Committee

Marco V. Ávila, P.E. is a seasoned Professional Engineer registered in the State of Maryland with over 37 years of dedicated experience in Civil Engineering, including 26 years at WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff. His expertise spans diverse sectors such as transit, highways, bridges, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), and telecommunications. Marco is recognized for his consistent success in delivering complex infrastructure projects efficiently and cost-effectively. Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, Marco excels in multicultural environments.

As Vice President, Civil Engineer, and Program Manager at WSP-USA, Marco has earned the trust of clients and colleagues alike. Beyond his engineering passion, Marco is actively involved in numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Council of Engineering Companies-Maryland (ACEC/MD), The Engineering Society of Baltimore (ESB), Engineers Without Borders, and the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC). He also serves on the Advisory Council for St. Jude-Baltimore, is a Board Member at Sail Baltimore, Maryland Governor’s Workforce Development Board, Maryland Auto Insurance Fund Board of Trustees, and holds the role of Association for Enterprise Growth (AEG)-Inner Circle Baltimore Director, among other significant positions

In addition to his engineering endeavors, Marco dedicates his free time to serving various organizations. Currently, he holds the roles of President/CEO and Chairman of the Board at the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC), a position he assumed in April 2019. Under his leadership, Marco has initiated significant growth at MDHCC, increasing membership from 89 to 1,100 during his first term. In his current second term, he aims to expand membership further to 5,000 by 2027, utilizing a strategy that combines organic growth with new Associate Members. Marco's vision for MDHCC includes the implementation of impactful new programs such as Mentoring, Education, Growth, Partnership, Promotion/Marketing, Procurement Advisory, International Business Marketing, and Networking. Additionally, he and his team have established the Maryland Hispanic Foundation Scholarship Program, managed through the newly formed Maryland Hispanic Foundation. This program offers scholarships to high school, college, graduate, and trade school students, as well as supports special charitable projects. Organizations are invited to collaborate with MDHCC to fund these scholarships.

Blank oversees Sinclair Ventures’ minority-owned investment portfolio, helping to shape the long-term investment strategy and drive growth across various asset classes, as well as sourcing majority-owned investments.

Prior to joining Sinclair Ventures, Blank served as Managing Director at Woodland Management and Partners Edge Fund in Pittsburgh, PA, where he spent the last 20 years leading private investments with a focus on middle market private equity transactions. Throughout his career, he has specialized in delivering comprehensive investment portfolio management solutions, including strategic asset allocation, investment oversight, and financial reporting. Blank’s expertise spans sourcing and conducting due diligence across private equity, private credit, venture capital, hedge funds, real estate, and public markets.

Jonathan is a life sciences entrepreneur and inventor and is the founding CEO of 20/20 Biolabs, a Maryland based diagnostics company that develops and commercializes tests to prevent and detect cancers and chronic diseases. This month 20/20, which has seen over 10 consecutive quarters of sales growth, announced its plans to merge with Longevity Health Holdings, a NASDAQ company seeking to growth its healthy aging business through a combination of organic growth and M&A.

McKeever “Mac” Conwell II is a software engineer by trade and was a former DOD contractor with a top-secret clearance. He was a two-time founder with an exit. Next Mac moved on to venture capital via the Maryland Technology Development Corporation as part of their Seed Investment Team. Mac went on to found RareBreed Ventures in 2020.

Luke Cooper is Partner at San Francisco-based Preface Ventures, and Founder and CEO of Latimer Ventures.Luke sold his previous venture, Fixt, to Assurant. He raised over $6MM in Series A funding, and delivered an Enterprise SaaS product used by millions of end users. Luke served as VP, Global Growth, Alternative Service Delivery at Assurant following the transition. Luke advises dozens of high growth companies, and is a trusted advisor to investors, business leaders, start-up founders, academia, and government leaders. Luke currently serves as the President's Distinguished Scholar at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. He has previously been a member of the Maryland TEDCO Board of Directors, and was the Entrepreneur in Residence at Georgetown University.

Billy Duffy joined Acacia Partners as a Principal in 2021. Prior to joining Acacia, Billy was a Director with KPMG Corporate Finance LLC and a Vice President with M&T Investment Banking Group, where he advised clients on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising transactions. Billy has diverse industry experience including business services, niche manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and healthcare services. Prior to investment banking, Billy worked in the audit practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Billy graduated with high honors from Bucknell University with a BSBA in Accounting.

