Let's Grab Coffee Podcast ‪☕‬ George Khalife

As an executive at Zest AI, Mike has made it the company’s mission to leverage AI in consumer credit underwriting to build financial equity and create a better, richer, and fuller life for all. In his 25 years prior experience to Zest AI, Mike focused on amplifying the voice of consumers to governments and businesses through organizations like Nielson, Harris Interactive, and JD Power. His experiences converge to show his capacity to lead organizations in translating data into insights that enable the betterment of consumers’ lives.

Vic is a successful venture capitalist with 19+ years of broad professional experience. Top decile performing track record. Extensive ESG, digital transformation, fintech and Insurtech investing experience. Diverse background with Fortune 130 and early-stage venture companies. Complementary leadership roles in corporate strategy/ transformation and as general counsel.

Specialties: Energy/ utilities, natural gas, green molecule innovation, fintech, insurtech and financial services technology. Over $650M in venture capital and M&A transactions. Created and executed corporate development function including $330M strategic venture capital program. Led the design and implementation of enterprise wide strategy and transformation programs.

To connect with Vic: LinkedIn
To learn more about ECV: Website

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Gale Wilkinson is the Managing Partner at VITALIZE, early-stage fund & angel community investing in WorkTech startups. Gale is also revolutionizing angel investing through VITALIZE Angels, the largest inclusive angel group globally. She actively supports emerging talents in the VC sector via The VITALIZE Podcast and contributes to diversity in tech and VC as a board member of Chicago:Blend. A Kauffman Fellow and member of prestigious networks like OnDeck, Recast, and Oper8r, Gale resides between Chicago and Nashville, alongside her husband and two dogs.

For more on VITALIZE: https://www.vitalize.vc/
For more on Gale: https://gale.vc/

Throughout her entire adult life, Allison has been intensely focused on her career, always ensuring that her current role is not only a stimulating challenge but also a stepping stone towards future growth.

In 2017, while pregnant with her first child, Allison nearly resigned from a sales leadership position she was passionate about. This inclination stemmed from the significant disruptions caused by her 3-month maternity leave.

It became clear to her that there exists a substantial gap in how companies support working parents before, during, and after parental leave, particularly in ways that do not hinder their career progression.

Seizing this realization as an opportunity, she dedicated herself to helping other working parents navigate the challenges she encountered. This mission led her to her current role as the co-founder and CEO of Parentaly, a company committed to bridging this gap for working parents.

Website: https://www.parentaly.com/

Samir Mirza is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Fifth Star Funds - a venture philanthropy fund investing in Black tech entrepreneurs at the pre-seed / "Friends & Family" stage in Chicago. He was formerly the Co-Founder and CTO of TapCommerce (acquired by Twitter for $100M).  

He began his career in Chicago consulting for Fortune 500 clients while building robust content management applications, APIs, and backend distributed systems. In 2012, he co-founded TapCommerce in New York and created the industry's first mobile ad retargeting solution. As the Chief Technology Officer, he led the engineering team and built a backend platform that processes over 40 billion ad auctions per day with the ability to show ads to over 1 billion mobile users for the world's top mobile brands.   

Samir then lived in Berlin, Germany where he served as a coding instructor at the ReDI School for Refugees and worked as a consultant for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) Digital Transformation Team.  Samir has a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.  

To connect with Samir: https://www.fifthstarfunds.com/

Dan is on a mission to personalize nutrition by leveraging CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) and Machine Learning. In simple terms, Nutrisense helps reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes & heart disease, helping people shed unwanted weight, and advise athletes on how to become the best versions of themselves.

Website: https://www.nutrisense.io/