2023 PROFESSIONAL SUMMIT Recap
BAM “8 to 5” BAM 24/7 … Lessons Learned
Keynote Speaker - Thursday Luncheon
Henry Kaestner
Founder and Podcast Host | Sovereign’s Capital and Faith Driven Media
Henry Kaestner was the keynote speaker at the inaugural Lions Den event in 2014, and has been an inspirational catalyst to the movement.
Henry co-founded the Faith Driven Entrepreneur and Faith Driven Investor ministries. He and his team seek to serve faith driven entrepreneurs, investors, funds, partners, and advisors through content, community, and connections.
Henry is also a Co-Founder and Partner at Sovereign’s Capital, a private equity and venture capital management company that invests in faith driven entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia and the U.S. from its offices in Silicon Valley, Durham, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, and Jakarta, Indonesia. Prior to co-founding Sovereign’s Capital, Henry was Co-founder and previous CEO, and then Chairman, of Bandwidth (NASDAQ:BAND) and its sister company, Republic Wireless (which spun out of Bandwidth in 2016). Together the companies have grown from $0 to more than $600 million in revenue. The founding values of Bandwidth are: Faith, Family, Work and Fitness (in that order). Prior to co-founding Bandwidth.com with David Morken, Henry founded Chapel Hill Brokers (a predecessor to ICAP Energy), an institutional energy derivatives broker that became the top ranked electricity broker in the country.
Henry has been involved in a number of other ministries and philanthropic activities. He co-founded DurhamCares, was a founding Board Member of Praxis, and sits on a variety of business and ministry boards including Valley Christian Schools where his 3 boys attend. Go Warriors!
Henry is a member of the broader Church in the Bay Area, attends Venture Christian Church in Los Gatos, CA and serves as an elder in the Presbyterian Church of America. Henry lives in Los Gatos with his wife Kimberley and their three sons.
Title Speaker - Wednesday Dinner
Jonathan Jakubowski
SmartSolve Director | Forge Leadership Network Chairman
Jonathan Jakubowski is the Director of SmartSolve, an award-winning startup business focused on sustainable packaging. Jonathan received his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University and Masters Degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University.
Jonathan is an avid social entrepreneur. He is the Author of Bellwether Blues: A Conservative Awakening of the Millennial Soul, which has been featured on dozens of leading media outlets. He is also the Founder of Champions in Action® and is the Chairman of the Forge Leadership Network Board of Directors. In 2017, Jonathan was unanimously selected as Executive Committee Chairman of his local party and sits on the Wood County Board of Elections. Jonathan, his wife Missy, and their four children currently reside in Bowling Green, OH.
Breakout Sessions
Session 1 9:00 – 10:15
B1.1 You’ve Got Questions; We’ve Got Answers
(Location: Highlands College – Family Ministry 302)
Al Caperna (bio)
Brent Bauer
Colin Crawley (bio)
Andre Mann (bio)
Mats Tunehag (bio)
James Wessel (bio)
B1.2 Let’s Make a Deal
(Location: Highlands College – Pastoral Ministry 309)
Lori Chambers
Will Thomas (bio)
Phil Jung (bio)
Chuck Welden
B1.3 Lessons Learned: Unintended Consequences & Failures
(Location: Highlands College – Visual Arts 202)
Pat Brown
Andrew Clark
Sam Lam (bio)
Harry Max (bio)
B1.4 Exit Strategies to Maintain BAM Culture
(Location: Highlands College – Student Ministry 204)
Bob Bush
Jeff Latture (bio)
Zane Tarence (bio)
Patti Plough (bio)
Session 2 10:30 -11:45
B2.1 Roadmap to Delivering Kingdom Growth
(Location: Highlands College – Pastoral Ministry 309)
Colin Crawley (bio)
Jo Plummer (bio)
Randy Wilson (bio)
B2.2 Where are They Now? Updates from Prior Presenters
(Location: Highlands College – Student Ministry 204)
410 Medical
Minno
Saladbox – Daniel Lar
B2.3 BAM in the Public Marketplace: Values Based Investing
(Location: Highlands College – Family Ministry 302)
Russell Ayan (bio)
Lori Chambers
Greg Gunter
Phil Jung (bio)
Tim Macready (bio)
Matt Monson (bio)
Daniel Phillips
B2.4 The Secret Sauce: What Makes a Good BAM Company?
