Startup Strategies: Essential Resources for Your Small Business

Moderator
Director, Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute
Executive Officer for Entrepreneurship
Georgia State University

Jennifer Sherer is the Director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute at Georgia State University. The Institute, through its degree, co-curricular and research programs, is focused on expanding an innovative and entrepreneurial culture inclusive of all students, faculty and staff at Georgia State and engaging alumni and the external community to advance innovative ideas, create new enterprises and transform existing businesses and organizations.  

She also serves as Georgia State’s Executive Officer for Entrepreneurship, where she represents the university on entrepreneurship-related matters in the greater community, oversees strategy development, and coordinates programs and activities representing the University’s spirit of creativity and enterprise across multiple dimensions and disciplines. 

Jennifer’s entire professional career has been dedicated to driving innovation and supporting entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Georgia State, Jennifer was the Vice President of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. There she led the launch of numerous initiatives to promote collaboration in the innovation community, support high growth entrepreneurs and elevate Atlanta’s status as a globally recognized innovation hub.   

Earlier in her career, Jennifer served as the Executive Director of Southeast Life Sciences (formerly Southeast BIO), a regional non-profit organization that fosters life sciences innovation and investments in the Southeast U.S. The organization works directly with life sciences companies to prepare them for venture capital investment. Following graduate school, Jennifer joined the Office of Technology Transfer at Emory University as a licensing associate. She was responsible for assessing intellectual assets for advancement, developing marketing strategies, and generating commercialization plans for technologies generated by university researchers. She also aided faculty members in developing strategic partnerships with industry and creating startup companies.  

Jennifer chairs the Emory University Center for Ethics Advisory Board and is a graduate of Leadership Gwinnett. She earned a Ph.D. in Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics at the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Biochemistry at Lehigh University. She was also a collegiate athlete as a member of the Lehigh University Women’s Basketball team. 

Jennifer lives in Suwanee, Georgia with her husband, Todd, and has three stepdaughters and twin boys.  

President and Chief Funding Matchmaker, Praxis Strategic Solutions

Anita Davis is the President, Lead Strategist, and Chief Funding Matchmaker at Praxis Strategic Solutions. For more than twenty years, she has successfully helped clients acquire millions of dollars in capital that becomes the catalyst and fuel for small business sustainability, growth, and scalability.  

Ms. Davis founded Praxis Strategic Solutions in 2016. Her 20-year tenure as a Vice President and loan officer with SunTrust and BB&T Banks (Now Truist Bank), and Chase Bank equipped her with broad and deep commercial lending analysis expertise.

The Praxis firm specializes in helping small business owners navigate the lending process, which drives clients to the loan closing table. She has also curated a consortium of tenured subject matter experts that provide cohort training solutions for government programs, non-profit advocacy organizations, and corporate procurement teams.

Ms. Davis maintains the following credentials; Cornell University Women’s Business Entrepreneurship Certificate, Goldman Sachs 10KSB Alumni, Greater Women’s Business Council (GWBC) Board of Directors, Gwinnett Chamber Foundation Board of Directors, Women’s Business Enterprise Certification (WBE), Women Owned Small Business Certification (WOSB), and the Minority Business Enterprise Certification (MBE).  

Chief Growth Officer, Corps Team

Jane McCracken is the Chief Growth Officer at Corps Team, a women-owned nationwide, professional, search and staffing firm that works with startups to the Fortune 500.

Most recently, Jane served as the Assistant Director and an Entrepreneur in Residence of the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the state of Georgia’s technology business incubator that helps entrepreneurs launch and scale technology companies.

Jane has had an extensive career as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist. She founded and served in the C-suite of a number of technology companies including those in healthcare, software and e-commerce.  She raised more than $100 million in funding for those companies and achieved a successful exit in each.

Prior to her career as an entrepreneur, Jane managed two venture capital organizations in the U.K. as well as established a 50-person business angel network, all of which focused on investments in early-stage technology companies.

Jane serves on boards for public and private companies, as well as non-profit organizations. She is an active volunteer in her community.  She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Wake Forest University and her master’s degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Business Development, Tandem Bank

Wendy is responsible for new business development and supporting customer relationships for the bank, as well as providing marketing advisement.  She is committed to providing the highest level of personal service to Tandem’s clients and her community.  Her primary focus is on deposit & treasury management— providing thoughtful expertise and resources to help others grow & thrive. 

She is an active member of the Peachtree Corners/Gwinnett community, currently serving on the Board of Directors for Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries, the Executive Board of the Southwest Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce, the Leadership Team of The Rotary Club of Sugarloaf, and a is a member of the Northside Hospital Women’s Leadership Council.

Prior to joining Tandem Bank, Wendy held the positions of Director of Missions & Connections at Simpsonwood United Methodist Church, Community Outreach Associate at Perimeter Church, and Communications Manager for The Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.

Wendy volunteers as a student mentor in Gwinnett County Public Schools, has served as a partner in childhood hunger relief for Action Ministries, Neighborhood Cooperative Ministries and Rise Against Hunger, and is active in the University of Tennessee Alumni Association and UT Women in Philanthropy.