Lewis Hower
Director
Prior to joining UIF as its full time Director in May 2010, Lewis most recently served as the Marketing Manager for the Sorenson Housing Opportunity Fund, an affiliate of Huntsman Gay Capital Impact Partners, where he focused on fundraising and finance operations for the project which invests in the creation of affordable housing and finance products for the working poor of India. Previously, Lewis managed finance and operations for Unitus Investment Group where he worked with the founding team of Unitus Capital in their spin out from the international microfinance accelerator Unitus, Inc. Unitus Capital is a financial advisory firm specializing in arranging capital for microfinance institutions and other social enterprises benefiting those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Lewis holds a B.S.E. in Bioengineering from Arizona State University where he spent time working in biotechnology research and small business operations.
Patrick Mullen
Principal
As Principal, Patrick is responsible for managing and training new Student Associates, managing and sourcing project flow, and assisting with other operational activies at UIF. Patrick is a former Senior Associate with the University Venture Fund (UVF), an $18.2M dollar fund investing across a variety of deal stages and industries. At UVF he led over 15 projects and deals in multiple industries including consumer products, enterprise software, medical devices, microfinance and alternative energy. As a Senior Associate Patrick also worked to train new interns and Student Associates in an advisory role.
In addition to his time at UVF, Patrick has spent extensive time in developing countries including India, China, and Tanzania where he worked with various NGO's, village banking groups, and children's organizations.
Patrick holds a B.S. in Finance from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT. At Westminster, he served as President and Founder of the undergraduate chapter of Net Impact at Westminster, a global organization to promote social and environmentally responsible entrepreneurship and enterprise.
David Kwant
Senior Associate
Joined UIF in: October 2010
School: University of Utah
Major: Finance
Grad Date: 2012
Projects Worked on This Year: Amara, Daisy Clip, Kopo Kopo, Unitus Impact Partners
Bio: David is currently pursuing a BS degree in Finance from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. While attending the University of Utah, David has been an active member in the Finance Honors Society and Beta Alpha Psi. Before attending the University of Utah, David pursued his entrepreneurial spirit by starting up an affordable housing company in South America. While working on his project he made frequent trips to Venezuela and Shanghai, China. In his spare time David is a musician and loves playing with his band around the Salt Lake City scene. After graduation, David plans to continue working in the affordable housing industry in South America and invest in worthwhile causes.
Wilfried Eyi
Associate
Joined UIF in: April 2011
School: Brigham Young University
P rojects Worked on This Year: Bali Seafood, Project Sophia, FE Clean Energy
Bio: Wilfried is a Senior in Finance at the Marriott School of Management (MSM) at Brigham Young University (BYU). He is a member of the MSM-Invesment Banking Club, and is currently the MSM Student Council Vice President over Clubs. Wilfried is from Gabon, Central Africa and is planning on being a front player in the economies of the African nations. He is heading to Goldman Sachs & Co. in their Investment Banking Division, and will be working in Investment Banking until his MBA. He enjoys sports, outdoor activities, service activities, and spending time with the people he cares about.
Laura Lewis
Joined UIF in: May 2011
Major: Master of Public Administration
Bio: Laura Lewis is entering her second year in the Master of Public of Adminstration at Brigham Young University with an emphasis in finance. Laura recently returned from Paraguay where she completed an internship in microfinance lending. She became interested in social impact investment after spending 18 months as a missionary in Peru.
Andrew Scheuermann
Major: Management Strategy, Minor in International Development
Grad Date: December 2012
Projects Worked on This Year: Bali Seafoods, Project Sophia, Impact Venture News
Bio: Andrew is an undergraduate strategy student at BYU's Marriott School of Management. Andrew was introduced to the world of social entrepreneurship by researching Mohammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank. Since that time he has been finding ways to help others using his business management expertise. He sees the effectiveness and accountability of for-profit business as a powerful mechanism to lift people out of poverty. In the summer of 2010 he volunteered in Leagone, Haiti as an earthquake relief volunteer with the organization Sustain Haiti. In the summer of 2011, as a Peery Film Fellow, he assisted two separate film crews in producing documentaries about social entrepreneurship organization in San Francisco and Ecuador. These films premiered in October of 2011 at BYU.
Bill Shelton
Major: MBA/MSIS
Grad Date: May 2013
Projects Worked on This Year: Unitus Capital, Project Sophia, Bamboo Healthcare, Paradigm Project, Venture News, GreenStart, FE Clean Energy
Bio: Bill graduated from the University of Utah in 2009 with a Bachelor of Science. He majored in Psychology and minored in Chemistry. After finishing his undergraduate degree Bill worked in the Neuro-Oncology lab at the Huntsman Cancer Institute as well as a wilderness therapy field staff.
Bill is currently pursuing an MBA/MSIS from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah with an expected graduation date of May 2013.
