Guest Speakers

Lance Dietz joined KB Partners in 2018 as part of the investment team. He currently serves as a board member for KB Partners’ portfolio companies ALO, Asensei, BookSeats, Compliable, Goss, KAYA, Stadium Live and StatusPRO, and as a board observer for Alembic, FanPower, Flex Data, and PandaScore. Previously, he served as a board observer for Repeat.gg (acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment).

Prior to joining KB Partners, Lance was an investment banker with J.P. Morgan where he managed M&A and capital raising transactions for companies in the building products, packaging and distribution sectors. Previously, he served for five years as an engineer officer in the U.S. Army with assignments in Germany, Afghanistan and the U.S.

Lance is an honor graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point where he was recruited to play men’s division I basketball, and holds an MBA from Chicago Booth. He is an improving golfer, intermediate snowboarder, avid traveler and dabbling magician.

Craig currently leads Intuit Ventures, the strategic venture capital arm of Intuit, investing in consumer and SMB-focused fintech companies at the series A-C stage. We focus on companies where can can leverage the Intuit ecosystem and build relationships across Intuit and our broader network.

Craig previously built and led Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the venture capital arm of Northwestern Mutual, along with leading our corporate development efforts. Craig completed over 40 early stage investments in leading companies across fintech, insurtech and wealthtech.

As partner at Impact Engine, Tasha leads the direct investment team, overseeing our investments in early and growth stage companies. She is also a member of the Investment Committee.

Tasha was a founding board member of Impact Engine and joined the team full time in 2014. She has been making and managing technology venture investments for over two decades. Prior to joining Impact Engine, she was a partner with JK&B Capital, a venture capital firm based in Chicago that managed $1.1 billion dollars in committed capital, where she was responsible for identifying, evaluating, and leading investments in enterprise software companies. Her post-investment responsibilities included serving on boards of directors, managing growth, coaching and hiring management teams, and managing investments through exit.

In addition, Tasha serves as adjunct professor in Kellogg’s Sustainability and Social Impact Program and board director for the Bridges Impact Foundation US. She is also a founding partner and former board chair for the Chicago chapter of Social Venture Partners and a contributing author to An Introduction to Early-Stage Impact Investing from Edward Elgar Publishing. Tasha earned a BA from Wellesley College and an MBA from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Having been part of several technology cycles as a venture capital investor, Tasha has seen the power of the entrepreneurs to create markets and touch people’s everyday lives, and she is a passionate believer in the power of entrepreneurship to make the world a better place.

As the managing partner of Energize Capital, John oversees all investment and Limited Partner responsibilities. He is also a member of the Energize Investment Committee.

John brings over 20 years of experience in finance, investing and operational roles. His career and investment interests follow the ongoing integration of new technologies into the critical infrastructure and resource industries. John is integral to all aspects of the Fund’s operations, including network engagement, developing investment theses, driving diligence of potential investments, and supporting and monitoring portfolio companies.

Most recently, John was one of the first employees and ultimately scaled into the Chief Revenue Officer at Choose Energy, the largest online energy marketplace in North America. At Choose Energy, he led all operations and growth and raised over $30 million in capital. In 2017, John managed the successful sale of the company to Red Ventures. Previously, John was an investor at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, where he focused on platform investments at the intersection of technology and energy.

John holds a BS from Duke University and an MBA from Chicago Booth.

John currently sits on the Board of Directors for DroneDeploy, Nozomi Networks, Matroid, PVcase and ZEDEDA.