DYNAMIC SPEAKERS GATHER AT CLEAN BUSINESS INVESTMENT SUMMIT 2014:
The Largest Venture Forum in the Central Coast Announces Speaker Roster
(Santa Barbara, CA) – This September 11th, the California Coast Venture Forum carries on its 18 year legacy as the largest venture forum in the Central Coast focused on sustainable, clean business with the sixth annual Clean Business Investment Summit™ on September 11, 2014 at the Corwin Pavilion at the University of California, Santa Barbara. CBIS brings together high-growth, sustainable, socially responsible enterprises from all over the world to present their companies to investors. Investors range from leading angels to VCs and beyond, who are looking for viable, ethical Clean Business™ opportunities.
After a successful, sold out 2013 Summit, CBIS continues to build upon its success with the announcement of an all-star lineup of speakers and CBIS 2014’s theme “Making the Impossible Possible: Resilience & the Spirit of Entrepreneurship.” This selection of speakers represents world leaders, CEOs, investors and entrepreneurs who have truly pioneered new categories, trends and technologies. These are the leaders who continue to make the impossible possible and transform how business and investment occurs.
CBIS 2014’s Speaker Roster includes the following innovative leaders of the Clean Business Movement:
Keynote:
Luis Benitez, World Renowned Mountaineer & Executive Leadership Development Expert
Vision. Perseverance. Fortitude. Innovation. Curiosity. Adaptability. Unwavering belief in self and team. Determination to make the impossible possible. Ethics. Resilience. All characteristics central to success in entrepreneurship…and high altitude mountaineering at the top of the world’s highest peaks in the harshest conditions imaginable. Over the last decade, as the ranks of high altitude mountaineering fill with capable amateur climbers pursuing their personal adventure dreams, Benitez has quietly emerged as one of the most experienced, respected and busiest professional guides and Leadership Development consultants in the world, managing expeditions to the tallest, most remote peaks on the planet as well as speaking/consulting with a deep and varied group of clientele. Benitez weaves the life lessons available in the mountains through to success in entrepreneurship and overcoming the challenges of building ethical, sustainable businesses for CBIS’ keynote this year, as he has done as a highly sought after speaker and leadership development expert.
CBIS’ Expert Panel:
Michael Whelchel
Co-founder & Managing Partner, Watershed Capital Group
Michael has seventeen years’ experience financing, acquiring, selling, growing, and operating small and middle market companies. His experience has included start-ups and later-stage companies in a range of industries. Prior to co-founding Watershed Capital, he played key roles in the early stages of two investment firms both focused on middle market companies. In these roles, he has managed the full investment process including sourcing, deal structure, due diligence, negotiations, financing, portfolio management, sales on the exit, and fund raising. He received his BA summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and received a joint MBA and MEM (Master of Engineering Management) from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Michael lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his wife and four children.
Kesha Cash
Director of Investments, Impact America Fund
Kesha is the Director of Investments at Impact America Fund, an early-stage equity fund that invests in high growth companies that aim to generate real financial returns while improving the well-being of underserved communities and creating quality jobs in America. Impact America Fund is the evolution of Jalia Ventures, a minority-focused investing initiative Kesha launched in 2010 with the support of Serious Change LP, a $50M global impact investing fund she helped manage. Jalia Ventures invested $5M in nine companies including Pigeon.ly, Red Rabbit, and ConnXus. Prior to Jalia Ventures, Kesha spent three years as a mergers and acquisitions analyst at Merrill Lynch and then six years as a consultant to inner-city businesses in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico. In the summer of 2009, Kesha worked in London at Bridges Ventures, a leading $475 million UK private investment firm that delivers both financial and social returns. Kesha is a lifetime member of the Social Venture Network. She received her BA in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley and her MBA from Columbia Business School.
Andrew Reynolds
Co-Founder & CEO, Reynolds & Company Venture Partners
Andrew was previously an associate with Provident Group, now INTL Provident Group, where his work focused on execution and origination of domestic and cross-border private placement M&A and capital raising activities. He was the lead associate for the firm on numerous transactions ranging from domestic b2b service providers and financial services assignments to emerging market (Brazil, China, South Korea, Mexico, Peru among others) based natural resource and manufacturing assignments. Andrew played a major role in refining and streamlining practices at Provident including identifying key performance indicators for management, aiding in the development of more efficient transaction screening processes and sourcing a company-wide CRM system. Prior to investment banking, Andrew spent three years in marketing and media before entering the financial services industry. Andrew holds a BA from Denison University and MBA from ESADE.
