WELCOME
Welcome letter from Martha Legg Miller
Director, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation
AGENDA
Welcome Remarks | 12:00 p.m.
Martha Legg Miller
Director, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Introductory Remarks | 12:05 p.m.
Chairman Jay Clayton
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Commissioner Elad L. Roisman
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Commissioner Allison Herren Lee
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
Market Perspectives on Capital Raising | 12:20 p.m.
Spotlight: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs
Insights from investors who support women-founded companies
Erica Duignan Minnihan
Founder and Managing Partner
Reign Ventures
Samara Mejia Hernandez
Founding Partner
Chingona Ventures
Keynote: Investing in the Underestimated
Arlan Hamilton
Founder and Managing Partner
Backstage Capital
Spotlight: Rural and Thriving
Overcoming the unique challenges of building companies in rural communities
Wil Jenkins
Investor and Entrepreneur
Uptown Salon and Boutique
Christy Laxton
Executive Director
Wyoming County Economic Development Authority
Nathan Ohle
CEO
Rural Community Assistance Partnership, Inc.
Keynote: Small Business Macro Perspectives
Jovita Carranza
Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration
Spotlight: Stories from Founders of Color
Building minority-owned companies and raising capital
Davyeon Ross
Co-Founder & President
ShotTracker
Sevetri Wilson
Founder & CEO
Resilia
Keynote: The Founder’s Journey
Pete Flint
Managing Partner
NFX
Spotlight: Building Tomorrow’s Public Companies
Exploring the pathway to IPO and the future of public offerings
Stephen Graham
Partner
Fenwick & West LLP
Brian Levey
Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer
Upwork Inc.
Keynote: Scaling Your Idea
Susan Tynan
Founder and CEO
Framebridge
Spotlight: Small Cap Today
How smaller public companies overcome challenges in today’s market climate
AJ Krick
CFO, Secretary and Treasurer
Smith-Midland Corporation
Mary Ann Scully
Chairman and CEO
Howard Bank
David Wagner
President and CEO
Zix Corporation
Break | 2:30 p.m.
Collaborative Policy Discussions
Exempt Offerings and the Capital Formation Proposal | 2:45 p.m.
Participants will collaborate on policy recommendations to improve the framework by which companies raise capital from investors in the exempt, or private, markets, including policy changes discussed in the SEC’s recent Accredited Investor Proposal and Capital Formation Proposal.
The Path to IPO and Small Cap Companies | 4:00 p.m.
Participants will collaborate on policy recommendations to address challenges faced by companies seeking to go public or that are smaller public companies.
Closing Remarks | 5:15 p.m.
All times shown are in the Eastern time zone. To participate in the collaborative policy discussions via WebEx, you must register online for a user access code.
SPEAKERS
Jovita Carranza
Administrator
U.S. Small Business Administration
@SBAJovita
Erica Duignan Minnihan
Founder and Managing Partner
Reign Ventures
@ericaminnihan
Pete Flint
Managing Partner
NFX
@peteflint
Stephen Graham
Partner
Fenwick & West LLP
@fenwickwest
Arlan Hamilton
Founder and Managing Partner
Backstage Capital
@ArlanWasHere
Wil Jenkins
Investor and Entrepreneur
Uptown Salon and Boutique
AJ Krick
CFO, Secretary and Treasurer
Smith-Midland Corporation
@smithmidland
Christy Laxton
Executive Director
Wyoming County Economic
Development Authority
Brian Levey
Chief Business Affairs and Legal Officer
Upwork Inc.
@Upwork
Samara Mejia Hernandez
Founding Partner
Chingona Ventures
@SamaraMHernandz
Nathan Ohle
CEO
Rural Community Assistance
Partnership, Inc.
@nathanohle
Davyeon Ross
Co-Founder & President
ShotTracker
@davyeonross
Mary Ann Scully
Chairman and CEO
Howard Bank
@howardbank
Susan Tynan
Founder and CEO
Framebridge
@susanrtynan
David Wagner
President and CEO
Zix Corporation
@ZixCorp
Sevetri Wilson
Founder & CEO
Resilia
@sevetriwilson
RECOMMENDATIONS
THE RECOMMENDATION PROCESS
The Forum is a unique opportunity for attendees to craft recommendations to improve the regulatory framework impacting how companies raise capital from investors. To help focus each session on the most significant policy challenges, each Collaborative Policy Discussion will contribute a limited number of recommendations to the final report that will be announced at the beginning of each session.
TECH
Please chat to the host or email us at smallbusiness@sec.gov with any technical questions.
ENGAGE
The Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation is the SEC’s newest office and began operations in 2019. The Office advances the interests of small businesses and their investors at the SEC and in the capital markets. The Office actively engages in outreach to solicit views on relevant capital formation issues, providing assistance to resolve significant problems, analyzing the potential impact of proposed regulations and rules on small business, and recommending changes to mitigate capital formation issues and promote the interests of small businesses and their investors. While the Small Business Forum is in its 39th year, Congress directed the Office to assume responsibility for the marquee event in its enabling legislation
Meet The Team
Martha Miller
Director
Colin A. Caleb
Attorney
Julie Zelman Davis
Senior Special Counsel
Jessica W. McKinney
Special Counsel
Jenny Riegel
Policy Manager
Malika Sullivan
Executive Assistant
Todd VanLaere
Law Clerk
Additional Resources
Modified: Aug. 3, 2023