Meet Our Executive Board

Alondra Valenzuela

President

Kieran Binkley

Vice President

Ridge Dutkin

COO

Vinay Patel

CFO

Meet Our Advisors

Gage Dutkin founded Tech CEO in 2016 when he began looking for a way to meet other like minded entrepreneurs at Texas Tech. With the new addition of the Texas Tech Innovation Hub, CEOs fit perfectly into the strategic plan for economic growth in Lubbock, TX. Gage and CEOs became heavily involved in the TTU Innovation Hub and participated in all of the programs offered. He then went on to lead and direct Red Raider Startup.

Gage graduated Texas Tech in 2018 with a degree in business management with a concentration on strategic entrepreneurship. He currently lives in Austin, TX and is pursuing a solution to pediatric vehicular heatstroke with his startup, C-Safe. Gage is an active member of the Austin startup scene and is a member of Capital Factory and WeWork. The best way to reach him is at gagedutkin@gmail.com

Gage Dutkin

Michael Ryan's research interests include leadership development, team development, product innovation, and project management. His most recent efforts concentrated on leadership challenges for virtual teams. His notion of ambassadorial leadership integrates ideas from social network theory, boundary spanning, and transformational leadership into a unified framework.

Mike brings more than 25 years of industry experience to his work as an academic. This experience includes leadership roles in the airfreight and logistics fields. He also founded and subsequently sold his own logistics company and in 1989 started an IT venture that addressed the computing needs of the SMB market. As a consultant, he has worked with numerous Fortune 500 companies including AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and IBM.

Michael R. Ryan, Ph.D.

Taysha Williams serves as the Program Director at the Innovation Hub at Research Park. She oversees entrepreneurship programs including Red Raider Startup, Hub Camp, IDEA Competition, and iLaunch. Taysha has an extensive background in development, non-profit management, and event planning. She has raised millions of dollars for different organizations during her 15 years in the non-profit sector.

Taysha received a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a certification in Organizational Management from the University of North Texas. Taysha joined Texas Tech University in October 2016 and she is honored to be a Red Raider. She is an active member of the community and serves as an Ambassador for the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Young Professionals of Lubbock.