Winslow Sargeant
| Winslow Sargeant | |
|---|---|
| Chief Counsel for Advocacy | |
|
Assumed office August 19, 2010 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Susan Walthall (Acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Alma mater |
Northeastern University Iowa State University University of Wisconsin, Madison |
Winslow Sargeant is Chief Counsel for Advocacy for the Small Business Administration (SBA) and a former venture capital executive with a background in engineering. He was installed at the SBA in a recess appointment by U.S. president Barack Obama.[1] Sargeant was a managing director at a Madison, Wisconsin-based venture capital firm Venture Investors LLC. It "provides seed and early-stage money to high-potential health care and IT companies" including Alfalight, TomoTherapy, Third Wave and Promega.[2]
At the SBA Sargeant is "responsible for representing small businesses within the federal government’s law- and rule-making" and he joined Karen Gordon Mills, a founder and managing director of New York-based Solera Capital, who is SBA director. Sargeant did prior work with the SBA as program manager from 2001 to 2005 for the Small Business Innovations Research program in electronics at the National Science Foundation, and his appointment was seen as an encouraging sign by for venture capital funding. [3] He has been involved in making SBIR loans available to venture capitalists.[4]
Sargeant has a PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin. He cofounded semiconductor integrated circuit design company Aanetcom in 1997 with seed money from Cisco Systems. The firm was sold to British Columbia's PMC-Sierra in 2000 after a $900 million bid and was later valued at more than 1.2 billion during the dotcom boom, before the bubble burst and struggles with follow on chip products.[2]
Personal life
Sargeant's parents immigrated to the U.S. from Barbados and he grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, "one of Boston's mostly minority neighborhoods". As a fifth grader he was bused to predominantly white schools as part of the integration programs that were met with rioting in Boston.[2]
Sargeant is married to Ikanyeng, a native of Botswana he met in Madison, Wisconsin while in graduate school, and they have three children: Kgosi, Lorato, and Marang.[2]
References
- ↑ MARK S. SMITH Vacationing Obama makes 4 recess appointments Associated Press
- 1 2 3 4 Katherine Esposito Winslow Sargeant: Stepping onto the train called Wisconsin - Part 1 October 24, 2005 Wisconsin Technology News
- ↑ Tomio Geron Obama’s SBA Nomination Nods In Favor Of VC Industry; Venture Capital Dispatch May 22, 2009 Wall Street Journal (Blogs)
- ↑ Chris Fleissner Venture-backed firms could become eligible for federal SBIR grants September 11, 2006 Wisconsin Technology Network News
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Susan Walthall Acting |
Chief Counsel for Advocacy 2010–present |
Incumbent |