The Catalyst 2045 Advisory Board

CEO, Cofounder, & Managing Director, ULU Ventures
Area of Expertise: Venture Banking

Miriam Rivera is CEO, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Ulu Ventures, a top-tier seed stage venture firm in Silicon Valley focused on high-growth and market-leading technology companies. More than 80% of Ulu portfolio companies are founded by diverse teams that include women, minority, URM and/or immigrant founders. The firm has nearly $400M AUM and 10 unicorns in the portfolio. Ulu was the first Latina-led venture fund in Silicon Valley.​

Before co-founding Ulu, Miriam was Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at Google, joining in 2001 as its second attorney. Her work to simplify contracts helped Google scale from $85m to $10b in 5 years.

Founder & Managing Partner, Elevate Capital
Area of Expertise: Technology Banking

Nitin Rai is a highly successful software technology leader and entrepreneur turned Venture Capitalist. Nitin is the Founder and Managing Partner of Elevate Capital. Launched in 2016, Elevate Capital is the nation’s first institutional venture capital fund specifically targeting investments in underrepresented entrepreneurs, such as women and BIPOCs, or those with limited regional access to capital and opportunities. This is an untapped pool of visionaries with disruptive ideas and products we support through our investments.  ​

Nitin started his career in Silicon Valley as an engineer at two startups. In 1994, he founded First Insight Corporation, a successful electronic health records (EHR), practice management, and ophthalmic image management software company, and a revenue cycle management/billing service (Fast Pay Health) for eye care professionals. The company is based in Hillsboro, Oregon, and Pune, India. First Insight is a leader in the optometry, ophthalmology, and optical software industry with its flagship software, MaximEyes. 

CEO, Firefly Health
Area of Expertise: Healthcare Banking

Fay Rotenberg is the President and CEO of Firefly Health, a ‘virtual-first Kaiser’ providing accountable care + coverage to the commercial market. Firefly delivers better care at a lower cost through its combination of risk-bearing primary care, hybrid network and navigation, enabling technology platform, and health plan. Today, Firefly serves care members in 50 states and health plan members in 41 states.​

Fay brings two decades of experience as a Healthcare Investor, Founder/CEO, and Developer to this role. Prior to Firefly, Fay led U.S. healthcare growth equity investments at Premji Invest, with investments in Devoted Health, Included Health, and Moderna. She serves on the board of Girls Who Code, Maine & Co., and Zus Health, as well as on the Executive Committee of Phillips Academy Andover and as an Advisor to Pearl Health.

Partner, FLCRUM
Area of Expertise: Private Equity

Benjamin Carson Jr. is Co-Founder and Partner at FVLCRUM Funds, a CRA Eligible Lower-Middle Market Equity firm based in Washington DC, where he is responsible for the overall strategy of the company and its portfolio. FVLCRUM, founded in 2013, is one of the few minority-owned private investment firms in the country and targets transactions between $10-40 million backing proven executive teams leading highly scalable businesses. The fund exclusively invests in minority owned businesses with the goals of creating generational wealth for the executive teams and opportunities for underserved communities.​

Prior to founding FVLCRUM, Benjamin served in an executive capacity at The Warner Companies, a middle market financial services and consulting firm, where he advised companies on mergers and acquisitions, capital structuring, capital raises, investments, risk management and strategic planning.

Founder & CEO, The Labz
Area of Expertise: Startup Banking

With over 25 years of experience in Technology, Farah Allen is an expert in emerging technology. She is the CEO and founder of "The Labz," catering to clients like Google, Delta, and Microsoft. Her company's revolutionary software enables its users to create interactive content. ​

Farah's accomplishments include winning several prestigious awards, such as Georgia Minority Technology Business of the Year 2023, growth stage Startup of the Year 2023 and 2021, AJC's Women of the Year in Technology, and Cosmo Magazine’s C-Suite Woman of the Year. Her achievements have also been featured in top publications, including Forbes, Business Insider, and Fast Company.

Executive Vice President, The Peebles Corporation
Area of Expertise: Commercial Real Estate

Donahue Peebles, III, Executive Vice President of The Peebles Corporation, handles new acquisitions and business development for the company.​

Mr. Peebles actively pursues public and private real estate transactions in The Peebles Corporation’s key markets, including Miami, Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, Charlotte, and Atlanta.​

In addition, Donahue is the Chairman and CEO of Legacy Real Estate Development, a residential real estate development firm which focuses on the development and acquisition of low-income housing projects in South Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, and New York tri-state area.​

Mr. Peebles holds a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University, where he was awarded the prestigious George William Curtis Prize in Oration.