About
Advisory Board
Dirk Libaers
Director, Nault Center for Entrepreneurship
Allen Clary
Allen Clary serves as the executive director at the Nault Center for Entrepreneurship.
He also teaches entrepreneurship at Muma College of Business, and is the chair for
TIGER 21 Tampa Bay, an international network of outsized successful entrepreneurs
and investors. He is a co-founder of nonprofit startup accelerator Tampa Bay Wave
where he served as a founding board member, entrepreneur in residence, and director
of investor relations. He frequently speaks on entrepreneurship, investment, and advises
several early stage companies. From 2009 to 2015, he served as president and chief
operating officer for Infusion Brands. Clary earned his bachelor's degree in Engineering
from the University of Florida and his MBA from the 哔咔漫画.
Andy Hafer
Andy Hafer is currently serving as the chair of the advisory board for the Nault Center
for Entrepreneurship where he is an adjunct professor. He has a career in technology
starting in corporate IT but has been a serial entrepreneur since the early 2000s.
With several successful exits behind him, he is passing his startup business experience
to students. Hafer also founded and currently serves as executive chairman on the
Board of Directors of DCE Productions, a full-service virtual and in-place event services
company. He is co-founder of Synapse, a nonprofit organization that guides Florida鈥檚
innovation communities to help accelerate success and drive economic growth. He helped
establish the Inclusion Lives Here program 鈥� the organization鈥檚 commitment to diversity
and inclusion. He founded several other organizations and had stops in his career
at companies including Pride Enterprises, Tribridge, Yara, Accenture, Proctor & Gamble,
and IBM.
Suhas Apte
Apte Consultants LLC
Alison Barlow
Alison Barlow is the executive director of the St. Petersburg Innovation District.
The district is a public-private partnership focused on increasing economic vibrancy
and innovative problem solving in the Tampa Bay region. Barlow manages the district鈥檚
portfolio of collaborative projects including the Maritime and Defense Technology
Hub, a coworking facility for the maritime technology and national security sectors.
She is originally from St. Petersburg. She earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Hospitality
Administration from Florida State University, and an MBA from American University
in Washington D.C. Prior to joining the Innovation District, she was a technology
consultant based in Washington D.C. working with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Saxon Baum
FL Funders Partner
Richard Berman
Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives for Innovation and Research, USF
Christian HG Brown
Founder and Investor
Steve Budd
USF Nault Center for Entrepreneurship, Associate Instructor
Jonathan Canger
Jonathan Canger is managing partner at Zennia Research. He held prior HR executive
roles at Verizon, Motorola, Monster Worldwide and Marriott International. He is an
adjunct professor, advisory board member and chair of the academics and training committee
at the USF Nault Center for Entrepreneurship. Canger also serves on the advisory board
for the University of Tampa鈥檚 TECO Leadership Center in the Sykes College of Business.
He earned his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University, and master's and PhD degrees
from USF.
Sarah Combs
Sarah Combs is the chief executive officer of the University Area Community Development
Corporation, Inc. She joined the organization in 2010 and under her leadership, University
Area CDC secured over $100 million in community investment and tripled the number
of adults and children reached through education, health, workforce and cultural arts
programming. With over 18 years of nonprofit sector experience, her background spans
every facet of the organization, from program development to land banking and real
estate. Her main focus is the holistic redevelopment of the Uptown/University Area.
She believes that while there is great need, there is even greater opportunity. She
created a neighborhood transformation strategy to stabilize the community and prevent
gentrification. She seeks to grow the area by enabling residents to be change agents
to improve the economic and social conditions of their community.
Craig Cuffe
Thrive Managing Member
Steve Diasio
Steve Diasio is an associate professor of instruction in the entrepreneurship and
innovation program at the Muma College of Business. Diasio has a PhD in Management
Science from ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. He has worked in the field
of innovation for 20 years as a practitioner and researcher. He is a leading scholar
on innovation jams and his contributions include extending the open innovation paradigm
through his investigation with IBM. His work has been published in top academic journals.
His latest book is titled, 鈥淓valuating Your Creativity: Building Your 21st Century
Skills Through Assessment and Evaluation.鈥� Prior to higher education, Diasio worked
at the Chicago Board of Trade, Ted Baker 鈥� London, and Aon Corporation in research
& development building front and back-end AI systems. In 2022, he was included on
the Poets&Quants Best 50 Undergraduate Business Professors list. One of his most transformative life experiences was walking the El Camino de Santiago
鈥� a 35-day, 500-mile trek across northern Spain.
Dustin Eldridge
Dustin Eldridge is a wealth coach and national expert on building wealth in all areas
of life for NFL players. With over a decade of experience working with some of the
wealthiest families in America and being a Certified Financial Planner and Certified
Private Wealth Advisor professional, he is sought after by NFL players hungry to learn
how to join an elite group of wealth 鈥� the generationally wealthy. Through TEAM Private
Wealth Management, Eldridge teaches NFL and college football players how to leverage
their football careers to achieve their vision of financial freedom.
James Faison
James Faison is the founder of The Mainframe, a Tampa Bay-based nonprofit organization
that focuses on the infrastructural development of Black innovation ecosystems. A
Tampa native and lifelong lover of innovation, Faison started The Mainframe because
his friends and family were leaving the region to pursue careers and opportunities.
His mission is to lead a thriving region that not only retains but also attracts top
talent. Faison spent 15 years in health insurance. As a former startup founder, he
is using his experiences and insights as a convener, connecter and coordinator. Faison
was noted as an influencer by the St. Pete Catalyst and as a featured founder by Embarc Collective. He serves on the Synapse Florida
Board of Directors and AdventHealth Tampa Foundation Board.
