Meet Your Investment Team
These are your classmates who wake up every day on your behalf to assemble a great venture portfolio
Laura Bordewieck Rippy
Managing Partner
Laura brings operational perspective as a CEO, Chairman, and executive in technology startups. As Managing Partner at Ripplecreek Partners’ technology practice and General Partner at FA Technology Ventures she worked many tech sectors: mobile, consumer, internet, SaaS, cloud-based, marketing and enterprise software. She also served as CEO at Handango, creating the first marketplace of mobile apps. At Microsoft, she co-founded Sidewalk.com and MSN HomeAdvisor as part of an elite swat team spun out of Bill Gates’s office. Laura holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and AB in Government from Dartmouth (‘89).
Lacey Farrell Johnson
Principal
Lacey joined Green D Ventures from CareGroup Investment Office, a $3B manager of combined endowment and pension assets. As a member of the investment team, Lacey was responsible for investment sourcing and due diligence. Lacey managed investment opportunities across asset classes and strategies, including venture capital, growth equity, buyout, private credit, and hedge fund vehicles. Previously, she was an Associate at J.P. Morgan Asset Management and an Analyst in the Securities Division of Goldman Sachs. Lacey has a BA in History from Middlebury College and an MBA from Tuck.
Michael Collins
Managing Partner Emeritus
Mike has been involved in almost every facet of venturing, from angel investing to venture capital, new business and product launches, and innovation consulting. He is currently Chairman and CEO of Alumni Ventures Group, the managing company for our fund, and launched AVG’s first alumni fund, Green D Ventures, where he oversaw the portfolio as Managing Partner. Mike is a serial entrepreneur who has started multiple companies, including Kid Galaxy, Big Idea Group (partially owned by WPP), and RDM. He began his career at VC firm TA Associates. He holds an undergraduate degree in Engineering Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Investment Committee
Classmates and fellow investors who help create your venture portfolio
Stephen B. Kaplitt
Stephen B. Kaplitt is a solo “outside general counsel” to a variety of small and mid-sized companies, start ups, entrepreneurs and both US and foreign high net worth individuals. His 25 years of experience includes an aggregate of $3 billion in corporate, finance, private equity, fund formation and M&A transactions with New York law firms and the International Finance Corporation. Before starting his solo practice, he was General Counsel of both an SEC-registered investment advisory firm and a $350 million multinational public company. He has also served as a Senior Advisor at both the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. State Department. He received is JD cum laude from the Georgetown University Law Center, and his AB in Government with High Honors from Dartmouth College.
Jonathan Risch
Jonathan Risch is a member of Dartmouth Class of 1988 and an investor in both Green D Ventures. Jonathan brings a wide variety of experience to the investment committee. Before and after graduating from the MIT Sloan School of Management Jonathan was a management consultant focusing in his last several years on the Energy industry. After a short stint in Finance and Planning for Frito Lay, Jonathan found his way back into the energy industry first with Enron and then with Reliant Energy where he was Vice President of Retail Planning and Marketing Analytics. Leaving large public corporate companies Jonathan was CFO and the Chief Commercial Officer for Leedo Cabinets the largest provider of turn key cabinet solutions to the multi family construction industry. Currently, Jonathan is CEO of DPIS Building Solutions a private equity owned provider of Engineering and Inspection Services to the Residential Construction Industry. Jonathan served on the board of Endeavor CPQ, a SaaS Configure Price Quote solution since sold to Vendavo. Outside of work Jonathan is active on several non profit Boards and enjoys trying to keep up with his three children.
Hillary Brown
Hillary is a strategy and business development executive with nearly twenty years of experience across a variety of industries. At CVS Caremark (now CVS Health), she was responsible for identifying business development opportunities in adjacent markets and leading target due diligence efforts. She also spent several years with Bain & Company specializing in strategy and operations for healthcare and retail clients as well as due diligence for private equity clients. Hillary started her career in the Transaction Advisory Services group of Ernst & Young and is currently the Vice President of Finance and Strategic Planning at GeoMark Research, a geochemical advisory services firm. She received a BA in economics and public policy from Duke and an MBA from Dartmouth.
