Our Team
Steve is an educator and mentor to students both inside and outside the classroom and is an author of his own curriculum on entrepreneurship, The 86400 Program. Formerly, Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Dominican University, a lecturer at the College of Engineering University of California Berkeley, Center for Entrepreneurship, Adjunct Professor of Graduate Accounting and Ethics, St. Mary’s College of California, Adjunct Professor of Business, Ohlone College, and mentor with the John F. Kennedy University Institute of Entrepreneurial Leadership. His research interests include the study of the conative faculty of the mind – as a predictor of entrepreneurship skills. Steve gives some of his best current and former students the opportunity to work on real life emerging businesses development and strategy.
Imelda Alejandrino brings with her over 20 years of producing result-driven and award-winning work as both a creative director and strategist. As the founder and chief evangelist behind AP42, she has led the charge by forming a top-quality team driven by a successful combination of creative quality, strategic focus and client services. It’s a business model that has enabled her to maintain successful relations with a veritable Who’s Who of leading brands: Pacific Gas & Electric, Roche, Symantec, Teletech, NetApp, Chevron, and Wells Fargo to name a few.
Imelda has garnered Gold & Best in Show Awards from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (ADDYS), The San Francisco Show, the San Francisco Ad Club and International ECHO Awards.
Imelda is the Leadership Forum 2nd Vice Chair of the Global Service Team for the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and is active in the Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council (WRMSDC). She also earned an appointment to the California Department of Insurance Diversity Task Force from 2018-2019. All of these activities stem from her passion to advocate for minority businesses and to promote greater equality in industry.
Associates
Rose Ashford has 15 years of high-level sales experience managing large accounts with Fortune 500 Companies such as Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car. She has successfully managed and monitored over $100M+ in company assets. Using big data and analytics, she focuses on developing and fostering partnerships. She enjoys volunteering and mentoring which stem from being a member of Girl Scouts as an adolescent in her teenage years.
Rose represents the all-American dream as an émigré from Sierra Leone. She has learned that great work ethics, hard work, determination, and tenacity are attainable. She is a lifelong learner and has an MBA and MA in Leadership Organization from Saint Mary’s College. She truly relishes playing a role in maximizing the success of client companies.
Barbara Utter is an expert at accounting and finance. She provides client service regarding business plan development, financing and analysis. With over 20 years experience from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, her research background helps her to analyze standard operating procedures and recommend process improvements using a scientific method. Her goal is for each of our clients to have a fully evolved strategy in Accounting and Finance that is consistent with best practices and each client’s mission.
Barb has a BS and MS in Biology from Stanford University and recently went back to school to get a Master’s in Accounting from St. Mary’s College of California. She has been working at Madeira Ventures on developing business plans for startups and standard operating procedures so that established companies can take their business to the next level.
Kalpesh Vaidya is a true entrepreneur with large and small company experience. He has over 16 years’ experience in technology management, designing and creating cutting-edge software solution with open-source technologies. He has worked with startups as well as public organizations. His operations focus is enhanced by a broad business perspective, which enables thoughtful and careful consulting recommendations. He has led a million-dollar service business unit with onshore and offshore development. Additionally, he achieved a record margin during his tenure at Kibo Commerce, an eCommerce platform company.
Kalpesh received a B.S. in Computer Engineering and an MBA from the Saint Mary’s College of California.
Linda received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance at Brigham Young University, as well as a Master’s degree in Music Performance from Arizona State University and a Master’s in Business Administration from Brigham Young University.
Todd Neil has spent the past 20 years in public accounting, building business attributes from company start-up to dissolution. He can provide customized financial analysis, and help identify business risks, in order to maximize your growth and efficiency. Based on expertise in corporate, LLC, partnership, non-profit, trust & individual income taxes, along with general accounting, and audit & attestation, whether you’re profit driven or tax motivated, he can help establish a business strategy.
He currently acts in Controller/CFO roles for more than a dozen small businesses, and sits on the Advisory Board of multiple non-profit organizations.
Student Associates
Zhen Lee is a student at Ohlone College pursuing degrees in Accounting and Business, while raising a family. Having worked in Quality Control, as a technician in R&D, she drafted and created IC layouts for advanced semiconductor sensors.
Valisha McBride is a part-time student at Ohlone College while working as a Facility Compliance Liaison with Suncrest Home Health and Hospice. She is focused on compliance monitoring and measurement. Prior to Suncrest, she worked as a Quality Control Specialist with Amazon and Tesla. She was also a Healthcare Administrator for several neurology groups in the Bay Area. Over a twenty-year focus in healthcare she has developed and trained other administrators to assist them in their growing practices.