Executive Committee

The Executive Committee of the Broad Street Angels consists of a diverse group of highly successful Union League of Philadelphia members with experience across a broad spectrum of industries. We bring it all to the table so that we can find the best and brightest innovative startups for our members to consider.

Melissa Ludwig

Melissa Ludwig

Chair, BSA
Former District VP Macy’s Inc.

With direct P&L accountability, Melissa led businesses from $380M to $600M and managed high-performing, multidisciplinary organizations ranging in size from 1,300 to 3,000 people. She is currently a Board Member for CSS Industries Inc. (NYSE:CSS) a consumer products company, Chair of the NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) Philadelphia Chapter, Advisory Board Member for several startup companies AmorSui and Mytonomy, the Pennsylvania Convention Visitors Bureau, Vice President of Susan G. Komen, ALS, and the co-founder of the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator in partnership with Center City District to help emerging fashion talent achieve entrepreneurial success. Melissa has also guided emerging 501(c)3 leadership teams at Mind your Brain, associated with Penn Medicine, and Take Back My Life, A strong advocate for female empowerment and business advancement, Melissa is also a Corporate Governance Committee Member of the Forum for Executive Women, and Women Corporate Directors. Melissa serves on the Membership Admissions and House committee for The Union League of Philadelphia.

Melissa earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Organizational and Clinical Counseling Psychology from Moravian College and Drexel’s Raj & Kamla Gupta Governance Institute Certificate in Director Education.

Robert J. Ciaruffoli, CPA

Robert J. Ciaruffoli, CPA

BSA Founder; BSA Immediate Past Chair

Member of the BSA Screening Committee
Former Chairman and CEO of
Parente Beard/Baker Tilly

Robert J. Ciaruffoli is a co-founder of Broad Street Angels.

Mr. Ciaruffoli is a CPA, the former chairman, and CEO of the Parente Beard/Baker Tilly accounting and advisory firm. As chairman and CEO, he and his team transitioned from a Pennsylvania practice to a multi-state super-regional firm. In 2014, he and his team orchestrated a merger of the Parente Beard and Baker Tilly Virchow Krause firms to create the 12th largest US accounting and advisory firm.

Bob was president and chairman of the 8th World Meeting of Families – Philadelphia 2015, which involved organizing and building the “infrastructure” to host Pope Francis’ historic visit to Philadelphia, attracting approximately 2 million people to Center City Philadelphia over two days. This event was the ultimate planning project as it required raising $53M to fund the Papal visit and related events and involved extensive collaboration with the Vatican, U.S. Secret Service, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, City of Philadelphia, and many other partners to make this Papal visit a success for the Vatican, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the City of Philadelphia. For his efforts, Pope Francis Knighted Bob in 2016.

Mr. Ciaruffoli has served on numerous for-profit and not-for-profit boards throughout his career. Presently, he is a board member, lead director and chair of the audit committee of Medicus Pharma Ltd, a publicly traded life science and biotechnology company; a board member, treasurer, and chair of the finance committee of Ben Franklin Technology Partners; and a board member and chair of the finance committee of Founding Forward, a national nonprofit that promotes and sponsors civics education. He is a past chairman of the Pennsylvania State Board of Accountancy.

Mr. Ciaruffoli holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Kings College, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and has proudly served in the United States Marine Corps (1970 – 1972).

RoseAnn B. Rosenthal

RoseAnn B. Rosenthal

BSA Founder; BSA Chair Emeritus
Managing Director, First Fund

RoseAnn has over 50 years of experience in business investment, regional economic development and public/private partnerships.  Currently the Managing Director of Delaware’s First Fund, she transitioned from her role of 25 years as the President, CEO and Director of BenFranklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA.  Ranked by Pitchbook among the top ten most active in the US, Ben Franklin is the most active seed and early-stage investor in innovation-based enterprises in the five county southeastern PA region.  Since her “retirement,” RoseAnn has been Sr. Advisor to BFTP/SEP;  is an Advisor to and helped to structure the JVS Philadelphia Fund for Women, is Senior Advisor for PlainSight Capital, and a Senior Advisor to Econsult Solutions, Inc.

