Summit Speakers

As the founder and CEO of The Abraham Group, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, Jay is recognized as one of the world’s most successful/impactful marketing strategists, business innovators, bad credit business funding groups, entrepreneurial advisors/mentors, and masters of “revenue and performance enhancement and acceleration.” He has spent the last 25 years solving problems and significantly increasing the bottom lines of over 10,000 clients in more than 400 industries worldwide. And he’s studied and solved almost every kind of sales/marketing/competitive-edge question, problem, challenge and opportunity.

Jay’s ability to increase business income, wealth and success by uncovering hidden assets, overlooked opportunities and undervalued possibilities has captured the attention and respect of CEOs, best-selling authors, entrepreneurs and marketing experts. Jay’s clients range from business royalty to small business owners who have profited greatly from Jay’s expertise. 2,000 business books positively refer to him and his body of work.

Jay has identified the patterns that limit and restrict business growth. He’ s one of only a very few people who realize that most industries only know and use one particular marketing approach — even though there may be dozens of more effective and profitable strategies and options available to them.

Jay shows his clients how to take different success concepts from different industries and adopt them to their specific business. This gives Jay’s clients a powerful advantage over their competition.

Jay grows businesses for a living – all over the world. He’s helped companies in over 465 different industries, on five continents. Additionally, over 1,000 marketing consultants have been influenced by his work in over 30 countries internationally.

Renowned for finding overlooked assets, hidden opportunities, underperforming activities, undervalued potential, and underutilized relationships inside and out of businesses.

Other Notable Achievements Include:

Over 15,000 documented success stories from students and clients
Best Selling Author
Popularized the phrase “Unique Selling Proposition”
Created “The Strategy of Preeminence”
One of the leading experts on multiplying Relational Capital
Known as the world’s entrepreneurial marketing authority
He is the leading thought leader on risk reversal
He’s referred to as “The 9 Billion Dollar Man” for adding over nine billion dollars in combined profits to his client’s bottom lines.
He’s been featured twice in Investor’s Business Daily in their “Leaders and Success” section, five times in Success Magazine, and twice in USA Today’s “Money” section.
Forbes listed Jay as one of the top 5 executive coaches in the entire US.

Jay is interested in connecting with significant enterprises. He looks at everything from “how to maximize your people, their effort, your access to the market, the buyers, the non-buyers, and develops powerful counter- programming to use against your competition.” Jay is particularly interested in exploring opportunities to collaborate (predominantly on a performance-based arrangement) with substantial entrepreneurs. He is equally interested in helping large private companies with huge untapped revenue opportunity, hidden assets, underperforming activities, or underutilized resources.

The Abraham Group, Inc.

Jay Abraham

For nearly twenty years Karen Kerrigan’s leadership, advocacy and training work has helped foster U.S. entrepreneurship and global small business growth. She is president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, and is the group’s chief advocate for its members.

Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on the key issues impacting entrepreneurs and the economy, and has been appointed to numerous federal advisory boards including the National Women’s Business Council, the U.S.-Iraq Business Dialog, the U.S. Treasury’s Taxpayer Advisory Panel, and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan has participated in two Presidential economic summits, and scores of events hosted by the White House, U.S. Small Business Administration and other federal government agencies and departments. She has written hundreds of Op-Eds and newspaper columns, and regularly appears on national television and talk radio programs.

She has been called America’s “entrepreneurial envoy” and “small business ambassador” for her extensive work overseas. Kerrigan is a founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum, and regularly provides counsel to governments and business associations across the globe regarding entrepreneurial development, capacity building and policy formation and implementation. Kerrigan currently chairs the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), one of the core institutes of the National Endowment for Democracy, which works to strengthen democracy around the globe through private enterprise and market oriented reform.

In 2012 and 2011 she was named a Top 100 Champion Small Business Influencer by Blackberry and Small Business Trends. In November of 2009 she was presented with the “Small Business Advocate of the Year” award by the NY Enterprise Report. Among other accolades, Inc. Magazine named Kerrigan to its small business “Best Friends in D.C.” (2006) list as a “power broker and activist” with “serious clout” for entrepreneurs; Fortune Small Business to its “Power 30” list (2000); and The Hill newspaper to its “most influential small business” list (2006) describing her as “the hardest working woman in show business.” In 1995, National Journal named Ms. Kerrigan to its short list of “K Street” activists most likely to have an impact on Capitol Hill. Campaigns and Elections Magazine named her as one of its “Rising Stars in Politics” in its April 1996 issue.

Kerrigan graduated from SUNY Cortland with a B.A. in Political Science, and resides in Northern Virginia.

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

Karen Kerrigan

U.S. Congress Virginia Senator

Mark Warner

David Schweikert has been a lifelong Arizona resident and advocate. He was raised in Scottsdale, where he attended Cocopah Elementary School, Saguaro High School, and Arizona State University. At ASU he earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Real Estate as well as an MBA. Soon after receiving his bachelor’s degree, he started a small real estate business.

David was first re-elected to the United States House of Representatives in 2012, where he represents Arizona’s 6th district.

During his first term in Congress from 2010 to 2012, David was successful in seeing several of his bills passed into law, most notably as part of the ‘Jumpstarting Our Business Startups Act,’ or ‘JOBS Act.’ This large, bipartisan jobs package that passed both the House and Senate and was signed into law by the president in 2012, included two of David’s capital formation bills—the most of any member of Congress.

