Beezer leads Sapphire Partners‘ investments in venture funds domestically and internationally. Beezer began her career in financial services over 20 years ago at Morgan Stanley in its global infrastructure group. In 2016, Beezer led the launch of OpenLP, an effort to help foster greater understanding in the entrepreneur-to-LP tech ecosystem. In 2014, she was named to the Forty Over 40 list of women to watch. Beezer earned an MBA from Harvard.
View profileErin Moore is the Investments Director at Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company created by Melinda French Gates to advance social progress in the US. Erin heads the investment team and is responsible for identifying, investing and managing a diverse portfolio of funds and direct investments that drive breakthrough innovations and advance women’s power. Erin has over a decade of experience building and managing customized investment portfolios.
View profileKelli Fontaine joined Cendana as the Chief of Staff in 2018 and in 2020. Ms. Fontaine was promoted to Partner. She is on the investment team and leads the firm’s efforts around data, corporate relationships, and strategic initiatives. Ms. Fontaine joined from Trinity Capital Investment where she was the director for the Bay Area and deployed $75MM of loans to growth-stage companies in 2017. Prior to Trinity, she was on the operating side of fintech businesses.
View profileAs CIO & founding partner Michael is responsible for Running Point’s global macro outlook, research, investment strategies, asset allocation, portfolio management, and impact and social assessments across public and private investments. Michael brings to his role over 20 years of institutional and high-net-worth portfolio management, research, trading, and wealth management experience. Michael has an MBA from MIT Sloan, a CFA designation, and a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley.
View profileJamie Rhode is Vice President at Verdis Investment Management, focused on venture capital, private equity and hedge fund investment sourcing and due diligence. She joined Verdis from Bloomberg, where she held roles in both equity research and credit analysis. There, she created, managed and leveraged an extensive library of statutory and financial and market data for buy and sell-side clients that use Bloomberg to make investment decisions.
View profileAmanda Hill focuses within the Walton Investment Team on execution and monitoring of direct and fund investments. Prior to Walton Enterprises, Amanda served as Manager within the Deals practice at Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Sydney, Australia, where she performed commercial and financial due diligence on companies on behalf of commercial and government clients. During her time in Sydney, Amanda was also a Guest Lecturer at Macquarie University, and a Senior Consultant to Scale Investors—an angel investor network focused on women entrepreneurs. Amanda earned a Bachelor of Science in Business from Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, with concentrations in Accounting, Operations Management, and International Business.
View profileLisa Cawley is the Managing Director of Screendoor, a platform of leading early stage VC investors and institutional LP’s. She and her team believe there is tremendous opportunity in backing underrepresented emerging managers. Previously, Lisa worked with a private multi-billion-dollar global investment firm, and started her career at Ernst & Young, where she served on private equity, VC, and public CPG clients. From Loyola University Maryland, Lisa earned an MBA and an MSF, as well as a BBA in Accounting with a double minor in Information Systems and Spanish. Lisa is a CFA Charterholder and holds a CPA from the State of Maryland.
View profileJessie focuses on all aspects of investment activities, including identifying and evaluating investment opportunities, monitoring investments across Legacy’s global portfolio, and managing investment analysts and associates. She is an engaged member of the Society of Kauffman Fellows, the premier leadership organization for the VC industry. She brings to Legacy a wealth of industry knowledge from the VC market in China.
View profileTrish is the Investments Manager for the Babson College Endowment. She has been at the Endowment, focused mainly on the private equity portfolio, since September of 2018. Prior to joining Babson College, she worked in corporate finance and operations for a venture-backed, advertising-technology company in Baltimore, MD. She began her career in public accounting. Trish holds a BS, an MBA from Babson College and a CPA.
View profileSusan is an investment partner, where she supports the strategic management of the portfolio. Her primary responsibilities include sourcing and underwriting commitments into venture fund managers and reviewing co-investment opportunities alongside those fund managers. Susan is passionate about bridging the gap between investing and economic development and looks to support mission-driven investments that drive impact for women and underrepresented populations.