James Zelnick
Major: Accounting
Grad Date: April 2012
Projects Worked on This Year: Kopo Kopo, Bamboo Finance, The Paradigm Project, Solar Mosaic, Ruma, Pangia, Project Sophia
Bio: James is currently pursuing his master's degree in accounting at BYU. Prior to joining UIF James interned with PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York. James is passionate about promoting for-profit social enterprises as a means to improve the lives of those living in poverty. After graduating he will be joining Bain & Company in Dallas.
Kurt Brown
Kurt Brown is a Principal and Director of Trading at Alta Capital Management. Alta, a U.S. based money manager specializing in U.S. Quality Growth companies, currently manages $700 million for Institutions and high night worth individuals. Founded in 1981, Alta Capital is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and has both domestic and international clients. In addition to Kurt’s role on the investment committee, he spends a significant amount of time in China developing Alta’s institutional Asian clientele.
Prior to joining Alta, Kurt was with BlackRock Capital where he advised institutional clients on strategic trading and risk management issues. His clients have included money management firms, hedge funds, and publicly traded companies and officers. Additionally, Kurt consulted with high net worth individuals on the hedging of concentrated equity positions and the formation of related capital strategies. Prior to Black Rock, Mr. Brown worked as a sales trader for Banc of America Securities and Montgomery Securities.
Kurt has a keen interest in international private equity. He has served as a co-founder, advisor, or director to a variety of ventures including; MicroBenefits China, a specialty finance firm serving factory workers in China, China Venture Finance, China’s first dedicated venture debt firm, Hild Inc., a Hungarian-based equity release company, and BluePoint Technologies, a leading innovator of remote management technology for web devices.
Kurt studied finance and economics at Brigham Young University. He currently lives in Utah with his wife, Katie, and enjoys spending time with family, boating, traveling, and studying history.
Angela Dumke
Angela is a long standing community volunteer presently serving on the American Cancer Societys Great West Divisions Board of Directors, which serves twelve states. She is also the co-chair for the American Cancer Societys Utah State Board. She has previously served as chair for both the Rape Recovery Center of Salt Lake and the Bennion Center Friends of Service Board at the University of Utah.
A member of the Womens Philanthropic Network with the United Way, Angela is also active in numerous positions in her church. She attended school at the University of Utah, Golden Gate University in San Francisco, and Westminster College in Salt Lake. She is director of Dadiva, a family foundation.
As devoted mother of five, Angela is an archivist for her family and inventive cook. She loves traveling and spending time outdoors with her husband, Zeke. Angelas trademark is her unwavering drive and passion for a cause. She is known as a peacemaker and bridge-builder among people.
E.R. "Zeke" Dumke III
Mr. Dumke is the president of Western States Management Corporation, an investment and real estate development company. Prior to joining Western States Management, Mr. Dumke was a broker with Commercial Leasing Consultants in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Dumke also serves on the Westminter Board of Trustees, the Dadiva Foundation Board, and is active in the Salt Lake City Rotary.
Zeke received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Utah and later attended the Northwestern J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Zeke and his wife, Angela, reside in Salt Lake City, Utah.
J. Kimo Esplin
J. Kimo Esplin is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Huntsman Corporation, a publically traded global manufacturer and marketer of differentiated chemicals. Mr. Esplin has served as Chief Financial Officer of all of the Huntsman companies since 1999, prior to which he served as the Treasurer for all of the Huntsman companies from 1994-1999.
Prior to joining Huntsman in 1994, Mr. Esplin was a Vice President in the Investment Banking Division of Bankers Trust Company, where he worked for seven years. Mr. Esplin also serves as a director of Nutraceutical International Corporation, a publicly traded nutrition supplements company.
Todd Manwaring
Todd is founder and managing director of the BYU Center for Economic Self-Reliance (www.selfreliance.byu.edu) . He is a Marriott School faculty member and teaches a graduate course on Social Entrepreneurship.Todd is an alumnus of BYU with a Masters degree in Organizational Behavior (MOB) and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. He worked previously in the computer industry in Salt Lake City, Boston, and Seattle. In his last position at Sequent Computer Systems he managed a team of computer professionals for that company's largest account ($150 million) at Boeing, having grown it from a $5 million account.
Taylor Randall
Taylor Randall is the Dean of the George S. Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. He is also a visiting professor at the Wharton School of Business and INSEAD. Taylor's past and present research partners include Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, General Motors, Dell Computers, Dupont Agricultural Chemicals, Cannondale Corporation, Emptoris, and McKinley Capital. His work has been published in, among other journals, Marketing Science, Management Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management and The Financial Times.
Professor Randall's industrial experience includes positions as a senior consultant at Arthur Andersen & Co. and as an assistant production manager at Lone Peak Designs along with numerous consulting engagements at companies like General Motors Corporation, Dupont, MPM/Speedline Technologies, O.C. Tanner Company, Vista Staffing Solutions and American Investment Bank. Professor Randall is the faculty advisor for the University Venture Fund. Professor Randall received a B.A. in accounting from the University of Utah, and an M.B.A., a Masters in Managerial Economics, and a Ph.D. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
James Lee Sorenson
James Lee Sorenson is a nationally recognized business leader and entrepreneur who helped develop several new industry categories in today's business world. Under his leadership, Sorenson Medical developed a line of portable, microchip-controlled infusion pumps that deliver drugs safely while allowing patients mobility and lifestyle flexibility during chemotherapy or pain treatment.