David has also been a leading proponent in the House of Representatives for curbing the massive debt, reigning in out-of-control spending, reforming the tax code, and reducing the size of government.

Prior to serving in the 113th Congress, David was elected Treasurer of Maricopa County in 2004. As treasurer of one of the largest counties in the United States, he was responsible for protecting billions of taxpayer dollars and earned over $300 million in investment income while never showing a deficit despite a tough economic environment. He also dramatically reduced mortgage delinquencies by personally contacting hundreds of homeowners who were unaware of deed issues that affected them.

From 1995-2004, David chaired Arizona’s Board of Equalization, assisting homeowners by ensuring their homes be valued fairly and equitably, and assuring their proper classifications.

Before that, David was elected to serve in the Arizona State House representing his hometown, Scottsdale and Fountain Hills. During his time in the State House, his colleagues elected him to a leadership position. There, he sponsored one of the largest tax cuts in Arizona history, led landmark Second Amendment and school choice legislation and gained recognition as an advocate for taxpayers.

David and his wife, Joyce, reside in Fountain Hills with their famous Wheaten Terrier, Charlie, and their two cats. They attend Saint Maria Goretti Catholic Church.

U.S. Congress Arizona Representative

David Schweikert

Rep. Patrick McHenry Patrick McHenry is serving his fifth term in the United States Congress where he represents the citizens of North Carolina’s 10th District. Congressman McHenry’s district comprises seven counties in western North Carolina, from the suburbs of Charlotte to Asheville in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

In the 113th Congress, McHenry serves as a Deputy Republican Whip, helping to manage the legislative priorities of Congressional Republicans on the House floor. Congressman McHenry is a member of the House Financial Services Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. In this role, the Congressman provides oversight of the Federal Reserve, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Export-Import Bank. He is also a member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Throughout his career, Congressman McHenry has been a vocal and effective advocate for the men and women who wear the uniform of our country. He received awards from the North Carolina Chapters of the American Legion and Marine Corps League for his extensive work in bringing a veterans’ health care clinic to his district after nearly two decades of delay. The National Guard presented Patrick McHenry with the Charles Dick Medal of Merit for his exceptional service to the North Carolina National Guard.

McHenry has been recognized as a leader of the conservative movement in America. He shares the most conservative voting record in Congress on family values issues, according to National Journal. Having never voted for a tax increase in his career, Congressman McHenry is continually recognized as a “Hero of the Taxpayer” by Americans for Tax Reform.

Congressman McHenry is the recipient of several additional awards including: the National Association of Manufacturing’s “Manufacturing Legislative Excellence” Award, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council’s “Small Business Champion” Award, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s “Spirit of Enterprise” Award, the 60 Plus Association’s “Guardian of Seniors’ Rights” Award, the Family Research Council’s “True Blue” Award, and Citizens Against Government Waste’s “Taxpayer Hero” Award.

Most importantly, Congressman McHenry continues to listen to the voters of the 10th District and act as their voice in Washington. His main focus is to provide the highest level of constituent services at home in Western North Carolina.

Prior to being elected to Congress in 2004 at the age of 29, Patrick McHenry represented the 109th District in the North Carolina House of Representatives. He also served as Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor, a post he was appointed to by President Bush. Patrick McHenry is a graduate of Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, N.C. and Belmont Abbey College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in History. Congressman McHenry and his wife Giulia live in Denver, N.C. and worship at Holy Spirit Church.

U.S. Congress North Carolina Representative

Patrick McHenry

State Congress North Carolina Representative

Tom Murry

Ex-President North American Securities Administrators Association

John Perkins

Milken Institute

Daniel Gorfine

GATE Impact

D.J. Paul

Sara Hanks, co-founder and CEO of CrowdCheck, is an attorney with over 30 years of experience in the corporate and securities field. Her most recent position was General Counsel of the Congressional Oversight Panel, the overseer of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which was chaired by now-Senator Elizabeth Warren. Sara brings a wealth of legal expertise in securities and start-ups to the emerging marketplace for crowdfunding and other online offerings. Her new company, CrowdCheck, helps entrepreneurs through the disclosure and due diligence process, giving online investors the information they need to make an informed investment decision and avoid fraud.

At the TARP oversight panel, Sara spent 18 months on Capitol Hill investigating the implementation and consequences of the TARP in depth. She examined the government’s intervention in the automotive companies, the execution of the banking “stress tests,” the rescue of AIG, and the international aspects of the financial crisis.

Sara has worked with the London law firm Norton Rose, as well as the D.C. office of Rogers & Wells. She later joined the Division of Corporation Finance of the Securities and Exchange Commission and as Chief of the Office of International Corporate Finance led the team drafting the regulations that put into place a new generation of rules governing the capital-raising process and the way in which non-U.S. companies accessed the U.S. capital markets.

In 1990, Sara rejoined Rogers and Wells, which later became part of Clifford Chance, and in 2002, was elected to the first of three terms on the firm’s Partnership Council. During two of those terms, she served on the firm’s Audit Committee. While at Clifford Chance, she advised on capital markets transactions and corporate matters for companies in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America.

Sara received her law degree from Oxford University and is a member of the New York and DC bars and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. When not working on corporate and securities matters, Sara is an aunt, Army wife, skier, cyclist, gardener and animal lover.

