Eliisco-founder & Managing Partner of International Innovation Associates, a boutique strategy advisory firm that enables organizations to develop and deploy be spoke innovation initiatives. He is also co-founder & Managing Partner of the Investors of Color Network, a national network of Black, Latinx, and Asian accredited investors focused on closing the racial funding gap in early-stage capital. He serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association, Impact Cabinet Member for the Power Up Fund, and is an investor in a series of Portfolia Funds. FOR MEDIUM LENGTH BIO INCLUDEPARAGRAPH BELOW ALSO: In his prior role, he over saw the U.S. State Department Global Investors Program, supporting and launching new international innovation initiatives, including training investor networks in Malaysia, Indonesia, Egypt, Vietnam, Mexico, and Colombia. He currently serves on the Board of the Angel Capital Association; Capital Advisor to the Stanford Latino Business Action Network; and Impact Cabinet for the Hispanics in Philanthropy Power Up Fund. He is an L Pina series of venture funds and founding Board Advisor to Accel Hub Venture Partners and the Business Angel Minority Association (baMa).

Prior, he was the Associate Vice Chancellor at Texas Tech University where he co-founded the Lubbock Angel Network, a group that has invested over $4M and seen four exits since its founding in 2015.His efforts in Texas led to over $20M in funding for startups, entrepreneurship programs, and proof of concept funds. Before that, Mr. Velasquez worked for The Boeing Company in southern California, initially within Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS)developing the Delta Rockets. In his last two years there ,he worked as an Intellectual Property Consultant within Boeing's Intellectual Property Business (IPB) unit. He obtained a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and his J.D. degree with an Intellectual Property Certificate from Whittier Law School.