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Co-sponsored by Santa Clara University

As a follow-up to a previous session around the foundations of entrepreneurial board work, this session will talk about the expectation of actual board duties and functions. What can a new start-up board member expect? What does board member compensation look like? What should a new board director of a entrepreneurial company consider during his/her first year on the job? Join our panel of experts as they continue to demystify the start-up / early stage board and discuss their own experiences and give a reality check to what entrepreneurial board service actually looks like.

SPEAKERS

Brienne Ghafourifar 

Brienne Ghafourifar is a full-stack entrepreneur on a mission to build disruptive technologies that can help people live and work better. She set a world record at the age of 17 as the youngest college graduate to raise $1 million in venture funding; that figure has since grown to more than $25 million. Brienne and her brother, Alston, co-founded Entefy, an AI software and automation company. After investing 250,000 hours in advanced R&D (with more than 100 scientists and engineers contributing to its AI platform), Entefy is serving enterprise customers across a number of industries, including financial services, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing. Entefy’s customers vary in size from SMEs to $100+ Billion US and global public companies. Brienne is also a published inventor with 12 patents awarded by the USPTO and a key contributor to Entefy’s IP portfolio.

As a leader among young entrepreneurs, she has been covered by international media including Fast Company, CNN Money, Forbes, NBC, and The Huffington Post, among others. With a deep passion for entrepreneurship and courageous innovation, Brienne has been a guest lecturer at several top universities in the U.S. (including Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Wharton) as well as a frequent speaker at conferences and workshops internationally in support of entrepreneurship and STEM. She is also featured in the documentary film, “She Started It,” highlighting women tech founders around the globe.

Alicia Castillo Holley

Alicia Castillo Holley is a Silicon Valley Investor. CEO and Founder of Wealthing VC Club, a boutique investment club for accredited investors, and Wealthing VC Fund, a $150M growth fund in diverse/ESG teams.  With a portfolio of over 60 early stage companies and notable exits including a 50x in 13 months for an organ printing company, she has navigated through innumerable boards as founder and investor. A biotech researcher by training, Castillo left her home country Venezuela with $700 and two kids after a bank crisis in 94. Almost thirty years and 9 countries later, she’s built a reputation as an international expert in creating wealth, having founded over a dozen companies, invested personally and as Limited Partner in several Venture Capital Firms, and is passionate about ESG and Diversity.

She earned an Engineering and Masters Degree from Universidad Central de Venezuela, an MBA from Babson College, and a PhD in finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Western Australia. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has participated as a visiting scholar in over 30 universities around the world.

Nina Richardson

Nina Richardson has more than 35 years of experience in engineering, manufacturing, sales, supply chain management, and global operations. She has held executive positions in consumer electronics, technology, energy, lighting, and manufacturing. At Resideo, she chairs the Nominating and Governance Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee.

Richardson served as the Chief Operating Officer of GoPro, a leader in mobile capture devices, software and entertainment solutions, from 2013 until early 2015. At GoPro, she was responsible for engineering, operations, sales, customer support, quality, Human Resources, IT, and workplace services. She was instrumental in scaling leadership and processes, and a key member of the executive team that took GoPro public in 2014.

Prior to GoPro, she consulted with companies like Tesla Motors, Touch Tunes Interactive Networks, Solaria and UltraCell.

Richardson began her career at Hughes Aircraft’s ground systems group before later leading engineering and operations at lighting electronics startup ELI. Richardson also ran $1B-plus electronics manufacturing facilities and supply chains as Vice President and General Manager at Flextronics.

Richardson also serves on the boards of three public companies, Silicon Laboratories, Cohu, and Eargo. She serves as a director at privately held biotechnology companies ExploraMed V and Exploramed NC8 as well as Willow Innovations, a technology company producing ground-breaking breast pumps and Tonal, a revolutionary strength and personal training platform. Richardson also serves as managing director of Three Rivers Energy Inc., which she co-founded in 2004.

Richardson earned her BS in industrial engineering from Purdue University and her executive MBA from Pepperdine University.

Banafsheh Akhlaghi, moderator

Banafsheh Akhlaghi has over 20 years of experience as founder of a civil rights nonprofit, consultant to the United Nations, Regional Director with Amnesty International, and founder of an international private law practice. Her expertise includes Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG), Risk Management, Legal & Business Strategy, Diversity & Inclusion, and Public Policy. Immediate past co-chairwoman, and a member since 2010, of the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission of the State Bar of California, focusing on legal advocacy for underserved and underrepresented populations. Member of the Board of Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco focused on access to low-cost liquidity, essential financial services, and resources for affordable housing and economic development to our member banks. Member of Board of Advisors of Entefy, an advanced AI and process automation company.