formed and served on executive management team of the internal venture group at Xerox Corporation. This group commercialized innovations developed in multiple Xerox research centers. He led the financial evaluation and formation of several joint venture companies throughout Europe in the Value Added Network Services market. John has held CEO roles with several early stage companies, and has significant experience in the data communications industry as CEO of two Powerline Communications Companies.

has been successfully doing business in China and the Asia Pacific region for 30 years. As CEO of Great Eastern Development Ltd. (GED), his Greenwich, Connecticut based firm, was credited by the Asian Wall Street Journal as putting together the first Joint Venture between the United States and China in 1980 when GED brought Beatrice Foods of Chicago, a Fortune 100 company, into China. Mr. Menendez recently relocated in Seattle, and with his local partner William Chao, established Noble Pacific Holdings LLC. Mr. Menendez specializes in business development, trading, government relations and strategic advisory services throughout the Asia Pacific region, with a specialized focus on China.

previously served as Regional President of Nextel Communications (Acquired by Sprint), Executive Director of US West Cellular, and as President & COO of Applied Voice. He brings over 25 years experience in wireless, Internet, broadband and high technology industries. He founded TeleMedia Resources to represent the human capital and business interests of two Denver-based venture capital firms, Centennial Ventures and Telecom Partners.

has more than 20 years experience in biomedical device product development, working at both startup and established companies. His work has covered a range of products, including defibrillators, ambulatory ECG monitors, patient monitors, blood analysis systems and pneumatic tourniquets. In his most recent position at Medtronic Physio-Control he established a new R&D group and formed/chaired a major business unit team. At InstruMed, he managed R&D and operations, resulting in its successful acquisition by Stryker Instruments in May, 2007. Mr. Kraus has also worked at Microsoft Hardware, where he launched the optical mouse, now a mainstay in the PC industry. He started his career at Westinghouse R&D, and then at a VC backed startup, PanelVision. Mark holds a BS and MS in electrical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

is a co-founder of Lee & Hayes PLLC, and has developed expertise in many diverse technologies and business processes. He counsels clients on all facets of IP portfolio creation and utilization as a business asset, including strategic planning, development, management and competitive analysis. Mr. Lee has co-authored two books, Intellectual Property for the Internet in 1997 and Managing Intellectual Property Rights in 1993. He has served as a board member (and past chair) of the Washington State University Research Foundation and as a Washington State University Foundation trustee. Mr. Lee Lewis also serves on the advisory boards of the Honors College and Entrepreneurship Program at WSU and on the Applied Sciences Laboratory (ASL) in Spokane.

is Chief Operating Officer at Sunrise Identity LLC, one of the leading national distributors in the promotional products industry. He was the first employee in Sunrise Identity’s corporate division and has overseen growing that organization into serving several Fortune 500 companies. He has redirected Sunrise Identity from being a seller of promotional products into a technology-based solution-provider offering ecommerce sites, virtual stores, closet stores and print-on-demand stores. Mr. Lynch also serves as the COO of Sunrise Global Solutions and has been the vision and driving force behind its new SAAS offering in the employee recognition and incentives program management space.

has deep marketing experience including leading the client services department at an award-winning Northwest advertising agency, Borders, Perrin & Norrander; as Director of Marketing for Garden Botanika during the period when they went from 20 to over 300 stores and launched a successful IPO; at Nintendo of America, where she supervised advertising and promotions for all Nintendo brands, including the launch of the successful Pokémon franchise; and at Corbis, where she developed the business case and drove the launch of its consumer prints and posters store. Mrs. Lynch is currently running her own agency and providing marketing and advertising solutions to her clients.

an executive leadership consultant and the Founder of Effectiveness Institute, is an authority on building and sustaining high-performance cultures in executive teams and organizations. Dr. Maynard is a blend of consultant, facilitator, author and speaker. In his 25 years as a leadership consultant, he has helped executives discover how to use trust, commitment, teamwork and motivation to drive change deep into their organizations and transform their corporate culture. Clients that have benefitted from a partnership with the Effectiveness Institute include Starbucks, Boeing, Owens Corning and Prudential. Dr. Maynard holds a B.S. in Psychology, a Masters in Education and an Ed.D. in Education and Business Administration.

is a partner in the law firm Leland, Parachini, Steinberg, Matzger & Melnick LLP. He is a veteran banking attorney who also advises businesses on financial and corporate matters and has expertise is in all aspects of banking law, including lending, operations, formation of new banks, bank holding companies, acquisitions, mergers, regulatory and securities matters. In addition to helping to establish and sell a number of California community banks, Mr. Parachini served for 25 years as a director of the California subsidiary of a large Japanese bank. A community leader, Mr. Parachini is on the board of directors for several non-profit organizations. He is a graduate and long-time benefactor of Washington State University, and serves on the Advisory Board of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies.

