Startup and creative business owners and supporters or investors are invited to an evening of business stories, insights, networking, and fun. Be inspired by a panel of five entrepreneurs at various stages of success as they discuss their evolution and the role generosity has played and continues to play in their development.

The “winner take all” mentality in business and entrepreneurship pales in comparison to a much more expansive, impactful and fun approach to sharing the economy and meeting needs. This perspective of generosity in business is not new, but it is becoming more defined and can be seen in the kinds of problems businesses are solving, how they are solving them, what the business goals are, how success is measured, where resources and investments come from, how growth happens, and how businesses give back to the community.

PROGRAM

• 5:30 Networking & speed coaching (business and finance, law, investment, and development)
• 6:30pm Panel discussion
• 8:30pm Post event open mic and food at Hugh O’Neills

Moderator

• Rowan Walrath, Editor of "the Beat"

Panelists

• Nicholas Mathews of Mainvest
• Marcel Schwab of The Gallery@57
• Heather Yunger of Top Shelf Cookies
• Mirna Diaz, Esq of Diaz Law
• Tiago Prado of Best Rate Zone (BRZ)

Coaches

• The following individuals will be offering speed coaching 5:30-6:30pm.Daniel R. Martiniello, Lender Relations Specialist, Massachusetts District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration
• Mo Saeed, Entrepreneur and Business Leader, AI Financial, LLC.

Sponsors

This event is made possible by generous contributions of fiscal support, space, drink, expertise, time, media coverage/sound, and food.

• Peoples United Bank
• J Malden Center
• Sam Adams
• MATV, Malden’s Media Center
• Accion East
• Asili Consulting
• Hugh O'Neills
• Small Business Association
• AI financial
• Boda Borg

BIOS

Nicholas Mathews

Coming off of nearly seven years of experience at Uber, Nicholas is an expert in GoToMarket Strategy and business operations for marketplaces. He played various roles at Uber: launching Uber’s marketing presence in New England, scaling its marketing team, going to market with every Uber core product—from UberBLACK to UberPOOL—and more. After experiencing the power of boosting economic development through transportation, Nick was inspired to make an even greater impact. Upon the passage of RegCF in 2016, Nick saw an opportunity to empower entrepreneurs and everyday investors at a local level. With over $2MM invested in dozens of small businesses within just a year of operations, Mainvest is ready to expand its reach and take back Main Streets across the country.

Marcel Schwab

Marcel Schwab is a Workforce Analyst at Fidelity Investments. Weekends and evenings, however, Marcel serves as Finance and Business Development Director for The Gallery@57, a new gift shop selling hand crafted products provided by local artists, artisans, and cultural entrepreneurs. Along with the artist-led team, Marcel envisions a business that offers more than products for purchase. This community enterprise fosters community and an appreciation for the art of thoughtful and generous commerce.

Heather Yunger

Before Top Shelf Cookies was a bakery, it was a superstition. A Boston hockey girl through and through, Heather first came up with the Black & Golds as a good luck charm to share with her fellow fans for every home game. Not only were the cookies a hit, but the team kept winning. A few months later a trophy got raised, the Duck Boats paraded down Boylston Street and an idea was born.

With a broad selection of unique, delicious cookies, Heather launched Top Shelf Cookies in 2014. What started as a passion became a calling and Boston’s Craft Cookie company was now a reality. Using high quality, often unexpected ingredients, a creative spark for combining flavors, and meticulously crafted recipes, Heather creates cookies that aren't just one of a kind, they're also very tasty. If she can work in a reference to the city she loves while she's doing it, all the better. After all, these are "Cookies as Fresh as the City They Come From."

Tiago Prado

Tiago Prado is an entrepreneur and immigration advocate. Originally from Brazil, Tiago Prado graduated from Tufts University, worked in Wall Street, and moved back to the Boston area specifically to channel his own experience as an immigrant in service to his own people. As Founding Partner and CEO of Best Rate Zone (BRZ), he works with an exceptional team of people who help Latinx make educated insurance purchase decisions. BRZ has been recognized by Progressive, Utica First, and other insurance companies as one of the fastest-growing agencies in Massachusetts.

Mirna Diaz

Attorney Diaz represents clients in need of criminal defense, post conviction relief, divorce, custody, child support, or family based immigration. She supports those who find themselves in difficult stages in their lives with with passion and diligence no matter the complexity of the case and circumstance. She stands by clients and family.

Rowan Walrath

Rowan Walrath joined BostInno in April as a staff writer covering innovation in Massachusetts, bringing a unique perspective to Boston from her time as a freelance journalist in San Francisco.

Walrath has an impressive journalism background, having spent time writing and fact-checking for WIRED, Mother Jones, Eater, HuffPost and more. While known for her ability to cover an expansive range of topics, Walrath has spent dedicated time on the future of transportation beat at WIRED, and during her editorial fellowship at Mother Jones, she reported on health, science, climate and related policy. Her new role at BostInno is a bit of a coming-home party. Walrath is a graduate of Northeastern University, and she cut her reporting teeth in Boston covering local news for the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, and WGBH.

Daniel R. Martiniello

Lender Relations Specialist, Massachusetts District Office, U.S. Small Business Administration

Dan joined the SBA Massachusetts District Office in the fall of 2018 from Century Bank where he worked for the past 14 years and was most recently a Branch Manager in Salem. He worked primarily with small businesses in the North Shore community to provide them with proper bank products and technical assistance to help their business grow. He was in the United States Army Reserves for 8 years and served 1 tour of duty in Iraq. As a Lender Relations Specialist Dan provides program training and support to all of our lending partners throughout Massachusetts. Dan also provides Economic Development assistance in the North Shore region by partnering with area small business organizations to provide technical assistance to the small business community.

Mo Saeed

AI Financial, LLC.

Mo is an Entrepreneur and Business leader. He was the founder and President of Firefly Capital, a Technology brokerage firm for institutional investors. Currently, among other fintech projects, he is developing a financial application that will help hourly workers access wages in real-time.

Mo has an entrepreneurial spirit and has an interest in applying process and technology to produce profitable growth. Mo has experienced in developing business plans, conceptualizing product and service offerings, product development, marketing, and operations.

Mo likes to hike in winter – Cold is good for Soul!