A.R.I. Announced Our Full Advisory Board And Are Proud To Call It One Of The Most Diverse Advisory Boards In All Of VC Today

A.R.I. announced our full Advisory Board and are proud to call it one of the most diverse Advisory Boards in all of VC today.

Cynthia Bai – Partner, Cooley LLP – JD

Cynthia Bai is a Partner at Cooley LLP, which in 2019 was named “Law Firm of the Year in Venture Capital Law and Technology Law” by U.S. News & World Report and for the sixth consecutive year was recognized by Fortune in its annual “100 Best Companies to Work For” report, where the firm ranked as the #1 law firm and #20 overall firm. Ms. Bai focuses her practice on debt finance, venture capital, and emerging companies, specifically secured debt facilities, with an emphasis on venture debt finance and capital call facilities. Her clients include banks, venture lending funds and corporate entities. Prior to joining Cooley, Ms. Bai was an associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. During her attendance at Cornell Law School, she served as managing editor for the International Law Journal. She grew up in Germany, lived in France and Korea prior to moving to the U.S., and is fluent in German, French and Korean. Ms. Bai earned her JD from Cornell Law School and attended the University of Washington as an undergraduate.

Randolph Cohen – Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School –

Ph.D

Randy Cohen is the MBA Class of 1975 Senior Lecturer of Entrepreneurial Management at Harvard Business School. Cohen teaches finance and entrepreneurship at HBS, and has previously held positions as Associate Professor at HBS and Visiting Associate Professor at MIT Sloan. He currently teaches Field X and Y at HBS, courses for students who are starting businesses while obtaining their MBA. In 2019, he advised approximately 100 startup businesses in these courses. He also co-created the Alternative Investments course for Harvard Business School Online, which is taken by thousands of students and professionals each year. Cohen’s main research interests are the identification and selection of money managers who are most likely to outperform, as well as asset allocation, risk management, and anything else related to building great investment portfolios. In addition to his academic work, Cohen has helped to start and grow multiple businesses, mostly but not exclusively, in the area of investment management, and has served as a consultant to many other companies. He is co-founder of PEO Partners, a liquid private equity asset management firm. Mr. Cohen graduated Cum Laude from Harvard University and earned a Ph.D in Finance from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Jonathan Easton – Board Director, Astana International Exchange – Ph.D (c), MBA, MFE, CAIA

Jonathan Easton is a Board Director for Astana International Exchange (AIX). AIX’s mission is to develop the public equity and debt capital markets in Kazakhstan and Central Asian region. Leading to its successful launch in 2018, Mr. Easton served as interim CEO of AIX, and was responsible for selection, due diligence, and deals with primary technology suppliers while negotiating and closing equity investment and strategic partnerships with NASDAQ and others. Mr. Easton also serves as an Adviser to the Board of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX Group), a digital securities exchange network powered by a proprietary blockchain solution. Earlier in his career, Mr. Easton was a Senior Portfolio Manager for Schroders, where he was a lead member of the firm’s largest Japanese equity team, managing $35bn of assets. He founded and served as CEO of EN Asset Management, an alternative investment firm where he raised $500mm and was awarded Runner-Up, “Best New Fund”, by AsiaHedge. Mr. Easton earned an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, a Masters in Financial Engineering from California Berkeley, and is completing his Ph.D in Finance at the EDHEC Business School, where Frank Fabozzi is his thesis advisor.

Dan Espinal – Founder and CEO, Rarebreed Veterinary Partners – MBA

Dan Espinal is the Founder and CEO of Rarebreed Veterinary Partners, a high-growth technology-enabled community of thriving independent veterinary practices. Dan previously ran the IDEXX Laboratories (NASDAQ: IDXX) In-house Chemistry business and Corporate Development & Strategy team, where he managed, led, and executed global acquisitions, managed the annual strategic planning process, and structured complex partnerships. Before IDEXX, Dan was a venture capital investor at Allied Minds, Plc (LSE: ALM), focusing on internet and communication technologies. Prior to Allied Minds, he was a management strategy consultant at JSA Partners (formerly AT Kearney), providing aerospace and defense companies with market entry, competitive strategy, acquisitions and investment decision support, and advisory services. Dan is a U.S. Army combat veteran and airborne-ranger qualified infantry officer with service time as a combat advisor. He led over 150 combat patrols in southeastern Afghanistan and spent time as an executive officer of the 173rd Long Range Surveillance Detachment (Airborne) as an infantry platoon leader. Dan earned his MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management.

Susan Estes – Co-Founder, President, & CEO, OpenDoor Trading

Susan Estes, President & CEO of OpenDoor Trading, has exceptional experience as a leader in the global fixed income markets. She was the first woman to run a primary dealer as Managing Director and Global Head of Treasury Trading at Morgan Stanley, and most recently created and successfully launched OpenDoor Trading as the first women-owned and operated bond trading platform in the world. Ms. Estes has over 30 years of experience trading U.S. Treasuries and related fixed-income products, managing domestic and international trading desks, as well as related businesses for large financial institutions. Ms. Estes has served on the prestigious Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC), under both Secretary’s Paulson and Snow. Separately, she worked with the Committee to address topical market issues with the Chair and Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, under both Chairman Greenspan and Chairman Bernanke. She has also served as a Member of the Board of SIFMA. Ms. Estes earned a BS in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Redlands.

