The Saratoga Forum

Sam Bosshart

President of Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation

Shelby Schneider

CEO & President of Upstate Capital

Committed to enhancing access to capital and strengthening community engagement, Shelby aims to propel Upstate New York’s investment ecosystem into a dynamic and prosperous future. She is dedicated to raising awareness of Upstate Capital’s mission, expanding membership opportunities, and promoting initiatives like the New York Business Plan Competition (NYBPC) and Invest NY to enrich the regional economic landscape.

David Brown

Chair of Upstate Capital Board & Founding Managing Partner at Impellent Ventures

David is Founding Managing Partner at Impellent Ventures. In addition to Impellent Ventures, he is Founding Managing Partner of NextGen Venture Partners. He served as Vice President of Innovation Leadership for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, where he drove economic vitality across Massachusetts by supporting entrepreneurs and innovators through the process of business foundation, development and expansion.

Andrew Ackerman

Strategic Advisor & Head of REACH Labs for Second Century Ventures

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur turned early stage investor and innovation
expert. He has invested in over 70 startups over the past 2 decades. Andrew is
currently the Strategic Advisor & Head of REACH Labs for Second Century Ventures, consults on corporate innovation strategies (CVC, accelerators, venture studios, etc.), and is an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship. He was previously Managing Director at Dreamit Ventures where he launched and built both their Edtech and Urbantech (Proptech and Construction) verticals. Andrew has written over 60 published articles for Fortune, Forbes, Propmodo, CREtech, Builders Online, Architect Magazine, Multifamily Executive, AlleyWatch, Edsurge, The 74 Million, et. al. and is the author of “The Entrepreneur’s Odyssey” (Routledge Press) a textbook-disguised-as-a-novel on how to launch a successful startup.

Rodney Reisdorf

Founder, Verivend (an iAltA company)

Rodney is the Co-Founder and CEO of Verivend, which was acquired by iAltA in February 2025, and now serves as Executive Vice President of Go-To-Market for iAltA Private Markets. iAltA is on a mission to build modern infrastructure that unifies private market systems and empowers market participants with actionable tools & insights. Rodney has been a lifelong resident of Buffalo, NY and is an experienced, results-driven leader of SaaS and enterprise software solutions with a successful history in the B2B and B2C industries. He has served in senior-level roles leading go-to-market efforts for several companies based in upstate New York, which resulted in successful exits that have catalyzed the upstate region’s place in supporting early-stage growth.

Dr. John King

SUNY Chancellor

Dr. John B. King Jr. is the 15th Chancellor of the State University of New York, the
largest comprehensive system of public higher education in the nation.

Prior to his appointment as Chancellor:

Alexander McClean

Partner at Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

Alex is a practical, results-driven attorney who finds creative solutions to close transactions and resolve his clients most sensitive legal issues. As Chair of the Firm’s Securities and Capital Markets practice group, Alex counsels domestic and foreign companies of all sizes, ranging from early-stage start-up companies to publicly traded companies, with market capitalizations in the tens of billions of dollars. He helps clients successfully raise capital both publicly and privately while navigating complex federal and state securities laws, NYSE and NASDAQ listing standards. Alex also advises public companies regarding their periodic disclosure obligations under federal securities laws, including advice regarding both contested and uncontested proxy solicitations and tender offers. He is a trusted counselor to boards of directors helping them navigate complex corporate governance issues while fulfilling their fiduciary duties to stockholders and complying with federal securities laws.

Stephen Bravo

NYSERDA

Steve joined the clean energy industry in 2013 through General Electric’s Junior Officer Leadership Program (JOLP) as part of their power business, currently known as GE Vernova. While at GE, he spent seven years as part of their Onshore wind business and two years as part of their battery energy storage business, all in product development roles. After GE he moved onto the energy storage integrator Fluence, where he helped standup up their product development team following their IPO in November of 2021. In late 2024 he joined NYSERDA as their Director of Commercialization focusing on supporting clean energy startups for the NY market.

Rob Anstey

CEO at GDI

Mr. Anstey is the CEO/Founder of GDI. He has over a decade of experience as an
entrepreneur, globally commercializing technologies in energy storage and advanced materials. He is a co-inventor on >15 patent filings, and 7 issued patents. He works on technologies that fight climate change, and focuses on the intersection between manufacturing, strategy, and business development. Mr. Anstey is a proponent of open innovation and accelerating technology development through partnerships.

GDI Company Description
At GDI, we believe in a future where transportation is powered by clean, sustainable energy. Our mission is to accelerate this transition by developing the most advanced 100% silicon anodes for batteries. Our team is dedicated to solving the urgent challenge of achieving net-zero emissions in transportation. We invite you to join us on this journey towards a cleaner and brighter future. Together, we can make a meaningful impact on the world.

