The Global Corporate Venturing Institute is the first specialized institute focused on CV industry advancement, staying power and innovation impact.  The Institute provides professional development and certification, benchmarking and access to specialized CV communities of practice.  Our team of expert instructors brings decades of experience as CVC leaders, startup executives and consultants to VCs, CVCs, their portfolio companies and internal innovation teams. 


 

Liz Arrington, Co-Founder and Managing Director

Liz Arrington is Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Global Corporate Venturing Institute and Partner with the Bell Mason Group, which for decades has worked with global corporations to build venturing and innovation programs.

Building on this experience, Liz co-authored Corporate Venturing: A Survival Guide, that translated in-depth research on high performing CVCs into a maturation framework and set of design rules for building resilient and impactful programs. Committed to ongoing CVC industry advancement and staying power, Liz is the architect for the Institute’s three pillars of professional development, operational and performance benchmarking and vibrant communities of practice. She also advises and collaborates with CV industry organizations such as J Thelander Compensation surveys and reports and Health Evolution Summit to develop specialist CV content.  Liz began her corporate venturing career as an investor and business development professional with Mitsubishi International.  

Currently based in Silicon Valley, Liz brings a global perspective informed by 10 years in Asia-Pacific as well as significant work in Europe.

Liz received her BA cum laude from Harvard College and her MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania).

As avid equestrian, Liz is the Director of Tack Gives Back, a nonprofit supporting equine and other animal facilitated therapy organizations.  


Patty Rowland Burke, Principal Designer and Instructor

Patty Burke is an expert in executive education instruction and design principles and has decades of experience advising venture capitalists and their portfolio companies.

Prior to joining the Global Corporate Venturing Institute as a Designer and Instructor, Patty co-developed the “Advancing Technical Women’ leadership course from the Center for Creative Leadership, designed to retain and promote technical women.  She is the author of Beating the Odds:  Winning Strategies for Women in STEM about real-life success stories of technical women and critical turning points that make or break their careers.  As a Fellow and former Partner with the Bell Mason Group, Patty helped global corporations build high performance venturing and innovation programs.  Patty’s distinguished career in Silicon Valley has included several executive positions with software and networking companies, as well as consulting on business model validation and innovation training for venture capital firms and their portfolio companies.  

Patty received her BA at the University of Texas at Austin.  


Mark Klopp, Course Leader

Mark Klopp is a corporate venture capital consultant assisting in formation, launch and execution of CVC groups. He is also as an angel investor and advisor to startups.

He is currently a Managing Director for Coronis Medical Ventures, Fellow with the Bell Mason Group, Principle Advisor for LARTA and an EIR for Tech Futures Group. 

Mark previously started up and led the corporate venture capital arm of  Eastman Chemical Company, which had top quartile returns during his tenure. He was a member of the board of directors for the National Venture Capital Association and the first chairman of the Corporate Venture Group.

Mark also serves as a Board Member and Advisor for non-profits such as Opportunity International, Teen Esteem, and Shepherd’s Gate.

Mark received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech and his MBA from Roosevelt University.  


Paul Morris, Principal - CVC Investment Programs

Paul Morris is a 25-year veteran of the corporate venture capital industry.

Paul set up and ran the CVC operation of Dow Chemical in Europe and has been at the forefront of new CVC initiatives for many years. He has invested over $100M in 35 direct deals and, as an LP, in 15 VC funds. During a 28-year career with Dow, Paul held senior business management roles across various geographies, including Head of New Businesses for EMEA.  He now consults for corporates, governments, start-ups and funds on CVC, investments and fundraising. This currently includes supporting initiatives by certain governments, including the UK, to stimulate the flow of inward VC investment, drawing on his network of close contacts with over 100 CVC leaders globally. Paul is a regular speaker at major CVC events. He leads courses for corporate VCs in the US, Europe and Asia within the Global Corporate Venturing Institute, as well its predecessor the GCV Academy. Morris is a past President of the GCV Global Energy Council. He holds board positions in entities spanning both public and private sectors. 

An avid sportsman, Paul has captained teams at club and representative level in rugby and cricket. He is now an enthusiastic skier and cyclist.


Lee Sessions, Corporate Venture Ecosystem Lead

Lee Sessions leads the Institute’s expert ecosystem outreach and brings a successful track record as a practitioner in a premier global CVC program.

Lee is a fellow with the Bell Mason Group and offers a unique perspective on the power of both structured portfolio development and ecosystem collaboration, as well as an understanding of how to craft impactful programs.  He spent more than a decade as a Managing Director with industry leader Intel Capital where he most recently spearheaded a strategic initiative to expand and strengthen the corporate venture capital ecosystem for collaboration and co-investment. Lee led Intel Capital’s portfolio development organization focused on differentiating a well-known global venture capital brand and establishing strategic opportunities for ~ 400 portfolio companies across all investment stages. His teams pioneered new approaches to optimize business development and he was responsible for ramping the size and impact of the business development, marketing programs including Intel Capital’s Global Summit and Intel Capital Technology days.

 Lee began his career with Intel Capital as HR Director and participated in the pioneering development of innovative CVC-specific career paths and unique compensation models to align incentives and rewards for investment performance, approved by Intel’s CEO and Intel Capital’s President as a ‘gamechanger’ supporting Intel Capital’s growth and performance on success metrics, eliminating undesired turnover

He was also the first Executive-in-Residence for Global Corporate Venturing (GCV), focused on advancing CV&I industry growth and success. He was a founding member of the GCV Leadership Society Advisory Board in 2016.

He is a graduate of Colorado College.