Invest Southwest Board of Directors

As a partner at Osborn Maledon, Aaron serves as outside general counsel for start-up, growth-oriented and middle market companies, advising officers, directors, managers and key employees on fiduciary and corporate governance matters.  He also regularly represents clients in angel, VC and private equity financings and in M&A transactions.  In addition, he helps clients draft and negotiate various commercial contracts.

Prior to Osborn Maledon, Aaron was an associate attorney at Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP in Delaware where he counseled officers and directors of Delaware corporations on fiduciary and corporate governance matters.  Prior to his law career, Aaron was a senior accountant at Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, and an assurance associate with Deloitte.  Aaron received his B.S. in Accountancy from Arizona State University, his M.S. in Accountancy from Ohio State University, and his Juris Doctor from Duke University School of Law.

Returning to Arizona to boost its entrepreneurial ecosystem, Nathan Mortensen joined Tallwave Capital with a strong venture capital network and background in deal sourcing, due diligence and fund strategy. As Principal of the fund, he oversees sourcing, diligence, governance and day-to-day operations of its $13.15 million Tallwave Commercialization Fund I. Closed in October 2014, the fund is concentrating on early-stage B2B software and technology companies across a variety of verticals and platforms with over 12 investments across the Mountain West, Southwest and West Coast.

Mr. Mortensen developed a passion for business while growing up in a small family business here in Arizona. After earning his undergraduate degree in Finance from Arizona State University, he explored corporate America by working at ON Semiconductor, The Boeing Company, First Solar and Celanese, primarily in finance, strategy and commercial roles. He then decided to pivot his career by returning to school and completing an MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurship from Brigham Young University (BYU). While attending BYU, he tasted the exciting world of startups and venture capital. He served as a director at Cougar Capital, a $2.5M student-run venture capital fund, and also worked at Peterson Partners in Salt Lake City improving investment selection for the early stage venture and search fund groups.

Stephen has more than ten years of executive leadership experience in tech startups, product development, government affairs and investment banking, and is currently Founder of Assure Vote. Assure Vote is a commercialized online, patented voter registration software designed to reach and engage voters online as well as facilitate ballot and ‘get out the vote’ initiatives. There he introduce the first voter data aggregation and appending system.

Prior to founding Assure Vote, Stephen was Director at The LIBRE Initiative, a social NGO startup dedicated to the empowerment, education and entrepreneurship of Hispanics in the U.S. Prior to that, Stephen was an Associate at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group where he focused on managing an SMB portfolio with a combined annual revenue of $750m. Stephen holds a B.I.S. in Business Communications from Arizona State University, and trained in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Commercialization from M.I.T. Sloan School of Management, and Technology in Government from Harvard Kennedy School.

Brian Lewis is an Associate at Sun Mountain Capital, where he focuses on direct investments across a range of industries and stages with a focus on New Mexico. He has experience in evaluating investment opportunities, conducting due diligence on private deals as well as private funds, and raising private capital. Brian is currently a Board Member for the United Way of Santa Fe County where he serves as the Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance Committee.  He also serves on the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee for the City of Santa Fe. Brian joined Sun Mountain after graduating from Whitman College with a Bachelor of Arts in both Physics and Economics, and a minor in Mathematics.