Mentor Program
The purpose of the mentoring program is to promote the career and personal success of the student participants. It does so by giving the students regular and helpful exposure to distinguished members of our professional community and Board of Governors, leading organizations in the region, and community advocates who believe in developing the next generation of business and community leaders.
The mentoring program was created as an instrument to help guide mentees in their career aspirations. By helping their mentee navigate industries, corporate contacts, and organizational structures, a mentor will build on the student's long-term professional capabilities.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please contact Ron Magnuson, Executive Director, Graduate and Executive Programs.
Meet Our Mentors
Renee Anderson
Dr. Anderson’s professional career in higher education spanned more than three decades. She holds master's and Ph.D. degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a certificate in educational management from Harvard University. Spending more than twenty years as associate dean for graduate education at UNC and 13 years in institutional advancement and development there, her regional and national involvement in educational leadership included graduate education, higher education and institutional advancement consulting, fundraising and training. Concluding with the successful completion of UNC’s $2.4 billion Carolina First Campaign, she retired in 2003 as associate dean of Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School.
Current affiliations include vice chairman, Gaillard Performance Hall Foundation, chair, Campaign Cabinet and co-chair, Gaillard Campaign. She is a member of The University of North Carolina Press Advancement Council and UNC’s Women’s Leadership Council. She is a member of the College of Charleston’s Foundation Board and Campaign Steering Committee, founding member of the Addlestone Library’s Friends of the Library and member of the Board of Governors of the Business School, and board and executive member of the Charleston Horticultural Society.
Billie Attaway
Billie is a lifetime learner, a past member of EO, The Young Presidents Organization and The Chief Executives Organization. Billie has advised many businesses, professionals, and non-profits on growing their organizations. Serving on numerous Boards at the corporate level, state National industry associations, and registered lobbyist at the state and federal levels. Billie also earned the Inc. 500 twice and sold both his businesses for high ROI and one business to a publicly-traded company for the highest multiple of any company that size.
Adam Barrett
Adam has been working for banks and software companies for over 20 years designing innovative solutions for fraud and credit risk that deliver operational efficiency and a delightful customer experience.
He currently works for Oportun, a company certified by the U.S. Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution, whose mission is to provide affordable loans that help people with little or no credit history establish credit and build a better future. As the product manager for fraud, he works with data scientists and software engineers to protect people with machine learning and customer-centric strategies.
Prior to that Adam was director of product management at FICO, responsible for a solution that alerted over 2 million people every day to potential fraud and credit delinquencies, helping them protect their accounts and keep them in good standing.
In his free time, he enjoys paddle boarding, running on the beach with his wife and puppy, and growing vegetables in his home garden.
Andy Berlin
Andy Berlin founded and sold two famous advertising agencies (Goodby Berlin & Silverstein and Berlin Cameron & Partners), which continue to serve some of today’s premier global brands. Andy also headed DDB in New York for Omnicom; was CEO of WPP’s United Creative Agencies group (WPPGY), a worldwide network of more than 60 offices; and was an Associate at Perseus LLC, the Private Equity Firm headed by Frank Pearl in Washington DC. Andy lives in Charleston with his wife Anke and is active as a private investor and managing director of BPG Spirits Management Group.
Gene Blanton
Eugene W. Blanton is the founder and CEO of Landmark Enterprises, Inc. As a location consultant in all facets of real estate, except multifamily and residential, Mr. Blanton draws upon the resources and members of three of the most prestigious international real estate organizations to provide his clients with a highly professional network of professionals in most cities within the United States and many international cities.
Prior to founding Landmark, Mr. Blanton, in his position as assistant director of the Charleston Development Board was an integral participant with the economic development team for the State of South Carolina. As a Naval Officer, retiring as a Commander, after 24 years of Naval Reserve service, Commander Blanton managed Reserve units involved in communications intelligence and communications security.
Mr. Blanton has a Master of Business Administration from Southern Illinois University, a bachelor’s degree in geology from the University of South Carolina and attended the College of Charleston for two years.
Jim Bruyette
Jim Bruyette is a CPA and a Certified Financial Planner with more than 40 years of experience in the Public Accounting and Wealth Management fields. During his career, Jim participated in external audits of Fortune 500 corporations, founded a Registered Investment Adviser that grew to manage $5B, ran the business as it grew to 70 employees, led the effort to purchase several privately held RIAs, advised hundreds of wealthy clients on all aspects of their wealth planning, spoken at dozens of industry conferences, and participated in the sale of his business on two different occasions. Let’s start at the beginning.
Jim began his career in 1977 with Duke Power CO (now Duke Energy) as a staff accountant in Charlotte NC, and in 1982 moved to Washington DC to join the audit and tax staff at Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young – Jim is dating himself even mentioning these names!). After several years spent learning the inner financial workings of a diverse group of clients including hospitals, insurance companies, defense contractors and trade associations, Jim made the decision to take the CFP exam and enter the Wealth Management field.
In 1991, Jim founded Sullivan, Bruyette, Speros & Blayney (SBSB), which became one of the earliest adopters of the fee-only model of providing comprehensive financial planning, tax preparation, and portfolio management services to wealthy individuals. The business became a success almost immediately, and by 2003, had grown to >$1B in assets under management.
In 2003, SBSB was sold to the Bank of Montreal, one of the largest banks in Canada, and for 13 years operated as a subsidiary of the parent company BMO. The firm operated successfully under this model and by 2015 had grown to $2.8B in assets under management.
In 2015, Jim and 4 other key employees of SBSB made the decision to take SBSB private again, and together they engineered a transaction to repurchase the firm from BMO in 2016. This transaction had a very positive impact on the firm’s culture and growth rate, and by 2020 SBSB had grown to 70 employees, 21 employees/owners, and more than $5B in assets under management.
In April of 2016, SBSB was acquired by Creative Planning in Kansas City Kansas, one of the largest privately held RIAs in America, and Jim is currently overseeing the transition of the business to the new firm while looking for the next challenge in his life.
Johnathan Capps
Johnathan Capps oversees the internal and external revenue management strategies, working to establish new profitability enhancement methods for Charlestowne Hotels and each of the brand’s managed properties. Offering extensive knowledge in corporate revenue development, Capps examines and researches new processes and software that optimize the company’s customized revenue management systems.
