CARETHA COLEMAN
Principal, Coleman Consulting

Caretha Coleman is an experienced consultant to organizations focusing on early stage investment and development. For 14 years, as a principal of Coleman Consulting, Caretha has worked with start-ups and new ventures on strategy development, executive coaching and organizational effectiveness. An advocate of women and minorities in business, Caretha is an active community volunteer and mentor to young professionals and entrepreneurs across the country. Caretha's career spans 30 years in the technology industry with companies such as Interval Research, Software Publishing Corporation, Hewlett Packard and Spectra Physics. She oversaw the corporate administration division at Interval and served as vice president of human resources at Software Publishing Corporation, helping to build one of the Valley’s first successful desk-top software businesses.

Caretha is an American Leadership Forum fellow and an advisory committee member of The Angels' Forum, an “angel investment” organization in Palo Alto. She also serves on the boards of the YMCA Mid-Peninsula and the East Palo Alto YMCA, where, as campaign chair she helped to raise $15 million to build and endow a YMCA for the community. Caretha also serves on the advisory board of Facing History and Ourselves and is a member of the nominating committee for YMCA, USA. Caretha and her husband of 28 years, Ken Coleman, Chairman of Accelrys, have six children.