Santa Clara University

Joanna Rees

Lecturer of Management

Prior to founding VSP Capital, Joanna led Venture Strategy Group, a strategic consulting firm.  Joanna worked in investment banking including positions at BA Securities and boutique merchant bank, Vrolyk & Co.  She worked in private placements and mergers & acquisitions focused on retail, restaurant and branded consumer companies.  Joanna also brings deep expertise in marketing and strategy, and has held several senior marketing management positions with Groupe Danone, a $20+ billion global consumer products firm, with her last position as head of New Product Development.  Joanna began her career at DMB&B, working with clients such as General Foods, RJR Nabisco, Brown Forman, Digital Equipment Corp, and Texaco.

The World Economic Forum selected Joanna as a Year 2000 Global Leader for Tomorrow (GLT).  The Aspen Institute selected Joanna for its 2002 Class of Henry Crown Fellows.  The National Association of Women Business Owners named her "The 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Rising Star".

Joanna is active in the non-profit community. She serves on the boards of New Schools Venture Fund whose mission is to improve public K-12 education by supporting a growing community of education entrepreneurs (www.newschools.org), the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship ("NFTE") (www.nfte.com ) and Endeavor a global organization supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries (www.endeavor.org).   Joanna recently completed her term on the board of the National Venture Capital Association where she continues as a media spokespersopn.  She previously worked with, and raised funding for, other non-profits including the Junior League and the March of Dimes.  Joanna currently serves on the Annual Fund board at Duke University.  She is a member of the Duke Basketball Legacy Fund.

She earned her MBA from Columbia University (beta gamma sigma) and a BS from Duke University where she was a member of the gymnastics team.