It’s not just about having access to world-class mentors. It’s about the quality of the time you get to spend with them. Chairlift conversations or hikes forge strong relationships far beyond business. No other network can give you that!
If you are interested in becoming a mentor please complete our mentor form and we will reach out to schedule a meeting to review the program with you. In the meantime please review our mentor handbook.
Mentors
Hal Adler
Hal is the Founder and CEO of Leadership Landing, a leadership coaching and consulting firm. Founded in 2009, Leadership Landing coaches from around the country coach senior leaders and executives to be happier and more successful in their roles. Leadership Landing’s clients have included AT&T, GoPro, Stanford University, Genentech, Chesapeake Energy and Electronic Arts.
Before starting Leadership Landing, Hal was President and CEO of Great Place to Work Institute, the global research and consulting firm responsible for the gold-standard of workplace culture recognition; The Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work.
In addition to his work with Leadership Landing, Hal is also the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Telluride Choral Society. His wife Joanna (a Leadership Landing co-founder and owner) is a full-time psychologist with a private practice and is also a Board member of the Telluride Choral Society. After visiting for the first time in 1988 and countless times since, they’ve been trying to get back to Telluride to call it home. That dream finally came true in 2021.
Tom Basile
Tom Basile is a company builder, investor, and advisor. Tom co-founded and led an enterprise, InkWorks, to a 14x return on investment with responsibility tied to strategy, P&L, market expansion, product development, and elsewhere.
As an investor, Tom has supported companies and deal processes in private market capital rounds across 50+ investments, seed through growth, including a large focus on post-investment operating support. Through advisory work, Tom has supported companies and management teams across sectors, including EdTech, Fintech, and Food Tech, in strategy, capital raising, and product development. Tom and his wife, Mary Ellen, reside in Washington, DC with their daughter, Evvy.
Colby Barrett
Colby Barrett is the Vice Chairman and former CEO of GeoStabilization International, a geotechnical contracting company that he grew from a local operation based in Grand Junction to an international business with over 650+ employees worldwide. He also owns and operates Honey Rock Landing, an organic farm in Delta on the Gunnison River surrounded by the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area. Colby is passionate about sustainability employing regenerative practices to build soil, sequester carbon and grow the tastiest, healthiest fruit, eggs, and honey.
Colby was born and raised in Grand Junction and now lives in Telluride with his family.
Aaron Bielenberg
Aaron is a Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group. He has 20+ years of global experience advising energy and infrastructure investors, operating companies, developers and governments on business strategy, investments, financings, transformations and restructurings. He is a frequent speaker and author on sustainable infrastructure financing topics.
Aaron is a part-time resident who aspires to live in Telluride full-time but currently settles for 4+ months a year.
Jonathan Boatwright
Jonathan Boatwright is the co-founder, co-owner, and Chief Technology Officer of Realty Austin. Realty Austin is the #1 independent real estate firm in Central Texas with a team of 580 top-producing agents who together achieved $6B in sales in 2021. In 2021, Jonathan co-founded Realty San Antonio, based on the same technology and business principles that propelled Realty Austin to the top.
In 2004, after a successful career as an IT professional with Apple, Motorola, and Microsoft, Jonathan set out to leverage his experience to fill a void he saw in the residential real estate industry. Jonathan envisioned a different kind of real estate company, one that embraces the latest technology in order to provide innovative systems for its clients and all aspects of its agents’ businesses.
While Jonathan remains heavily involved in strategic planning, he now resides in Telluride. In his free time, he enjoys wake surfing, sailing, snowboarding, and mountain biking with his three kids, Alyssa, Ashton, and Olivia.
Mariza Brimhall
Mariza Brimhall is a Strategic Solutions Consultant aligned to grow the Strategic Customer base at a Series D funded company, Snapdocs. Previously, she spent over 9 years at Medallia starting when it was a Series B company through IPO. She has worked with clients to design software solutions that tie client strategy to key outcomes.
Her experience includes over 20+ years in software solutioning with strategic clients and over 16 years within Customer Advocacy and Customer Experience. Mariza has a BA in Communication and BS in Management from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from University of Michigan.