On the property level, Capps assists in strategizing areas to increase revenue for each hotel and consistently assesses the revenue efforts of targeted campaigns and initiatives. He works with each property team to coordinate packages, promotions and e-blasts with the goal of augmenting revenue production. With a tailored approach for meeting each property’s specific needs, the integration of revenue management within specific operations channels is a key component to client success and one of Charlestowne Hotels’ strongest differentiators.
Most recently, Capps was director of revenue at Wild Dunes Resort. He joined Charlestowne Hotels in 2010 as corporate revenue manager and later grew to director of marketing. Prior to joining the Charlestowne team, he received experience in hotel development with a Florida-based management company and through his work at Hampton Inn & Suites in Myrtle Beach, SC. Capps received a degree in hospitality and tourism management from the College of Charleston and currently serves as an adviser for the college’s hospitality revenue management MBA program.
Alexis Carrico
Alexis Carrico joined the College of Charleston School of Business as an instructor for the Department of Management and Marketing in the fall of 2017. Prior to teaching, Carrico worked for global corporation Nike, Inc. as an emerging markets program director. She also served as the supply chain process manager for Masisa, Inc.
Alexis uses her general management, international business, supply chain, sustainability, analytics and finance background to bring business-world insights to the classroom.
No stranger to the CofC classroom, Professor Carrico is an alumna of the College, receiving her undergraduate degrees in international business and Spanish. She also holds an MBA in international business and diplomacy from Georgetown University.
Sarah Castle
Sarah Castle is an executive at Amazon where she's worked for 14 years. Her background includes a variety of roles including mergers & acquisitions, digital devices, Amazon Alexa voice technology, digital and print books, and human resources. She’s a builder and thrives in early-stage environments focused on new products/technology. She has a knack for transforming teams into high-performing organizations and growing them to scale. She gets energy from developing leaders and strong succession plans. Prior to Amazon, Sarah worked for General Electric. She has a Master’s from Cornell University and a Bachelor’s from Syracuse University.
Geoff Cipkala
LHG founder, Geoff Cipkala, is a hospitality operations and development professional. Beginning his hospitality career in a part-time college job in Washington, DC, he has learned and mastered the skills of hotel sales, marketing and operations. From working the desk, night audit, cleaning rooms, managing hotels, and then multiple properties, Geoff has done it all first-hand and has a unique appreciation for both the employee and ownership.
Over his career, he has directed multiple renovations and conversions. This experience has enabled him to become very knowledgeable with all the major hotel brands, even serving on some brands’ marketing and owners’ councils.
In short, Geoff knows the hospitality business at all levels, from hourly employees to managers, hotel owners to brands, and hospitality vendors to contractors. Ultimately, Geoff understands that success is determined by the guest’s satisfaction and the owner’s bottom line.
Geoff’s broad knowledge and core philosophy of becoming personally involved in every aspect of asset partnership have resulted in LHG being highly rated by its clients. His personal touch with budgeting, operations and on-site presence provides you and your property with some of the most qualified and most diverse experience in the industry.
Melissa Cliett Levesque
For over two decades, Ms. Levesque has been a leader in the nonprofit, financial and grantmaking sectors known for her strategic vision, mastery of technical gift planning, and ability to motivate and lead successful teams to top-caliber performance. She currently serves as the vice president of development and stewardship at the Coastal Community Foundation of SC in Charleston, a $280M community foundation serving the 9-county coastal South Carolina region. In less than 2 years with the Foundation, she has led a team that increased the percentage of current donors contributing to their charitable funds by over 20% and achieved overall new contributions in excess of $50M, including a 7-figure gift that allowed for the acquisition of CCF's first permanent home.
Ms. Levesque's steadfast commitment to assisting donors accomplish their philanthropic objectives has been the consistent theme she has applied throughout her career. She has been a speaker at numerous national and regional industry conferences for such organizations and Blackbaud, Council on Foundations, Association of Fundraising Professionals, AdNet, Investment Management Consultants Association, National Association of Gift Planners and others. Additionally, she has been interviewed by media outlets on philanthropy by such publications as Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Investment Advisor Magazine, and Charleston's Post & Courier. She is currently a board member of the South Carolina Planned Giving Council.
Ms. Levesque received her Bachelor of Arts in history from Queens University of Charlotte and her Juris Doctor and master’s degrees from the University of Georgia.
Garth Cook
Garth Cook has been the BSC education relations leader since August 2010. In this role, he oversees the site’s integrated education strategy, ensuring alignment between our Site, K-12 and higher education partners throughout South Carolina.
Garth joined the Boeing South Carolina team in August 2008 as director of quality, mid-body assembly and integration for Boeing South Carolina. Prior to moving to South Carolina, Garth served as a senior leader of manufacturing in Boeing Commercial Airplanes Operations in Auburn, Washington from August 2004 to August 2008.
Garth has previously held positions throughout the Boeing Commercial Airplane value stream in his 25-year career, ranging from detail part fabrication to final assembly, customer delivery, and post-production maintenance, repair and overhaul for 737/757 single-aisle programs.
Garth is Boeing’s executive focal delegate to the College of Charleston and serves on their School of Business Board of Governors, Executive Committee. He also serves as an adjunct professor teaching business courses and is an Executive in Residence to Charleston Southern University.
In 2011, Garth received a Distinguished Flight Award for helping redesign the new employee orientation process, deemed an enterprise-wide “best practice.”
Garth holds a Bachelor of Science and master’s degree in business administration from City University in Seattle and a doctorate in educational leadership from Seattle University and has served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Mark Cowan
Mark Cowan is the founder and chief executive officer of Potomac International Partners, and also is the and CEO of Cowan Strategies, having founded the firm in 2013. Mr. Cowan has more than 35 years of experience working on complex domestic and international public policy issues as counsel for a broad range of clients. He advises corporations, government entities, and foreign sovereigns on a wide array of business, regulatory, and trade issues.
Mr. Cowan held presidential appointments in three administrations. During the first Reagan administration, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health until his appointment as Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Secretary of Labor in 1982. Later, President George H.W. Bush appointed him as a Commissioner on the National Commission on Employment Policy. More recently, President George W. Bush appointed him as a Member of the President’s Council on the 21st Century Work Force. Mr. Cowan recently served as a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team.
Sam Dolinsky
Sam Dolinsky is president of Field Place Consulting, LLC, an outgrowth of his lifetime experience in enabling organizations and their leadership to optimize their human capital. Sam has more than 35 years of experience in human resource development, serving most recently as the VP of leadership and organization development for the Eaton Corporation. His role was responsible for executive development, succession planning, organization development, performance management practices, and Eaton’s Corporate University accountable for the design, development and deployment of training and education on a global scale. He holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the City College of New York and an MBA from the Baruch School of the City University of New York. Sam has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Cleveland Institute of Art, Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management’s Executive Advisory Board and the Education Council for MAGNET of NE Ohio.
