Director | Micro-lending at Valley Economic Development Center

In 2006, inspired by Muhammad Yunus’ Nobel Peace Prize for his work in microfinance, Brandon started his career to build dignity and create jobs through access to capital for under-served entrepreneurs.  After receiving his MBA from SDSU, Brandon joined the Peace Corps in Guatemala. He assisted the small business development efforts in ecotourism, focusing on providing an alternative income to subsistence farming.

After returning to the States, Brandon supported entrepreneurs at higher levels. As the Director of Micro-lending at Valley Economic Development Center he grew the portfolio to top 5 in the US and testified to Congress on the State of Micro Lending.  Afterwards, Brandon raised and managed an investment fund for micro-lenders across the US.

At the end of 2016, he responded to a passion to intersect faith and entrepreneurship and relocated to Palo Alto with a vision to re-imagine local churches as faith-based co-working spaces.

Brandon is passionate about practical theology, humanity, and bike touring.  He enjoys reading non-fiction, epics like Beyond Fear, Papillon, Endurance, etc. Currently, Brandon is gearing up for a multi-week bike tour through Cuba.

Founder | Sageworks

Brian founded Sageworks, the country’s first fintech and largest provider of software to U.S. banks. He sold the company to Accel-KKR, a leading Silicon Valley private equity firm, in 2018. He is also the founder of Inmates to Entrepreneurs, a national program that helps ex-offenders start their own small businesses.

Hamilton holds two patents for his work in automating financial analysis. He is a regular guest on CNBC and Fox and is regularly quoted in and writes for all major national media publications. He is also a contributor to Inc. and Entrepreneur magazines.

He holds an undergraduate degree from Sacred Heart University, where he serves on the Board of Trustees, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Founder and Director | Leading the Integration of Faith & Entrepreneurship

Brett R. Smith, Ph.D. is the Cintas Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship, Founding Director, Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and Founding Research Director, Leading the Integration of Faith & Entrepreneurship (L.I.F.E.) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. His research interests focus on social and faith-based entrepreneurship. His research has been featured in a number of leading academic journals including Academy of Management Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Business Venturing, Leadership Quarterly, and Long Range Planning.

Smith has won several international awards including the GCEC Award for Best Social Entrepreneurship Program. He has been awarded more than $500,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of State to host seminars on social entrepreneurship for Fulbright students from Afghanistan and North Africa and has been invited to speak around the world at the United Nations, Nelson Mandela Foundation, Tedx Youth, and a number of leading universities including Columbia, Duke, Harvard and Oxford. His work has been highlighted in Time, Business Week, Financial Times, CNN, MSNBC and 100 other media outlets.

Education

• Ph.D. University of Cincinnati, 2007

• M.B.A. Georgia State University, 1999

• B.S. Miami University, Business, 1991

LINKS

• Partnered with U2’s Bono to launch social venture Edun Live on Campus

• Climbed Mount Chimborazo with the Last Ice Man

• Graduated from Pretzel University as franchisee of Faith Driven Entrepreneur Auntie Anne’s

• Academic Webpage

CEO | The Signatry

After graduating with a degree in law from the University of Kansas and building a successful career as a lawyer, in 1999 Bill High left the law firm to embark on a new adventure—becoming CEO of The Signatry. Since then, The Signatry has sent out nearly $3 billion in grants. Bill High has also branched out in numerous business ventures to further the causes of generosity and family legacy. He founded iDonate, the country’s first giving software to handle cash and noncash gifts in a single platform; and Family Arc, an online private family archive service.

Bill High is a forward-thinking entrepreneur with over fifteen years’ experience running a nonprofit. Having lost his own father at age 12, Bill deeply understands the need for strong families and lasting legacies. Today his mission is to empower families in building legacies of generosity. He specializes in coaching families, individuals, and financial advisers regarding biblical generosity and family legacy.

Bill and his wife Brooke have been married over 30 years. As the proud parents of four children and grandparents of two grandchildren, they love building their own family legacy.

LINKS

• Learn more about Bill at www.billhigh.com.

• LinkedIn

Founder | sseko designs

Ben Bohannon is a Founder at Sseko designs where he uses fashion to create opportunity and community for women across the world and right here at home. From luxury leather travel bags to customizable footwear, Sseko creates stunning goods with an innovative business model that enables women in Uganda to attend university and pursue their dreams. Sseko products are sold by Sseko Fellows, a bright and bold community of dreamers and doers, who are using their passion and smarts to send women in Uganda to college and earn an income to pursue their own dreams.

Ben thinks we should use our talent and skills to build a better world, and he deeply believe that purpose will drive value in the future economy.

He lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife and co-founder, Liz, and their children.

LINKS

• LinkedIn

• Twitter

Innovator and Entrepreneur | Homecare Homebase

April Anthony has over 27 years of experience as an innovator and entrepreneur in the home health care field having founded and led 3 successful homecare-related ventures over the course of her career. Her commitment to the home health industry over the years has facilitated the delivery of essential healthcare services to hundreds of thousands of home bound patients and has provided a rewarding employment opportunity to thousands of healthcare professionals. April is the founder and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of both Encompass Health’s home health and hospice division and Homecare Homebase.

Encompass Health’s home health and hospice division provides essential homecare and hospice services to over 50,000 patients per day through a network of over 325 offices in 31 states. Homecare Homebase is a leading software technology platform for the home health and hospice industries. Currently over 40% of all homecare visits and 25% of all hospice days of service are processed through the HCHB platform.

April’s operating philosophy that focuses on putting employees first by creating a best place to work culture has resulted in Encompass being named a “Best Place to Work” over 28 times during the last year while also leading the home health care industry in clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. Additionally, April has leveraged her knowledge of the homecare industry to create an industry leading technology platform for the homecare and hospice industry.

In December 2013 and 2014 respectively, April led both Homecare Homebase and Encompass in transformational transactions with the sale of 85% of the HCHB equity to the Hearst Corporation and the sale of 83% of Encompass to HealthSouth Corporation. April remains CEO of both companies.

April and her husband Mark have been married for 28 years and have three children, Ashlyn – 24, Luke -22 and Allie -19. In addition, April has served for 20 years as a member of the Board of Trustees of Abilene Christian University where she and Mark both attended as undergraduates. April currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Abilene Christian University.