Maria Brown-Spence (she/her) | Founder of Hearts 2 Heal
Maria Brown-Spence lost her grandmother and significant other to cancer, six years apart, and her world was wracked with grief. She sought solace in sharing her journey, in knowing that others were experiencing the same. Her lived experiences with grief and loss now guide her mission as founder and CEO of Hearts2Heal, a 501c3 nonprofit organizations on a mission to provide mental health & bereavement support resources and access to Black, brown and military communities. Maria is not only a nonprofit founder, but a full-time professional working with tech companies & startups to increase social corporate responsibility and community partnerships.
Maria identifies as a woman of black and puerto rican descent. She served 6 years in the Army National Guard, receiving an honorable discharge. Maria is also the proud daughter of Marine Corps Parents and Granddaughter of an Air Force Veteran.
Patrick McKenna (he/him) | Cofounder & Executive Chairman of Facet Wealth, Partner of Comeback Capital, and Founder of One America Works
Patrick McKenna is an experienced entrepreneur, investor and board member. He has co-founded, operated as a senior executive and invested in several highly successful technology companies with exits valued over one billion dollars. He also founded an early stage Venture Capital firm, an Opportunity Zone Fund and is regarded as a leader in technology-enabled services, FinTech and the future of work. As a founder, Patrick has launched several technology companies and currently serves as Executive Chairman at Facet Wealth, a FinTech company that has raised $37MM lead by Warburg Pincus. Facet Wealth is a technology-enable national RIA that delivers AI-enabled comprehensive financial planning to mass affluent US households. Previously, he co-founded LiveOps that raised $50MM lead by Benchmark Capital. LiveOps is a technology-enabled BPO that grew to more than 20,000 US home-based workers in over 30 states before exiting. As a technology investor, Patrick founded HighRidge Ventures to invest in and advise early stage technology companies on the premise that ‘Talent is Everywhere’ and actively seeks investments in companies based outside of Silicon Valley. HighRidge has invested in over 40 companies with multiple exits including sales to public companies like LinkedIn and Yahoo! and IPOs including Oportun Financial (Nasdaq: OPRT). As an Opportunity Zone investor, Patrick has helped shape the implementation of the Invest in Opportunity Act and co-founded Catalyst Opportunity Funds, a $150MM fund focused on investing in high potential undercapitalized middle American cities. As a board member, beyond his current position as Executive Chairman at Facet Wealth, Patrick served on the Boards of several venture backed companies including LiveRamp which sold to Acxiom (now NYSE: RAMP), Disqus which sold to Zeta Global and Maven Research.
Asha Creary (she/her) | LPC and Owner of Crave Counseling, PLLC
Asha M. Creary is a certified school counselor, licensed professional counselor (LPC) in the state of Texas & Missouri and National Certified Counselor (NCC). She has a Master of Education in School Counseling. Asha spent numerous years volunteering with various organizations supporting domestic violence, grief/loss, rape victims and mental health crisis. Asha is originally from the Dallas Metroplex and has been in Austin since 2017. Since her move, she spent 4 years at a local district as a lead school counselor and district specialist. She currently operates a small private practice, Crave Counseling in the Round Rock area working with those struggling with mental health stressors. She loves traveling, learning new languages, aerial arts and helping others.
Bill Lawrence (he/him) | Chief Information Security Officer at SecurityGate
Bill Lawrence is the Chief Information Security Officer at SecurityGate. Among other responsibilities, he leads the security operations and IT management teams, as well as oversees vulnerability management and incident response program activities. Previously, at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Bill held several senior leadership roles, including vice president and chief security officer, where he was responsible for the oversight of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) and for directing security risk assessment and mitigation initiatives to protect critical electricity infrastructure across North America. He also led coordination efforts with government agencies and stakeholders on cyber and physical security matters, including analysis, response, and sharing of critical sector information. Bill had a distinguished career in the U.S. Navy where he served as a pilot of F-14B Tomcats and F/A-18F Super Hornets, flying off of carriers on three deployments to the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. He also served as the deputy director in the Character Development and Training Division at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he taught courses in Ethics and Cyber Security. In 2012, after over 20 years of faithful service, Commander Lawrence honorably retired from the U.S. Navy. His awards include a Meritorious Service Medal, four Air Medals, three Navy Commendation Medals, and various unit and campaign awards. Bill has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s degree in International Relations from Auburn Montgomery, and a master’s degree in Military Operational Art and Science from the Air Command and Staff College. He also has a Project Management Professional certification and several cyber security certifications, including a Certified Information System Security Professional certification.
Nigel LeBlanc (He/Him) | Founder & CEO at Cyber Warrior Network
Nigel is a Military Veteran and Entrepreneur. Having served in USAF, and have completed multiple tours in both Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Afghani Freedom. He has a passion for all things startups and self-improvement. He is the CEO and Founder of Cyber Warriors Network the first Cloud-based SAAS Cyber Recruitment, Talent Management and Cyber Business Solution Platform that connect businesses with the best cleared cyber talent and cyber software solutions to combat evolving cyber threats.
