Meet the Team

It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world.

  • Patrice King Brickman is the founder and Managing Director of Inspire Capital, LLC, a private equity/venture firm that invests in predominantly women and minority led businesses with social impact. Patrice is also a founder and investor of WE Capital, a member of the Economic Club of Washington, TIGER 21, Conscious Leadership Forum, and Venture Philanthropy Partners (VVP).

    Patrice has served on several non-profit boards both locally and nationally. While her primary passion has been centered on poverty and homelessness, as she has worked most intimately with that population, she has also been involved with the arts and education. She currently serves on the boards of Halcyon, Ascend at the Aspen Institute, and Wolf Trap. She is an investor in VPP, and is also a general partner of Lafayette Square, Black Star Fund, and Blue Marlin. She is also a minority partner of Monumental Sports. She previously served on the Children’s National Hospital Foundation, National Center for Children and Families, and Washington Area Woman’s Foundation boards.

    Patrice lives in Potomac, Maryland, and has four children, Anna, Leah, Kenna, and Lane.

  • Vonetta Young is a narrative strategist who brings flow so her clients – private equity independent sponsors – can raise capital with ease.

    She previously worked at Abbott Capital Management, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program at the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Cambridge Associates. She holds a BA in English and an MBA in Finance from Georgetown University.

    Vonetta has been featured as an expert in the areas of investment readiness, authentic leadership, and supporting women & people of color investors and entrepreneurs. Her voice and writing have appeared in Forbes and Entrepreneur.com, among others. Vonetta has also been a featured speaker at outlets including Georgetown University, American University, the Delaware State Assembly, The Capital Network, Halcyon House, the Forté Foundation, and Ellevate Network.

  • Vonetta Young is a narrative strategist who brings flow so her clients – private equity independent sponsors – can raise capital with ease.

    She previously worked at Abbott Capital Management, the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) Program at the U.S. Small Business Administration, and Cambridge Associates. She holds a BA in English and an MBA in Finance from Georgetown University.

    Vonetta has been featured as an expert in the areas of investment readiness, authentic leadership, and supporting women & people of color investors and entrepreneurs. Her voice and writing have appeared in Forbes and Entrepreneur.com, among others. Vonetta has also been a featured speaker at outlets including Georgetown University, American University, the Delaware State Assembly, The Capital Network, Halcyon House, the Forté Foundation, and Ellevate Network.

  • Laurie Martin is a Senior Investment Executive with more than 30 years of experience in the investment management industry. Laurie currently manages the Single Family Office team at Pitcairn Trust Company and works with families to protect their legacy and grow their wealth, generation to generation.

    Prior to Pitcairn, Laurie was with Fortigent, one of the nation’s largest independent wealth management consultants. Laurie began her career at Fidelity providing wealth management and investment advice services.

    Laurie lives in Gaithersburg, Maryland and has two children, Beatrice, and Henry.

Board of Directors

  • LeRoy Pingho has held executive roles in startups as well as Fortune 50 financial services and telecommunications companies. As a former senior executive at MCI Telecommunications, Fannie Mae and Charles Schwab, he envisioned, built, scaled, and managed major organizations and multi-year capital and operating budgets. In 2003, Mr. Pingho founded PAC, Inc., a bootstrapped management and IT consulting firm, which grew into an enterprise with over 1,500 associates and more than $150 million annual revenue, which was sold in 2007.

    Since 2010, LeRoy has worked with various investor groups to spearhead the leadership of more than a dozen businesses ranging from innovative high-growth companies to those in need of transformational change.

    LeRoy currently serves as the Chair of Slauth Technologies (www.Slauth.io), Anywyse Audio (www.Anywyse.audio), Otto Learning (www.OttoEdu.com), Edgagement (http://www.edgagement.com/), and as an advisor to several other companies. LeRoy has served as Executive Chair of Curator Solutions (https://www.curatorsolutions.com/); Executive Chair of Virtual Job Shadow (https://www.virtualjobshadow.com/); Executive Chair of ProctorExam (https://proctorexams.com/); Executive Chair/CEO of QuadLearning (https://quadlearning.com/); Executive Chair/CEO of Overture Technologies; Chair of BlueAlly (https://blueally.com/); and, is also the founder and CEO of Great Elm Solutions, a management consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area.

    LeRoy has a long history of serving on charitable and NGO boards such as Medstar Foundation (https://www.medstarwashington.org), The Washington Area Women’s Foundation (https://thewomensfoundation.org/), So What Else (www.sowhatelse.org), Manavar (www.manavar.org), and CUP International (http://www.cupinternational.org).

    LeRoy lives in Potomac, Maryland, with his wife Anne, children Jordan, Haley and Maya, and two chocolate labs – Cooper and Callie.

  • Ernita Thomas serves as the Executive Vice President of Finance of The RL Companies, LLC, a holding company founded by Robert L. Johnson that provides strategic investments in a diverse portfolio of companies that includes real estate, private equity, 401k fintech services, automobile dealerships, content streaming, gaming and sports betting.

    As Executive Vice President of Finance, Ms. Thomas is responsible for overseeing the finance function of the highly diversified company, including financial and management accounting, regulatory reporting, budgeting, planning and forecasting.

    Previously, Ms. Thomas was an Assistant Controller at Freddie Mac, where she provided reporting and credit analysis related to securitizations and mortgage guarantees.

    Before working at Freddie Mac, Ms. Thomas was with The Carlyle Group for ten years in a variety of roles, including Manager of Accounting, Assistant Controller and Associate Vice President. Ms. Thomas was responsible for corporate financial and managerial accounting functions, budgeting and forecasting, and corporate compliance.

    Ms. Thomas began her career as a staff accountant at the Rushmore Funds where she was responsible for the preparation of semiannual and annual reports for all funds.

    Ms. Thomas graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1991 with a B.S. in accounting, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

  • Anne Mosle is a Vice President and Executive Director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute and she also serves as Co-Chair of the Aspen Institute Forum on Women and Girls. With more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy, policy, and practice, Mosle is a nationally recognized leader in bringing those sectors together to build pathways to opportunity for children, women, and families with low incomes.

    Prior to the Aspen Institute, Mosle served as a VP and Executive Officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), where she served on the executive council and oversaw $140 million in annual investments. Mosle led the creation of WKKF’s Family Economic Security Portfolio and launch of their Mission-Driven Investing program. In addition, Mosle was responsible for the Civic and Philanthropic Portfolio and New Mexico place-based investments.

    Mosle currently serves on the board of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Executive Governing Board of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation State Strategy Advisory Committee, National Trustees Council of America’s Promise, and Leadership Council of the Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

    She lives with her family in Washington, DC.