Joe serves as Market President of Fulton Bank in DelMarVa. He joined the bank in 2014. He is a native Baltimorean with 40 years of financial services experience in the market. Joe attended Calvert Hall College High School before graduating from Towson University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and Economics. Continuing education includes the Columbia University Graduate School of Business / Executive Education Program and completion of Leadership programs in Anne Arundel and Harford Counties, MD. Joe is very engaged in the Baltimore Metro community, currently serving in the following roles: Chairman / Board of Directors, Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake, Inc. (also a member of their Executive & Human Resource Committees); Board of Directors, Greater Baltimore Committee; Board of Directors, Maryland Business Round Table for Education; Y Community Engagement Committee, The Y of Central Maryland.

Doug Falk, MS, co-founded and joined Vita Therapeutics, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer in 2019. Prior, he spent six years in the investment world with a particular focus in biotechnology at Brown Advisory, where he was a principal, Merrill Lynch, and Lazard. He was also involved in the formation of Regron Therapeutics, a Johns Hopkins spin, and currently sits on the board of directors. In addition to his work at Vita, Doug is actively involved in the venture capital scene, serving as a venture partner for Riptide Ventures. He received his MS from Johns Hopkins University in biotechnology and his BA from Goucher College in economics and business management.

Josh Finifter joined Access Holdings in 2020 and is a Managing Director on the Investment Team. As a member of the Investment Team, Josh supports the firm’s thesis development, origination, execution, and portfolio management activities. Josh also chairs Access’s internship program and culture committee.

Josh has spent 10 years in various investing and related financial services roles. Prior to joining Access Holdings, Josh was a Senior Associate at Corridor Capital where he focused on diligence, financing and execution of new investments and providing support to its portfolio companies and management partners. Prior to that, Josh spent several years in investment banking and transaction advisory and audit services at Raymond James and PricewaterhouseCoopers, respectively. Josh holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Management from the University of Maryland College Park, where he graduated with honors.

Yair is the President of SmartLogic, a company that creates data-driven web and mobile software applications.

Sean joined Klein Enterprises in January of 2017 and serves as the company’s Chief Investment Officer. In the CIO role, Sean works closely with firm principals and department heads in order to source, evaluate, and manage investment opportunities related to the core real estate business while also implementing an asset allocation strategy for the Klein Family’s Charitable Foundation.

Originally from New York, Sean spent over ten years working in the hedge fund community in both a trading and analytical capacity.

Sean has an M.B.A in Finance & Real Estate from New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and a B.A. in Political Science from Northwestern University. In his free time, Sean enjoys spending time with his wife Stacey and son Jake, traveling, and proudly supporting his beloved New York Islanders hockey team.

Anita joined Arctaris in 2020 and serves as Principal of the Baltimore Market.  She leads the sourcing, due diligence and execution of debt and equity investment opportunities in Baltimore. Anita has over 25 years of experience as a private equity investor and has made direct investments in an array of sectors leading transactions that total in excess of $300 million.

Prior to joining Arctaris, Anita was co-founder and Managing Director of Graham & Associates, a company that assembled and partnered with professionals experienced in assisting management teams in developing processes to meet operational and financial objectives, identifying the appropriate source of capital to support the management team’s goals, and performing internal operational and financial audits to insure that the goals are being met.

Harold Green is a serial entrepreneur. His latest endeavor involves writing VM0039, a patented carbon emissions offset Methodology in the transportation/construction industry. GE is both a Project Developer and seller of carbon emissions in the Voluntary market.

Brad, a former Lead Clinical Research Specialist at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, is now leading the way in offering physical therapists a fresh approach to effectively and sustainably alleviate the negative impacts of foot drop. Over the past decade, he has worked alongside his co-founders to secure several research grants, establishing a solid and secure foundation for the company.

Craig Heron advises municipalities, agencies, authorities and 501(c)(3) organizations in connection with public finance transactions, as well as counsels companies on loans and provides opinions on corporate and real estate transactions. Craig represents these clients as bond counsel and borrower’s counsel in both tax-exempt and taxable financings in public offerings and direct placements, including deals in which small and rural towns receive money from state and federal agencies. Craig also serves as underwriter’s counsel. Public universities and other institutions also rely on Craig for advice with respect to tax-exempt and taxable financings of student housing and mixed-use facilities, including through public-private partnerships.

In addition to his public finance work, Craig represents non-profit and corporate clients who are seeking to borrow money to support their ongoing business goals. His work in this area includes preparing, negotiating and reviewing loan documentation. Craig also regularly serves as Maryland local counsel by providing legal opinions in connection with corporate and/or real estate transactions. 

