BUILDing Entrepreneurs

Through our Youth Business Incubator, we allow students to shape their ideas and creative spirit into their own small businesses. They keep the profits. Better yet, they retain the can-do attitude during college and beyond.

Board of Directors and Local Advisory Boards

Our Board of Directors

BUILD’s growth is guided by a dedicated group of community leaders, representing the academic, technological, legal, and financial strengths necessary for social innovation.

Board Chair:

Jean Kovacs, Former CEO, Comergent Technologies, Inc.


Board Members:

R. James Ellis, Entrepreneur, Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Eldridge Gray, Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Emiko Higashi, Managing Director, Tomon Partners, LLC

Suzanne McKechnie Klahr, CEO and President, BUILD

Ajay Agarwal, Managing Director, Bain Capital

Will Reynolds, Partner, New Profit Inc.

Brenda Zawatski, Former Executive, Selectica

Gideon Yu, General Partner, Khosla Ventures

Dr. Deborah Rieman, Partner, Private Investment Fund

Oakland Advisory Board

Denise Yamamoto, Board Chair, Nonprofit Consultant

Alex Anderson, Partner, Andercorp Venture Partners

Doug Brien, Entrepreneur/Former NFL Placekicker

Stephen Grant, Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch 

Kent Lucas, Entrepreneur/Former Vice President, Capital Research & Management

Suzanne Passalacqua, Partner, Tamalpais Ventures

Eric Rudney, Principal, Rudney Associates

Eric Weissman, Financial Advisor, AIG Retirement Services

Tony Wicks, Co-Founder, Premier Source

Peninsula Advisory Board

Paul Jordan, Board Chair, CFO and Co-Founder, BlackBag Technologies

Pamela Kline Smith, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Teleperformance, Inc.

Lawrence Shubert, Principal and Founder, ZIP Innovations

Peter Bourne, Former President and CEO, Entrisphere, Inc.

Ralph Schmitt, President and CEO, PLX Technology

Sunil Kurkure, Venture Partner, Mirador Capital

Metro DC Advisory Board

Peter Mellen, Board Chair, Co-founder and CEO, Edison-Wright

Margie Johnson, Director of Corporate Care, Acumen Solutions

Amy Wright, President and CEO, Macro Solutions, Inc.

Tim Garnett, Partner, Avascent Group

Wanda Alexander, President and CEO, Horizon Consulting, Inc.

Chuck Samuels, Member, Mintz Levin

Marc Friedman, Owner, Ace Hardware Stores

Scott Plumridge, Principal, The Halifax Group