Schedule Here

Alnisa specializes in nonprofits, technology, entrepreneurship, and community building. She's good at brainstorming ideas, problem-solving, process review, communications, social media, training, and training deliverables. She's also adequate at design thinking, agile processes, and GTD (getting things done). Conversations can be brief, one-to-one training, discussions, strategy planning, brainstorming, pitch practice, or more. 

EXPERTISE: Most types of technology (tech generalist), communications, event and project planning, process automation, cross-sector collaboration, and more.

Schedule Here

Hilary Stohs-Krause focuses on the intersection of tech and entrepreneurs. By day, she works as a software developer at Ten Forward Consulting, building web and mobile applications for startups around the country. Outside of work, she serves as a mentor for various accelerators, on the board of 'Forward Fest,' and as an organizer for Madison Women in Tech and Startup Weekend Madison. She co-founded Team 19 and Madison Tech & Social Impact. 

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: software, tech, communication, hiring

Jeff is a lawyer that has been working with startups for his entire career. His practice focuses on nascent for-profit, non-profit, and social enterprises. Jeff has worked with the UW Law & Entrepreneurship Clinic for the past 11 years providing free legal services for startups throughout Wisconsin. He is also an entrepreneur and has a technology background in programming.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: legal issues related to your business; setting up your company, contracts, trademarks, employment issues, protecting content, etc.

Laura Heisler is a nationally recognized, mission-driven, visionary thinker. She is skilled in advancing innovative initiatives in the sciences, arts, and humanities while engaging the public. Laura has developed stable operational structures supporting fast-paced growth, technology commercialization, and community engagement. She has worked with social entrepreneurs in diverse fields through a Force for Positive Change, Madison Public Market Foundation, and other efforts.

Laura loves working on creating connections for new ventures with key players in the local and statewide community, exploring different kinds of funding angles, audience/stakeholder development, and strategic partnerships. She's worked in the Madison entrepreneurial community for more than 25 years. 

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: goal development, general business management, network building, program development, program management, public engagement, marketing, strategic execution, partnerships, strategic planning, team-building, food systems, and funding.

Jara Rios-Rodriguez has a lot of experience in business operations, strategy, writing, editing, copyediting, and problem-solving. She has worked in business operations, strategy, and product development for multiple companies. She also has marketing skills and is very good at streamlining processes, providing insights regarding client care, and conflict resolution.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: Operations, Strategy, Writing, Editing, Copyediting, Problem-solving, Product Development, Marketing, Communications, Data Analysis, Client Care, Conflict Resolution, Grief, Trauma, Coaching

EXTERNAL CALENDAR: Clicking the button will take you to an external system where you can schedule the coach's time.

Brian is a software entrepreneur with 20+ years of programming experience and a career of writing software for Fortune 500s, local governments, and Silicon Valley startups. An experienced team-builder that can help with hiring. Brian is at best working with early-stage ventures with a technology component. He likes digging in with product-market fit, finding early customers, and going to market. Brian highly values rolling up his sleeves and providing assistance. He can also serve as a sounding board and  "accountability coach" for other founders working solo.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: Technology, startups, venture capital, entrepreneurship, product-market fit, apps, business growth

Brandi Grayson is the Founder, CEO, and President of Urban Triage, Inc, and Grayson Consulting, LLC. A transformational and empowering leader, her work centers around Black excellence. She has personal and professional expertise in leadership solutions, executive coaching to individuals, groups, and organizations, supporting healthy Black families, transformative justice, education, and intersectionality.

Brandi takes pride in empowering and inspiring breakthroughs and transformation in Black people and communities. Her work reflects the attributes of Blackness that are rarely centered— Black excellence through healing, Black resilience, Black creativity, Black compassion, Black economic development, and most importantly, Black love.

She is an adjunct faculty member and executive coach at The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL®), a top-ranked, global provider of executive education. Lead Facilitation Coach and Master Trainer for Better Conversations Every Day.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: strategic planning, systems training, leadership development, activist, program development, advocacy, antagonist, transformative education, community support services, crisis response, entrepreneurship, executive education, facilitation, intervention, program development, life coach, mindfulness, personal development, psychoeducation, and somatic work

Salli Martyniak won the IN Business Executive of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020. She spent over 15 years guiding and growing Forward Community Investments (FCI) into a game-changing organization that reduces racial inequities and socioeconomic disparities in Wisconsin.

With empathy as her signature trait, Salli, through FCI, provided loans, grants, and technical assistance for developing community facilities, affordable housing, and the financial stabilization of budget constraints. 

An investor, connector, and advisor to mission-driven organizations, Salli has a broad base of expertise. She’s most proud of developing a loan program to address the lack of racial and sexual diversity in the real estate development sector.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: organization management, management consulting, fund development, fundraising, donor support, community engagement, business development, public relations, and more.

Stuart Hee has spent the last 21 years working in various operations and finance roles. He has experience working with have experience working with venture capital (VC) funds as clients, investing in startups, creating a startup, and winding down a startup. Holding a B.S. in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University, Stuart serves on the board of CEOs of Tomorrow, Synergy Ventures Foundation, and volunteers for MERLIN Mentors.

