Introducing the Newest Members of the Farley Advisory Board
A message from Hayes Ferguson, director of the Farley Center
We are delighted to announce the latest additions to the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Advisory Board, whose three-year terms begin on September 1. These individuals bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion for entrepreneurship and innovation to the Farley Center, and we are excited to welcome them aboard.
Meet the New Advisory Board Members
Tony Owen
Tony Owen (‘03), managing partner at Little Joe Ventures and partner at DOM Food Group, is a longtime advocate and supporter of Northwestern's entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem. His dedication to nurturing startups has provided Northwestern students with incredible opportunities, including tours of SpaceX. We are excited to have Tony bring his enthusiasm and energy to the Farley community.
Charlotte Oxnam
Charlotte Oxnam (’23) is a recent industrial engineering graduate of the McCormick School of Engineering. During her time at Northwestern, she not only excelled academically but was also actively engaged with the Farley Center and The Garage. She took multiple Farley classes and served as a teaching assistant on her way to winning the $150,000 grand prize at VentureCat 2023. She is already providing invaluable insights on enhancing our curriculum.
Casey Grage Qadir
Casey Grage Qadir (’19) is CEO of Hubly Surgical, a medical device company she founded as an undergraduate student participating in NUvention: Medical. In addition to her entrepreneurial pursuits, she has earned recognition as a Chemistry of Life Scholar at Northwestern. As a recent Northwestern graduate and current master’s candidate at Johns Hopkins University, Casey offers a valuable “student” perspective.
Prashanthi Raman
Prashanthi Raman (‘04), the vice president of global government affairs at Cruise, facilitated access to Cruise's autonomous vehicles for our San Francisco cohort and was recently named to the US Department of Transportation's Advisory Committee on Transportation Equity. She previously worked as head of North America state and local government relations at Lyft.
Jeff Smith
Jeff Smith (‘92) is a serial entrepreneur who generously dedicated his time to advise in multiple Farley classes. He has served as general manager at Perficient Digital, a digital consulting firm, as well as senior managing director at Truth Labs and as CEO and founder of Clarity Consulting. His insights will be invaluable to our community.
Adam Wilson
Wilson (’95, ’08) is senior vice president and general manager at Alteryx Analytics Cloud, an analytics automation company. Previously, he was CEO of Trifacta before it was acquired by Alteryx. He also currently serves as limited partner at Greylock Partners and Ridge Ventures, strategic advisor for Mach5 Software, and technology executive council member for CNBC. We look forward to leveraging his expertise in AI, as well as his knowledge of the Bay Area entrepreneurship ecosystem.
Dennis Yang
Dennis Yang (‘95) is chair and cofounder of Modal, an e-learning company focused on employee learning, and the former CEO of ed tech company Udemy. He has played a pivotal role in arranging externships for our students in San Francisco. A Northwestern Alumni Regent based in California, he is poised to be a great asset as we expand our network on the West Coast.
Collectively, these accomplished and creative individuals, along with the veteran advisory board members whose terms have been renewed, will continue to propel the Farley Center forward during this exciting time of growth.