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SEC’s 43rd Annual Small Business Forum
March 30, 2023
The Forum is a unique event where members of the public and private sectors gather to provide feedback to improve capital-raising policy for startups to smaller public companies and their investors. The event is hosted by the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation pursuant to the Small Business Investment Incentive Act of 1980.
The 43rd Small Business Forum will take place over three virtual sessions April 16-18, featuring appearances by each of the Commissioners and an exciting line-up of speakers with fresh perspectives on capital raising.
Event Details
Date: April 16-18, 2024
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm
Register
Each day will focus on a different topic facing small businesses, including:
- Tues, Apr. 16: Amplifying Early-Stage Stories
- Wed, Apr. 17: Opening the Dialogue on Investing
- Thu, Apr. 18: Catching up with Small Caps
Policy Recommendations
What makes the Forum unique is the opportunity for the public to suggest and prioritize policy recommendations on capital raising that will be delivered to Congress. Please submit your policy recommendations in advance via our submission portal by close of business April 12th.
2024 Forum Materials
Agenda
Amplifying Early-Stage Stories: Founders and funders share their successes and challenges |
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1:00 pm | Opening Remarks from Stacey Bowers, Director of the SEC Small Business Advocacy Office |
1:05 pm | Remarks from SEC Chair Gary Gensler |
1:10 pm | Fireside Chat with Donald Hawkins, Entrepreneur & Angel Investor, Pipeline Entrepreneurs Host: T.J. Collins, SEC |
1:20 pm | Panel Discussion Moderator: Stacey Bowers, SEC Panelists: Erika Lucas, CEO, StitchCrew Jessica Murrey, CEO/Co-Founder, Wicked Saints Studios Q&A Moderator: Julie Davis, SEC |
2:15 pm | Voting to Prioritize Policy Recommendations |
Opening the Dialogue on Investing: Investing in early-stage companies and building ecosystems |
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1:00 pm | Opening Remarks from Sarah Kenyon, SEC and Julie Davis, SEC |
1:05 pm | Remarks from SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw |
1:10 pm | Remarks from SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda |
1:15 pm | Fireside Chat with Angela Lee, Professor, Columbia Business School and Founder, 37 Angels Host: Sheen Munshi, SEC |
1:25 pm | Panel Discussion Moderator: Julie Davis, SEC Panelists: Trish Costello, CEO, Portfolia Beto Pallares, President and CEO, Joseph Advisory Services, LLC and General Partner, Audaz Capital Fund Q&A Moderator: Jenny Riegel, SEC |
2:15 pm | Voting to Prioritize Policy Recommendations |
Catching up with Small Caps: Lessons learned going public and staying public |
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1:00 pm | Opening Remarks from Pablo Echeverri, SEC and Courtney Haseley, SEC |
1:05 pm | Remarks from SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce |
1:10 pm | Remarks from SEC Commissioner Jaime Lizárraga |
1:15 pm | Panel Discussion Moderator: Courtney Haseley, SEC Panelists: Davina Kaile, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Trent Ward, Founder and CEO, FORME Q&A Moderator: Stacey Bowers, SEC |
2:15 pm | Voting to Prioritize Policy Recommendations |
Speakers
Amplifying Early-Stage Stories: Founders and funders share their successes and challenges
Donald J. Hawkins |
With a career covering media and technology, Donald Hawkins applies a diverse mix of skills as an early-stage investor, mentor and fintech operator. A serial entrepreneur, Donald has held several leadership roles in adTech, healthTech, and finTech. In his previous role as Founder and CEO of affinity-focused digital bank Kinly, he developed a financial platform focused on improving the financial livelihood of its members through financial education, Black-focused spending, and wealth building tools. He has been named Top Fintech CEO and the 2020 Bankers’ Choice recipient by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), is a member of the Pipeline Entrepreneur Fellowship and serves on a variety of boards. |
Erika Lucas |
Erika Lucas is the Founder of StitchCrew, an organization that has provided non-dilutive capital and resources to more than 200 Women and Minority Entrepreneurs. Erika also founded VEST, a peer network for women professionals and investment fund investing in women-led companies building solutions for the intersection of the Care Economy and Future of Work. Erika is a LinkedIn Top Voice on Venture Capital and Entrepreneurship, currently serving on the Board of Arvest Bank, the Diversion Hub and the Oklahoma City County Health Department. She is also a member of the Latino Corporate Directors Association. Prior, Erika was a Partner at a Private Equity firm investing in Aerospace and Defense and before that she was the Global Director at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. |