The Cyber Warrior Network also includes Cyber Talent and Threat Solutions Force Multiplier ™: Connect cleared cyber-skilled transitioning military, veterans and cyber companies to cyber stakeholders, employers, academic institutions, and government agencies to fill the nation’s cyber security workforce vacancies and cyber security needs.
Tim Horan |Cofounder of atlas.vet
Tim is the Cofounder of Atlas.vet, the guide to training and employment for the military community, and the Director of Strategic Alliances at ProcessMaker. Previously, Tim was the COO at GoldenKey, a venture-backed real estate technology startup. From Upstate NY, Tim graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and played on the Army Football Team.Upon Commissioning, Tim served nearly eight years in the U.S. Army, notably as an Aide-de-Camp and Company Commander.
Anita C Roberts|Managing Partner, Silicon Hills Capital
Anita is the Managing Partner at Silicon Hills Capital where she Invests in women & African American founders seeking pre-seed or seed level financing. Their mission is to bridge the gap to venture capital for women, with a focus on Black and Brown founders, building scalable, growth aggressive companies.
Anita served in the U.S. Army for 21 years where she retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Dmitri Julius | Chief People Officer at ICON
Dmitri Julius is the Chief People Officer of ICON, the construction technologies company leading the way into the future of human shelter and homebuilding using 3D printing and other scientific and technological breakthroughs. In his role, Julius is building and cultivating an elite, adaptive and diverse team to support ICON’s mission and strategic vision.
Prior to joining ICON, Julius was the sales manager and store director for TreeHouse, the Home Upgrade Company, where he managed the retail store staff, led the sales teams and oversaw the sale and installation of sold projects. Prior to his work at TreeHouse, Julius served in the United States Marine Corps for eight years as an operations and logistics troop staff, non-commissioned officer.
Julius has a bachelor of science in biology and military science from St. Edward’s University and is currently completing his masters of education in sports management and a PhD in clinical psychology at Texas A&M University.
Julius resides in Austin, Texas and is a marathon runner, dog enthusiast and has a passion for international travel.
Marcus Carey | Enterprise Architect at ReliaQuest
Navy Cryptologist turned cybersecurity innovator and entrepreneur. Currently, working as Enterprise Architect in the Office of the CTO at ReliaQuest. Passionate about creating technology solutions that improve cybersecurity for everyone. Focused on creating cloud-based cybersecurity solutions that are low friction and highly effective.
Mary Gwinn (she/her) |Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships
Mary is a U.S. Navy Veteran where she served as a Radar Intercept Officer from 1996-2006. After leaving military service she joined Merrill Lynch, and then Booz Allen where she worked as Chief of Staff for $100M Data Science and Analytics business in Strategic Innovation Group. Member of Leadership Team focused on executing strategy, keeping projects results focused, facilitating communication, and removing roadblocks to enable faster decision making. Mary also led team of 250 people, including 9 direct reports, in management and performance of 12 outpatient Dialysis facilities in Washington, DC to generate over $5M in revenue within Fortune 200 Company as Regional Operations Director for DaVita.
Mary joined Capital Factory in January 2020 where, as Senior Director of Corporate Partnerships she bridges the gap between corporate innovators and startups. She has a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Archeology from the University of Texas at Austin.
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Brandon Barta (he/him)| Salesforce Recruitment Team Manager | Salesforce Partner
Brandon works as a IT Recruitment specialist for Salesforce where he supports clients like the USAA to provide job opportunities and transition resources for U.S. Veterans. He has worked with the Merivis Foundation to train and upskill veterans in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Brandon is also a member of Breaking the Glass, an initiative progressing women in tech. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Texas Tech University.
Shechem Sauls (he/him) | Area Health Education Center Manager at CommunityCare Department of Education and Research
During his tenure with the Austin Independent School District, Shechem oversaw the management of 44 on-campus School Mental Health Centers and department initiatives in collaboration with partners, focusing on widening awareness of the district’s mental health resources.
He currently sits on the Integral Care Planning & Network Advisory Panel, representing the Austin/Travis County community at various coalition meetings. He also presently advises Austin Public Health on its Travis County Community Health Assessment community engagement, and he is a board member of the Texas Association of Certified Community Health Workers. Shechem is a certified community health workers instructor and aims to inspire others to advocate for more mental health resources while also supporting efforts to eliminate mental health barriers county-wide.
Shechem has a passion for collaborative projects that support health and emotional wellness in communities of color and low-income communities. His past collaborative projects include the AISD School Mental Health Summit development with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the City of Austin’s Rosewood Zaragoza Neighborhood project, and several supplemental food programs. He currently works for CommunityCare as an Area Health Education Manager where he supports students in the medical professions.
Job fair companies attending
Listing Village | Job Listings
Cyber Warrior Network | Job Listings
Apptronik | Job Listings
Pro-VIO| Job Listings
MKS2 Technologies | Job Listings
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