(Location: Highlands College – Visual Arts 202)
Ramon Arias
Pat Brown
Andrew Clark
Dani Isai (bio)
Jeff Johns
Tom Phillips
John Grady Welden (bio)
Session 3 2:15 – 3:30
Industry and Interest Groups
Investment & Fund Management – Phil Jung
(Location: Highlands College – Family Ministry 302)
Tech – Colleene Isaacs
(Location: Highlands College – Visual Arts 202)
BAM in Education – Betsy Holloway & Jordan Williamson
(Location: Highlands College – Global Ministry 304)
Agriculture / Food – Gray Shipley
(Location: Highlands College – Student Ministry 204)
Healthcare – Mark Piehl
(Location: Highlands College – Worship Ministry 209)
BAM Global / BAM 101 – Mats Tunehag, Joao Mordomo, Jo Plummer
(Location: Highlands College – Pastoral Ministry 309)
Breakout Speakers & BAM Veterans
Russell Ayan
Russ Ayan is an investment professional experienced in asset allocation, portfolio construction, derivatives, and investment risk management. He serves as the Director of Adviser Solutions. In this role, Russ is responsible for management and oversight of investment solutions for the RIA channel, including our direct indexing platform, as well as other oversight roles within Vident. Prior to joining Vident, he held several roles during a 17 year tenure at Wellington Management Company. He became the group’s first risk manager, providing analysis, feedback, guidance and oversight to the portfolio management teams. Russ earned his MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and his undergraduate degree from Boston College. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and the Global Association of Risk Professionals Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation. He previously volunteered as the Chair of the Audit Committee of Grace Chapel in Lexington, MA and currently serves as a member of the Finance Committee. He previously served two terms on the board of trustees of the Waldorf School of Lexington.
Art Ayris
Kingstone Studios is based in central Florida and produces epic comics, cinematic animation and motion pictures. Kingstone Comics hired 40 plus artists from Marvel and DC to produce the KingstoneBible trilogy, the most complete graphic adaptation of the Bible ever done and Finalist for Christian Book of the Year in the Children’s category. Art served as both Writer/Producer on “No Vacancy” starring Sean Young, Dean Cain and T.C. Stallings which released in 608 theaters last year and had the #3 highest per screen average and was #10 at the box office. Kingstone is announcing this month a 4-movie deal with one of the major studios and has their next theatrical release scheduled for December 2024. Art has garnered several creative awards including Best TV Movie in Hollywood’s Next Success contest, numerous Best Picture film festivals wins and is the author of over 40 comic books.Kingstone launched U.S. Comics and U.S. Animation to provide a rich knowledge of our past so that the choices for our future are made with a firm foundation of what it means to be an American.
Al Caperna
Al is the Chairman of the CMC Group, Inc., an association of companies selling to both domestic and international customers for over 30 years. He has five businesses and more than 300 workers.
Mr. Caperna is involved in both EzyLife, an initiative to help entrepreneurs establish businesses around the world, and Sustainable Local Foods, a cutting-edge hydroponics project to grow produce and create jobs. He has much to share on making impact in a wide variety of places.
Colin Crawley
Colin Crawley is a BAM practioner, thought-leader, speaker, and Principal of Bauhinia Consulting—an agency dedicated to deliver measurable spiritual effectiveness. Colin has been an active member of the BAM community since the 2000s. His passion is to leverage his 20+ years in global business, ministry, and BAM experience to enable Christian business leaders to more effectively deliver profitable Kingdom growth.
Betsy Holloway
Betsy Bugg Holloway serves as Vice President for Advancement and Marketing for Samford University and leads marketing, branding and philanthropic initiatives for the university.
Prior to her academic academic career, Betsy was employed by a global pharmaceutical firm, Scandipharm, Inc. (now part of Adare Pharma Solutions) where she served as the company’s Director of International Business Development with oversight of global operations and revenue.
Betsy is actively engaged in numerous business, civic and ministry organizations. She serves on the board of directors for ServisFirst Bank (NYSE: SFBS) and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
Betsy earned her B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University, an M.B.A. degree from Samford University and her Ph.D. in marketing from University of Alabama. She is married to Jimmy Holloway and is the proud mother of two adult daughters.
Colleene Isaacs
Colleene has over 25 years of experience in the technology sector in Silicon Valley, with a diverse background spanning OEM, hardware, software, defense, education, and healthcare. She co-founded the 1st internet-based payment gateway company that was bootstrapped for 1.5 years before being acquired by a public company after 5 years. Additionally, she co-founded a restaurant and retail food business, which was later acquired by a former Silicon Valley CEO and customer. Presently, Colleene serves as a mentor, friend, and executive coach for early-stage startup CEOs and founders across various industries, including blockchain, software development, and healthcare. She also mentors young Rwandan entrepreneurs and is actively involved in non-profit ministries focused on aiding the materially poor globally. As an accredited investor, she invests in early seed companies with a focus on uplifting disadvantaged populations through job development, skills training, and technology platforms, following the mandate from Micah 6:8. She is fluent in sign language, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese. Colleene cherishes her family life as a devoted spouse and parent with grandchildren.
