FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Kimberly Palter
Date: March 4, 2020
Phone: 313-483-1326
Email: kimberlypalter@wayne.edu

TechTown Detroit names eight new board members

TechTown Detroit has elected eight new members to its Board of Directors. TechTown’s board is comprised of 33 entrepreneurship, business and community leaders who oversee the city’s most established business incubator and accelerator.

The new members join at a time of unprecedented growth for the organization. In the past year, TechTown has launched Start Studio and Incubator for tech entrepreneurs, the technology innovation consortium Detroit Urban Solutions and the Motown Musician Accelerator in partnership with Motown Records, Capitol Records and others.

“We are pleased to welcome these eight talented leaders to the TechTown Board,” said M. Roy Wilson, Wayne State University president and chair of the TechTown Board. “Their depth and breadth of experience is ideally suited to the organization at this exciting time in our evolution. I look forward to working with them to further our mission helping tech and neighborhood businesses develop, launch and grow.”

All the new board members were elected to three-year terms. Christopher Rizik, CEO of Renaissance Venture Capital, was named to another one-year term as chair of TechTown’s Executive Committee.

JASON AESCHLIMAN
Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Jason Aeschliman has more than 16 years of experience providing assurance and advisory services in PwC’s Private Company Services practice. He has served a broad array of clients, including entrepreneurial and family-owned businesses, private equity portfolio companies and U.S.-based multinational companies. Aeschliman also has extensive experience collaborating within the PwC global network and leading engagements of foreign investments into the U.S. from a number of different territories, including Germany, U.K., Switzerland, France, Italy and Japan. Throughout his career, Aeschliman has served clients in a variety of industries, including automotive, manufacturing and distribution, engineering and construction, and retail and consumer products industries.

In addition to his client service, Aeschliman has also served two years in PwC’s national office as a technical matter expert focusing on a variety of complex technical areas, including International Financial Reporting Standards, revenue recognition and income tax accounting.

PATRICIA (PATTI) GLAZA
Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Invest Detroit
Patti Glaza joined Invest Detroit in 2014 with over 20 years of experience in the tech sector. Her primary responsibilities include sourcing and facilitating the development of early-stage and high-growth companies by providing guidance and investment capital. She engages in outreach activities supported by a diverse network of experienced entrepreneurs to support inclusion efforts to help ensure women and minority entrepreneurs are proactively mentored to build their high-potential tech startups.

Most recently, Glaza managed the Michigan office for Arsenal Venture Partners, a national venture capital firm focused on IT, energy and industrial technologies. She started her career at Accenture, where she managed several national teams of consultants for FSOO companies. She transitioned to venture and startups and then held executive startup positions in healthcare IT, nanotechnology, and energy and environmental tech.

Glaza is an advisor/board member for numerous organizations, including the Michigan Venture Capital Association, the Great Lakes Protection Fund, University of Michigan’s M-TRAC – Advanced Transportation Oversight Committee and GreenLight Detroit. She holds director positions for portfolio startups Genomenon, MicroLam and Ripple Sciences. She is an active entrepreneurial instructor for the NSF/NIH I-Corps and lnforum’s Master Class for women-led startups.
Glaza holds a bachelors of art in international relations/economics from Michigan State University and an MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

LISA M. HARDY
Vice President, Business Performance & Execution, Blue Care Network
Lisa Hardy is vice president of business performance and execution for Blue Care Network. She is charged with driving the HMO segment value through operations excellence, program and project execution, business configuration and performance management.

Hardy has held various leadership positions at the Blues. Most recently she served as vice president, health care value performance and execution, for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. In this position, she was responsible for leading strategic alignment and execution efforts to drive customer-focused delivery of services within the health care value division. Prior to that role, Hardy served as vice president, corporate performance and administration where she was responsible for driving strategy and optimizing performance outcomes for Blue Care Network. Before joining the Blues in 2000, Hardy held a number of leadership positions within the delivery side of health care.

Hardy has extensive leadership experience and is designated by America’s Health Insurance Plans as a certified health insurance executive. In 2011, she was recognized in Who’s Who in Black Detroit. Since 2018, Hardy has served on the board of directors for the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan. She has also served for three terms on the BluesPAC board, BCBSM employees’ political action committee, as an elected board member.

Hardy holds a master’s in health services administration and a bachelor of science from the University of Michigan.

SONAL RAMRAKHIANI
COO – Americas, Tata Technologies
As COO-Americas for Tata Technologies, Sonal Ramrakhiani is responsible for the territory’s P&L and leads all sales, marketing, IT, HR and administrative personnel. She brings more than 17 years of business and management experience to her role.

