Committee

Marco V. Ávila, P.E. is a seasoned Professional Engineer registered in the State of Maryland with over 37 years of dedicated experience in Civil Engineering, including 26 years at WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff. His expertise spans diverse sectors such as transit, highways, bridges, Public-Private Partnerships (P3), and telecommunications. Marco is recognized for his consistent success in delivering complex infrastructure projects efficiently and cost-effectively. Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Portuguese, Marco excels in multicultural environments.

As Vice President, Civil Engineer, and Program Manager at WSP-USA, Marco has earned the trust of clients and colleagues alike. Beyond his engineering passion, Marco is actively involved in numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), American Council of Engineering Companies-Maryland (ACEC/MD), The Engineering Society of Baltimore (ESB), Engineers Without Borders, and the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC). He also serves on the Advisory Council for St. Jude-Baltimore, is a Board Member at Sail Baltimore, Maryland Governor’s Workforce Development Board, Maryland Auto Insurance Fund Board of Trustees, and holds the role of Association for Enterprise Growth (AEG)-Inner Circle Baltimore Director, among other significant positions

In addition to his engineering endeavors, Marco dedicates his free time to serving various organizations. Currently, he holds the roles of President/CEO and Chairman of the Board at the Maryland Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC), a position he assumed in April 2019. Under his leadership, Marco has initiated significant growth at MDHCC, increasing membership from 89 to 1,100 during his first term. In his current second term, he aims to expand membership further to 5,000 by 2027, utilizing a strategy that combines organic growth with new Associate Members. Marco's vision for MDHCC includes the implementation of impactful new programs such as Mentoring, Education, Growth, Partnership, Promotion/Marketing, Procurement Advisory, International Business Marketing, and Networking. Additionally, he and his team have established the Maryland Hispanic Foundation Scholarship Program, managed through the newly formed Maryland Hispanic Foundation. This program offers scholarships to high school, college, graduate, and trade school students, as well as supports special charitable projects. Organizations are invited to collaborate with MDHCC to fund these scholarships.

Parker is a Partner of Slate Capital Group, a private equity group focused on partnering with lower-middle market companies. Parker is engaged in all aspects of Slate, including business development, capital raising, portfolio company management, board representation, and investment realizations. Parker has been in private equity for over 20 years. Parker also spent six years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch in New York, where he was responsible for relationships with several client accounts and was directly involved in over 40 completed transactions with an aggregate value of over $30 billion, including public and private offerings of debt and equity, mergers, acquisitions, and advisory assignments.

Doug Falk, MS, co-founded and joined Vita Therapeutics, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer in 2019. Prior, he spent six years in the investment world with a particular focus in biotechnology at Brown Advisory, where he was a principal, Merrill Lynch, and Lazard. He was also involved in the formation of Regron Therapeutics, a Johns Hopkins spin, and currently sits on the board of directors. In addition to his work at Vita, Doug is actively involved in the venture capital scene, serving as a venture partner for Riptide Ventures. He received his MS from Johns Hopkins University in biotechnology and his BA from Goucher College in economics and business management.

Deborah Fell is Managing Partner for Chief Outsiders and brings a background of consistent value creation through sales and marketing plans, people, processes, organizations, tactical ability and measurement visibility. She identifies blocks and gaps, as well as the right fractional sales and/or marketing leader for immediate and enduring success.

Yair is the President of SmartLogic, a company that creates data-driven web and mobile software applications.

Anita joined Arctaris in 2020 and serves as Principal of the Baltimore Market.  She leads the sourcing, due diligence and execution of debt and equity investment opportunities in Baltimore. Anita has over 25 years of experience as a private equity investor and has made direct investments in an array of sectors leading transactions that total in excess of $300 million.

Prior to joining Arctaris, Anita was co-founder and Managing Director of Graham & Associates, a company that assembled and partnered with professionals experienced in assisting management teams in developing processes to meet operational and financial objectives, identifying the appropriate source of capital to support the management team’s goals, and performing internal operational and financial audits to insure that the goals are being met.

Harold Green is a serial entrepreneur. His latest endeavor involves writing VM0039, a patented carbon emissions offset Methodology in the transportation/construction industry. GE is both a Project Developer and seller of carbon emissions in the Voluntary market.