As CEO of Sorenson Media, Sorenson developed the world's leading digital compression-decompression software and the first high-quality, low-cost videophone. He also created a nationwide video relay service for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, which was acquired by GTCR in 2005 in the most lucrative private equity deal in Utah history. Sorenson's other leadership responsibilities include The Sorenson Group, which owns and is developing over 60,000 acres of industrial, commercial, residential and retail real estate, and Sorenson Capital, which has raised approximately $650 million to invest in small- to mid-size U.S. companies. He also serves on the boards of a number of charities and community organizations.
Geoff Woolley
Working as an entrepreneur most of his professional life, Mr. Woolley founded both Dominion Ventures, Inc., and European Venture Partners ("EVP"). Over the past 20 years, Mr. Woolley has worked with over 300 emerging growth companies, including Bookham, Ciena, Coinstar, Hotmail, Human Genome Science, Tivoli, and Vertiex Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Woolley currently devotes only a portion of his business time to Dominion and EVP in order to provide time for other interests in academia, politics, and non-profit organizations.
He currently serves on several University of Utah advisory boards. He worked extensively on the Gore presidential campaign as a Co-Chair in 2000 and continues to be active in the Democratic National Committee. Mr. Woolley served for five years as the chairman of the NAMES Project, one of the largest HIV organizations, and remains engaged in HIV issues. Mr. Woolley receied a B.A. in Finance from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from the University of Utah.
Peter Harris
Principal, University Venture Fund
Since joining UVF May 2007, Peter Harris has worked on a wide variety of deals, ranging from medical device firms to customer relationship management software companies. As a student Senior Associate, Mr. Harris recruited and trained over 30 other students and led more than 20 different deals and projects, including the recent Transpond investment. In September of 2009, Mr. Harris began working full-time at the University Venture Fund as a Principal. In that role, he is responsible for building deal flow, recruiting and training new students, and managing multiple diligence processes and projects. He maintains board observer seats with Transpond, and Alianza, and keeps track of the majority of the portfolio.
Mr. Harris is very interested in sustainable poverty alleviation and spent the summer of 2009 in Ghana as consultant to a Fortune 500 company to help them develop a microfranchise business in that country. He is currently writing a peer-reviewed journal article analyzing the effectiveness of the microfranchising business model in developing countries using statistical modeling. Mr. Harris graduated from BYU as an Honors double major in Economics and International Business.
Shailendra Robin Patel
CFO, Saxobank, Chairman, Kredits Microfinance MIS
Following a highly successful career in technology, treasury, investment banking and most recently helping to build Saxo Bank into one of the foremost online investment banking institutions, Shailendra Robin Patel has elected to divest his time, resource, and expertise in supporting commercially viable as well as philanthropic ventures aimed at empowering, facilitating and resourcing long-term, sustainable efforts to help the world’s poor. Mr. Patel divides his time between India, London, the U.S., and Copenhagen, where he is presently based.
Tom Stringham
Executive Director, University Venture Fund
In addition to his work at University Venture Fund, Tom Stringham is a Director in the ROTH Capital Partners Corporate Finance Group. Prior to joining ROTH, Mr. Stringham worked for Merrill Lynch & Co. in the Investment Banking Group in New York, where he worked with companies in diverse industries including: paper and forest products, transportation, consumer products, apparel and electronics. He also worked with Merrill Lynch & Co. as a specialist with expertise in private equity transactions; alternative investment and asset allocation strategies. Mr. Stringham is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate from the University of Utah, where he also served as a member of the University Board of Trustees. Mr. Stringham's MBA is from Harvard Business School.
Beau Seil
Director, Unitus Impact Partners
Beau is responsible for generating deal flow and evaluating investment opportunities for Unitus Impact (“UI”), a new for-profit investment firm spun-out of the non-profit Unitus, Inc. (www.unitus.com). UI works on livelihood acceleration for those at the Bottom of the Economic Pyramid in Asia (especially India) and Africa by building scalable and sustainable enterprises.
Prior to the launch of UI, Beau was a Principal at Capital Impact where he worked extensively on the Sorenson Housing Opportunity Fund, a private equity fund focused on developing India’s affordable housing ecosystem. Over the past four years, he also spent significant time in China leading Capital Impact’s outreach in the PRC and monitoring Capital Impact’s investment in Micro Benefits (www.weibangfuli.com), a company that provides credit and other life-enhancing products and services to Chinese frontline factory workers.
Beau is co-chair of the Impact Investing Initiative at Brigham Young University’s Ballard Center for Economic Self-Reliance, an advisory board member for Ashoka’s Youth Venture – San Francisco Bay Area, and an educational advisor to the E3 Fund – a new San Francisco Bay Area venture fund providing experiential learning opportunities in private equity and venture capital to minority college students in the Bay Area. Beau holds a JD / MBA-Finance and B.S. in Psychology from Brigham Young University.
