Board Members
Charles "Tee" Rowe

Tee Rowe is the President and CEO for America's Small Business Development Center.  Tee has over 17 years of experience with the Congress and the US Small Business Administration (SBA) specializing in small business finance. For the past 5 years he served as the Associate Administrator for Congressional and Legislative Affairs directing all interaction between the SBA, Congress and the other Federal Agencies. In this position, Tee was the primary official in the Executive Branch responsible for negotiating with Congress on amending SBA's programs and policies, as well as the SBA’s annual appropriations of over $600 million. Prior to that he served for three years as the Assistant General Counsel for Legislative and Regulatory Affairs where he was the lead counsel drafting regulations and reviewing new and amended programs during the internal SBA policy process and throughout the lengthy OMB lead interagency review process.

Before joining SBA, Tee served over 10 years in the House of Representatives as Senior Counsel to the Committee on Small Business. On the committee he was responsible for the drafting and passage of several SBA reauthorization bills, and oversight of SBA’s lending and investment programs. Tee is a graduate of Dartmouth College and received his JD from Tulane University.

Mike Hottel  


Mike Hottel is currently a Partner at BDO USA, LLP.  Providing assurance, tax, financial advisory and consulting services to a wide range of publicly traded and privately held companies.
Kristin Johnson

Kristin Johnson is the Regional Director of the Northern California Regional SBDC network.  Kristin manages business assistance services within a 14 -county region of California.
Kim Kindschi

As president of Manitou Associates, a private consulting firm that specializes in planning, coordinating and implementing a wide variety of strategic initiatives, Kim works with governmental entities, educational institutions, non-profit organizations and the business community. Prior to his current position, Kim was the executive director of the University of Wisconsin Extension’s Division of Entrepreneurship and Economic Development, executive vice president of Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corporation and executive vice president of the Wisconsin Bankers Association.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Economics Wisconsin, Community Health Charities of Wisconsin, Community Health Charities of America, Foundation for Small Business Development, Wisconsin Business Development Finance Corporation, and Wisconsin Economic Development Association as well as the Advisory Board of the Partnership for Wisconsin’s Economic Success.

Andrew J. Sherman

Andrew J. Sherman is a Partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day, with over 2,700 attorneys worldwide. Mr. Sherman is a recognized international authority on the legal and strategic issues affecting small and growing companies. Mr. Sherman is an Adjunct Professor in the Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he has taught courses on business growth, capital formation and entrepreneurship for over twenty-three (23) years and won numerous teaching awards at both schools.. Mr. Sherman is the author of twenty-six (26) books on the legal and strategic aspects of business growth and capital formation.
Ari Lehavi 

Ari Lehavi is an Executive Director at Moody’s Analytics. 

 

Ari joined Moody’s in 2001 and became Managing Director for Product Development and Strategy in 2006. Following the acquisition of the Canadian Securities Institute in 2010, Ari took responsibility for the Learning Solutions Division—a leader in providing education solutions to financial professionals worldwide.

 

Prior to joining Moody’s, Ari spent several years as a strategy consultant, helping corporate executives define and execute strategies to drive profitable growth. Before consulting, Ari worked as an investment banker, focusing on financial services and technology.

 

Ari serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for Small Business Development and co-chairs the board of Bank Street College’s Liberty LEADS program for underserved youth.

Previously he founded and led the Institute of Risk Standards and Qualifications. He has authored studies and is a frequent speaker on the subject of skills, standards and culture.

 

Ari holds a joint Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees with Honors from Stanford University and has an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago. At Stanford, Ari was the recipient of the Sobeiski Award for Creative Thinking in Economics.