The Rice Alliance Team is responsible for creating and fostering the ethos of the building—the programming and the activity that drives innovation forward.
Our
Team
Meet the people behind the mission—we’re here to support you as you build what’s next!
Rice Alliance
Brad Burke
Associate Vice President for Industry and New Ventures, Rice University, Office of Innovation
John (JR) Reale
Managing Director for Startups and Investor Engagement
Quynhmai Nguyen
Executive Director, Operations
Roslynn Velasquez
Senior Director, Marketing and Strategic Initiatives
Laura Neder
Head of Platform
Belinda Woo
Finance Manager
Christopher Ortiz
Events Specialist
Coco Seney
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Lauren Brooks
Data Analyst
Seraphina Van
Associate Director, Event Operations
Simone Fernau
Program Manager
Torey Brown
Digital Marketing and Community Manager
Catherine Santamaria
Senior Director of the Rice Business Plan Competition
Jessica Fleenor
Director of Acceleration Programs - Rice Alliance Managing Director - OwlSpark & BlueLaunch
Matthew Peña, PhD
Director - Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator
Tara Williams
Senior Director of Venture Programs
Resident Volunteers
Larry Ciscon
Engineer in Residence
Wade Pinder
Mentor in Residence
Rice Real Estate
Bryson Grover
Managing Director, AVP
Scott Irby
Director, Ion District Asset Management and Real Estate Development
Sam Dike
Director, Strategic Portfolio Initiatives
Bailey Gay
Associate