VC/Investor Speaker Series & Networking Event at HAYVN

DownToDash and HAYVN Present:

A Night Of Networking & Learning From Venture Capitalists And Angel Investors

IF YOU WANT A SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY TO DISPLAY YOUR STARTUP AT THE EVENT, EMAIL US AT: sama@downtodash.com

Meet Our Panelists

Christine Sullivan – Advisor @ CT Small Business Development Center
Marie Rocha – Co-founder/Managing Director @ Realist Ventures
Galia Gichon – Founder @ Down to Earth Finance
Jenifer Gorin – Founder @ Impact Growth Partners

Christine Sullivan works as an Advisor for the CT Small Business Development Center where she covers businesses in Fairfield County. Prior to this role, Christine started her career in investment banking – working for nearly 20 years with bulge bracket firms in both NY and California. As a banker, she focused on early stage tech and consumer businesses and helped them raise capital and make strategic M&A decisions. She also worked in an operating capacity for Revolution Foods, a growing national company that provides healthy school lunches to low income students. Christine graduated from Wellesley College and received her MBA from UCLA.

Marie Rocha is the co-founder of Realist Ventures. A CT based Venture Fund investing in tech, software, and biotech startups. While not a social fund, Realist primarily invests in startups with a diverse team that are solving problems that can benefit all. Previous to Realist Ventures Marie ran a software company that built platforms for small businesses and nonprofits. She is involved with several local nonprofits including, Technology Chair on the boards of Kids Helping Kids and Greenwich Academy. In her spare time, she advises women on building and scaling their businesses

Galia Gichon is an independent personal financial expert with more than 20 years in financial services, including nearly 10 years on Wall Street and an MBA in Finance. Her career has spanned corporate bond research analyst, personal finance expert, angel investor, entrepreneur advisor and author. As an angel investor, she has worked with Next Wave Impact, Pipeline Angels, Astia, Refinery CT and Portfolia- actively supporting women led and impact start ups. She is also the Founder of Down to Earth Finance, independent personal finance education. She has been teaching at Barnard College’s Athena Center for Leadership and Freelancers Union for 10+ years. She has been widely quoted in The New York Times, NBC, CNN, and more. Previously, she worked at Bear Stearns and Nomura Securities. Galia is also the author of “My Money Matters” which was featured on TODAY SHOW. She can be reached at galia@downtoearthfinance.com and @SimplyMoney.

Jenifer Gorin is the Founder of Impact Growth Partners, a leader and innovator in social and environmental impact consulting in Connecticut, with a focus on growing the Connecticut B Corp community. Jen has 15 years of experience working with executive teams to execute transformational projects for corporations of all sizes as well as political clients. She applies her traditional business experience in finance, market research, consulting and project management to help companies become better businesses for all stakeholders. Jen spent nearly a decade working in investment banking at Credit Suisse. As Director of Media and Telecom Investment Banking she executed mergers, acquisitions, and financings for media and telecommunication companies. Prior to her career in finance, Jen directed public opinion advising projects for political and corporate clients at Penn, Schoen Berland, a market research, political polling and strategic consulting firm. Jen has volunteered as a consultant for HBS Community Partners, advising greater New York based nonprofits and is a member of the Westport Democratic Town Committee and Co-Chair of the Democratic Women of Westport. Jen is a member of Angel Investor Forum (AIF), an independent angel investor, and enjoys connecting mission based start ups with potential investors. Jen has an MBA from Harvard Business School and an AB from Harvard College.

DownToDash is a millennial focused app that connects people in the same location based on what they are down to do, whether it’s workouts, sports, movies or other activities. Users can post specific plans, for example, play Tennis on Thursday at 5 pm at McCarren Park and other users can join. Find it on the App Store or in the Google Play Store

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