Mentors

Mentors are a select group of bioscience and healthcare industry leaders committed to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship. VelocityTX mentors have decades of experience and a track record of bringing their bioscience and healthcare companies to exit. The mentors play an essential role by providing a safe space for CEOs and founders of VelocityTX’s incubator and accelerator programs to share thoughts and concerns in a confidential setting. The founders gain valuable insight, support, and guidance from the mentors. The goal of the mentorship is to provide training and support to entrepreneurs in various areas to help make critical business decisions.

Juan "Sebastian" Garzon

Programs Manager

Juan “Sebastian” Garzon serves as programs manager for VelocityTX. Sebastian oversees the implementation of programs that support the growth of bioscience companies. Before joining VelocityTX, Sebastian worked in multiple roles at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), including Director of the Garcia Center and Program Manager for the Coastal Bend Business Innovation Center. In addition to his role with VelocityTX, Sebastian serves as executive director of Alamo Angels, San Antonio’s premier network of accredited investors.

Sebastian graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s in finance and earned a master’s in business administration from TAMUCC. Sebastian has received multiple recognitions, including the 2016 achievement honoree from the TAMUCC College of Business, Corpus Christi 40 under 40 and is a graduate of Leadership Corpus Christi Class 46. Sebastian is also the co-founder of Passport2Fluency, a company that creates opportunities to increase language fluency through virtual and overseas immersion experiences. 

Kaitlyn Bloch

Programs Coordinator

Kaitlyn Bloch serves as programs coordinator for VelocityTX. In this role, Kaitlyn is responsible for the day-to-day management of VelocityTX mentoring and coaching programs and the CEO Roundtable series. Before joining VelocityTX, she worked for The Learning Company and the Meadow’s Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, where she developed and implemented entrepreneurial support programs, workshops, and events. Kaitlyn holds a bachelor’s in management from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, TX. 

McKenna Gallagher

Programs Coordinator

McKenna Gallagher serves as programs coordinator for VelocityTX. In this role, McKenna is responsible for VelocityTX BioGlobal Accelerator Program, Incubator Program, and the CoLabs facility. McKenna’s experience in technical settings, ranging from concept to commercialization, position her to bring a unique perspective in providing support to VelocityTX clients. Before VelocityTX, McKenna worked as a manufacturing engineer for medical devices, performed research and development for class III medical devices, and executed clinical research. McKenna earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Lili Chavez Pena

Community Champion

Lili Chavez Pena serves as Community Champion for VelocityTX. In this role, Lili brings a friendly and professional experience to guests of the VelocityTX Innovation Center. Lili began her career with VelocityTX as programs coordinator, where she led and managed the accelerator program, which comprised a cohort of five international companies. Before joining VelocityTX, Lili spent over 10 years in the banking, wealth management, and insurance industries in Mexico and the U.S. Lili holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in finance from Instituto Technologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. Lili is fluent in Spanish, English, and French.

Corey Levenson, Ph.D.

San Antonio Military Medical Innovation Director, San Antonio Economic Development Corporation

Corey Levenson has extensive scientific and business management experience in the life sciences working for start-ups as well as international pharmaceutical companies. Since moving to San Antonio in 1996, Corey has held leadership positions at ILEX Oncology, OncoVista, ViroXis, Santalis Pharmaceuticals, GenCure and the San Antonio Economic Development Corporation.

As San Antonio Military Medical Innovation Director, he’s responsible for fostering collaborations between military medical units and local entrepreneurs, research institutions, universities, and private industry with the goal of commercializing products that serve the needs of military medicine.

Incubator Program

The Incubator Program is designed to scale early-stage bioscience companies by providing long-term support and includes office and meeting space, access to industry experts, mentors, and more.

CEO Roundtable

The CEO Roundtable is an exclusive membership program that brings together executives from non-competing bioscience and healthcare companies to foster innovation, collaboration, and connections.