Emily Arons
Emily is a seasoned business development executive with expertise in growing global businesses with a focus on strategic planning, launching new start-up operations, managing mergers and acquisitions, establishing successful business partnerships, and negotiating long-term profitable agreements. Since 2007 she has served as Sr. Vice President of International Business for The Pokémon Company International, helping guide the growth of the company outside of Asia. Prior to Pokémon she held leadership roles in business development at Microsoft in the Casual Games Group and Microsoft Office Live, at Wizards of the Coast (acquired by Hasbro), and at Disney. Emily holds a BA in Computer Science from Dartmouth and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Matt Fates
Matt has worked with emerging tech companies since 1996. Now at Ascent, Matt he focuses on investments in data analytics, business SaaS, and security. Earlier at Alex Brown & Sons, a leading tech investment bank, he helped execute IPO and M&A transactions. He then moved to Norwest Venture Partners, where he worked on enterprise technology venture investment. Matt has a double major in computer science and economics from Yale and an MBA from the Tuck (Tuck Scholar).
Laura Yecies
Laura is COO of Mobilize, a Series A startup. She has been CEO of two venture-backed startups, selling Catch to Apple and dramatically increasing the revenue at SugarSync (acq. by J2Global). Prior to SugarSync, Laura was general manager of the ZoneAlarm division at Check Point Software and VP of Marketing. At Yahoo, she served as global General Manager of the Yahoo Mail division. Earlier, she was Vice President of the Netscape browser division at AOL, and led marketing programs and Latin American sales at Informix Software Corp. Laura holds an AB in Government from Dartmouth, an MBA from Harvard, and 3ian MSFS from Georgetown School of Foreign Service.
John Replogle
John is a seasoned senior executive who has led several innovative companies to success. Since 2011, he has served as the President and CEO of Seventh Generation, a producer of environmentally-safe household products. From 2006 to 2011, he was President and CEO of Burt’s Bees, a natural personal care products company. Prior to that, John managed the skin care division at Unilever and helped launch the Real Beauty campaign for Dove and establish the Dove Self-Esteem Fund. Earlier, he served several roles at Guinness, including President of Guinness Bass Import. John earned his AB at Dartmouth in History and his MBA from Harvard Business School.
Chansoo Joung
Chansoo is Managing Partner of Whipstock Co-Invest Funds at TPH Asset Management. Whipstock makes private equity investments in the energy industry. He is also on the board of Apache Corporation, where he chairs the audit committee; and the investment committee of Sheridan Productions Partners, a PE firm investing in oil and gas assets. Before that, he was a partner and then advisor to Warburg Pincus in the Energy Group. Previously he was head of the Natural Resources Group at Goldman Sachs, where he was a Partner and Managing Director. He graduated from Dartmouth with an AB in Physics and an MBA with High Distinction from Tuck.
Mark D. Edwards
Mark is a partner at Five Peaks Capital Management, a PE firm focused on investments in tech-enabled services companies. He has spent sixteen years in private equity, with senior roles at DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (~$10B of capital under management) and JLL Partners (~$4B of capital under management). He has led private equity and distressed debt investments across a range of sectors, including information and business services, retail products, industrial services, and healthcare. Prior to that, he was an investment banker for Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities. Mark holds a BA from Stanford and an MBA from Tuck.
Tom Caputo
Tom directs strategy and spearheads all product initiatives for Fiksu and FreeMyApps and is the founder and developer of MyScorecard.com. At [x+1], Tom worked with the engineering and operations teams to coordinate development efforts. Before that, he led investments in digital media and enterprise software at Advanced Technology Ventures, an early stage VC fund. Prior to ATV, he was Microsoft’s Windows Group Product Manager; Product Manager of QuickBooks at Intuit; and Business Manager of E-commerce Strategy at Capital One Financial. Tom holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, BSEE from Stanford University, and AB from Dartmouth.
