Louis A. Wharton

Demarcus Williams

A scholar-athlete, DeMarcus played basketball at the University of Washington. His playing days were unexpectedly cut short by a career-ending injury, which ultimately led DeMarcus to transfer and complete his bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Irvine. His experience as a student-athlete gave him first-hand insight into the importance of securing a future beyond sports, initiating his curiosity with technology
and finance.

Passionate about charitable causes, DeMarcus has been recognized by the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office for his contributions to the community and, since 2006, has served as an Athlete Ambassador and Steering Committee Member at Cedars-Sinai’s Sports Spectacular. In addition, he has worked with the Challengers Boys and Girls Club, the Brotherhood Crusade and numerous schools in underserved communities.

Currently residing in Los Angeles with his family, DeMarcus is a loyal Philadelphia Eagles fan and student of Capoeira, the Brazilian martial arts form. With his passion for startup life, DeMarcus is also actively engaged with a sports technology startup ranked by Fast Company as one of the “Most Innovative Companies of 2016.”

Anna Barber

Anna believes in the ability of small groups of people to change things, the power of storytelling, the business case for diversity and inclusion, and creating harmony between personal and work goals. Find her @annawbarber.

Shamin Walsh

Prior to joining BAM Ventures as a managing director, she was a consumer-focused partner at an early-stage generalist firm with tangible assets in 3PL/fulfillment, cold storage/co-packing, and manufacturing, giving her a holistic perspective through which to evaluate emerging consumer businesses. She managed the investment portfolio and served on several boards, such as Alchemy 43. She also leveraged her experience as a transactional attorney to assist in contract negotiations, fund formation, and fund construction.

Shamin received her B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, and a J.D. from Loyola Law School. Shamin is passionate about education and dedicates her free time to creating access for others. She previously served as an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurial Finance at Loyola Marymount University. She currently serves as the Head of Engagement and Advocacy on the Teach for America Associates Board and as an active mentor with the Fulfillment Fund.

Anthony Kelani

Anthony launched his career with the premier defense contractor, Northrop Grumman, where we was honored for his work in designing and developing life-saving situational awareness software for the United States military. He then became Head of Engineering at one of the first venture studios in Los Angeles, Curious Minds, which created and exited several companies, with the most notable being Telesign. In 2013, he founded ShowKit, which was a TechCrunch Disrupt finalist in 2014 and exited a year later.

After ShowKit, Anthony served as Head of Microsoft for Startups Los Angeles, where he worked closely with startup founders and the leading accelerators and VCs in the L.A. ecosystem. He is on the advisory board of several L.A.-based startups and continues to mentor founders at the preeminent accelerator programs in the nation. He also led software and data science projects for some of Microsoft’s largest retail customers.

Anthony has a unique synthesis of engineering, product and business experience, which enables him to effectively evaluate and mentor entire early stage startup teams. His skills and ability to identify great teams catalyze his acumen for advising and providing quality deal flow to investors.

As Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office, Anthony will focus his efforts on working closely with Quake’s accelerator founders in the areas of engineering and operations, expanding Quake’s investor and partner network, and assisting with fundraising and strategy. Due to his astute technical background, he will also serve as the CIO of the fund by architecting Quake’s data platform.

Anthony holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Southern California and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. He is a strong advocate for the inclusion of minorities and women in tech, and has met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill to spur support for diversity and entrepreneurial success.”

Alex Rubalcava

After Anthem, Alex launched a long/short equity fund, which he ran for nearly ten years. In addition to his investing work, Alex was an active board member at several nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles. He was appointed by Mayor James Hahn to the Los Angeles Animal Services Commision. Later, he served on the board of KIPP LA Schools and South Central Scholars.

Alex serves on the board of Stage portfolio companies Sightline Maps, Balto Software, SPIDR Tech, and WhiteFox Defense Technologies. Previously, he served on the board of WhereTo.

Alex is a 2002 graduate of Harvard University.”

Reagan Sirengo

Previously, I helped IBM’s hybrid cloud team ship amazing experiences; I co-led the design and launch of Johnsons & Johnson’s Acuvue web and mobile apps digital experiences for Japan, Russia and Hong Kong markets; I led the design, User research, and launch of the UNICEF’s children ad Aids web and mobile experiences; and I led the design of the US #1 fasted growing company, Loot Crate’s end to end digital experience for pop culture subscription box.

I thrive on learning new things — I enjoy exploring new paths to familiar places, seeing things from a fresh perspective, and talking to people.

Kelly Perdew

After winning the Season 2 of the NBC hit show, The Apprentice, Kelly served as an Executive Vice President in the Trump Organization in New York, where he managed several real estate projects and worked directly for Donald Trump for the year following the show.

Kelly is a nationally recognized speaker on leadership, technology, career development and entrepreneurship. He earned a BS from the US Military Academy, West Point, a JD from the UCLA School of Law, and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA. Kelly served in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Officer and completed Airborne and Ranger training. Kelly is author of “Take Command: 10 Leadership Principles I Learned in the Military and Put to Work for Donald Trump,” that provides guidance on how anyone can develop their leadership capabilities and he donates a percentage of the royalties to the USO and was host of GI Factory on the Military Channel. He has also served as a national celebrity spokesperson for Big Brothers/Sisters and The National Guard Youth Challenge Program. Kelly received a Presidential Appointment from President Bush to the President’s Council on Civic Participation and Service in 2006 and was re-appointed in 2008.

Kelly also serves as an investor, advisor and/or Board member for Scopely, Bitium, ID.me, Arx Pax, Thrively, Lettrs, DuMont Project and a dozen others and was previously an advisor or board member for LinkedIn (LNKD), eteamz (ACTV), Pandora (P), Ustream (IBM), and Harvest.ai (AMZN). He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Dawn, stepson Hunter, and twins – Grant and Grace.

Travis Williams

Previous to his role at J.P. Morgan, Nate worked at Bank of America as a client manager for public and private companies in Los Angeles. Before that, he was an Investment Banking Senior Associate at Wells Fargo Securities, and a Director at FTI Consulting, a public, global financial consulting firm.

Nate received his B.S. in Accounting at Arizona State University where he graduated with honors within the Barret Honors Program and an M.B.A from UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Nate lives in Santa Monica with his wife Erica. He is an outdoor enthusiast and spends most of his time outside of client meetings playing squash, skiing, hiking and enjoying Santa Monica beaches with his wife. Nate volunteers his time for the Santa Barbara School of Squash, a sports and education non-profit serving youth in need.

Shanita is co-founder of the Los Angeles Black Investors Club (LABIC) and Sip & Sonder. LABIC is a 501(c)(3) with a mission to inform, exchange, and foster the development of entrepreneurial ventures through serving as a conduit to venture creation, capitalization, and capacity building for diverse communities. Sip and Sonder is an entrepreneurial and creative hub and coffee shop located Downtown Inglewood.

Shanita obtained her JD/MBA from Columbia Law School and Columbia Business School, and her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science.