Our Board of Directors includes members from a wide range of technology, business, and non-profit backgrounds.

Julie Allegro – Managing Director and founder of Allegro Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm. She brings over 20 years of venture experience to her portfolio companies, which include: Bazaarvoice, Tripwire Security Systems, EzRez Software, Coremetrics, Experience Project, New Vine Logistics and SAMBA Holdings. Prior to Allegro Venture Partners, Julie was the Director of the Internet Initiative for PFI, a telecommunications start-up which built fiber optic networks in 14 cities. Before PFI, she was with a venture financing firm making investments in software, communications and biotechnology companies. She is on the Board of The V Foundation for Cancer Research and is the co-founder and board member of The V Foundation Wine Celebration – a charity wine auction – which has raised over $53 million for cancer research. She holds an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial and Strategic Management also from The Wharton School. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her two sons.

Susan Braun: Susan is Chief Executive Officer of the V Foundation for Cancer Research and brings her extensive experience leading major nonprofits.  Her previous positions include executive director of The American Society of Clinical Oncology Cancer Foundation, CEO of the CURE Media Group and President and CEO of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (now Susan G. Komen for the Cure).  Braun also served as an executive at Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Center for Economic Studies in Medicine.  Additionally, she has been a member of numerous boards and committees, including the California Breast Cancer Research Program, American Society for Breast Disease, World Society of Breast Health, Smith Center for Healing and the Arts, Americorps NCCC, Intercultural Cancer Council and more.  Braun received her B.A. from George Mason University, M.A. in Health Science from the University of Maryland and M.B.A. from Westfalische Wihelms-Universitat in Germany.

Michael Clair: Michael is a technology investor and consultant. He is on the Boards of several Silicon Valley companies, including VT&T,  NDS Surgical Imaging and Spigit.  Mike has worked in the computer and communications industries for over 35 years. Early in his career, he held executive positions at Tymshare and ROLM Corporation, as well as being a founder and senior vice president of marketing and sales at SynOptics Communications (Bay Networks). Mike has been a member of the Wine Celebration Board for eleven years, and is driven to help find cures for cancer, because of his personal experiences with several cancer victims in his own family.

Mark S. Colella: Mark specializes in medical device investing at 5AM Ventures. Mark has over 14 years of venture capital and operating experience in medical device and healthcare companies, and currently serves, or has served, in board or advisory roles with companies which include: Ceterix Orthopedics, Flexion Therapeutics, Incline Therapeutics, Semprus Biosciences, Viveve and WaveRx. He also sits on the Advisory Board for the Innovation and New Ventures Office at Northwestern University and The V Foundation Wine Celebration—a charity wine auction—which has raised over $30 million for cancer research. Before joining 5AM Ventures in 2008 he was head of marketing for BÂRRX Medical, a Bay Area start-up medical device company. Prior to BÂRRX, he held various management roles with Stryker, focused in the fields of orthopedics, laparoscopy, urology, gynecology, and general minimally invasive surgery. In addition, he spent four years as an Executive Director managing healthcare facilities with Primrose Alzheimer’s Living, Inc., an early-stage healthcare service start-up company, and one year working for Versant Ventures. Mark holds a B.S. in Biology from Williams College and earned his M.B.A. from Northwestern University, the Kellogg School of Management. Prior to Williams College he spent two years at the United States Air Force Academy. Mark is based in Menlo Park, CA.

Shahram Gholami, MD, FACS:  Dr. Gholami, is an internationally recognized expert in the field of minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic surgery. As one of the few physicians skilled in minimally invasive procedures that include “scar-less” techniques using lasers and laparoscopy, Dr. Gholami offers his patients more choices for the treatment of urologic disease, and provides a very personalized approach to treatment.

Having performed thousands of laparoscopic and/or robotic procedures since 2000, (longer than >98 % of practicing urologists) to become a recognized leader in his field, he trains urologists and shares his expertise worldwide.  His passion for innovation and leadership is demonstrated in his work and his many awards and accomplishments, including: * Men’s Health Network- Research Award * Golden Glove Award- European School of Surgery * Top Doctor- Silicon Valley Magazine * California Urology Foundation Research Award * Lapides Research Prize- Honorable Mention * Stryker Endoscopy Laparoscopy/ Endoscopy Scholar * Ethicon Endosurgery, Laparoscopy Scholar * Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons Research Award  * 1st Place Award- Northern California Urology Resident Research Award- 2 time winner * American College of Surgeons Award for Academic Excellence * Howard Hughes Scholar * American College of Physician Research Award- Two time recipient * Juvenile Diabetes Foundation- Research Award * American Heart Association- Honor Award in Outstanding Research.  Dr. Gholami is also an avid golfer, when time permits!

