Power Moves: Cory J. Anderson is Venture for America’s new local lead in Baltimore

Power Moves is a column where we chart the comings and goings of talent across the region, and other people-oriented updates. Got a new hire, new gig or promotion? Tell us: baltimore@technical.ly.

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Career paths often involve different types of roles with lots of skillsets learned, but it’s nice when a new job brings together those disparate experiences in one.

That’s how Cory J. Anderson is feeling about his role as the community director of Venture for America in Baltimore. Anderson became the local lead for the fellowship program connecting recent college graduates with jobs at startups and other entrepreneurial firms. He’ll be working with the fellows in the program, as well as companies, funders and the entire ecosystem in Baltimore that support it.

When the opportunity became available, he jumped at the chance to work in a job that could deepen connections with the city, and give back.

“I really do feel like this role encompasses a little bit of everything that I’ve done in my career,” he said.

He has experience in higher education, which is fitting given the program’s work with grads. He previously worked as assistant director of career communities at Towson University, overseeing a program that connected education and careers. Another prior higher education role at George Washington University gave him experience engaging alumni.

He also brings experience with nonprofits, which he will extend working with VFA. As director leadership and engagement at Baltimore’s Art with a Heart and in a role with the United Way of Central Maryland, he gained nonprofit experience. Twelve years ago, a director role with his fraternity brought him to Baltimore from Michigan, and gave him passion for the city.

Working with nonprofits, he said, helped him get networked in Baltimore, and understand how it’s possible to connect with folks from CEOs to the neighborhood level in Baltimore. Now, he’ll be helping VFA fellows understand that and expand their networks, as well.

With Anderson joining, previous VFA Baltimore lead Emma Simpson has a new role within the organization. Still based in Baltimore, she is now the director of strategic partnerships for VFA, working on operations of the national fundraising team, including leading national volunteer engagements and supporting grant writing.

In the near future, VFA will be welcoming a new class to Baltimore, which remains among the cities with the highest concentrations of VFA fellow and alums. Currently, the 2021 fellows are going through training and a “match” process to determine which cities and companies they’ll be linked with. The org seeks to work with companies across the community, whether that be startups, growth companies, or firms that support the business community through investment and programming. They’re seeking “companies that are looking for great talent.”

“It doesn’t necessarily have to be in the tech space,” Anderson said, though many are tech companies. “We are looking at companies that are contributing to the expansion of the entrepreneurial ecosystem here in the city.”

Coming out of the pandemic, Anderson said he is aiming to help the 2020 and 2021 fellows feel the same connection to Baltimore that he did as a transplant to the city.

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The Bio Technical Institute of Baltimore is welcoming Dr. Brandy Carter as the next executive director who will lead its workforce development programming, which connects city residents with skills to prepare them for jobs with local biotech companies.

Dr. Carter comes to the role from the nonprofit adult education nonprofit South Baltimore Learning Center, where she served as assistant executive director of adult education and programs. She also has prior experience in education administration at District of Columbia Public Schools and Anne Arundel Community College.

Dr. Kathleen Weiss, the founder of the program who returned to the day-to-day leadership role of the University of Maryland BioPark-based organization as it came through the pandemic, said in a statement that Dr. Carter “knows our students, understands what employers need, and can now continue the progress BTI made as it kept its distinctive hands on training while enhancing the unexpected benefits of combining online and remote tools.”

With the hire, Weiss will return to a role as board director, and director emerita.

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Baltimore CRM and loyalty marketing agency Response Labs named Leigh Jacobs to lead its media division.

In the role, she’ll lead the agency’s work around data-driven and programmatic advertising. She brings digital marketing experience, having served as communications strategy associate director at New York-based Generator Media + Analytics.

It’s a move to add a “rising star” in a speciality area that can help grow the agency’s offerings to clients like Giant Food, Outback Steakhouse, HMR Weight Management Solutions and Hughes Network Systems, CEO Dan Dawes said.

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Baltimore medical device company Sonavex made a pair of moves to bolster expertise in dialysis access care for kidney disease patients recently. It comes as the team is expanding into this area of medicine with its ultrasound products, EchoMark and EchoSure.

The company appointed Dr. Alex Yevzlin as chief medical officer. Yevzlin is a professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, and has edited the first three textbooks on interventional nephrology, which seeks to provide a specific kind of care to patients on dialysis. He has also been involved in multiple startups.

The company also created an advisory board which includes specialists on the subject. Members are as follows:

• Dr. Randy Cooper, who is a member of Southwest Kidney Institute, a nephrology practice network in Arizona
• Terry Litchfield, a patient advocate in the kidney care community who is cofounder and VP of clinical operations at Lifeline Vascular Access (aka DaVita) and cofounder of RMS Disease Management.
• Dr. John Ross, founder of the Dialysis Access Institute in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and a leading expert on vascular access