Mary Anne Rooke
Executive Director
Crossroads Venture Group
Mary Anne Rooke is the founder of Rooke & Associates, a boutique management consulting firm based in Connecticut and serving the East Coast between New York and Boston. Founded on the West Coast in 1993, Rooke & Associates is now firmly rooted in southeastern Connecticut where Mary Anne was born and raised. Rooke & Associates specializes in helping early stage technology companies that are on the verge of high growth. The mentoring, coaching, advising, guiding and consulting services position a startup venture to chart the best course to successfully “Navigate the Waters of Raising Capital™”. Rooke & Associates also provides a wide range of management consulting services including interim management, strategic planning & executive coaching for businesses of all sizes.
She is also the Executive Director of Crossroads Venture Group (CVG) a CT based organization. CVG facilitates monthly Investor, Entrepreneur & Resource Network events that connect potential high growth companies to the investment community and to critical resources needed to launch and scale their early stage startup ventures. In October 2017, Mary Anne created and led CVG’s CT Tech Tour – 4 CT Cities in 4 Days that gave its Investor, Entrepreneur & Resource Network opportunities to connect with and learn about each other via office hours, speakers, panel discussions, fireside chats, pitching sessions and networking events.
Currently, Mary Anne serves as the President and Managing Director of the Angel Investor Forum (AIF), a Connecticut based angel group. AIF is an investor group comprised of 45+ angel investors from CT, NY & MA. Annually, over 350 early stage / startup companies submit business plans and “pitches” to AIF for capital investment consideration. AIF’s mission is to create a dynamic investment environment where private investors and entrepreneurs can find mutual success. Mary Anne has served on the Public Policy Committee of the Angel Capital Association (ACA) and as an instructor for ACA’s New England Angel Education Series.
As a Managing Partner of Mystic River Ventures, she advises the University of Connecticut in the management of its newly created UConn Innovation Fund. Previously, Mary Anne was the Executive Director of University of Connecticut’s Technology Incubation Program (TIP) located on 3 campuses – Storrs, Farmington and Avery Point and an Executive-in-Residence for Connecticut Innovations.
Prior to founding Rooke & Associates, she held leadership positions in multiple industries ranging from start-up ventures to Fortune 500 companies in both publicly owned and privately held sectors on 3 USA coasts. Mary Anne has served on boards and commissions in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Connecticut.
Through her management consulting, angel investor and startup activities, she has worked closely with the entrepreneurial communities on both the east and west coasts of the US. She serves on the Operating Board for Yale Entrepreneurial Institute (YEI) and a mentor and advisor for tech startups at YEI, UConn, Fairfield University, Quinnipiac University, CTNext, ASTIA, The Refinery and Techstars.
Mary Anne holds a B.S. in Accounting from Annhurst College and a M.B.A. from Golden Gate University’s Executive MBA Program.
