masterpicks

Gabriela Matos Méndez, a young, creative and passionate professional with experience in all administrative, operational and executive tasks. During these past years, Ms. Matos has assisted in all three roles to the CEO and COO in the medical malpractice insurance industry. She is passionate about creating, innovating and taking her responsibilities and potentials to the fullest.

Ms. Matos is still pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Office Systems Administration and secondary degree in business administration at the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico. In the future, she wants to do her master’s degree in Human Resources and continue to develop, and achieve all of her personal and professional goals.

Lei Kim-Lau leads strategic initiatives and principal gifts at University of California, SF (UCSF), making sure big ideas don’t die on the vine. She is Co-Founder of Xponential Health and Wealth where she creates co-elevating communities and events in biohacking and investing. Previously, Lei worked at the World Bank, U.N. (Bosnia-Herzegovina), and White House. She studied at Columbia University and MIT.

William (Bill) Thomason has over 25 years of investment experience as a Buy-Side Analyst, General Partner, Portfolio Manager and Social Impact Investor for a public mutual fund and a hedge fund and for a community development venture capital fund. He is the author of “Make Money Work for You, Instead of You working for It” John Wiley and Sons publishers.

Over the course of his career he has managed and been responsible for around $1 billion dollars in assets under management including traditional long-only investments and alternative investments and community development venture capital. He is also a seasoned investor and trader in Forex, Options, Futures, Short-selling, Derivatives and Commodities. He’s now adding to his resume Digital Assets, Cryptocurrency and NFTs.

He has made private investments and is on the board of several innovative companies in technology, healthcare, clean energy, Fintech and blockchain.

A frequent contributor to Black Enterprise Magazine, he was selected as one of the top 75 “Blacks on Wall Street” by the magazine.

He has been an entrepreneur in residence and adjunct faculty at both Michigan State University and Wayne State University and taught Economics 4995 at Wayne State “Introduction to Venture Capital and Social Impact Investing.

Currently, he is an advisor to Genesis Vault Capital a digital assets and cryptocurrency hedge fund and Redwoods Crypto a cryptocurrency educational company and global community.

In his personal time, having come from a musical family, he is passionate about his love for music and playing the piano, guitar, and being a neophyte songwriter.

Franklin is the Chief Operating Officer with Redwoods. He strives to run a healthy organization that is laser-focused on revenue generation and providing the highest quality products, while ensuring proper system development along the way. Franklin understands that in order for an organization to be healthy and successful, it needs to be organized and efficient, and he strives to bring those elements to his role. Franklin graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2013 with a degree in Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature. After completing his degree, he worked with young people struggling with chemical dependency and mental health diagnoses. In early 2014, He began his career as a Residential Counselor with Volunteers of America, working at a residential treatment center. Later that same year, he was recruited to join Meridian Services to provide direct care to youth populations across the spectrum of developmental and sensory disorders. In 2015, he joined the United States Peace Corps and moved to Namibia. During his two years in the Peace Corps, he taught English, advocated to engage youth in development programs, wrote and produced curricula to better disseminate HIV/AIDS education, and improved the infrastructure and health outlook in the community. He spent the last four years building and working with Young People in Recovery, a national 501c3.

Justin Luke Riley‘s personal mission statement is to charismatically communicate principles that inspire others to be extraordinary. His personal branding statement is listen, learn, lead. He has extensive background in building nonprofit and for-profit companies. For example, Young People in Recovery, North West Roofing, Hope For Justice, Friends First, Thrive Co-Working, Yellow Brick Road, Faces and Voices of Recovery, Advocates For Recovery, The Stacie Mathewson Foundation, The National Youth Recovery Foundation, AmeriCorps VISTA, The C4 Group, The Colorado Department of Higher Education, and The Salvation Army. His core competency is organizational development and he has an extreme passion for leadership. His entrepreneurial acumen has been recognized by Forbes as a leading social entrepreneur, recipient of the White House Champion of Change Award, and Presidential Appointee under the Health and Human Services agency as a National Advisory Council Member for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and others alike. After graduating with honors from the University of Colorado he went on to secure an EMBA from the same university. He has shared the stage with President Obama and has been an active media representative for the addiction recovery movement on networks such as but not limited to Fox and CNN. He’s also secured pivotal corporate partnerships for previous companies he’s lead like Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. And his public speaking experiences include multiple White House engagements, United Nations addresses, and countless others. A few of his core values are faith, family, and amassing a fortune for good to positively impact the world. He and his wife Rachel currently live in Colorado with their three children, Everly, Wilder, and Maverick.

