Les Hollis has two decades of experience as an investment banker, private equity investor, and entrepreneur. Recently, Les has been focused on the burgeoning legal cannabis industry, investing out of his holding company (Hollis Ventures, LLC). Les has put together investor groups and applications in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas, and Maryland. In aggregate, Les has raised over $30 million for his medical cannabis entities. Les was introduced to the legal cannabis space in 2014 by putting together a group of investors in Illinois to form Illinois Grown Medicine (“IGM”), and from 2014-2017 served as its CEO where he oversaw operational oversight for a dispensary and a cultivation site; he currently maintains an equity stake. Notably, in 2015 IGM became the only African-American-owned and operated medical cannabis company to be awarded either a cultivation or dispensary license in the State of Illinois.

Prior to joining IGM, Les served as a merchant banker for his own investment banking firm (Quaestus Capital) making investments in a range of industries. Prior to founding Quaestus in 2011, Les was a founder of Bivium Capital Partners, LLC, a fund-of-funds investment manager, and served as its chief executive officer from its inception in 2002 until his departure in 2010. During his tenure as CEO, Les was a member of the firm’s investment committee and responsible for the overall direction of the firm, which raised $1.5 billion from many of the world’s largest, most-respected pension funds. His clients included the corporate pension funds for IBM and PG&E; the States of Connecticut, Maryland, and Michigan; as well as New York City, San Francisco, Alameda County, and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

Les previously was employed at Epoch Partners, a start-up investment bank backed by Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers; Benchmark Capital; and Trident Capital. Epoch Partners was sold to Goldman, Sachs & Co. in July 2001. Earlier, Les worked for the communications, media and entertainment group of Goldman, Sachs & Co., advising clients regarding capital formation and mergers and acquisitions.

Les holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cornell University and a Master’s degree from Columbia Business School, where he was a Robert Toigo Foundation fellow and was elected vice president of the student body. Les is a member of Beta Boule, Sigma Pi Phi fraternity and resides outside of Chicago in Winnetka, Illinois with his wife and two daughters. 

Michael Pemberton is the Founder and Managing Partner of Modern Caribbean, LLC (MOCA), a full-service government relations and consulting firm based in the U.S. Virgin Islands, focusing on the entire Caribbean region. MOCA offers its clients legislative and regulatory consultation, strategic partnering, and business and capital-raising assistance.  MOCA has a demonstrated track record of providing high-impact consulting services to its clients and has recently been successful in securing multiple mandates that will generate millions of dollars of revenue.

Michael was born and raised in St. Croix. Upon graduating from high school, Michael enlisted in the Marines. During his four years of service, Micheal embraced the principles of perseverance and discipline, which later became key elements in his approach toward entrepreneurship. After being honorably discharged from the Marines, Michael completed his undergraduate studies and graduated from the University of the Virgin Islands with a business administration degree and a management minor. 

In 2018, Micheal became integral to the-candidate Albert Bryan’s gubernatorial campaign. His experience in that effort further cemented his intention to expand his entrepreneurial endeavors. The initial result of that spirit was Ávera Tech, which raised over a million dollars of seed capital and became part of the very first cohort of the U.S. Virgin Island’s ‘Research and Technology Park Accelerate Program,’ which seeks to build a pipeline of promising early-stage startup companies and provide them with the tools they need to grow and scale from the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

In addition to Ávera Tech, Michael developed the idea for MOCA, which currently has 19 clients, and is actively working on their behalf to participate in the billions of dollars of infrastructure funds allocated to the USVI, as well as pursuing opportunities in the Caribbean, notably in Guyana and the Dominican Republic. 

Michael Pemberton also serves as the treasurer of the United States Virgin Islands Governors’ Millennial Council, where he utilizes his regional relationships to cultivate diplomatic and business opportunities.