CrowdCheck

Sara Hanks

Roger Royse is the founder of Royse Law Firm, PC, a business and tax law firm with offices in Northern and Southern California (www.rroyselaw.com). Roger practices in the areas of corporate and securities law, domestic and international tax, mergers and acquisitions, and Fund formation. His clients include emerging and middle-market companies and high net worth individuals. Roger has represented companies in a variety of industries, including clean tech, internet, life sciences, entertainment and new media, sports, real estate, retail and mobile devices and applications. Practicing since 1984, Roger’s background includes work with prominent San Francisco Bay area law firms as well as Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy in New York City. Roger has also served as an adjunct professor at the Golden Gate University Masters of Tax program. He is a frequent speaker, writer, radio guest, blogger and panelist for bar associations, CPA organizations, and business groups. Roger is a Northern California Super Lawyer and is AV Peer-Rated by Martindale Hubbell.

Roger is a participating instructor of corporate law for the Center for International Studies (Salzburg Austria) and has been an adjunct Professor of Taxation (Property Transactions and International Taxation) for Golden Gate University and also owns several websites, including RoyseUniversity.com (a legal content site) and RoyseLink.com (a resource site for entrepreneurs and venture capitalists). Roger is the founder of the philanthropic organization “Team Motion to Dismiss Cancer” which conducts high profile auctions of meetings with venture capitalists to raise money for charity and has been recognized for his efforts on behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by being named the 2012 San Francisco bay area chapter Man of the Year.

Roger sits on the boards of advisors to several Funds, accelerators and tech companies, including CandiJar, JFE Network, Voivoda and TrustCentral and takes an active role in the strategic planning decisions of his clients. Roger also acts as trusted advisor to a national and international clientele of high net worth individuals.

Royse Law Firm

Roger Royse

Crowd Fund Capital Advisors

Jason Best

Crowd Fund Capital Advisors

Sherwood Neiss

Douglas S. Ellenoff, a member of Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP since its founding in 1992, is a corporate and securities attorney with a specialty in business transactions and corporate financings. Mr. Ellenoff has represented public companies in connection with their initial public offerings, secondary public offerings, regulatory compliance as well as general corporate governance matters. During his career, he has represented numerous broker-dealers, venture capital investor groups and many corporations involved in the capital formation process.

In the last several years, he has been involved at various stages in numerous registered public offerings, including 100 financings and, with other members of his firm, over 400 private placements into public companies (see PIPEs and Venture Capital), representing either the issuers of those securities or the registered broker-dealers acting as placement agent. Along with other members of his Firm, Mr. Ellenoff has been involved at various stages with over 70 registered blind pool offerings (commonly referred to as “SPACs”; 27 of which have consummated their IPO’s raising over $1.5 billion). In addition to our IPO experience with SPACs, he has been involved with more than 20 SPAC M&A assignments. The Firm represents nearly 50 public companies with respect to their ongoing 34 Act reporting responsibilities and general corporate matters. He also provides counsel with regard to their respective ongoing (SEC, AMEX and NASD) regulatory compliance.

Mr. Ellenoff and the rest of the corporate department distinguish themselves from many other transactional lawyers on the basis of their ability to be part of the establishment of new securities programs, like Crowdfunding, PIPEs, SPACs, Registered Directs and Reverse Mergers, where the Firm’s professionals have played leadership roles within each of those industries, assisting in the creation, formation and strategies relating to those financings, as well as working closely with the regulatory agencies; including the SEC and FINRA; and the listing exchanges – AMEX and NASDAQ. “Mr. Ellenoff is routinely requested to be a panelist and presenter at investor conferences.

Like the other innovative securities programs mentioned above, the Firm has taken a leadership in the emerging crowdfunding industry, which was signed into law by President Obama on April 5, 2012. In addition to regular meetings and interaction on behalf of the leading trade association which the Firm represents, (CFIRA, the Crowdfunding Intermediary Regulatory Advocates) with the SEC and FINRA in discussing the proposed rules which the SEC and FINRA must approve before crowdfunding becomes lawful in the US, the Firm has sponsored conferences, webinars and has been invited to speak at numerous events on the topic (see below). The Firm is already actively engaged with clients (funding portals, broker-dealers, technology solution providers, software developers, investors and entrepreneurs).

Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP

Douglas S. Ellenoff

RocketHub

Brian Meece

Paul Spinrad

A socially-conscious advertising expert, investor, and entrepreneur, Peter recently launched the beta-site of CrowdFunding4All (“CF4ALL”) — the first “Crowd-Powered Project Search & Support Network.” Designed to level the playing field for the entire Crowdfunding community, CF4ALL helps you “Find it, Fund it, Smarter and Faster” by combining state-of-the-art project search with a proprietary form of cross-platform social currency called CrowdCredits. A Co-Founding Board Member of the Crowd Funding Professional Association (CfPA), Peter is also a member of the Transformational Leadership Council — an elite group of thought leaders founded by Jack Canfield (“Chicken Soup of the Soul”). He is currently writing a chapter on CrowdFunding for a soon-to-be-released book by legendary entrepreneurial strategist Jay Abraham and Daymond John, star of TV’s “Shark Tank” — both of whom will be among a team of entrepreneurial experts who will be contributing content to CF4ALL.

