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Marci Alt is one of the Partners and Chief Executive Officer of Carma Productions, Inc. The proud producers of The Gay Community Yellow Pages and Gayborhood. In 1989, Marci relocated to Atlanta, shortly after her move, she realized the need for a resource directory to ensure members of the LGBT community are treated with the same respect as everyone else and The Gay Community Yellow Pages was born. In 2008, Marci and her business partner founded Carma Productions. Over the years, Marci has participated in several local non-profit organizations, having been involved with Mega Family Project, Out on Film, North Georgia Rainbow Coalition, GLAAD. She is currently sitting on the Board of Directors for AGLCC. Marci is also the VP of the LNFY board to help end LGBTQ homelessness. Marci has been awarded AGLCC’s Business Woman of the Year 2x in Atlanta Ga, as well has received a nomination for NGLCC’s Business Person of the Year, and was invited to spend Easter Sunday with the President Obama and his family at the White House. When she is not at work or volunteering, Marci enjoys being “Mapa” to her two beautiful children Alexandria and Nicholas.
Throughout his career, Phil Bush has devised multiple sales and marketing methodologies with a focus on execution success. His emphasis has been on continuous process improvement, sales methodologies and consistency of delivery. MavRen Sales & Marketing focuses on a wide variety of areas for different organizations and continues to expand its reach today. He has been very successful handling a wide variety of assignments in sales, sales management, business development, channels, and strategic alliances. His most focus has been on sales enablement. Under that broad umbrella, he has made contributions in sales process definition, territory planning, Account Execution Planning™, sales coaching, sales team coordination and partner execution for divisions of IBM, Oracle, Infor, and others. He has also directed sales teams across North America, Europe and Asia, and has worked not only with Blue-chip companies (IBM, Oracle) but also with a variety of start-up organizations through Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). Earlier, he served as a Principal for Atlanta-based Infomentis, a consulting firm that specialized in expanding revenue streams for its clients in all areas, including sales, channels / alliances, services and maintenance. Its clients included Oracle, Microsoft, Computer Associates, Cognos (purchased by IBM), Informatica, NetApp and other high-tech companies. During his tenure, he started and developed the Sales Performance Coaching practice to help his clients’ sales teams sharpen their strategic account planning, territory planning, and sales management techniques. This work has taken Bush around the world. He has a talent for devising ways to attain peak sales in complex, sophisticated global environments and for coaching teams and individuals to maximize their potential. Well educated, he earned his BS in Industrial Management at Georgia Institute of Technology. He frequently speaks on a variety of sales and sales enablement topic. His thoughts are published on the blog at www.mavren.com. He has lived in three countries and worked in 22.
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Tom Matthesen is a seasoned entrepreneur who has not only founded, built and sold several companies, but has also spent over 25 years financing and advising both development stage and more mature growth companies in a wide range of industries. He served as the founding Chairman of the Board for Thrive Farmers and took on the role of President in 2016. Since its inception, Matthesen has worked alongside the founders in the development of the company’s vision, strategic execution and capital formation strategies. Matthesen is passionate about helping businesses build purpose into their beverage programs and empowering the talented men and women who are responsible for growing world-class coffee – the individual farmers.
David Paparelli is Head of Product Development at Thrive Farmers International, where he builds innovative beverage solutions that give farmers the opportunity to earn more. Before his work at Thrive, David spent several years working with nonprofits in East Africa and Central America focused on economic development initiatives. He has a passion for helping entrepreneurs in the

























