TEAM 1843

Named to the inaugural Forbes “50 over 50” list and one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s inaugural “100 Powerful Women,” Tracy is the founder of 1843 Capital.  Notable investments include early investments in Beautycounter (Exited: $1 Billion valuation), Tempo Automation, HopSkipDrive and May Mobility. She is a leader and a sought after speaker within the community of women founders, innovators and entrepreneurs, including giving testimony before a U.S. Senate Committee. She has been a speaker for the Nantucket Project, MIT and TEDx NYIT. Currently, she serves on the Super Connector Board of Aging 2.0 and as an Advisor to UBS Project Entrepreneur. Formerly, she was a partner of a growth capital venture capital fund – Baker Capital and a VP at Robertson Stephens. In 2018, Tracy received the Moffly Media Award for Women’s Business Advocate.

Tracy earned her B.A. from Trinity College in Hartford, CT and her J.D. from Loyola University of Chicago. She also speaks conversational Japanese and restaurant French.

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Gwen Weiss comes to 1843 Capital with 20+ years in financial management, accounting, and venture fund & firm administration. Prior to joining 1843 Capital, Gwen served as the Controller for Bedford Funding, a private equity fund based in White Plains, NY. While at Bedford, Gwen was responsible for all accounting and financial reporting functions, including quarterly financial statements, annual audited financials, portfolio valuation analysis and annual tax reporting.

Prior to joining Bedford in May 2012, Ms. Weiss worked at Oak Investment Partners, a leading venture capital firm, from 2000 to 2012. While at Oak, Gwen performed several functions, including Senior Accountant, and Portfolio Administrator, and Finance Manager where she supported the CFO in monitoring controls, implementing improvements, management company budgeting and forecasting as well as SEC reporting. Prior to her time at Oak, Ms. Weiss was a Senior Associate at Deloitte & Touche.

Ms. Weiss is a CPA who received a B.S. from Fairfield University where she completed dual majors in Accounting and Finance.

Janet Defrino has over 20 years’ experience investing in both public and private companies and currently assists early-stage companies with their strategic finance function and fundraising through her firm, Five Mile Advisors. Janet joined the 1843 Capital team in late 2019 to contribute analytical and financial expertise to portfolio due diligence and monitoring. She serves on the Board of Directors of Shindigz, a privately held ecommerce company and is an advisor and mentor to several early-stage companies.

Janet started her career as an equity research analyst at Morgan Stanley and transitioned to an investing role in 2000. Prior to starting Five Mile Advisors, Janet co-founded Eachwin Capital in New York where she was responsible for all consumer investments and contributed to fundraising efforts. Janet’s philanthropic work includes serving on the Board of the CT Women’s Business Development Council, a non-profit that supports female entrepreneurs in the state of CT and mentoring founders through several programs and accelerators, including Founder Institute, Female Founders Alliance and CT Next.

Janet received her undergraduate degree in economics from DePauw University and her MBA from Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management.

Larry was the former President and CEO of AARP Services beginning November 2014 and was formerly the Executive Dean at the University of New Haven College of Business. He has an extraordinary history of partnership development for some of the largest corporations in the world including MasterCard Worldwide, the Procter & Gamble Company and L’Oreal USA. As the global chief marketing officer at MasterCard, he managed a $1.5 billion budget, directed marketing strategies in more than 50 countries and helped launch the company’s hugely successful, “Priceless” advertising campaign. He also established strategic partnerships with Major League Baseball, the PGA Tour and Champions League soccer in Europe and was part of the executive team that spearheaded MasterCard’s highly successful initial public offering in 2006.

MARIELLE ALEXANDER brings a unique skill set to 1843 Capital as a data science and product enthusiast. She has experience in the Data Analytics field and a keen interest in technology investing with previous experience working for a family investment office and an artificial intelligence startup. Marielle holds a B.Sc. in Statistical Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she completed the Applied Statistics track with Data Science and Financial Mathematics concentrations. In college, she held leadership roles in Delta Gamma and participated in organizations such as Women in Math and Girls Inc. Prior to this, Marielle attended the Parsons School of Design in New York City for a Product Design Intensive Program. Marielle has a global perspective holding dual citizenship in the US and Mauritius.