About the Series

The Meadows Center for Entrepreneurial Studies promotes and encourages entrepreneurial thought, business and activities locally, regionally and nationally.


Paula Gold-Williams speaking at Forum Breakfast at the Pearll
Speaker at podium during Forum Series event

The purpose of the Forum on Entrepreneurship Series is to offer the larger San Antonio community and students of St. Mary’s University a forum to hear from some of the most talented individuals in industry and government. Funds generated from the series support student scholarships and encourage entrepreneurial activities in San Antonio and the region. The Forum on Entrepreneurship Series attracts two to three hundred attendees to its bi-monthly events.

Great leaders who have served as speakers include:

  • Brigadier General Laura L. Lenderman, United States Air Force
  • Jenna Saucedo-Herrera, President and CEO, greater:SATX
  • Jim Sinegal, co-founder, Costco Wholesale
  • Lanham Napier, co-founder and CEO, BuildGroup
  • Chad McNair, CEO, McNair Java Partners, LLC
  • Kellie Fischer, executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club
  • Robert Kaplan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
  • Lynda Ellis, owner, president and CEO of Capital Concierge
  • James Garvin, Ph.D., CEO, president and director of CytoBioScience, Inc.
  • Dennis Noll, CEO of San Antonio Area Foundation
  • Bryant Ambelang, president and CEO of NatureSweet Brands LTD
  • Mike Howard, chairman and CEO of Howard Midstream Energy Partners, LLC
  • Shannon Schuyler, principal, chief purpose officer and corporate responsibility leader of PwC, and president of PwC Charitable Foundation
  • Adam L. Hamilton, P.E., president of Southwest Research Institute
  • Stuart Parker (M.B.A. ’95), CEO of USAA
  • Daymond John, founder and CEO of FUBU apparel, author, and marketing and branding judge for ABC’s Shark Tank
  • Paula Gold-Williams (B.B.A. ’84), CEO of CPS Energy
  • Tom Kartsotis, founder of Fossil and Shinola
  • Bill Greehey, chairman of NuStar Energy, L.P.
  • Kelly S. King, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Truist Financial Corporation
  • Randy Harig, CEO of Texas Research & Technology Foundation and VelocityTX
  • Brad Barron, President and CEO, NuStar Energy, L.P.
  • Angela Yochem, EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Novant Health
  • Andrew Endicott, Co-founder and General Partner, Gilgamesh Ventures
  • Lorenzo Gomez III, community builder, author and public speaker, former director of Rackspace
  • Jacqueline Darna, CEO and medical inventor of the NoMo Nausea, NoMo Migraine and NoMo Sleepless Nights
  • Craig Boyan, President of H-E-B
  • Anna M. Alvarado, Managing Director, Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary, Texas Capital Bank
  • Randy Smith, Co-Founder and CEO, Weston Urban
Past Speakers

2023-2024 Forum on Entrepreneurship Series Speakers

In-Person event
Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024
7 to 9 a.m. | Witte Museum, Dawson Family Hall

Dory A. Wiley

President and CEO, Commerce Street Holdings, LLC

Dory A. Wiley, CFA, CPA, CVA is President and CEO of Commerce Street Holdings, LLC, the
holding company for Commerce Street Capital, LLC (“CSC”), a FINRA-member broker/dealer and Commerce Street Investment Management, LLC (“CSIM”), an SEC-registered investment adviser. Since co-founding the firm in 2007, his primary focus has been the management and growth of the broker-dealer and private investment funds that specialize in financial institutions, retirement plans, institutional portfolio management and small to midsize buyouts. Wiley is frequently quoted in the media, and regularly speaks at universities, conferences and seminars regarding corporate finance, portfolio and asset allocation, as well as alternative investments. He is also a frequent contributor on Fox Business News, Fox News and CNBC. He has testified as an expert witness on bank and securities valuations, and written articles for various periodicals.