Mac Gardner
Mac Gardner serves as founder and chief education officer of FinLit Tech. The company's
mission is to build a bridge between financial literacy and financial technology.
He also serves on the advisory board of the personal financial planning degree program
at USF. Gardner is also the founder and executive director of MNY Fraternity, Inc.
Gary A. Giamartino
Gary A. Giamartino established Giamartino Consulting in December 2016 following over
30 years of leadership experience in higher education, consulting, and work with nonprofit
boards. Specializing in firms going through transitions, he has coached leaders to
help enhance their skills and to diagnose and shape organizational culture. His global
experience includes significant assignments in Brazil, France, the United Arab Emirates,
and the United Kingdom. He served on several boards and is currently a member of the
International Advisory Board of Insper (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Giamartino earned a PhD
in social and organizational psychology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennesee.
His undergraduate degree is from the State University of New York at Fredonia, and
his master鈥檚 degree is from Western Kentucky University.
Gilbert Gonzalez
MCS of Tampa, Inc. CEO & Founder
Dana Gordon
Dana Gordon is the president of Pirate Marketing. In 2019, she founded Pirate Marketing
to provide a full suite of both traditional and digital strategic marketing services.
Her goal is to help clients increase revenue by building their brand, growing their
customer base, and nurturing customer retention. Her favorite part of marketing is
helping clients maximize their marketing ROI and chart their course to success.
Kenneth Hamner
The Entrepreneur Law Center, P.L. Managing Member
Gary Hensley
Gary Hensley is currently the CEO of Livingtree. Livingtree acquired Edbacker in 2018,
a company Hensley founded in 2014 to address America鈥檚 educational funding gap. A
serial entrepreneur, Hensley sold his previous company, Intagrade to Pearson in 2009,
where he also served as the director of Product Management and Strategic Partnerships
until 2013. Prior to his work in the technology space, Hensley was a teacher and assistant
principal for the Newport Mesa Unified School District in southern California. Hensley
was named DC鈥檚 Top Entrepreneur 40 under 40, and was on the cover of Washington Life Magazine鈥檚 Top 25 Tech Companies Making A Difference issue. A husband and dad of three, Hensley
grew up within a military family and resides in Tampa, Florida.
Jeff Kincaid
Advanced Systems Resources, Global Passive Investments President & CEO
Patrick Maslanka
Patrick Maslanka is an advisory board member at iNur Technologies and the USF Nault
Center for Entrepreneurship where he co-chairs the venture capital committee as well
as serves on the technology commercialization and mentor committees. Maslanka spent
his career in the consumer packaged goods industry working for large multi-national
companies serving in sales managerial and marketing roles. His experience of working
with cross functional teams earned him awards for outstanding marketing, sales and
managerial leadership. His areas of expertise are strategic concept development and
execution, analytics, insights and planning, new market penetration and growth strategies.
He and his wife, Joanna, have been active members in the Tampa Bay community for over
20 years and support charitable organizations including the Humane Society of Tampa
Bay, Feeding Tampa Bay, Metropolitan Ministries and the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.
Steven Oscher
Steven S. Oscher is a member of Oscher Consulting, PLLC., a firm providing support
services and financial analysis to the legal community. Prior to forming Oscher Consulting,
he served as an audit and quality review partner at an international accounting firm
and was the director of litigation services. Oscher earned a DBA from the University
of South Florida, is a CPA, accredited by the AICPA in Business Valuations and Financial
Forensics and as a Certified Fraud Examiner by the Association of Certified Fraud
Examiners. He taught numerous professional education courses in the areas of accounting,
auditing, and litigation services. He served as an adjunct instructor at USF. The
Florida Institute of CPA鈥檚 recognized Oscher as its Outstanding Discussion Leader.
Timothy Papp
Timothy Papp & Associates, LLC Owner
Ken Pomella
Ken Pomella is a CEO and entrepreneur, with over 20 years of experience in the technology
industry. He is the founder and CEO of RevStar, a leading technology consulting firm
in Tampa. Born and raised in the United States, Pomella is passionate about technology
and its potential to change the world. He earned a degree in Computer Science and
worked at several high-tech companies before founding his own firm. His career started
at several companies, including McKesson, where he held technical and managerial roles
in software development and product management. He also worked at start-ups, including
HealthAxis. In 2008, he founded RevStar, a company that specializes in helping businesses
leverage technology to drive growth and profitability.
Jennifer Sineway
Jennifer Sineway is an owner and co-founder of Allied Analytic, an analytic device
company that sells and services laboratory blood analyzers to universities and private
sector cancer research, veterinary, and wildlife organizations across the world. Sineway
earned her Master of Science in Entrepreneurship in Applied Technology in 2011. She
is passionate about entrepreneurship and is a guest lecturer in USF graduate and
undergraduate classes teaching "bootstrapping" techniques in entrepreneurship and
international business strategies. A Florida native and a USCG 100-Ton Master Captain,
Sineway is often fishing the Gulf of Mexico or traveling to fishing tournaments.
Shane Smith
Shane Smith is an entrepreneur and university professor. He has dedicated his career
helping others start and grow their business and has been a part of new and novel
programs supporting both student and existing business owners. Smith is a director
for the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at Florida State University.
He earned a PhD from the University of South Carolina and an MBA from USF in 2001.
Nawal Taneja
Nawal Taneja, whose experience in the aviation industry spans five decades, has worked
for and advised major airlines and related aviation businesses worldwide. He served
as a faculty member at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Ohio State
University. He is a partner in Seedfunders, an early-stage investment firm based in
St. Petersburg, Florida. He has served on the advisory boards of both public and private
organizations. He has helped venture groups select startups for investments and mentored
startup founders. He wrote a series of 15 airline management books.