Meet the Veteran Founders Forum Mentors
After serving 10+ years as a Russian Cryptologic Linguist in the Air Force, Damian Niolet decided to turn his energies toward creating lasting value within local communities through businesses focused on the areas of empowerment, entrepreneurship, and entertainment. As such, he obtained his Master of Entrepreneurship degree from Western Carolina University and went on to start three companies - Baseline It!, The Start Squad, and Exemplary Media. Always a rebel with an “artsylitical” mind and a “kindrocious” heart, he is dead set on disrupting outdated modes of thinking by offering innovative products and services designed to help improve qualities of life, personally, professionally . . . planetary. Damian will know he has achieved his goal when he becomes the poorest serial social empire building entrepreneur on a prestigious list of "most influential thought-leaders of all time.” In the meantime, he is excited to lend his expertise in business positioning, market strategizing, and operations management to entrepreneurs and companies in any phase - starting, growing, or evening exiting. He is also more than willing to leverage his connections as the Vice President of Alachua County Emerging Leaders (ACEL), a Diplomat for the Greater Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, a member of the United Way’s Community Investment Council, and/or an Ambassador for Veterans for Peace to the benefit of mentees aiming to make a positive difference in Alachua County and beyond. To learn more about or to connect with Damian, find him on LinkedIn. He’s the only "Damian Niolet" in the world, so he won’t be difficult to find.
Dasha Tyshlek prepares innovative companies to grow rapidly by equipping their leadership team with the practical tools and the essential discipline for executing winning strategies. She is a force multiplier who readily jumps into the most technologically complex teams to implement solutions necessary for the company’s long-term success.
Growing up Dasha Tyshlek knew she wanted to become an entrepreneur: leading people to change the world through innovative products and services. Her love for technology and problem-solving lead her to study Engineering Science at the University of Virginia. Today, Dasha is the CEO and Founder of StratCraft, a strategic partner for growing technology companies. The StratCraft team teaches executive teams how to be more purposeful, structured, planful, and focused and assist them through the implementation of their most difficult projects.
Dasha Tyshlek has deployed strategic planning and specific growth initiatives in companies across many high-tech industries including space, satellite communications, biomedical devices, translational research, automotive, financial, and defense. Her first complex project was developing a go-to-market strategy for new Asian markets for a new vehicle class to Bugatti Automotive. Later, she consulted for the University of Virginia Biomedical Department by assisting newly founded companies with their operational planning, supply chain development, and customer identification. Dasha worked in the Office of the CEO at Bridgewater Associates where she helped write the company’s first ever strategy, planning, and budgeting process and personally lead multiple projects. She is a recognized leader in the space and satellite communications industry due to her deep technical understanding and ability to forge complex multi-company partnerships and agreements. She has successfully coached seasoned executives and new leaders on how to prioritize better, have more effective and less time-consuming meetings, and how to better recruit and retain top talent.
StratCraft publishes regular content on global trends impacting private businesses, business transformation and strategy, and operational excellence. StratCraft offers live courses and private coaching for executives who need to grow as strategic leaders and into managing larger scopes of work.
Christine Caven inspires, motivates, and educates startups on leveraging emerging technologies and digital marketing to stand out and tell their unique stories to reach Millennial and Generation Z consumers. Since 2013, Caven has been helping founders with public relations, marketing, content management, event planning, and much more.
As Director of Communications at PS27, Caven helps to manage and improve the company's brand and serves as a media advisor to the PS27 Rhea Fund portfolio companies. The PS27 Rhea Fund is a 20-million dollar venture capital fund focused on early-stage technology companies. Rhea Fund is seeking to invest in early-stage solutions in SaaS, HealthTech, FinTech, Sustainability, and E-Commerce companies that can scale rapidly. Rhea Fund is also interested in founders who are women, veterans, and people of color.
Giving back to the community, Caven sits on the Board of Directors of startGNV as Vice President and is a member of the Synapse Florida Impact Board.
Keith has 30+ years in treasury and treasury technology, split almost evenly between roles as a corporate practioner and within FinTech.
During the early part of his career, he was heavily involved in AP, AR, and Accounting, eventually moving into treasury roles, where he started the treasury departments for transportation, financial services, and pharmaceutical companies. Within these roles, his responsibilities included (directly or indirectly by teams he managed) cash positioning, cash forecasting, liquidity management, credit risk management, payments (treasury), accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank account management, debt and investment management, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management, insurance, and real estate.
After transitioning from corporate roles into FinTech’s, Keith was involved in roles varying from product management, consulting, system implementations, marketing, project management, sales, sales management, strategy, and business development within companies selling into AP, AR and treasury. Keith has worked for many well-known FinTech’s, including Financial Sciences, Kyriba, IT2 (purchased by Ion), Bellin / Coupa, HighRadius, and GetPaid, XRT and MCM, which are all now part of FIS. Keith has been involved in numerous high visibility corporate projects at firms such as Costco, Viacom, Marriott, ADT, Mizuho, HIG Capital, Alexion, CSX, Ontario Teacher Pension Plan, Brookfield, BMC, and many others.
