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Ken Taormina
Ken is a highly recognized and accomplished consulting industry operating executive, in the business services, technology, IT services, and digital engineering industries. Ken has proven expertise in systems integration, software development, enterprise, M2M, connected vehicle, mobility, cloud, and data analytics. He is an effective, strategic leader having run created and grown consulting P&Ls of significant size and leading global organizations through successful transformation, growth and change in the commercial, aerospace and defense and intelligence and DoD communities.
In the past 3 years Ken has provided M&A acquisition and Enterprise Leadership to Private Equity firms acquiring and integrating Software and Engineering companies both in the United States and Europe in this role he has acted as the Chief Growth Office for Belcan the largest privately held A&D Engineering Company Headquartered in the US expanding their business in acquiring companies in Automatic Test Equipment for military systems, Cyber Security and Engineering Design Services for Aircraft engines. Before that he led the integration of the Services businesses of five different software companies in the US, France and Austria for an Austin based group. Clients were GE, P&W, UTAS, Honeywell, Rolls Royce, British Airways and Caterpillar.
Previously, Ken was Managing Director of Accenture’s Products Operating Group. He was responsible for Automotive/Industrial, and Infrastructure Transportation/Hospitality in mobility industries across North America. Leading an executive team of six Managing Directors across multiple accounts, Ken oversaw the delivery of services for analytics, finance transformation, IT strategy, digital marketing, change management and mobility. Ken was the key advisor to Accenture’s most significant industry clients in automotive OEM/suppliers and industrial equipment.
At Accenture he developed Global Delivery Centers for Accenture’s Automotive and Industrial Equipment businesses in Munich, Germany, Turin, Italy and Bangalore, India.
In the first half of Ken’s Career while at Teledyne Brown Engineering, GE Aerospace and Raytheon Ken was responsible for the development and delivery of both Tactical and Strategic critical Intelligence Collection and Analysis systems both ground based and airborne for the U.S. Army, Air Force and the National Intelligence Community.
BOARD MEMBERSHIP Ken is currently a Board Director with Summit Executive Resources LLC a firm specializing in putting together talent for VC and PE owned technology companies. and Rhein Brucke IT Consulting a Consulting Company, in Cologne, Germany providing Services in Europe and the US and is a past Board Member of update Software AG (a EUR 50 million leading provider of premium customer relationship management solutions headquartered in Vienna, Austria. He is a past Board Member of the National Association of Manufacturing.
EDUCATION Ken holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Georgetown University and has completed his Masters in Information Systems at the American University. He completed the Executive training program at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business and is a graduate of GE’s Executive Management Training at Crotonville, New York.
Military Service: 1975-1980 Captain, US Army, Military Intelligence
Michael Silton
Managing Director
Act One Ventures
Michael is Executive Chair of the UCLA Venture Capital Fund, a group whose purpose is to foster entrepreneurship in the UCLA community by connecting the worlds of university, capital and entrepreneurship.
He is also Managing Director of Act One Ventures, whose primary focus is on early stage technology, life sciences, and media/tech companies where a founder, executive, or investor is a member of the UCLA community, including alumni, faculty, students, and parents.
Michael is an entrepreneur himself, having founded and co-founded both private and public companies in the last 28 years. Most recently, Michael served as CEO/Founder of Rainmaker Systems, a NASDAQ-listed company. Rainmaker is a leading SaaS company providing Business to Business e-Commerce to leading brands worldwide.
Michael previously co-founded UniDirect, a pioneer in electronic software licensing and distribution. Additionally, Michael serves as Chairman of RivalMe which makes an innovative, mobile-social, trivia game and is an investor and advisor to several businesses.
Nicholas J. Colas
Managing Partner
DataTrek Research.
Nicholas Colas is a managing director and chief market strategist at a leading global brokerage and trading-related services firm. He is responsible for analyzing trends in the economy and financial markets. A seasoned Wall Street analyst and portfolio manager, he provides his clients with in-depth market analysis and commentary through his daily Morning Market's Briefing.
Mr. Colas previously worked at Rochdale Securities, LLC, a provider of brokerage and independent research services, where he built the equity research team and oversaw development of a proprietary valuation model. Prior to his tenure at Rochdale, Mr. Colas served as a portfolio manager at SAC Capital and Silver Capital Management.
Earlier in his career, he was a senior equity analyst in the auto and auto parts sector of Credit Suisse First Boston. He was also the lead analyst on a number of large investment banking transactions.
Mr. Colas was ranked as first or second in the Wall Street Journal survey of analysts covering the auto sector from 1997 when the polls started there, until 1999 when he left the sell side. He was also consistently ranked in the top five in the Institutional Investor survey.
Mr. Colas holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Near Eastern Archaeology from Haverford College.