BLUEGRASS ANGELS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Founder and President of American Farm Investors
Brian Luftman is the Founder and President of American Farm Investors, a firm that specializes in locating and managing grain-producing farmland for private investors. AFI invests individual and institutional capital into profitable grain land in the Midwestern Corn Belt. Mr. Luftman's background is in commodity trading. He spent 10 years trading livestock and grain options on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he founded and operated his own proprietary trading firm, Luftrade LLC. He attended Miami University in Oxford, OH, and graduated with a degree in Finance from the Farmer School of Business in 2001. He currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Bluegrass Angels Venture Funds and he is an active angel investor. Mr. Luftman is a co-founder and managing director of Never Say Die Bourbon. As a Director of Gryphon Environmental, Hippo Software Manager, Inc. and Thynk Health, Mr. Luftman actively represents the Bluegrass Angels on several company Boards.
Chris May is a finance & strategy professional with a broad spectrum of professional experiences. Chris started his career as an analyst at a NYC-based hedge fund. During the financial crisis of 2009 Chris pivoted to a global public affairs and business advisory firm in Washington, DC serving as deputy to the Chief Financial Officer. In 2011 Chris was accepted into the Finance Leadership Development Program at Lockheed Martin Corporation. At Lockheed Martin, Chris served in a variety of roles across financial planning & analysis, mergers & acquisitions, investor relations, and corporate accounting. In 2014, Chris was recruited as CFO of a fast-growing consulting and advisory firm where he worked hand in hand with the Founder & CEO to devise and implement growth strategies and operational best-practices. Chris currently leverages these experiences to operate Quadrant Advisory, a CFO consulting firm and LessAccounting a SaaS platform. Furthermore, Chris is an active angel and real estate investor and is passionate about supporting dynamic entrepreneurs. Chris lives in Lexington with his wife, Ellen, and two young children, Lillie and Baker.
Job Titles:
- General Manager at Overbrook Farm
Christopher H. Young is the General Manager at Overbrook Farm, and is actively involved in the regional startup community as Chair of the Bluegrass Angels, and lead manager of its related venture funds: the BGA Venture Fund III, BGA Venture Fund IV and BGA Venture Fund V. Since 2010, Mr. Young has made more than 15 direct investments in regional startups and currently sits on the board of directors of the following Bluegrass Angel portfolio companies: Transposagen, Hera Testing Laboratories, Frogdice, Gun Media, and Avail. Mr. Young serves on the Board of Directors of the UK Markey Cancer Foundation, Transylvania University, the Opera House Fund, and The Bingham Board of Trust. He and his wife, Josefine, have three children.
David Goodnight brings 30 years of broad global experience in the areas of angel capital deployment and governance, mentoring and development of high performance teams, business systems and controls, operations and supply chain management, accounting and MRP systems, investment analysis and strategic partnerships. For Bluegrass Angels, he serves as a Fund Manager for Venture Fund II, III, IV, and V. He is CFO of PowerTech Water and is an Adjunct Professor at the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky. Experience includes: Lexmark VP and Corporate Controller; Lexmark VP Asia Pacific and Latin America; startup experience with Jacobs Automation and Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas.
Jo Ellen Hayden worked briefly in retail merchandising and technical writing before finding her true calling in engineering program management, working for several U.S. Navy SYSCOMs managing avionics and military software/hardware systems. At Mathtech Inc. she led a team that developed the integrated communications system for Navy's E-2D aircraft. Near the midpoint of her 43-year career she paused to study oriental medicine and for nearly a decade divided her time between a consulting practice in engineering management and a clinical practice as a Licensed Acupuncturist. She held Virginia acupuncture license #1, was co-founder of the Complementary Medicine Center of Northern Virginia, and served on the Acupuncture Advisory Committee to the Virginia Board of Medicine. Ms. Hayden is on the board of Bluegrass Angels Inc. and also serves as a Fund Manager for Venture Fund IV and Venture Fund V. She is a member of the Entrepreneurism Program Executive Advisory Group at Transylvania University and the External Advisory Committee for Wake Forest University's Department of Engineering; is Chair of BrookeUSA's Bluegrass Area Advisory Council; and serves on the central Kentucky committee for Wreaths Across America. Ms. Hayden graduated from Transylvania University and holds an M.A. (History) from Wake Forest University, an M.S. (Systems Management) from the University of Southern California, and an M.Ac. from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute.
A twenty-five year veteran of electronic media and advertising, Joe is now an independent entrepreneur working with SAS companies, cable-telecom and emerging technology start-ups. Joe has held various leadership positions with both private companies as well as multinational, media conglomerates. Most recently, as COO of Viamedia Inc., he orchestrated more than 800% cash flow growth, building Viamedia into the largest independent media representation company that ultimately led to a successful liquidity event for shareholders. Prior to joining Viamedia, Joe operated a management consultancy after working in Senior Executive and leadership roles with Time Warner Cable and TCI, among others. Joe played instrumental roles in the integration of various corporate acquisitions of both Adelphia Communications and AOL. He also helped to launch several emerging technology and data driven advertising products in addition to several 24-hour local news channels. He earned a BS from Siena College (Loudonville, NY) in 1989. Originally from New York State, Joe relocated to the Lexington Area in 2008 with his wife and three children, Joe enjoys travel, hunting, golf, skiing and other outdoor activities.