Gene Parunak is the founder and Managing Director of in2being, LLC, and has over a decade of medical device start-up experience. Gene has managed internal and external design teams, overseen a growing intellectual property portfolio, and personally developed successful technology for bleeding-edge startups. With ten issued patents and an awareness of the implications of the fundraising process on a small company's life-cycle, this veteran of Ann Arbor's own success-story HandyLab, Inc., delivers a holistic outlook on start-up success. At in2being, Gene's most important role is to constantly refine the processes the company uses to deliver its startup-friendly, document-controlled product development process.
Dean Ferris is the C.E.O. at Grotenhuis, a life and health insurance services company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Prior to joining Grotenhuis, he served on their advisory board while on staff at New Hope Community Church in Traverse City as the pastor of education, discipleship, and small group ministires. Dean's previous leadership and consulting roles specialized in marketing and distribution development. He leverages his ministry and business leadership by serving as a board member and advisor on a number of small businesses and community organizations. Dean continues to stay actively involved in one-on-one discipleship, especially in support of his wife and four children.
Rick Larman is the Director of Ministries at Forest Hills Bible Chapel in Ada, Michigan, where he coordinates the Christian education, ministry, and counseling programs. Rick also currently serves as the president of the board of directors at Bair Lake Bible Camp—an evangelical, nondenominational organization located in Jones, Michigan, that provides summer programs and year-round retreat opportunities. A dedicated pastor, skilled facilitator, and committed husband, father, and grandfather, Rick also finds time to lecture as an Adjunct Professor at Cornerstone University in the Bible, Religion, and Ministry Division.
Nathan Van Ryn is a litigation attorney at McShane & Bowie, P.L.C., where he represents clients in employment, labor and commercial disputes. Nate enjoys playing golf, tennis and softball and stays active in his local church, Forest Hills Bible Chapel. Nate resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with his wife Katie and their son Mason. Nate is currently the chairman of the board of directors of Aqueduct Project.
Jonathan J. Armstrong is the founder and president of Aqueduct Project. He is a graduate of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the Chicago area (M.A., 2001) and Fordham University in New York City (Ph.D., 2006). Jonathan has served as a postdoctoral researcher at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany and has lectured at Wycliffe Hall as a full member of the theology faculty of the University of Oxford. Jonathan’s passion is to serve the church by providing seminars for pastors and laypeople throughout the global evangelical community.