2022 BVC Speaker Lineup
BVC Speaker
New Frameworks for Impact Investing
Lily Trager
Managing Director of Investing with Impact| Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Lily S. Trager is a Managing Director and Head of Investing with Impact for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Since 2006, Lily has dedicated her career to sustainable and impact investing. Lily joined Morgan Stanley in 2014. In her current role, Lily works to provide individual, family and institutional clients with investment products, solutions, research and tools and analytics to capture the opportunities and mitigate risks posed by key sustainability and impact themes. Previously, Lily worked for Veris Wealth Partners in New York, a Registered Investment Advisory focused exclusively on serving clients with interest in sustainable and impact investing, most recently as Head of Research & Due Diligence. Lily began her career at Cambridge Associates in Boston, where she worked on teams overseeing $3.9 billion in nonprofit, high-net-worth and foundation investment portfolios. Lily was named to the 2018 class of MAKERS @ Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, a recognition that celebrates women who are ground breakers, advocates, and innovators in their given field. Lily earned a M.B.A in Sustainable Business from Presidio Graduate School (formerly Bainbridge Graduate Institute) and her B.A. in Anthropology from Bates College. She also co-founded Women Investing for a Sustainable Economy (WISE) in 2012, a professional networking group with eight global chapters. A native of Central Oregon, Lily now lives in Manhattan with her family.
Emily Thomas, CFA
Executive Director, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management
Emily is a Senior Impact Strategist on the Investing with Impact Team. Prior to this role, she was the lead Investing with Impact Analyst on the Global Investment Manager Analysis manager due diligence team and helped launch the Diversity and Inclusion Investment Office. Emily began her career in finance at Cambridge Associates. Before entering finance, Emily worked in international development and spent time in Ecuador and Uganda.
Emily graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a B.A. and received a Master of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She is also a member of CFA Society New York where she is currently the vice chair of the Sustainable Investing Group. Emily and her family live in New York City, New York.
BVC Speaker
Always Forward, Never Straight: The virtues of an untraditional path to investing
Mel Strong
Founding Partner| NEXT VENTURES VC firm
Mel has spent her career building high performing teams, with a commitment to creating positive culture change through sports and health. This work includes her 17 years at Nike, driving international businesses across running, women’s, soccer/football and action sports. She helped launch the Nike Run Club and Nike Training Club apps, and was most recently vice president for Nike Skateboarding. She co-founded investing firm NEXT VENTURES in 2019, inspired by the potential for new businesses to innovate in the health and wellness space. She sits on the boards of performance brands Momentous and Honey Stinger, Wildfang apparel, and non-profits Women in Sports Tech and Outdoor Afro. She also owns a mountain bike tour guiding company with her husband in Hood River.
BVC LLC Portfolio Company Update
CommLoan
Mitch Ginsberg
Co-founder and CEO | CommLoan
After being exposed to the painful process of obtaining a commercial mortgage, Mitch was determined to create a platform that empowered the borrower and changed the way commercial financing was secured. At the time, giving the borrower access to the capital markets while providing a superior lending experience was a problem that needed to be solved. With the help of a talented development team, Mitch was able to bring his vision to life. Mitch has been in mortgage banking for over 30 years and has overseen the closing of several billion dollars in loans. Drawing on this experience and surrounding himself with a highly skilled and diverse team, CommLoan has gone from strength to strength. Mitch will tell you that by taking the cutting-edge technology of the CommLoan platform (CUPID™), and combining it with good old-fashioned customer service, anything is possible. Mitch holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in finance.
Pre-Conference Seminars
A Tax-Smart Approach to Startup Business Formation
Perspectives on Funding
Best Practices for High Growth Companies
Jordan Dawley | CPA & Manager, Jones & Roth CPAs & Business Advisors
Jordan Dawley works at Jones & Roth as a Manager. His expertise includes business and individual income tax, ERISA audits, accounting system implementation, payroll filings, pension plan administration, and tax research.
Jordan specializes in providing tax planning and preparation for individuals and businesses, working closely with our dental practice niche. He enjoys connecting with others in the local business community and providing solutions that have an impact on local companies and their owners. He currently serves as the Audit Chair of the local chapter of Risk Management Association.
Jordan is a native of Bend, Oregon. He graduated as a dual-major from the University of Oregon in 2011 with Bachelor of Science degrees in Accounting and Economics.
Moderator: Ryan Brown | Vice President and Business Banking Relationship Manager, U.S Bank
Born in Singapore while his parents traveled the world teaching at international schools overseas, Ryan spent most of his childhood in Santa Rosa, CA, after the family moved back to the States. Ryan went on to earn his Bachelor of Science in Business Economics at UC Santa Barbara. After a one-year pit stop in Maui, he made his way to Central Oregon in 2006, where he connected with U.S. Bank.
Ryan has worked at U.S. Bank for the past 16 years serving businesses throughout Central Oregon, currently as Vice President and Business Banking Relationship Manager. He is a fierce advocate for helping his business clients succeed and has served on the board of the Oregon Outdoor Alliance for several years. Ryan has been recognized as one of the most successful business bankers at U.S. Bank, earning the Annual U.S. Bank Legends Award for top performers seven times.
Panelists:
Jenn Lynch | Fund Manager, Bend Venture Conference Growth & Impact Funds
Tom Schnell | Business Finance Officer, Business Oregon
Ann McQuesten | Partner, Perkins Coie
Corporate attorney Ann McQuesten counsels clients, from startups to established companies, on corporate governance matters, securities compliance issues and significant corporate transactions. Ann has particular experience advising startups on funding needs and works with issuers and investors in debt and equity financing transactions. In addition, Ann regularly represents buyers and sellers in mergers, acquisitions and corporate reorganization transactions.
