Kris Khalil

Executive Director    

New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC)

kkhalil@neworleansbio.com

Partnership opportunities

Offer
NOBIC will offer opportunities to learn more about how our programs operate at the intersection of research, academia, entrepreneurship, and venture capital throughout Louisiana. NOBIC will also showcase investment opportunities across NOBIC and the BioFund portfolio companies, increase awareness of the federal BARDA DRIVe accelerator network nationally, and an invitation to help us establish a health sciences-specific Soft Landing Zone (SLZ) program here in New Orleans.

Ask
NOBIC is seeking connections to research institutions/health sciences entrepreneurs based in delegates’ home states, particularly to establish entrepreneurial exchanges as a precursor to a formal Soft Landing Zone (SLZ) program for health sciences SMEes to be housed here at NOBIC.

Main areas of work:

Biography

Kris Khalil is the President/CEO of NOBIC and has been with the organization for almost ten years. In this executive role, Kris coordinates all activities of NOBIC whose mission is to accelerate the growth and support of Louisiana’s biotech ecosystem. Before being named President/CEO in February 2019, Kris was Managing Director of the New Orleans BioFund and still holds this title. As Managing Director of the BioFund, Kris has invested over $5MM in 30 companies. These companies have collectively raised above $250MM in private funding and hired more than 1,000 employees in the U.S. Prior to joining NOBIC, Kris was the portfolio manager of Propeller/s Social Venture Fund and an adjunct professor of Venture Capital at Loyola University. Kris also serviced a portfolio of over $3B of working capital, construction, equipment, real estate, bridge financing, and acquisition loans up to $125MM for national financial institutions OMNI/Iberia Bank and Capital One Bank.

Nicole Griensewic

Executive Director

Region Nine Development Commission in Minnesota

Biografy:

Griensewic has served as Executive Director of Region Nine Development Commission since 2012. As executive director, Griensewic has made it a priority to foster collaboration and engagement by sharing Region Nine’s story both regionally and globally. Griensewic is an active board and committee member for multiple organizations throughout Minnesota. Griensewic is the immediate past President of the Greater Minnesota Partnership, and is the first female to chair the Executive Committee for the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies, where she served as chair of the Governance Committee. Griensewic also served as secretary of Lutheran Social Services of Minnesota’s Governing Board of Directors and chaired the Governance Committee and currently serves as an advisory board member for South Central College’s Center for Agriculture. She serves on the executive committee for the MACS Board, Minnesotans for the American Community Survey Board of Directors and represents the Midwest on the National Assoc. of Development Orgs.’s (NADO) Board of Directors.

Griensewic is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and has completed course work through Harvard’s Kennedy School’s Executive Education. She received the 2017 Outstanding Recent Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

Her professional background includes extensive private sector and non-profit leadership experience.