TechTown Detroit has elected eight new business and community leaders to its board of directors for three-year terms: Ali Abolmaali, Ben Bernstein, Matt Bower, Michael Cole, Gwen Jimmere, Virginia Kleist, Michael Sappington, and Valencia Stoudamire.
“With a new year comes new opportunity, and we are thrilled to have these eight incredible individuals join our Board,” says Ned Staebler, vice president for economic development at Wayne State University and president and CEO of TechTown Detroit.
“We are so fortunate to have an organization that, from the very top, is comprised of talented leaders who not only live and breathe our mission of equitable economic development in Detroit, but who also represent our values of diversity and inclusion.”
In 2022 alone, TechTown supported 749 entrepreneurs who created 94 new jobs and raised more than $34,092,045 in startup and growth capital.
Abolmaali, dean of the College of Engineering at Wayne State University, has extensive research experience in computational structural engineering and full-scale structural testing of civil, aerospace, and underground structural systems, including research in fluid-structure interaction problems and biomechanics. He has conducted several high-profile failure investigation research projects for the National Transportation Safety Board. As a principal investigator, he has secured more than $38 million in development and research funds from local, state, and federal agencies and corporations.
Bernstein, a principal at Beringea, is a seasoned finance and investment professional who started his career in investment banking at UBS’s Global Consumer Products & Retail Group. Bernstein also served as principal at Invest Detroit Ventures, where he managed its new investment pipeline and diligence process, completing over 20 new deals in two years. He graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree.
Bower, a partner at Varnum Law, serves as outside general counsel to a wide range of emerging and middle market companies. He works closely with companies from cradle (formation and organization) to liquidity (sale or merger) and all stages of development in between. Bower is a member of the business and corporate practice team, and participates in the intellectual p property, the data privacy and cybersecurity, and the venture capital and emerging companies practice teams.
Cole, president of the technology industry group at Bank of Ann Arbor, founded the group he heads, which is a specialized banking practice that provides financing and banking services to technology and life sciences businesses and venture capital firms. He is the past president and founder of the Ann Arbor Angels private investment group and has served as the board chair of the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Leslie Science & Nature Center, and Ozone House. Cole earned his master’s degree from the University of Southern California Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.
Jimmere, CEO of Naturalicious Beauty Products and Good Hair Bar Salon & Spa, is on a mission to challenge the standard of beauty. As CEO of both Naturalicious Beauty Products and Good Hair Bar Salon and Spa, she leads a beauty empire that creates high-performing, time-saving beauty solutions that have collectively saved over 80,000 women more than 1.2 million minutes on their beauty routines. Named “the world’s leading authority on textured hair care,” she is an EY Entrepreneur of the Year winner and has been named one of the 100 Most Influential African Americans in the U.S., a Top 10 Businesswoman in the U.S., and a Crain’s 40 Under 40.
Kleist, dean of the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University, previously served as the associate dean of graduate programs, research, and academic affairs, and as a professor of management information systems within the John Chambers College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. She holds a doctorate and master’s from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Marquette University. She did her undergraduate work at Duke University.
Sappington, vice president of care delivery and president and CEO of TRIARQ Health, previously served as the CEO of gloSTREAM Inc., an electronic medical records software and practice management solutions startup. Earlier in his career, Sappington was partner and COO of Michigan-based Netrex Secure Solutions, which was purchased by Internet Security Systems and is now part of IBM. Netrex Secure Solutions remains one of the largest managed security services firms across the globe. Sappington sits on the Detroit Country Day School Board of Trustees. He has his bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University.
Stoudamire, vice president of supplier diversity at Henry Ford Health, has more than 20 years of purchasing and multi-level relationship-building experience in the automotive and health care sectors. She has served on the Crossroads of Michigan Board of Trustees and is a member of Inforum, a professional women’s alliance. Stoudamire serves on the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Classical Roots Steering Committee and is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and Jack and Jill of America. She also serves on the planning committee for the Stoudamire Wellness Hub, a wellness and resilience hub for residents in Detroit named in honor of her late husband, Marlowe.
