Lisa Calhoun is a recognized and experienced leader in venture capital. Lisa was recently named Atlanta Investor of the Year by Startup Atlanta and highlighted among  Business Insider’s Top 30 Women Early-stage Investors in the U.S. She is the founder of Valor Ventures, the South’s first woman-led, institutional  venture capital firm, now investing its third fund. Valor funds are backed by notable institutional investors including Delta Airlines, Georgia Tech Foundation, and the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Under her leadership, Valor has built a high performance portfolio of AI and SaaS software companies based in the South. Valor is known for developing Vic, a visionary AI-powered investment management platform integrated with industry leaders like Salesforce, Carta, and PitchBook.

Lisa is a Kauffman Fellow (Class 23), recipient of the Kauffman Fellows Leadership Award, and frequent keynote speaker. She’s spoken recently for NASDAQ, SuperReturn, and the Kauffman Leadership Summit. Her insights have been featured in Forbes, Inc., and the Venture Capital Journal. She also shares insights as a co-host of the Atlanta Startup Podcast.

Philanthropically, Lisa’s passion for discovering top investments from visionaries from all backgrounds led her to establish the Startup Runway Foundation, now the nation’s largest nonprofit for introducing underrepresented founders to their first investors. Startup Runway is underwritten by leading nonprofit endeavors including individuals, the American Family Institute, NCR Foundation, Cox Enterprises, and the National Science Foundation.

Prior to founding Valor, Lisa founded a digital marketing agency that was recognized by HubSpot as a top 10 firm for startups. She helped guide hundreds of founders to successful exits through developing meaningful sales funnels and communication platforms. Earlier in her career, Lisa specialized in enterprise IT software as a consultant for leading IT departments from the Hartsfield Jackson Airport to UPS.

Lisa holds an MBA in management science with a concentration in statistics from the University of Texas and a BA with honors from Baylor University, which she attended on National Merit Scholarship. Lisa recharges by spending time alone. Her hobbies include gardening and dressage. She’s an FEI competitor and can be founded most weekends in the arena building connection.

Lynne Laube is an operating partner at Valor. Prior to joining Valor, she was co-founder of Cardlytics
(NASDAQ:CDLX), an Atlanta business recognized as one of the country’s fastest-growing
technology companies by Deloitte Fast 500 and Inc. 5000.

In February 2018, Lynne took Cardlytics public on the Nasdaq, making Cardlytics the
first tech IPO of the year. Lynne is one of only a handful of women who have led their firm to public markets.

Lynne raised over a billion dollars in public and private markets to scale Cardlytics into the
dominant global leader in purchase history-based analytics. It's also been frequently at the top of Atlanta's Best Places to Work lists.

In 2016, Lynne was named one of the top 10 venture-backed female founders by Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur
360. In 2012 and 2013 Lynne was a finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Before founding Cardlytics, Lynne held multiple executive positions with Capital One from 1994 until 2008.
Lynne began her career at Bank One. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for NerdWallet and
Endeavor, a global organization of, by, and for entrepreneurs.

Lynne holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and marketing from the University of Cincinnati’s College
of Business and is a graduate of Darden’s Executive Leadership program from the University of Virginia. Lynne
is a mother of two and enjoys working out and cooking in her limited spare time.

Craig Snodgrass has deep leadership and operational expertise in analytics, optimization, and product development across startups, scale-ups, and established companies. He has honed his capabilities with challenging roles, including 12 years as Chief Data Officer at Cardlytics spanning the very early days of startup life to taking the company public. Prior, he spent a decade supporting the continued scale of Capital One and led production engineering at a key site at Honeywell. Currently, Craig leads i2ex, a consulting and product delivery practice based in Virginia. He graduated with a Chemical Engineering degree from Virginia Tech and has his MS in Math/Operations Research from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Sean Cook is an experienced entrepreneur, board member, and venture partner known for scaling companies and enhancing investor value, with notable successes as CEO of ShopVisible resulting in the sale to Epicor and as Vice President of Partners, International Growth and Marketing at Mailchimp in the 6 years leading up to and culminating in Mailchimp’s $12 billion acquisition by Intuit. He is currently focused on advisory and consulting roles, supporting early-stage companies through Valor Ventures and Decelera Ventures. Sean’s expertise includes strategic growth, partnerships, and guiding companies through pivotal stages. Based in Atlanta with his wife, Martha, he is actively involved in arts and culture and enjoys traveling with family.