Over the course of his multi-faceted career, Peter has had a great deal of success motivating “conscious consumers” (a term he coined over 20 years ago) to support like-minded enterprises, launching his
own career with the introduction of Arm & Hammer Non-Polluting
Laundry Detergent — the world’s first major eco-friendly brand. He made “green marketing” history again with a humorous animated commercial that put a fresh box of pure, natural Arm & Hammer Baking Soda into 70% of America’s refrigerators — and was honored as one of the top commercials of all-time in the book “The Best Thing on TV.”

Peter’s early new product work also included the original concept and name for Jell-O Pudding Pops and the introductory campaign for the gull-winged DeLorean sports car, which won the account in a record- setting 108-agency “shoot-out.” As Senior Creative Director at the Foote, Cone & Belding advertising agency, he was the key creative force in the introduction of America’s first cellphone service (for AT&T Technologies), Colgate-Palmolive’s Fresh Start — the first popular super-concentrated / energy efficient laundry detergent — and numerous health-conscious brands for the Thomas J. Lipton, for which he was awarded the company’s President’s Award an unprecedented two years in a row.

In 1988, Peter left the advertising agency world to produce numerous creative efforts for “holistic” magazine, book, and audio publishing projects; mind/body wellness authors Drs. Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra; and many leading natural health products — including Oscillococcinum, the world’s #1 holistic medicine, which won an international creativity award for his headline: “Tough to Pronounce, Even Tougher on Your Flu.”

As Founder / Executive Producer of Inner Voyages (the world’s most popular holistic vacation), he created 5 Intuition Cruises and 7 Inner Voyage cruises, as well as the 13-part Inner Voyages TV series. Using his own variation of pre-internet CrowdFunding, Peter offered his wealthier clients incentives to make advance payments-in-full for their luxury suites in order to reserve hundreds of cabins for less affluent attendees. He later launched the first Yoga Cruise (with Yoga Journal Magazine), the Mind-Body Wellness Cruise (with Shape and Men’s Fitness), and 3 Voyages of the Soul (with Hay House Publishing).

CrowdFund 4 ALL

Peter Einstein

CrowdFund Insider

Charles Luzar

CommunityLeader

Joseph Barisonzi

Bruce H. Lipnick is Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asset Alliance Corporation (“Asset Alliance”). He is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Asset Alliance Advisors, Inc and Founder, Chief Executive Officer of Crowd Alliance. He has an extensive background in alternative investments with over 38 years of experience in the investment management and financial services industries, and was a pioneer in utilizing various hedging techniques in portfolio management in the early 1970’s through the 1980’s.

Among other affiliate manager-related activities, Mr. Lipnick serves on the Board of Directors of many of Asset Alliance’s subsidiary and sponsored funds. He is also a member of the Asset Alliance Investment Committee, Transaction Structuring Committee and CIO of the Asset Alliance Manager Participation Fund. Prior to founding Asset Alliance, Mr. Lipnick served as principal, general partner and senior executive officer for several investment management organizations including Wharton Management Group, Inc., which he founded in 1982 and also served as president.

Mr. Lipnick is a member of the Advisory Council of the Milken Institute California Center and of the Advisory Board of the Eco Power Conference in Brazil. He was also a member of United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Speaker’s Cabinet, and in 2002 he received Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Mr. Lipnick is a supporter of the New Combinations Fund for the New York City Ballet, a supporter of the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center and a benefactor for the Washington Ballet. He is also a patron of MOMA and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a past Dinner Chairman of Petra Nemcova’s Happy Hearts Fund and a board member of Hedge Funds Care.

In 2008, Mr. Lipnick received the Lifetime Humanitarian Award for Giving from Hedge Funds Care. In May 2011, Mr. Lipnick received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Young Jewish Professionals (YJP) for his career in the corporate finance world, spanning almost four decades. In 2012 Mr. Lipnick was named Executive of the Year in Investment and Financial Planning by Worldwide Who’s Who.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Lipnick was President and Founder of the Elms Companies and was Vice President of Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., a merchant investment bank, in addition to founding and serving as President of Pierpont Management, Inc., a family office. Mr. Lipnick received a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Long Island University in 1969.

Mr. Lipnick has directly or indirectly owned or operated seats on several major U.S. Securities and Commodities Exchanges. Mr. Lipnick is a member of the Board of Directors for the Federal Enforcement Homeland Security Foundation. Bruce H. Lipnick is Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Asset Alliance Corporation (“Asset Alliance”). He is also Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Asset Alliance Advisors, Inc and Founder, Chief Executive Officer of Crowd Alliance. He has an extensive background in alternative investments with over 38 years of experience in the investment management and financial services industries, and was a pioneer in utilizing various hedging techniques in portfolio management in the early 1970’s through the 1980’s.

Crowd Alliance

Bruce Lipnick

SparkMarket

Megan Johnson

LDJ Capital

David Drake

Cricca Funding

Jonathan Frutkin

SparkMarket

Jeffrey A. Bekiares

One Spark

Elton Rivas

Rodney Sampson is a social innovator, serial entrepreneur, investor, author, and consecrated bishop. Via his Episcopal affiliations with the Old Holy Catholic Church (International Bishops Conference) and Kingdom Manifestation, Sampson shapes innovative economic policy and opportunities throughout society and culture. As a serial entrepreneur, Sampson co-founded Multicast Media Networks (Streamingfaith.com) in 2000 (sold in 2010), a live and on-demand streaming platform that laid the foundation for companies like YouTube and Ustream. Not stopping there, Sampson co-founded Intellect in 2002, Intellect Inspire in 2006, and Legacy Opportunity Fund in 2007 with private equity investments in technology, digital publishing, travel and financial services. At present, Sampson is building Opportunity Fund, a U.S.-based super crowd fund and crowdfunding platform designed to provide under-served and under-represented communities access to investment opportunities traditionally reserved for accredited and institutional investors. He also serves on the boards of a learning company (an imprint of Pearson Education), a New York-based merchant investment bank and a community development corporation (CDC).

