BEN Colorado Welcomes New Advisors: Spring 2026

At BEN Colorado, our work is powered by a network of advisors who bring real-world experience, thoughtful perspective, and a genuine commitment to helping founders grow.

With a “pay it forward” mindset, these advisors volunteer to help entrepreneurs navigate complex decisions, think through challenges from different angles, make valuable connections, and move forward with greater confidence and direction.

The strength of the BEN community is built on their willingness to invest their time, knowledge, and personal network into the next generation of Colorado businesses. 

Since BEN’s founding in 2014, we’ve partnered with over 500 expert advisors, each referred by trusted ecosystem membersand selected for their unique skills, experiences, and attitude... At any given time, 150+ advisors across 25 verticals and 16 functional areas of expertise are ready to pitch in and support our entrepreneurs through the challenges they are facing.

Each year, we welcome a select group of new Advisors to the BEN community. We’re excited to introduce those who’ve recently joined our ecosystem: 

Tamara Alexander-Johnson

Tamara Alexander-Johnson has over 30 years of experience in commercial real estate leadership, leading teams for public Fortune 500 companies, REITs, foreign-owned companies, and private equity investment entities. Her experience in strategic planning and mergers & acquisitions of global companies and their real estate assets enabled her to complete over $5 billion in transactions involving office, retail, industrial, mixed-use, vacant land, and water rights real property assets throughout her career. She currently serves on the Foundation Board of Directors for the Credit Union of Colorado Foundation and as Chair of the Board for Family Promise of Greater Denver, a local affiliate of the national organization.

Wendy Bohling

Wendy Bohling is a seasoned R&D and sales executive, speaker, corporate consultant on gender intelligence and inclusive leadership, best-selling author, and angel and real estate investor. She has more than 35 years of executive experience at top telecommunications Fortune 100 companies and healthcare IT startups. Her unique background as both an extroverted engineer and sales executive allows her to bridge the gap between technology and business while identifying opportunities for increased profitability and innovation. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a Master of Science in Computer Science.

Michael Buckles

With more than 25 years of experience in franchising, operations, and leadership, Michael Buckles has worked alongside owners and teams in both high-performing and struggling environments. His leadership philosophy is straightforward: assess what is not working, build a plan, and execute it while supporting the people carrying the workload. His approach is grounded in practical experience, delivering real-world solutions rather than theory. At Starbucks, he managed an 18-store district and was selected as a District Coach. At Five Guys, he earned the role of Divisional Director, a distinction achieved by fewer than 1 percent of operators across the system. He also developed the OPS810 training framework from the ground up to strengthen late-night operations, improve employee retention, and enhance guest experience.

Ted Caulkins

Ted Caulkins has 37 years of experience in B2B enterprise sales of which 29 have been in leadership roles, his career passion is to give it back. Now, he serves and consults for organizations fully dedicated to building sales growth, optimizing the best human talent available and fostering a powerful, sustainable team culture of excellence.

Randy Emelo

Randy Emelo is the founder of CoreConnection and a leadership coach and facilitator who works with growth-minded CEOs and leadership teams to help them navigate the challenges of scaling a business. With a background as both an operator and entrepreneur, Randy brings a practical, real-world perspective to his work. He has founded and led multiple companies, including a venture-backed SaaS business, and understands firsthand the complexity, pressure, and ambiguity that come with leading a growing organization. Today, Randy partners with CEOs and executive teams to strengthen alignment, improve decision-making, and build the systems and structures required for sustainable growth.

Brian Gruber

Brian Gruber is a commercial real estate broker and business owner with nearly a decade of experience representing tenants, buyers, sellers, and landlords across multiple asset classes nationwide. He has founded and led brokerage ventures, developed internal systems and compliance practices, and produced government-related security and compliance documentation. His client base ranges from early-stage startups to federal entities, giving him extensive experience navigating complex regulatory environments, structuring transactions across varying risk profiles, and delivering disciplined, defensible strategies aligned with each client’s operational and long-term objectives.

Amy Hamilton

With 10 years of experience and a passion for all things Human Resources, Amy Hamilton has supported both remote and in-person teams across multiple industries, including technology, consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, nonprofit, property management, and service-based sectors. She has a proven track record of scaling People Operations for companies ranging from 5 to 500 employees across 30 U.S. states and 12 international locations. She specializes in zero-to-one HR implementation, building core people systems and processes across the entire employee lifecycle, from recruiting to performance management and offboarding.

Ofer Heyman

With more than 25 years of leadership experience across technology, manufacturing, and data-driven industries, Ofer Heyman has built a career leading high-growth organizations through operational scaling, strategic development, and international expansion. Most recently, he served as CEO of MiCROTEC, overseeing operations across the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand from 2023 to 2026. Prior to that, he held several executive leadership roles at ATREO and AEROCOM USA/Canada, including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, and Vice President of Sales. His leadership focused on operational growth, strategic execution, and expanding market presence across North America.

Diana Kaul

Diana Kaul is co-founder of R&D B2B Marketing, where she helps energy tech companies translate operational reality into communications that investors, regulators, and operators trust.

Previously, Diana served as Senior Director of Communications at Project Canary, leading communications for the company’s $111 million Series B raise and advising the CEO and executive team on positioning with E&P operators and capital markets. Earlier in her career, she worked at FTI Consulting, supporting global oil and gas corporations, high-growth startups, and Fortune 500 companies on issues management and high-stakes stakeholder engagement.

Travis Knight

Travis Knight works with early-stage, founder-led, and VC-backed companies that need clarity around cash runway, forecasting, and investor communication — without hiring a full-time CFO too early. He’s a seasoned finance leader with 20 years of experience across Fortune 500 companies and high-growth venture-backed startups. Over the past several years, Travis has built and scaled finance functions for early-stage companies — both as an in-house executive and as a fractional CFO — supporting fundraising, board communication, and cash management through periods of rapid change.

