The Team

A former infantry officer and Afghanistan veteran, Conrad Hollomon has spent almost a decade working on innovative technology products on multiple platforms. He currently works for Techstars supporting early stage startups - helping founders, making awesome products, and helping founders make awesome products. Conrad has spoken at tech conferences and been featured in publications for advocacy work on STEM education and underrepresented communities. In his spare time, he enjoys reading about organizational behavior and trying out new delicious restaurants.

David brings to the table more than 30 years of nonprofit and business leadership experience in both international and national organizations, most recently as VP of Development and Ideas Beyond Borders and as CDO at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. He is also CEO of the nonprofit capacity building consulting firm Forward Motion Strategies.

Josh Carter is a US Navy Vet, a serial entrepreneur, a speaker, a podcast host, and a mentor for early stage startups. Born in the San Francisco Bay Area he spent time traveling the globe before settling into a career in telecom. For over 15 years he worked for companies like Pacific Bell, Google, and Twilio on a variety of large scale projects. Having started a number of companies he has lead teams working on projects for companies like Disney, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Taco Bell, and many more. He led BrightWork, a developer infrastructure company, into top tier accelerator program Techstars and helped secure some venture funding. Josh also led a Techstars affiliated non-profit called Patriot Boot Camp where he was instrumental in creating new programs and partnerships. Today Josh hosts a veteran focused podcast and continues to work with early stage startups through WeWork's Labs program in Portland, OR. He also hosts a monthly meetup for founders in the area called Coffee w/ Co-Founders. When he's not found at local meetups and events, you can find Josh with his family hiking or kayaking.

Mark Kerr is an attorney for USAID and previously served as a JAG Officer in the U.S. Army both in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mark is Chairman Emeritus and was the founding Board Chair of Operation Code.

Nell is a principal software development engineer at Chef (Seattle, WA). Her role involves governing the company’s open source projects. She sits on the advisory board for the University of Washington Certificates in Ruby Programming and DevOps. She also comes from a military family; both of her parents were Air Force Officers. Growing up in that environment gave her unique insights into the challenges veterans face when transitioning back into civilian life. Nell currently volunteers as CTO for Operation Code, and is responsible for the engineering and open source initiatives of the organization.