Brian Clark is a serial entrepreneur who brings innovative ideas, products, and technologies to life. He is the founder and CEO of Beacon, a startup on a mission to leverage cutting-edge technology to restore trust, safety, and freedom to places and interactions. Brian has operated as a CEO, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer in the financial services and technology space. In 2015, Brian founded and ran Ascent, an AI (artificial intelligence)-enabled software that automates the generation of Regulatory Knowledge.

Brian holds an MBA from the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, where he wrote his thesis on the economics of AI. He also holds a JD from DePaul University, and a BA in economics and political science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Brian is an Eagle Scout, and in his free time he pursues quantifying the qualitative, from philosophy to politics, to new technologies.

Contact Brian: brian@beaconlight.co

Susie Spigelman has more than a decade of experience working in and around startups, including the climate tech and cannabis industries. Her range of expertise includes operations, early-stage strategy, marketing and communications, and partnership development. Prior to joining Beacon, Susie ran corporate partnerships at hybrid nonprofit/venture capital organization Evergreen Climate Innovations. She also served as Vice President of Operations at then-startup Green Thumb Industries, helping to scale the now publicly traded company from 4 to 100+ corporate team members, as well as Chief of Staff at renewable energy startup SoCore Energy, which was acquired by a Fortune 500 utility holding company.

Susie holds an MA in teaching and education from National-Louis University and a BA in communications from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Susie’s commitment to Beacon was inspired during her pandemic pregnancy, when she realized that other than extreme isolation, there were no chemical-free options for keeping vulnerable and at-risk people safe from the spread of illness. 

Contact Susie: susie@beaconlight.co

Andrea Clark has spent her career in healthcare, working across different sectors including Veterans Health Administration, academic medical centers, and healthcare startups. Andrea is a staunch supporter of health equity and equality, and focuses her energy on looking for opportunities to build new services and technologies within healthcare and related industries.

Andrea holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University, a Master of Health Communication from Northwestern University, and a BA in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She volunteers regularly at local Chicago food pantries, ran the Chicago Marathon twice for charity, rode her bicycle across the United States raising money with the Illini 4000 for Cancer, and enjoys road trips across the country to expand her perspective. Andrea’s commitment to Beacon is founded in a desire to bridge the science of new research to building opportunities that disrupt the status quo, all the while helping the community.

Contact Andrea: andrea@beaconlight.co