Tiffany's high-level organizational and administrative experience stretches the project management spectrum: Customer relationship management (CRM); market research; event coordination; webinar setups; grant proposal design; fundraising; and video editing, to name but a few. Enthusiastic, committed, flexible, and efficient, Tiffany's learning curves are short, and she is always excited to branch out for new challenges. Tiffany's range of interests extends to her work – bring on any project, and Tiffany is readily hands-on in both knowledge and execution. Detail-oriented, Tiffany welcomes all levels of a task, in any type of task. Enhanced by her BS in Computer Science, Tiffany brings extensive technological savvy and people-skilled broad-mindedness to every professional role. She has excelled in a wide array of functions – from sales, billing, meeting planning, scheduling, training and documenting and maintaining office processes. Tiffany is a dynamic, resourceful, and energetic individual who is comfortable with being the go-to person for anything related to the seamless running of an office. There is never a task too small or too big for her.

William graduated with cum laude honors from Mercer University where he studied finance and entrepreneurship. Throughout undergrad, William sharpened his finance, venture capital, and startup skillset with roles at Morgan Stanley, VU Venture Partners, Royalty Headwear, and knock app. Immediately following graduation, William joined the Dynamo Ventures team as their 3rd fellow where he sourced supply chain & mobility startups, performed investment diligence/ market research, and was involved in all aspects of the venture investment and fund management process.

Wiliam got his first taste of the startup ecosystem working for his friend's startup at the Mercer Innovation Center (MIC). The MIC provides aspiring entrepreneurs the programs, networking opportunities, physical space, tools, experts, student interns, and access to potential funders that can help take an idea from conception to market. Going forward, William is hopeful to pay it forward as a mentor at the MIC and is excited to help cultivate future entrepreneurs emerging from the southeast US.

In his free time, William enjoys community service, options trading, golfing, cooking, and reading autobiographies; along with his best friends, he mentors underserved youth in Metro Atlanta. His [current] favorite shows on Netflix are Ozark & Lupin.

Former Chief Enterprise Innovation Officer at Samsung, Chief Information Officer / Chief Technology Officer / Chief Information Security Officer for BlackBerry, and Chief Compliance Officer at AT&T, Robin brings 20 years of direct technical due diligence to her role as Founding Partner at Valor. She leads Valor’s technical diligence process, chairs our Innovation Council, and coordinates portfolio alliances with major enterprise technology firms. She has 15 patents, many in use today. Robin has presented at the CIO Forum, Gartner and Forrester, and is sought for comment by Forbes, Fortune and The Wall Street Journal. She is the founder and owner of Atlanta Tech Park, one of the largest innovation centers on the East Coast. Robin serves on the boards of Mitsubishi Financial (MUFG) and Great West Life Co. She holds a masters degree in the management of information technology from Georgia Tech.

An experienced executive with a range of experience in private to public technology companies. Served as chief legal officer for over 20 years and a chief people officer for over 10 years. Raised over $1B in public markets. Expertise in intellectual property, negotiations, securities law, and litigation. Interested in building organizations that recognize that the people come first. Driven to execute and move the business forward.

David Evans has more than 30 years of experience in the broader Technology, Software and Payments sectors as an Engineer, Investment Banker, Operator, Executive and Investor. In addition to Valor, David is an Operating Executive with Falfurrias Growth Partners, an operationally focused middle-market investment fund focused on investing in high-growth companies in the software and business services sectors. Prior to his current role, David served as CEO and Board member at Passport Labs, a mobility management software provider to the Digital Parking, Enforcement and Payments sectors. Prior to this role, he was CFO for Cardlytics (NASDAQ: CDLX) where he helped guide the business from its early beginnings to a leading software Platform serving private labeled rewards solutions for some of the largest banks in the country, leveraging purchase intelligence and spend behavior to deliver highly targeted marketing solutions to consumers with deterministic attribution. David brings additional experience as an Investment Banker with Wells Fargo Securities, Wachovia Securities and SG Cowen covering Technology in addition to his early years as a systems engineer with EMC Corp. David currently is an Independent Director at Atlanta-based FinQuery, a Director at AdComp and is Chairman of the Board of Atlanta-based Neighborly Software. David holds an MBA from Emory University and a BSE in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Auburn University. He makes his home with his family in Charlotte, NC.

Steve George serves as the Chief Commercial Officer, bringing 30 years of executive leadership experience in founding and managing technology companies. Throughout his career, he has been involved in the acquisition and sale of six businesses. His most recent transaction was the sale of the technology integrator Inovity to a private equity firm. His corporate experience includes overseeing sales organizations, alliances, operations and financial management. He is a graduate of James Madison University’s business school.

