Julianne Brands joined Sila as Director of Strategy in 2020.Julianne leads the fund’s research and analysis activities. Her primary responsibilities include outreach to entrepreneurs, supporting due diligence teams, promoting best practices and collective learning, and analyzing portfolio and fund metrics. Prior to joining OAF, Julianne worked for Pacific Crest Securities (a division of KeyBanc Capital Markets), where she ran enterprise software research for Mosaic, the emerging technology research group, focusing on emerging trends and private companies in SaaS, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, and Open Source technologies. In a former life, Julianne worked for the Milken Institute’s Center for Financial Markets in Washington, DC, where she worked on economic policy issues affecting the flow of capital to startups and small businesses, including FinTech, Crowdfunding, Peer-to-Peer Lending, and the JOBS Act. Growing up working for her family's small business in Oregon, Julianne has always had a passion for helping to build startups and small businesses. She’s active in the Portland startup community where she can be found regularly at meetups across the city. When she’s not talking to entrepreneur’s about their next big idea, she can be found running trails in Forest Park, reading the (actual) newspaper, and volunteering as coach for local youth sports teams. Julianne graduated magna cum laude from Santa Clara University with a degree in Economics and Political Science.