Webinar: Women in Alternatives

Jessica Baron

Chief Operating Officer | SVB Capital

Jessica Baron is the Chief Operating Officer at SVB Capital responsible for managing business and finance processes, overseeing compliance and risk functions, and implementing and sponsoring new initiatives.

Prior to SVB, Jessica was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Cordillera Investment Partners. Prior to Cordillera, Jessica was the Chief Financial Officer at Hercules Capital (NYSE:HTGC), where she was responsible for leading the treasury, finance, and accounting organization, and partook in investor relations and investment committee duties. Prior to Hercules Capital, she was a Finance Business Manager at Cisco Systems responsible for managing quarterly service contract negotiations and designing and integrating quarterly savings reporting processes.

Jessica began her career at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she worked in Audit and Consulting Financial Advisory Services.

Jessica graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Human Biology and an M.A. in Sociology, and received an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley Haas School of Business. Jessica is a registered Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in California, and currently lives in Menlo Park.

Bessie Watts

Director, External Board of Directors Program | Vista Equity Partners

Bessie Watts is a Director and leads the External Board of Directors program at leading global technology investor Vista Equity Partners. The program focuses on the identification, engagement, education and placement of Independent Board members at Vista’s 65+ companies. Previously, Bessie worked for CARE USA serving as the COO of the Innovation Department and Chief-of-Staff for the Chief Innovation Officer. She spent the majority of her career at Morgan Stanley working within their Debt Capital Markets, Diversity & Inclusion and Firmwide programming divisions. Bessie is a graduate of Georgetown’s Master in Foreign Service program and Spelman College. She is a current resident of Washington, DC and was raised in Durham, NC.

Kristina Williams, LL.M., MBA, ICD.D

President & Chief Executive Officer | Alberta Enterprise Corporation (AEC)

Kristina Williams was named the President and CEO of AEC in 2014 and oversees the management of the Alberta Enterprise Fund with its 23 venture capital fund investments and the underlying portfolio of more than 200 technology companies. Kristina also oversees AEC's industry development activities, creating access to external markets and mentors for Canadian entrepreneurs.

Prior to joining AEC, Kristina worked for several technology companies where her responsibilities spanned the spectrum of legal, regulatory, international and new business development, corporate strategic planning, intellectual property management, as well as marketing and sales. She is a member of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Board of Governors, the North American Construction Group (NYSE/TSX: NOA) and Alcanna (TSX: CLIQ) Board of Directors. She also serves on the Alberta Securities Commission New Economy Advisory Committee, and she is the Honorary Consul for Sweden in Northern Alberta.

Kristina holds an MBA from the University of Alberta, a Master of Laws from Uppsala University in Sweden, an accreditation for the Venture Capital Executive Program from the University of California, Berkeley – Walter A. Haas School of Business, as well as an ICD.D from the ICD-Rotman Director Education Program.