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Marlon Nichols is a co-founder and general partner at Cross Culture Ventures (CCV), an early stage venture capital firm with a focus on cultural investing (global trends and shifts in consumer behavior). Before founding CCV, Marlon was an investment director at Intel Capital where he completed his Kauffman Fellowship. Prior to his time in venture capital, Marlon led successful careers in software and strategy consulting in the technology, private equity, media and entertainment sectors. Some of Marlon’s investments include Afrostream, Gimlet Media, Hingeto, LendStreet, LISNR, Mark One (Vessyl), Mayvenn, Mirantis, MongoDB, mSurvey, ReplyYes, Sidestep, Skurt, and Thrive Market. Marlon earned a Bachelor of Science in MIS from Northeastern University and a MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. Marlon currently serves on the board of directors for private companies LISNR, Shottracker and Sidestep, and was recently appointed to the board of directors of the Kauffman Fellows Program. Marlon was named to Silicon Republic’s list of 26 venture capital professionals spearheading change in technology investing, was a recipient of Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award, and was named a member of theRegistry’s 40 under 40 Top Diverse Talent. Marlon has been featured in Fortune, Black Enterprise and a number of other magazines, blogs, and podcasts.
Nancy E. Pfund is Founder and Managing Partner of DBL Partners, a venture capital firm whose goal is to combine top-tier financial returns with meaningful social, economic and environmental returns in the regions and sectors in which it invests. Ms. Pfund currently sponsors or sits on the board of directors of several companies, including: Farmers Business Network, The Muse, Advanced Microgrid Solutions, Off-Grid Electric and Primus Power, and, prior to their public offerings, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and Pandora Media. Ms. Pfund also sits on the Board of Trustees for National Geographic Society, is a member of the advisory council for The Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford University; the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance (formerly the National Advisory Board on Impact Investing); and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Prior to founding DBL, Ms. Pfund was a Managing Director in Venture Capital at JPMorgan, having started her investment career at Hambrecht & Quist in 1984. Ms. Pfund’s earlier work included Intel Corp., The California Governor’s Office, Stanford University and The Sierra Club. Ms. Pfund received her BA and MA in anthropology from Stanford University, and her MBA from the Yale School of Management.
MODERATOR: Martha Hernandez has a successful track record delivering critical human capital programs in both the nonprofit and private sector. Martha has served in several leadership roles for organizations such as Coro, Give Something Back, Mi Pueblo Food Centers, Inner City Advisors’ Talent Management Initiative and most recently, she was Save Mart Supermarkets’ Director of Talent Acquisition. Martha is passionate about access to opportunity, diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and has put into practice all of her learnings into developing madeBOS, a mobile web app that empowers Retail workers to plan and drive their careers and thus reducing the growing Retail turnover rate. In addition, Martha is Adjunct Faculty for the Coro AdelanTECH Leadership Program and a member of the Coro Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategic Planing Workgroup. Martha received her Bachelors in Sociology and Spanish Literature from Occidental College, is a graduate of the Mills College Institute for Civic Leadership Program, Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs, Management Leadership for Tomorrow and Avion Ventures.
