Speakers

Elizabeth (Liz) Hodgson is the Vice Chair of the firm's Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Group and represents companies and their founders and investors in every stage of a company's lifecycle from formation to exit. Liz works closely with clients to help them start, grow, invest in, purchase and sell businesses and advises on day to day matters to help align their business objectives with their legal needs. Her experience includes: choice of entity; corporate governance; corporate finance; private equity and venture capital transactions; securities offerings; commercial contract preparation and review; intellectual property protection, licensing, and commercialization; mergers and acquisitions; restrictions on foreign investment and acquisition of U.S. companies and the review process conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS); and day-to-day general corporate matters.

Liz has vast experience working with companies and closely held businesses in the life sciences, biotechnology, technology, health care, software and information technology sectors, and is particularly passionate about working with female founders, investors, executives and entrepreneurs. She combines her legal skills and own entrepreneurial spirit to identify with and deliver for her clients.

Liz received a B.A. in English with a minor in Spanish from The Pennsylvania State University. She received a J.D. from The Pennsylvania State University, The Dickinson School of Law. While in law school, she was a member of The Woolsack Society and was Editor-in-Chief of the Penn State Law Review.

George (PJ) Perry is President and Founder of boisei labs, a 'tech for good' venture studio based in State College, PA. boisei labs serially builds its own startups, targeting systemic environmental and social challenges through market-driven economics. boisei also invests in ethos-aligned, external, early-stage startups, with the active startup building experience benefitting investment portfolio companies and vice versa.

George is also a Professor of Anthropology and Biology and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State University. Prior to joining the Penn State faculty he earned his PhD in Anthropology at Arizona State University and conducted postdoctoral research in Human Genetics at the University of Chicago. Before pursuing his PhD he was a Technology Process Management Consultant with Accenture.