Sampson is passionate about reducing our nation’s poverty and wealth gap by advancing the cause of entrepreneurship, investment and Crowdfunding as a way of life for all communities. To advance this definitive cause, he serves as Executive-In-Charge of Diversity and Inclusion initiatives at One Three Media, a joint venture between Mark Burnett Productions and Hearst. One Three executive produces The Voice, Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice and ABC’s Shark Tank. He is also the Founder of Kingonomics, the nation’s leading access to capital certification platform for minorities and under-served communities. On the ground, he is the co-founder of the Opportunity Hub, an entrepreneurial eco-work space, knowledge repository and alternative-funding center for startups and growth stage companies located at 200 Peachtree in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Opportunity Hub, the nation’s only Black owned co-working space is the intersection of innovation, culture and capital. Sampson is also an advocate and respected expert on the JOBS Act (equity based crowdfunding) and State of Georgia’s “Invest Georgia Exemption” legislation.

Sampson is regularly called upon to advise and speak to nations, businesses, universities, and bishops who employ thousands and lead millions of constituents and communities around the world.

Sampson’s published works include Kingonomics: Twelve Innovative “Currencies” for Transforming Your Business and Your Life, Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; Your Manifest Destiny: 7.5 Words to Transform Your Future; Yes We Will: Solutions for Realizing Your Personal Power in an Obama Era; and Black Trillions: Introducing Symbiotic Economics. His audio works include Any Day Now: Genesis of Divine Manifestation and Your Manifest Destiny: 15 Audio Meditations to Transform Your Future.

Sampson earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tulane University in 1995 and a Master of Business Administration from Keller Graduate School of Management in 2001. He also studied in the Doctorate of Medicine program at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine from 1995 to 1999. For his dedication and commitment to definitive social causes at such a young age, Sampson received an honorary Doctorate of Ministry from the I.G.F. Theological Seminary in 1998.

A strong believer in global reinvestment, Sampson has been a friend of Africa. He has worked closely with the republics of Namibia, Gabon, and Uganda in the areas of trade and development, business development, leadership development, and public affairs.

For his contributions to humanity, Sampson was awarded the Phoenix Award—the City of Atlanta’s highest honor—by Mayor Shirley Franklin in 2004. In direct support of the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sampson, his wife, and a group of influencers in 2007 donated more than $50,000 to the King Papers Project, a capital campaign established to ensure that Dr. King’s papers would remain in the city of Atlanta at Morehouse College for generations to come.
Sampson and his wife reside in Atlanta, their native home, with their children.

Kingonomics

Bishop Rodney Sampson

Calvert Funds and Foundation

Terry Mollner

Impact Assets

Timothy Freundlich

New York Times Writer

Amy Cortese

Mindful Investors

Stuart Rudick

American Sustainable Business Council

David Levine

Hazel Henderson, D.Sc.Hon., FRSA, is a futurist, evolutionary economist and author of nine books including the Axiom and Nautilus award-winning book Ethical Markets: Growing the Green Economy (2006). The founder of Ethical Markets Media, LLC, and creator of its TV series, her editorials are syndicated by InterPress Service, with articles appearing in journals such as Harvard Business Review, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and many international ones.

She sits on many editorial and advisory boards, including Futures Research Quarterly, The State of the Future Report, E/The Environmental Magazine, the International Council of the Instituto Ethos and the World Business Academy, and previously served on others such as World Watch Institute. She served on the US Technology Assessment Advisory Council of the Office of Technology Assessment, the National Science Foundation’s Research Applied for National Needs and the National Academy of Engineering form 1974-1980.

She leads the Transforming Finance initiative, created the Green Transition Scoreboard®, co-developed the GDP alternative the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators now renamed the Ethical Markets Quality-of-Life Indicators, updated regularly by Henderson at www.calvert-henderson.com. She co-organized the Beyond GDP conference for the European Commission, Funding three Beyond GDP surveys, finding strong support worldwide for ESG metrics in national accounting.

Henderson has been a university lecturer, holds several honorary degrees and is an Honorary Member of the Club of Rome. She shared the 1996 Global Citizen Award with Nobelist A. Perez Esquivel of Argentina. In 2007, she was elected a Fellow to Britain’s Royal Society of Arts, founded in 1754, and in 2010 and 2012, she was honored as one of the “Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior” by Trust Across America. In 2012, she was named to the Post Growth Institute (En)Rich List as one of the top 100 luminaries exploring and inspiring paths to global prosperity beyond economic wealth; and, honored for her lifetime achievement with the Award for Natural Law and Order from the Maharishi University School of Management and with the Award for Outstanding Contribution to Development of ESG & Investing at TBLI Europe.

