Dale S. Fickett 501 East Franklin, Suite 101 Richmond, VA 23219 Tel: +1 (804) 521-4002

@dalefickett

www.rvaworks.org

7218 Shelton Place Mechanicsville, VA 23116 Tel: +1(804) 335-7198

Entrepreneurship | Impact Investing | Corporate Social Responsibility | Faith & Economy

Dale Fickett works towards greater sustainability and social impact, through the market. He leads Richmond’s entrepreneurship initiative - RVA Works, a public-private partnership of the City’s Economic Development Authority. He also leads efforts to form a new hybrid accelerator-fund for faith-based institutional investors; a fund which targets early stage equity and venture capital for scalable technologies addressing global sustainability. His background includes work consulting with Accenture’s strategy practice, as a startup founder, as well as guest lectures and research with the Wharton School SBDC, Trinity College Dublin and Northwestern University. Dale also serves on numerous boards for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for the Catholic Church.

Dale has also created a unique concept proposal for Social Entrepreneurship Strategy at Catholic institutions, covering: Catholic Social Teaching, Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Venturing, Achieving Sustainability through Innovation, and a model for a new crowdfunding and acceleration platform to build pipeline for actively managed early stage impact investing funds.

Board Appointments

• Virginia Catholic Conference • U.S. Senate Small Business Productivity & Quality Award • Chairman, Haiti Committee for Cathedral of the Sacred Heart & St. Bridget’s Parish • Secretariat of Commerce & Trade for Virginia - Social Enterprise & Impact Investing

Executive Director, RVA Works Economic Development Authority, City of Richmond April 2013 - present

Leading a strategic transformation of the city’s new business incubator to stimulate job creation and diverse economic growth. Dale is galvanizing effort and marshalling resources to achieve the vision for Richmond as a Top 10 Startup City, and promulgating the concepts of Entrepreneurship 2.0.

o Achieved a new startup program in under-resourced communities with 60 entering

participants – 70% from lower income households, 73% women-owned businesses, 90% minority-owned businesses, and 71% of alumni have opened their business;

o Raised over $50,000 in sponsorship and donations from key partners – Capital One, Williams Mullen, United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Virginia Department of Housing & Community Development; and established delivery partnerships with WIBO, Kiva, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation;

o Created an Advisory Board and new public-private structure, including entity formation and policy considerations.

o Led the creation of mission, vision, target operating model, change journey/roadmap of implementation phases, target budget and funding model, organizational structure, workplan and communications strategy;

o Oversaw critical marketing efforts – website (www.rvaworks.org), social media (@rvaworks), e-newsletter campaign, signage and public relations exposure through mass media.

o Served as a speaker within numerous events on entrepreneurship and innovation within economic development, covering topics such as: startup growth strategy, prototyping and market traction, lean startup, sustainability, financial modelling and valuation, capital access, and community engagement.

o Garnered support of over 40 volunteers in areas such as: research and analysis, business planning, micro-enterprise formation course delivery, special events, 1 Million Cups professional networking event series, and the marketing campaign;

o Developed thought leadership on Richmond’s busiiness ecosystem, authoring or co-authoring: “Differentiating Our Startup Ecosystem”, “New Business Services Report 2016”, “Appalachia Technology Co-operative”, “Creating Jobs in Virginia – Building New Businesses”, and “Responsible Capitalism – Towards an Inclusive Economy through Social Innovation”.

Adjunct Professor - Management Virginia Commonwealth University August 2014 – July 2015

Taught Foundations of Business I and II, cross-disciplinary courses for undergraduate students in the School of Business. Courses leverage lecture, group study, case study and discussion to provide an introduction to core concepts.

Director, Risk Management Midsouth Assurance July 2012 – August 2013

Focused on risk advisory for both high-potential start-ups and growth ventures across a range of industry sectors. Leveraging his core skills in business strategy and a passion for entrepreneurship, Dale engaged MidSouth Assurance clients on business planning, strategic risk management, and appropriate mitigation controls & risk transfer. As a licensed broker, he represented clients’ in their purchases of Commercial Property & Casualty Insurance. He also authored "Emerging Risk: Data Security & Cyber Liability".

Developmental Entrepreneurship Researcher Soquent and Trinity College, Dublin March 2009 – March 2013

Led a new research project in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin and the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, aimed at the alleviation of global poverty through locally-owned ventures; and modelling for a new institutional exposure to small scale African debt.

o Co-authored “Developmental Entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa – Assessing Financial

and Social Returns” with Dr. Louis Brennan, Director of Post-Graduate Research Programmes, covering: a new conceptual model to assess developmental entrepreneurship opportunities, application for national markets, and corroboration of findings though recognized datasets.

o Sponsored an MBA team at the Wharton School, who created “Toolkit for Development of a Successful MSME Fund in Africa”, including: assessment of the market for SME funding, identification of profitable impact opportunities, and an approach to mobilize resources.

o Created a new opportunity identification and assessment toolkit for development entrepreneurs, including: introduction to business planning, guided templates for capturing market trends, and a reference business plan.

o Supported the work of two Zimbabwean entrepreneurs assessing their new venture opportunities.

o Lectured at Villanova University, discussing "Developmental Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice", covering: global development context, African economic overview, and the entrepreneurial opportunity.

o Conducted additional research covering: existing findings in economics and management literature, development stakeholders, African economic development, private investment and growth, and poverty alleviation through entrepreneurship.

o Launched fundraising and networking activities across the stakeholder community, including Harvard University, Babson College, Accenture Development Partnerships and the IFC.

