We have an update on the May 10 Fifth Annual Bay Area Access to Capital conference from organizer Darlene Crane:

The Alliance for Community Development is pleased to announce six of the companies selected to present in the Pitch Session in the afternoon of the conference.  These companies with diverse leadership teams have a clear vision, planning and passion to grow the company.
* aSociete.com, CEO, Vanessa Gabriel CEO
* GroupBookers.com, Edwin Salgado and Nancy Chen-Salgado Founders
* MyKeyno, LLC, Product iVest, backpack reinvented by Sanderson Broudy, CEO, watch the video
      www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuwqsXHa05k
* MindblownLabs.com, Jason Young
* 360DocFinder.com, Rebecca Bahr, San Francisco
* SkillvilleGames.com, Taylor Louie, Fremont, CA

Register now for free tickets for the May 10 conference at http://bit.ly/AB76rD a

Everyone MUST register through EventBrite to be admitted to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.  The free registrations are going quickly.

Location:  Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 101 Market St., San Francisco, CA 94105 8:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Darlene Crane, Executive Director of the Alliance, is pleased that more women and African Americans came into the applicant pool and were accepted.  Last year the presenting entrepreneurs from the East Bay commented on being isolated from the entrepreneurial opportunities in Silicon Valley and San Francisco. 

In 2012 there are many more MeetUps and networking opportunities for diverse entrepreneurs.  Diverse entrepreneurs will want to check out BlackFounders.com, Building While Brown on Facebook. East Bay Localpreneurs on MeetUp and women 2.0.com and astia.com to find peers and mentors. 

The Alliance received applications from as far away as Michigan and New York, New York.  

The Alliance conducted four CEO Forums in March and April to engage with local entrepreneurs and encourage them to apply to pitch.  The CEO Forums were well received and covered topics not often addressed in public forums.  The topics were Business Concept Development, Product Development, Business Model Formation and Return to Investors.   This series will be repeated in the future.  

Join the Alliance for a day of learning, inspiration, opportunity and networking. Get the real story from investors and successful entrepreneurs as they share their paths to success in panel and discussion talks. Watch opportunity in action at a pitch session and learn first-hand what investors really want to know.  All companies are welcome especially companies with diverse leadership that are building strong financial results and generating social and economic benefits to attend. 

The feedback from attendees at BACC IV 2011 was very positive. 

Specific comments were:

• The Pitches were EXTREMELY illustrative.
  You are hitting the nail on the head.  Keep up the good work.

Go to the EventBrite link  for the full program.

MAY 10 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

8:30 – 9 a.m.
Attendee check-in
     
9 – 9:30 a.m.      
Welcome
Alliance Board Member

Welcome
Lena Robinson, Regional Manager, Community Development, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.

Sponsor comments
PG&E: Joan Kerr, Director Supplier Diversity.

9:30 – 10:15 a.m.    
Morning moderated discussion: Growing a Product Company – Learn how to work with investors to build a transformative company.   

• Julie Corbett, CEO, Ecologic Brands;
• Seth Miller, Partner, DBL Investors; 
• moderated by Lyz Ferguson, Managing Director, Drexel Oceania LLC.

Corbett is the mastermind behind Ecologic’s innovative green packaging – a testament to her insatiable curiosity and ability to “think outside the bottle.” She approaches challenges with fierce optimism and tenacity and isn’t afraid to turn the packaging industry upside down.

10:15 – 10:30 a.m.    
Break

BREAKOUT SESSIONS
10:30 – 11:45 a.m.

Financial Track: Trends Changing the Investment Landscape: Innovative Accelerators and Crowd Funding – Learn how to maneuver for success in the new financial landscape.

• Monisha Perkash, CEO & Founder, LUMOback, a seed-funded company that recently emerged from Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors venture creation program called Runway.
• Cory Ford, Director of the Public Media Accelerator is leading the effort to change media for good. Recently he was Director of the Runway Program and mentored Perkash.
• Contributing Moderator: Jennifer Kassan, CEO of Cutting Edge Capital, on witnessing the JOBS Act signing, its opportunities and risks.  

Management Track:  Branding Your Startup – Increase sales through marketing strategy and branding.  Hear from professionals, and a CEO with a distinctive brand how to develop a product and a brand

• William Gaulitier, CEO of e-storm for over a decade.
• Susan Griffin Black, Founder and CEO of EO® a family-owned and operated Certified Organic Manufacturer of personal care products.
• Contributing Moderator: Francesca Schuler, CMO at BEVMo and Founder of Bay Area Marketers, an organization that shares marketing expertise with startup CEOs.

 
Noon – 1:30 p.m.     
Lunch and Keynote Speaker – Speaking on Strategies for Developing Human Capital

Lynda Ward Pierce, SVP of Human Resources & Administration, BrightSource Energy Inc.


BREAKOUT SESSIONS

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.      
Financial Track:
Meet the Pitch Event Investors – Know how investors evaluate your business and you as a CEO  

• Geoff Roach, Fellow, The Halo Fund, Angel Forum.
• Patrick Sagisi, Associate, DBL Investors.
• Shirley Gee, Investor, Keiretsu Forum and others.

Management Track:
Successful Impact Investing – Learn how investors and entrepreneurs generate financial results and double/triple bottom-line outcomes.  Hear from experts in investing for more than money and innovator in entrepreneur development.    

• Lisa Hagerman, Director of Programs, DBL Investors.
• Eduardo Rallo, Managing Partner, Pacific Community Ventures.  
• Contributing Moderator: Shea di Donna, Co-Founder & Director of Entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley International, an education consultancy at the cutting edge of entrepreneurship and innovation
• 
  2:45 – 3 p.m.         

Break

3:15 – 5 p.m.              
Pitch Session, Investor judges evaluate entrepreneurs’ presentations.

5 – 6 p.m.
Networking Mixer

For more information, visit allianceforcommunitydevelopment.com

The Alliance for Community Development is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization with the mission of increasing access to capital for companies with diverse leadership inclusive of minorities, women, and disabled veterans.