Get to Know Us
Bill Schwegler
President, Board Member
Bill brings has over 40 years of experience in product development, strategic partnerships and as an entrepreneur. He was the founder and CEO of Fyreplug, a social media company focused on the adventure traveler market. Bill was a founder of deCarta and first CEO. deCarta was a leading provider of geospatial software platforms for navigation and location-based applications. As CEO, Bill had full P&L responsibility, developed business strategies and directed Finance, Sales, Marketing, Engineering, Support, and Administration functions and forged multi-million dollar strategic partnerships with key brands (Yahoo!, Google, Ask and Ford). Bill led the team that raised $25M from strategic investors and was a key driver on teams successfully raising $10M from leading venture capital firms. De Carta was acquired by Uber.
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Bill was a co-founder of Arkenstone, a unique high technology, non-profit (501c3) company that developed reading machines for the Blind that over time drove the cost of a reading machine from $35,000 to under $1,000. He also created the team that developed the patented technology that made possible the first practical talking map for the Bind.
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Bill has served on the Board of Directors of the Pacifica Land Trust.
Cassie Stinson
Board Member
Lawyer, now retired, practice focused primarily on:
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Commercial real estate transactions commercial and industrial real estate development; acquisitions and dispositions; real estate finance; construction; foreclosures and work out; inner city redevelopment; easements.
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Public/private project development of: real estate and government infrastructure projects; parks and public spaces; transit oriented development.
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Business transactions for for-profit and non-profit entities, including business contracts; entity selection and formation; non-profit corporate governance.
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Public law, including transit; acquisitions and dispositions of real estate assets; advice on open meetings, open records; federal acquisition and relocation, NEPA; land use; general municipal law.
R. Barry Holtz, Ph.D
Board Member
Dr. Holtz is the principal of Holtz Biopharma Consulting. He consults for pharma and bio-pharma companies in biologic therapeutics development, bioprocess design and facilities design and engineering. Dr. Holtz was the co-founder and Chief Science and Technology Officer for G-CON Manufacturing, manufacturers of autonomous bioprocess facilities and Caliber Biotherapeutics and manufacturer of protein therapeutics using plants as bioreactors. Dr. Holtz recently served as President of iBio CDMO (Caliber was sold to iBio in 2016).
Dr. Holtz was also a co-founder and CEO of InterveXion Therapeutics from 2004-2015. InterveXion develops antibodies to combat drug abuse and its lead candidate for methamphetamine abuse is in late stage clinical trials.
Prior to the founding G-CON, LLC, Dr. Holtz was the Senior Vice President of Biopharmaceutical Development for Large Scale Biology Corporation for 15 years and was an integral member of the management team that took the company from a start-up to a successful public company. Dr. Holtz was responsible for the product development, manufacturing, and clinical trials of new protein therapeutics.
Dr. Holtz was the founder and President of Holtz Bio-Engineering in 1981. Holtz Bio- Engineering was a biotech pioneer in the design of bioreactors and digital control systems. Dr. Holtz has held research management positions at Foremost-Mckesson and was on the faculty of Ohio State University. He received his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University and was an NSF Postdoctoral Biochemist Fellow at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Dr. Holtz has been awarded 24 US patents and has published over 65 scientific papers. Dr. Holtz was awarded the Pennsylvania State University, Outstanding Alumni Award in 2003.
David Wood
Board Member
Accomplished leader with deep expertise in startups, leadership, strategy, payments, mobile services, IT sales and business. Excellent deal maker with strong presentation and negotiation skills. Adept at identifying critical drivers, structuring strategies and building teams to open new market opportunities.
In Memory of Ann Cowan
Ann is the inspiration for the founding of Cultivar Foundation. Ann loved loved the outdoors and was a avid camper, bicycle rider and hiker.
Ann was a brilliant software engineer, software engineering manager and leader, breaking through many glass barriers to hold senior and Vice President of software engineering management positions. Ann was creative and adventurous and an accomplished flautist and pianist and she always loved big hats.