Wiley serves on the Boards and Investment Committees of multiple investment funds. Those funds have included SBICs (Independent Bankers Capital Fund), Bank Hedge and Private Equity funds (Keefe Managers, Keefe Partners, Keefe Rainbow Partners, Service Equity Partners, Genesis Partners, and Commerce Street Financial Partners) and debt funds (Commerce Street Income Partners I and II). He formerly served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (“TRS”), an approximately $130 billion pension fund, where he was Chairman of the Investment Committee, chaired the Alternative Assets Committee and served on Compensation, CIO recruiting, Audit and Government committees. During his tenure, TRS went from a bottom quartile performer to the number one ranked public pension fund in the country in its asset size group and is the 5th largest public pension plan in the country.

Wiley has over 30 years of experience in commercial and investment banking and investment management. Prior to his current position with Commerce Street, Wiley was President of SAMCO Capital Markets, LLC, which he joined in August 1996. Prior to SAMCO, he was Vice President and Manager of the Financial Institutions Group at Rauscher Pierce Refsnes, now RBC Capital Markets.

Wiley has also been an advisory board member to numerous small banks throughout the country. He is a member of the Texas Society of CPAs, the Dallas Society of Financial Analysts, the National Association of Certified Valuation Analysts and the CFA Institute. He holds series 24, 7, 63, 66 and 65 securities licenses and is currently serving on a FINRA regulatory committee. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors and also serves or has served on several charitable boards/advisory boards including the Liberty Institute, the Cotton Bowl Committee, Texas Tech Red Raider Club, the Texas Tech Rawls School of Business, the Texas Tech Foundation Board, the Baylor Health Care Systems Foundation, the SMU Cox School of Business Mentor Board, the University of North Texas Library Board, the Dallas Health and Human Services Commission and the Park Conservancy Board.

Wiley received a BBA in Finance and Accounting from Texas Tech University and an MBA from Southern Methodist University.

More about Dory A. Wiley

Virtual Zoom event
Thursday, March 28, 2024
8 to 9 a.m. | Zoom


Cat Dizon

Co-founder and COO, Active Capital

Cat Dizon is Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Active Capital, a venture firm based in San Antonio that is focused on leading seed rounds for B2B SaaS companies. She was Executive Director of Alamo Angels, the San Antonio based group of Angel Investors that invest in Texas based startups and was a founding member of the Beam Angel Network, an organization to advance women founders striving to scale their businesses in Texas. 

Prior to her venture capital experience, Dizon built her career operating businesses and creating incredible value delivering on both levels of strategy and execution.  For 11 years, she worked at Rackspace where she was a Director of Corporate Strategy and Development leading in areas of Mergers and Acquisitions, Post-Merger Integration, Growth Businesses and Staff Operations.   

Dizon serves as the Chairman of Geekdom’s Board of Directors, is a Board of Trustee for the Mind Science Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors for Girls Inc. of San Antonio. She is a military spouse, a mother of one and a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice. 

More about Cat Dizon

Sponsorship Opportunities

To renew your sponsorship, become a new Forum on Entrepreneurship Sponsor, or for additional information about attending, contact forum@stmarytx.edu or 210-436-3124.

Forum Sponsors

  • Title Sponsorship


Board of Directors

  • President
    Paul Hensley, HOLT CAT

    Chairman
    Sergio Palacios, Ph.D., St. Mary’s University

    Vice President-Speakers
    Hector Hernandez, Hernandez Financial Strategies, LLC

    Vice President-Sponsors
    Beth Hair, Vaco

    Treasurer
    Julia Hamon, Wells Fargo

    Secretary
    Pamela A. Luna, St. Mary’s University

    Members

    • Lane Allen, Encore Bank
    • John Bruce, FORVIS
    • Rhonda Calvert, retired
    • Jon D. Crumley, retired
    • Tres Doran, KPMG LLP
    • Chris C. Edelen, Safe Showers, LLC
    • Paul Garro, Vascular Perfusion Solutions
    • Jeffrey Landers, Encore Bank
    • Violeta Diaz, Ph.D., St. Mary’s University
    • David G. Pope, Labatt Food Service
    • Rowena Ortiz-Walters, Ph.D., St. Mary’s University
Back to top