Jason Graham-Nye
Co-Founder, gDiapers
Jason Graham-Nye is the co-founder & CEO of gDiapers (http://www.gDiapers.com), the diaper that is putting an end to the plastic economy. Jason has had a circuitous route to the Executive Suite of a diaper company. He started his career with Nomura Securities in Tokyo as an Equity broker. After returning to his native Australia to teach Japanese at high school, he met his future wife and together they went dating 200 times. They co-authored two dating guidebooks to Australia that morphed into “2’s Company” Boutique Event Management, where they organized once in a lifetime romantic events for clients. With all the romance, a wedding and babies were inevitable. And with babies came the question of which diapers to use. Once they learned that one disposable diaper takes 500 years to biodegrade and that every day 50,000,000 are going into landfill, they were on a mission to find an alternative. They happened upon a flushable, compostable diaper technology from Tasmania licensed the rights to the rest of the world outside of Australia & NZ, packed up the house, 2 year old son (with one in the oven) and moved 10,000 miles to Portland, Oregon to launch gDiapers. gDiapers has continued to grow into an iconic brand synonymous with health, sustainability, fashion, and aspirational efficacy. gDiapers has grown from a single Portland, Oregon supermarket nine years ago to now being available in national retailers like Target and Babies R Us in the US as well as in Canada, UK, France, Spain, and Germany. Jason has successfully led gDiapers’ growth for nine years through innovation, R & D, and marshalling the passion of 9,000+ “gMums” in the US and UK who volunteer for the brand. Jason is a regular speaker at events including Fortune Green Brainstorm, Net Impact, BALLE and has appeared on programs including Donny Deutsch’s “Big Idea” on CNBC and the Today Show. He is a member of YPO and has been chosen to be on CNBC / YPO’s speaking roster. He is passionate about disruptive innovation in product design, company culture and the venture capital world.
Jeff Grogg
Managing Partner, JPG Resources
Jeff founded JPG Resources to build food and beverage companies and brands. JPG Resources now has three areas of practice, with focus areas of Marketing and Sales, Product Creation and Commercialization, and Operations and Quality. The JPG Resources team is a collection of senior leaders who are results focused business people, with depth developed at leading companies and an entrepreneurial spirit that connects with companies at all stages of growth. Before launching JPG Resources in 2009, Jeff led product innovation at Kashi as the company grew from $25million to $750million in sales over 9 years. In addition, he headed the R&D team for Kellogg’s Health and Wellness business, launching a series of Special K and All-Bran functional beverages and bars. These experiences have given him direct insight into rapidly moving functional food concepts from blue sky to market shelf, as well as into the creation of brands and products that capture the hearts of consumers, retailers, and investors. Jeff has spoken at conferences in the US, Canada, and Europe on topics such as “The Future of Health Foods”, “Commercializing Innovation”, and “Innovation in a Troubled Economy”. He has founded or co-founded six companies, and is a board member for four others.
Rebecca Calahan Klein
Founder, SoulFull
Rebecca is the Founder of SoulFull, an innovative new company committed to connecting people, planet, and community through local food systems. Her new venture integrates her experience as a social entrepreneur in the private, non-profit and public sectors. As the head of Sustainable Strategies, a business consulting firm, Rebecca worked with companies including Alcan, Clif Bar, Ford Motor Company, Gap, HP, Johnson & Johnson, KKR, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike, Target and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. on a broad range of environmental and sustainability issues. She has extensive experience building business networks at the local, state, national and international level and has held leadership positions in organizations including 1% for the Planet, Organic Exchange, Business for Social Responsibility and the Massachusetts Green Business Alliance. These organizations have helped companies adopt more sustainable business practices, and leverage millions of dollars of investment in non-profit organizations throughout the world. Rebecca served as a policy advisor to Governor Michael Dukaksis and a staff member to Governor Bruce Babbitt. Rebecca graduated summa cum laude from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Finance, and graduated with a Master's In Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In addition to the extraordinary speakers, there will be 16-18 dynamic, innovative high growth presenting companies, student enterprises, and an incredible roster of leading investors from around the world. This year’s Summit expands CBIS’ highly successful, innovative Investor Roundtable component to deepen engagement between investors, entrepreneurs, and industry experts. The Investor Roundtable participants include CircleUp, DFJ Frontier, Crowdfunder, Tech Coast Angels, NGEN Partners, Watershed Capital, Impact America Fund, Unreasonable Institute, BOMA Investments, SG VC, Golden Mean Capital, and many others.
About CBIS:
CBIS is responsible for introducing more than 575 start-up and growth companies to venture investors and related services experts, with more than $125,000,000 invested as a result and a success rate of more than 30% of all presenting companies getting funded. The continued success of CBIS is based upon the strength of our Board, partners, growth ecosystem and communities which includes: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, Bartlett, Pringle, & Wolf LLP, Watershed Capital, Impact Capitalism Circle, Economic Vitality Corporation, Christie Communications, Scheinfeld Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Opportunity Collaboration, Convening the Conveners, California SBDC, KUR Food, American ValuMetrics, Kiwa Investment Summit, Tech Coast Angels, CircleUp, 1% for the Planet, Unreasonable Institute, Startup SB, Kaldera Marketing, Shiphawk, Channel Islands Outfitters, Pacific Coast Business Times, Growth Capital Conference, Bren School’s NetImpact Chapter, Pasadena Angels, SoCal Bio, DFJ Frontier, Nutrition Capital Network, NGEN Partners, Crowdfunder, OneHope Wines, Grassini Family Vineyards, and more.
For further information, please visit www.ccvf.org or contact Alissa Sears at [email protected] or by phone at (805) 969-3744.