MVCA Staff

Executive Director

Merrill Guerra

  Merrill Guerra is an entrepreneurial leader with an outstanding organization development record.  Prior to her role with the MVCA, she was the CEO and Founder of RealKidz, Inc., a start up company providing branded apparel for plus-size girls.  While there she secured over $500,000 in capital investment, secured design and manufacturing resources, conceived and implemented unique processes to minimize product returns; and achieved a one-tenth of one-percent refund ratio by developing a right fit framework.  She also generated extensive press coverage in BusinessWeek, NewYorkTimes.com, Women Entrepreneur, The Detroit Free Press, Ann Arbor Business Review, and Crain's Detroit Business.

Merrill has served non-profit organizations throughout her career.  She currently serves as the Chair for the Depot Town Community Development Corporation, an organization promoting economic development in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and is on the Executive Committee of the Eastern Leaders Group of Washtenaw County.  She was the founder and first president of the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers, the founder and coordinator of the Stanford in Michigan Women’s Group, and served as the President and Treasurer for Chapter BP of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, an organization with national and regional projects supporting women’s education.

Merrill received a B.A. from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.  She was recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners with the 2009 Pioneering Spirit Award, Zell Lurie as its MBA Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008, as well as the Michigan Business Review as a finalist for its 2009 Innovation Michigan Awards and StartUp Nation as one of the Top 200 Leading Moms in Business for 2009. 

Associate Director

Manisha Tayal
Michigan Venture Capital Association