Active in the Portland startup community, Ann serves on the board of directors for the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network and on the advisory board for the Mercy Corps Northwest Women’s Business Center, where she has also provided pro bono legal services and regularly presents seminars on business legal issues. She is also passionate about sustainability and has devoted time to the Oregon State Bar Sustainable Future Section and is currently on the board of directors for the Eco-School Network.
Co-Presenter: Christian Carlson | Associate, Perkins Coie
Christian Carlson, Co-Presenter, Best Practices for High Growth Companies
Associate | Perkins Coie
Associate Christian Carlson has experience advising issuers and investment banks on numerous types of domestic and international capital markets transactions.
Prior to joining Perkins Coie, Christian advised financial institutions in connection with offerings of structured products, including securities linked to equities, commodities, currencies and interest rates. He draws on his experience in complex financial products to provide effective counsel to companies across a variety of industries.
Tom Schnell, Panelist, Perspectives on Funding
Business Finance Officer| Business Oregon
Tom is a graduate of Oregon State University where he studied Finance and General Behavioral Science. He also obtained an international business degree from the Aarhus School of Business in Denmark. Tom received his graduate degree from Pacific Coast Banking School in 2013. He has over 30 years in finance, 25 of which were in commercial banking. He has been involved in both debt and equity financing. His experience ranges from serving small start-up companies to large corporations. He has experience in agricultural, real estate, asset based, equipment, line of credit and royalty based financing. In addition to loan production, he managed several commercial banking centers and served as a loan workout specialist. Tom transitioned from the private finance sector to the public sector when he joined Business Oregon as a Business Finance Officer. In this position he works to develop economic vitality for Oregon businesses by helping to create, retain, expand and attract businesses that provide sustainable, living-wage jobs through public-private partnerships and leveraged funding opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs.
Tom has served on numerous boards and committees during his career. He currently serves on the St. Charles Hospital Authority Board and is a board member on the Risk Management Association (RMA) for Central Oregon, a member organization for the finance industry.
Early Stage Moderator
Angela Jackson, Moderator
Managing Director | Portland Seed Fund
Angela Jackson is co-founder and GP of the Portland Seed Fund, a high-performing seed fund with 4 funds/$24 Million under management and numerous successful exits, including Auth0 (acquired by Okta). She has been named an Inc. Magazine Person to Know in the Portland startup scene, the Tech Champion of the Year by Technology Association of Oregon, and a Woman of Influence/Entrepreneur of the Year by Portland Business Journal. She is very proud to have played a role in creating 3,000+ high wage jobs and $1 Billion+ of economic impact in Oregon from small seed investments over 10 years. As an advisor to Portland State University’s leadership, she helps connect the highly diverse, heavily first-gen college student base with the future innovation and workforce demands of Oregon. She serves as the Portland Chair for Tiger 21 and serves on the Board of Lumen Learning and Angel Capital Association. Early in her career, Jackson was an ocean sailor on traditionally-rigged sailing ships. There she met her husband, crew on a different ship, on a dock in Baltimore. She grew up in a serial entrepreneur household where the dinner table conversation was the best education. She is an avid traveler, foodie and flamenco dancer.
BVC Growth Moderator
Deepthi Madhava
Investor-in-Residence, Oregon Venture Fund
Deepthi is an investor in residence at Oregon Venture Fund, where she co-leads outreach and diligence for entrepreneurs looking for investment. As a Strategy & Operations Senior Manager at Deloitte, Deepthi led strategic growth initiatives for Deloitte globally in their clients and markets organization and consulted CXO’s in Fortune 1000 companies in developing and executing a range of business models and go-to-market strategies. Deepthi is excited to bring her consulting experience into advising entrepreneurs to build scalable businesses, she also serves on the board of Oregon Entrepreneurs Network and as advisor to Young Mountain Tea. Growing up in Mysore, a city in South of India, in an academic family, her everyday conversation revolved around science, curiosity and research. She earned an MBA from Indian School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering. Deepthi calls Oregon as her home for the last decade and enjoys daily orange theory workout, traveling, hiking, and cooking with her husband and daughter.
BVC Impact Moderator
Jenn Lynch
Fund Manager, Bend Venture Conference Growth & Impact Funds
Jenn Lynch is a managing partner at Portland Seed Fund, an early stage venture capital fund that invests in capital efficient, high-growth companies in Oregon and around the Pacific Northwest. Since 2010, Jenn has managed venture funds that have invested in more than 100 companies across a variety of sectors, including software, consumer products, cannabis, clean energy technology, biotechnology, biomedical devices and more. After finishing her MBA at Columbia Business School, Jenn and her husband relocated to Oregon where she worked at a number of software startups before helping to raise the first fund from which she invested, Upstart Labs. Jenn serves on a number of nonprofit boards, including Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety, and she is vice-chair of the Summit West Neighborhood Association. Jenn is a limited partner in the BVC 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 growth funds; and an investor in multiple Cascade Angel Funds. Jenn lives in Bend with her three children, husband, dog and cat, and, when she’s not working, can usually be found in the woods on her gravel bike or logging laps at Juniper or lifting at Boss Sports Performance.
Curious of who previously spoke at the conference? Click here!