Prior to Tata Technologies, she held a number of key leadership roles for IT outsourcing major Tata Consultancy Services. At TCS, she managed high-end accounts across various verticals including manufacturing, energy and banking. Ramrakhiani has also worked for Tata Teleservices and watch and jewelry maker Titan Industries. Ramrakhiani is part of TAS (formerly Tata Administrative Services), the Tata group’s flagship leadership program. She is also a senior Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) assessor and has led a number of assessments of Tata companies. Adapted from the renowned Malcolm Baldrige model, TBEM encourages continuous improvements through a formal benchmarking and assessment system of key business aspects from strategy and leadership to safety and climate change.

Ramrakhiani holds a bachelor of science in biochemistry and a post-graduate diploma in management. Her areas of expertise include customer experience management, both in the B2B and B2C context.

JONATHAN RUMLEY
Managing Director, Accenture
Jon Rumley is a managing director in Accenture’s Michigan practice, based in Detroit. As part of Accenture’s Resources Industry Group, Rumley is responsible for Accenture’s utilities business in Michigan. In this role, Rumley is focused on leading teams to create and deliver innovative and transformative solutions for clients. During his 24 years at Accenture, Rumley held a variety of leadership roles with chemicals and utilities clients, partnering with them to identify, prioritize and deliver on their strategic programs. Rumley has experience leading global teams to deliver outcomes around digital customer experiences, ERP implementations and managed services, IT operating models, and delivery center transformations.

Rumley has a bachelor of arts in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and enjoys helping today’s students develop technology and digital skills for the future.

CAMILO SERNA
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, DTE Energy
Camilo Serna is vice president of regulatory affairs for DTE Energy. In his role, Serna is responsible for developing and managing DTE Gas and DTE Electric’s regulatory initiatives before the Michigan Public Service Commission. In addition, he plays a key role in developing DTE’s long-term state and federal regulatory policy and strategy as well as maintaining the company’s relationship with the MPSC. Prior to this role, Serna was DTE’s vice president of corporate strategy, where he developed strategic initiatives including the execution of DTE’s annual strategic planning process.
Prior to joining DTE in August 2016, Serna was vice president for strategic planning and policy for Eversource Energy, New England’s largest utility company, where he was responsible for the identification of growth opportunities, development of strategic plans and framing of key energy policy positions.

Prior to his time at Eversource, Serna was a leader in Oliver Wyman’s Energy & Utilities management consulting practice, assisting utility and energy companies in Europe, Latin America and North America with a wide array of strategic and operational challenges.

Serna holds an industrial engineering degree from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

TARYN SIMON
Director, Henry Ford Health System Innovations
Taryn Simon is the director of Henry Ford Health System Innovations. She is primarily responsible for managing operations for the Innovations business unit, including technology transfer activities, intellectual property management oversight, compliance and commercial opportunity evaluation for innovations developed by HFHS. Simon oversees the integrity of the HFHS technology management program and corporate innovation projects resulting from collaborations between HFHS and selected partner enterprises. She regularly works to develop medtech-related co-development opportunities with early stage companies in the sector, working with internal teams to provide product validation and potential market entry into the region.

Prior to serving with HFHS, Simon held various positions in the automotive sector at General Motors and Robert Bosch Corporation, as well as financial and operations management roles in the advertising industry at Campbell-Ewald. In these positions, she provided financial oversight for corporate capital investment and new product manufacturing initiatives with combined budgets in excess of $100 million.

Simon received a bachelor of science in business finance from Michigan State University and an MBA from Walsh College. She is an active member of the Association of University Technology Managers.

JASON E. TINSLEY
Michigan Market Manager, J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Jason Tinsley is the Michigan market manager for J.P. Morgan Private Bank. He manages more than 40 professionals who oversee more than $7 billion of client assets. Previously, he served on the Michigan team as a senior banker, working to provide wealth management solutions to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. He focused on solutions in investment management, financial and estate planning, private banking, and specialty asset management.
Prior to joining the private bank, Tinsley served as a district manager overseeing the sales and operations for Chase branches across Southeast Michigan. He also served as an institutional client advisor for J.P. Morgan in the Foundations and Endowments Group and has experience in the brokerage business.

Tinsley has served on the boards of several community organizations. He is currently vice chair for the JPMC Michigan Market Leadership Team. He is also a board member of Beaumont Healthcare Foundation, Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation, Detroit Children’s Fund and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School and Academy, and a member of the Beaumont Health Finance Committee. He has a bachelor of science from Central Michigan University.