At Gridiron Capital, Sean focuses on developing new business partnerships, marketing, communicating with business owners, and managing investment sourcing and exit planning. Prior to joining Gridiron Capital, Sean served as vice president at BB&T Capital Markets in Richmond, Virginia. His responsibilities at BB&T included executing mergers and acquisitions advisory for middle-market businesses, as well as establishing and strengthening business development relationships with middle-market investors. Earlier in his career, Sean worked at Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

Creating ways for people to interact socially without barriers such as gender, age or athletic ability. With leagues, events, and team building activities. Using various social media outlets to market this idea of Get Social, Get Fit & Get Connected in our 6 markets.

Taking Social media to real life, I started and manage several Brands in 6 markets (NYC, SF, Denver, Baltimore, Seattle & Charleston SC. We currently offer Bocce, Kickball, Soccer, Flag Football, Skeeball, Cornhole, Volleyball, Basketball, Dodegball & Sailing Leagues and one off events. It's a great way to get in shape, network or a company outing.

Lee is managing partner of Smart Business Network Inc., a national events, media and marketing company founded in 1989, primarily responsible for expanding the company’s Aspire deal-making conference throughout the U.S. He plays a key role in establishing corporate policies and developing long-term strategy and growth plans. Previously, he founded and chaired the Growth Group at national law firm Arter & Hadden LLP (now Tucker, Ellis & West), which focused on working with middle-market and high-growth technology companies. 

Charles McCusker is the Managing Partner of the Patriot Capital Group and is one of the founders of Patriot Capital I, Patriot Capital II, Patriot Capital III, and Patriot Capital IV.

Prior to Patriot Capital, Mr. McCusker was a General Partner of the ServiceMaster Venture Fund, a highly successful portfolio of focused private equity investments in consumer services, for-profit education, application software, and business e-commerce industries.

Mr. McCusker also founded and held several operating executive positions, including President and Chief Operating Officer of a joint venture between The ServiceMaster Company (SVM) and Kleiner Perkins.

Mr. McCusker has also served as the Chair of the Small Business Investor Alliance, the leading industry association for lower and middle market private equity firms, and currently serves on the Board of the University of Chicago’s Private Equity Council for the Booth School of Business. 

Ryan was previously a partner at Ember Capital (fka Nomura Mezzanine), a private credit manager which managed a ~$350 million mezzanine fund sponsored by Nomura in addition to ~$200 million for senior debt investments. Before joining Nomura in early 2005 to help launch its private credit investment business, Ryan was an investment professional at AIG-MezzVest, a ~$750 million mezzanine fund sponsored AIG. Earlier in his career, he was an investment banker at HSBC and at Stephens Inc. Ryan has an MBA from HEC Paris and a BA from Vanderbilt University

Mary M. Morris is Director of the Baltimore Economic Development Fund, a new program created by the Maryland General Assembly under the Center for Maryland Advanced Ventures initiative. Mary engages a host of regional contacts and companies to promote and administer the Fund, a financial incentive for companies affiliated with Maryland Public Higher Education Institutions to relocate into a network of innovation centers in Baltimore City, including the BioPark and the Grid.

Prior to joining University of Maryland, Baltimore Mary helped launch the University System of Maryland’s (USM) Office of Economic Development, which supports economic development at all USM institutions. Mary has been fostering economic development and technology innovation across the state of Maryland for over 20 years at the state, regional, and local levels.

She is an experienced entrepreneur and has a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from James Madison University.

Kimberly Noonan, PhD  is a scientific co-founder of marrow infiltrating lymphocyte (MIL) technology. Dr. Noonan, along with Ivan Borrello, MD have pioneered the use of MILs cell therapy. This therapy is showing promise for patients with multiple myeloma, but their research indicates that this personalized cell therapy would be beneficial in treating a variety of blood and bone marrow cancers as well as solid tumors. Dr. Noonan received her BS in Microbiology and PhD in Immunology from the University of Pittsburgh. She also holds an MPH from Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Noonan is published author on many peer-reviewed papers, review articles and book chapters and holds many patents. She joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University in 2004. Along with being the founder, EVP and CSO and current CEO of WindMIL Therapeutics, Dr. Noonan has also founded two other biopharma startups in the cancer vaccine and bispecific spaces as well as two in the cell manufacturing space. She has served as an consulting advisor to several mid to large biopharma companies. Dr. Noonan currently serves as the CEO of WindMIL Therapeutics, CSO of Nacelle Bio and is a consultant for several other groups in the cell and gene therapy space.