Jerry Estenson
During more than 30 years in management, Jerry D. Estenson served as chief executive officer of two private corporations and chief administrative and operations officer of a public agency. Dr. Estenson consults extensively in the United States, Europe and Asia.
His private clients have included: Aerojet, China Tobacco, Changan/Ford Motor Company, Coopervision, Raley’s and Sutter Health. In the public sector, his list of past and current clients include County of Los Angeles, United States Army Corps of Engineers, State of California Franchise Tax Board, State of California Department of Corrections, California Department of Transportation, Sacramento Regional Transit District, and Alameda Contra Costa Transit. In addition, he has conducted research for the Chairman of Joint Chief of Staff and Commander in Chief of the United States Special Operations Command.
Since 1980, he has taught organizational behavior and management for the University of Southern California, University of California, Davis, St. Mary’s College of California, and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. He is currently a professor at California State University, Sacramento College of Business and has been a visiting professor at Nankai University, Tianjin, China, Bosporus University, Istanbul, Turkey and Far Eastern State University, Vladivostok, Russia. Off campus, he is actively engaged in the development and delivery of senior executive leadership development programs for international firms and is conducting research related to leadership behaviors of exemplary senior executives in business, government, and the military. In addition, he engages in selective executive coaching assignments. Recent coachees included a CEO of $1.2 billion dollar contact lens company and in an $11 billion dollar health care system he has coached the Senior Vice President for Shared Services, Chief Information Officer, Chief Operating Officer, IT Division, Regional Presidents, Chief Legal Counsel, Senior Physician Leaders and Vice Presidents in various operating units.
Dr. Estenson received his B.S. in economics from the University of San Francisco. He holds an MBA from Portland State University, Oregon and a master’s and Doctorate degree in public administration from the University of Southern California. He served in the United States Army Special Forces as a Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officer.
Stephanie Fauvelle
Stephanie Fauvelle is an enterprise account executive at Gong, the leading revenue intelligence platform on the market today. She was born and raised in Charleston and has worked for some of the most competitive SaaS companies both in the United States and in Europe, where she was consistently a top performer. Although she majored in Spanish at the College of Charleston, she found her way into tech sales and never looked back. She is fluent in French and Spanish and studied Arabic at Georgetown. Before finding her way into sales, she was a high school math teacher in one of DC's toughest schools, and her love of educating is what makes her so passionate about consultative selling. In her spare time, she likes to volunteer with animal rescues and train for marathons.
Mike Ferrer
Mike Ferrer, CCIM, MCR has over fifteen years of experience in real estate with a focus on industrial warehouses, manufacturing, office buildings, vacant land, and commercial buildings. He has earned the prestigious CCIM and MCR designations, providing Mike the expertise required to deal with the highest and most complex real estate transactions and commercial real estate investments. Mike has close ties to the local community as well as state-wide and throughout the southeast. His experience with commercial real estate, especially with industrial users related to Boeing and the SC Ports Authority, provides him with cutting-edge best practices and top-of-the-line techniques to deliver world-class results for his clients.
Frank Frazier
Frank Frazier has worked in the financial services industry since 1981 and joined Merrill Lynch in 1999. He focuses on developing strategies and recommendations for individuals, their families and their business to help them meet their short-and long-term financial goals. He attended the University of Maryland where he studied business and he holds the Series 3, 7, 8, 63 & 65 FINRA Registrations and Life Insurance & Annuity Licenses. Additionally, Frank has obtained the Chartered Retirement Planning CounselorSM (CRPC®) designation. Frank is active in several charities, including Wounded Warrior, Habitat for Humanity & Dragon Boat Charleston.
Georgia French
Georgia French is Senior Vice President – Wealth Management at UBS. In her more than 25 years of financial services experience, Georgia has been a financial advisor, branch manager, complex manager and national sales manager. Prior to joining UBS in 2015, she spent 14 years with BB&T Scott & Stringfellow. Georgia holds a bachelor’s degree in international business from Simmons College in Boston, MA. She earned the Certified Financial Planner designation from the College of Charleston in 2002. Georgia was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and is fluent in Spanish and French. In addition to being very active with the South Carolina Catholic Diocese, Georgia is an Executive Council Member of Ellevate, a professional network focused on the economic engagement of women worldwide.
Jim Furnivall
Jim Furnivall retired in September 2016 after 20 years in venture capital/private equity. Most recently, he founded and was a managing partner of Alterna Capital Partners. Alterna manages more than $1.2 billion and invests in core capital assets and industrial infrastructure. Previously, Jim was general partner at Canaan Partners, a multi-billion dollar venture capital firm with offices on the east coast and in Silicon Valley. Earlier in his career, Jim was an investment banker. Jim received a degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania. Jim has been active outside of work having served on the board of Shakespeare on the Sound and the local school Board of Education.
Troy Hall
Troy Hall is an expert in practical leadership with a doctorate in global leadership and entrepreneurship. As the chief strategy officer for South Carolina Federal Credit Union, he’s focused on expanding markets for the multi-billion dollar institution. "Dr. Troy," as he’s affectionately known, specializes in taking complex leadership ideas and making them understandable.
Whether it’s through his motivational talks, workshops or videos, his “Real Talk” advice on practical leadership has strengthened experienced leaders and helped to develop young professionals across the globe. Audiences love the warmth of Dr. Troy and universally respond to his energetic, engaging and empowering style.
Brad Harvey
Brad Harvey is an independent consultant for the hospitality industry. During his 25-year career in hotel leadership, he has risen through the ranks in the industry, working with some of the country’s prestigious hotels and resorts including The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, The Sonnenalp Resort in Vail, The Ritz-Carlton in Aspen, Hotel Jerome in Aspen and most recently opening Emeline in Charleston. In 2021, he transitioned from hotel leadership to offering consulting services to the industry.
