Maria LaLonde is a Senior Program Officer for the New Economy Initiative (NEI), one of the nation’s largest philanthropic partnerships, working to build an inclusive network of support for entrepreneurs in Southeast Michigan. Maria manages NEI’s high-growth and inclusion grantmaking strategy and grant portfolio. She previously served on the leadership team for Bizdom, a tech startup business accelerator founded by Dan Gilbert that invested in and supported high-growth tech-enabled startups. Maria is a serial entrepreneur that has founded businesses in the recruiting, automotive and real estate industries and has over 20 years of experience evaluating and building businesses, processes and programs. LaLonde is a Detroit native and graduate of Michigan State University. Maria has served as a judge and mentor for over 50 business competitions and is a founding co-creator of The Detroit BizGrid. She has served on advisory boards for Invest Detroit’s Accelerate Michigan Innovation Competition; The Michigan Women’s Foundation’s EmpowerHER Social Venture Competition; TechTown’s DTX Launch Detroit Accelerator program; The Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s Angel Capital Development Joint Evaluation Committee; The Forward Cities Detroit Council; Junior Achievement of Southeast Michigan’s Youth Entrepreneurship Taskforce; and the Detroit Mobility Initiative.