Dan Isai
Dan Isai, a visionary entrepreneur, founded Salad Box in 2012, introducing an innovative culinary concept that has since become Romania’s most successful brand in the HoReCa field. What began as a restaurant in Cluj has evolved into a global sensation spanning three continents. This remarkable success inspired Dan Isai to diversify his portfolio, now encompassing seven distinct food concepts, including the internationally expanding Narcoffee, along with ventures in real estate, IT, and production. Recognized as a beacon of entrepreneurial innovation, Dan Isai’s influence extends far beyond the culinary world, making him a reference point for Romanian entrepreneurs and the franchising industry alike. In 2020, he achieved second place in the Romanian Hospitality Awards for Best Entrepreneur in Hospitality.
Phil Jung
Evan Klisares
Evan Klisares, a Director at Founders Advisors, works primarily with companies in the Power & Infrastructure sector. Evan’s primary responsibilities are related to leading clients through M&A transactions and capital raisesto help facilitate future growth. Before joining Founders, Evan worked four years as an Analyst at Kingswell Capital, a Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund based in Nashville, TN. Evan covered publicly traded companies participating in the Power & Infrastructure ecosystem and maintains relationships with key industry participants. Evan is involved on several boards, including the University of Alabama’s Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, and the non-profit, In This With You, Originally from Chicago, IL, Evan graduated from Lipscomb University with a B.A. in Corporate Management and a minor in accounting. His securities credentials include Series 79 and 63 securities licenses. Outside the office, Mr. Klisares enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, playing chess and disc golf, and reading business literature.
Sam Lam
Sam Lam co-founded Manas and is based in Washington, DC. Under his leadership, Manas has launched operations across 15+ emerging markets through early stage ventures and partnerships with leading US technology companies. Prior to Manas, Sam built a business in China and negotiated strategic partnerships for AOL. Sam is a graduate of Yale University. He is married to Jennifer and they have two kids. Sam is also an elder at his church.
Jeff Latture
Jeff serves as Executive Vice President of Barnhart Crane & Rigging and has been a team member since 1997. He has participated in leading the commercial development of the company through strategic thinking and business development. He is also key player in the GROVE Group which implements the purpose of Barnhart as a Kingdom generosity engine. Jeff and his wife are committed to world evangelism focused specifically on the Muslim world and have traveled with many strategic organizations of the region. Through the GROVE process, Jeff leads the development of their investments in the Middle East and North Africa which relies on The Strategic Resource Group (SRG) as a primary funding tool. Jeff serves as Chairman of the SRG Board
Andre Mann
André Mann is an entrepreneur focused on integration of faith, work, and impact. He is co-founder of Sovereign’s Capital and consults with Kingdom Businesses to help them improve operational capacity and Kingdom impact. For the past year, Andre has led Team Hope, the rescue operation for persecuted Afghan Christians as well as logistics operations in eastern and southern Ukraine. He and his wife, Laura have two boys, Gabriel (18) and Silas (16), and live in Raleigh, North Carolina.
TIM MACREADY
Tim’s career has been focused on applying faith to investment portfolios. Tim was previously Chief Investment Officer for a $1bn+ pension fund in Australia, before working with others to launch Brightlight in Australia. In 2022, Tim relocated to the United States and formed Brightlight, an EverSource Wealth Advisors Team, to support the growing movement of investors seeking to align their faith and portffolio. Tim’s work in faith-driven and impact investing has gained global recognition, with his portfolios and research receiving awards both in Australia and globally.Having spent his teenage years on the mission field in Papua New Guinea, Tim is passionate about allocating capital to emerging and frontier markets to support human flourishing and has actively allocated capital for impact in Asia, Africa, and other emerging markets. He is a supporter of, and was involved in reviewing, the Nairobi Declaration on Christian Impact Investing in Frontier Markets.
Harry Max
Harry Max is an executive player-coach, consultant, and hands-on Product leader who helps technology companies determine what matters most. He is a globally recognized expert in prioritization and digital product design. He has helped transform how we use the Internet across his 30-year career as a practitioner, manager, CEO, VP, founder, and fractional executive in innovative AI startups like Yotascale and successful global brands like DreamWorks Animation and Wine.com. Harry advises CEOs, operational leadership, and startup founders through coaching, leadership development, training, workshops, writing, and keynote talks. His upcoming book, Priorities: How to Create Better Plans and Make Smarter Decisions, will be available in Q1/2024.
