DanelleFreitas
Brent Sorrells
Brent Sorrells, Senior Director of Clinical Operations for Allakos, Inc., has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of TechFW.
His term is for one year. Sorrells replaced Douglas Clayton, a partner at Cantey Hanger, who termed out after six years on the Board, including the past two years at Chairman.
Alem Boukadoum, founder at ADG Venture Group, will serve a second term as Treasurer of the technology entrepreneur support organization. Laura Baldwin, President at Waco Bend Asset Management, is the new Secretary for 2022. In addition, TechFW has two new board members, Sarah Webb and Sudhir Ippagunta.
“Our Board is key to the strategic vision and governance of our organization and we couldn’t have had a better Chair during the past two very unique years,” says Hayden Blackburn, Executive Director of TechFW, in a statement.
“Doug is leaving us better than he found us, and we are all excited for Brent to step into the position. No one brings more institutional understanding to help us advance to greater heights than Brent. Pair that with the discipline of the full TechFW Board of Directors and we are set to continue our path toward best practices as a nonprofit organization and drive even more societal and economic impact under our mission.”
Allakos is a clinical stage company developing therapeutic antibodies targeting allergic, inflammatory, and proliferative diseases. Previously, Sorrells was the Senior Director of Clinical Operations for ZS Pharma, Inc., which was acquired by AstraZeneca in late 2015. He was Director of Operations for TechFW from 2006-12. He is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a bachelor’s degree in biology and an MBA with a focus in strategic marketing.
Alem Boukadoum
Boukadoum is CEO of ADG, a mergers and acquisitions advisory and strategic consulting firm based in Fort Worth. Previously, Boukadoum was co-founder of Atrana Solutions, a fintech software and services company that was purchased by Alliance Data. Boukadoum graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in computer science.
At Waco Bend, Baldwin is responsible for managing her family’s investment portfolio. She is also a Managing Director with Golden Seeds, a national angel investment group that invests in women-owned-and-led companies. She leads the Dallas chapter.
Her previous experience includes various roles at Triad Hospitals, Inc., equity research and investment banking. She received a bachelor’s from UT and an MBA from SMU. Baldwin is a member of the Investment Committee of the Texas Women’s Foundation and serves as a member of the Board and Chair of the Finance Committee of the Foundation for the Young Women’s Leadership Academy of Fort Worth.She launched her virtual CFO and accounting firm, Webb CFO, after a career as a CPA in tax preparation and corporate finance, with roles at global corporations PwC and Alcon Labs, as well as a leadership position as controller with a local aviation company. She went on to run a multi-media company, Plaid for Women, and founded a nonprofit focused on bully-proofing young girls. She serves on the Finance and Sustainability Committee for TechFW’s Board.Ippagunta is a skilled professional in financial modeling, financial analysis and strategy. He received his MBA in finance and strategy from SMU in 2013. Since then, he has spent time at Novartis and Alcon and currently is the Global Director — Business Development & Licensing/M&A at Avellino Lab. He will serve on the Strategic Planning Committee.
Laura Baldwin
Clayton is Chairman of Cantey Hanger’s Business Transactions practice group. His work is focused on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities offerings, SEC compliance, and other business transactions.
“Before he was invited to join the Board, and then to chair TechFW’s Board, Doug volunteered to help our clients with their basic legal questions,” says Darlene Boudreaux, TechFW’s Executive Director from 2006-18. “Doug committed to being in our lobby once a week for an hour or two so clients could stop by and talk to him. I’m sure he kept lots of them out of trouble in their early days.
“His efforts have helped a lot of TechFW’s clients get and keep their house in order, so that they’re ready for that future acquisition or investors. He’s been a great Board member and Board chair, too, but I particularly appreciate his personal approach to helping many entrepreneurs get their businesses started the right way.”