is the Founder and Executive Director of Spokane Entrepreneurial Center, LLC, which provides low-cost office space for early-stage businesses. He is also the Founder, President and CEO of Salvatori-Scott, Inc., a consumer products broker, representing 75 manufacturers selling health and beauty aid products to supermarkets and drug stores. He started the company in 1987 and it now has offices in San Francisco, Portland, Chicago, Providence, Columbus and Orlando, and more than $300 million in annual retail sales. Prior to this, from 1978-1986, Mr. Salvatori was a National Broker Coordinator for Pfizer, Inc. the largest pharmaceutical company in the world.

is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Rileys Reproductions, a large printing firm in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He joined Rileys in 1957 and has held many positions there including President. In 1975, he bought the reproduction division and has been leading it ever since with his son, Wade Sparks, as his partner. Mr. Terry Sparks has a BA from Washington State University (WSU), an MBA from Harvard, and has been a Washington State University Business School Advisory Board Member for 10 years. He also has been a big supporter of WSU's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies program, and its annual Business Plan Competition.

is a Senior Vice President in the Property Casualty division of Kibble & Prentice. He began his career in the insurance industry in 1988 and works with locally owned venture capital firms, wholesalers and construction companies. Mr. Darlington is responsible for identifying and managing the commercial insurance and risk management needs of businesses throughout the state and many of his clients are entrepreneurs. Prior to working at Kibble & Prentice, Mr. Darlington was an Account Executive for Fred S, James (currently Marsh & McLennan) an international brokerage firm. He has a B.A. in Marketing from Washington State University.

has more than 20 years experience as a consultant and developer in the information technology area. In 1997, he founded ASC, an information technology services company and serviced clients such as Verizon Wireless, NXP Semiconductors, Apple Computer, Intel, Kaiser Permanente, Chase Inc. and Blue Cross. In 2003, he embarked upon several high-tech start-up business ventures including Advanced Closed Blasting (a robotic equipment maintenance franchise), Chan International (a biotech supply chain) and eMinder (a Web based SaaS and Interactive Voice Response alert application). Mr. Wuotila started his professional career as a systems analyst at Booz Allen and Hamilton.’

serves as President of Accuro Business Intelligence. Mr. Martin has seventeen years experience building and managing companies that provide innovative solutions for all types of healthcare organizations. In 1985, he founded and served for thirteen years as CEO of 5K Computers, a practice management and billing company that served hundreds of physician clinics in Washington State. In 1998, Mr. Martin also co-founded Webster Corporation, a regional, healthcare-centric, Internet service provider. In 1998 Mr. Martin founded CodeCorrect and developed the first version of CodeCorrect PRO. In November of 2000, CodeCorrect acquired Seattle-based MedRelevance. Soon after, Mr. Martin successfully combined the resources of the two companies to complete the first release of CodeCorrect APC.

is a passionate entrepreneur who has helped launch, finance and grow several dozen start-up and emerging businesses. A majority of these companies were subsequently backed by large institutional investors and prominent venture capital firms, with over a dozen achieving liquidity events. He was the founding Editor of Preferred Returns, the newsletter of the Venture Capital & Private Equity Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, and a former Chair of the Business Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association. Brad earned a B.A. from the University of Washington, an M.A. (Public policy) from the Duke University Graduate School, and a J.D. from Duke Law School.

serves as Vice President of Sales for Picatti Bros. Construction, an 80 year old family-owned electrical business. His previous experience includes a role as Sales Engineer with General Electric. He is active in angel investing, property development and real estate holdings. He specializes in business turnarounds, strategic planning, property development, and early stage business investment. Mr. Picatti received a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University.

commitment to service innovation, business improvement and hard work was instrumental to the rapid yet controlled growth of Bellevue-based Pacific Edge Software. She co-founded the business in 1998, with the company eventually growing to serve more than 250 customers, from mid-market to Global 100 companies. Ms. Hjorten raised over $32 million in venture funding in less than a year from leading firms including Northwest Venture Associates, Fluke Venture Capital, Foundation Capital and Sequoia Capital. During her tenure at Pacific Edge Software Lisa was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, and was a finalist for their Entrepreneurial Achievement Award for Women Entrepreneurs. She received a ‘CIO 100’ award for customer service, and was also one of Puget Sound Business Journal's ‘40 under 40’ award recipients.

has spent 32 years as General Manager of Pacific Investment Company, where he manages several LLCs, works on acquisitions and develops the family’s real estate holdings. He focuses his property management activities primarily on Seattle industrial properties, but also has properties as far away as Portland and Spokane. Mr. Stack also is President of Rainier Pacific Co., and is the manager of three LLCs under Pacific Investment Co. management, including Stack Industrial Properties, LLC; Lander at Sixth, LLC; and Swan Island, LLC. Mr. Stack has previously worked for University Properties in Seattle (changed to UNICO Properties) and is a licensed real estate broker in Washington State, specializing in Industrial real estate transactions.