Dr. Deborah Hemingway, as the Founder and Managing Partner of Ecphora Capital in Baltimore, spearheads this Baltimore-based venture capital firm focused on medtech and diagnostics. She boasts an impressive entrepreneurial background, having founded, funded, or served on the boards of 53 startups. Dr. Hemingway holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Kathryn is a Member in the Business Department at McDonald Hopkins and part of the Firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions Practice Group. Her practice is focused on representing companies across a broad range of industries in various types of domestic and international transactions, including buyers and sellers in complex mergers and acquisitions, business restructurings, asset purchase and sale transactions, and equity purchase and sale transactions. Kathryn also represents companies and investors in venture capital and angel investment transactions and has extensive experience with M&A transactions in the government contracting and healthcare industries.

John Ireland is a serial entrepreneur and seasoned executive with 30+ years of experience who helps companies of all sizes and industries with finance, business development, and strategic services. A practicing fractional CFO and business owner.

Lee is managing partner of Smart Business Network Inc., a national events, media and marketing company founded in 1989, primarily responsible for expanding the company’s Aspire deal-making conference throughout the U.S. He plays a key role in establishing corporate policies and developing long-term strategy and growth plans. Previously, he founded and chaired the Growth Group at national law firm Arter & Hadden LLP (now Tucker, Ellis & West), which focused on working with middle-market and high-growth technology companies. 

William McComas is the Managing Member of Bowie & Jensen LLC and a member of the transactional and technology law departments. He is among the leading technology attorneys in the region, ranked by Chambers for his expertise in corporate work.

Charles McCusker is the Managing Partner of the Patriot Capital Group and is one of the founders of Patriot Capital I, Patriot Capital II, Patriot Capital III, and Patriot Capital IV.

Prior to Patriot Capital, Mr. McCusker was a General Partner of the ServiceMaster Venture Fund, a highly successful portfolio of focused private equity investments in consumer services, for-profit education, application software, and business e-commerce industries.

Mr. McCusker also founded and held several operating executive positions, including President and Chief Operating Officer of a joint venture between The ServiceMaster Company (SVM) and Kleiner Perkins.

Mr. McCusker has also served as the Chair of the Small Business Investor Alliance, the leading industry association for lower and middle market private equity firms, and currently serves on the Board of the University of Chicago’s Private Equity Council for the Booth School of Business. 

Ryan McGovern is a Managing Director & Investment Committee Member at Star Mountain Capital. He was previously a partner at Ember Capital (fka Nomura Mezzanine), a ~$500 million private debt fund manager sponsored by Nomura. Before joining Nomura to help launch its private credit fund business, Ryan was an investment professional at AIG-MezzVest, a ~$750 million mezzanine fund sponsored by AIG. Earlier in his career, Ryan was an investment banker at HSBC and at Stephens Inc. He holds an MBA from HEC Paris and a BA from Vanderbilt University.

Brian Meltzer advises businesses in the technology, retail, and life sciences sectors on legal issues connected with transactions that facilitate their strategic growth. Companies ranging from start-ups to established enterprises operating as public and private companies rely on his counsel in mergers and acquisitions as well as private equity and venture capital financing deals. He also represents private equity groups, venture capital groups, investors and investment firms in these transactions.

Clients also look to Brian to provide outside general counsel services on contracts, operational, organizational and employment matters, corporate governance and other legal issues. He brings an analytical, problem-solving mindset to this work and navigates clients through their unique issues on a journey aligned with their business goals and expectations.

Chuck Morton, the Managing Partner of Venable's Baltimore Office, supports privately held businesses and their owners thrive in a constantly evolving business environment. As part of Maryland's largest law firm, he and his team provide practical guidance to help you seize your greatest opportunities and navigate your most complex challenges.

Ted Olsen is a serial entrepreneur and operations executive. He is currently a principal at Neowise, a product development company. Olsen also serves on the board of Astek Diagnostics, is a partner at BLU Venture Investors and Next Gen Venture Partners. Previously, he was co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aqualith Advanced Materials. Prior to Aqualith, Mr. Olsen was the founder and CEO of PathSensors, where he led the sale to Smiths Group in 2020. Earlier in his career he was Chief Operating Officer at Innovative Biosensors. In the late 1990’s, Olsen was one of the early employees at Corvis Corporation, a Columbia, MD telecommunications company which raised $1.2B via a public offering in 2000.
Ted spent the early part of his career with Corning, working through a series of management roles in glass, ceramics, and telecommunications. His career focused on product / process development and manufacturing operations.