Tim Hoffman

Columbia Tech Ventures

Tim is currently Program Director for Climate Initiatives at Columbia Technology Ventures, including the ClimateTech Expertise Network, NYSERDA Climate Justice Fellows Support Program, and Verizon Climate-related programs. The ClimateTech Expertise Network offers mentoring services, talent matching and related support services to promising early-stage clean energy and climate-tech companies pursuing business in the State of New York. The NYSERDA Climate Justice Support Program provides peer group facilitation, educational workshops and Skills Labs to support Climate Justice Fellows in NYSERDA’s workforce development program. Tim currently also serves as New York Director of the Cleantech Open Northeast and as an Advisory Board Member to Scale for ClimateTech.

For over 22 years Tim provided strategic and M&A advisory, capital raising, and financial modeling services for large corporations, family-run firms, renewable energy developers, middle market companies and early-stage enterprises. Previously, Tim served as Managing Director with Karbone Capital Markets (formerly Watts Capital, LLC), Scott-Macon, Ltd. and Natixis Bleichroeder, Inc. Tim also served as Co-Chairman of the Cleantech Open Board and a Board Member of ACT (formerly NECECi), Advisory Board member to the Global Sourcing Council, and was an Entrepreneur in Residence for NYSERDA. Tim is a graduate of Indiana University, where he earned two B.A. degrees and spent one year studying at Universität Hamburg. He later earned an M.A.E. with a concentration in Finance from the University of Michigan. Tim is fluent in German, proficient in Japanese and learning Korean and Swahili.

Dan Pickett

CEO, aptihealth

Dan Pickett is a successful CEO and private equity investor with a 25+ year track record of founding, scaling, and advising growth-stage technology companies and IP-driven businesses. Proven success across the full lifecycle of company building—from inception and funding to scale, exit, and strategic reinvention.

Extensive experience leading both operating companies and investment platforms, with deep expertise across corporate development, organizational design, product and platform strategy, go-to-market execution, operations, compensation architecture, and financial governance. Strong technical foundation with a B.S. in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Hudson River Capital Holdings, a private investment firm specializing in growth-stage private equity and intellectual property investment and advisory services. Previously led AptiHealth as Co-Founder & CEO, building it into a nationally recognized innovator in behavioral health. Past leadership includes President of Zones, Inc., and Founder & CEO of nfrastructure, acquired by Zones in 2016. Founder & CEO of CINGA Software Sciences, acquired by Alltel (Fidelity Information Services). VP of Advanced Technologies at KeyCorp.

Board member and governance leader in technology, healthcare and higher education, including AptiHealth (Chairman), Albany Med Health System (Chairman), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Pickett Family Foundation.

Heidi Knoblauch

Plumb Ventures

Hugh Johnson

Graypoint

HUGH A. JOHNSON serves as the Chairman & Chief Economist of Hugh Johnson Economics after serving as Chairman and Chief Economist for Graypoint LLC for 2 years. While Chairman and Chief Economist at Graypoint Hugh also served as Chairman and Chief Economist of Hugh Johnson Advsiors, a division of Graypoint. Hugh continues as Chairman Emeritus for Graypoint.
In his current capacity Hugh continues to formulate a broader outlook for the stock and bond markets by combining his knowledge of financial markets and economic history with an understanding of how market cycles work.

After receiving his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, Hugh served as an officer in the United States Navy, earned a master’s degree from Southern Methodist University, served as Executive Vice-President and a Member of the New York Stock Exchange for Hugh Johnson & Company, was employed by First Albany Companies as a Director, Chief Investment Officer, and was Chairman and President of First Albany Asset Management Company. In 2005 Hugh and other employees of First Albany Asset Management Company and Illington Fund Management purchased First Albany Asset Management from First Albany Companies and founded Johnson Illington Advisors. In 2010 Hugh and other employees purchased a substantial percentage of the ownership of Johnson Illington from ThomasLloyd Global Asset Management (Americas) and renamed the firm Hugh Johnson Advisors.

Hugh’s work has appeared in the New York Times, USA Today, BusinessWeek, and other leading newspapers and periodicals around the world. He has been a regular guest on CNBC, was a special guest on Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, and has appeared as a regular guest on Bloomberg Television. Hugh has also appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, The News Hour, and Nightly Business Report. He serves as an advisor to the Chairman of the New York State Assembly Committee on Ways and Means. In addition, Hugh is an Adjunct Professor at Clarkson University after serving in the same capacity at Union Graduate College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and holds Board positions with Security Mutual Life, Pursuit (formerly New York Business Development Corporation), and the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Finance Council. Hugh has served on the Management Review Commission (Transition Team) of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and has been appointed by Comptroller DiNapoli to the Investment Advisory Committee to the New York State Common Retirement Fund.
Hugh has been awarded two degrees of Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. In his spare time, Hugh enjoys his home in Vermont, plays golf, and continues to dream of playing in the National Hockey League.