Patricia Duffy
Patricia Duffy is the Managing Director of Golden Seeds Academy, which is the training and education arm of Golden Seeds, an investment group which provides early stage private equity to women-owned, women-led businesses. Patricia oversees Academy operations, strategy and promotional activities, and she provides marketing instruction within the Academy curriculum. Prior to joining Golden Seeds, Patricia was an independent marketing consultant, focused on strategic and/or tactical support for small and mid-sized businesses in the travel, culinary and retail industries. Patricia's corporate experience includes 13 years at American Express, where she managed key industry relationships on both the card and travel sides of the business. This encompassed negotiations and program management for all major U.S. airlines, hotel chains, car rental companies, cruise lines and tour operators, including Radio City Music Hall, Disney and Ticketmaster. Patricia began her career in advertising, gaining experience within agencies and as a corporate advertising and public relations manager. She serves on the Advisory Board of Beautiful Places, an international luxury villa rental and concierge organization based in Sonoma, California. Patricia holds a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Jo Ann Corkran
Jo Ann Corkran, Managing Partner of Golden Seeds Fund 2, has been a lead investor on multiple transactions at Golden Seeds including life sciences and technology deals. Jo Ann sits on the board of Crimson Hexagon, a social media monitoring company in the Golden Seeds portfolio. She is also an instructor in the Golden Seeds Academy. Prior to joining Golden Seeds, Jo Ann spent the majority of her 20 plus year Wall Street career at Credit Suisse. Most recently at CS Asset Management (CSAM) she was Global Head of Cash and Short Duration and had responsibility for over $20 billion of assets. Earlier at CSAM she managed all of the U.S. domestic securitized assets, and eventually all U.S. Core Fixed Income Assets. Prior to joining CSAM, Jo Ann managed the MBS, ABS and CMBS Research Department at Morgan Stanley and earlier developed mortgage portfolio strategies in the research department at First Boston. She started her career as a Consulting Actuary in the Econometric Modeling Area of Buck Consultants. Through her Not-for-Profit Experience, Jo Ann has sat on the Investment Committee of the Common Endowment Fund of the UUA 2003-2009, and the Socially Responsible Investing Committee UUA 2002-2003. Jo Ann holds a BS in Mathematics from NYU and was a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (Lapsed).
Vanessa Wilson
Vanessa Wilson is the Chief Financial Officer of Golden Seeds, LLC, a Director of the Golden Seeds Academy, and an active angel investor with Golden Seeds since 2007. Her private portfolio includes technology, publishing, media, business services, and consumer products companies. Vanessa also has significant public markets and M&A experience after 19 years on Wall Street as a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Credit Suisse First Boston. As an equity research analyst specializing in life insurance, she lead- or co-managed 15 initial public offerings. Ms. Wilson was ranked on the Institutional Investor “All-American Research Team” for 10 years and in The Wall Street Journal’s “All Star Analysts’ Survey” for 7 years. She sits on the public board of Protective Life Corporation, the non-profit board of Futures and Options, and the advisory boards of privately held Renovata and Inergy Group. Ms. Wilson holds a B.A. in economics and biology from Amherst College and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.