Board of Directors - Chicago Tech

Terry Howerton Co-Founder & Chairman

Terry Howerton is an entrepreneur who started his first business in high school and has spent a career starting and leading ventures, mentoring other entrepreneurs and building organizations.

Howerton was cofounder and founding chairman of Chicago Tech Academy.

He is the CEO of TechNexus, a venture development firm with a unique, collaborative model for leading corporations to engage with the global entrepreneurial ecosystem, and one of the most active early-stage investors in the country. Howerton also founded ITA, the Chicago tech industry association that serves thousands or growth stage technology companies, more than 100 of which were instrumental in the creation of Chicago Tech Academy.

Sandy Lourie Secretary

Sandy Lourie chairs the Corporate and Securities Group at Barack Ferrazzano law firm in Chicago and concentrates his practice in general corporate, technology and international law matters.

Sandy has over 30 years’ experience working with domestic and foreign high tech businesses and university spin-offs. He has also been active with a number of non-profit and benefit corporations in the arts, technology and education fields. Sandy is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Chicago.

Todd Babbitz Board Member

Colleen D. Egan Board Member

Colleen D. Egan started her career in nursing, but her deep thirst for knowledge into the wonders of technology, led her to pursue that passion. She was a founder and COO of the award winning digital media company, 212 Degrees, and continued her career in executive leadership roles with diverse companies such as ZULA, the first 3D-CGI STEM children’s education television show, and Akoo International, the largest digital out-of-home network in the country.

As the founder and CEO of Tiger Puppet Studios, she consulted with technology start-ups in various stages of growth and most recently she was a Director at technology consulting leader, Clarity Partners. Colleen is a founding member of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Institute at DePaul University and was the 2018 Illinois Technology Association’s Prominent Woman in Tech. She has also been awarded “Woman of M2M/IoT” by Connected World and has been recognized as a Crain’s Chicago Business Notable LGBTQ executive in 2018 and 2019. Colleen is a mentor with several organizations and speaks regularly on topics including, women in tech, diversity, equity, and inclusion and LGBTQ issues.

Tim Handorf Board Member

Tim Handorf is a co-founder and President at G2.com. Tim has spent over 20 years developing and delivering software in a variety of roles including professional services and product management.

Prior to G2, Tim was responsible for Product Management at BigMachines and led efforts to deliver the top-rated quoting tool on Salesforce.com’s AppExchange for three years in a row. Tim loves making life better by solving problems using software technology. Tim is passionate about working in an entrepreneurial environment, where he can help build the next generation of entrepreneurs. Tim, his wife Danae and three children, ages 11, 14, 17, live in Wilmot WI.

Martin Kelly Board Member

Martin Kelly is Vice President of Sales, SAP Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP.

Gautam Kumar Board Member

Gautam brings a career in building growth-stage technology companies. He is currently the Chief Financial Officer at Rocketmiles (now part of Booking Holdings Group) and previously was the SVP of Strategy and Business Development at OptionsHouse (now part of E*Trade Corporation). He has a background in management consulting and an education in computer science.

Megan McCann Board Member

Megan McCann is an established IT recruitment and technology services leader known for building and
leading highly successful IT services firms, and for the work she does to advance diversity and cultivate
talent across the technology industry.

Megan is the CEO of leading IT recruitment firm McCann Partners, which she founded in 2011. She and
her team deliver IT recruitment with intention and integrity to a growing portfolio of innovative
organizations—from Chicago-based startups to companies with a global footprint. McCann Partners is
dedicated to creating a more equitable and diverse workforce, and proud that more than 70% of their
talent placements in the past two years have been diverse hires. Prior to McCann Partners, Megan co-
founded and helped build Geneva Technical Services (GTS), and was a strategic force in growing
SelecTech—both premier IT recruitment firms.

Megan’s impact on the tech community far exceeds her day-to-day work as CEO of her own firm.
Passionate about attracting, retaining, and advancing women in technology, Megan is a proud co-founder
of ARA, a national organization that seeks to promote women in technology and leadership through
mentorship, events, and programs. Her additional industry and leadership affiliations include membership
in the American Staffing Association, CHIEF, and the TechServe Alliance.

She is also a founding partner of the Chicago Executive Women’s Networking Group and an active
member of Chicago Innovation’s Women’s Mentoring Co-Op. In addition, she’s been recognized as a
Chicago Business Journal Bizwomen Headliner in Technology, Chicago Business Journal Women of
Influence, a three-time Midwest Women in Tech Awards finalist, and an Illinois Technology Association
CityLIGHTS finalist. In 2021, Megan was named to Staffing Industry Analysts inaugural Top 50 DE&I
Influencers list and selected as a ChiTech Academy Young Women’s Leadership Society Ambassador of
the Year.

Brenda Darden Wilkerson Board Member

Brenda Darden Wilkerson is an advocate for access, opportunity, and social justice for underrepresented communities in technology. She currently serves as
the President and CEO of AnitaB.org, an organization working to shape public opinion about issues of critical importance to women technologists in academia, industry, and government.

She founded the original Computer Science for All program, building computer science classes into the curriculum for every student in the Chicago Public Schools, and serving as the inspiration for the Obama administration’s national CS4All initiatives.