Gary has 25 years experience investing in cloud-based software in the Southeast with 19 years as a general partner and seed-stage VC investor. Starting with Council Capital’s debut fund in 2000, Gary was a General Partner for 3 funds at Council Capital focused on seed and early-stage cloud software serving health care. Gary’s referenceable track record includes leading 38 investments at the seed stage in the Southeast, achieving impressive returns. Prior to Council Capital, Gary was Principal at Stonehenge Growth Equity for four years. There he made his first seed stage investment, SecureTax.com, which is Intuit’s Web Turbotax today. Gary’s experience as a seed stage & early stage investor began in 2000. Gary’s track record includes >2 dozen seed & early stage investments in Valor’s target region, including 14 in Atlanta. In 2014, Gary left Council Capital to focus active seed-stage investing personally, and joined Valor first as an investor and operating partner before joining the general partnership.

George Azih is the CEO and Founder of FinQuery, one of the most successful venture-backed fintech software firms in the world. With a robust background in technical accounting and accounting research, he worked for a Fortune 500 company where he specialized in lease accounting, debt modifications, and hedge accounting. George also has experience auditing financial institutions. He holds a Bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of Georgia and is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Georgia Society of CPAs. His expertise in lease accounting has made him a sought-after speaker.

Joe Schab is President and COO at FinQuery, the #1 lease accounting software company. With extensive experience in leading companies through periods of hypergrowth and on to exit, Joe has a proven track record of transforming startups into high-growth global leaders. Before joining FinQuery, he served as President of Platform and Innovation at Cardlytics, which exited to public markets; President of PlayOn! Sports CEO at LBi, where he led a hugely successful turn around, and CEO at Carriage Ventures, a multi--location accounting practice. Joe holds an MBA from Emory and a BBA from Northeastern. He makes his home with his family in Atlanta.

Donald Knight serves as GSVP, People and Culture, for Warner Bros. Discovery. Prior, he served as Chief People Officer at Greenhouse Software. His leadership experience includes roles at Edelman, Equifax, Southern Company Gas, and the Defense Commissary Agency. Donald holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master's degree in human resource management from the University of Richmond. A Virginia native, he is actively engaged in the tech ecosystem within the Commonwealth. Donald resides in the Greater Atlanta area with his family and is actively involved in board memberships and philanthropy.

Kevin is an experienced and visionary Chief Technology Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the hospital & health care industry.

Jean-Luc is a registered investment advisor and serial entrepreneur. After scaling to several locations including an offshore presence in China, he sold his first company, software development firm Finalist, to investors in 2010. At Valor he is responsible for our Vic AI that helps streamline our operations and technical diligence. He is board member for several of our AI startups including Sailes.com and Autonoma. He is an avid runner and fluent in both Python and Typescript.

Nwanyinma Dike, who describes herself as an “engineer turned strategist,” has the organization’s top spot.

While Dike started her career in corporate, she is no stranger to the local startup scene.

After working at Merck commercializing vaccines, she found herself drawn to the procurement side of business. That move helped her catch the “business bug,” so she went to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business for her MBA before going into management consulting, a path she described as “the equivalent to a residency after medical school.”

In 2021 she founded UltraViolet Insights, a business consulting firm for startups and SMBs (small and mid-sized businesses). This last spring she joined ATDC, Georgia’s business accelerator, as the Georgia AIM Startup Catalyst. The grant-funded role is designed to help the state transition to automation in manufacturing.

In addition to her work at Spelman, she leads a college planning cohort internship program that recruits college student volunteers to guide high school students through the college application process. In her free time, Williams enjoys watching historical documentaries and reading.

Alaina Percival is a seasoned tech executive and investor. She co-founded Y Combinator-backed Women Who Code, growing it into the largest global community of women technologists, serving over 360,000 members in 147 countries. As a Venture Partner at Valor Ventures, she specializes in strategic growth and fostering inclusive company cultures. Alaina has advised entrepreneurs across diverse sectors and served on multiple boards. A recognized leader in her field, she is also a sought-after speaker. Alaina holds a Master’s in Organizational Management from the Sorbonne and an MBA from Georgia State University.

Raechel Canipe combines over a decade of experience in sales, marketing, and operations, with her unique acumen for navigating complex business requirements across diverse sectors including defense intelligence agencies, healthcare, and non-profits. Raechel is also a devoted humanitarian and community advocate, leveraging her expertise to spearhead pivotal initiatives. These include co-founding Project Afghan Relief Fund, tech-enabled emergency evacuation support to rescue U.S. allies after the fall of Kabul, and serving as Founder & CEO of Women in Tech & Entrepreneurship, a community designed to dismantle financial barriers and economically empower women. Raechel’s impactful work has earned accolades including the Tampa Bay Inno Fire Award, DeAnne Dewey Roberts Emerging Leader Finalist, and TBBJ Business Woman of the Year Nominee.