Since moving back to Charleston in 2017, Brad has sought to give back to the community. He served on the Lowcountry Hospitality Association board during his time at Emeline and currently serves on the board of One80 Place and The LENS Foundation as the marketing chair. Brad also enjoys serving as a mentor for the students at the College of Charleston for their MBA program. Brad is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Jamessina Hille
Jamessina Hille began her career with the National Football League and kicked off a journey of building brands, defining corporate marketing strategy, and inspiring action on behalf of the product, service, or mission spanning the hospitality, nonprofit, sports and entertainment, technology, and small- to medium-sized business markets. Currently, Jamessina is the director of marketing for Protera Technologies, driving demand generation strategies and marketing campaigns for a global organization focused on SAP transformation in the cloud. She has been a guest speaker at both Hofstra University (NY) and Bryant University (RI) on the topics of entrepreneurship and nonprofit marketing strategy. Jamessina received her Bachelor of Science in marketing and supply chain management at Northeastern University.
Brandy James
Brandy James is a financial professional with more than 20 years of experience. She currently serves as the chief financial officer at the Charleston International Airport. In this role, she oversees, finance, procurement, properties and diversity business enterprise operations. Prior to this position, Ms. James served as the Chief Financial Officer at the Richland County Recreation Commission where she oversaw finance and procurement operations. Prior to Richland County Recreation Commission, Brandy served as a senior analyst, senior accountant and senior auditor at SCANNA, a regulated electric and natural gas public utility.
Brandy also worked as a senior financial analyst at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and served as a staff accountant at Moore Kirkland & Beauston, LLP. She has also served as an adjunct professor for over 14 years teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in accounting, finance and taxation.
Brandy is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Master of Science in Accountancy and B.S. in accounting from the College of Charleston.
Jay Karen
Jay Karen has been the CEO of National Golf Course Owners Association since 2015, where he leads the golf industry’s trade association and initiatives to support the success of the golf course business, the largest segment of an $84B industry in the United States. Prior to his appointment at NGCOA, Jay was CEO of Select Registry, a portfolio of over 300 premier boutique hotels, inns and B&Bs. For seven years before that, Jay was President and CEO of the trade association representing owners of small, independent lodging businesses. Jay was also with the NGCOA for ten years early in his career, having served the association in several roles.
Jay holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Winthrop University, a Master of Arts degree in American History from the College of Charleston and is a Certified Association Executive (CAE) by the American Society of Association Executives. Jay serves as Chairman of the industry-wide advocacy coalition, We Are Golf, and as a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame advisory board and the Golf USA Tee Time Coalition, a joint initiative with the PGA of America. He has also served on the boards of directors of the United States Travel Association and the College of Charleston’s Hospitality and Tourism Management degree program. The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CBS Radio, NBC News, NPR, the Golf Channel, Golf Digest and many others call upon Jay for his insights on the golf industry. He speaks on industry issues throughout the United States and across the globe.
Within the association community, Jay has become well-known as a thought leader and progressive practitioner. He has been asked by ASAE to author articles and make presentations on effective leadership and membership growth at many ASAE Annual Meetings. Recently, he contributed to the books Membership Essentials and the ASAE Handbook of Professional Practices in Association Management. Jay serves on ASAE’s Executive Management section council, Public Policy Committee and board of directors for ASAE Business Solutions Inc (a for-profit subsidiary of ASAE). In addition, Jay serves on the Advisory Board to McKinley Advisors, one of the association industry’s most respected consulting companies, and has been an advisor to the board of the Charleston Wine + Food Festival.
On a personal note, Jay has been married for 19 years to an amazing woman, who is an independent college counselor, and they have two children: a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. His primary interests include spending as much time with his family as possible, playing golf, amateur photography, social media, contemplating the meaning of life, swinging a kettlebell or running trails on Daniel Island as often as he can, and eating foods that are really bad for him.
Ryan Knapp
Ryan Knapp is a 2011 graduate of the University of Michigan. He also graduated with a master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2012.
At the Charleston Battery, he handles all aspects of sponsorship, ticketing and community engagement. He is responsible for helping grow the fan base and sponsorships as they move into their stadium at Patriots Point under a new ownership group. The Battery is the oldest continually run professional soccer club in the US. Ryan joined the Battery after working for a sports agency, handling all the marketing and PR for NFL players, PGA Golfers and other celebrities. He also worked for the NFL Players Inc., NFLPI serves as the for-profit marketing and licensing subsidiary of the NFLPA. By leveraging exclusive group player rights for every current NFL player, he maximized licensing and sponsorship revenue for players, protected individual player marketing rights, and drove growth for corporate clients.
Prior to working at the NFLPA, Ryan worked for the Tiger Woods Foundation, specifically the AT&T National Golf Tournament where he managed the local marketing campaign for the tournament. Ryan also worked for Octagon after graduating from Michigan in 2011 and has interned for IMG Consulting and the University of Michigan Athletic Department.
Ryan currently resides in Charleston, SC with his wife Torrey and his dog Hank.
Nancy Leon
Nancy J. Leon is an accomplished accounting and financial professional.
Prior to her time at Equiscript, she worked for 10 years in not-for-profit at both the Michael J. Fox Foundation and Acumen. Prior to that, she was in financial services. She worked in Controllers for the Equity Derivatives team at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. At Och-Ziff Capital Management, she worked for a hedge fund in the portfolio finance team supporting the front office operationally with repo/stock loan lending.
Nancy holds an MBA in finance from NYU and a BSBA from Bucknell University where she majored in accounting and minored in art.
Elliot Lewis
Elliot Lewis is a regional portfolio manager at BB&T Wealth in Charleston, South Carolina. He is responsible for managing portfolios for high-net-worth individuals, endowments and foundations. He has 10 years of professional investment experience as a portfolio manager for institutions, corporations, trusts and individuals. He currently serves as president and board member of CFA Society South Carolina and has served as a volunteer and exam grader for both the CFA and CAIA Institutes. Elliot holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Georgia Southern University and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst, Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement and the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst designation.
Renee Linyard-Gary
Ms. Renee Linyard-Gary is a native of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. She graduated with a B.A. in business administration in management and an MBA, both from Charleston Southern University. Renee began her career in healthcare as a certified pharmacy technician from 1998 to 2003. From 2003 to 2007, she was the office manager for a private electrophysiology practice in Charleston, SC. During this time, Renee developed knowledge of the local health system. In 2009, Renee entered the non-profit sector working for Trident United Way in the Community Impact department where she was first introduced with AccessHealth Tri-County Network (AHTN) during the planning phase. She was later promoted in 2011 to the database manager for AHTN where she implemented and customized the CareScope database for client navigation and referral tracking. Renee remained as a consultant to AHTN during her time with McKesson Business Performance unit as a financial analyst/accountant for laboratory operations. In 2013, Renee returned to the AHTN grant program as the director under the Roper St. Francis Health System.