Ethical Markets Media

Hazel Henderson

Cutting Edge Capital

Jenny Kassan

StakeHolders Capital

Andrew Bellak

Kiva-Zip

Jonny Price

Green America

Alisa Gravitz

Guggenheim Partners

Douglas Atkin

South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce

Frank Knapp, Jr

Mark Lee Levine is a full professor at the Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management at the Daniels College of Business. He has been a real estate broker, attorney, investor and professor for more than 40 years, lecturing throughout the U.S. and internationally. He is a two-time Fulbright Scholar to China, has written 52 books and more than 300 articles. He has been at the University of Denver for more than 35 years and holds certifications and licenses that include, among others, CCIM, CIPS, CLU, ChFC, CPM, CRB, CRE, CREA, CRS, SRS, GRI, MAI, FRICS, FIABCI, Cert. FIABCI, DREI and GAA.

Levine practices law and has traveled as an international delegation leader to dozens of locations throughout the world. He is one of the foremost experts in the U.S. on American and international real estate.

Education

- PhD, Real Estate, Business Century University

- JD, University of Denver School of Law

- LLM, Tax Law, (Legum Magister), New York University, Law Division

- PAP, Accounting, Northwestern University School of Management

- BS, Business and Economics, Colorado State University

Academic Professional Activities – Recipient of a 2nd Fulbright grant in China. This covered international real estate, among other topics.

- Published new editions on multiple books, one of which has been published for more than 35 years by the largest real estate/law/tax publisher in the world, Thomson West. The recent texts cover real estate taxation, real estate exchanges and international real estate.

- Work completed on many international real estate matters, including leading international real estate delegations, speaking internationally, publishing in the field, and being named as the dean of Education for the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI), etc.

Awards and Honors

- American Jurisprudence Prize for Excellence. (Contracts and Constitutional Law)

- Fulbright Grants

- University of Colorado Distinguished Instructor Award

- NAIOP Fellow

- Cecil Puckett Award from the University of Denver

- Holder of Mark Lee Levine Director’s Chair, University of Denver

Business Law Professor Syndicator

Mark Levine

FundRise Direct Public Offerings

Benjamin Miller

SimplyDoIt

Dani Beit-Or

RealtyShares Angel Funding Platform

Nav Athwal

Real Estate Syndicator Legal Instructor

Gene Trowbridge

Realty Mogul Angel Funding Platform

Jilliene Helman

UK Member of Parliament

Barry Sheerman

Seedrs Funding Platform in UK

Jeff Lynn

Angel Revolutions CrowdFunding Advocate in U.K.

Barry E. James

BS.C (Hons)

Symbid Funding Platform Holland

Korstiaan Zandvliet

Anaxago Funding Platform France

Caroline Lamaud

Australian Offering Board Hybrid Platform

Paul Niederer

Grow VC Group

Jouko Ahvenainen

Mimoona Fashion Industry Funding Platform Israel

Arik Marmorstein

CoFoundersLab

Shahab Kaviani

MassChallenge Global Accelerator

John Harthorne

America's SBDC

C. E. “Tee” Rowe

Michael Crosson is Co-Founder International Webcasting Association, IAB, Internet Advertising Bureau, Past member of Search Engine Advisory Board.

Background:

Michael Crosson is a successful entrepreneur with a distinguished background in Internet advertising, website development and social media marketing. He has been online since 1979, literally before the invention of the Internet as we know it today. He was the founder of a top high tech ad agency in the Boston area in the 80’s, as well as several technology publications. He has participated in the launch of many websites, including Inc.com, Rolls-Royce’s first website, British Airways, Mapquest and others.

He is currently the publisher of SocialMediopolis.com, a private community for social media marketers, as well as the founder and moderator of the largest social media group on LinkedIn, with nearly 600,000 members. He also consults and counts Technorati, Blinkx, MediaZone and SocialTwist as past clients. CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS (in reverse order):

● Founder and Publisher of FreeInsuranceAdvice.com for InsWeb

● Founder and Moderator of largest Social Media Marketing Group on LinkedIn with over 600,000 members in total

● Key executive for Vivendi-Universal’s #1 interactive games portal, Flipside.com

● Key executive for MapQuest.com, part of team taking the company public and through sale to AOL

● Managing Director for Omnicom’s Communicade group in London, directing accounts including Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and British Airways

● Co-Founder of the International Webcasting Association, London, 1997

● Founder of Business Computing Magazine, sold to PennWell in 1984

● Founder of Crosson + Partners, an AAAA advertising agency

Experience Set

● Strong understanding of the advertising market, online and offline

● Deep experience in interactive advertising and web development technologies

● Immediate direct C-level contacts with ad agencies, advertising networks, major website publishers, technology providers, clients and industry associations

Core Competencies:

● Personal sales leadership and business development skill sets with proven ability to build highly focused sales organizations

● Award-winning creative sales programs, sales training, support and collateral materials

● Powerful speaker at industry events, visionary with real-world traction

Successful Deal Examples:

● MapQuest/AOL – advertising sales relationship through DigitalCity. This lead to AOL acquiring the company

● Scholastic/ATT- Cross-media marketing program including sponsorship of Scholastic’s first forum on AOL, a custom-published magazine with 300,000 circulation and extensive premier advertising in Home Office Computing magazine

● Multiple major multi-year sponsorship deals – ranging from $1.0MM to $6.0MM to American Express, Visa, NextCard, eCoupons, YesMail, TravelScape and Priceline.

