Mr. Vernon Lee, Jr is a trusted business and investment advisor to several middle market companies, institutional investors, entrepreneurs, and entertainment partners. Areas of expertise include strategic partnerships, business operation improvement and new business & product development. As Managing Partner of Brightwood Management Partners, LLC his business involvement also includes deals with partners based in China, Africa, Middle East, France, and Japan.
Mr Lee is currently a co-chair of the Venture Capital Access Program (VCAP) which is a partnership between the National Association of Investment Companies (NAIC) and the Harvard Business School Alumni Angels of Greater New York (HBSAANY). He is also a judge for the State of Maryland’s InvestMaryland entrepreneur business contest.
Mr Lee was a member of a delegation of senior U.S. business leaders that participated in the Committee of 100’s Greater China business conference in Beijing. In addition, meetings were held with high level China business executives such as Dr Gao Xiqing, President, China Investment Corporation to explore potential deal opportunities.
Prior to his current role, he was a Partner with The Pembroke Group, LLC (TPG), a venture capital firm based in Washington, DC. He focused on due diligence efforts and maintained proprietary deal flow for the firm and the TPG SBI Broadband Fund. The TPG SBI Broadband Fund was a joint venture with Japan based Softbank Investments (SBI). Other responsibilities included exploring development relationships with entertainment partners to best leverage new and existing content across telecom and new media platforms.
Mr. Lee has previously served as the U.S. planning committee chair for the United States/France Private Equity and Venture Capital Summit in Paris, France. The U.S. delegation, representing over $500 billion (US) in assets under management included various institutional private equity investors. Event sponsors included The Senate of the Republic of France, The Greater Paris Investment Agency, The French Venture Capital Association, and U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration (ITA).
Prior to joining The Pembroke Group, Mr. Lee was a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) Business Advisory Practice with responsibility for providing operational business improvement strategies for clients in the Technology, InfoComm, and Entertainment & Media industry.
Mr. Lee also served as PwC’s relationship manager for minority venture capital/private equity initiatives to include increasing access to capital. He was also responsible for leading the implementation of program/project management solutions and methodologies for PwC’s Global Risk Management Solutions – InfoComm Advisory Services group. While in this position, Mr. Lee led the global deployment (U.S.,UK, Japan, France, & Germany) of an Internet Protocol (IP) VPN for a UK based telecom carrier.
Prior to that position, Mr. Lee was an Air Force acquisition officer in the Satellite Communications Program Office and Aeronautical Systems Center where he provided program management, research & development and financial management expertise.
He also serves on the Board of Directors for One Spear Entertainment, Target Entertainment Properties, The Hampton Roads Youth Foundation, is Chairman/President of The Marathon Foundation. He is an Advisory Board member for Knight Solutions and SafeTComm. He is also a past board member of the Southeast Fairfax County Development Corporation and Past Chair of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc’s (Washington, DC Chapters) Youth Performing Arts/Talent Hunt Committee.
Mr. Lee received his MA in International Affairs from University of Dayton and his BBA in Management from Howard University. He currently resides in Alexandria, VA with his wife and daughter.