Lisa Mancini
Lisa Mancini is the former senior VP and chief administrative officer for CSX Corporation. Her responsibilities included recruiting, training and compensation, as well as oversight of labor negotiations, procurement and contracts. Prior to CSX, Lisa dedicated 20 years to managing large public agencies providing transportation and sanitation services in NYC, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Lisa earned a master’s degree in city and regional planning from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and her Bachelor of Science in mathematics from the University of Virginia.
Dale Marcus
Dale Marcus has over forty years of professional experience addressing a wide range of business management issues, either in his current capacity as a chief financial officer or in an advisory role specializing in corporate finance and business operations management.
Mr. Marcus is currently the majority shareholder of Robertson Worldwide and serves as its chief financial officer. Robertson is a seventy-year-old company that has transitioned itself to be a leading lighting technology provider of UV air and water purification applications as well as a distribution company of commodity ballasts. It is currently based in Sarasota, FL and has manufacturing operations in China and a 3PL warehouse facility in Illinois.
Mr. Marcus has an MBA from the University of California – Berkeley with a concentration in finance and econometrics and a B.S. in finance from the University of Illinois – Champaign.
Patrick Matheson
Patrick has a diverse background in the hospitality industry in areas of marketing, hospitality analytics, strategy and design, revenue optimization and profit growth. Having worked on property at beach and ski resorts, conference centers and urban hotels, Patrick has experience with all key segments. Over the past years of growth and acquisitions, Patrick has been called upon to provide revenue management oversight of several new transitions and rebrandings. Patrick’s passion is in growing property revenues through technology and analytics, ancillary departments, bench strength and competitive insights.
Grover Maxwell
Grover Maxwell spent his thirty-year career with Montag & Caldwell, an Atlanta-based investment advisory firm. He was actively involved in the growth of the firm’s assets under management from $700 million to over $30 billion. His roles included marketing, overseeing portfolio management, and serving on the Investment Policy Committee and Management Committee. Grover is past president of the GSGA Foundation and past chairman of the Elaine Clark Center, a school for special needs children. He holds a B.A. from the University of the South where he is a past trustee and an MBA from Emory University. He holds the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst and remains an active investor as well as an avid golfer.
Sam McCleery
Sam McCleery has worked “both sides of the ball” in the sports industry. He began his career for a division of Adidas (France) by writing the business plans for products featured in the European collection and how they could be successfully transitioned to the US market. He was the Head of Sports Marketing for Prince Tennis which pioneered the first oversized racket technology that made the game easier to play and expanded the base of players. In this capacity, he signed over 100 tennis professionals and set the strategy to make Prince the #1 racket in the market.
He then co-founded the first augmented reality sports company, Princeton Video Image, which introduced “virtual advertising” and game enhancements to the sports industry. He won a Sports Emmy Award for his work on producing the popular First and Ten line for football broadcasts by devising a technique to place graphics into the picture from the studio. He engineered the sale of the company to Cablevision, a New York-based owner of channels and sports teams-NY Rangers, New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden. While at Cablevision he expanded the technology portfolio to include product placement for entertainment programming.
He then joined ESPN (A Disney Company) as Chief Technologist in the Emerging Technology group. His principal accomplishment was to merge existing game data with bio-metric player data (new) to give viewers a more informed understanding of the game and a higher appreciation of athletic performance. In 2014 he accepted a position at Under Armour to head up their newly formed Open Innovation practice and to recruit partners in a collaborative effort to build the future generations of performance footwear and apparel. In 2017 he joined the first Under Armour Corporate Development team to scout and evaluate new business, investment and acquisition targets. In 2021 he founded a company that evaluates sports and fitness investments opportunities by using a new analytics tool called The Brand Heat Index.
Sam resides in Yemassee, SC and Princeton, NJ.
Trish McHale
Trish McHale has broad industry experience across the food and apparel industries. Her career spans blue chip CPG, mid-size private equity, and top 25 global fashion companies where she has proven success in delivering actionable strategic plans, consumer relationship development, and product innovation leadership which has resulted in brand dominance across multiple categories.
Most recently, she was the vice president of marketing at Gildan. At Gildan, she played a pivotal role in profitably growing the hosiery business by utilizing consumer insights to build the brand architecture that allows the legacy Gold Toe sock brand to transcend across multiple generations and to continue to be a driving force in the highly fragmented sock category. As a true cross-functional team leader, she spearheaded consumer communications, digital and social media, product design/merchandising and consumer experiences.
Prior to Gildan, Trish held senior management marketing positions with Fruit of the Loom, Nabisco Foods, and Campbell Soup, beginning her career in sales before moving into classical marketing roles. Her key achievements include the award-winning “Celebration” Lifesavers candy advertising campaign featured in marketing textbooks, successful concept to market launches of new candy, snack, and apparel brands delivering $500M+ in sales revenue and proactively challenging, coaching, and empowering team members to exceed individual and company goals.
Since recently leaving the corporate world, Trish is focusing her energy and enthusiasm mentoring individuals to start new businesses through the non-profit SCORE organization and building houses with Charleston Habitat for Humanity.
Taryn McKenzie
Taryn McKenzie is the Executive Vice President of Client Solutions for TalentSmart EQ. In this role, she works with corporations, schools, churches, police departments and communities across the globe to deliver emotional intelligence training. Taryn is a natural change-agent who cultivates creative and innovative ideas to challenge the status quo. Prior to joining the TalentSmart team, she spent 14 years at Cengage Learning as the Executive Director of Strategic Partnerships where she developed mutually-beneficial solutions for partner collaborations. She has a passion for education, training and executive coaching in order to enable individuals to rethink and reimagine what is possible to achieve collaborative goals.
Taryn holds a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the University of Maryland and an Executive Graduate Degree in Business Management from Harvard University. She resides in Mt. Pleasant, SC with her husband, two children and puppy.
Mike Mills
Mike Mills spent 40 years at Procter & Gamble Co. before retiring in 2009. Mike proposed and led the development of P&G’s global new product launch model which helped launch products such as Swiffer, Gillette Fusion, Crest White Strips and more. Mike graduated from Purdue University with a degree in mechanical engineering. He has also served as international president of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs, president of the University of Cincinnati Hillel, and is currently a VP at Charleston Jewish Federation, recently leading a community strategic planning and population study effort.