Stuart brings an eclectic network of humans from around the globe, specifically in Western Europe and East Asia. His skill set has breadth but limited depth: budgeting and finance, assessing capital structures, establishing equity compensation structures from a management perspective, and a little legal or tax knowledge. He currently works for the Center for Community Stewardship.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: budgeting, finance, compensation packages, cash flow, business operations, venture capital, accessing capital, equity compensation, and more.

Melanie is passionate about helping people clarify where they want to go, how they will get there, and how they will talk about it. She works with people and organizations trying to align their strategies, systems, people, and processes to achieve intended results.

Melanie has owned her creative consulting firm for almost 20 years. She is steeped in nonprofit dynamics with nearly 30 years of cross-sector experience. Melanie enjoys collaborating with people who are curious and committed to achieving and advancing sustainable transformation.

SKILLS& EXPERTISE: boards/governance, brand consulting, business administration, business consulting, change management, executive coaching, hr consulting, human capital, innovation/transformation, management consulting, marketing/communication, nonprofit consulting, organizational design, program management, program/product development, public relations, strategic planning, and visioning

Nhi is passionate about startup formation, developing best practices, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). She works on building equitable and enduring organizational culture, pitching, creating long-term strategies for growth, and storytelling as sales tools.

An experienced venture capitalist and startup coach, Nhi Le has deployed over $30M in capital and mentored hundreds of small businesses. She has worked with Doyenne Group, WARF, gener8tor, the Social Good Accelerator, and a family office. Nhi received her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Materials Science and Engineering. 

Nhi is a founding partner of Mariton Partners and consults with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. Additionally, she has extensive experience working with women and minority-owned businesses. She is a 1st-generation immigrant born in Vietnam, raised in Georgia, and a transplant to Madison.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: growth strategies, sales strategy, pitching, organizational culture, organizational structure, funding and fundraising, best practices, standard operating procedures (SOPs), coaching, mentoring, and investing.

NOTE: Friday, June 4 hours only. Available from 1 pm until 4 pm, send an email.

My professional experience has created an individual who seeks to make a difference every day with intention. My passion is ensuring inclusion and engagement are front and center in my work. I have strong policy and analytic skills, a wide network of community, government, and business relationships, and extensive networks and relationships within Madison and Dane County's diverse populations. A key strength is as a connector between community, business, and nonprofits; which I believe results in developing and implementing ideas and strategies that are inclusive, and resilient which produces a strong community backbone.  

Lisa Dugdale is a serial social entrepreneur, coach, and evaluator with 20 years of nonprofit experience. She has worked with small nonprofits for over 20 years, including running two, starting two, and doing consulting and coaching for many of them. 

A skilled facilitator, a meeting coach, program evaluator, needs assessor, and leadership coach. Lisa's background is in nonprofit consulting. Lisa has a Master's Degree in Social Work and Public Policy from the University of Michigan. Additionally, she has completed coach training with Martha Beck Institute. 

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: budgeting, fundraising, coaching, program evaluation, nonprofit management, and more.

Claudia is an experienced public health policy consultant and an expert in training and education. She brings a master’s in educational psychology and learning sciences from the University of Wisconsin. She also has a master’s in public health with a concentration in health management and policy-making and a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics from the American University of Beirut. Additionally, Claudia has a certificate in curriculum and instruction, instructional design model, curriculum analysis, and needs assessment from Maastricht University.

With more than 10 years of experience working for multinational companies, Claudia is a seasoned speaker and facilitator of capacity-building. She also has long-term expertise in healthcare, educational technology, and women’s advancement. She has an extensive professional network within the US and around the globe. Claudia was awarded the Stephen Penrose Award for leadership, character, scholarship, and community involvement. Additionally, she was selected as a 2020 Inspiring Arab Women of the Year recipient. Claudia is fluent in Arabic, English, and French.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: stakeholder engagement strategies, public health, educational technology, curriculum development, adult learning, problem-solving, gap analysis, public speaking, strategic planning, adult learning, and more.

Schedule Here

Alison has been providing clients with personalized bookkeeping and business coaching since 2010. She has nearly 20 years of entrepreneurial experience— in retail, health care, event production, and nonprofit management. Additionally, she has 5+ years of working for a leading economic development agency, the Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC). Alison is an AASBC Certified Small Business Consultant and has worked as a business consultant for Google, Inc., WWBIC, and her clients. Alison is a Certified QuickBooks User, QuickBooks Instructor, and QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She loves helping small businesses set up and use QuickBooks. Other areas of expertise include cash flow projections and financial statement analysis.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE: Bookkeeping, Financial Analysis, Business Planning

Corinda Rainy-Moore currently serves as the Community Outreach and Engagement Manager for Meriter-Unity Point. In this role, she has oversight over the organization’s outreach strategies to all of the issues areas including healthcare, racial equity, juvenile justice, immigration, and education. Her passion is advocacy, networking, and bridging relationships. Corinda is currently the President of the Equal Opportunities Commission, Board President of Safe Communities, President of Urban League of Greater Madison Guild, and President of The Madison Network of Black Professionals.

EXPERTISE: Communications, Social Media, Networking, Community Engagement, General Business, Race and Equity Issues, Problem-Solving.