP company boards including Andrews International, Coffin Turbo Pump, and Implex.

From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Penn was President and CEO of Tektagen, Inc., a leading contract services firm serving the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. Tektagen was successfully sold to Charles River Laboratories, Inc. in 1998. Prior to Tektagen, Mr. Penn was President of Independence Ventures, Inc., a firm that specialized in starting and building high-potential, technology-based companies. Earlier in his career he held several positions in industry and venture capital.

Mr. Penn is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Veronica Fey

Operations and Analysis - SoundBoard Venture Fund 

www.soundboardventurefund.com 

Veronica joined SoundBoard Venture Fund in Summer 2021 to facilitate fund operations and provide analysis through due diligence.  Veronica is a proud non-traditionalist with a broad role at SBVF to match as she assists with all aspects of SBVF.   Veronica brings with her a decade of experience supporting the C-Suite as they've aspired to startup, realign and grow.  

Veronica began her career as a plaintiff's paralegal tasked with a high-volume collection litigation portfolio and navigated through elder, corporate, and real estate law.  Real estate led her to pursue a career in mortgage banking, working her way from originator to assistant branch manager.  In 2010, Veronica was presented with the opportunity to get in on the ground floor and grow another business.  Confidence in working autonomously or collaboratively and her ability to remain unwavering under pressure made her a commodity to the C-Suite, expanding her experience into the world of finance.   

To satiate her thirst for knowledge and attain a personal goal, Veronica is attending Capella University pursuing a BSIT with concentration in data analytics.

Wayne Weisman, JD

Partner – SCP Partners

Http://www.scppartners.com/

Wayne has been a partner of SCP Partners since its inception and has been involved with private equity and venture capital investing since 1987. SCP is one of the largest venture capital operations in Pennsylvania, with over $1 billion under management in several funds. Wayne is co-founder and managing director of SCP Vitalife Partners, an Israel/U.S. venture fund focused on medical technology. He is also a member of the board of directors of CIP Capital L.P., an SBIC which he helped found in 1990.

Wayne is a director or chairman of several companies, including Grab Networks, Echo 360, Gigared, Deep Breeze, Trig Medical, Recro Pharma, Garnet Biotherapeutics, Endospan, and Argo Medical Technologies. He also serves on the investment committee of Vitalife Life Sciences Fund. From 1992 to 1994, Wayne served as executive vice president of Affinity Biotech, Inc., a drug delivery company, where he was responsible for strategic alliances, financial strategy, and mergers and acquisitions. He also oversaw its IPO and merger into the company that subsequently became IBAH, Inc., a leading contract research organization. From 1987 to 1990, Wayne operated a management and financial advisory firm. Wayne began his career at the Philadelphia law firm of Saul, Ewing, Remick & Saul.

Wayne received his B.A. cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He is on the boards of several organizations, including the Young Scholars Charter School where he is a member of the executive committee.