Ignite Ventures is dedicated to creating new and growing existing organizations, initiatives and programs with an impactful social mission. Part holding company and part start-up launch pad, we launch new socially driven businesses and initiatives as well as come alongside established organizations to help maximize their social impact through improved business, marketing and operational strategies and support.

Pelco by Schneider Electric is a security and video surveillance technologies company with 1000+ employees. Reported to CEO with 35+ direct reports. Recruited to build a growth strategy. RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI):➦ Led successful rebranding and integrated marketing plan propelling brand metrics to all-time highs. This included 37% increase in social media following, 1 million impressions in only 3 months, 3.75M digital impressions annually, ~40 road shows, ~125 trade shows, website redesign [4k+visits per month] and more. ➦ Rebuilt Corporate Marketing Department from the ground up through existing employees, hiring new employees and leveraging third-party service providers for branding, creative and trade event services.➦ Cut trade show operating costs 35% and $210K in annual expenses through reduction of staff, shipping, storage and travel costs, and leveraging 3rd party service provider.➦ Led creation and deployment of successful sales training program to transform from product to customer-centric solutions selling.➦ Spearheaded high-impact strategy for three levels of video management solutions including integration into video management platform that enabled police to perform license plate recognitions, gun-shot originations, human characteristic identifications and more. Contributed to strategic alliances with IBM and Dell to deliver value-added video surveillance solutions and logistics partnerships.

Biocosm was a start-up B2B company founded with a specific mission to create a web-based platform that filled a void in the growing synthetic biology market. Our solution enabled customers to research, test, buy, sell and license the genetic code for synthetic biological parts and systems. KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:➦ Provided a bootstrap fund and negotiated with angel investors and venture capitalists. ➦ Raised product awareness at trade and networking events and focused on demand sensing. ➦ Led the public relations strategy for the firm.➦ Led creation of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for use in the secondary synthetic biology marketplace. ➦ Assembled a powerful C-level Team and Board of Advisors. ➦ Recruited subject matter experts: PhDs, attorneys, synthetic biologists creating key alliances in scientific and technology markets. ➦ Led successful exit of Biocosm with 6x ROI.

Siemens Building Technologies is a $10B+ Fortune 500 global building automation, security and fire safety technology company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with 40,000+ employees. Other Positions held during tenure with Siemens:Director, Life Science Center of Excellence | 2004 – 2009Senior Marketing Manager – Vertical Marketing | 2002 – 2004Senior Marketing Manager – Biotech/Pharmaceutical Markets | 1999 – 2002RETURN ON INVESTMENT [ROI]➦ Designed and executed a Solution Set strategy for the FDA-Regulated Market which represented a change in marketing/sales culture from a product-centric to a solutions-centric focus. One of the cornerstone solutions which focused on security of automated Electronic Records and Signatures garnered $38M in revenue in 18 months following release at 32% gross margin. The success of this solutions strategy fueled its deployment in other vertical markets.➦ Built the Life Science Center of Excellence [CoE] to develop, deploy and maintain a Life Science portfolio, operations standards, education programs and marketing/sales programs for the biotech/pharma, research university, healthcare and government laboratory markets. Grew revenues from $80M to $280M in 4 years increasing gross margin from 27% to 36%. The CoE blueprint strategy was so successful, it was adopted in other markets, garnering several esteemed awards. ➦ Increased number of certified field sales/operations staff on extended Life Science team by 500% (35 to 175 people) and trained group to successfully sell and install life science solutions according to strict regulatory standards.➦ Led initial development of internal infrastructure, solutions, knowledge base and thought-leadership positioning for the Green Building Solutions market. Delivered 20+ Internal Green Workshops and external Thought Leadership Events.➦ Re-launched formal Vertical Marketing Team to focus on core vertical markets and introduce consistency in strategies, processes, targets and goals.

To pursue my interests in socially relevant activities within the companies I have worked for, I served in this role in addition to my primary positions I held at Siemens. In this capacity, I led a multi-disciplinary team to develop and deploy the vision, infrastructure, funding, processes and programming for the sector-wide Diversity and Inclusion initiative in the U.S.RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI):➦ Presented and received approval from C-Level Leaders to fund, develop and deploy proposed initiative resulting in formation of a Diversity/Inclusion Leadership Council and alignment with previously autonomous employee affinity groups.➦ Established funding, governance and procedural models for employee affinity groups to ensure consistency in goals, Diversity/Inclusion Council support and success.➦ Developed programing for 4-pillar Diversity/Inclusion initiatives around employees, suppliers, customers and community.➦ During a successful global launch, garnered 1500+ Diversity/Inclusion Charter signatures electronically over a 7-day period surpassing the original target by 50%.➦ Gained a seat and representation on the Siemens cross-sector Diversity/Inclusion Council.