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Conference Leadership

Co-Chair

Wendy Jarchow

Chief Investment Officer - River SaaS Capital

Wendy leads River SaaS Capital's due diligence and lending activities, helping SaaS businesses fund their growth plans with non-dilutive capital and managing the company's portfolio of loans. She has more than 24 years of experience in finance, venture capital and strategic planning at both large corporations and entrepreneurial ventures. Wendy is a Northeast Ohio native and an alumna of John Carroll University. She lives in Lakewood with her husband and two children.

Co-Chair

Joe Slezak

Director of Marketing and Business Development - H2R CPA

Joe facilitates the growth of a company by developing and implementing high-impact sales and marketing strategies that deliver a return on investment. His accumulation of twenty plus years of business experience provides valuable insight in how marketing interacts with all departments and levels within a company. This enables him to identify and utilize all the resources that are available within a company to improve brand recognition.

For over 10 years, Joe has been driving organic growth within the accounting industry for both regional and national firms. He is an active member within the business community and enjoys expanding his personal network. He is proud to serve as the Secretary for the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association (PVCA) and is highly involved with the 3 Rivers Venture Fair and the Great Lakes Capital Connection. He was the Founding Chairman of the PVCA's Emerging Leadership Board (ELB), the ACG Pittsburgh's Future Corporate Leaders (FCL), and the TMA Pittsburgh's NextGen Board.

PROFESSIONAL & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Secretary - Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association

Executive Committee - Great Lakes Capital Connection

Member - Association for Corporate Growth (ACG)

Co-chair of the Marketing Committee - 3 Rivers Venture Fair

Member of the Marketing Committee - Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference

Member - VistageĀ® Worldwide (Trusted Advisors Group)

Member - Association for Accounting Marketing

Member - Professional Services Marketing Association


Co-Chair

Kelly Szejko

President - Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association

Kelly has served as President of the ACG Pittsburgh since 2010, a trade association that advances corporate growth through mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures by connecting middle-market deal makers and business leaders, providing a thought leadership platform and advancing best practices through educational forum.

Kelly spent several years working as an accountant and corporate controller before launching Tikes, Inc., a firm that provides executive leadership and specialized services like membership development, fundraising, marketing and strategic planning to a wide range of associations.

Kelly has successfully leveraged her gift for growing organizations and building expansive networks of volunteers to more than a half-dozen organizations, including the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, the NACD Three Rivers Chapter, the TMA Pittsburgh Chapter, SIOR Western Pennsylvania Chapter and the Invent Penn State Venture & IP Conference.

She attended the University of Pittsburgh and resides in South Fayette.