People: EDAWN welcomes 5 new members to 2022 Board of Trustees

The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada recently announced the appointment of five new members to the 2022 Board of Trustees: Kate Franko with Google LLC, Carli Kinne with Panasonic Energy of North America, Scott Pruneau with ITS Logistics, Value Quraishi with Value Venture Studio Inc, and Abbi Whitaker with The Abbi Agency.

They replace the following five outgoing board members, according to a Jan. 7 update from EDAWN: Stuart Brady with Wells Fargo Bank, Lindsey Dal Porto with Forza Talent Partners, Michael Klaich with Eide Bailly, Erin Metscher with OnTrac and Dr. Tony Slonim with Renown Health.

Prior to Google, Franko was Director of Public Policy at DiDi, the world’s leading mobility technology platform. Previously, she worked for the U.S. State Department for nearly eight years in a variety of roles. She earned a B.S. from Cornell University and a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

Kinne is a General Counsel for Panasonic North America. She has been with Panasonic for nearly four years. Previously, she was Vice President, Chief of Operations and General Counsel for the Nevada Center for Biomedical Research. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, receiving a BA in Journalism and earned her JD at Seattle University School of Law.

Pruneau is CEO for ITS Logistics. Previously, he served as Chief Business Development Officer for Redwood Logistics, EVP of Operations for Freightquote, President of CRST Logistics and various leadership roles with Knight Transportation and C.H. Robinson. He received his bachelor's degree from Southeast Missouri State University.

Quraishi is  CIO of Value Venture Studio Inc. She is a technology executive who specializes in global scaling, leading pre-seed funding rounds, as well as being a board member and advisor for several companies. She is also a mentor for innovator accelerator programs and the UNR Innevation Center; she earned her BS in Electrical Engineering from UNR.

Whitaker is owner and President of The Abbi Agency in Reno. Prior to starting her own company, she was Vice President at the Lyman Agency and an account executive with Switchback Public Relations. Abbi earned her BA in Journalism from UNR.

In all, a 29-person board governs EDAWN, including the following five officers for 2022: Len Savage of Savage and Son, Inc., as Chair; Nick Rossi of LP Insurance Services as Vice Chair; BJ North of Plumas Bank as Secretary; Randy Holleschau of Elemental LED, Inc., as Treasurer; and EDAWN President/CEO Mike Kazmierski.

“We appreciate the time and support of our departing board members and acknowledge that much of EDAWN’s success is due to their support and active engagement," Kazmierski said in a Jan. 14 statement. “We are excited to welcome our new board members and are so proud of the broad community representation and diversification we have on the board, which is increasingly important as we continue our efforts to grow and diversify the local economy.”