April Needham is an ecosystem builder and conduit for connecting entrepreneurs to the wealth of resources across the regional innovation ecosystem. She has been a recognized leader in the eastern Washington and northern Idaho ecosystem for nearly a decade. She has coached almost 400 startups in the areas of business planning, market research, and preparing for funding while also supporting the growth and development of the ecosystem.

April formerly led the growth of another regional entrepreneurial support program which included the development of an early-stage technology incubator and launch of a corresponding fund which invested more than $700k into participating startup companies.

Previous professional experience includes community and economic development and business operations for large corporations and nonprofits.

Credentials

Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Certified Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP)
Certified Entrepreneurship Center Manager (ECM)
Member of the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)
Member of the International Business Innovation Association (InBIA)
Leadership Coeur d’Alene graduate

As a PhD in human genetics with an MBA emphasizing strategy and operations, Michaele Armstrong, PhD, MBA, currently works to cultivate growth in the bioscience industry across Oregon, Eastern Washington and Northern Idaho. Michaele is a seasoned researcher and project manager with a proven track record of finding solutions for world-class bioscience companies (including Biotronik, McKesson, and Philips), startups, and leading research institutions. She has broad and deep experience in delivering data driven decision making from the perspectives of academic medicine and industry. She enjoys establishing and developing relationships with industry and academia with the end goal of enabling technologies to improve health outcomes.

Highlights:
• Skilled program and project manager
• Easily work in teams or independently to optimize outcomes
• Technology transfer experience including technology evaluation, market analysis and marketing of technologies
• Bioscience consulting experience
• 15 years of experience in bench and clinical oncology research
• 30+ peer reviewed publications