Nate O’Brien is a Shareholder and Director of KatzAbosch’s Business Valuations Services Group. He has over 10 years of experience and is responsible for performing and overseeing valuations of closely held businesses and asset-holding companies. Nate has conducted valuations for a variety of purposes, including goodwill impairment analyses, purchase price allocations, equity-based compensation, S corporation conversions, and estate and gift tax. He works with various industries, including professional services, industrials, consumer products/services, and government contracting. Additionally, Nate specializes in providing fair market valuations for healthcare provider businesses to support federal Stark and Anti-Kickback purposes.

Ted Olsen is a serial entrepreneur and operations executive. He is currently a principal at Neowise, a product development company. Olsen also serves on the board of Astek Diagnostics, is a partner at BLU Venture Investors and Next Gen Venture Partners. Previously, he was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aqualith Advanced Materials. Prior to Aqualith, Mr. Olsen was the founder and CEO of PathSensors, where he led the sale to Smiths Group in 2020. Earlier in his career he was Chief Operating Officer at Innovative Biosensors. In the late 1990’s, Olsen was one of the early employees at Corvis Corporation, a Columbia, MD telecommunications company which raised $1.2B via a public offering in 2000.

Ted spent the early part of his career with Corning, working through a series of management roles in glass, ceramics, and telecommunications. His career focused on product / process development and manufacturing operations.

Mr. Olsen served for seven years on the State of Maryland’s Life Science Advisory board. He is an advisor and mentor to Georgetown University’s start-up accelerator;TechStars Equitech Accelerator;The Tech Council of Maryland;The Biotechnology Institute of Maryland;and Baltimore City Community College’s biotechnology program. He is an engineering graduate from The Catholic University of America.

Bringing three decades of experience in investments, commercial banking, and advisory, Chris Oven offers a well-rounded perspective on business valuation and strategic decision-making. His career has spanned both publicly traded and privately held companies, where he has worked closely with business owners to navigate challenges, assess opportunities, and drive long-term value creation. 

Chris holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a BS from the University of Scranton. He is also an Accredited Senior Appraiser (ASA) in Business Valuation and has shared his expertise as an adjunct professor at Loyola University’s Sellinger School of Business. 

Tyrus Shivers is a serial entrepreneur, born and raised in the South, who moved to Maryland via service in the Air Force in 2009. He holds a Bachelors in Legal Studies, a Masters in Cybersecurity, and an MBA. Today, he works with some of the top influencers and motivational speakers in the world.

Utilizing his experience running several successful companies, he founded TKS Integrators in 2019 to provide fractional Chief Operations Officer services to businesses with $1M+ in annual revenue, and are ready to scale with seasoned pros who ensure your business does the right things, the right way.

In 2023 Tyrus combined TKS Integrators with other services to form O.S.S. which helps entrepreneurs and personal brands grow and scale their businesses. It is a true one stop shop with all the strategy and implementation done in-house. You focus on the vision and we will handle the details.

Phil Tulkoff is the third generation of Tulkoff's to lead the company and has been the President for the last 20 years. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. Prior to joining the business, he spent 11 years in aerospace engineering and 11 in computer consulting.

Mr. Tien Wong is a tech investor, entrepreneur, and CEO. He is Chairman & CEO of Opus8, Inc., a private investment and advisory firm investing in exceptional life science and tech enabled services companies, as well as specializing in raising capital for promising tech companies and alternative investment fund managers.

He is Founder of CONNECTpreneur, a global community of 25,000+ founders, investors, CEOs, and business leaders. CONNECTpreneur organizes the world’s largest monthly virtual investor pitch events as well as in-person Forums with upwards of 500 attendees, featuring VIP guests, speakers, exciting presenting companies, and the best CXO to CXO networking on the East Coast. Since 2012, over 1200 companies have presented, half of whom have received funding from investors from the CONNECTpreneur investor network.

Mr. Wong is also a Venture Partner in IronGate Capital Advisors, a VC and Fund of Funds manager investing in dual use technologies; Investment Advisory Board member of Virginia Venture Partners; and Chairman of Lumious, an ed tech company which provides learning & development services to Fortune 500 customers.

Mr. Wong was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to the 9-person Maryland Venture Fund Authority which oversees $84 million in VC allocations; he serves on the Boards of Directors of the Austin Venture Association, Association for Enterprise Growth (Chair), Frederick Innovative Technology Corp., Inc. (FITCI), and Junior Achievement, as well as on the Council of Advisors for the Washington Institute for Business, Government, & Society and the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council of The Universities at Shady Grove. He is a Mentor at the Mach37 Cybersecurity Accelerator and Conscious Venture Labs.