Advisory Board
Everyone can use some good advice, so we've put together a team of all-stars for our advisory board to keep our business humming along. Their mission: to provide strategic direction, review and advise on business operations, and assist with key business initiatives to support Worktank's mission, goals, and objectives.
-
KEVIN BARBER
Kevin Barber has 15 years of experience as an operator, investor, and banker in emerging and growth stage companies. He is currently Vice President in Comerica Bank's Technology and Life Sciences practice where he partners with private equity and venture capital sponsors in structuring debt facilities for growth capital and acquisitions for technology companies.
Previously, he spent eight years as General Partner and Principal at Northwest Venture Associates (NWVA) where he focused on sourcing, analyzing, and structuring private equity transactions, as well as playing a meaningful role in helping portfolio companies with recruiting, financial planning, business development, and strategy. Before that, he was a principal at Poseidon Ventures, a Seattle-based early stage venture capital fund where he sourced and structured numerous early stage investments including HouseValues (NASDAQ:SOLD). Kevin also spent three years at Visio, a business diagramming and technical drawing software company, where he held various senior financial and strategic planning positions.
Earlier in his career, he worked on Capitol Hill as a legislative aid to U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski. He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Washington. Kevin regularly serves on the board of the Washington Software Alliance's annual investment forum, the UW's Business Plan Competition, and is a former board member of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Business Alliance.
-
BILL BAXTER
Bill Baxter is the CTO & VP of Engineering of Cozi Group Inc. Cozi is the new way busy families stay organized, manage schedules, and coordinate with each other. Prior to that, Bill was the CEO and co-founder of Snaptune Inc., a company focused on making discovery of new music easy and enjoyable. Snaptune's first offering, Snaptune One, delivers Tivo-for-the-radio capabilities, including the ability to automatically show users what songs were played and when.
Prior to Snaptune, Bill co-founded BSQUARE corporation (NASDAQ:BSQR) in July 1994, a company specializing in, among other things, the development of new wireless and mobile devices. Bill has been on the board of the WTIA (Washington Technology Industry Association) since 1999 and served as the Chairman of the WTIA in 2000, 2001, 2007, and 2008. He is currently serving as the WTIA's Vice Chairman until January 2011.
In addition to the WTIA, Bill has extended his leadership role to the community through guidance positions at other organizations and institutions including the University of Wyoming and the University of Washington. Bill is a recipient of the prestigious Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.
-
PERRIN KAPLAN
As former Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Affairs for Nintendo of America Inc., Perrin oversaw many aspects of internationally recognized marketing and public relations programs. She oversaw all public relations, public and government affairs, investor relations, and internal communications and community relations for the global company.
She is a well-known spokesperson and brings great personality to her interviews. Before joining Nintendo, Perrin served as Vice President for The Rockey Company, a nationally recognized Seattle-based public relations and public affairs firm. Prior to that, Perrin was in journalism with KING Broadcasting, Seattle's NBC affiliate, and managed political communications for the state capitol and several White House campaigns.
Perrin craves the constant change of new media and creating "firsts" on how to meld it with traditional marketing. She is deeply involved in numerous non-profit and advocacy activities, including animal rescue and cancer education. She is a jokester, loves to cook, and only exercises because she has to.
-
KATHY WILCOX
Kathy Wilcox is the President and founder of Kathleen P. Wilcox Associates, LLC, a strategic relationships and business development firm, and is Of Counsel with Davis Wright Tremaine, LLC. She retired in 2007 from leadership of WSA (Washington Software Alliance, now Washington Technology Industry Association), where she was the President and Chief Executive Officer since 1994. Before assuming leadership of the WSA and building it into the largest organization of its kind in the country, Ms. Wilcox was an attorney for Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, and held executive positions with Rainier Bancorporation and Security Pacific Bank, where she managed the institutional corporate secretary office and served as corporate secretary to Rainier's 37 domestic and international subsidiaries.
Both the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Eastside Journal named Ms. Wilcox as one of "Seattle's Most Influential Business People," and Seattle Magazine named her one of Puget Sound's "Cyberstars." Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire recognized Ms. Wilcox in 2007 with the Governor's Recognition Award for her "exceptional leadership to advance the needs and interests of Washington's technology industry and whose personal contributions have served Washington State with honor and distinction."
Ms. Wilcox received her Doctor of Law, Cum Laude, from the University of Puget Sound where she served on the Law Review. She was Law Extern to the Honorable Samuel J. Steiner, U.S. District Court, Bankruptcy Court, in Seattle. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a Management Certificate from the University of Washington's Executive Business Program.