Meet Philly Startup Leaders New Board Members & Advisors
Philly Startup Leaders’ mission is to help current and future founders succeed in Philadelphia and beyond. Our board members and advisors are responsible for guiding the work of the organization in a way that best fulfills that mission.
We look for board members and advisors who have a deep understanding of entrepreneurship, a passion for mentorship, knowledge of thriving startup ecosystems around the world, and a dedication to the development (and success) of founders in Philadelphia.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are essential to our success. As the largest startup community for current and future founders in Philadelphia, it’s important that we are mindful of DEI in everything we do.
The four board members and advisors joining us in 2020 have a combination of the above skills and so much more. Keep reading to meet the leaders who will help us take the organization to the next level.
Mark Switaj - Board Member
Photo via the Philadelphia Inquirer
Mark Switaj is the CEO and Founder of Roundtrip and has been an active member of the Philadelphia startup community for over five years, mentoring and speaking at various events.
Since starting the company in 2016, Mark has led Roundtrip to become the leading digital transportation marketplace for better health outcomes. The no-show rate for patients with transportation arranged by Roundtrip performs five times better than the national average. Mark holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a BS in Management from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management. He also is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, and an avid skier and runner.
Roundtrip is built for healthcare professionals — care coordinators, social workers, nurses, and other transport requestors —and offers easy-to-use online and mobile platforms that connect patients with non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT). Roundtrip is a comprehensive solution which supports all levels of transport: medical cars, wheelchair vans, stretcher vehicles, ALS/BLS, all payors, and all trips delivered when and where they are needed.
The startup raised a $5.1M Series A in May of 2019 and was part of the PSL accelerator in 2017.
Aurora Archer - Board Member & Advisor on Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion
Photo via Aurora Archer
Aurora Archer is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bellatrix and recently became involved in the Philadelphia startup community when she pivoted from corporate executive to startup founder.
She is a digital marketing executive who has spent the last 25 years delivering business impact across the technology, retail, publishing, and healthcare industries via award-winning brand campaigns, breakthrough marketing strategies, and digital transformation initiatives.
Aurora co-founded the Bellatrix Group in 2018, bringing her diverse skill sets and passion to enable health and wellness clients to create meaningful disruption through bringing a human-centered approach, and creating engaging experiences that truly serve the audience. Aurora led their first client to win a Cannes Lions Grand Prix for a healthcare campaign, was recognized for ‘Leadership in Technology’ by the Association for Women in Computing, and has been the subject of a cover story in Working Mother magazine.
Additionally, Aurora co-hosts The Opt-In, a podcast of two socially, generationally and ethnically divergent besties who get real with honest, messy conversations about their different experiences with racism, our food system, and much more as they work to be better humans for themselves, humanity, and our planet.
Melissa Lee - Board Member
Photo via Philadelphia Magazine
Melissa Lee is the Founder and CEO of The GREEN Program (TGP), an experiential education program for young leaders in sustainable development. She has been involved in the Philadelphia startup community for over ten years.
For her work with TGP, Lee was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners as the Environmental Advocate of the Year, Philadelphia magazine's Best of Philly® 2018 Expander of Frontiers, and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Education. Lee is also a U.S. Global Schools Ambassador for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth, and the 2018 Heinz Distinguished Lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh.
Lee is driven by a desire to reshape higher education curricula to include purposeful, hands-on experience for students. As CEO, Lee has expanded TGP beyond its roots as an experiential education program, partnering with the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network and the World Bank’s Climate4Climate program to create a global, socially-conscious, public benefit company. TGP represents students from 470 universities and 70 countries around the world, who are now employed at organizations such as General Electric, SpaceX, Tesla, Boeing, NASA, Lockheed Martin, The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and more.
A first-generation Chinese-American, Lee was born in Queens, NY. Today, she resides in Philadelphia, PA, where TGP is headquartered.
Tiffanie Stanard - Advisor on Branding and Media
Photo via Philadelphia Business Journal
Tiffanie Stanard is known for following all of her passions - an anomaly in many sorts because she is a techie, creative, media personality/producer & entrepreneur. She has been involved in the Philadelphia startup community for over five years.
Tiffanie founded Prestige Concepts (PC), an award-winning brand enhancement agency ten years ago (now a holding company). PC specialized in branding and marketing strategies to fuse the organization's for-profit and social impact messaging for customer alignment. Our prestige concepts have positioned new and established brands to grow their presence, projects, and partnerships. Clients included: IBM, Microsoft, Paramount Pictures, Live Nation, Comcast, Cirque Du Soleil, McDonald's, and more.
Stanard is now the Founder/CEO of Stimulus, a B2B software company that empowers teams in procurement, vendor & supply chain management to leverage data to make smarter purchasing decisions. With the mission of “Build Better Relationships,” the Stimulus platform streamlines multiple software applications and processes to discover opportunities to drive value for all. Since its inception, Stimulus has partnered with Salesforce, Microsoft, Google for Startups, and more.
In 2017, Stanard won “Media Maven of the Year” at the Power of Women Summit for her work connecting tech, media, and community.