Vj’s brilliance is found at the intersection of technology and investing. He graduated from the prestigious Singularity University in 2009 where he co-founded Get Around, the “Uber for cars”. Then in 2012 he bought his first bitcoin. Vj became impassioned by the problems blockchain technology could solve which led his deep dive into the technology. To solve his own pain point he created software for automating crypto accounting and taxes which was sold to Ernst & Young in 2018. He has emerged as a foremost authority in the industry and launched his own SEC-regulated digital asset hedge fund. Vj has made many successful investments in the cryptocurrency space. Some of those investments include:

● $THETA – 7842 % ROI
● $CAKE – 16,704 % ROI
● $DGB – 19,683% ROI
● And many more….

In a desire to serve investors seeking to advance their digital asset acumen, Vj founded Redwoods where he could share his expertise and experience on a global scale.

While he has made massive leaps financially for himself and others, his main passion is giving back to make this world a better place. In addition to Redwoods, Vj is committed to many causes including SaveTheRedwoods.org.

GERALD ROGERS is a nationally known speaker, best selling author and transformational seminar leader who has been featured on the TODAY SHOW, CNN, Huffington Post, TEDx, and media networks around the world. Over the last 10 years he has spoken to and trained tens of thousands of individuals on the art of Conscious Lifestyle Design, and how to develop UNLIMITED CONFIDENCE so you can crush it in business, thrive in your relationships, and create the life you were meant to live.

Tom Brown has served as the Owner & CEO of North-West Roofing for more than 15 years. He started his career in the 1990s in sales and management. He worked his way up the ladder to become the General Manager for another roofing company from 2002 to 2006. After gaining that general manager experience, he purchased North-West Roofing. Since the initial purchase, Tom has built North-West Roofing into a trusted, community-focused Commercial & Residential roofing powerhouse in the Colorado market. He is also a serial entrepreneur and investor with a talent for building teams to execute on innovative business models. Lastly, Tom is a passionate philanthropist in the anti-human traffic industry.

Rich Diviney is a bestselling author, leadership & human performance expert, and retired Navy SEAL commander. Since leaving the military, Rich has worked as a speaker, facilitator, and consultant with the Chapman & Co. Leadership Institute, Simon Sinek Inc., and is now founder and CEO of The Attributes Inc. Currently, Rich speaks and consults on leadership, high performing teams, assessment & selection, and optimal performance. He has worked with thousands of businesses, athletic, and military leaders from organizations such as American Airlines, Meijer Inc., the San Francisco 49ers, Pegasystems, Zoom, and Deloitte.

In January 2021, Rich released his first book.  The Attributes. 25 Hidden Drivers of Optimal Performance. (https://theattributes.com/)

A graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz (BA Legal Theory) and Western Theological Seminary (MA Ministry & Leadership), Greg Amundson has served 22 years in Military and Law Enforcement assignments to include details as a Special Weapons and Tactics Team Operator (SWAT) and Sniper in Santa Cruz County, a Captain in the United States Army, a Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on the Southwest Border, and an Agent on the highly effective Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) Team.

In addition to his extensive government work, Greg is recognized as a thought leader in the field of integrated wellness practices, and is a prolific author and speaker whose message has positively influenced the lives of thousands of spiritual seekers. A former owner of the nation’s first CrossFit gym, Greg has traveled around the world teaching functional fitness and self-mastery principles for over 20 years. Greg is the founder of the CrossFit Goal Setting Trainer Course and the CrossFit Law Enforcement Application Course.

Greg is a Krav Maga Black Belt, Reserve Peace Officer, and Law Enforcement Chaplain in Santa Cruz. Greg also holds ecclesiastical endorsement for Law Enforcement Chaplaincy and is an Ordained Minister, a five-time #1 bestselling author, and is the co-founder of Eagle Rise Publishing, which has produced numerous bestselling books.

Jonathan Cohen is a 30+ year serial entrepreneur.

Cohen is currently the Co-Founder & Chief Innovation Officer of Idealab NY, a startup studio; Co Managing Director of IdealabX, an early stage venture fund, and the Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Trillions Co., an innovation holding company.

Prior to Idealab NY and IdealabX, Cohen was the Founder & CEO and of Agency of Trillions, a MAYA Company (acquired by Indiegogo on May 19, 2017).

Prior to Idealab NY, IdealabX and Agency of Trillions, Cohen was Co-Founder & Chief Development Officer of SocialChorus (Advertising Age, 2012 #3 fastest revenue growth U.S. Social Media Agency) and Founder & Chief revenue Officer of YouCast Corporation (acquired by Halogen Media Group on April 27, 2011 through Kohlberg Ventures).