Kat Bush
Kat Bush was raised in the precious box canyon town of Telluride, Colorado, and in the rugged Tetons of Jackson, Wyoming. After double majoring in International Studies and Spanish at the University of Wyoming, she moved back to Jackson, Wyoming and worked as a paralegal for 3 years. Her background in business formation, estate planning, and client services, has led her back to her hometown stomping grounds of Telluride to start her own business. In her free time, Kat enjoys mountain biking, skiing, playing with her pups and tackling projects on her off-grid homestead.
Todd Brown
Todd Brown is a dynamic executive experienced in all aspects of Operations and Supply Chain with Sara Lee, Anheuser-Busch, and Coors as well as startups BIOTA Brands and UniquePak. He has formulated and executed strategies aligning mission, operations, products and goals for competitive advantage and improved ROI. He’s turned around under-performing operations enhancing shareholder value and motivated and managed staff to reach shared goals. At ASAP, Todd provides business planning, process improvement, HR assistance, technology adaptation, and other strategic planning for customers.
Todd is very civic-minded and highly involved in the community; he’s served on Town Council, and as a Board Member for Telluride Historical Museum, Telluride Theatre, Telluride Arts, EcoAction Partners, the San Miguel Watershed Coalition, and others.
Christina Casas
Christina Casas is an entrepreneur who started her own luxury vacation rental company in Telluride in 2001, she grew the business from 2 condos to 120 luxury homes in Telluride and beyond. Christina expanded her business internationally to Mexico, Europe and the Caribbean and ultimately sold the majority interest in her company Exceptional Stays Inc. Currently Christina is still involved with Exceptional Stays and is an active board member of the newly formed Nocturne Villas, a vacation rental company with plans to grow the luxury vacation rental market of the brand Exceptional Stays, currently with over 500 properties in the Caribbean.
Christina has a lot of experience with small business’, having had 3 other startups before in the culinary world and retail. Christina has an MBA from I.E.S.E., Spain’s most prestigious business school and is fully bilingual in English/Spanish. Christina grew up between the USA and Spain which offers her a unique ability to move in different cultures as her own. Christina currently resides full time in Telluride and spends the “off season” in Barcelona, she is married to Jeff Katz and has 4 sons, the youngest graduated from THS in 2022. Christina loves to ski, hike, cook and spend time with friends.
Maria Cebrian
Maria is a third-time entrepreneur and a Forbes 1000 honoree. I have 14 years of experience in the digital and wellness industries, and my second company was acquired by Gaia, the world’s biggest conscious media platform. Now, I am set out to build companies that are good for the health of the people and the planet. My current company Terraseed was the first vegan company to be selected by the prestigious accelerator Techstars, and has already been recognized by the Natural Products Industry with a NEXTY award. I am a passionate vegan, a human-first leader and a doer with strong determination and love for life.
Mariana Cevallos
Mariana is the co-founder and CEO of Alluvia, an outdoor company that makes lightweight, packable, inflatable boats for casual paddlers who want to include water sports in their outdoor activities. She has over six years of sales and marketing experience ranging from managing sales funnels and building strong customer relationships to creating digital marketing strategies and content. Born and raised in Lima, Peru, she’s been involved with Latino community since her arrival to the US and was chosen as a Leadership Council Member of the Grand Valley Outdoor Recreation Coalition. She majored in business administration from Universidad del Pacifico, Peru’s most prestigious business school.
Leah Chmielewski
Leah Chmielewski manages a Tech Innovation Independent Research and Development (IRAD) portfolio for a large aerospace company in addition to operating a private consulting business. Leveraging her decade-long career as a federal employee for the Department of Defense she has helped win over $40M in government contracts. Leah’s experience includes research and development, strategy, and business development. She assists clients mainly through lead generation, competitive analysis, strategy, and proposal development to help them win contracts or SBIR/STTR grants. She also helps startups through Colorado’s Small Business Development Center Tech Source accelerators
Leah has recently relocated to Southwest Colorado just outside of Telluride, CO, and is enjoying the active outdoor lifestyle. She is also a Board Member of Michigan Ross School of Business Alumni Club Denver, fire department volunteer, fluent German speaker, and loves making connections – whether ideas, people, companies, opportunities, or ways forward.
