I have founded, invested in, or mentored thousands of enterprises from startups to global corporations in my almost 30 years in venture capital, global private equity, and institutional asset management. I have directed billions of dollars of capital, launched one of China’s most successful asset management JVs, founded a global private equity firm, and built innovation centers for cities and states. I have spent decades deeply immersed in the Impact space (since long before it was called that!) on both the founding and funding sides of the table and have lead on the forefront of the integration of faith, theology, philosophy, and investing.

I am an operator and a strategist with particular expertise in scalable go-to-market and funding cycle strategy. As the head of Pixel Recess and Managing Partner of RenewVC, I serve as a CEO and Board Whisperer, helping leadership assimilate disparate data to define options and identify optimal solutions.

My father was a theater professor (everyone in my family is or has been a professor), and I grew up on and around the stage. I started college as a Chemistry and Classical Guitar major and graduated with a Finance and Environmental Science degree (along with all of my Wall Street licenses). Art and science, math and beauty, service and commerce - for me, all are inextricably intertwined.

I have worked in nearly every type of design role, from freelance and research to management, leadership, and cofounder. I have built brands, apps, systems, teams, products, and companies. Over the past quarter of a century, my career has traversed from working as an independent freelancer and within small studios, to heading up Design at one of the largest corporations in the world. Along the way, I cofounded one of Cincinnati’s earliest startups, ChoreMonster, which was accepted into the first class of Disney’s Techstars Accelerator. I then served as Director of User Experience at Ohio’s largest startup, Everything But The House before joining Procter & Gamble as Head of Design.

I have been in the field for 25 years. I've worked with and in small local businesses, large startups, and huge corporations. Been in accelerators and incubators and hack-a-thons. Bootstrapped and funded. Folded and fired. I've seen the roadblocks and pitfalls and warning signs that accompany all decision and indecision. I help our portfolio companies design, build, and scale products that delight customers.

I have never let my inexperience get in the way of a learning opportunity and chance to try something new. Whether diving into photography that landed me in magazines, books, websites, and the NFL, cofounding a kids startup, or collaborating with Disney in making cartoon shorts, saying yes to crazy ideas is the best way to discover and grow.

With a nearly 20-year career across tech, nonprofits and the private sector, I've been a founder, marketing leader, agency partner, accelerator participant, startup adviser and more. The past decade I've worked exclusively with early-stage startups — nearly all of them founded by historically excluded founders. At the heart of it all? Building beloved brands, creating community as an advantage and working to unlock scalable, non-extractive business models.

Talk community, brands and marketing to me! Bringing people together authentically is my superpower, rooted in great empathy, humility and curiosity. Because I've worked across the spectrum of the business lifecycle, from creating brands and communities from scratch to growth and scaling, I bring a unique perspective and deep experience in strategy and execution to every relationship.

I don’t fit into boxes — and that's a great thing. I'm fueled by disrupting the status bro — challenging why are things how they are and asking what how we might do things differently to drive better businesses and a better world. Outside of work, I'm a visual artist, parent, writer and voracious reader. My dream job is to be a Jungle Cruise skipper, a role I truly wouldn't take for granite.