Venture Catalyst, Economic Development for Central Oregon‘s (EDCO)

Wendy Morgan is an innovation and commercialization leader with extensive experience helping early-stage companies gain traction, secure funding, and scale successfully. Her expertise spans customer discovery, go-to-market strategy, investor readiness, and ecosystem development, with a strong focus on supporting founders as they navigate the challenges of growth. She has worked across health technology, education technology, and workforce development sectors, helping entrepreneurs transform promising ideas into market-ready businesses.

Most recently, Wendy served as Innovation Impact Catalyst Manager for Oregon State University’s Advantage Accelerator, where she mentored startups, supported commercialization efforts, and helped strengthen connections between founders, industry partners, and funding opportunities. She is also the founder of a venture-backed immersive training company and has secured funding through federal grants, accelerator programs, and private investment. A certified NSF I-Corps instructor and experienced startup mentor, Wendy is known for her practical, hands-on approach to helping founders validate ideas, attract capital, and build scalable businesses.

The Venture Catalyst program was proposed in 2006 by local business leaders Dan Hobin and Nori Juba and championed by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden. With Wyden’s help, a federal appropriations grant was secured in late 2009 for a three-year pilot program to boost the creation of new scalable traded sector businesses in Central Oregon. The Venture Catalyst at EDCO helps promising, scalable, young companies through active coaching and guidance.

BVC LLC Fund Co-Manager

Lisa Hovey has served as a strategy and operations executive with high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies through the full arc from pre-seed funding to IPO. She has been directly involved in scaling companies from bootstrapped to unicorn status, growing revenue from $10MM to more than $450MM in six years, and raising over $500MM across multiple funding rounds. Lisa has been an active judge and coach for BVC and has held similar roles across other Pacific Northwest startup accelerators, programs, and funds. This experience on both sides of the capital table gives her an operator's insight and an investor's rigor when evaluating early and growth-stage companies.

BVC LLC Fund Co-Manager

Patti Brooke is an active angel investor with a deep network across the Pacific Northwest, including venture capital firms, incubators, and founders. She spent the majority of her career as a leader within Seattle’s technology ecosystem, building and advising high-growth teams and leading innovation strategies. She is also the founder of Juniper Executive Search, a firm specializing in family office talent management. Now based in Bend, Patti is committed to supporting the region’s emerging startup community and contributing to its long-term growth and vitality.