Jessica Murrey |
Jess is an Emmy-Award-winning storyteller and international peacebuilder turned game designer. Jess is the CEO/Co-founder of Wicked Saints Studios, and creative mind behind World Reborn. First to emerge from Niantic’s (makers of Pokémon GO) BDI incubator, Wicked Saints is building the world’s first XR adventure activism game. As CEO, Jess has raised over $4.5M in venture funding from Riot Games, Reid Hoffman, and others, joining fewer than 100 Black women founders who have raised over $1 million. American Business Journals named Jess 34 Female Founders to watch in 2023. Jess is a finalist for the 2024 BTA Awards (Black Tech Achievement) for the "Force of Good Award. The 2020 Game Awards selected Jess as a member of their "Future Class," representing the bright, inclusive future of gaming. |
Opening the Dialogue on Investing: Investing in early-stage companies and building ecosystems
Angela Lee |
Angela Lee is an award-winning professor and former Chief Innovation Officer at Columbia Business School where she teaches venture capital and leadership courses. She has started 4 startups and is also the founder of 37 Angels, an investing network that has evaluated over 20000 startups, invested in 100, and activates new investors through a startup investment bootcamp. She also serves as a venture partner at Fresco Capital. Angela has spoken at the White House and NASA and is a sought-after expert on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, MSNBC and Fox Business |
Trish Costello |
Trish Costello is Founder and CEO of Portfolia. Portfolia works to activates the wealth of women, with nearly 2,000 women limited partners in its venture capital funds. Portfolia’s 14 VC funds focus on industries that over-index for women, including active aging and longevity, women’s health, sustainability, and Rising America (diversity). Trish is recognized for her pioneering work in preparing VC investment partners through the Kauffman Fellows Program, which she created and spun out from the Kauffman Foundation and continues as CEO Emeritus. Trish was Founding President of CVE Capital Corp, the holding company of a $1.7 billion venture capital fund of funds. She was named Entrepreneur Magazine’s inaugural 100 Most Innovative Women Entrepreneurs in 2020. Portfolia was recognized as Fast Company's Top Ten Most Innovative Finance Companies. |
Beto Pallares |
Ebetuel (Beto) Pallares began his career as a management consultant focused primarily on the telecom and banking industries. He’s also been a start-up entrepreneur, a telecom executive, a restaurateur, a nonprofit director, a venture capitalist, and a professor. He is a private fund investment advisor and the general partner of a venture fund. Beto is a Kauffman Fellow and a Presidio Fellow and over the years has served on the board of over two dozen private companies. He also serves on the board of Exagen, Inc. (NASDAQ: XGN). He holds a Ph.D. in International Business Strategy from the University of Texas at El Paso and a B.A. in economics from Brandeis University. |
Catching up with Small Caps: Lessons learned going public and staying public
Davina K. Kaile |
Davina Kaile is a Corporate and Securities partner and Co-Leader of Pillsbury’s Capital Markets practice. Davina has guided companies across a wide range of sectors, including technology, life sciences, financial services, e-commerce, edtech, and retail, in many high-profile multibillion and multimillion-dollar deals. She has extensive experience in capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions, tender offers, RTOs, divestitures, going private, deSPAC, and other strategic transactions. She represents issuers and underwriters in IPOs, follow-on offerings, RDOs, CMPOs, rights offerings and PIPE, ATM and ELOC transactions, and has deep expertise in ’33 and ’34 Act reporting, NYSE/Nasdaq compliance, proxy matters, Section 16 and Section 13 reporting, and corporate governance issues. |
Trent Ward |
Trent Ward is the CEO and co-founder of Interactive Strength, a provider of specialty fitness equipment and virtual personal training services under the brand names of FORME and CLMBR. Previously, he was an equity portfolio manager at Citadel, a large alternative asset manager. He started his career as an investment banker focused on Mergers & Acquisitions. Mr. Ward holds a BS in Economics (Wharton) and a BS in Engineering (Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology) from the University of Pennsylvania. |