Executives in Residence
Discovery Launchpad’s Executives in Residence (EIR’s) lend their specialized knowledge and expertise to University startups on a temporary, part time basis. EIR’s engage directly with University of Minnesota start-ups to provide support as they develop their value proposition and business model.
Executives in Residence are generally recruited from the Venture Center’s volunteer Business Advisory Group (BAG), based upon the experience and background needed to support the University’s start-up community.
Discovery Launchpad Executives in Residence
JoAnne Gorski Alkire
Executive in Residence
JoAnne brings more than 30 years of experience leading MedTech product development and commercialization. Most recently, JoAnne served as EVP of Strategy and Innovation at Merit Medical, a Utah-based medical device company, where she led portfolio management, R&D and new product commercialization, and participated in the acquisitions of 4 new technologies. Prior to Merit, JoAnne led marketing teams at small and large companies in the Twin Cities , including Medtronic, St. Jude Medical, Cardiovascular Systems Inc. and the National Marrow Donor Program. JoAnne led product development and commercialization for over 30 new products, building expertise in voice-of-customer, portfolio strategy, user needs, clinical and regulatory planning, healthcare economics, digital marketing, and product launch. JoAnne has worked in cardiology, cardiac surgery, oncology, radiology, neurostimulation, and cellular therapy. She holds a Master of Business Administration from the Darden School of Management at the University of Virginia and bachelor's degree in economics and history from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Adam J. Bock
Executive in Residence
Adam is an award-winning academic, venture financier, and serial entrepreneur. He has co-founded four university spinouts in the life sciences, serving as CEO or CFO. He has been a contract CXO, adviser, or founder-mentor for dozens of other tech ventures. Adam leads executive education programs on strategy and innovation for local, regional, and multinational organizations. He holds a PhD from Imperial College London, an MBA from University of Wisconsin, and a BS and BA from Stanford University.
Garrick van Buren
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in Residence
Garrick has 25 years of experience getting new B2B businesses off the ground. He’s worked with entrepreneurs and corporation innovation teams across software, professional services, publishing, agriculture, and food service. He grounds his approach in qualitative customer research and outcome-driven innovation. His work has been featured in eight books on marketing and digital product design, most recently Million Dollar Weekend by Noah Kagan. Garrick lives in suburban Minneapolis, MN with his wife and four children.
Garrick holds a BFA in Graphic Design from UW-Stout.
Joel Cannon
Founding Executive in Residence
Joel has 30+ years’ experience as a company founder and leader in software, communications and control and energy technology, having co-founded and grown two notable companies over his career and participated in numerous angel investment, business advisory and board roles.
Joel holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota and a BS from South Dakota State University.
Kyle King
CFO in Residence
Kyle has over 20 years of financial and management experience across numerous industries. He started his career as a CPA for RSM McGladrey and then moved into CFO roles with high growth technology organizations.
From there, Kyle has been involved as an advisor and CFO of numerous startups in the energy, consumer electronics, and medical sectors with a focus on business development, financing and capital raise/structure.
Kyle holds a BS in Accounting from UMN Duluth.
Lori Lennon
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer (CMCO) in Residence
Lori Lennon is a communications expert with over 20 years of experience spanning journalism, strategic communications, public relations, digital marketing, and science storytelling. She began her career in television news in Boston, where she earned multiple awards for innovative digital reporting. Lori later served as director of communications for the College of Science at Northeastern University, leading efforts across messaging, recruitment marketing, editorial content, and DEI initiatives. She is now the founder and CEO of Thinkubator Media, a firm that delivers training, education, and community-building programs to help individuals and organizations communicate complex ideas with clarity and impact.
Frances McCloskey
Executive in Residence
Fran has over 35 years of experience in finance and accounting involving many industries including consumer products, financial services, medical technology, pharmaceuticals, software, and manufacturing. She provides a technical background in preparing financial models, valuations, and assessing and improving financial performance of organizations. Prior to forming two consulting firms, Fran practiced at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and was a financial analyst at General Mills. Fran is also a licensed CPA and a member of the AICPA and MNCPA.
Fran has an MBA from the UMN and a BA in Economics from Middlebury College.
Y. Elaine Rasmussen
Executive in Residence
Grounded in her work as a mediator, a communications and finance professional, Y. Elaine Rasmussen has extensive experience in building transformational relationships in a wide range of sectors: for-profit, philanthropy, government, education and finance. Her overarching goal? To move billions of investment dollars in black/brown and rural communities.
Driven by the mission to mainstream impact investing and democratizing access to capital, Y. Elaine Rasmussen founded ConnectUP! Institute. As a social finance studio, CI advances underestimated entrepreneurs through capital and capacity building programs.
Rasmussen holds an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University and a BS in International Business and Marketing from Woodbury University. She is a Cordes, Boston Impact Initiative and RSF Social Finance Integrated Capital Fellow.
Martha R. Sewall
Executive in Residence
Martha’s 25 years in medtech product development and global business management have encompassed a range of clinical care areas and therapies with extensive experience in the development of new medical technologies.
Martha also teaches the Value Proposition workshops for MIN-Corps, and now for the new NSF I-Corps Hub: Great Lakes Region, and assesses projects for PDIC (Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium).
Martha holds an MBA from the UMN and a BS in Zoology from Duke University.
Dan Wallek
Chief Operations Officer (COO) in Residence
Dan Wallek is results-driven operations senior executive with demonstrated abilities building operational excellence for growth over 30 years, managing new products from conception to launch to retirement in domestic and international markets; creating and implementing an organizational foundation of functional disciplines, policies and operational business procedures to scale and ensure growth and stability of a company while maximizing their business value. He has purchase four (4) companies and sold three (3) companies in his career. Dan was the COO at FastBridge Learning, who was a company launched out of the University of Minnesota’s Office of Technology Commercialization, where he led the operations execution plan which resulted in the company being sold.
He has experience in multiple industries in his experience including SaaS, professional learning, manufacturing, publishing, services, supply chain, executive coaching, and information technology. Dan currently is the Founder & Fractional COO at ExcelerateOPS, LLC.
Dan holds a BS in Marketing from University of Saint Mary’s Minnesota and an MBA from Drake University.
Maureen Kelly Wheaton
Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) in Residence
Maureen has over 35 years of experience with strong multifunction business experience in start-up and transformation environments. She is skilled in all disciplines of human resources and has a keen understanding of what business managers need from HR. She provides pragmatic, results-focused HR support, leveraging her experience to develop and document processes and coach leadership teams to sustain progress.
Maureen holds an MBA from University of Minnesota and a BA in Economics & Business Administration from the College of Saint Benedict.