About Community Anchors

Geoffrey Goss was born in Cleveland, Ohio, received a B.A in Economics from the University of Virginia, and his MBA through the Babcock School of Management (Wake Forest University). Geoff spent over 10 years in the financial services industry working for KeyBank (Cleveland) and Bank of America (Charlotte) as a teller, project manager, product development analyst, program manager, relationship manager, and service delivery manager in the Consumer, Premier, Ecommerce, Credit Card, and Small Business lines of business. In 2003, Geoff was recognized by Bank of America with the Bank of America Service Award of Excellence, an award recognizing the top 1% of associates. He is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt (with DFSS), has been a member of the Project Management Institute, and has been active with Charlotte's Junior Achievement Program. Geoff is an instructor at the Central Piedmont Community College where he teachs a 16-week Entrepreneurship Certificate Program called New Ventures Entrepreneurship. Geoff is a member of the Community Building Initiative's Leadership Development Initiative (Class 5) which aims to address racial issues and promote inclusion in Charlotte and is actively involved with the Charlotte Chamber's Diversity Council. Geoff and his family have lived in the Charlotte, NC community for nine years.

David Lee graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Virginia. Born and raised in a family-owned small business, he is the child of immigrants and brings a valuable perspective on the challenges and opportunities associated with small business development. Currently, David is a Vice President of Product Innovation & Development in Bank of America's Personal Retirement Solutions Group. Prior to his current role, he spent five years in business strategy in the retail brokerage at the bank. He has also been part of a corporate-level strategic investments group which structured partnerships and investments with early-stage technology companies. During that period, he invested over $63 million into growing companies. David had also participated in Bank of America's (NationsBank) Emerging Technology Lab where he focused on web technology.

Mike grew up in northern Virginia and received a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia. After graduation,Mike moved to San Francisco, CA to become involved in several start-up endeavors. Soon thereafter, he joined Bank of America and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina where he currently works within the Bank of America Consumer Credit Card Marketing Department and manages retention efforts. Mike is also a race committee member with the Girls on the Run Organization and lives in Charlotte with his wife, Carter, and daughter, Archer.

Will Alston was born in Rocky Mount, NC and received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill where he was a John Motley Morehead Scholar and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. Prior to business school, Will worked for CapGemini consulting (formerly Ernst & Young) in Atlanta, GA. As a consultant, he led technical teams for large scale software implementations and worked with clients across a variety of industries. After business school, Will returned home to NC to work for Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC as an investment banker in the Leveraged Finance group. His responsibilities include performing cash flow and capital structure analysis to determine potential risks, debt capacity, and credit worthiness for highly leveraged transactions. Will has always played an active role in his communities from being a tee-ball coach and Ronald McDonald House volunteer to serving as a Big Brother through Metro Atlanta’s Big Brother Big Sister program.

Tracey Guice was born in Chicago, Illinois, graduated from Harvard University (English and American Literature), and received an MBA from the University of Chicago where she was co-chair of the African American MBA Association. Additionally, Tracey holds a BA in Computer Systems Management from Hiram College. She has worked in a variety of operational, supply-chain, investment banking and sales roles. Tracey has previously served on two executive boards for the Harvard University Alumni Association (Northeastern Ohio) and the Harvard Foundation. In that role set up an educational program in the Cleveland Public School System (Ohio) to educate and assist students in the college application process. Tracey lives in Charlotte, NC.

Enrique Lizano has a multi-disciplinary background which includes 13 years in manufacturing in roles such as Design Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, Project Manager and Manager of Project Managers. In 1997 Enrique transitioned from managing major capital investment projects in manufacturing to software development and information system implementation projects in pharmaceutical and healthcare environments. Two years later Enrique relocated to Puerto Rico to start a new regional sales office for a major enterprise software company. In 2002 Enrique started Enterprise Software Consulting, Inc., to sell “best-of-breed” enterprise software solutions and information technology services in Puerto Rico and Latin America. Currently, Enrique is helping small organizations with business development services to reach new markets for their products and services. Enrique holds a B.S. in Industrial Technology from Western Illinois University and a Master’s Degree in Project Management from DeVry Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois.

Fred Lybrand is an investment manager with Parish Capital, a $420 Million private equity fund-of-funds based in Chapel Hill, NC. He joined Parish Capital in May 2005 after serving as an Intern for one year. Parish focuses on emerging markets across all stages of company growth, from early stage venture to buyouts and turn-arounds. As an Investment Manager, he is responsible for reviewing investment opportunities, conducting due diligence on potential investments and monitoring those investments and their underlying companies. Before joining Parish, Fred held positions in Sales and Finance for Unitive, Inc, now a subsidiary of Amkor Technologies. Prior to Unitive, he was in investment banking as an Associate with Wachovia Securities, Inc. In addition to these full-time responsibilities, he pursued several entrepreneurial endeavors in central Europe. Fred received his MBA at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School where he was a McColl Fellow, a Carolina Venture Fellow and graduated Beta Gamma Sigma. He received a B.A in Biology and Economics from the University of Virginia. Fred holds the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and LIFA (Licensed International Financial Analyst) designations.

Andy Patel grew up in the Charlotte area. He received a BS in Health Policy and Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MHA from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He completed his MBA at the Babcock Graduate School of Management at Wake Forest University. Andy has over 6 years of experience in consulting and information technology in various roles including consultant, business analyst, and project manager.  He has attained the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Professional (PMP) credential and the Six Sigma Green Belt certification.  In addition to professional experience, Andy has extensive experience in small business management primarily in hospitality. He recently co-founded a real estate brokerage firm serving the Charlotte and Raleigh markets.