Matt Monson
Matt Monson is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Sovereign’s Capital with 16 years of experience in investing and finance. Prior to joining Sovereign’s Capital, Matt was a concentrated public equity investor with a passion for investing at ArrowMark Partners, Deccan Value Investors, and Brave Warrior Advisors. Prior to concentrated public equity investing, Matt was a private equity investor at FTV Capital, and an investment banker at UBS Investment Bank. Matt earned a BSB in Finance and Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Matt lives in Denver with his wife, Megan, and their three girls. He enjoys spending time outdoors with his family and playing an active role in their church community, The Pearl Church.
João Mordomo
João’s driving passion is to glorify God by starting and leading that help fulfill the Great Commission. He is co-chair of BAM Global, a global network for the business as mission movement. He is co-founder and Vice Chair of Crossover Global, a church planting organization that has planted over 3100 churches. Additionally, João is co-founder, co-owner or board member of several Kingdom businesses and BAM companies, as well as founding member of the Council for Business & Theology of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and Senior Associate (Catalyst) for Business as Mission at the Lausanne Movement. With doctorates in Intercultural Studies, Religious Studies, and specializations in entrepreneurship, human resource management, and Christian leadership, he designs and teaches BAM-related courses at several universities, in addition to teaching organizational leadership and intercultural studies. He and his family are based in Curitiba, Brazil.
Mark Piehl
Mark Piehl is a pediatric critical care physician at WakeMed in Raleigh, NC, and a Medical Director with the WakeMed Mobile Critical Care transport team. Mark is also Founder and Chief Medical Officer of 410 Medical, a company focused on improving resuscitation in shock, sepsis, and trauma. He previously served as Medical Director of the WakeMed Children’s Hospital and Director of Pediatrics at WakeMed. His clinical interests include trauma, shock, sepsis, airway management, emergency ultrasound, and critical care transport. Mark teaches frequently on the pre-hospital management of critically ill patients, and has faculty appointments in the Departments of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina and Duke University. He has numerous Department of Defense grants funding the development of technology to improve trauma care. Mark is also Founder of the Samaritan Health Center, a clinic for the homeless and uninsured in Durham, NC.
Jo Plummer
Gray Shipley
Gray is an improbable farmer with a remarkable 150-year family legacy, combining his deep agricultural roots with a fervent dedication to teaching and advising. As a partner at both Shipley Farms and Watauga Butchery, he brings his wealth of experience to the forefront, not only in the agricultural domain but also as a trusted advisor to investors, companies, and entrepreneurs. His expertise spans a wide spectrum, encompassing turnaround and startup ventures, sales, business process enhancement, M&A execution and integration, financial and investment analysis, and corporate and product strategy. Beyond his professional pursuits, Gray serves as a valued board member of the Freedom Business Alliance, contributing to its mission and vision.
Zane Tarence
Zane Tarence, Partner and Head of Founders Advisors’ Technology and Business Services Group, is an experienced investment banker, entrepreneur and recognized expert on the growth and monetization of digital media, internet technology and software companies. Over the past 20 years, Zane has led and completed more than 87 technology deals, including facilitating the sale of some of the largest lead generation internet businesses in the United States.
Zane is a noted speaker with Vistage International and Convene. He is the founder of the preeminent SaaS and internet summit, Silicon Y’all. Zane is the author of “17 Reasons Your Company Is Not Investment Grade & What To Do About It”. Zane has more than 25 years of experience as an operator, investor and dealmaker in the technology arena.
Zane serves on multiple boards in venture capital, entrepreneurship, and ministry and currently lives with his family in Birmingham, AL.
Will Thomas
Will has been investing in companies led by disciple-makers since 2013. As Managing Director of Ambassadors Impact Network, he has built a network of Christian investors who have collectively invested over $16M in more than 30 gospel-advancing organizations since 2018. He also serves on the board of two publicly-traded companies and previously on the board of eleven private companies. He served as interim President and as Chairman of the board of Marketplace Chaplains.
Formerly, Will spent six years making investments with a private equity firm, and eleven years as a pilot and in various leadership positions in the United States Air Force. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and has an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
He and his wife are blessed by three exciting children and live in Dallas, Texas.
Mats Tunehag
In 2002 he initiated and co-led the first global think tank on BAM, which produced the Lausanne Paper on BAM as well as the BAM Manifesto (2004). In 2011 he and Mrs. Jo Plummer developed another much bigger global think tank on Business as Mission with over 30 national, regional, and international working groups.