Dana Conneally
Dana Conneally is an attorney, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Evidox, a Boston based technology enabled legal services provider. Prior to its acquisition in 2018, Dana served Evidox as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer where he was responsible for identifying developing technologies that could be utilized to mitigate risk, increase productivity, and reduce costs related to professional services and SaaS based revenue streams. Dana’s strengths include strategic planning, talent management, building strong customer relationships, and helping small businesses move beyond the founding team.
Dana, and his family, found Telluride in 2019. While they still spend summers on Squam Lake in New Hampshire, they made the box canyon their home in the Fall of 2022.
Tom Cooper
Tom is a retired executive with over 35 years of experience in the technology industry. Tom held senior worldwide roles at SAP, Oracle, i2 Technologies, and Data General. Tom held leadership roles with Proofpoint, JBoss, EXE Technologies, Talari Networks, Docker, and Hortonworks which led to successful public offerings and company sales.
Tom started New Horizons of North Texas which provides after-school education for at-risk children in the Dallas Ft. Worth area. Tom has been a Big Brother for over the last 20 years and participated in various board roles with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Tom is currently part of the CASA program for foster children. Tom has served on various non-profit boards including Rebuild Together, Camp El Har, and Little Big Shot.
Tom holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a Minor in Marketing from Southwest Missouri State University.
Brian Dally
Brian is a co-founder and director of Groundfloor and serves as the CEO. He is responsible for setting long term direction and goals for the company, executive management, financing, and strategic partnerships.
Brian’s 20-year career building disruptive technology startups spans stints in Silicon Valley, Boston, London and the North Carolina Triangle region prior to moving Groundfloor to Atlanta in 2014. Previously, he led the launch of Republic Wireless to take on the big four cellphone carriers to international acclaim. As a result, millions more Americans can now afford a smartphone.
Brian has a JD from Harvard Law School, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia.
Peter Dodge
Peter Dodge is the founder and Chief Performance Officer of Hanover Research. Hanover is a global information services firm providing knowledge support to more than 1,100 for-profit and non-profit organizations. Through our unique, fixed-cost model, we provide customized, timely, and authoritative research and advice that enables our clients to make informed decisions, identify and seize opportunities, and heighten their effectiveness.
Matt Ellis
Matt Ellis is the Founder and CEO of Measurabl, the world’s most widely adopted ESG software for commercial real estate. Over 11 billion square feet valued in excess of USD $2 trillion across more than 80 countries measures, manages and discloses ESG performance using Measurabl, resulting in superior returns for investors and a more sustainable built word for all. Before Measurabl, Matt spent 5 years with CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate services company, where he led its Sustainability Practice Group, implemented the company’s industry-first global carbon neutrality program, and served as the first Director of Sustainability Solutions and youngest member of its Global Sustainability Advisory Committee.
Matt has expertise in ESG, Institutional, and corporate real estate, green building, and proptech. He is an Aspen Institute Fellow, New Leaders Council Fellow was named a “Top 50” real estate executive by the Real Estate Forum in 2017 and a “40 under 40” alumni by UC San Diego in 2020.
Tom Fatur
Tom Fatur was the co-founder and president of Martel Electronics Corporation. Martel was founded in 1987 and over the years grew to become one of the world’s leading providers of portable calibration instrumentation for industrial applications. Martel was recognized as one of the largest private companies in NH with sales and service in over 60 countries. In late 2011 Martel acquired by Fluke (A Danaher Company) and for the next several years Tom remained as president completing the integration of the Martel into Danaher. After a successful exit from Martel Tom became active in both angel and private equity investments.
Tom is an active LP in two private equity firms and also serves as a board member to several companies in the technology space. As an early-stage investor he has helped to fund a number of start-up companies. Tom is part of the Telluride Venture Network where he acts as a mentor to local startup companies. He is open to all investment types but has a particular interest in working with instrumentation, biotech and electronics focused businesses.
Tom holds a BSEE from the University of Pittsburgh and in his spare time enjoys skiing, and for many years raced sports cars, both at the amateur and professional levels. His primary residence is in NH with his wife, Joanne and daughter Ashely, but also spends a good deal of time at their home in Telluride, CO.
