Greater Minneapolis-St. Paul Area
For nearly two decades, I’ve been immersed in one mission — advancing the Gap Fund and Accelerator (GAP) community that bridges the divide between research innovation and market impact through capital (grants, investments), support, talent, and space. As Founder of innovosource, I lead efforts to inform, connect, and advocate for GAP program leaders and partners worldwide — those developing, funding, and scaling early-stage technologies and spinouts/startups emerging from research institutions. Through our Mind the Gap Report, Gap Fund & Accelerator Community of Action (GAP COA), COVERGENCE summit, BRIDGE platform, and direct consulting, innovosource serves as both convener and catalyst for universities, hospitals, corporate innovation teams, investors, foundations, and family offices shaping the future of translational research and startup ecosystems. Our focus: • Empowering research institutions to design and sustain impactful gap fund and accelerator models • Connecting corporate and philanthropic partners with early-stage technologies and startups, as advisors, mentors, and commercialization and investment partners • Advocating for policy and investment strategies that strengthen innovation capital pipelines, by collaborating with other ecosystem partners The GAP movement is more than funding and support of individual projects and startups — it’s a specialized subset of the broader technology transfer and commercialization community advancing the science and business of innovation translation through sophisticated processes and partnerships. If you’re working to build or engage with university-affiliated innovation and startup programs — or exploring ways to partner with the GAP community — I’d love to connect. 🔗 www.innovosource.com 📧 [email protected]
Founded and lead innovosource, a platform that advances the research institution Gap Fund and Accelerator (GAP) community — connecting research institutions, industry partners, investors, and philanthropists. Key initiatives: • Mind the Gap Report – the sector’s premier benchmarking and strategy publication on GAP program design, impact, and best practices • Gap Fund & Accelerator Community of Action (GAP COA) – membership network of GAP research institutions sharing insights, data, and collaborations • COVERGENCE Summit – annual meeting for GAP leaders, investors, corporates, and foundations • BRIDGE Opportunity Hub– connecting GAP COA technologies and startups with corporate and venture philanthropy partners • Consulting – strategic advisory on gap fund formation, donor engagement, and ecosystem development
The Venture Center Business Advisory Group is a broad-based network of entrepreneurs and business executives who help vet new ideas and assist with technology commercialization and startups across a wide range of technological disciplines and sectors
Developed curriculum, led classes, and provided mentorship to junior and senior students in the Olin School of Business Key Accomplishments ▪ Delivered unique educational and real-world content and practices to students taking the Entrepreneurship (Spring Semester) and Innovation and Creativity (Fall Semester) classes ▪ Led lectures and group exercises around Innovation Methodologies, Business Strategy, Customer Adoption, Ideation, Investor Pitches, and Product Positioning
CECE convenes senior economic and community engagement officers, presidents and chancellors, provosts, senior research officers, communications and government affairs administrators, and others across APLU member universities and university systems across North America who maintain responsibility for planning, executing, or communicating their institution’s work in economic development and public engagement.
Directly supported a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) MicroSystems Technology Office (MTO) to evaluate faculty performers and to assess defense investments in MEMS and nanotechnology for commercial and investment potential in eight technology areas.