Executive Committee

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 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 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.

At JTR Associates, John works with many startup to mid-sized life science companies helping to meet regulatory, contractual and asset protection needs with property and liability insurance in a cost effective manner including Directors & Officers Liability, Clinical Trail and Medical Product Liability, General Liability, Workers Compensation, Cyberliability, Professional/Errors & Omissions Liability and other coverages. Other areas include technology companies, product manufacturers, professional services (attorneys and engineers) and companies with international exposures.

He holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from New York University, with a Leadership Program Certificate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

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.

As co-founder and COO of ZSX Medical, he has helped to lead multiple rounds of funding while overseeing the progression of clinical trials through the FDA process. He currently serves as CEO of Feta Med, Inc., a medical supply business, servicing 300 hospitals and the ob/gyn community for more than 40 years. Eric’ is an active angel investor and his entrepreneurial pedigree includes running a financial services firm, leading a biometric security technology company and early-stage investments that include Nano-Pack, Inc.; Lifeguard Mobile; CaseNetworks, Inc.; and Crestline Technologies, Inc. As a youth, Eric honed his passion for science by optimizing solar refraction configurations of convex and Fresnel lenses for ambience modification of hymenoptera as well as exploring the effects of hypernatremia on gastropod epithelial migration patterns. He continues to torture colleagues and associates to this day.

Eric is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

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 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.

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 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 Univ of Delaware majoring in Finance and Marketing, minoring in Economics.

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.

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.