Zack Ellison, CFA, CAIA | Zack Ellison is the Founder and CEO of Applied Real Intelligence LLC ("A.R.I."), based in Los Angeles, California. A.R.I. is an investment firm that provides debt capital solutions to high growth start-ups backed by venture capital and led by world-class entrepreneurs. Mr. Ellison is responsible for the firm’s management and investment activities, including sourcing, due diligence, structuring and execution, and portfolio management.

Previously, Mr. Ellison was Director, U.S. Fixed Income at Sun Life Investment Management, one of the world’s largest asset managers. At Sun Life, he was responsible for corporate credit trading and contributed to the firm’s credit strategy, investment processes, portfolio construction, and risk management practices.

Prior to joining Sun Life, Mr. Ellison worked in Deutsche Bank’s Global Credit Trading division, where he analyzed and traded crossover-rated corporate bonds, credit default swaps (“CDS”), hybrid securities, and preferred stock.

Preceding Deutsche Bank, and during the global financial crisis, he was an investment banker and leveraged loan analyst focused on the media and telecom sectors at Scotia Capital.

Mr. Ellison began his career in the financial services industry at Thomson Reuters in Corporate Advisory Services, where he served the majority of Fortune 500 energy and utility companies.

Mr. Ellison earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Swarthmore College while majoring in Economics. He holds an MBA with concentrations in Analytic Finance and Economics from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business along with an MS in Risk Management from New York University’s Stern School of Business. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. Back To Top ^^

PANELISTS

Jesse Draper | Jesse Draper is a mother of 2 boys, founding partner of Halogen Ventures as well as creator and host of Emmy nominated television series,The Valley Girl Show. Draper is a 4th generation venture capitalist focused on early stage investing in female founded consumer technology. Among her 55 portfolio companies, are the Skimm, Carbon38, HopSkipDrive, The Flex Company, Eloquii (recently sold to Walmart) and This is L which recently sold to P&G. She stars on SET's television series Meet the Draper's currently in it's second season.

Draper was listed by Marie Claire magazine as one of the ‘50 Most Connected Women in America’. Draper has been a contributor to Marie Claire, Mashable, Forbes, and is a regular investor and tech personality on shows including TLC’s Girl Starter, The Katie Couric Show, Fox’s Good Day LA, CNBC’s Who Wants to Be the Next Millionaire Inventor? & Freeform’s Startup U.

She proudly sits on the board of directors of enterprise technology company Werk, Blue Fever, Preemadonna (creator of the Nailbot) and the non-profit board Bizworld. Draper supports the Parkinson’s Institute and is very involved with growing UCLA’s female entrepreneurship community. Back To Top ^^

Courtney Hall | Courtney Hall is a co-founder and Managing Director of Hillcrest Venture Partners. He focuses on investments in the following sectors: Enterprise Applications, Financial Technology, and Wireless. Courtney manages the firm’s investments in nProgress and NS8. He also managed the firm's investment in Phoenix Energy Technologies (Acquired by Duke Energy, NYSE: DUK).

Before co-founding Hillcrest, Courtney co-founded EXACT Sports, a company that performs quantitative assessments of the athletic, psychological and neuro-cognitive abilities of high school and collegiate student/athletes. Prior to EXACT, Courtney was an investment banker at UBS and Morgan Stanley. Before working in investment banking, Courtney worked for the law firms Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigan, and Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich (now DLA Piper).

Courtney was the starting center for the NFL San Diego Chargers from 1989 to 1997 where he was a Captain, a four-time Pro Bowl 1st Alternate, and a NFL Players Association team representative. He also captained the Chargers to the 1994-95 Super Bowl; the franchise's lone Super Bowl appearance.

Courtney serves as a Bloomberg Mayoral Appointee of the New York City Campaign Finance Board and as the Mayoral Appointee to the Board of Trustees of the Randall’s Island Park Alliance. Previously, Courtney served on the Investment Committee for Rice University, which is responsible for managing the university's $4.8 Billion endowment.

Courtney holds a JD/MBA from the University of Chicago, and a BA in Economics and Managerial Studies from Rice University. Back To Top ^^

Corey Mulloy | Corey Mulloy has called Highland home for most of his career. After gaining exposure to fast-growing companies at The Whitman Group, Robertson Stephens and ONI Systems (IPO in 2000; acquired by Ciena for $1.2 billion in 2002), he joined Highland in 1997.

Fast-forward to today, Corey has worked with hundreds of startups across a range of sectors from cybersecurity to healthcare. Being part of a tight-knit, talented team has been pivotal in shaping his perspective. It is uncommon to find teams who have worked together as long as Corey has worked with his Highland partners. This tenure offers a great advantage to Highland’s portfolio companies, allowing Highland to put all its Partners’ experiences behind each investment.

Corey earned a BA from Swarthmore College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has been a member of Swarthmore College’s Investment Committee since 2007. Back To Top ^^