WAN Members

Tim Keane Director, Golden Angels Network Tim Keane is the current Entrepreneur in Residence at Marquette University, in the graduate school of business, where he teaches courses in new business formation and business growth strategies. He is the founder and director of the Marquette Golden Angels Network. Prior to his current role, Tim was the founder and CEO of Retail Target Marketing Systems, Inc., a marketing automation software and consulting services company. Tim founded this business in 1989 and sold it in 2000. Prior to RTMS, he was the founder of a variety of small businesses, and was in marketing at General Electric Medical Systems from 1977 to 1984. He is an active Angel investor and business advisor, and a director of First Business Bank. He is past chairman of the board of Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a member of the board of Taliesin Preservation, Inc., with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. He was an inaugural member of the Governor’s Economic Growth Council in Wisconsin. Tim holds degrees from Marquette and Seattle Universities.
Lorrie Keating Heinemann Secretary, Wisconsin Dept. of Financial Institutions Lorrie Keating Heinemann is the Cabinet Secretary who oversees the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI). DFI regulates 233 state chartered banks, 280 state chartered credit unions, and over 90,000 securities representatives who do business in Wisconsin. DFI also maintains the corporate filings for over 250,000 LLCs and business entities in the state. Under Governor Jim Doyle's GROW Wisconsin Plan, Heinemann championed and co-founded the Wisconsin Angel Network along with Tom Still of the Wisconsin Technology Council in fall 2004. Angel network champions Dick Leazer, David Ward and Tim Keane provided expertise and guidance, and the WI Department of Commerce, under the leadership of Secretary Mary Burke, provided the majority of WAN's funding, which allowed WAN to hire a full time director (Joe Kremer) in December 2004. Heinemann currently serves as the Chair of the Wisconsin Angel Network's Advisory Committee (AAC), which operates under the leadership of the Wisconsin Technology Council.
Richard Leazer Co-Founder, Wisconsin Investment Partners Richard Leazer advises both a Midwest venture capital firm and TechStar, in Milwaukee, and is a principal in a Madison-based angel investing network, Wisconsin Investment Partners LLC. Previously, Leazer was managing director of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. He was also president of Ohmeda, a medical device and equipment manufacturer from 1988 to 1992. From 1981 to 1988, he was president of Anaquest, a specialty pharmaceutical company. Leazer is also a past president of the Wisconsin Technology Council. Leazer received a BA in Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 1963 and an MBA from the Drexel Institute of Technology in 1966.
John Neis Co-Founder and Senior Partner, Venture Investors John Neis is co-founder and Senior Partner of Venture Investors LLC and heads the firm's Health Care practice. VI manages four early stage venture capital funds focused on high tech and biotechnology companies in Wisconsin and contiguous states. Neis serves on the Board of Directors of the firm's first fund, Venture Investors of Wisconsin, Inc. and has extensive experience as a director of portfolio companies, including his current directorships at, Third Wave Technologies, Inc., Gala Design, Inc., TomoTherapy, Inc., ioGenetics LLC, NimbleGen, Inc., Deltanoid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and BioInterface Technologies, Inc, all of which are portfolio companies of the funds managed by Venture Investors. Neis has taken an active role in assisting in the development of Wisconsin's high tech entrepreneurial community since joining Venture Investors in 1985. Neis currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Wisconsin Technology Council and the Wisconsin Biotechnology Association. He also serves on the Advisory Board and is an occasional lecturer for the Weinert Applied Ventures Entrepreneurship Program in the School of Business, and serves on the Board of Advisors at Tandem Press, a fine art printer, in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Neis graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Utah, and received a Master of Science in Marketing and Finance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Tom Still President, Wisconsin Technology Council Tom Still is president of the Wisconsin Technology Council and its membership subsidiary, the Wisconsin Innovation Network, which has chapters in Madison, Milwaukee, Northeast and Central Wisconsin, the Chippewa Valley and the Lake Superior region. The Tech Council is the independent, non-profit science and technology advisor to the governor and the Legislature. Its work centers on policy formation, economic development and network creation. Still is a member of the Industrial Advisory Board to the UW-Madison College of Engineering, the Board of Visitors of the UW Extension, the Madison Economic Development Commission, the Dane County Economic Strategies Group and other civic and business groups, including formerly the Governor's Economic Growth Council. He is the former associate editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison and continues to write a weekly column, “Inside Wisconsin.” He recently co-authored “Hands-On Environmentalism,” published by Encounter Books, San Francisco.
David J. Ward President, NorthStar Economics In May of 2000, Dr. Ward established NorthStar Economics. His work on “Wisconsin and the New Economy” has been widely recognized throughout the state and the Midwest. He was instrumental in planning and presenting at the statewide Wisconsin Economic Summits I, II, III and IV that have led to New Economy strategies and regional economic planning efforts in Wisconsin. Dr. Ward has extensive experience in strategic economic planning in Wisconsin and the Midwest. He has authored a number of strategic economic development plans for clients in Wisconsin, Wyoming and New Hampshire. Dr. Ward is an active angel investor and is a founding member of the Origin Investment Group of La Crosse, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Advisory Committee for the Wisconsin Angel Network (WAN) He is the co-author of the 2003 and 2005 NorthStar Guide to Growth and Venture Capital. Dr. Ward earned a BBA, MBA and Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Dr. Ward completed a thirty-one year career in the University of Wisconsin System in July of 2000. He held teaching positions at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay and University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh. He served as Vice-Chancellor and Acting Chancellor at UW Oshkosh and concluded his career in higher education as the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs for the University of Wisconsin System.

Angel Advisory Committee (AAC)