Kevin Leddy

Kevin Leddy had a forty-five-year career in the cable television and internet industry, with responsibilities spanning marketing, technology planning, and government relations. He retired from Charter Communications as Senior Vice President of Technology Planning and Application in 2023. In that role, he was responsible for communicating Charter’s overall technology vision to industry organizations, internal departments, and government policymakers. Mr. Leddy joined Charter from Time Warner Cable, where he served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy prior to the completion of Charter’s transactions with Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks in 2016.

Michael Maynes

Michael Maynes is CEO of 1337 Sales, an AI and technology implementation consultancy helping businesses unlock operational efficiency through intelligent automation. With more than 20 years of revenue leadership experience and deep technical expertise, Michael has scaled organizations from zero to more than $50 million as Chief Revenue Officer and has served in leadership roles at companies that have gone public or been acquired. Michael brings fast-growth SaaS principles to businesses preparing to scale, specializing in revenue operations, AI strategy, and building systems that support continuous growth.

Ayse McCracken

Ayse McCracken is the Founder and CEO of Ignite Healthcare, a national platform accelerating female-led healthcare innovation through a powerful ecosystem of accelerators, investors, health systems, and industry leaders. Widely recognized for reshaping how breakthrough ideas, especially those led by women, move from concept to commercialization, Ayse brings several decades of executive leadership experience across some of the country’s most prominent health systems. Her career began at Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse, where she built a strong foundation in healthcare finance and earned her CPA in 1988.

Jacob McNulty

Jacob McNulty is a software executive with expertise leading marketing, customer success, onboarding, support, and professional services for SaaS organizations. He has deep expertise in the fields of retail, point of sale (POS), data, and digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH) and has seen proven success guiding the end-to-end design, development, marketing, and delivery of scalable programs while identifying opportunities to better meet customer needs. Beyond that, Jacob is experienced in managing geographically dispersed teams and translating strategic initiatives into actionable solutions.

Sagar Parikh

Sagar Parikh is a distinguished technology executive and strategic mentor with more than 25 years of experience leading high-performing teams and delivering transformational IT programs. Throughout a career spanning Fortune 500 companies and boutique startups, Sagar has built a reputation as an approachable leader and effective change agent. He specializes in building scalable enterprise-level solutions while creating environments where engineering talent can thrive through clear, durable, outcome-driven ownership.

Steven Ringelstein

Steven Ringelstein is the founder and CEO of Evolve Institute, a leadership development firm helping purpose-driven CEOs and leadership teams make better decisions, perform at a higher level, and build cultures that drive sustainable growth and innovation. A scientist at heart, entrepreneur, and former 18-year CEO and COO in the high-tech industry, Steven brings a rare combination of operational leadership experience and deep expertise in human behavior, decision science, and organizational performance. Over more than 20 years of executive coaching and consulting, he has partnered with hundreds of leaders — from Fortune 500 executives to high-growth entrepreneurs — helping identify and remove the hidden patterns that quietly limit effectiveness and business performance.

Scott Rosenzweig

With decades of executive sales, marketing and commercial leadership in public companies and the private equity sector across a broad spectrum of industries, Scott Rosenzweig is uniquely positioned with the experience and perspective to help businesses scale. This is exemplified by the multiple roles that Scott plays today, applying his expertise to multiple businesses he operates. As President and CRO of Sales Growth Advisors and Sustainability Core Advisors, Scott brings a breadth of operational experience, visionary thinking, and interpersonal skills to build or upgrade the sales infrastructure of small and medium-sized businesses, while guiding sustainability and ESG strategies.

Elizabeth Saloman

Elizabeth Saloman is an experienced public company and private equity independent board member, Audit Committee Chair, and Qualified Financial Expert. She is an accomplished CFO with a proven history of driving enterprise value through growth initiatives, turnarounds, M&A due diligence, and integrations involving businesses of up to $1.5 billion and transactions exceeding $750 million. She is widely recognized as a strategic, insightful, and collaborative leader throughout her executive, advisory, and board career.

Jill Simonds

Jill Simonds is the Founder and CEO of Savvy, an award-winning fractional C-Suite agency helping privately held organizations scale confidently. Through Savvy, fractional COOs, CMOs, CROs, CEOs, and CFOs provide immediate impact, operational momentum, and leadership structure for growing companies. She lives in Fort Collins with her husband and three daughters and believes deeply in building businesses that create both freedom and lasting impact. Outside of building companies, Jill enjoys an active life with her family, including traveling, spending time on the water, snowboarding in the mountains, photography, writing, and occasionally fitting in some hip-hop dance on weekends.

Stacy Since

Stacy Since is a three-time founder and CEO who has built and scaled growth-stage companies and nationally recognized communities for women founders. She founded RISE Collaborative Workspace, a community designed to support women founders through strategic connection, shared growth, and access to meaningful opportunities. Today, Stacy works as a Fractional CRO and strategic partnerships advisor, helping companies, financial institutions, and founder communities grow through business development, partnerships, and ecosystem strategy.

Chrissy Winkler

Chrissy Winkler is a strategic and performance-driven revenue leader with more than two decades of experience spanning enterprise sales, customer success, professional services, and marketing. Based in Denver, Chrissy has built a reputation for driving measurable impact across SaaS and professional services organizations, ranging from startups to Fortune 50 clients. Most recently, Chrissy served as Vice President of Sales and Services for Apryse, where she oversaw sales, customer success, sales operations, partner strategy, implementation, and customer support for Apryse’s portfolio of B2B and B2C SaaS software products.