Curious about investing in the technologies shaping the future? Join Urban Capital Network to get insights on navigating the innovation economy, discovering how corporate employees can become investors in groundbreaking startups and emerging technologies, and how to capitalize on opportunities that are driving corporate growth and wealth creation.

Speakers:

Felix Chevalier, Co-Founder of Urban Capital Network

Felix is an attorney with extensive experience advising start-ups, governments, and multi-national corporations. He is adept at facilitating business development and structuring public-private partnerships by leveraging his business, political, and legal expertise.

Felix co-founded Urban Capital Network, an investment management firm that provides retail accredited investors exclusive access to premium venture back investment opportunities at lower investment thresholds.

Felix also serves on the board the Innovation Center for Urban Entrepreneurship, a non-profit organization focused on educating, empowering, and enabling a new class of investors to build wealth and self-sustaining economic ecosystems for entrepreneurs and investors.

Recently, Felix was appointed as a Trustees to the Houston Municipal Employees Pension System Board, which oversees over 4 billion in employee benefits.

Felix received his law degree from St. John’s University School of Law, his Bachelor of Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and completed an Executive Education Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. The son of Cuban immigrants, he is fluent in Spanish. Felix is a native New Yorker and resides in Houston, Texas.

Anthony Williams, Managing Director of The Black Diamond Group

The past 10 years, Anthony Williams has served as the Managing Director of the Black Diamond Group.  While functioning in a dual capacity of Managing Director of equity2 (Impact investment fund) and Market President of AltCap Texas (regional CDFI) for nearly 3 years.  During this span of time, he’s raised $5M+ in loan capital, closed $2M+ in community-focused loans and invested $2M+ in minority-led companies and LMI community real estate projects.

As a strategic advisor and implementor, he has extensive experience in providing interim leadership and raising capital for companies in various cities throughout the Midwest, Southeast and Texas to the tune of $115M+ in capital raised and $40M+ in debt restructures. Additionally, Williams has substantial experience in providing both tactical and strategic guidance to global corporations and small businesses.

Prior to starting The Black Diamond Group, Anthony was the former President/CEO of a regional National Minority Supplier Diversity Council (NMSDC). In this role, he served as catalyst for minority business development, corporate supplier diversity partnership and community collaboration to spur economic development.   During his tenure leading the council possessed 80+ corporate members and certified over 400 MBEs annually throughout the Missouri and Kansas region that employed 34,000+ employees and generated over $10B in annual revenue.

Lenny Saizan Jr., Managing Director of Urban Capital Network

In the early years of his career and after receiving his Electrical Engineering degree from L.S.U., Lenny worked as an Electrical Engineer, specializing in automation and controls, and systems integration.

After 10 years of working as an employee, his interest in entrepreneurship eventually led him to launch a technology consulting firm based in New Orleans, LA and enrolling in an MBA program to hone his business skills. Unfortunately, the first stint in his entrepreneurial journey and MBA was short lived due to the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

Lenny suddenly found himself homeless, jobless, and living in a hotel room with a family of 5 and a couple of days’ worth of clothing for each. After initially evacuating to Beaumont, TX, he eventually landed in Houston. Determined and desperate to start rebuilding, Lenny returned to Corporate America, landing a job in Oil and Gas. This was the beginning of a career transition from engineering and technology to management and finance, which prompted him to re-enroll in an MBA program.

Lenny earned his MBA from Tulane University Freeman School of Business. He spent the next 10 years working in Oil and Gas in various roles in accounting, finance, audit, and operations. After experiencing several layoffs, Lenny decided it was time to give entrepreneurship another go.

During his MBA program, he developed a strong interest in Mergers and Acquisitions, so he decided to buy a Business Brokerage Franchise. In addition to his Managing Director role at Urban Capital Network, Lenny is the owner of Murphy Business Brokerage – West Houston where he helps business owners exit plan, maximize value, and sell their businesses. He also helps buyers with the assessment and purchase of businesses. His work as a business broker led him to investment opportunities and eventually becoming the co-founder of Urban Capital Network.

The two businesses are highly complementary, and Lenny enjoys the opportunity it provides to participate in all phases of the business life cycle, from start-up to exit. More importantly, he enjoys helping people achieve their goals and dreams, whether it’s starting, buying, selling, or investing in a business. For fun, Lenny enjoys working out, sports, and spending time with family.

Grace Chan, Venture Principal of bp Ventures

Grace Chan serves as a Venture Principal and the Bioenergy Lead at bp Ventures, where she plays a pivotal role in advancing bp’s objectives in bioenergy, one of bp’s key growth engines.

With a career spanning 17 years across various bp entities, Grace has amassed extensive experience in operations, technology, and strategy. Her passion lies in scaling new technologies from laboratory-scale inception to their deployment in the first commercial plant, with a particular focus on decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors. Her diverse industry expertise extends to geothermal energy, carbon capture, and electric vehicle (EV) charging.

Residing in Houston, Texas, Grace balances her professional pursuits with her role as a mother to two young sons. She holds dual business degrees from Florida State University, with a minor in French, and is a Certified Management Accountant. Currently, she is pursuing her MBA at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, further strengthening her expertise in venture capital and business strategy.

Her contributions to the field have garnered notable recognition, including being honored as a Global Corporate Venturing Rising Star in 2022 and named among the Women to Watch in Venture Capital in 2023.