Juan Luis Fenollera
Juan Luis Fenollera began his career as an entrepreneur, developing and growing Baquise, a food delivery company in Madrid. After two years, the business was acquired by an international French company. Juan spent the next 15 years as a financial controller for a holding company working for businesses across a wide variety of sectors. A decade ago, he made the decision to make a life change and pivoted to focus on coaching in the health and wellness industry. His passion for fitness and exercise led him to become a five-time ultra runner and triathlete. Juan now resides in Telluride where he mentors aspiring Latinx entrepreneurs and works as a paraprofessional at TIS. He spends his free time with his wife and three daughters, skiing, hiking, climbing, and canoeing.
Jere Friedman
Jere Friedman, J.D., M.A., CMMI, is an Employee of the Universe – with full benefits! As an attorney with Weiss Brown, PLLC based in Scottsdale, Arizona, Jere’s practice focuses on business transactions, with particular expertise in private placement equity financings, mergers and acquisitions, start-ups and venture capital transactions, equity-based compensation, and the myriad of other legal and business challenges and opportunities that large, medium, and small businesses encounter on a regular basis.
Jere also holds a Masters’ degree in Spiritual Psychology and uses those skills as a Soul Centered Coach. In addition, Jere is a master player of the gongs and a Certified Meditation and Mindfulness Instructor. At this stage in his journey, Jere’s life work is to contribute to the evolution of consciousness on Planet Earth by supporting others in finding their own way to joy, fulfillment, and inner peace. Jere and his wife live in Grand Junction, Colorado, where they enjoy time with their children and grandchildren, hiking, and exploring the wonders of Western Colorado.
Michael Gibson
Michael Gibson is co-founder of the 1517 Fund, a venture capital fund investing in teams led by dropouts, the uncredentialed, and renegade scientists. Previously he was vice president for grants at the Thiel Foundation and a principal at Thiel Capital, where he helped launch and run the Thiel Fellowship. He has written on innovation and technology for MIT’s Technology Review, the Atlantic, National Review, and City Journal. His book, Paper Belt on Fire, will be published in October 2022.
Courtney Groves
A remote tech job and a love for skiing brought Courtney Groves to Telluride, but her passion for the preservation and flourishing of our beloved county will keep her here.
Courtney has spent her career building client partnerships in tech companies of all stages and sizes. She has worked in many functions within sales and customer success, managing relationships with clients such as Google, Goldman Sachs, Visa, and others. Through her work in the tech industry, she has developed a unique ability to understand others’ challenges and motivate people to invest in change.
Passionate about having an impact locally, Courtney recently joined the Telluride Foundation to translate her business experience into donor engagement work.
Martin Girard
Martin Girard co-founded DH Instruments, a test and measurement company at the age of 25. The company became the world leader in high end pressure calibration and was acquired by Fluke (Danaher) in 2007 where Martin stayed on to become General Manager of the $180M Calibration division. Martin’s strengths lie in strategic planning, sales and marketing, international business development, product planning, and talent management. He has led several successful acquisitions and integrations, is a strong adherent of lean principles, and is a trained practitioner of the Danaher Business System (DBS) to drive superior business performance.
Martin is currently an investor and consultant, including working with his daughter in a completely new field, baked goods. He spends most of his time in Telluride aiming to ski at least 100 days per year. You can catch him first chair at Oak most days January through close.
Trey Hatcher
Trey is a growth-oriented equity investor focused on the energy, infrastructure, and environmental sectors, having served in a variety of roles in private equity, investment banking, and private equity-backed start-ups. Trey is currently Vice President at Tailwater Capital, a Dallas-based private equity firm with $3.7 billion in committed capital, where he is responsible for evaluating, executing, and monitoring the firm’s investments. Prior to joining Tailwater, Trey was a Vice President at LM Energy Partners, a private equity-backed start-up company, and an Associate at NGP Energy Capital Management, an energy private equity firm with over $20 billion in committed capital. Trey began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan and graduated from Washington and Lee University with a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration. Trey enjoys exploring Telluride with his wife and dogs, playing tennis, and spending as little time as possible in Texas during the summer.
Bob Hennessy
Creative, fun, light hearted. Strong interpersonal skills. One on one motivator. Let’s talk ‘big picture’. The glass is half full. Serial Entrepreneur. Founded, built, managed, sold, three profitable businesses in various industries (Internet/Reclaimed Lumber/International Shipping). Bob is a twenty-year resident of Telluride and in search of his next, great adventure.