Mr. Olsen served for seven years on the State of Maryland’s Life Science Advisory board. He is an advisor and mentor to Georgetown University’s start-up accelerator;TechStars Equitech Accelerator;The Tech Council of Maryland;The Biotechnology Institute of Maryland;and Baltimore City Community College’s biotechnology program. He is an engineering graduate from The Catholic University of America.

Rhonda Overby is an investor, board director, and founder/CEO of Camera Ready, a strategic communications company that aligns mission, vision, and message(s) with target audiences to achieve.  Overby guided Camera Ready to profitability in year-one and has successfully managed through rapid, unprecedented, global industry changes by embracing them as opportunities to pivot. Experienced as director, advisor, and public communicator, Overby thrives upon evolving and adding value.

Stanley is a Partner at Crate Capital, an investment firm focused on buying, building, and operating exceptional small businesses.

Prior to founding Crate Capital, Stanley worked at Clairvest, a private equity firm investing out of its $1.2B Fund VII, where he was responsible for investments in distribution and industrial services businesses. Stanley joined Clairvest from Evercore, where he was a Vice President in the M&A group.

Earlier in his career, Stanley led the growth of a national surface coverings distributor, working with the owner to professionalize the business, strengthen the management team, and expand into adjacent products and markets, ultimately doubling the company's sales over four years.

Stanley earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he graduated as a Zell Fellow, and his HBA with distinction from Ivey Business School at Western University in Canada.

John W Sheets, Jr., Ph.D. is a business and technical leader in the medical device, pharmaceutical and biotech industries. John has been recognized for delivering innovative products through efficient product development, strong collaborations with customers, executional focus and building organizational teamwork. He has also mentored and developed numerous staff members who have attained significant leadership roles.

Mac Tisdale is President, Mid-Atlantic Region for First National Bank. With strong and relevant experience, Mac joined First National Bank in January 2013 as President of the Bank’s Maryland Region. In addition to coordinating Corporate and Business Banking and the overall business strategy in the Bank’s Mid-Atlantic Region, Tisdale manages the integration of sales by Retail Banking, Investment Real Estate, Asset Based Lending, Private Banking, Wealth Management, Investment and Insurance professionals.

Prior to joining First National Bank, Tisdale served for 12 years with SunTrust Bank in Baltimore, Maryland, as Market President and Commercial Banking Manager.

Tisdale earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Maryland’s Johns Hopkins University, as well as a B.A. in Economics from Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Currently, he serves as a member of the board of directors for the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the executive committee of the Greater Baltimore Committee, Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Living Calssrooms and Junior Achievement. He is also Chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Maryland Chapter. In addition, he is also the past president of both the Maryland Chapter of Association for Corporate Growth and Washington and Lee University’s Alumni Association, Baltimore Chapter.

Phil Tulkoff is the third generation of Tulkoff's to lead the company and has been the President for the last 20 years. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA. Prior to joining the business, he spent 11 years in aerospace engineering and 11 in computer consulting.

Mr. Tien Wong is a tech investor, entrepreneur, and CEO. He is Chairman & CEO of Opus8, Inc., a private investment and advisory firm investing in exceptional life science and tech enabled services companies, as well as specializing in raising capital for promising tech companies and alternative investment fund managers.

He is Founder of CONNECTpreneur, a global community of 25,000+ founders, investors, CEOs, and business leaders. CONNECTpreneur organizes the world’s largest monthly virtual investor pitch events as well as in-person Forums with upwards of 500 attendees, featuring VIP guests, speakers, exciting presenting companies, and the best CXO to CXO networking on the East Coast. Since 2012, over 1200 companies have presented, half of whom have received funding from investors from the CONNECTpreneur investor network.

Mr. Wong is also a Venture Partner in IronGate Capital Advisors, a VC and Fund of Funds manager investing in dual use technologies; Investment Advisory Board member of Virginia Venture Partners; and Chairman of Lumious, an ed tech company which provides learning & development services to Fortune 500 customers.

Mr. Wong was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to the 9-person Maryland Venture Fund Authority which oversees $84 million in VC allocations; he serves on the Boards of Directors of the Austin Venture Association, Association for Enterprise Growth (Chair), Frederick Innovative Technology Corp., Inc. (FITCI), and Junior Achievement, as well as on the Council of Advisors for the Washington Institute for Business, Government, & Society and the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council of The Universities at Shady Grove. He is a Mentor at the Mach37 Cybersecurity Accelerator and Conscious Venture Labs.