Anthony Kozy: Half of the “Kozy Brothers” partnership that owns a chain of gourmet fresh grocery stores, particularly noted for the charming De Martini Orchard in Los Altos, a “constant farmers-market” where produce is bought daily to provide customers the freshest items.  The company is also an avid supporter of its local community. Whether they’re providing job experience for area students or donating to an upcoming fundraiser, the Kozy brothers take pleasure in supporting schools, houses of worship and charitable organizations. 

Kay Lloyd:

Robert E. Lloyd – Bob is Chairman of the V Foundation for Cancer Research and co-founder of the V Wine Celebration Board. Bob was Jim Valvano’s college roommate and basketball teammate, served in the military with Jim and the two were friends for 30 years before Jim’s passing. In his business career, Bob served as the Chairman and CEO of Mindscape, a publicly traded software company until his retirement in 1997. Prior to this he was President, CEO, of Data East, Inc. a developer of entertainment software, and held various senior management positions with several other companies. Bob currently sits on several boards and consults with emerging growth companies. Bob holds a BA in Economics from Rutgers University, and an MBA from Pepperdine University. After college, he played professional basketball with the New York Nets.

Frank Lonergan, Jr. – Frank serves as President and CEO of A29, Inc., a high-tech consultancy specializing in US/Asia business development. Significant projects over the past 20-years include the founding of Nan Ya Pacific (U.S. agent of the Formosa Plastics Group / Taiwan) and more recently, the establishment of both Meiko America (a major U.S. subsidiary of Meiko Electronics / Japan) and Dynamic USA (U.S. agent of the Dynamic Group / China). Frank is also a co-founder of SPUR Projects, Inc., a business focused on the development of contemporary art opportunities. In addition to the Jimmy V Wine Celebration, Frank also serves on other non-profit boards including The Bring Me A Book Foundation for Children’s Literacy.

Ryan McDonough – Ryan was most recently the CFO at Ning, where he oversaw financial planning & operations to help Ning achieve its business objectives and scale for the future. Ryan is currently a Venture Partner with Allegro Partners, a seed venture fund based in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Allegro he invests in and works closely with early stage technology companies like Mass Relevance, OrderGroove, Bazaarvoice, Experience Project and others. Prior to Allegro & Ning, Ryan was a senior manager at McKinsey & Company – where he served a range of clients in the high-tech, financial and telecom spaces. His strategy and operations work has taken him around the globe, working in McKinsey’s San Francisco, Silicon Valley, London, Hong Kong and Tel Aviv offices. He’s counseled CEOs and top management across the range of business issues, from corporate vision setting to product definition to streamlining back-office operations to more cost-effectively meet customer needs. Ryan also served as key advisor for a global multibillion private equity firm and a leading Israeli VC.

Ryan holds an MBA from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, with honors, and did his undergraduate work at Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley where he was top of class.

Lawrence F. Probst III – Larry is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Electronic Arts, the world’s leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment. He also serves as the Chairman of the United States Olympic Committee.

Larry joined Electronic Arts in 1984 and served as the Vice President of Sales until 1986. From January 1987 to December 1990 he was Senior Vice President of the company’s publishing division. He led Electronic Arts as President from December 1990 to October 1997, and was named Chief Executive Officer in May of 1991 serving in that capacity until April 2007. Larry has been a Director of Electronic Arts since January 1991 and was elected to the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors in July of 1994.

Larry navigated EA through multiple technology transitions, made strategic investments in new platforms such as mobile and online, and expanded international operations to over 75 countries. During his tenure as CEO, the company grew its annual revenue from $175 million in 1991 to $3 billion in 2007, and increased its market capitalization from approximately $300 million to more than $18 billion.

Before he joined Electronic Arts, Larry held the positions of National Sales Manager at Activision, Inc. and National Accounts Manager at Clorox. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Delaware. Larry lives with his family in the San Francisco Bay Area.