Simon Jeacock
Simon Jeacock is a seasoned tech executive with extensive international experience. Simon began his career in the UK in software sales and quickly distinguished himself as the go-to person to drive business development. In 1995, he joined supply chain software startup, i2, as the first UK sales employee and built out the sales organization in the UK and Europe. In six years, revenue grew from $9M to $1B. Relocating to the US, Simon worked for SAP before joining a second startup, PeopleAnswers in 2009. The intelligent software solution that helps companies maximize employee performance while minimizing employee turnover was acquired by Info in 2014. Simon now works for Oracle and spends his free time with family and friends, hiking, biking and watching live music in Telluride.
Carol Keogh
Carol Keough was President & CEO of ESI Ergonomic Solutions for 18 years before a strategic sale at the end of 2017. She and her husband, John Keogh, led their company to high growth as ESI became a leader in ergonomic work tools, enhancing productivity and wellness.
During her time with their company, Carol built and managed a sales channel of 125 representatives that produced record revenues calling on 1,600 dealers in North America. Sales, marketing, and product development were her passionate focus. Carol was previously a Board of Director of the Business Institution Furniture Manufacturer Association (BIFMA) for eight years and served her time with the top leaders in the office furniture industry. She has also devoted time in several other industry related groups and charitable organizations.
Currently, she is on the board of The Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC), while staying involved with her past industry associates through corporate consulting. She is a proud mother of two daughters and splits her time between Telluride and Paradise Valley, AZ.
Tom Kingzett
Tom Kingzett’’s education and post-graduate experience were in biochemistry and biotechnology. He worked in semiconductor electronics, managing research and development, along with facility operations and manufacturing. He has managed international business and supply chain partnerships with firms throughout Asia. He has managed startup companies and has Board of Director experience in the semiconductor sector. He is currently a Partner in a tree farm and rural real estate venture in the Pacific Northwest. Tom and his wife Gloria have been visiting Telluride since 1972 and are part-time residents there.
Lucy Maher
Lucy Maher has two decades of journalism experience working for publications including Forbers, Ladies’ Home Journal, and People. Lucy has held director roles where she was responsible for directing editorial content, ensuring product strategies alleged with brand objectives and managing teams of editors and freelancers. She also developed social media strategies across multiple platforms. Today, Lucy is self-employed as a branded content and social media strategist. She and her husband Tom split time between New York and Telluride.
Kristin Marcus
Kristin is the former Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director at Highfields Capital Management LP, a Boston-based value-oriented investment management firm that managed over $12 billion in assets for endowments, foundations, pension funds, and other institutional and private investors. She was employed by the firm when it was founded in 1998 and was in the role of CFO from 2007 until 2018.
Prior to joining Highfields Capital, Ms. Marcus was employed at Evare L.L.C. as a project manager and at Harvard Management Company where she worked as a senior trading analyst and as a foreign
operations supervisor.
She currently serves as a member of the Finance Committee at Compass Working Capital, a Boston nonprofit organization, and previously served as a member of its Board of Directors. She also is currently a member of the Portfolio Advisory Committee at The GreenLight Fund, Boston; and she is a member of the Finance Committee for CityYear Greater Boston.
Ms. Marcus received a B.B.A. from George Washington University in 1990 and an M.B.A. from Suffolk University.
Scott Miller
Scott Miller is a seasoned financial consultant who has performed a full range of CFO and accounting management duties for over 150 companies ranging in annual revenues from $1 to $500 million. He works directly with business owners and CEOs to strategize and identify business trends. He has performed major financial turnarounds resulting in decreased expenses and increased efficiencies of client operations, and personally managed over $750 million in cash flow. Scott is a hands-on professional that intimately and thoroughly understands how to maximize financial efficiency and control, with demonstrated results.
Scott lives in Telluride and loves to spend time outdoors, is an avid skier, and enjoys his role as husband and father of five children.
