Sidney is the Member Experience Manager for the UChicago Science Incubator. He brings to Portal more than seven years of experience in nonprofit operations, member engagement, and membership campaign management. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Trinity Christian College and is currently pursuing a degree in Nonprofit Management from Liberty University. Most recently, he worked with Blacks in Green, an environmental justice organization, where he supported underserved communities in securing federal funding and promoted education around sustainable living. Previously, as Assistant Director of the Visitor & Member Engagement Team at the Art Institute of Chicago, he led membership strategies, cultivated donor relationships, and strengthened community engagement.

Kira is the Member Experience Manager at Portal Chicago, where she fosters meaningful partnerships with members, leads impactful events, and oversees seamless daily communications. Before joining Portal, she managed green infrastructure projects and community initiatives at G.E.T Solutions, an environmental nonprofit based in Chicago. Kira earned her degree in Environmental Policy from Loyola University Chicago in 2022.

Outside of work, Kira is passionate about volunteering with organizations focused on climate solutions, experimenting in the kitchen with unique ingredients, and exploring every art medium she can get her hands on.

Anh is Portal’s Programming and Experience Manager at Portal’s space in Houston at Helix Park. Before becoming a Programming and Experience Manager, Anh earned a PhD in Medical Sciences at Texas A&M University, where she studied a new drug for neurological disorders. She led commercialization efforts that earned recognition with prizes from Genentech, Jlabs, and the Rice Business Plan Competition. She also led Nucleate Texas, where she oversaw the entrepreneurial “Activator” program and provided high-value support to startups across multiple Texas cities. She is passionate about fostering the growth of life sciences ventures. Anhis excited to support Portal members, ensuring their success and satisfaction.

Raul began his career with Baxter Healthcare, supporting process development for parenteral solutions across US and Latin American sites. He then joined the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division as an Operational Excellence Partner, where he led the implementation of process improvement methodologies to optimize administrative and hospital workflows. Most recently, Raul was a foundational member of the Operations team at Evozyne, a Biotechnology startup in Chicago. At Evozyne, Raul helped build out the operations, managed strategic alliances, and led internal program management for early discovery and preclinical programs.

Raul has a degree in Biomedical Engineering and MBA from the Illinois Institute of Technology.  Raul grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago, and currently lives in Riverside with his wife, Araselly, 7-year-old daughter, Adeline, and dog, Skye. He loves all types of music, from heavy metal to reggaeton, and also supports Chicago sports teams, including the Bears, Bulls, and Fire.

Jack recently graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in Business. Jack will be our new Member Experience and Marketing Coordinator in Atlanta as we ramp up operations at Science Square.

Jack will be integral in providing community support in Atlanta as new members are onboarded, while also helping execute events at Science Square. On the marketing side, Jack will also manage multimedia content and work to expand the reach of our affiliated podcast, Lab Rats to Unicorns.

Gracyn Gambill is Portal’s Sr. Manager of Strategy & Communications in Chicago where she works closely with the Operations and member Experience Team. She is a University of Tennessee alumni with a background in sales and event coordination along with a passion for building and fostering relationships. In her role she is hands on in the coordination and execution of events that aim to increase member engagement. In addition, she ensures that day to day operations run smoothly in Portal’s Chicago location. She looks forward to continuing to grow with Portal as its expansion takes place.

Carson is Portal’s Technology Manager where he helps with Portal’s tech stack, troubleshooting, and providing IT support to member companies. Prior to joining Portal, Carson attended the University of Illinois Chicago, and recently worked as an operations strategist with Framework IT. Outside of work, Carson is an avid outdoorsman where he enjoys running, climbing, and cycling.

Nancy has worked with a series of life sciences companies and her most recent role was with the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, where she assisted faculty researchers at Chicago-area universities with funding and resources needed to advance therapeutic discoveries. Nancy enjoys being part of the Chicago life science community, and she is an active volunteer with a variety of organizations including Young Women In Bio Chicago, where she is a Board member and past President.  Nancy also serves on the Alzheimer’s Association®‘s Board of Directors and is a member of the Board’s Executive Committee.

Brian Karanja is the Office and Ecosystems Manager at Portal Boston. He oversees the operations and logistics of a dynamic co-working space that fosters collaboration and innovation among life science startups. Brian leverages his 11+ years of experience in event production and logistics management to create and execute impactful experiential strategies that showcase the value proposition and vision of Portal Innovations and its members.

He has a proven track record of increasing market reach and conceptualizing event and content strategies for global companies and brands such as Red Bull, Reebok, Converse, Bodega Pirate Radio, and Nike. He’s skilled in coordinating media equipment, project management, and growth strategy. Brian has a Bachelor of Science in Digital Filmmaking and Video Production and is fluent in English and Swahili. Brian is passionate about developing internal and external content strategies, visual storytelling, cross-functional collaboration, and emerging and existing trends. He helped to win Boston Magazine’s Best of Boston 2015 “Dance Party” Award and has been repeatedly tapped to lead high-profile activations, launches, and events.

Nick is in charge of helping grow the Portal brand on a national level. He joins Portal with more than 10 years’ of experience in marketing and communications within a variety of industries, including financial services, commercial real estate development, and oil & gas, with his most recent role focused on building marketing campaigns at Northern Trust Asset Management. His background consists of public relations, email and web marketing, SEO/SEM, social media, and content development. Nick grew up in Austin, Texas, graduated from The University of Kansas, and still tries to fool himself into thinking Chicago winters aren’t that bad. 

Rose Jones-Boyd is the Executive Assistant to the Founder & CEO.
She is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in professional office executive assistant positions and a track record of strong performance in high-volume, high-pressure environments. She has extensive experience with all administrative tasks including scheduling and correspondence.
As Executive Assistant, Rose ensures the smooth operation of the office. Having held several positions in the University and business fields, Rose can tailor her skills to meet the needs of colleagues and clients. Before joining Portal, Rose worked 13 1/2 years as an Executive Assistant at the University of Chicago.

Kevin is working to help create scalable systems and practices that can be implemented and standardized across all Portal locations as we expand to Boston and Atlanta. His main goal is to design and/or implement tools that can help foster community and collaboration in co-working environments.

Additionally, Kevin works on all content capture, design, editing, and audio production for Lab Rats to Unicorns (a podcast created by John Flavin).

E.J. oversees Portal’s membership experience, administration, and ecosystem development work. E.J. is a leading global expert in entrepreneurship having spent his career growing people, creating companies, and understanding the ecosystems that drive entrepreneurial success. He has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and many other leading global outlets. Previously, E.J. contributed to entrepreneurial growth through the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. Additionally, E.J. spent more than a decade building the global footprint of the Kauffman Foundation, the world’s leading philanthropic agent supporting entrepreneurial change.