Meet Our Team

Jim Coonan is a successful entrepreneur and investor. Coonan served as the founding Executive Director for RAIN, the Regional Accelerator Innovation Network. He has served as the Venture Catalyst for Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) and as Chairman of the Board for the Oregon Entrepreneurs Network and the Portland Angel Network (PAN). Coonan has played a key role in the development of many of the state’s early-stage funds and is an investor in many of the state’s startups. In 2017, he was appointed to the Oregon Innovation Council. Coonan graduated from Stanford University and holds an MBA from Northwestern University.

Jim is constantly on the search for: The next promising startup to support.

Julie has 15 years of hotel management industry experience, working for entities such as Marriott Hotel Corporation, Hilton Hotel Corporation, Doubletree Hotels and Kimpton Hotel Group, as well as The RiverPlace Hotel in downtown Portland.Currently, Julie is responsible for the planning and executing of OEN’s three major annual special events: OEN’s Angel Oregon, the OEN Entrepreneurial Summit, and the OEN Tom Holce Entrepreneurship Awards. She also manages OEN’s investment groups. Julie is a native Oregonian and holds a Bachelor of Science from The University of Oregon. Go Ducks!

Julie is constantly on the search for: A worthy opponent to crush on the tennis court.

Miles blends experience working with Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits and startups with a knack for implementing efficiencies and a passion for storytelling. As a manager in the banking industry, he planned and managed projects and events for hundreds of employees, trained and led dozens of service and sales teams, and collaborated with a diverse set of multi-cultural stakeholders across North America and Mexico. In 2016, Miles returned to school and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Portland State University and certificates in digital marketing, project management, and Google Analytics. Since then, he has provided business consulting to a variety of organizations and entrepreneurs, and written and hosted a 10-episode business podcast for KPSU. He writes a management and marketing blog and holds a second Bachelor’s degree, in Spanish, from the University of Oregon.

Miles is constantly on the search for: Collaborators, creative ideas, and karaoke.

Laura is responsible for building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Portland as well as meeting with scalable startups in traded sectors to evaluate their needs and help them access people, programs and financial resources to be successful. She works closely with regional and state government, economic development and partner organizations to enhance industry cluster/sector efforts by connecting startups with resources and investors, and raising awareness of grants, loans and other services which help startups access federal and state funds.