Edward Finn – Partner, William Blair (Former) – MBA

Edward Finn has worked in institutional investment management sales and consultant relations for over 30 years. His expertise in providing solutions for institutional asset allocators and their consultants has successfully led to building tens of billions of dollars in assets under management for his investment management teams at William Blair and Harris Investment Management. Throughout his career, he has raised assets for insurance companies, trust companies, and independent investment management firms utilizing investment vehicles including limited liability companies, collective investment trusts, open-end institutional mutual funds, and separate accounts. Most recently, Mr. Finn was a Partner at William Blair, where he helped grow global equity team assets from $500mm to over $40bn while covering institutional consultants and large plan sponsors across the United States and Canada. Prior to this, Mr. Finn was a Partner at Harris Investment Management, where he spent 14 years growing the platform. Mr. Finn earned a BS and MBA from Drexel University.

Courtney Hall – Co-Founder, Managing Director, Hillcrest Venture Partners – JD, MBA

Courtney Hall is a co-founder and Managing Director of Hillcrest Venture Partners, which invests in seed through growth stage technology companies. Mr. Hall manages the firm’s investments in Enterprise Applications, Financial Technology, and Wireless. Before co-founding Hillcrest, Mr. Hall co-founded EXACT Sports, a company that performs quantitative assessments of the athletic, psychological and neuro-cognitive abilities of high school and collegiate student/athletes. Prior to EXACT, Mr. Hall was an investment banker at UBS and Morgan Stanley and worked for the law firms Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigan, and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper). Mr. Hall was the starting center for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers from 1989 to 1997, where he Captained the team to the 1994-95 Super Bowl, was a four-time Pro Bowl 1st Alternate, and was the team’s representative with the NFL Players Association. Mr. Hall earned his JD and MBA at the University of Chicago.

Laura Hope – Head of Financial Institutions Group, The Americas, DBS Bank

Laura Hope is the Head of DBS Bank’s Financial Institutions Group, the Americas. She is responsible for relationship management and client coverage of Financial Sponsors, Asset Managers, Insurance Companies, Banks, Broker Dealers, and Government Agencies in the U.S., Canada and select Latin American countries. Laura has over 25 years of specialized experience successfully leading and growing businesses within the Financial Institutions sector. Her career path has included leadership positions at RBS, ABN AMRO, Societe Generale, and Wells Fargo. She carries deep experience and expertise in both the equity and debt capital markets arenas, as well as corporate banking, including lending – where she has originated, structured, and successfully syndicated multi-type credit facilities for leading institutional investors. Laura is a Board of Directors member at the Maysles Documentary Center, is a recipient of the 2020 United Way of New York, The Power of Women to Make a Difference honor, and has partnered with various philanthropic organizations including: The Ford Foundation, The Kennedy Center, Girl Scouts of America, and HiArts. Ms. Hope holds a BA in Finance and Psychology from Rutgers University and has completed the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University Executive Programs: Investment Banking and Corporate Finance Intensive Training Program.

Roy Lowrance – Chair of Advisory Board, University of Miami, Institute for Data Science and Computing – Ph.D, MBA

Roy Lowrance has worked at the intersection of business and technology strategy for over 40 years and is a leading data scientist, and expert in AI, who has founded and lead multiple FinTech companies. Currently, he is Chair of the Advisory Board at the University of Miami’s Institute for Data Science and Computing. Previously he was the Managing Director of NYU’s Center for Data Science. Professionally, Mr. Lowrance served as CTO at Capital One Financial and at Reuters (now Thomson Reuters). At Capital One, he introduced new technologies and improved the effectiveness of the technology supporting credit risk management. Previously, as a management consultant, he was a partner with the Boston Consulting Group, where he was a leader in improving the effectiveness of client information technology organizations. Prior to this, he was a senior engagement manager at McKinsey and Company, where he focused on strategy development for technology-intensive businesses in financial services companies. Mr. Lowrance earned his Ph.D in Computer Science from New York University, his MBA from Harvard Business School, and his undergraduate degree in Mathematics from Vanderbilt.

Guy Pinkman – Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Advisory Committee Member, Trustee for the City of Lincoln Nebraska Police and Fire Pension Fund, & Fire Captain, Lincoln Fire and Rescue

Guy Pinkman is a Presidential Appointee to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s Advisory Committee. The PBGC was created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to protect the retirement incomes of over 35 million American workers in private-sector defined benefit pension plans. Mr. Pinkman has served for over a decade as a Trustee for the City of Lincoln Police and Fire Pension Plan Investment Board in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition, he is a Captain with the Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department. A firefighter for nearly 30 years, he has served as a Battalion Chief for over a decade. Captain Pinkman has been recognized by the Lincoln Fire and Rescue Department for over 20 Phoenix awards, numerous citations of valor, and paramedic of the year. As a recognized speaker and trainer, Captain Pinkman has appeared at numerous colleges and universities throughout the country to teach classes and conference seminars covering topics such as management and leadership skills. Mr. Pinkman earned his BS in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Julianne Recine – Director, Duff & Phelps – MBA

