Crew

Arlan Hamilton built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT. Started from scratch in 2015, Backstage has now raised more than $15 million and invested in more than 170 startup companies led by underestimated founders. In 2018 Arlan co-founded Backstage Studio which launched four accelerator programs for underestimated founders in Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and London.

Christie Pitts is a General Partner (early-stage investor) at Backstage Capital. She joined Backstage in August 2017. Since then, she has assisted in sourcing and investing in startups led by underrepresented (women, people of color, and LGBTQ) founders, helping to bring the firm’s total investment portfolio to more than 180 companies.

Brittany brings experience sourcing early-stage ventures for investment, conducting diligence, and managing an investment pipeline. Prior to working at Backstage, she has led many organizations in sourcing and evaluating early stage deal flow. Brittany was a principal for #ANGELS, where she sourced companies and contributed to the #TheGapTable initiative. She was a Manager at Village Capital where she analyzed opportunities and created investment recommendations in the fintech, education, health, food/agriculture, and energy sectors. She also gained experience supporting entrepreneurs as an Associate at Techstars and as a Mentor at Startup Jamaica. Prior to her work supporting founders, she had her own ecommerce startup, Runway Technologies, and built a solid foundation in finance working at Bank of America Merrill Lynch for 5 years. Brittany received her BS in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed her MBA at Harvard Business School.

Chacho Valadez is a Principal at Backstage Capital and Chief of Staff to Founder and Managing Partner, Arlan Hamilton. Chacho went from helping retail customers in a Detroit Sprint store, to a Twitter connection and side projects with Arlan, to a full-time role at the firm working towards the mission of growing representation in tech. He has experience with running day-to-day operations at SMBs, business development, and sales. The son of a US immigrant, Chacho has a strong desire to highlight diversity, especially amongst the Latinx entrepreneur community. Chacho has been featured in Quartz, Inc, and Business Insider.

Clair Samuel’s domain expertise encompasses operations and finance at startups and venture capital firms. She is experienced in both the tactical and the strategic aspects of business and has a deep understanding of how they are critically intertwined. From due diligence and compliance to financial modeling and training, her strategy uniquely integrates marketing, human capital, diversity, and systemic thinking. Through her company, NoCairns, and now as Head of Compliance and Operations at Backstage, she advises early-stage founders in areas ranging from the fundamentals to the conceptual. Previous to this, she was VP of Finance and Operations, as well as de facto COO and part-time CFO, at Otherlab, a R&D venture studio in San Francisco. Clair has a bachelor’s in International Development Studies from UCLA and an MBA from Georgetown University.

Cathy uses her knowledge of systems to keep the Backstage Capital team organized. She excels at helping people increase operational efficiency with the right tools and processes. Her previous operations experience includes Biden/Harris 2020 and Elizabeth Warren for President campaigns, All Turtles and Greylock Partners. Cathy received an MBA in finance from Mills College and a BA in English Literature and Women Studies from the University of Connecticut. When she isn’t working, she’s riding her bike around beautiful Oakland, California.

Katie Andresen is passionate about the intersection of technology and social justice and currently is Head of Platform at Backstage Capital. Previously, she was part of All Raise where she worked to accelerate the success of female and non-binary founders and funders and has built communities at tech companies like Square and Phenomenal, an organization bringing awareness to social justice issues like the gender pay gap, where she served as the Head of Programming and Events. In addition, she is the host and producer of Mixed Kid Chronicles, a podcast that explores identity, race, and society, and a certified conflict mediator. She is a graduate of Princeton University and SOAS, and currently resides in San Francisco.

Alyssa Gill is the Investor Community Manager at Backstage Capital and an MBA candidate at Howard University. Prior to Backstage, she spent nearly three years overseeing the Venture Partner program at NextGen Venture Partners and has worked for founder support organizations including Venture For America and gener8tor. Alyssa is an alumna of Venture For America and The Pennsylvania State University. She is based in her hometown of Silver Spring, Maryland.

Jaimie is the Executive Assistant to Backstage Founder and Managing Partner, Arlan Hamilton. She met Arlan back in 2005 at the Hotel Café, a notable Hollywood music venue, through musician Terra Naomi while Arlan was her tour manager. Jaimie worked in the Business Affairs department at the Recording Academy, the organization responsible for the Grammy Awards, for 7 years, followed by a short stint as a freelancer based in Oregon, before returning to LA and the Academy. Her passions include collecting vinyl records with her husband, an engineer, and traveling to experience live music. 🎧

Tiffanie Maddox is the Executive Assistant to Backstage Capital Partners Brittany Davis and Christie Pitts. She comes to Backstage with over 15 years of experience in executive & administrative support capacities. Thanks to social media, she has been an avid supporter and follower of founder Arlan Hamilton and the Backstage Capital Crew. Moved by the ideals and mission of Backstage Capital’s leadership in diversity implementation and the uplifting of the underestimated, she is excited to be a part of Backstage Capital Team. Tiffanie is a mother of three very talented children and is active in her community serving as a volunteer and President on the Advisory Committee of the Oak Cliff Boys and Girls Club in Dallas, Texas.

Meighan empowers our Founder and Managing Partner as Arlan’s Personal Assistant. She helps manage Arlan’s speaking events, external podcast recordings, book and media requests. Like several of the Backstage Crew, Meighan reached out over Twitter when Arlan was looking for her first Executive Assistant way back in 2017. Meighan enjoys a healthy work-life balance and is able to support her local art scene and animal rescue. She also has a Boston Terrier named Babs.