Tunehag is the chairman of BAM global and has served for many years as a senior leader on BAM in both the Lausanne Movement and World Evangelical Alliance. He has also served on the Global Council of Advocates international, and currently serves part time with a global investment fun that focuses on SME’s in the Arab world and Asia.
Full Bio | Video Intro
Randy Wilson
Randy serves WeldenField Development, CreatureBuilds, and EverSource Wealth Advisors under several different titles, all of which are focused on the Kingdom Impact for each company. Randy helps develop internal and external ministry plans, relevant mission related KPI’s, recruits and develops teams, and works with teams daily to accomplish their desired Kingdom Impact. Randy also serves as the Executive Director of Work for Life, an international business training organization that seeks to see people live out their full God-given potential through business training and ownership.
Patti Plough
Patti served as a nurse for 15 years and first ventured into entrepreneurship by founding a company that provided health screenings and exams for insurance companies. A few years later, she added an event services firm that produced around 200 events a year.Patti’s journey of innovation peaked when she assumed ownership and leadership of a full-service wellness provider serving hundreds of customers, domestically and internationally. Knowing that her company was a likely takeover target,Patti secured the future of the company, and its employees, by leading its transition to a 100% employee-owned ESOP. The positive, fulfilling experience led her back into entrepreneurship… and a new career as a consultant for organizations considering ESOPs.
John Grady Welden
John Grady T. Welden is a manager on WeldenField Development’s Acquisitions and Development team and has served in such capacity since May 2019. John Grady has managed all aspects of the capital raising, acquisition, renovation and asset management on over $200M in acquisitions since joining WeldenField. Prior to WeldenField he worked as an acquisition analyst at Covenant Capital Group in Nashville, TN and was involved in six transactions totaling approximately $100 million in purchases across nearly 1,000 units. He received his M.S. in Finance from Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management and B.S. in Finance and Economics at the University of Alabama. John Grady attends Redeemer Community Church in Birmingham, AL with his wife, Lelie and son, Thomas.
James Wessel
Born in Huntsville, Alabama, and married to Liz, James Wessel is the proud parent of six children. They are active members of Rivertree Church. In 2001, James founded Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus, a company specializing in the purchase, sale, and restoration of used firetrucks.
Mark Wesson
Mark is the Founder and CEO of EverSource Wealth Advisors and BMSS Wesson Wealth Solutions, registered investment advisor firms based in Birmingham, AL. Mark has a 30+ year career dedicated to consulting wealthy individuals, families and owners of privately held businesses. Mark is passionate about designing solutions for harnessing Kingdom Capital for Kingdom Impact through connecting and encouraging Faith-Driven investors, entrepreneurs, and advisors. He works in many faith-driven networks worldwide and is part of the founding group for The Lions Den Birmingham.
Mark has traveled extensively, consulting with and personally investing in many business-as-missions companies globally. He and his wife, Missi, are parents of four children and have five grandchildren.
2023 Schedule of Events
Highlands College & The Club
12:00 – 5:30 PM Pre-event Activities/Rehearsal for Presenters & Panelists
6:00 – 9:00 PM Registration, Dinner, Special Speaker, Networking (at THE CLUB)
Thursday, October 12
Highlands College
7:00 – 8:00 AM One-on-One Consults for Select Attendees (Various Locations)
8:00 – 8:30 AM Registration, Breakfast (Auditorium Lobby)
8:30 – 8:50 AM Opening Plenary Session (Auditorium)
8:50 – 9:00 AM Break/Transition
9:00 – 10:15 AM Summit Breakout Sessions 1 (see Breakout List)
10:15 – 10:30 AM Break/Transition
10:30 – 11:45 AM Summit Breakout Sessions 2 (see Breakout List)
11:45 – 12:00 PM Break/Transition
12:00 – 1:15 PM Keynote Luncheon & Address (Auditorium)
1:15 – 2:00 PM Closing Plenary Session (Auditorium)
2:00 – 2:15 PM Break/Transition
2:15 – 3:30 PM Summit Industry Sessions (Optional – see Breakout List)
3:30 – 4:30 PM Break/Networking Time, Exhibits & One-on-One Consults
4:30 – 6:30 PM The Lions Den Main Event (Auditorium)
7:00 – 9:00 PM Wrap Dinner (Courtyard-level Cafe)
Highlands College
8:00 – 11:30 AM Accredited Investor Meeting (Highlands College – Studio 300)
11:30 – 12:30 PM Fellowship & Networking (Highlands College – Studio 300)