Joe Norton
Bob Novick
After college, Bob served in the U.S. Coast Guard and then began a six-year career in transportation. That path changed with an opportunity in the advertising, marketing and entertainment field with a Baltimore company.
Three years later, he began a career in the retail auto industry, which today spans over fifty years. He taught evenings at the University of Baltimore School of Business until obtaining his own Chevrolet dealership in New Jersey in 1971. That business expanded from one franchise to eight in two-and-a-half decades. An author of training manuals for dealership use, he was also a guest speaker before auto manufacturer, dealer and association groups re-leasing and rental of motor vehicles.
Rivers Pearce
Rivers is a strategic advisor and consultant, primarily working in the real estate and real estate technology sector. He is based in Charleston, SC. He has over 12 years of experience in the online marketing and advertising space, working with numerous Fortune 500 companies across the e-commerce, travel and real estate verticals.
After receiving a degree in philosophy from the Honors Program at the College of Charleston, Rivers promptly joined a band and crisscrossed the U.S. for five straight years. Tiring of the constant travel, he landed in Atlanta when someone gave him a break in the nascent search engine marketing world in the early 2000s. Immediately falling in love with SEM, he found a home at the digital marketing agency 360i, where he worked his way up the ladder to manage pay-per-click and SEO campaigns for several notable Fortune 500 accounts.
In early 2010, he came to BoomTown to start their Search Engine Marketing department. Applying many agency best practices, he helped scale BoomTown’s client base from 70 to well over 3,000 clients. He has also served as their director of client success and director of digital marketing and strategy.
Lenny Purwin
Lenny Purwin is a technology sales leader and customer experience executive. He moved to Mount Pleasant in 2017 after living in Atlanta for 27 years.
One of his more significant assignments was with the Imaging Division of Eastman Kodak Co. in his hometown of Rochester, NY. Due to his language skills and demonstrated business results, he was asked to launch and manage the Imaging Division at Kodak Mexicana. This led to a series of international positions post- Kodak. While focused primarily on Latin America, these assignments required travel to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Notable among them was as Group VP, Latin America for i2 Technologies, where he grew the business exponentially year after year. i2 was a leader in software solutions to facilitate e-commerce and address supply chain issues. In this role, he was invited by the President of Chile to sit on a panel advising his government around e-commerce and supply chain planning.
About 10 years ago, Lenny made a career change and moved from international sales management to a US-focused, individual contributor position in the customer success program at SAP Ariba. SAP Ariba provides solutions in support of the procurement process for large enterprises. The objective was to get closer to the customer again and be able to influence the post-sales challenges these customers faced with the goal of ensuring their success. Customers included Delta Airlines, NYPA (New York Power Authority), and AmerisourceBergen.
In April of 2021, Lenny notified SAP Ariba of his intent to retire after a 40+ years career. He is married, the father of two adult children, and the grandfather of 7-year-old twins. He spends his time reading, traveling, taking photographs, bicycling and running. He also enjoys frequenting Charleston's many great restaurants. In addition, Lenny founded Agyle Consulting to manage post-retirement business opportunities.
Mason Rees
Mason Rees was the COO of Trident Investment Management, a global macro hedge fund with a ten-year track record based in New York City. He was responsible for the firm’s compliance and investor relations and managing its marketing and human resources functions. Prior to joining Trident, Mason was a senior managing director at Bear, Stearns and Co. where he was responsible for coordinating and expanding the firm’s global hedge fund practice. Previously, Mason was a founding partner and principal of Altrinsic Global Advisors. He began his career at Merrill, Lynch & Co. in institutional equity sales, with experience as a salesperson, sales manager, and director of private client research. Mason presently serves on the Board of Directors of The Osborn Home and The Yeamans Hall Club. He received his bachelor’s degree from Yale and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He also successfully completed the Chase Manhattan Bank’s Credit Training Program and possesses Series 7, Series 63, and Series 3 securities licenses.Andrew Rosenfeld
Andrew F. Rosenfeld has more than 35 years of experience creating innovative energy solutions, partnerships and market analysis for natural gas, petroleum, chemical companies and their investors. He honed his expertise in strategic planning, economics and finance in leadership roles including principal at C14 Strategy, co-founder, vice chairman, and CEO of Fiber Industries, and president of American Sands Energy Corp. Andrew is skilled at translating corporate and client development and industry trends into diverse and successful enterprises. He previously served as director and analyst at Prudential Securities, Schroder & Company, Koch Industries, Sirius Chemicals, and Marathon Petroleum Company. Andrew’s early career within the chemical, refining and consulting industries focused on relationship building, understanding physical product market structure, capital investment decisions, and plant operations and safety. In addition, he has had a successful and proven track record as both a buy- and sell-side equity analyst. Andrew has an MBA in finance from American University and a B.S. in chemical and petroleum-refining engineering from the Colorado School of Mines.
Jill Rowley
Jill Rowley is a 1994 graduate of UVA's McIntire School of Commerce with 6 years of experience in consulting and 20 years in software as a service, "SaaS," the majority in marketing technology. She was an early employee at Salesforce (first 100) and Eloqua (#13) and former chief growth advisor and member of the executive leadership team at Marketo. She has been part of an IPO and numerous acquisitions including Oracle ($871 million), Cisco ($270 million) and Adobe ($4.75 billion). She was one of the first social selling evangelists and keynote speakers on digital sales transformation.
Jill is an advisor, investor, and Board of Directors member at various B2B SaaS companies including Guild Education, Vidyard, Terminus, People.ai and Folloze and is a fund advisor and limited partner at Stage 2 Capital. She loves startups, especially category creators. She is in tech but not technical and follows the philosophy, “Born Sales, Bred Marketing, Bleed Customer.” She is passionate about advancing and shining the spotlight on women in tech, sales and venture capital. After 20 years in the Bay Area, she moved to Charleston, South Carolina.
Andrew Schmucker
Focus
Mr. Schmucker serves as the Managing Partner of Delancey Street Partners. Mr. Schmucker founded Delancey Street Partners in 2012 and is responsible for firm leadership, in addition to his responsibilities for client management and transaction execution.
Career Background
Prior to founding Delancey Street Partners, Mr. Schmucker was recruited as Head of Investment Banking at Janney Montgomery Scott, a turnaround opportunity, where he was responsible for founding and leading Janney’s M&A and Financial Sponsors Coverage effort. Mr. Schmucker trained the investment banking team and helped build the practice by recruiting additional bankers. Under the leadership of Mr.Schmucker, Janney’s Investment Banking M&A practice grew from inception to $1.8 billion in enterprise value.