Rosenthal has served on regional, state, national and Presidential advisory boards addressing issues of economic development and public policy and has been recognized widely for her contributions.  Rosenthal is a Co-Founder and was the first Chair of BSA; she is now Chair Emeritus of BSA.  She is also Director Emeritus for BFTP/SEP and the Phila Alliance for Capital and Technology (PACT).

RoseAnn earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University and was awarded an honorary PhD in Humane Letters from the former Philadelphia University.

Doc Parghi

Doc Parghi

BSA Founder; Member, Executive Committee; Chair, BSA Membership Committee
Managing Partner, SRI Capital

As Managing Partner of SRI Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm focused on startups in the US and India, Doc evaluates investments of $1–5 million per company, usually as a lead investor. As a board member for numerous startups, including Foyr, DreamVu, Zuppler, and Edgetensor, he provides funding and growth advice as well as extensive introductions within his vast network of contacts. Doc also serves as a board member of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of SEPA (where he is Vice-Chairman and Head of the Investment Committee), Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies (PACT), and TiE Philadelphia (President). Additionally, he is on the Advisory Board of Drexel University’s Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship and the President’s Leadership Council.

Doc holds a BS and MBA in Finance and Marketing from Drexel University.

Susan Yee

Susan Yee

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Chair, BSA Communications Committee
CEO, Active Data and SCY Investments

With over 35 years of cable television, technology and entrepreneurial experience, Sue has founded several Internet firms, acquired, owned and sold patent and software assets and currently serves as the CEO of Active Data, a technology firm that provides web applications, enterprise software, and online ticketing services through WhenNow.com, and SCY Investments, with holdings in over a dozen entities. Her current and past board service includes the Lehigh Valley Health Network Board of Trustees (Chair Community Relations), Lehigh University Board of Trustees, Lehigh University College of Education Advisory Board, Lehigh Valley Public Media Board of Trustees (Recent Past Chair), Team PA Foundation (Chair of Finance Committee), C-SPAN Board of Directors (Executive Committee), and the Truist Bank Advisory Board. Awards include Lehigh University Alumni Award, Philadelphia’s Smart CEO Voltage Award, the YWCA Golden Laurel Award and one of Pennsylvania’s 50 Best Women in Business.

Sue earned her BS in Finance and Marketing from Lehigh University.

Jeff Griffiths

Jeff Griffiths

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Chair, BSA Finance Committee
Former Executive Chairman, Champion Window Mfg and Supply Company

Jeff brings over 25 years of experience in leading successful high growth specialty retailers including with Electronics Boutique, Lumber Liquidators and THQ Inc.  With vast international experience, he has led two companies through the transition from private to public companies and their successful IPO’s. Jeff shares his experience with founders and entrepreneurs by helping them build out their organizations and transition them from private to public. Over the course of his career, Jeff has served on the boards of numerous public and private companies as well as several non-profits, including PA SPCA and Albright College.

With a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Albright College, Jeff also holds a Master of Business Administration from Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management.

Vijay Aggarwal, Ph.D

Vijay Aggarwal, Ph.D

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Chair, BSA Screening Committee
Managing Partner, The Channel Group

Currently a Managing Partner of The Channel Group, Dr. Aggarwal provides strategic advisory and capital formation services to companies with operations or investments in the clinical diagnostics, molecular diagnostic, and anatomic pathology sectors. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee of Broad Street Angels, he is a member of the Board of the New York Angels.

Prior to The Channel Group, he served as CEO of Vaxigenix, a pharmaceutical company developing vaccine treatments for colorectal cancer. From 2004-2009, Dr. Aggarwal was President and CEO of Aureon Laboratories, Inc., a predictive pathology company offering advanced tissue analysis services to practicing physicians and the pharmaceutical industry. From 2001 to 2004, he served as President of AAI Development Services, Inc., a global contract research and development services company serving the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

In 1999, following the acquisition of SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories by Quest Diagnostics, Dr. Aggarwal led the team that planned the integration of the two companies and served on the Chairman’s Council.  In addition, he served as President of Quest Diagnostic Ventures, where his responsibilities included new diagnostic technology, new business models, clinical trials testing, and direct–to-consumer laboratory services.

