Phil is a Managing Partner at GoAhead Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that he founded with his partners in 2014. Previously, he was on the deal team at Andreesseen Horowitz. In 2017, Phil was named “Forbes 30 Under 30” in the Venture Capital category. Phil earned his BS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Phil is part of Rajiv’s core group from Stanford, where they were roommates and co-founded Copernican Solutions, a Stanford based management consultancy for tech startups.

Jesse D. Espinosa is our Director of Bands at Klein Forest High School. He most recently served as the director of bands at S. P. Waltrip High School in Houston ISD, where he also served as the assistant band director. He credits much of his approach and knowledge to his former band director and colleague, Mr. Charlie Stephens. Mr. Espinosa or better known as, "Mr. E", has taught instrumental music at the high school level for 20 years. He received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Performance degree at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. He then earned his Master’s degree in Educational Leadership in Administration from Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. Previous to beginning his career as a music educator, Mr. Espinosa served in the United States Army Band at Ft. Knox, KY as a trumpet player. He also attended the United States Armed Forces School of Music in Little Creek, VA, where he was the honor graduate. Mr. Espinosa was honorably discharged with the Army Commendation Medal in 2002.

He is married to his high school band sweetheart, Celena Espinosa, for 22 years. They have two children, Jesse Adam (16) and Isabel (14), who are both involved in the performing arts. Jesse Espinosa was most recently recognized as a Grammy Music Educator of the Year Quarterfinalist in 2021, along with being named Teacher of the Year at his former campus in 2020. His marching bands have been consistent UIL Sweepstakes winners, along with advancing to the UIL Area Contest for many years. The concert groups under his direction have also been awarded the UIL Sweepstakes Award for their stage and sight-reading performances. Mr. Espinosa also brings a wealth of experience and expertise in jazz education. His jazz bands have been award-winning ensembles at many local, regional, state and national jazz festivals, which includes many individual all-star awards for his students.

Mr. E is an active member of TMEA, TBA, NAfME, JEN and is currently the new President-Elect of the Texas Jazz Educators Association (TJEA). He is also a big supporter of our local sports teams along with being an active member of his church and community.

Mary Beth Goodrich
CPA, CIA, CISA, SAP Certified Associate
Professor of Instruction, Accounting, The University of Texas at Dallas
goodrich@utdallas.edu, 972-883-4775 (work),
214-282-2156 (cell)

Mary Beth Goodrich has been a part of the accounting faculty at The University of Texas at Dallas for over 20 years. She has been teaching enterprise systems in her courses, primarily using SAP to demonstrate concepts, since 2003 and loves to incorporate new technologies impacting accountants, such as robotic process automation and data visualization. In 2017, her book, Business Process Configuration with SAP ERP was published.

She is the lead professor responsible for the ProConnect / ProConnect REACH initiative which provides accounting project pro-bono consulting work completed by M.S. Accounting teams to area non-profits and small to mid-sized businesses. ProConnect REACH allows undergraduate students the ability to work with not-for-profit organizations and give back to the community. Details can be seen at this link.

In 2021, Mary Beth was awarded the UiPath Global Visionary of the Year (world-wide honor), TXCPA Accounting Educator of the Year (a state-wide honor) and The University of Texas at Dallas’ President’s Teaching Excellence Award (a university-wide honor). During the Covid19 pandemic, she was designated as the lead faculty member of the Faculty Peer Mentors. This was a group of 16 faculty across the 8 schools of the university to help all professors transition to remote and hybrid teaching models. Her experience teaching on-line courses since 2004 allowed her to work on this endeavor and conduct over 36 sessions for faculty to learn, collaborate and apply various tools and techniques for teaching. She is currently the Chair of the Educational Technology Committee of the university and has been a Faculty Senator since 2020. She recently accepted a promotion to become the Academic Director of Distance Learning, in addition to her teaching responsibilities.

Mary Beth received an MBA with a concentration in Internal Audit from Louisiana State University and B.S. Degree in Accounting from McNeese State University. Mary Beth’s experience includes over 8 years’ experience working in internal audit, information systems audit, and various accounting positions in a variety of industries. She has worked for Electronic Data Systems (now part of HP) and The Associates (now part of Citigroup). As a student, Mary Beth had three (3) internships: as an accounting intern in a CPA firm during tax season, as a staff cost accountant, and as an internal auditor.

She is excited about the opportunity to work actively with Avam-Astu Foundation in initiatives to mentor and develop young talent.

Sanchay is an MD/MBA candidate at Harvard Medical School and is (as of 2019-2020) in his third year at Harvard Medical School. In recent years, Sanchay has founded a company that develops mechanical ventilators to successfully address 90% patient cases at only 5% cost of a traditional ventilator. This ventilator has proven to be of immense value, specifically in rural, underdeveloped and resource-limited settings. Prior to this he, worked as a consultant at Stanford Hospital. At Stanford Hospital, Sanchay built an online platform helping health facilities/drug manufacturers to donate, (instead of destroying) unused medicines, and developed a software to help health workers in Kenya and Nepal deliver basic health services to patients in areas lacking access to doctors. Sanchay earned his BS in Biochemistry from Stanford University. Sanchay is part of Rajiv’s core group from Stanford.

Brooks is an educational consultant at COMPASS TO COLLEGE and a Social Studies teacher at Devon Preparatory School. Brooks' passion for providing students with college guidance and academic advising attracted him to AAF and its cause. Brooks earned his BA in English Literature from UPenn, MA in History from Georgetown University and PhD in Education Psychology from UC Riverside.

Alex is currently (2020-2021) pursuing his residency at “Einstein College of Medicine” in New York City, subsequent to completing his MD at UC San Diego. Previously, Alex worked as a Business Analyst (in healthcare consulting) with ZS Associates. Alex earned his BA in Human Biology from Stanford University. Alex is part of Rajiv’s core group from Stanford, and was his roommate.

Lucy is a Principal at Oliver Wyman healthcare practice, advising physician groups, providers, and employers on strategies to improve healthcare by increasing quality, lowering costs, and creating better patient experiences. Lucy is one of Rajiv’s mentors and friends at Oliver Wyman. Lucy earned her BA in Neurology from Harvard University.

Abe is a friend of the founding family and he is currently the founding partner at Legacy Knight Multi-Family Office. Prior to Legacy Knight he was the Managing Director at Mark Cuban Companies where he oversaw the operations of roughly 80 start-up companies. Abe earned his MBA from SMU and Executive Education in Corporate Strategy from MIT.