Melissa L. Bradley is founder of 1863 Ventures, a business development program that accelerates New Majority entrepreneurs from high potential to high growth. She is also co-founder of venture-backed Ureeka, a tech platform where small businesses gain unprecedented access to the expertise needed to grow their business. Melissa also serves as General Partner of 1863 Venture Fund, Venture Partner at NextGen Ventures, and serves as an advisor to Reign Ventures, New Voices Foundation, as well as the Halcyon Fund. She is also a member of the Milken Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Asset Management Initiative, Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women Advisory Council, Launch with GS Advisory Council, Fast Company Executive Board, Square & Forbes Small Business Advisory Team, as well as the Target Accelerators Entrepreneurs Advisory Council. Melissa is a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economies, and innovation. In 2021 she was awarded Peter W. Gonzalez, Jr. Award for Excellence in Adjunct Faculty Teaching. In 2020, Melissa received The Ideas Worth Teaching Award which celebrates exceptional courses that are preparing future business leaders to tackle society’s largest challenges and create a more inclusive, just, and sustainable version of capitalism.