Prior to Janney, Mr. Schmucker served as Managing Director at Stifel Nicolaus as a continuing member of the Investment Banking Management Committee and Head of the Strategic Advisory Group, a division Mr. Schmucker helped found at Legg Mason before Legg’s Capital Markets Division was acquired by Stifel in 2005.
During his time at Stifel, Mr. Schmucker was responsible for leading a firmwide Sponsor Coverage initiative and coordinating M&A efforts across Stifel’s industry groups.
At Legg Mason, Mr. Schmucker founded and led the Strategic Advisory Group, a sell-side M&A practice focused on the middle market, from 1998 to 2005. During this time, Mr. Schmucker also served on the Legg Mason Investment Banking Management Committee and was responsible for teaching M&A to the incoming associate and analyst classes.
Mr. Schmucker began his career at Shearson Lehman Brothers, gaining experience in public and private M&A as well as public offerings. In 1989 Mr. Schmucker joined Lehman’s Middle Market Group, executing middle market M&A transactions. This Group was spun off and acquired by Legg Mason in 1993.
Throughout his more than 30-year career, Mr. Schmucker has represented public companies, private equity-owned companies, and family-owned businesses. Additionally, Mr. Schmucker has assisted corporate development teams on executing consolidation strategies, represented Special Committees of Boards of Directors, delivered fairness opinions and executed Section 363 sales. The teams Mr. Schmucker has led have advised on more than 250 transactions.
Board of Directors
Mr. Schmucker currently serves on the Board of Directors of The High Companies and Marcho Farms. For twenty years, Mr. Schmucker served as a Trustee of The City School, a K through 12 faith-based college preparatory school primarily serving children of underprivileged families in Philadelphia.
Education
B.S., Economics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
B.A., History, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
Bob Siegel
Recently retired chairman and CEO of Lacoste USA, Mr. Siegel brings over 40 years of experience to the wholesale/retail apparel and footwear industry. Mr. Siegel assumed the leadership of Lacoste and also had executive roles in Kurt Salmon Associates, Stride Rite Corporation and Levi Strauss & Co. He also developed the Dockers brand, obtaining over 1 billion dollars in profits.
Don Semmler
Don Semmler is currently the owner and developer behind Local Hotel Adventures. He completed his first local hotel project at Kiawah Island called the Andell Inn and recently opened a new hotel in downtown Charleston name Hotel Bella Grace. Prior to these current developments, Don was the executive vice president of global full-service brands for Marriott International, including more than 800 hotels across The Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels and Marriott Hotel brands. A veteran of the business, Mr. Semmler began his career with Marriott more than 30 years ago as an assistant restaurant trainee in Atlanta, Georgia. Since then, he has held positions across all disciplines, including several key executive management positions in North America, the Middle East and Asia.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, he holds a B.A. and MBA from Michigan State University. He has completed advanced management programs at Stanford Business School, The Wharton School of Business and Harvard Business School.
Elizabeth Shuttleworth
Shuttleworth is a transformative global business executive with 20 plus years of experience who leverages general management, business development, operations and process improvement expertise to drive multimillion-dollar outcomes, optimize resources, and produce high-quality results within high technology, consumer packaged goods, healthcare, B2B professional services, not-for-profit, and publicly and privately held environments.
She has held the position of SVP and CIO for a number of fortune 500 companies where she has formulated and executed technology-enabled strategic initiatives that advance performance, capability and value. Shuttleworth holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration (economics and accounting) from the University of South Africa.
Todd Sloan
Senior Vice President of Creative for Publishers Clearing House, responsible for the overall creative development and execution of the company’s promotional strategy, offline direct mail programs, online businesses, television advertising and public relations.
Over 35 years of advertising and marketing experience including strategic planning, direct mail, multi-channel promotions, media buying, and television commercial development.
Created an advertising icon – “The Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol” – and as a member of this team has appeared/been interviewed on numerous TV programs. Personally responsible for creative and marketing breakthroughs including numerous direct mail offers, the development of “winning moment” TV advertising, “live on TV” prize award events, and successful online promotions.
Key member of Senior Management team charged with transforming Publishers Clearing House from a primarily direct mail business into a multi-channel digital media company. Led the integration and implementation of the company’s first digital media acquisition, resulting in a new extremely profitable multi-million dollar line of business.
Lead a team of over 80 creative professionals.
Yeadon Smith
Yeadon is a licensed real estate broker, owner & broker-in-charge of Live Oak Real Estate, a boutique brokerage serving residential and commercial clients in real estate transactions. He is also the co-owner of Live Oak Rental Properties property management. Yeadon brings a systematic and analytical approach to property management. Yeadon has built a profitable multifamily portfolio by eradicating management inefficiencies, intelligent and consistent marketing, and a keen sense of business operations.
Mark Stenhouse
Mark Stenhouse served as the chief operating officer of Prometheus Biosciences since March of 2021. Previously, Mr. Stenhouse served as a member of the board of directors of Prometheus Biosciences from April 2018 to October 2020. He has served as a member of the board of directors of Phathom Pharmaceuticals since March of 2020. He served as a general manager, screening at Exact Sciences Corporation from April 2018 until November 2019. From October 2016 until March 2018, Mr. Stenhouse served as vice president and vice president/general manager, U.S. immunology-gastroenterology franchise at AbbVie. From September 2006 through March 2010, he held various senior management, marketing and sales positions with Abbott Laboratories U.S. immunology division. He is a graduate of the College of Charleston and lives on Sullivans Island with his wife, Jeri, and their dogs.
Jackie Waller
Jackie Waller is director of research and insights at The Standard, an insurance and financial services company based in Portland, OR. Jackie has been passionate about using market research and insights to solve business problems and identify new opportunities for over 25 years. She has worked in research, insights and customer experience at AC Nielsen and for top brands at Fortune 500 companies across several industries including Unilever, Hewlett-Packard and PepsiCo. She currently heads up the insights function at The Standard where she has been since 2012, focusing on building a strong customer-centric culture. She is a graduate of Miami University, Oxford, OH with a B.S. in marketing and fine arts.
Jackie, her husband Rob, and their West Highland white terrier Lucy recently relocated back to Mt. Pleasant after meeting in the area 30 years ago. Their journey took them first to Chicago, IL for 7 years and then Portland, OR for 23 years. They also have a daughter, Megan, who is currently a sophomore at The College studying biology and Spanish. Jackie enjoys sailing, yoga, traveling, kayaking and baking.
