Regional Entrepreneurs Set to Judge SEC Student Pitch Competition

October 25, 2020

By: SEC Staff
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

A crucial component in the success of the SEC Student Pitch Competition is the judging panel. Started in 2015, the competition provides teams of SEC students at the undergraduate or graduate level a platform to showcase their ideas for ground-breaking products and services to judges, some of whom are SEC alumni.

This year’s competition, organized by the University of Georgia, will be held virtually on Monday, October 26, and will utilize 16 judges who work in fields ranging from the financial sector to brand management to software development.

Below is this year’s SEC Student Pitch Competition judge’s roster.

Ruth Bartlett

Ruth Bartlett is a retired partner of Frazier & Deeter, one of the nation’s top 50 certified public accounting and advisory firms. Bartlett worked at the firm for 28 years in the assurance department of the full-service company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Frazier & Deeter offers tax planning and preparation, audit and advisory services.

Amr El-Husseini

Amr El-Husseini is the Founder and CEO of the Lodestone Advisory Group, a boutique strategic investment and management consulting firm focused on growth through innovation, venture capital and internationalization. He works with clients and partners around the world in international expansion and market entry, mergers and acquisitions, business accelerators and entrepreneurship, among other duties. El-Husseini is also a senior advisor to GSIS, a Washington, D.C.-based firm specializing in data analytics and security.

Robert Griggs

Robert Griggs is the Founder and President of Trinity Products, one of the nation’s leading producers of large structure spiralweld steel pipe. He has served as President and Treasurer of the National Association of Steel Pipe Distributors, an international organization of more than 300 steel distributors, and he is involved with the Committee on Pipe and Tube Import, which lobbies Congress on related issues.

Lee Harris

Lee Harris is the General Manager and Chief Financial Officer of SGK Landscapes and ECON Construction, a landscape design, construction, maintenance and project management group created in 2002 with two founders, a truck, mowing equipment and time to build customer relationships.

Ryan Katz

Ryan Katz is Managing Partner of Route 66 Ventures, a company he helped found in 2012 to offer capital and guidance for like-minded entrepreneurs in multiple industries, with a focus on digital health and wellness, as well as financial technology. He serves as a Route 66 Ventures board member and helps advise portfolio companies, in addition to serving as a board member for GS2, a financial company that provides trust administration, servicing, analytics and underwriting for private and federal student lending programs.

Nick Leach

Nick Leach is a retired chief of the intellectual property (IP) counsel for Chevron business units across the globe. Chevron’s Intellectual Property Practice Group consists of IP attorneys, patent agents, and legal and IP analysts. In the role, Leach was responsible for the full range of IP areas, including patent, trade secret, trademark, copyright, domain name, Internet, technology transfer, licensing and litigation matters.

Ian Mackintosh

Ian Mackintosh is Founder and CEO of BREVINO, a company that produces cooling insulators for wine bottles with no ice needed. After dreaming up the idea in the humid, southern weather, Mackintosh created the cylinder that would become BREVINO and has won similar pitch competitions to fund his product.

Edwin Marcial

Edwin Marcial is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Intercontinental Exchange, a company that connects the largest community of participants in all major markets at key phases of the investing, trading, hedging and capital raising lifecycle. Marcial has 25 years of experience leading technology teams and building and developing software systems. After four years as a senior software engineer developing energy management systems, he joined Continental Power Exchange (CPEX) in 1996. Two years later his technical vision led to the system that would become the ICE trading platform.

Ronnie Martinez

Ronnie Martinez joined CEAS Investments as a Venture Capital Analyst in 2018. She is responsible for seeking out, analyzing and recommending potential, seed-level venture capital investments as well as analyzing and reporting on various aspects of portfolio companies and the venture capital industry.

Tom Reed

Tom Reed is Director of CURiO Brands, a platform in the prestige bath, body, and home fragrance market. CURiO is a merger of Thymes and DPM Fragrance, the parent company of Capri Blue Candles. Under the merged name, CURiO, the company continues to market under the core brands of Aspen Bay, Capri Blue, and Thymes. Tom played an integral role in the merging of the two companies, and oversees operations, in addition to serving as Mayor of Chattahoochee Hills, GA.

John Reinhart

John P. Reinhart is a serial entrepreneur who specializes in longevity economy innovation. He is a co-founder of CNAOnline, a platform technology company that partners with the American Health Care Association and has converted the How to Be a Nurse Assistant curriculum and related manuals into a complete, cloud-based, online solution complete with e-book, lectures, and video instruction to certify licensed caregivers. In his career, Reinhart has co-founded three aging sector commercialization ventures.

Darryl Robinson

Darryl T. Robinson is a Principal of NewQuest Crosswell (NQC), a privately-held real estate investment firm that develops, manages, and invests in real property throughout major markets in the United States, and he serves as President of the NQC Development Group. Robinson is responsible for directing all aspects of the business with an emphasis on new business and operating affairs. He oversees origination, underwriting, and capital structure development, among other duties.

April Seggebruch

April Seggebruch is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Movista, a smart retail merchandising software transforming how work gets done in stores by improving the operations process and workforce management. She oversees product development, product management, quality assurance and finance teams in the company. Seggebruch is also an active mentor with the Brewer Entrepreneurship Center, and she leads on several non-profit boards and educational missions worldwide.

Tara Wilson

Tara Wilson is the Founder and CEO of the Tara Wilson Agency, an experiential marketing company that assists brands in creating emotional connections for their consumers. Having planned numerous events and brand activations for companies like Nike, Samsung, Ann Taylor and ESPN, Tara Wilson Agency was named one of the INC. Magazine 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S.

Chris Valletta

Chris Valletta is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, media contributor and former NFL player. With a passion for using athletic-performance principles to achieve business success, Valletta has developed an established track record of launching and scaling several multi-million-dollar ventures. He is the Co-Founder and General Manager of MISSION, the global leader in Instant Cooling Gear for active consumers, and author of Team WORKS!, a book that converges athletic principles with business success.

Vincent West

Vincent West has served on the Floor & Decor hard surface flooring and accessories company board of directors since he founded the company in 2000. He was chief executive officer from 2000 to 2002, co-chief executive officer from 2008 to 2010 and chief executive officer again from 2010 through 2012. Currently, West serves as the vice chairman of the board, a position he has held for nearly eight years.

To watch the virtual SEC Student Pitch Competition, use this live stream link.