Entrepreneurship Symposium & Innovation Pitch Competition Speakers and Judges - 2023

Chen-Chen Huo, Co-Founder, Nexus

Chen-Chen is a proud San Francisco native, product of SFUSD (Sunset, A.P. Giannini, Lowell), UC Berkeley alum, and small business owner. He spent two years as a management consultant before starting a local restaurant chain aimed at the growth of food delivery. After selling that business, he joined the Nexus team as a co-founder, who he met through Y Combinator.

He loves to nerd out over SEC yields and expense ratios, and spends too much time talking about investment vehicles with his friends. He’s a boglehead, passionate about improving financial literacy, and a firm believer in the wealth-building powers of diversified investing. He spends his free time bar-backing at his bar and playing indoor volleyball.

Nexus is the first bank account that earns returns for people, not banks. Nexus allows users to keep 100% of their wealth invested in diversified funds and earning returns for themselves, as much as 9% annually. We’re on a mission to make it delightfully easy for people from all backgrounds to benefit from healthy, diversified investing and build wealth through compounding interest.

Deputy Director, La Cocina

Leticia joined La Cocina in early 2008 as the third staff member of the organization. Over the years Leticia has worn many hats in the organization and was the instrumental force behind formalizing La Cocina's incubator program, and providing the vision and strategy that catapulted the organization and its entrepreneurs to international recognition. Please join us in a conversation with Leticia on how to create systems that nurture and grow under-represented entrepreneurs. 

Scouting Director, State Farm Ventures 

A Bay Area native, Hutch has been active in the Silicon Valley ecosystem since 2012. He has supported next-gen startups with product strategies and growth tactics, helped corporates develop innovation programs and partnerships, and assisted VCs in finding targeted investment opportunities. 

Hutch’s lifelong passion for beta-testing technologies and building startups led him to Plug & Play, where he played a key role in launching one of the world’s largest tech accelerators in the insurance space. He traveled worldwide, meeting with industry leaders, establishing partnerships, and hosting conferences. Hutch’s sector expertise has expanded, and he is frequently asked to discuss changing trends in verticals such as insurtech, mobility, health tech, and fintech.

Currently, Hutch is a scouting manager for State Farm Ventures. By partnering with startups, VCs, and established tech leaders, he helps to identify tech-enabled solutions for a wide range of business needs.

Angel Investor & Founder, NKH Group

Nancy Hayes has been an active angel investor since 2014 and has a portfolio of more than 25 companies.  She serves as a mentor to entrepreneurs, with a particular focus on women entrepreneurs and founders of color, by providing feedback on strategy, advising them on presenting to investors and providing introductions where appropriate.  Nancy is a frequent guest speaker, panelist, and judge at pitch events.  She also provides training for those who are considering becoming angel/venture investors.

Nancy was a senior executive of the IBM Corporation for almost 20 years and then served as CEO of two social services nonprofit organizations, the STARBRIGHT Foundation and WISE Senior Services.  She became the Dean of the College of Business at San Francisco State University in 2005 and then was Vice President of Finance/CFO and Chief Administrative Officer of San Francisco State from 2011 to 2013. Nancy was cofounder in 2013 of a rewards-based crowdfunding site for women with small businesses called MoolaHoop and then transitioned to angel investing.  Nancy served as a Managing Director of the Golden Seeds angel group Silicon Valley chapter for 3 years.

Nancy has an MBA from the University of Chicago and lives in San Francisco.

www.linkedin.com/in/nancyhayes2

Director, Strategic Initiatives & Sr. Program Manager, Union Bank

Bruno is currently the Managing Director and Market Executive for the Northern California and Pacific Northwest Regions for Union Bank in the Business Banking Group.  As the senior executive for the region, he leads teams of Business Development Officers and Relationship Managers to serve the financial needs of their business banking customers.  In addition to leading these teams of banking professionals, he is also the Strategic Initiatives and Analytics leader for the segment.

A proponent of using technology and data-based analytics to connect with customers and increase customer satisfaction & efficiency, he has worked on a number revenue increasing initiatives and re-engineering programs at all levels of the organization.

A 30-year veteran of the banking industry, he started his career with Wells Fargo Bank working in the business banking, retail, and commercial groups of the bank leading both regional and national teams in sites across the country.

As a native San Franciscan and active in the community, Bruno supports several nonprofit organizations and serves on the board of the Child Abuse Prevention Council of Contra Costa County.  He additionally serves on the Union Bank Northern California/Central Valley Foundation Committee which identifies non-profits for the bank and team members in the region to support.

He graduated from the University of San Francisco with both a BA and MBA and the National Association of Credit Management (NACM) Certified Credit Executive program at Dartmouth College.

Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Hunt Military Communities

CJ Slyfield is a software and product management executive focused on scaling through automation and analytics. For over 20 years, he has built and launched full stack mobile and web applications leveraging AI/ML, AR/VR and IoT technologies.  These technologies powered Apple Watch, AirTag, and other wearables. He worked for firms in a wide range of industries, including Stanford School of Medicine, NASA, Adidas, and Apple.

He is an Eagle Scout, holds a BS from UC Berkeley in biomechanical engineering, a PhD from Cornell University in biomedical imaging and computer vision, and an MBA in marketing and strategy from Kellogg School of Management.  CJ currently serves on the boards of an enterprise 4.0 venture capital firm as well as a number of startups.  He is currently Chief Product and Strategy Officer for Hunt Companies, leading digital transformation to scale the real estate investment trust (REIT) from $1B to $2B. 

Strategic Partnerships & Experiences, Hopper

Ethan Hawkes manages strategic partnerships at Hopper, the #1 downloaded travel app in North America. Previously, Ethan was CEO and co-founder of PlacePass (acquired by Hopper), a leading online marketplace for tours and activities.

Prior to starting PlacePass, Ethan consulted with McKinsey & Company for 9 years as a leader in the travel practice. He graduated from Cornell University’s Hotel School (BS ‘07, MBA ‘10) and resides in Maine. 

Tim has a deep professional and culinary background that stems over 20 years. Tim’s culinary work includes catering, private chef services, and extensive teaching. His research operational focus is on promoting sustainability in food systems and nutrition. Tim has been a speaker at SXSWEco on the issues of teaching about food systems, and is a judge for the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge which focuses on critical sustainability issues in food systems.

To stay connected with the culinary and broader community, Tim engages with several catering companies in New York and San Francisco, and freelance writes for cookbooks and several magazines. He has donated dinners to City Year San Jose and was involved in fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, where he was a candidate for the 2014 Man of the Year.

Chef Tim received his BA in classics and archeology from Williams College; an AOS from The French Culinary Institute; MA in food studies from New York University; and a Master of Public Administration in Sustainable Management from the Presidio Graduate School.