Julianne Recine has more than 25 years of financial and investment management experience and is a Director in the Alternative Advisory and Portfolio Valuation practice of Duff & Phelps. In this role, she work investment allocators seeking to build out, upgrade or optimize their operational due diligence processes, and fund managers seeking to become more institutional in their processes and controls. Prior to joining Duff & Phelps, Ms. Recine JP Morgan Chase where she established the Americas Control Manager organization for the Securities Services business within the Corporate Investment Bank. Prior to joining JP Morgan, she was COO and Director of Operational Due Diligence (“ODD”) at Sciens Investment Management where she oversaw due diligence, operations and marketing of Sciens’ liquid and real assets businesses. She joined Sciens from PineBridge Investments (formerly AIG Investments) where she was Head of Operational Due Diligence. Prior to joining PineBridge, Ms. Recine held roles of increasing responsibility, with EnTrust Capital, Goldman Sachs, and Brown Brothers Harriman. Ms. Recine earned a BBA and MBA from Iona College.

Blair Smith – Founder and CEO, Promethean AB Strategies – MBA

Blair is the Founder and CEO of Promethean AB Strategies LLC, a strategic consultancy focused on helping diverse Asset Managers and investors achieve their goals. Previously, Mr. Smith served as the CIO for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, where he provided leadership in structuring, negotiating and closing of loans and investments, and oversight of credit policies. Prior to this, he was responsible for co-managing a $5.2 billion Emerging Manager investment portfolio within the State of New York Common Retirement Fund. In this role, he actively evaluated and conducted research for new investment vehicles and platforms, collaborated with consultants, advisors, investment teams and legal counsel in preparing and evaluating RFP/RFI’s for manager searches, and participated in selecting and interviewing managers/advisors and in negotiating limited partnership agreements. Earlier in his career, Mr. Smith served for over 10 years as a client relationship manager for financial institutions including Wells Fargo Private Bank and Citi (Smith Barney). Mr. Smith earned his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BS in Communications from Morgan State University.

Jamil Soriano – VP, Equity Research, Ariel Investments – MBA

Jamil Soriano is a Vice President in Equity Research at Ariel Investments, one of nation’s largest black-owned financial firms. Mr. Soriano focuses on consumer products and services, sports media, and financial services as a research analyst. He joined Ariel full-time in 2012 after graduating with Honors from the University of Chicago’s MBA program. Prior to Ariel, he worked as an investment analyst for Brown Bear Capital Management LLC. Mr. Soriano began his financial career in the investment banking and debt capital markets divisions at Credit Suisse Securities, where he worked in Debt Capital Markets covering Financial Institutions in New York before transitioning to Corporate Finance in Tokyo. Before entering the financial services industry, he was a player for several teams in the National Football League, including a season with the 2003-04 Super Bowl winning New England Patriots. Mr. Soriano earned his undergraduate degree in Biological Sciences at Harvard University and his MBA with Honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Johnita Walker Mizelle – Head of Investor Relations and Ecosystem Development for the Americas, Anthemis – MBA

Johnita is Head of Investor Relations and Ecosystem Development for the Americas at Anthemis, the global venture investment firm dedicated to cultivating change in financial services. In this role, Johnita oversees strategic client management, business development and portfolio company success across the Americas. Prior to joining Anthemis, Johnita was Head of Business Development and member of the Executive Committee for LM Capital Group, a global credit manager. In her role, she managed consultant relations, sales and marketing for the $5 billion asset manager. During her tenure, she led the team’s restructuring and strategic client acquisition strategy. Johnita began her career at Goldman Sachs in the equities division and has subsequently held senior roles at The Williams Capital Group, Progress Investment Management Company and Lyxor Asset management. Johnita currently serves on the board of the Council of Urban Professionals and is an advisory board member of Perspectives Charter School in Chicago. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Spelman College as a NASA Scholar and received her Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. There she received the Morgan Stanley Fellowship and Dean’s Award.

Ben Wiles – Partner, Prospera Law, LLP – JD

Ben Wiles is a Partner at Prospera Law, LLP (f/k/a LKP Global Law, LLP) in Los Angeles, one of the top venture finance law firms in Southern California. He represents venture capital and private equity investors and emerging growth companies in formation, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, strategic joint ventures, technology arrangements, and general corporate matters. His practice spans the therapeutics, medical devices, retail, adtech, insurtech and blockchain industries. He has handled corporate matters and financings of all sizes, from small pre-seed convertible note deals to nine figure late-stage investments for the world’s largest venture capital firms. He also regularly handles sell-side M&A exits. Previously, Mr. Wiles was an attorney focused on venture capital and emerging companies at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Day Pitney LLP. Mr. Wiles cares deeply about innovation in the practice of law and is an active member of the legal hacker and blockchain legal communities. Mr. Wiles earned his BA in Economics and Political Science at Swarthmore College and his JD from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.