Staff Bios
Gordon McConnell
Gordon McConnell is the Assistant Vice President for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Venture Acceleration for the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development at ASU. He joined ASU in June 2011 in the role of Executive Director for Venture Acceleration, managing the Venture Catalyst unit based in ASU SkySong which includes the Edson Student Accelerator program. Prior to relocating to the US, Gordon was Deputy CEO of the Dublin City University (DCU) Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship in Ireland.
As part of his role at DCU Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, he co-founded, and was the first director of the Propeller Venture Accelerator in Dublin and a charter member of the Techstars Network. Gordon worked for DCU over eight years, including the previous position of Head of Strategy and Administration in the DCU President's Office from 2005 until 2009. Gordon also taught graduate courses, including entrepreneurship, in a number of higher education institutions such as DCU, All Hallows College and Dublin Institute of Technology.
Prior to working at DCU, Gordon worked in industry, venture capital and was a senior consultant in the Andersen Consulting (Accenture) strategy practice in Europe. Gordon has also been part of the founding group of two funded start-up companies in the late 1990’s. He now serves as an advisor to a number of startup ventures in Ireland including GreenEgg Technologies and Associate Mobile. Gordon has produced published research in a number of areas including the development of high technology clusters, innovation in social entrepreneurship and the digital media sector.
Brent Sebold
Brent Sebold is the Senior Venture Manager for the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative within the Venture Catalyst at Arizona State University.
Brent earned a Doctor of Education degree from Arizona State University in 2011. His research focused on leadership and innovation, collegiate co-curricular engagement marketing strategies, and student retention. Brent also earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Ohio University in 2001 and a Master of Education degree from Arizona State University in 2006.
Additionally, Brent is co-founder of Small Victories, a children’s book publishing start up that allows aspiring children’s book authors and illustrators to create, test-market, and sell their books via crowd-sourced feedback and democratic innovation. Prior to joining the Venture Catalyst, Brent served as an Assistant Director within the Undergraduate Student Academic Services Office at Arizona State University’s School of Nutrition and Health Promotion.
Valeria Andrews
Valeria Andrews is the Venture Specialist for the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative. She is in her senior year in the Business Communications program from W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.