Angel Financing for Entrepreneurs

Ms. Preston is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, specifically focusing on initiatives related to the capital community, particularly in the areas of angel investing and angel organizations. In addition, she is Director of Attorney Training and Professional Development for Davis Wright Tremaine, a 450-lawyer national/international law firm. Ms. Preston has held several board positions with public and privately held corporations, as well as serving on non-profit boards. Ms. Preston is Chairman of the Board for The Hope Heart Institute, a leading cardiovascular research institute with national and international recognition. She is the chair of the Entrepreneurship Center at Seattle University and is a member of the Board of Visitors for Washington State University. In addition, Ms. Preston was on the board of advisors for Nokia/Innovent. Additionally, Ms. Preston is the author of Angel Investment Groups, Networks and Funds: A Guidebook to Developing the Right Angel Organization for Your Community, a comprehensive guidebook on the establishment and operation of angel investment groups. She was also a contributing author to State of the Art: An Executive Briefing on the Cutting-Edge Practices in American Angel Investing.

Ms. Preston has been and continues to be a national and international speaker on economic development and angel and venture financing, for such programs as Goldman Sachs, Northern Trust, NYU Business School, OECD, Industry Canada, Alberta California Venture Channel, Angel Capital Association, National Angel Organization, NASVF, SSTI, NBIA, MASVF, Jamaican Government, Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, Washington State legislation, Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, and many others. Ms. Preston has been profiled in Inc. Magazine and in other local and national publications, and has contributed to numerous nationally published articles on women entrepreneurship or angel investing. Ms. Preston is a founder and immediate past-president of Seraph Capital Forum, an all-women’s accredited investor angel investment organization. She testified at a United States Congressional hearing in support for the $4 Billion Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program as the national expert on angel financing, and most recently regarding H.R. 5198 (and S. 3950), a Federal income tax credit for private equity investments. Ms. Preston is the architect of H.R. 5198 and S. 3950, with the bill concept originating from Ms. Preston’s discussions and interactions with the House Small Business Committee on solutions to the loss of the SBIC participating equity program. Ms. Preston continues to actively participate in the promotion and furtherance of the bill on Capital Hill and elsewhere.

Ms. Preston has significant experience in senior management of companies including CEO of Reality Based Learning Company, a privately held company that designed, developed, and produced webdelivered educational curriculum and assessment products for the pre-K through 6th grade market. Until taking the CEO position, Ms. Preston was a partner with Cooley Godward and was a founding partner in the firm’s Pacific Northwest office, and prior to that COO and General Counsel for Source Scientific, Inc., a publicly traded medical device company, and VP, General Counsel for MicroProbe Corporation, a public biotech research and development company. Ms. Preston received her JD, cum laude, from Seattle University School of Law and her BS, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, in Microbiology and Public Health from Washington State University.