Brian Minnehan
Brian Minnehan has over 25 years of experience in finance, including over 17 years investing in the natural resources sector, most recently as a Partner with NGP Energy Capital Management, a private equity fund with $20+ billion of cumulative equity commitments. His breadth of expertise spans investment/capital allocation, board leadership, executive compensation, growth initiatives, and raising capital/capital markets. During his 13-year tenure with NGP, Brian was a member of the investment committee that allocated $11+ billion across 90 portfolio companies and was appointed the lead director for 12 of them, including three public companies. Earlier in his career, Brian worked in debt capital markets at Prudential Capital Group, investment banking at Rothschild in NYC, and corporate restructuring services at Arthur Andersen in Dallas, Bangkok, and Seoul. Brian holds a BBA and an MPA in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin where he was a Sommerfeld Scholar, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He and his wife and their three children live full-time in Telluride where they enjoy spending time in the mountains and surfing when they get the chance.
Scott Pearson
Scott Pearson has a long career in both business and public service. Mr. Pearson is the former Vice President for Corporate Development at AOL, where he was responsible for acquisitions and strategic planning, and a former management consultant at Bain and Company, where he provided strategic and operating consulting services to clients in education, healthcare, media, and aviation.
Mr. Pearson has served in three presidential administrations. For President Clinton and the first President Bush he was a trade negotiator, with a focus on Europe and the Middle East. For President Obama he served in the Department of Education, managing federal charter school programs. He recently led the DC Public Charter School Board, where he oversaw 120 public schools serving 44,000 students.
Mr. Pearson currently serves on several financial, healthcare and non-profit boards.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Wesleyan University, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School.
Mitchell Portnoy
Mitchell Portnoy has nearly 40 years of experience in a myriad of business ventures and can borrow concepts and theories from diverse disciplines and apply them to new opportunities.
He was most recently a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University and advisor/mentor to several Silicon Valley startups in stealth mode. He has consulted with leading data mining and knowledge creation companies and has served as a patent expert during his time in Northern California.
Mitchell was Co-Founder and President of Symmetry Health Data Systems which created the Episode Treatment Group (ETG) family of healthcare data integration and measurement tools (of which Portnoy was the co-inventor). Symmetry was acquired by United Healthcare. Additionally, Mr. Portnoy was co-founder of the pharmaceutical intelligence company Pharmetrics that created the largest non-payer owned integrated claims database of commercial insurers in the world. Pharmetrics was acquired by IMS Health in 2005.
Mitchell Portnoy earned his Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Health Services Administration from Yale University and his Bachelor degree from the University of Michigan. He is a published author and speaker.
Liliana Racine
Liliana Racine is a thoughtful leader with 15+ years of experience in customer success, management consulting, learning & development, and talent acquisition. She currently leads a team of 30+ Customer Success Managers at LinkedIn that focus on Talent Solutions for Mid-sized companies. Previously, she worked at American Express for 7 years and McKinsey for 5 years. She understands the B2B space well, how to scale SaaS solutions, and how to motivate employees to achieve specific goals.
Liliana is originally from Mexico City and is passionate about helping LatinX entrepreneurs succeed in the United States. She lives in Telluride with her husband and son. Liliana loves to ski in the winter, explore different hiking trails in the summer, and enjoy all the Telluride festivals.
Steven Raymund
Steven A. (Steve) Raymund founded and spent his entire career at Tech Data, a Fortune 100 distributor of high-tech products from leading suppliers such as HP, Cisco, and Apple, with operations worldwide.
Steve retired as Chairman of the Board in June 2017, after serving the company for 36 years in multiple roles – 26 of those years as Chairman and 20 as CEO. During Steve’s tenure, Tech Data’s revenues grew from $2 million in 1981 to some $21 billion in 2006. Steve is currently a director of Jabil, Inc. (since 1996 and serves as lead independent director) and WESCO International, Inc. (since 2006 and serves as audit committee chair). Additionally, Steve is a member of the board of trustees of The Dali Museum in St Petersburg, Florida and serves as board chair of Gulf Coast Cares, Inc., a 501(c)(3) supporting organization of Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services in Clearwater, Florida. Steve earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Oregon and a master’s degree from the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He currently divides his time between St Pete Beach, Florida and Telluride, Colorado.
Helen Conaghan Renninger
Helen Conaghan Renninger is a company builder, investor, and advisor. Helen was an early employee at Uber — the fastest-growing consumer company of the last decade — working across multiple functions and geographies. She launched markets, led growth initiatives, strategic operations across dozens of markets & teams, policy efforts, and managed company-wide programs, such as rider & driver safety. She then co-founded a marketplace app, raising $2M in VC. After that, she spent some time at YouTube/Google to help them with their global policy partnerships strategy.