Sherry Welsh
An engineer by education, Sherry Welsh spent twenty years working at Bosch, the auto parts manufacturing giant. While at Bosch, she was named one of the “Top 100 Women” in the automotive industry; when she left Bosch, she was one of only a few women in the executive ranks.
After a stint as global head of sales for another automotive supplier — cut short by the recession of 2008 — Sherry spent two years with a British cosmetic packaging firm leading a team of seventy-five in Paris, Amsterdam, Brazil, New York, Chicago and other locations.
While working as an executive in these large firms, Sherry discovered her love for coaching and eventually decided to begin her own coaching practice. As a coach, her twenty-five years of experience in large corporations enable her to effectively and efficiently navigate clients through the challenges they’re facing.
Steve Wenger
Originally from Bardstown, Kentucky (the Bourbon Capital of the World), Mr. Wenger attended Miami University and graduated with degrees in accounting and finance. After graduating and a move to Colorado, Steve worked in all areas of the restaurant business from dishwashing to management. Five years later, he made his way to The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC as the food and beverage manager where he spent eight rewarding years. Always eager for growth, in 1990 he moved to Charleston, South Carolina where he met his lovely wife, Sheri. Together they purchased Stephen Duvall Catering, and Sheri founded what is now Midtown Productions.
To date, Duvall has produced over 20,000 catered events and is supported by a number of valuable relationships with businesses such as Trident Technical College, Norfolk-Southern Railway, and, most recently, the newly renovated Gaillard Auditorium. With the reputation of creating memorable occasions through culinary ingenuity and custom decor, Duvall continues to reinvent the event experience and is the only catering company in the Charleston area recognized by The Sustainability Institute.
In 2012, Steve developed a 30,000 sq. ft. building on Azalea Drive that houses the catering and decor operation, a venue/theater and room for 12 tenants that comprise a community of food service professionals in a cooperative environment. Having been in the hospitality business for over 40 years and owning Duvall for 28 years, he has developed a staff, company culture and life that leaves him proud and satisfied.
Ken Widmaier
Following over 40 years in the hospitality industry serving top tier hotels, resorts and property management companies, I am excited to embark on my next venture to devote my experience, industry acumen, creative problem solving and enthusiasm to meaningfully contribute to a select portfolio of passion projects and clients. I thrive on optimizing performance in upwardly repositioning assets as well as in properties not achieving peak results. Driving asset value, building teams to achieve strategic goals, cost management, talent development and strengthening corporate and stakeholder value while increasing market share through innovative industry solutions are all challenges I embrace and excel in.
For almost a decade leading Sage Hospitality as Chief Operating Officer and Business Development, we grew revenue from $600 million to $1 billion and strategically transformed a portfolio of primarily select service properties to a collection of luxury, independent, soft branded and lifestyle assets which consistently bolstered market share and elevated guest service rankings. An achievement I am especially proud of is the growth of the Sage independent and soft branded portfolio through decisively securing management contracts during a historically unprecedented pandemic, providing vital job security for associates across the country.
Prior to Sage Hospitality, I was the Senior Vice President of Operations for the east region for Destination Hotels & Resorts, one of the country’s largest hospitality and property management firms, where I owned full P&L responsibility, designed and executed critical growth paths, repositioned premium independent and branded hotels and resorts and implemented profitable long-term business strategies still in place today.
I find personal fulfillment in giving back to the hospitality industry and our future generation of leaders by serving as a board member for CSU Ft. Collins’ Masters of Tourism program, mentoring approximately six students each year, and guest lecturing at a number of institutions of higher learning including Colorado State University, Metro State University - Denver, College of Charleston and Ryerson University.
Stuart Williams
In 1993 Stuart Williams co-designed the thesis of "Making A Profit While Making A Difference" which to many was one of the true catalysts behind the growth in impact entrepreneurship. Today, Stuart remains a visionary and leader who creates and/or redesigns private and public ecosystems built to succeed through an alignment with the values and virtues of the millennial and future generations.
After enjoying a successful career as a business builder, owner and executive, Stuart has spent the past eight years purposed to help any private or public ecosystem embrace the business, investment, humanitarian and environmental thesis of "Making A Profit While Making A Difference.”
Stuart is also the advisor to numerous social and environmental entrepreneurs, impact investors, and business leaders.
Charlie Wonderlic
Mr. Wonderlic is a widely-recognized authority on the development and implementation of employment and educational assessment solutions. Over the past 28 years, his vision, entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to quality have helped his organization earn the trust and confidence of over 50,000 employers and career educators worldwide.
He is an active speaker who has shared his views about the importance of preparing and selecting “job-ready” workers at numerous keynote addresses, industry presentations and on national television programs including Dateline, Lifetime, CNN FN and 20/20.
Michelle Woodhull
Michelle Widman Woodhull has served as President of Charming Inns®, Inc since 2019. Charming Inns® is a Charleston-based hotel management that is family owned and operated and has specialized in the management of historic hotels and bed and breakfast inns since 1982.
A 30-year veteran of the hospitality industry, Woodhull started her career with Hyatt Hotels and Doubletree in the Chicago area. In 1999, Woodhull moved to Charleston to work for the family-owned business serving in various roles over her 23-year tenure.
Woodhull formerly served as President of the Lowcountry Hospitality Association from 2020-2021. Currently, she sits on the Board of Directors for the South Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, Lowcountry Hospitality Association, Charleston CVB, and Palmetto Goodwill. Woodhull is also a member of the City of Charleston Restaurant Advisory Group.
Woodhull received her undergraduate degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University in 1995. Go Boilers!
Sam Woodward
Sam Woodward is the founder of SAWVentures. He has extensive transportation and logistics experience and is known for his leadership abilities as a business strategist focused on operational transformation and excellence. He also served as a managing director of Bengur Bryan & Co., a middle-market investment bank, where since 2008 he headed the firm’s transportation and business process outsourcing practice. From 2004 to 2008, Mr. Woodward was chairman, president and CEO of Gemini Air Cargo, Inc. Prior to Gemini, Mr. Woodward was president of SAW Investment Services, his own investment firm, where he oversaw investment and management services in the U.S. freight- and logistics-based technology markets. He also served at YRC Worldwide as senior VP, operations and planning, managing operations and strategy of the company’s portfolio of transportation and logistics companies. Mr. Woodward received his B.A. and Ph.D. (ABD) from the University of South Carolina.
