July 1, 2024 - Bozeman, Montana USA
Entrelliance, the nonprofit organization that helps build more sustainable startups through the more systematic injection of human capital, is delighted to announce the addition of Wendy Guillies, former President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation as the newest member of our Advisory Board.
Wendy was with The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation for 22 years, the last 8 of which she was President and CEO. While there, she helped lead the organization through strategic and operational leadership related to investing hundreds of millions of dollars in organizations working on entrepreneurship and workforce development. Since retiring from that post in 2022 she joined the board of the Center for American Entrepreneurship - a nonpartisan organization promoting the advancement of entrepreneurship in Washington D.C., as well several other community-related organizations in and around her hometown of Kansas City.
“We are so very happy that Wendy has chosen to share her incredible experience and perspective with us.” said Pat LaPointe, CEO of Entrelliance. “She has had the unique opportunity to see nearly all parts of the emergence of startup ecosystems around the country and the world and brings keen insights into how to best help startups grow to the benefit of communities large and small.”
Her initial focus at Entrelliance will be helping build strategic relationships with major accelerators and incubators to distribute the training and mentorship Entrelliance provides at no cost to partners, mentors, and founders.
“I love the unique way Entrelliance is solving the problem of persistently high rates of startup failures by working on the human capital aspects.” said Wendy. “In a world where nearly everyone else is focused on helping startups raise money, Entrelliance’s focus on more effective boards of directors and on leadership development for founder/CEOs is so needed. And their approach to helping mentors become better at sharing their lifetime of experience is so valuable to passing along hard-earned wisdom from one generation to the next.”
Entrelliance concentrates on creating more systematic ways of building human capital to help founders avoid mistakes that lead to failure rates of 80% or more. There are three specific training programs offered to founders and mentors including:
Building a more effective board: What every founder needs to know about forming, selecting, and leading a highly effective board of directors.
Leadership in Emerging Companies: How to unlock the true leadership potential within founders to build startups that can attract, motivate, and retain top talent.
Enhanced Mentoring: How mentors with great experience can be more effective sharing and relating their value to startup CEOs.
Each of these programs is delivered as a complementary offering through partnerships with leading accelerators and incubators.
For more information reach out to hello@entrelliance.org.