Now she consults & invests in other entrepreneurs with big ideas for causes she believes will make the world better. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two sons.
Julian Scurci
Julian Scurci is an investment professional with broad experience in investment analysis, acquisition analysis, trading, deal sourcing, asset management, credit analysis, structuring deals, negotiation, business development, and capital raising. He is an experienced leader that has successfully built organizations from the ground up, exceeded objectives and managed growth. He is currently a managing partner and COO of Corona Associates Capital Management in San Francisco. Additionally, he owns and manages a short term vacation rental portfolio in the Caribbean.
Fred Sherman
Fred Sherman brings more than 20 years of senior management experience in nonprofit management and more than 36 years of business experience. He is the Chief Operating Officer of CLASP, and serves on the board of directors for Advocates for Youth. Previously he served on the boards of Capital City Public Charter School, Mount Pleasant Main Street, and the American Council on Exercise (ACE). He has held senior leadership positions for several other nonprofit organizations including BoardSource and the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and Leadership Institute. Prior to working in the nonprofit sector, Fred spent more than 15 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he last served as director of global tax technology. Fred holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from The University of Texas at Austin and is a CPA/CGMA.
Morgan Smith
Morgan Smith is an attorney and president of a legal services company he founded in 2011, Cogent Legal, which specializes in creating trial graphics and conducting mock trials for litigation teams handling high-value cases nationwide. Morgan launched this startup to combine his legal expertise with his interests in visual communication, graphic design, art, and technology. More recently, he started a separate business called California Hearing Officers that provides attorneys to act as hearing officers at administrative hearings. The combined companies have grown to 30 employees with annual gross revenues near $4 million. Previously Morgan worked for 17 years as a trial attorney and co-founded a successful litigation firm in San Francisco that tried and settled numerous multimillion-dollar cases.
Morgan has been coming to Telluride since the mid-1980s when he first started dating his wife because her family roots run deep here. Morgan and his family moved to Telluride in 2016, and he began working remotely full-time in 2019. He, therefore, has firsthand knowledge of the challenges and rewards of running a business from home. Morgan is active in Telluride Rotary and leads the Rotary Club’s foundation. He also spends time skiing, hiking, caring for and riding his two horses, and raising chickens.
Todd Stockard
Todd Stockard is a healthcare industry executive with over 35 years of experience. Todd was the co-founder, President and COO of Valence Health. Valence was a tech enabled services company supporting provider based risk organizations across the country. The company grew organically from 1996 to 2012, when they raised $30m in private equity. Another $30m was raised in 2014. Valence was ultimately sold to Evolent Health (EVH) in 2016. Todd oversaw the growth of the company from 150 employees to over 1,500 during this time period. He is currently working on another healthcare tech startup with a number of physician colleagues. Todd and his wife split time between Chicago and Telluride.
Bruce Taten
Bruce Taten is a trusted advisor to Boards of Directors and business leaders. As a practicing attorney and former CPA, Bruce has spent his career partnering with Boards of Directors and executives providing solutions for company initiatives. His deep experience in transactional, litigation, governance and compliance matters was honed over two decades as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for several NYSE-listed energy, manufacturing, and distribution companies, including Cooper Industries and Nabors Industries.
Bruce currently focuses on corporate board service and consulting with companies on their compliance programs and corporate governance issues, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) matters. Bruce currently serves on the Board of Directors for Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNW) and Jeld-Wen Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: JELD). Mr. Taten served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Cooper Industries, plc from 2008 until its merger with Eaton Corporation in October 2012. Previously, Mr. Taten was Vice President and General Counsel at Nabors Industries from 2003 until 2008 and earlier practiced law with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP. Before attending law school, he practiced as a C.P.A. with Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co., which is now KPMG, in New York. Mr. Taten currently is admitted to practice law in the states of Texas and New York. Mr. Taten earned his ESG FSA Credential from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) in 2020. Mr. Taten holds a B.S. and Masters degree from Georgetown University and a J.D. from Vanderbilt University.
Board Members