View profileEsther is the Director of Investments at IDEAL Investments. Before that, she was a founding team member at the Laura & John Arnold Foundation. She led the Foundation’s education team and directed over $130 million in grants to sustainable, scalable, and transformative initiatives in K-12 Public Education. Prior to that, Esther worked as a policy researcher for a Fortune 500 company focusing on international human rights and sustainable corporate development.
View profileRenata is a member of the Investments Team at Pivotal Ventures. Renata has spent the past decade bridging the finance and social impact sectors, having held roles in microfinance, investment banking, social enterprises, and venture capital. Most recently, she served as a Project Manager for the New Capitalism Project, an initiative aimed at co-creating a field-level strategy to help guide philanthropic investment. Prior to that, she was an impact investor.
View profilePrior to co-founding Recast, Sara served as a Venture Partner at Greenspring Associates, a venture capital platform with over $12B in assets under management. Prior to Greenspring, Sara was a Principal with CNF Investments, a private investment firm affiliated with Clark Enterprises, Inc. Before CNF, Sara participated in Foundation Capital’s Young Entrepreneurs Program, where she helped identify promising investment opportunities in the Washington, DC area.
View profileNate invests in early-stage venture capital funds on the Sapphire Partners team. He is passionate about partnering with established and emerging firms and supporting aspiring GPs. Before joining Sapphire Partners in 2019, Nate worked on the investment team at Industry Ventures focused on primary and secondary investments in venture capital funds, and direct co-investments in growth-stage companies. He was named to the VC Journal Rising Stars list in 2022.
View profileLisa Edgar is an Independent Advisor and Partner Emeritus at Top Tier Capital Partners. She was Co-Founder, Managing Director, and Member of the Investment Committee of TTCP focusing on both emerging and established primary fund commitments. Leveraging her 30 years of experience, Lisa is interested in supporting underrepresented individuals as they access the VC industry. Lisa is also a returning member of our Selection Committee.
View profileCourtney McCrea enjoys over 30 years of venture capital and private equity investment experience including 12 years of fund investing and 18 years of direct principal investing. Courtney is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Recast Capital, an investment platform established to support emerging managers in venture capital. Recast Capital provides capital and resources for emerging manager venture funds, with a preference for diverse partnerships. Most recently, Courtney was a Managing Director of Weathergage Capital, a boutique fund of funds.
View profileBrittney Riley’s work focuses on driving capital to overlooked people and problems by making venture capital more equitable and effective. She has over a decade of experience focused on early-stage innovation, as an operator, investor, and LP. Brittney has been at Pivotal Ventures for the last four years, an investment and incubation company under Melinda French Gates. There, she invests in emerging venture funds and startups, aligned with advancing progress.
View profileLaura Thompson invests in technology-focused venture funds domestically and internationally. She is passionate about partnering with established and emerging firms to advance the thinking in the LP space. Laura is a frequent contributor to OpenLP in an effort to help increase transparency across the venture ecosystem, and was named a VC Rising Star by VC Journal in 2021. Laura earned a bachelor’s from Dartmouth, and an MBA from the Wharton School.
View profileCharlotte Zhang joined Group Health Foundation in November of 2020 and serves as the Director of Investments, helping construct the Firm's investment program from scratch. Previously, she invested on behalf of two notable family offices based in San Francisco, ICONIQ Capital and Medley Partners. At ICONIQ Capital, she led investments that built out healthcare exposure in the portfolio. At Medley Partners, she underwrote investments in third-party managers.
View profileMeera Patel is a Partner at Accolade. Before joining Accolade in 2022, Meera was a Director at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Prior to that, Meera was a Partner at Brown Advisory and Investment Manager at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. She holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. from Duke University.
View profileAlex is the Founder and General Partner at Slipstream Investors, a VC fund of funds that invests in pre-seed and seed funds, many of which are emerging managers, and in their breakout portfolio companies. Before starting Slipstream, Alex was the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at QED Investors and Nigel Morris's Chief of Staff. He holds a BA and JD from the University of Michigan.
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