Dr. Aggarwal spent 14 years with SmithKline Beecham Clinical Laboratories, the clinical laboratory operations of SmithKline Beecham plc. During his tenure with the company, he held many positions, including Director of Business Development, Executive Vice President of Laboratories, having direct responsibility for all of SBCL’s U.S.-based laboratories, and as Vice President of Managed Care, responsible for third party reimbursement.

He holds Board positions at Accugenomics, Allergenis, Interpace Biosciences, Moleculera, Orbis Diagnostics and Slone Partners.

He earned a BA in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology/Toxicology from the Medical College of Virginia.

Seth Brodsky

Seth Brodsky

Member, BSA Executive Committee
Realtor and Investor

Seth has been a Realtor and Real Estate Investor for over 14 years,  creating numerous syndicates allowing friends and colleagues to diversify their investments into various real estate projects.

He’s also a National Sales Director for CVS/Health overseeing a $20B+ book of Specialty Pharmacy business.  Angel investing since 2018, Seth is extremely grateful to the Broad Street Angels for taking the time to teach him about this amazing space.

He received his B.S. from University of Delaware majoring in Finance and Marketing, minoring in Economics.

Nancy Cocozza

Nancy Cocozza

Member, BSA Executive Committee

Former Medicare Business Head at Aetna; Senior Advisor, McKinsey; and,  Independent Board Director

Nancy is a former Medicare Business Head at Aetna with P&L accountability of $23B and workforce of more than 5,000 people.  She has more than 30 years of career leadership steeped in the payer market—building businesses, steering turnarounds and accelerating profitable growth. She consistently delivered outsized results—exceeding market growth by 2X+—amid highly regulated and competitive environment, while achieving operational excellence.

Ms. Cocozza has tremendous board experience and serves on the boards of Privia Health and Wider Circle; she previously served on the board of Aspira Women’s Health.  Nancy currently serves in advisory roles including as Senior Advisor at McKinsey.  She advises on healthcare services organizations, including public companies and startups, in the tech, analytics, risk assessment, maternal care and personalized wellness space.

Nancy is an engaged business leader, has developed top-performing organizations and shaped collaborative, transparent cultures grounded in calculated risk taking, discipline and accountability.  She galvanized teams around greater purpose of building affordable, superior health plans to promote improved quality of life and longevity for older Americans.

Nancy has deep experience with M&As, business turnarounds, accelerating business growth, and positioning companies for strategic exits and acquisitions.

Mike Benevento

Mike Benevento

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Chair, BSA Due Diligence Committee

CEO, Oliver Healthcare Packaging

Mr. Benevento is the Chief Executive Officer at Oliver Healthcare Packaging. He joined Oliver as President in 2016 and has held the CEO office since January 2017. He joined Oliver from General Electric (GE) Healthcare, where he led the Genetic Identity unit within the Life Sciences division. During his 16-year tenure with GE, Mr. Benevento served in a variety of senior leadership roles within operations, marketing and general management, and built a reputation for driving customer value and improving service levels.

Prior to GE Healthcare, Mr. Benevento worked at NBC Studios in New York City, with oversight of graphic operations for NBC News, Sports and Entertainment. He also worked in Business Advisory Services at PricewaterhouseCoopers, specializing in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Fabrizio Franco

Fabrizio Franco

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Co-Chair BSA Programming Committee

Fabrizio has over 35 years of senior management experience, in the US and internationally, in information technology from firmware and digital signal processing design to telecommunications software engineering, enterprise software systems integration, business process improvement and M&A.

Fabrizio has advised and worked with companies in a broad range of industries including  telecommunications, manufacturing, hi-tech, financial services, healthcare, retail, etc. and across many functional areas including operational strategy, product /service development and lifecycle management, IT strategic planning, software lifecycle management, supply chain management, sales and revenue cycle management, back-office operations, enterprise software implementations, etc. In addition, Fabrizio’s experience includes advising organizations in several M&A due diligence engagements either in direct corporate acquisitions or for Private Equity clients.

Fabrizio serves on the board of directors of Epilogue Systems, Inc. an early-stage SaaS company in BSA’s portfolio as well as on the board of the Philadelphia Classical Guitar Society and Friends of Pastorius Park in Philadelphia.