Venture Fellows
Select group of young Dartmouth alums participating in our Venture Fellow Program
Scott Houck
Community Engagement Fellow
Scott is an Associate at Staley Capital, a Boston-based Growth Equity firm focused on investments in B2B technology companies. Prior to Staley Capital, he was an Investment Banking Analyst at Nomura Securities in New York. In addition to his role at Staley Capital, Scott is a Startup Mentor at MassChallenge, a non-profit startup accelerator. Scott graduated from Dartmouth College with an A.B. in Economics and was a four-year member of the varsity sailing team.
Meghan Lynch
Venture Fellow
Tuck School of Business
Meghan is a second-year MBA candidate at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. At Tuck, she is a Director of the Tuck Social Venture Fund, a fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies, and serves on the board of Positive Tracks, an opportunity through the Center of Business, Government, and Society.
Shala Burroughs
Venture Fellow
Dartmouth College
Shala is the Head of Business Development and Operations for The Satis Group, an end-to-end Initial Coin Offering advisory firm that provides legal, tax, and go to market advice for ICOs around the world. She has more than 10 years of business development and operations experience in technology and financial firms as well as government agencies. Prior to Satis; Shala was a Product and Research Team Manager at Bridgewater Associates, a hedge fund that manages over $160 billion for more than 350 clients globally.
Chris Parker
Venture Fellow Emeritus
Dartmouth College
Chris has been involved with Green D Ventures since 2015. Currently, he is an Investment Analyst at Trusted Insight—a fund-of-funds investing in next generation VC structures and models. Previously he worked in Corporate Development and Operational roles at Endgame, a cybersecurity startup in Washington, DC. He is a D ’11 and now serves as his class representative on the Alumni Council.
Kimmy Paluch
Venture Fellow
Dartmouth College
Kimmy (D’04) is founding principal of an innovation firm in Oakland, where she serves as a senior consultant for companies from technology to financial services to toys. She has over 13 years of experience in the tech sector, with a focus on product management and user experience design. Kimmy holds degrees in computer science and Spanish from Dartmouth College and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Charlie Mosey
Venture Fellow
Charlie (D ’15) began working for Green D during his senior spring at Dartmouth and has been a utility player working remotely for Alumni Ventures Group since early 2017. He currently plays professional hockey in the U.K. for the Fife Flyers in the Elite Ice Hockey League and resides in Minneapolis during the summer. Charlie holds a BA in Economics from Dartmouth.
Alumni Ventures Group Support Staff
The team behind the Green D Investment team - freeing them to build you a great venture portfolio
Chris Sacharuk
Investor Relations Manager
Prior to joining AVG, Chris was a Customer Advocate at Graphic Packaging and in Sales & Marketing at Putnam Investments, where he created materials for reps and investors. He’s a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Manning School of Business, where he studied Entrepreneurship and Entrepreneurial Studies.
Anne Miller
Investor Relations Manager
Previously, Anne was an Applied Behavioral Analysis Counselor for Melmark and a medical biller for Physicians Resources. She is also a certified Certifiied Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, with her own clientele. Anne has a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of New Hampshire.
Hilary Ncala
Director of Investor Relations
Prior to joining AVG, Hilary was a Staffing Executive and Program Manager at Robert Half. Previous positions include Retirement Planning & Guidance Consultant for Fidelity and an Investor Assistant for an independent investor. She has a Bachelor of Science, Business Management & Marketing from Fisher College.
Jamie Eitel
Community Relations Manager
Jamie was the Clinical Secretary Sr for Pediatric Gastroenterology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. Earlier, he served as a Claims Processor Associate and then a Senior Associate at Cigna Health. He has also served in multiple church youth ministries for over 15 years throughout Ontario, Canada, in many different cultural contexts. He was part of the adjunct faculty in the youth ministry department at Tyndale University College. He has a BA in Psychology from York University, a Masters of Divinity from Tyndale Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Fuller Theological Seminary.