Managing Consultant – Banking Strategy Accenture, Dublin & London June 2006 – March 2009

Served as a strategist in the UK and Irish markets, focused primarily in the banking sector. o Managed large components of a new product strategy for SEPA Direct Debit in a top 4 UK

bank, structuring the problem, validating quantitative modeling / valuation, gaining stakeholder consensus for the new customer value proposition, and crafting an implementation plan.

o Collaborated as a Payment Services Directive expert within a compliance project in a top 4 UK bank – contributing within the proposal, presenting the delivery approach, mobilizing the team, creating delivery plans, and establishing the PMO.

o Authored thought leadership and methodology on the strategic impacts of payments regulation, detailing: new market context and opportunities, operating model implications, and alliance strategy (i.e. Merger & Acquisition, Valuation, Post-Merger Integration).

Managed a UK and Ireland sales campaign, with oversight covering: marketing, tracking the pipeline, organizing team development activities, managing stakeholder relationships, and overseeing administrative activity. o Supported partners in the achievement of annual growth over 120%. o Assisted in sales efforts with 12 large banks – developing plans for new business opportunities,

researching market trends, writing and presenting sales materials, and mobilizing client projects.

o Served as an Accenture subject-matter expert, presenting at the International ePayments Intensive, and at the SWIFT global industry conference.

Led an IT Service Management improvement program to re-engineer processes within a leading Irish bank.

o Completed the initiating activities, including: scope definition, delivery approach, stakeholder

engagement plan, governance structure, communications plan and establishment of the PMO. o Directed project work stream efforts to complete the planning phase, including: refined scope

statement, team recruitment, estimates of effort, schedule, budget, and assessments of issues and risks.

Instructor – New Venture Execution Wharton Small Business Development Center, University of Pennsylvania June 2005 – June 2006

Guided community entrepreneurs through bi-weekly meetings focused on progress against their action plans, advising them on solutions to implementation challenges.

o Mentored over 30 entrepreneurial teams to achieve compelling business plans and through

the execution of their action plans for launch / growth activities, combining pragmatic advice with theoretical tools.

o Provided key assistance to the director on the creation of the Execution Support Program. o Built trust-based relationships with entrepreneurs by demonstrating first-hand experience,

academic knowledge, and an authentic desire to serve.

Founder & President D’Lectables December 2003 – June 2006

Held end-to-end responsibility for a start-up venture from concept initiation to business closure.

o Conceived the venture concept from inception, including retail store fronts, wholesale distribution, and direct-to-consumer business lines built around premium chocolate and confections.

o Conducted comprehensive research on the gourmet chocolate and confections market ($14.6B nationally); and the national and local market for fudge.

o Formulated the business strategy, including: opportunity identification, industry analysis, market positioning & value proposition creation; and functional strategy.

o Raised required start-up capital through SBA-backed loans and personal debt, having written a compelling business plan and having formed the start-up team.

o Achieved year 1 launch of the retail, wholesale and eCommerce business lines; and learned to avoid overly an aggressive launch.

o Demonstrated leadership through corporate philosophy development, social responsibility position, especially the use of Fair Trade Certified products; and designation as a “Net Impact Leader in Action”.

Project Manager / Project Analyst Accenture / Andersen Consulting April 2000 – April 2002

Managed multiple project teams delivering technical integration and business solutions for financial services clients in Ireland.

o Delivered the technical integration of testing environments and the disaster recovery

protocols, related to the integration of a new payments engine, within the Capital Markets division of a leading Irish bank.

o Managed the delivery of the Euro currency conversion project within a leading Irish stock brokerage.

o Developed core project management skills (e.g. PMI), and spanning scope, time management, risk and issue management, quality management, budgeting, and team leadership.

Education

DateDateDateDate CourseCourseCourseCourse InstitutionInstitutionInstitutionInstitution FocusFocusFocusFocus DistinctionDistinctionDistinctionDistinction ResultsResultsResultsResults

2002 - 2003

Master of Business

Administration

Villanova University Villanova,

Pennsylvania Entrepreneurship

Graduate Assistantship

3.64 (of 4.0)

2003 Executive Education

SDA Bocconi Milan, Italy

European Economics

4.0

(of 4.0)

1993 - 1997

Bachelor of Science in Business

Administration

LaSalle University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Management & Finance

Academic Excellence in

Finance Award

3.54 (of 4.0)