Areas of Specialty
Treasury – department / functional startups, strategy, structure, technology, process improvement and policies and procedures
Working capital strategies – digital transformation, automation, best practices, cash and risk visibility and cash forecasting
FinTech – strategy, vertical and horizontal expansion (including solutions moving into the North America market), product development, and market intelligence within the AP, AR, and Treasury space
Maria Ceballos-Zagales began her work at Bay Area Legal Services as a 2020 Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Raytheon and Kirkland & Ellis. Her project established a mobile legal clinic serving vulnerable veterans throughout the state. Maria works with the Veterans Team focusing on different aspects of civil law, along with VA benefits, Discharge Upgrades, and Character of Discharge Reviews. Prior to her law career, Maria worked in education for over 20 years as a K-12 teacher, school administrator, adjunct professor, and education consultant. Maria also worked in corporate America for 10 years as a Program Manager for two telecommunication companies. Throughout her career, Maria has participated in the initial development and implementation of two schools and four corporations. As an entrepreneur, Maria has also managed her own education consulting company since 2008. Maria received her law degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She also holds a B.S. in varying exceptionalities, a M.S. in TESOL and technology, and an Ed.S. in reading.
Rebecca Smith is a PMP-certified, strategic tour de force who brings over a decade of consultative expertise in the fields of project management, management consulting, business strategy, and marketing. She’s worked across a wide array of B2B/B2C/B2G industries including government, manufacturing, technology, financial, higher education, retail, and service. She’s worked with fledgling start-ups as well as established companies exceeding $2B in revenue. She’s owned and sold her own businesses. Her varied professional background reflects her business philosophy of diversity, innovation, and adaptability.
Rebecca is a graduate of the University of Florida, a wife to a combat Veteran and Firefighter, a mother of two beautiful daughters and a leisure paddle boarder. She’s bilingual in Spanish and English and is proud to represent diversity and inclusion as a female, minority business owner.
Tillery Durbin, a Jacksonville, FL native, graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She started her career in the financial industry in 2013 as a teller for a Jacksonville-based credit union. In 2014 she transitioned to business lending as a receptionist, progressing her way up to Assistant Vice President. Tillery is currently the Regional Sales Director of Business Services for Addition Financial Credit Union, based in Lake Mary, FL. She oversees the commercial loan officers in Central Florida along with being tasked in developing the footprint of business banking and business lending in the Jacksonville market as part of the strategic initiative of the credit union. She currently sits on the advisory board for the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Fund, co-chair for CUEP (Credit Union Education on Program) and is the chairman of the advisory council for the Salvation Army in Clay County.
Tillery has thus far been awarded the following distinguished accomplishments:
- 2022 Jacksonville Business Journal 40 under 40
- 2020 North Florida SBA Financial Advocate
- 2020 Regional Volunteer of the year from SBDC at UNF
- 2020 Credit Union Rockstar from CU Magazine
Gaurav Seth, primarily known as his last name, is the Managing Partner of Emerging Tech LLC. He started his career with the USAF where he integrated classified systems deployed in conflict zones like Afghanistan and Iraq, and programmed precision targets for UAVs (Hawks & Predators). After leaving the USAF, he worked for various government organizations like the VA, FBI, DIA, and NSA, among others. After 15 years of a variety of government consultancy roles, he was ready to venture on a new journey.
Seth founded Emerging Tech, fondly known as 'ET' in 2015. His vision led to the creation of ET's 'on-demand' service model, designed to drive a better customer experience for a fraction of the industry standard price. Fast-forward to 2023, ET is now HUBZone, SDVOSB, and SDB certified and has been providing on-demand consultancy services for the past seven years.
Craig Chambers is a former technology sector executive and corporate advisor with expertise in strategy, operations, and innovation management. During a thirty-year private sector career, he built and led executive and consulting teams serving the electronics, digital services, biomedical and diversified manufacturing sectors. He was chief executive of two venture-funded businesses in the advanced video technology industry, developing computer vision products for both government and commercial customers. In the public sector, he served as a senior advisor in the US Department of Homeland Security dealing with commercialization of emerging technologies, then led the State of Ohio’s Office of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, with responsibility for the state’s $2 billion venture investment initiative and various federal small business programs. Before joining PS27, he was an instructor in smart government at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, where he also served as an executive in residence for the university’s venture fund.
Craig’s early career was as a commissioned officer in the US Navy submarine force, where he served on two nuclear attack submarines. He earned a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated in the top one percent of his class. He also holds a master of science degree in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master in business administration degree from the Harvard Business School.