SocialMediopolis

Michael Crosson

Dara Albright, a Wall Street Mom, is the founder of NowStreet, a leading advocate for financial markets’ reform. She is a thought provoker and frequent speaker on topics relating to market structure, private-share markets and Crowd Funding. She is the editor of the NowStreet Journal, a primary provider of analysis and insight into the private company marketplace as well as the legislation and innovation currently fueling it. Based on her original hypothesis that directly correlates advancements in mass communications with stock market growth, NowStreet highlights the dynamic economic impact of a reputable new small-cap growth marketplace rising during the most ground-breaking period of mass media and regulatory reform.

Dara Albright is a thought provoker and frequent speaker on topics relating to market structure and Crowd Funding. She is the author of the NowStreet Journal, a primary provider of analysis and insight into the private company marketplace as well as the legislation and innovation currently fueling it. Based on her original hypothesis that directly correlates advancements in mass communications with stock market growth, NowStreet highlights the dynamic economic impact of an untarnished small-cap growth marketplace rising during the most ground-breaking period of mass media and regulatory reform. Through NowStreet, Dara continues to pioneer a number of cutting-edge products, services and event platforms designed to help entrepreneurs, wealth managers and investors uncover fresh ideas for raising capital and maximizing returns in this new era of unprecedented innovation and regulatory reform. Prior to founding NowStreet, Dara has held a distinguished 20 year career in investment banking, investor relations and institutional equity sales. She has organized and managed hundreds of road shows and conferences for Wall Street’s elite. She has worked closely with a number of institutional and accredited investors providing investment and trading strategies as well as restricted transaction services. Dara has helped raise financing for companies across the globe in a variety of industries at various phases and rollouts. Her work has included extensive IPO road show execution and counseling newly public companies in the after-market. Prior firms she worked for include: Unterberg Towbin, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Divine Capital and Citigate Dewe Rogerson. Dara is a co-founder of the Crowd Fund Intermediary Regulatory Advocates (CFIRA) and the Crowd Funding Professional Association (CfPA). She is also a proud board member of iPeopleFINANCE, the only peer-to-peer lending platform aimed at helping veterans. She is a graduate of the George Washington University and holds securities industry Series 7, 24, 31 and 63 licenses.

CrowdNetic Private Offering Discovery Platform

Dara Albright

Successful Thinkers Network

Jim Bellacera

Ontraport Response Marketing Software

Landon Ray

Ontraport Response Marketing Software

Lena Requist

Leverage PR

Joy Shoffler

Inc. Magazine Writer

Marla Tabaka

Keiretsu Forum Global Angel Chapters

Randy Williams

David Weild is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Weild & Co. (Investment Banking Advisory) and heads Capital Markets Thought Leadership at Grant Thornton (Global Six Audit, Tax and Advisory). He is currently in stealth mode with a business that is developing technology solutions to bring back IPO markets (www.issuworks.com). Mr. Weild is a noted expert in capital markets who has testified in Congress for the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and in front of the 34 member nations and the European Commission for the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development). He is regarded by many as the ‘Father’ of the JOBS Act for studies that he co-authored with Edward Kim that were the first to identify and characterize a long-term structural decline in the IPO and listed companies markets and is a frequent public speaker having keynoted the American Bar Association Securities Regulation luncheon in DC and the Securities Regulation Institute conference in San Diego, among many others.

The JOBS Act created a new category of issuer, the “Emerging Growth Company,” and led to a number of other changes that will enable issuers to raise capital more easily. These include Crowdfunding, Reg. A+ and the repeal of the prohibition against general solicitation in Reg. D private placements which was a recommendation made by Mr. Weild in his 2009 study entitled, A wake up call for America. Mr. Weild attended the signing of the JOBS Act by President Obama in the White House Rose Garden on April 5, 2012.

Mr. Weild was formerly Vice Chairman of The NASDAQ Stock Market in charge of the Corporate Client Division with line responsibility for NASDAQ’s 4,000 listed companies. He created NASDAQ’s Market Intelligence DeskSM, Corporate Services NetworkSM and dual listings strategy which ultimately resulted in listing Charles Schwab and Hewlett Packard. While at NASDAQ Mr. Weild had the privilege of working with such luminaries as Howard Schultz (Starbucks), Tom Stemberg (Staples), Craig Barrett (Intel), Michael Dell (Dell), Stephen Jobs (Apple and Pixar) and others. He also had the privilege of working with NASDAQ senior management, the SEC, the US Treasury and the US Congress to reopen the U.S. stock markets in the aftermath of 9/11 and had the honor of leading his team to work with NASDAQ listed companies to implement share repurchase programs as a safety net to help investor confidence when markets reopened.

Prior to NASDAQ, Mr. Weild spent 14 years at Prudential Securities in senior management roles, including President of PrudentialSecurities.com and PrudentialFinancial.com, Head of Corporate Finance, Head of Technology Investment Banking and Head of Equity Capital Markets in New York, London and Tokyo. He worked on over 500 domestic and international IPO’s and another 500 secondary offerings and convertible debt and preferred offerings. He was also a pioneer in the use of new issue systems and securities underwriting structures, including the use of Form S-3′s to cut information leakage and price deterioration for companies raising equity and convertible debt (and preferred) capital. Mr. Weild was at the time a voting member of the major investment banking committees including the Business Review Board and the Mergers & Acquisitions Committee. He was also Chairman of the Equity Transaction Board which oversaw market approval of IPOs, Follow-on offerings, Convertible offerings, REITs, Closed-end funds and other types of new issues.

