Executive Leadership and Board Members
Teofilo Tijerina
Executive Director and Co-Founder
teo.tijerina@edcoonline.org
(915) 539-5552
Mr. Tijerina is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of EDCO Ventures. Born in Reynosa, Mexico and raised in McAllen, TX, Mr. Tijerina is an entrepreneur who co-founded Innovei International, LLP (www.innovei.com), in El Paso, Texas. He has held executive and senior engineering positions with Dell, Inc., Rockwell Semiconductor Systems, and Dow Chemicals. He holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University and attended the Graduate School of Business and the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) program at University of Texas El Paso.
Laura Bosworth-Bucher
Venture Executive
laura.bosworth@edcoonline.org
Laura is a venture executive mentoring nascent start-ups on all aspects of strategic planning from critical hiring, business development to capitalization. She is an experienced executive with 20 years of combined service with Dell and IBM.
She was most recently director of Dell’s WW Customer Experience effort where she worked with leaders across the corporation to define Dell’s strategy and execution plans for improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. During her tenure, satisfaction improved 40-50% in core support organizations. Within Dell, she led several marketing and engineering functions and delivered solutions that enabled over $500M in revenue. Ms Bosworth was also part of launching Dell’s consulting services business. Prior to joining Dell in 1998, Ms. Bosworth held a variety of management positions at IBM with experience in customer support and both product and manufacturing process engineering. Laura is also applying her strategic planning skills to a variety of other non-profit organizations, sharing her expertise through consulting, volunteer and board service. Ms. Bosworth holds a degree in engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso.
Morgan Simon
Co-Founder, Innovacion Investments
morgan.simon@toniic.com
Morgan Simon is a serial social entrepreneur with particular expertise in impact investment and international development. In addition to leading the global expansion of the Toniic angel investor network as co-Founder and CEO, she is also a Founding Partner of Innovación Investments, which is currently launching Texas’s first community development venture capital fund.
Board of Directors
Phil Pompa, Chairman
Co-Founder, Articulate Labs
Austin, TX
ppompa@austin.rr.com
Alfonso Morales, Secretary
Sociology Professor, Urban and Regional Planning, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
amorales@ssc.wisc.edu
Angel Fierro, Treasurer & Interim Chair
Investment Banker, Vice President, Credit Suisse Energy Banking
New York, New York
angel.fierro@credit-suisse.com
Board Advisors
Ms. Cathy Swain
Executive Director
Hub of Human Innovation
El Paso, TX
cathy@hubofhumaninnovation.org
Dr. Javier Angel Kypuros
Asst. Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas Pan American
Edinburg, TX
jakypuros@utpa.edu
Jesse Tijerina
R & D Programs, Praxair Corporation
Houston, TX
Jesse_Tijerina@Praxair.com
Lance Jones
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, Trilogy, Inc.
Austin, TX
lance.jones@trilogy.com
Leo A. Ramirez, Jr.
CEO, MiniDonations and EDCO Ventures Co-Founder
Austin, TX
leo.ramirez@edcoonline.org
Armando Caloca
BBVA Compass
McAllen, TX
armando.caloca@bbvacompass.com
Steven C. Chang
Partner, Clearlake Capital Group
Santa Monica, CA
steve@clearlakecapital.com
Michael Churchman
Founder, Rocky Mountain Radar & Lynx Exhibits
El Paso, Texas
katltd@sbcglobal.net