Conference Leadership

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.

Before joining the KIG team full-time in 2013, she started and ran her own business - Miss Laurie's Gourmet Kitchen - out of her home, making and shipping a variety of peanut brittles (her nana's recipe) all over the United States and the world. As Miss Laurie, she also shared her passion for food by teaching cooking classes to children and adults until she hung up her apron in 2018.

Today, Laurie also serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Mountains Care Network (PMCN), Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC), and Punxsutawney Area Hospital Boards of Directors. On top of that, she is on the board of the Indiana County Chamber of Commerce and is an Officer of the Chamber's Executive Committee.

And on top of that, she is an advisor and mentor to startup companies throughout Western Pennsylvania, and can often be heard speaking about entrepreneurship, culture, insurance and HR for startups, and storytelling at Pitt, CMU, and incubators around the region. A long-time Angel Investor, Laurie is a member of The Next Act Fund, The Rising Tide Fund, and The Fem Tech Fund - all of which invest in women-led/founded companies and women's health care. Oh, and she's also a mom of three.

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.