John Roediger: is a managing director with Montgomery & Co. He has more than 20 years of investment banking experience, specializing in public and private capital financings and strategic advice to global companies.  Prior to joining Montgomery, John was a managing director at JP Morgan and Hambrecht and Quist. John received a degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California and served in the US Navy.  John is on the board of Hedgefort Capital, a US based investment fund specializing on the country of Brazil, and the advisory board for the Injured Marine Semper Fi fund.

Constance E. Skidmore – Connie sits on the Audit Committee of BayCare Health Systems, a $2B health care provider in central Florida  She is on the Board of Ivis Technologies, a West coast software company.  She also serves as an informal advisor to a number of technology companies with aggressive growth strategies.  In a consulting role, Connie is assisting PwC with the execution of its off-shoring strategy in India. Connie served on the 18-member elected Board of U.S. Partners and Principals for PricewaterhouseCoopers, PwC, ($7B in revenues) for a four-year term prior to her formal retirement.  Concurrently, Connie was the U.S.Tax Strategy Leader for the Firm. She was responsible for both short term and long term strategies for this $2B business.   Earlier in her PwC career, she was West Region Tax Managing Partner where she was the equivalent of CEO for the $300M unit, managing the coordination of all tax compliance and consulting advice for clients throughout the West. Prior to joining PricewaterhouseCoopers, Connie was a tax specialist with the Internal Revenue Service.  She holds a B.A. degree from Florida State University and a M.S. degree in Taxation from Golden Gate University.  Recently, she completed the Directors College program at Stanford Law School.

Anthony Smith – Anthony is co-Founder and Managing Director of Leadership Research Institute, one of the top management consulting firms in the world. An expert in organizational change, executive development and leadership training and design, he has served a wide range of clients, including ESPN, McKinsey & Company, Goldman, Sachs & Co., American Express, and the NFL. He has served on the teaching and research faculties of several universities, including the University of California, the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, and the European School of Management at Oxford. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in the Behavioral Sciences, a Doctorate in Leadership Science and Administration at the University of San Diego, and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of California. Anthony is the author of the best selling and critically acclaimed book, The Taboos of Leadership, and has published his research in the European Journal of Management, the Journal of Leadership Studies; and the best-selling books, The Leader of the Future and The Organization of the Future, both published by the Drucker Foundation.

Todd Zapolski: Todd founded Zapolski Real Estate, LLC (ZRE) www.zapolskire.com, in 2008. Todd has more than 30 years of wide-ranging experience in real estate investment and development across the Atlantic Southeast and in Northern California, and is also Principal of Zapolski Holdings and ZRE Advisory Group.

Prior to founding ZRE, Todd served as Managing Member of Zapolski + Rudd, LLC, a real estate investment and development firm he co-founded with Leslie Rudd in 1998. Over the 10-year tenure of the firm, Todd managed a bi-coastal operation that built a diverse portfolio of retail, office, and multi-use properties. From 1991 to 1998, Todd was Executive Vice President of Mark Properties, Inc., where he directed the acquisition effort for multiple equity funds successfully invested in undervalued commercial properties across seven states.

A former partner in Girard Winery, he was honored by the V Foundation Wine Celebration with its annual Vintner Grant in 2004. Active in community service, he is the former Chair of the Genesis Home Family Shelter, and currently serves on the boards of the V Wine Celebration, Clinic Ole Foundation, and the Vine Trail Capital Campaign.  Todd earned a degree in political science from Duke University in 1980.

In Loving Memory

David A. Kane – Mr. Kane was a Senior Audit Partner in KPMG LLP (US)’s Silicon Valley office and served on the Wine Celebration Board until his passing in October 2011. He led the Firm’s Western U.S. Information, Communications and Entertainment (ICE sm ) practice, and served as the Silicon Valley office Managing Partner. He also served as partner in charge of KPMG LLP (US)’s New England ICE practice. In addition, Dave served as the Firm’s Southern California high-technology practice leader for six years. As a former SEC reviewing partner, Dave has extensive experience serving a variety of global Fortune 500 companies and has taken several companies through the IPO process. He has over 29 years experience serving high-technology clients. Dave received his B.S. from the University of Illinois and his graduate degree from the International Development Program of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Dave is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants, and a board member of the Exploratorium and the Silicon Valley American Cancer Society.