Diverse Connections: Professional Diversity Network for Networking Professionals – Unleashing Opportunities Together.

Tom is a real estate expert and entrepreneur and graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.S. in real estate finance.

Tom was very active while at USC. He was President of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity and played baseball for two years until an arm injury sidelined him.

After graduating from USC, Tom went to work for TOLD Real Estate Development Co, based in Ventura, California. Grubb & Ellis Real Estate Company recruited him as a member of their elite office brokerage team.

Tom, at the age of 30 started a commercial real estate brokerage company AzCal, which in two years time transformed into an international real estate private equity Company, “International Capital Partners.” There, he raised capital worldwide for the acquisition and development of U.S based real estate.

During this period, Tom acquired and managed more than 10,000,000 square feet. Tom and Deloitte & Touche (Edinburgh, Scotland) formed the first investment platform enabling on-shore capital in the United Kingdom to be invested into real estate in the United States.

Today, Tom is the Founder and CEO of Alumni Alliances and is responsible for funding, strategy and capital markets.

Ernie is a serial entrepreneur with a background in magazine publishing and small business consulting. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a Communications degree and immediately after graduation, the New Orleans Saints in 1990 drafted him. At this time Ernie also started to discover his passion for investing and entrepreneurship.

A short time after leaving the Saints, Ernie worked for TransWorld Media (TWM) in the circulation department. After receiving his MBA, he was encouraged by the CEO of TWM to enter an MBA invite-only competition for a single highly coveted magazine publishing position in NYC. Four hundred MBA's across the country competed, but Ernie won the post.

After his time with Times Mirror Company and Conde Nast both in NYC, Ernie decided to change gears and became a small business consultant. During this time he taught thousands of entrepreneurs how to write business plans, pitch investors and position themselves to succeed.

Currently, Ernie lives in the breathtaking snow-capped mountains of Vermont and is responsible for assisting Tom and Jayesh with the overall strategy and running day-to-day operations for Alumni Alliances.

Doug has served in various executive positions in sales and marketing. Most recently, he was Head of Growth for Lambda Chi Alpha national fraternity after spending 20 years in Higher Education with Pearson Education.

He has been building and innovating brands for over 30 years. He has implemented large scale SaaS platform programs for training, product distribution and customer engagement. He has a proven success record in growing organizations in the for-profit and member-based markets by cultivating strategic partnerships with large brands such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Follett, Ford Foundation and Google. Doug, 56, is a graduate of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, and resides in Zionsville, IN with his wife of 30 years Lisa. He also has four children – Andrew, 27, Rebecca, 24, Grace 20 and Veronica 15 years old.

Jeff's career spans more than three decades in the technology industry, holding leadership positions in the 1980's with 3M Company, Digital Equipment Corporation and Sun Microsystems, Inc. He was later CEO for six public and private software companies, leading a successful IPO in 1996 and Secondary Offering in 1997. He then co-founded a technology-focused private equity firm, and as General Partner sourced and acquired 16 later-stage, distressed, enterprise software companies.

In 2006 he co-founded Proximetry, Inc., the industry’s first IoT device management software company. In 2018 Proximetry merged with Relayr, and 2019 exited to HSB – Munich RE for $300MM.

In 2012 he co-founded and funded a Venture Capital firm with a focus on software companies applying data science, AI, and Machine Learning to disrupt multiple industries. He has also made numerous Angel investments in early-stage software companies, targeting a wide range of industries.

Mr. Witous currently sits on seven Boards, including two non-profits that support college students and their education. He is an alumnus of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (Business & Electrical Engineering). He and his wife helped launch and were the original patrons in 2010 for The Cal Poly Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE). Today the Cal Poly CIE is recognized as one of the top university entrepreneurship centers in the USA. They continue to support the CIE and other philanthropic causes.

Randal Prout earned his BS in Mechanical Engineering from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, in 1983. Founder and President of Netsoft Search since 1992, Randal redefined technology search. His 450+ completed searches span from Senior Individual Contributors to C-level roles, amplifying startups backed by Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and others.

His career saw pivotal moments - 12 offer acceptances at pre-public Netscape, 36 searches at Remedy Corp, and hiring Nvidia's first VP of Marketing. Randal’s expertise also intertwined with Sequoia Capital's Doug Leone for transformative sales searches

His innovation extended to designing a space-saving exercise equipment prototype that targets major muscle groups, aptly fitting beneath a standard bed.

Recent years witnessed Randal excel as a Principal Recruiter at Plume Design, securing 37 impeccable hires. As Head of Sales and Customer Success at Findem Inc., he catalyzed customer onboarding, spurring early successes.

From Principal Recruiter at Innovative Technologies to roles at FMC Corp and Hughes Aircraft Company, Randal's prowess was pivotal. Notably, his stint on the USS Constellation showcased his resolve in overcoming complex technical challenges.

Beyond career achievements, Randal’s involvement in the Lambda Chi Alpha Non-Profit Housing Board and support for Cal Poly's Center for Innovation underscore his commitment to community and progress.

Randal Prout’s journey epitomizes innovation, leadership, and community engagement, leaving an indelible imprint within the engineering and startup domains

Patrick has more than 30 years of experience as a serial entrepreneur and product designer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts from San Diego State University. He has lead teams of experienced product designers and developers. His work in user-centered design has received recognition as innovative across multiple platforms, from web products to interactive television and mobile apps. He has years of experience in the automobile industry, with a focus on products and strategies for the remarketing used vehicle sector. Prior to joining Boost Acquisition and Techspring Partners, he was CEO and founder of Digital Asylum (DA), a User Experience and marketing consulting firm, a pioneer company in user experience and interface design for web and software applications. During this time, he designed and developed a proprietary User-Centered Design process and methodology. He successfully exited DA to Stellcom, an innovative software development consultancy specializing in mobile applications. He was a member of the executive management team that successfully exited to CalAmp, a public company.

Patrick has received numerous awards his product design work, including the Presidential Design Award for his contribution to Arctic Data Interactive, and How Magazine’s International Top Merit Award. New Media Magazine recognized him as one the Top 100 worldwide interaction/information architects.