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Select council of 25 business leaders with the Verizon Business executive team todiscuss industry challenges and share ideas that can improve business outcomes.

Merrick Ventures LLC is a PE investment company based in Florida focused on technology companies. Merrick Ventures was founded by Michael Ferro in 2007 after selling one of the companies he founded, Click Commerce, for $292M. One of the notable investments was Merge Healthcare, acquired by IBM for $1B in 2015.

Lead vision, planning and execution of fundraising activities at a leading incubator in the Chicago area.Activities include building the investment books for Ygomi and each operating company, completing the valuation Analysis for each business, creating Investment offers and pitches, and managing the investor and due diligence process.

o Led strategy and business development effort to build ecosystem program that enabled a portfolio of devices to be offered with BPN’s solution: Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, E28, Counterpath, Kapanga, mobile devices using Microsoft’s Pocket PC and Smartphone platforms.oInfluenced redirection of company’s focus towards MobileSTICK – offering a solution to mobile operators to deliver services seamlessly between PC and mobile phone, to drive adoption and usage of mobile portal, and to provide beachhead for mobile operators’ “Web 2.0” search and advertising initiatives.o Led creation of partner program to enable resellers of BPN’s solution to operators. Drove efforts directly on following accounts and closed first reseller of solution: Verisign, Nokia Siemens Networks, and Ericsson.o Led training of reseller channels and ecosystem partners to sell MobileSTICK solution to operators. Led direct operator sales efforts at several tier one operators

Responsible for all marketing activities including strategic marketing, product mgmt, channel marketing, pre-sales, mkt research, and corporate communications. Role reports to EVP Sales and dotted line reports to President and CEO. - Own development and leadership of 3G product line business plan to top 10 handset suppliers- Create value proposition and product roadmap for PrairieComm's FronTier reference phone platform to enable ODMs to supply turnkey products to their handset vendors- Lead business relationships and accountable for value creation with 100s of industry partners (e.g. operators, ODMs, infr suppliers, sales agents, complimentary HW and SW partners) other than OEMs- Lead ODM channel marketing and pre-sales and support OEM channel marketing and pre-sales. Achieved company goals of signing two ODM customers in 6 months - Work in partnership with CTO to identify cornerstone partners and lead negotiation with partners (e.g. Openwave, Packetvideo, IBM) for FronTier platform

Prism is a private equity fund with $50 million under management from a combination of private investment and SBA leverage. Prism invests early-stage information technology, manufacturing, and service businesses.INVESTMENT MANAGER (1999-2000)Responsibilities included assisting president and founder of private equity firm in all activities of starting firm. Position was full time summer internship and continued as part-time internship during the 2nd year of MBA school.- Assisted president in closure of fund raising for initial fund.- Built models to value deals and to analyze the return for limited partners and SBIC.- Screened and completed due diligence for e-commerce and Internet deal flow.- Developed process methodology and sourcing database to manage incoming leads.

Cadence is the largest global supplier of electronic design technologies and services. Cadence solutions are used to accelerate and manage the design of semiconductors, computer systems, networking equipment, etc.INDEPENDENT CORPORATE CONSULTANT (1997-1998)Primary responsibilities included lead for all activities involved in integration planning / execution of companies acquired by Cadence. Role initially reported to the EVP of HR and transitioned after the first six months to report to the CFO. The engagement was an external consulting position that required monthly renewal and lasted 18 months. - Managed team of more than 25 individuals in worldwide M&A integration planning for 5 Cadence acquisitions. - Influenced activities with external facilitator to coordinate discussions and create action plan for M&A process improvement plan to bring efficiencies to process- Led design and creation of M&A methodology for use on Cadence M&A initiatives.

Andersen Consulting (Accenture) is a management consulting and technology services company. Technology Services Americas and Center for Strategic Technology were a core group of advanced technologists within AC.MANAGER – CENTER FOR STRATEGIC TECHNOLOGY (1992-1997)Responsibilities included participation in client engagement sales, strategic technology positioning, and ownership of internal best practices development. - Participated on client executive team to reengineer operations of temp staffing company. Led sales and planning of technology strategy for $50+ million design- Managed over 20 resources in $100 million engagement to support client’s strategy to expand from products business to products and design services business. - Analyzed emerging technologies (e.g. three tier internet architectures) and developed best practice strategies.- Promoted from Analyst to Consultant in 1994 and from Consultant to Manager in 1996.