Joël draws upon 20 years of expertise spanning startup to corporate environments across the tech, finance, and retail industries. For most of his career he has focused on driving market entry and expansion into the US from abroad. Most recently, he served as Head of US Operations for a growth-stage startup for which he initiated and drove US go-to-market strategy and execution. Prior to this, he was SVP of Global Operations for a public company where he managed day-to-day operations and oversaw the integration of twelve acquisitions. Drawing upon these experiences, and utilizing his fluency in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian, Joël supports global founders and teams, helping them to prepare for and to execute successful transitions into the US market.

Matt is a seasoned technologist with nearly 30 years of experience, including 20 years in education technology, with much of his time spent working in-house or mentoring early-stage companies. Most recently serving as CTO of engage2learn, previously, Matt was VP of Engineering at Kinvolved through the company’s 2022 acquisition by PowerSchool. Earlier in his career, he was the first technical hire at SchoolNet, serving as Head of Technology for ten years through the company’s acquisition by Pearson, where he was VP of Systems Architecture. Matt supports founders in developing their technology roadmaps, including the incorporation of AI for internal and external use, and evaluating and hiring technical talent.

With a background in strategic partnerships and marketing across diverse industries, Lauren plays an important role in streamlining processes, developing and executing marketing strategies, and optimizing business functions to support the firm’s mission of empowering mission-driven founders and their ventures. She plays a similar role in supporting portfolio companies directly.

Miguel is a graphic and web designer specializing in low- no-code platforms. His passion for interaction design has led him to explore impact-led design solutions. With over 5 years in the startup ecosystem, he has worked across various sectors. As a web and graphic designer at African Leadership University, he has further honed his skills in creating impactful digital solutions for education. His diverse experience allows him to bring innovative solutions to each project.

In his eight years working in the NYC DOE, Dawit managed numerous high profile technology implementation projects, including $1.5MM ShopDOE (NYCDOE's procurement portal), the FAMIS budget portal, and the Technical Learning Solutions (TLS) Program, a $6MM Educational Software Procurement Project. He supports BRV's companies in navigating the complex NYC DOE procurement system, assisting them getting approved to do business in a highly time- and cost-efficient manner.

Jillian Lubow is an edtech veteran with more than twenty years of experience supporting startups and nonprofits as they find their footing, craft their story, and win the critical early-stage deals that keep the lights on and establish credible market share.She began her career at Wireless Generation (now Amplify), serving in business development, sales, and marketing roles. She then worked for edtech startups, namely in a dual sales/marketing leadership role at TeachBoost (acquired by SchoolStatus) and as a  marketing leader at Kinvolved (acquired by PowerSchool).

Jim is an edtech executive and investor with a 30-year track record of scaling, growing and transforming educational businesses. Jim has worked with classroom teachers, school principals, and district leaders to support their curriculum, technology, assessment and professional development initiatives. He continues to be a trusted advisor to many district administrators as they work tirelessly to improve education, equity, and access in their communities. He previously served as Senior Vice President and President of Amplify Education, where he led the sales team through one of the largest growth cycles the company experienced.  He currently serves as Senior Advisor, Education for Emerson Collective.

Martin Schneider was most recently Managing Partner at Fine Capital Partners, a hedge fund based in New York City and is the Chair of IDEO.org's Board of Directors. Marty is the Founder and former President of Health Pages, a consumer website devoted to providing consumers with background, experience, and quality information about health care providers. He currently serves as Chair of the Boards of Peer Health Exchange and Informed Patient Institute, and as Treasurer of the Boards of Consumer Reports and Populations Services International (PSI), and a partner at TSEF (The Social Entrepreneurs Fund).

Zach Silverstein is an investor and advisor with wide-ranging experience in leadership positions at mission-driven organizations in the public, private, government, and not-for-profit sectors. Z Beach Strategies, his consulting business, works with C-Level leaders on issues of strategy, management, operations, and board governance. He also invests in and manages a portfolio of startup and early stage companies, primarily in the education and sustainability sectors. Zach holds a J.D., cum laude, from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif. He earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale College.