Mr. Weild holds an MBA from the Stern School of Business and a BA from Wesleyan University. He has studied on exchange at The Sorbonne, Ecole des Haute Etudes Commerciales and The Stockholm School of Economics. Mr. Weild is a former Treasurer of The Bond Club of New York. He currently holds FINRA Series 7, Series 24, Series 79, Series 99, and Series 63 licenses.

Mr. Weild is also Chairman of the board of Tuesday’s Children, the 9/11 charity.

Grant Thorton

David Weild IV

Timothy C. Draper is the Founder and a Managing Director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. His original suggestion to use “viral marketing” in web-based e-mail to geometrically spread an Internet product to its market was instrumental to the successes of Hotmail and YahooMail, and has been adopted as a standard marketing technique by hundreds of businesses. On behalf of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Tim currently serves on the boards of DoAt, Glam, Prosper, and Miartech. DFJ’s previous successes include: Skype (EBAY), Overture.com (YHOO), Baidu (BIDU), Parametric Technology (PMTC), Hotmail (MSFT), PLX Technologies (PLXT), Preview Travel (TVLY), Digidesign (AVID), and hundreds of others.

Tim launched the DFJ Global Network, an international network of early-stage venture capital funds with offices in over 30 cities around the globe. He founded or co-founded DFJ ePlanet (global), Draper Fisher Jurvetson Gotham (NYC), Zone Ventures (LA), Epic Ventures (Salt Lake City), Draper Atlantic (Reston), Draper Triangle (Pittsburg), Timberline Ventures (Portland), Polaris Fund (Anchorage), DFJ Frontier (Sacramento and Santa Barbara), DFJ Vina Capital (Vietnam), and DFJ DragonFund (Shanghai).

As an advocate for entrepreneurs and free markets, Tim is regularly featured as a keynote speaker in entrepreneurial conferences throughout the world, has been recognized as a leader in his field through numerous awards and honors, and has frequent TV, radio, and headline appearances. He was #52 on the list of the 100 most influential Harvard Alumni, and #7 on the Forbes Midas List. He was named Always-On #1 top venture capital deal maker for 2008. He was awarded the Commonwealth Club’s Distinguished Citizen Award for achievements in green and sustainable energy. His blog is featured at www.theriskmaster.com.

Tim recently founded Draper University of Heroes, an immersive boarding school in San Mateo, California for students 18-24 years old, dedicated to encouraging proactive entrepreneurship. Tim is the course creator and Chairman of BizWorld, a 501c3 organization built around simulated teaching of entrepreneurship and business to children. He also serves on the Harvard Business School Board of Dean’s Advisors.

Previously, Tim served on the California State Board of Education. In November of 2000, Tim launched a statewide cyber-initiative on school choice for the California General Election. He was a member of Singapore’s International Economic Council and Ukraine’s Orange Circle. He was on the Board of U.C. Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Draper Fisher Jurvetson

Tim Draper

Dinan & Company Broker Dealer Fund Manager

Michael A. Dinan

I-Bankers Direct

Humphrey Polanen

Former SEC Official, Attorney with Locke Lord

Marlon Paz

Woody Tasch is the founder and chairman of Slow Money, a non-profit NGO formed in 2009. Slow Money promotes new principles of fiduciary responsibility and catalyzes the flow of capital to small food enterprises, organic farms and local food systems. In just four years, Slow Money has moved $30 million into small food businesses around the country, including farms, creameries, grain mills, niche organic brands, local processing, distribution and seed companies, and restaurants. Trend spotters cite Tasch’s Slow Money vision as a solution to manage the interrelated issues of economic crisis, sustainability, food sourcing and cultural renewal.

Tasch served as chairman and CEO of Investors’ Circle for a decade prior to 2009. Investors’ Circle is a national non-profit network dedicated to “patient capital for a sustainable future.” Investors’ Circle, since 1992, facilitated the flow of $152 million to over 250 sustainability-minded early-stage companies and venture funds, including more than $24 million to 37 organic and natural food companies.

Tasch, before his time at Investors’ Circle, was treasurer of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation where he pioneered mission-related investing, including an investment in Stonyfield Farm, now the world’s largest maker of organic yogurt. Tasch was also chairman of several NGOs, including the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance which supported small-scale venture funds that target economically disadvantaged regions; Sustainable Nantucket, an environmentally responsible growth management on Nantucket Island; and the Nantucket Education Trust, an affordable housing program for teachers. He was on the founding team of Healthdata International, a precursor of WebMD, and a principal at Prince Ventures, a healthcare venture capital fund, where he led the firm’s most successful investment. Tasch has served on the boards of a number of private companies and non-profit organizations.

Numerous articles, interviews and profiles about Tasch and Slow Money have been published, including in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, L.A. Times, Business Week online, TIME online, Barron’s, the Associated Press, Ode, Green Money Journal, Resurgence, and the Christian Science Monitor. Tasch was recently featured at the Berry Center’s national event in Louisville, KY and is contributing a chapter to The Resettling of America, an update to Wendell Berry’s seminal work, The Unsettling of America. He is serving on the 2013 Buckminster Fuller Challenge Jury.

Tasch is the author of Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered (Chelsea Green, 2008), which has been described as “seminal,” “beyond timely,” and “the beginning of a major movement.” In 2010, Tasch was identified by Utne Reader as one of “25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.”

Slow Money, Investors Circle

Woody Tasch

OurCrowd Angel Platform Israel

Gadi Mazor

Crowdnetic

Luan Cox