About Golden Capital Network
Staff
Jon
Gregory co-founded the Golden Capital Network in September 1999 and has
served as President and CEO of the organization since its inception. In
this capacity, Jon is responsible for management and program
development. Companies featured at Golden Capital Network events have
gone on to raise over $1 billion in angel or venture capital
investments. Jon is a member of Angel Capital Association and is a
referral source for growth companies to various angel groups and
venture capital firms throughout the western U.S.
Jon
is a co-founder of the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance and a
board member of the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Alliance. The alliance
is dedicated to creating a positive operating climate for early-stage
technology companies in the 8-county Greater Sacramento Region.
Jon
has a Journalism Degree with a Political Science minor from California
State University, Chico. His work has been recognized on numerous
occasions by leading statewide and national industry trade
associations, including the National Association of Development
Organizations Innovation Awards in 1986, 1988 and 1995, the California
Association for Local Economic Development Grand Prize award in 1999,
and Awards of Excellence in 1996 for work related to the location of
Swift Transportation Company’s west coast relay station and in 2002 for
Golden Capital Network’s new Economic Acceleration Program.
Jon
currently serves on the Board of Directors of several entrepreneur,
technology or economic development-focused organizations, including the
California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED), the
Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, and the Sacramento Regional
Technology Alliance.
Prior to co-founding the
Golden Capital Network, Gregory spent fifteen years in various local
and regional economic development organizations, ultimately serving as
Deputy Director of the Tri-County Economic Development Corporation. Jon
also concurrently served as the Director of the Leadership Chico
Program. Jon started his career within the Inspector General’s Office
of the 32nd Army Air Defense Command in Germany.
Jim Mikles
Vice President & Venture Communities Director
Jim Mikles is co-founder of Golden Capital Network and
director of Venture Communities. Since 1999, Jim has worked with entrepreneurs,
investors, CEOs, economic developers and policy makers in emerging markets
across the U.S.
to foster innovation and sustainable growth companies for economic prosperity. Jim
helps companies raise angel and venture capital, helps qualified investors find early stage companies for investing, and helps economic developers
institute policies, programs and networks to foster entrepreneurship and
investing.
Prior to co-founding GCN, a northern California non-profit corporation, Jim
worked for 10 years as a professional print journalist covering business, technology
and government. Jim continues to write for a number of publications and his
articles still appear in various popular and trade publications. Jim has a BA in journalism and a minor in English literature
from California State University, Chico, with post-graduate studies in
accounting and finance.
The Golden Capital Venture Communities program includes
technology tools, best practices, an online community and a national network
that enables economic development and business services professionals to
support innovative companies competing in the national and global marketplace.
Dan
Nguyen-Tan co-founded Golden Capital Network. At Golden Capital
Network, Dan focused on entrepreneur and investor relations. He was
responsible for establishing and expanding Golden Capital Network's
network of angel and venture capital investors. Dan previously served
on the Loan Administration Board for Tri-County Economic Development
Corporation. He also formerly served as acting VP of Finance and
Administration for Teach For America, the national corps of outstanding
recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and
rural public schools. Dan also taught public finance from 1999-2003 at
Chico State as a faculty instructor. He has a master's degree in public
policy with an emphasis on financial analysis from Harvard.
Karen McHenry
Business Operations Manager
Karen
has been a member of the Golden Capital Network team since its
inception and is responsible for the day to day operations of Golden
Capital Network, including event planning and coordination, financials
and grant management. Karen studied English at Dominican College of San
Rafael and at San Jose State University. Karen
previously worked in law, estate and financial planning, higher
education, real estate and media. She served on the Board of Directors
for the Stansbury Home, a local historical landmark, and volunteered as
a docent there for seven years. She currently serves as a founding
member of the Chico Air Museum.
Tara Manners
Business Development & Sales Director
Tara Manners brings eleven years of entrepreneurial experience as the owner and sole proprietor of a
successful business. Tara formerly worked at Prosper Media Group,
LLC where she was a senior member of the sales team and the account manager for
the WiFi partnership with Sacramento International Airport. Her current
expertise is in online platforms and new media. Tara helps to facilitate and build strategic partnerships for GCN and is
responsible for building and maintaining corporate sponsorships. She is a graduate of UC Davis and the founder of ARC, a non-profit
organization that helps children raise money for cancer research organizations. Tara was professional ballet dancer for over ten years.
Alan Chamberlain
Golden Capital Venture Events Director
Joining the Golden Capital Network in 2001, Alan produces the company's signature venture capital conference series. In addition to strategic planning and execution of the award-winning event program, he has responsibility for coordinating executive coaching, investor panelists, and the technical production team. Prior to joining GCN, Alan worked in the networking industry in Silicon Valley, holding senior positions with Nortel Networks, Bay Networks, and SynOptics Communications. He serves on the board of the Downtown Chico Business Association.