Fabrizio has a master in electronics engineering from the University of Padua (Italy) and an MBA from NYU-Stern School of Business, as well as several of professional, industry and technology certifications achieved over the years.

Allan Frank

Allan Frank

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Co-Chair BSA Programming Committee

CEO, Think New Visions

Allan Frank is the CEO of the strategic technology advisory firm, Think New Visions. He founded the company after retiring as Chief Technology & Innovation Officer for Capgemini Invent, a global business unit of the Capgemini Group. He brings over 45 years of technology and business leadership. His background includes CTIO Capgemini, Chief Scientist at Liquidhub, Chief Digital Officer for The Hackett Group, President, CTO & Cofounder of Hackett/Answerthink, Inc, CTO for the City of Philadelphia, and KPMG Partner-in-Charge of Enabling Technologies Consulting, CTO & Boardmember.

Allan is a member of the Broad Street Angels and is an active Angel investor with a particular focus in early-stage technology & AI companies. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeast PA. In addition, Allan advises a number of local startups as well as working with young CEO founders participating in the Lehigh University Venture Lab.

Allan has been recognized for his contributions to the IT Industry by several technology publications including Philadelphia Tech, where he was selected as one of the top 10 Technology Leaders in the region and InformationWeek, where he was selected as one of the top 10 Technology Innovators in the United States. Mr. Frank also received the Computerworld Premier 100 Award which identified him as one of the top 100 people in the U.S. having an exceptional ability to lead their organizations through the effective use of technology.

Mr. Frank holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Master of Science in Computer Science and Master of Business Administration in Finance from Lehigh University and he is also a non-practicing Certified Public Accountant. He currently serves as a member of Board of Advisors of the Drexel Lebow College of Business.

Kathleen Brunner

Kathleen Brunner

Member, BSA Executive Committee; Member Programming Committee

CEO & Founder, Acumen Analytics

Kathleen Brunner is the CEO and Founder of Acumen Analytics and the creator of SocratIQ, an AI-first decision intelligence platform designed to accelerate life science assets from translational development to strategic exit. Her work focuses on ensuring that high-potential therapies reach the right outcome, at the right time, on the right path by integrating strategic insight with advanced analytics and AI-driven decision support.

With nearly three decades of leadership experience spanning entrepreneurship, executive management, investment, and governance, Brunner has built a career at the intersection of strategic vision and technical innovation. She has led and advised organizations across the life sciences and Fortune 500 sectors, contributing to multiple multimillion-dollar exits and acquisitions.

Kathleen founded SocratIQ to address a critical gap in the life sciences ecosystem: the failure of promising therapies due not to weak science, but to strategic and operational inefficiencies. The platform delivers AI-powered strategic intelligence across ten key dimensions — from regulatory pathway to exit readiness — equipping biotech CEOs and venture capital partners with clearer, faster, and more confident decision-making.

Under her leadership, Acumen Analytics has earned national recognition, including Philadelphia Business Journal honors as a Top Life Science Company (2021–2023) and Top Woman-Owned Business (2021–2023), as well as INC 5000 Fastest Growing Companies (2021) and Best Places to Work (2022). Through SocratIQ, she is building a portfolio of high-impact spinout companies, including Golden Hour, focused on combating antibiotic resistance and advancing patient access to critical therapies.

Brunner’s leadership has been widely recognized with numerous honors, including induction into the Titan Hall of Fame (2025) following three consecutive Titan CEO Awards (2023, 2024, 2025), Consulting Magazine’s Top Woman in Technology (2023), and Philadelphia Business Journal’s Top Women in Life Sciences (2023). Earlier career recognitions include the Irish Echo Big Impact Emerald Award (2018), Philadelphia Business Journal Top IT Innovators (2014), and Irish Echo Top 50 Business (2013), among others.

Kathleen serves on the Executive and Program Committees of Broad Street Angels, where she evaluates early-stage investments, mentors entrepreneurs, and helps shape investor programming. Her board service includes ZSX Medical, PACT’s Life Sciences and Technology Boards, and Avenue of the Arts, where she serves as Treasurer, supporting long-term urban and economic development initiatives.