Cohen was also the Managing Partner and Founder of Zen Media Group and Partner at Handprint Entertainment where Cohen was responsible for advising & counseling on all entertainment matters for artists that generated over $1 billion in revenue (media, publishing, touring & merchandise) which include Jennifer Lopez & Sean Combs (aka “Diddy”).

Cohen received his Law Degree from New York University School of Law (’94) and his Industrial Engineering Degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison (’91).

Cohen is the Co-Founder and a Board Member of Embrace Global — a non-profit committed to saving 1 Million premature babies by 2026.

He is married to Diana Cohen and the father of Sasha Rose Cohen.

Aaron is the President and Creative Director at Manolo Creative Design Agency, which specializes in high-end graphic design, videography services and web design. He grew up very passionate about computers and design and started his own business at the age of 12 years old. Aaron has worked with many large companies and has over 95 active websites on the web. Aaron operates and is based out of Denver, Colorado.

Kaley Hutchinson is an innovative marketing and change management leader with experience creating immersive brand experiences and products, mentoring high-performance teams, and developing business strategies that drive revenue and organizational growth in the global B2B and B2C sales and social enterprise sectors.

Prior to joining Redwoods, Kaley created Compassion International’s first-ever traveling customer experience program generating double digit revenue growth over five consecutive years for the $1B global humanitarian organization. At her core, Kaley is a mission-driven product enthusiast specializing in demand generation, content marketing, strategic planning and execution, and is always looking for new ways to create meaningful connections between brands and audiences.

Anand Anma is a Mindset and Success coach and healer with proven results. She’s managed high-end masterminds and knows that mindset is more than 89% of what drives success. To this end, she serves the Redwoods community in helping them eliminate the psychological roadblocks which prevent success for many investors. She meets people where they are and helps them to peacefully move through the muck to massive financial success and personal fulfillment. Among her success stories is Future Force, Inc, where she coached the CEO and teams to triple their revenues in one year. Gay Hendricks calls her a “free flowing poet of consciousness.” She is currently a ministerial candidate at Unity Worldwide Ministries and lives in Puerto Rico with her husband and their dog.

Mr. Frenkel is a seasoned investment management executive with a passion for alternative investments and democratizing financial literacy. He most recently spent over a decade at Guggenheim Partners where he served as the Head of Special Projects in the Office of the Global Chief Investment Officer. His responsibilities included portfolio management and strategy and due diligence of hedged and private equity fund investments. Prior to that he was the Vice President of Acquisitions for AVG Partners, a Los Angeles based real estate private equity firm and head of operations for a long/short equity activist hedge fund. He also worked as a strategic and operational due diligence analyst for a multi- billion dollar diversified fund of hedge funds. He began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP specializing in alternative investments including hedge fund, private equity, relative value fixed income arbitrage and exchange fund strategies.

Mr. Frenkel graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Accounting from Yeshiva University and earned his MBA and a Masters in Real Estate Development from the University of Southern California.

Patrick is the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel for Redwoods. He is a licensed Attorney and Accountant. He has a track record of leading organizations through dramatic growth periods. Patrick has also been a six-time founder in the automotive, financial services, restaurant, medical, data analytics, peer-to-peer network, and real estate industries. Patrick received his undergraduate degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration from Colorado State University, his Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver and his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Colorado at Denver. Outside of the office, he enjoys mountaineering, cycling, running, skiing and golfing. Patrick has dreams of climbing the 7 Summits and was recently part of mountaineering teams which successfully summited Mt Elbrus (Russia), Mt. McKinley (Alaska) and Mt. Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).

Known affectionately by his peers as “Mr. LinkedIn”, Dominic is a born connector. He loves helping others get what they want. His favorite quote came from the great Zig Ziglar, “Help enough other people get what they want and you can have anything you want.” In 2014, Dominic became overwhelmed by the opportunity afforded by the emerging digital asset landscape when he purchased his first bitcoin. To learn from the best, he co-founded the World Crypto Conference which became a premier experience in the digital asset landscape in 2018 and 2019, attracting over 4000 attendees and hosting hundreds of blockchain luminaries on its stage. He also co-founded Vegas Blockchain Week in 2019, which hosted the Litecoin Summit, Crypto IQ Trading Event, World Crypto Poker Tournament, Coin Agenda, and others. Dominic’s passion is sharing the transformative impact of blockchain and decentralization. He fervently believes there is no other greater financial opportunity in our lifetimes.