The 34th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference

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New Venture Competition Judges

Paisley D. Demby

is Chief Executive Officer of PBN Consulting, LLC., a privately held Consulting Practice specializing in optimizing the performance of organizations. Mr. Demby has over 14 years of finance and strategic management experience. Mr. Demby founded PBN in 1999 and the practice has grown to offer Venture Capital, Business Development, and Strategy Formulation for start-ups to large for-profit and non-profit organizations nationwide. He is widely recognized for his work in the business development arena helping develop innovative businesses in the media, technology, consumer products, non profit, entertainment, financial services, and life sciences industry.

In addition to his responsibilities at PBN, Mr. Demby has lectured at Taylor Business Institute and Drake Business School on subjects such as Organizational Business Development, Business Planning, Business Law and Oral Presentation. Mr. Demby has facilitated workshops and panels at the annual Diversity Initiative�s Tour for Success on topics such as Capital Raising and Business Planning. Mr. Demby also serves on the Board of Advisors to IPORUSSIA, Inc., an International Advisory company providing consulting advice to Russian companies looking to complete IPOs in the US and London.

Mr. Demby has been employed by such renowned firms as IBM, General Motors, Westinghouse, JP Morgan, Synergie Capital Group, The May Davis Group, and Andersen Consulting, LLP. Mr. Demby holds an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from the University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School of Business, and a BA in Engineering and Economics from Brown University.

Scorpio Rogers

Managing Principal, Entrepreneurial Consultants, LLC

Scorpio Rogers is the founder and Managing Principal of Entrepreneurial Consultants, LLC, a management-consulting firm for start-up and growing entrepreneurial business. In this capacity he provides consulting services in the areas of: strategy and business plan creation; business principles training; technology evaluation and implementation; tactical management; business valuation; and financing facilitation. He has partnered with and consulted for various entrepreneurial organizations including the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, the Harlem Venture Group, the Women's Venture Fund and the William Jefferson Clinton Small Business Initiative where he was recognize by former President Clinton for his service.

Scorpio teaches Entrepreneurship, Marketing and other business courses at Westchester Community College and is a certified instructor for the National Federation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). Formally, he has been a consultant for American Express where he led several global business reengineering projects, and for Anderson Consulting (now Accenture) where he managed projects for Fortune 500 companies and state government. He was the founder and CEO of Fraternally Your, Inc. a retail company that sold fraternal merchandise through multiple distribution channels.

Scorpio has a BA in Computer Science and Technology from Dartmouth College and a MBA in Management with concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Strategy from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. He�s a certified Six Sigma Green Belt. He mentors youth in business as an active Life Member of the New York City chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and as a NFTE consultant. Additionally, he does volunteer work as a NYC Life Member of the National Black MBA Association, and he coaches little league baseball. He�s married with a son and daughter.

Claude Tellis

Managing Director, Towerview Capital Management

Mr. Tellis has operated and grown companies as both an entrepreneur and as a venture capitalist. Prior to forming Towerview Capital Management, Mr. Tellis co-founded and operated the first healthy vending machine company, Healthy Body Products (HBP), with Mr. Kareem Cook and another partner. Healthy Body Products services the largest beverage contract in the nation with Pepsi, a $25 MM deal that extends to over 1.2 MM students in the Los Angeles school district. Healthy Body Products was also invited by California State Senator Escutia to testify on obesity prevention, leading to legislation that has been duplicated in twenty-three states.

Mr. Tellis also originated, closed and managed a $38 MM venture capital fund, HEOF (Houston Economic Opportunity Fund), which invested in domestic emerging markets. HEOF executed buyout transactions in diverse industries including consumer products, light manufacturing, food, and technology businesses. Mr. Tellis was profiled for his work with HEOF in the October 2000 issue of Forbes Magazine.

Mr. Tellis graduated from Duke University with an A.B. in Economics, where he was a Carl Rowan Scholar. He subsequently received an MBA from the Wharton School of Business as a Merrill Lynch Fellow.

Samuel J. Patterson

Samuel J. Patterson is the owner and CEO of Veridyne, Inc. (formerly Shepard-Patterson). Mr. Patterson received a B.S. degree in Computer Science from Cheyney University. In 1985, Mr. Patterson received an MBA in Marketing from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Mr. Patterson is also a graduate of Dartmouth's Amos Tuck School's Minority Business Executive Program.

In 1986, Mr. Patterson co-founded Veridyne, Inc., an information management and technology consulting company. In 1995, Mr. Patterson became Chairman, CEO, and sole-owner of Veridyne, Inc. During his tenure as company President, Veridyne, Inc. has become a $14 million dollar company with eleven locations in five states and field operations world-wide.

Mr. Patterson is active in civic and fraternal programs providing mentorship for inner city youths. For programs such as "Guide Right" and Young Black Leaders, he has been instrumental in the development and funding of computer laboratory facilities and scholarships. In 1999, Mr. Patterson and his wife Deidre donated $250,000 to their alma mater, Cheyney University. The gift is the largest gift from an Alumnus in the School's history. Mr. Patterson's professional and civic affiliations include the Wharton Alumni Association, Cheyney University Alumni Association, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, the Men of BACA, and he sits on the board of the Center for Literacy. Mr. Patterson's other board appointments include Innovation Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, African American Chamber of Commerce, the Philadelphia Academies, and the Council of Trustees at Cheyney University. In addition, he has received numerous awards including "Entrepreneur of the Year" from Ernst and Young and recently named "Minority Small Business Person of the Year" by the U.S. Small Business Administration. In 2000, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education presented Mr. and Mrs. Patterson with the coveted Ebberly Award for Community Service. In 2001, Sam and Deidre Patterson donated $50,000 to Simon Gratz High School to establish a Robotics Institute. At the end of 2003, Mr. And Mrs. Patterson established the Veridyne Private Foundation to assist in a variety of community outreach programs.

The Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference is produced and administered by the African American MBA Association, a student-run organization of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.