Meet our Investment Team
The Ingenuity Venture Fund team consists of dedicated staff as well as an investment committee. Each committee member serves for three years, while the CEO of CNM Ingenuity sits on the committee without term limit under the governance of CNM Ingenuity. The Fund Manager manages the process and committee, who is responsible for approving all investment decisions.
Investment Committee
Kevin McDonald
Kevin McDonald is an investment banker with the M&A boutique McDonald Lehner. In the past 21 years, he and his partner have sold 35 companies, in a wide variety of sectors — including consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, and business services — ranging in value from $1 million to nearly $200 million, in 9 countries.
Kyle Lee
Kyle Lee is CEO of CNM Ingenuity and has a varied and comprehensive collection of professional experiences. Born and raised into farming and ranching in New Mexico where he worked after school, his professional career developed into increasingly senior leadership roles at several companies across a number of industries in finance and technology.
Yasine Armstrong
Yasine Armstrong has cofounded and consulted numerous startup companies (BabyPage), worked in venture capital, and helped to build the entrepreneurial community in New Mexico as previous Director of Entrepreneurial Programs for Central New Mexico Community College.
Mahrinah Shije
Mahrinah Shije began her career as an Investment Analyst with UBS and now has twenty years experience in high tech startups with a specialization in Web3 technologies, cybersecurity and digital assets. Fellow at VC Lab in Palo Alto, Climate Vine Global Network, the Nahum Goldmann International Fellowship, and Leadership New Mexico.
Fund Management
T.J. Cook
T.J. Cook loves New Mexico and startups. As Fund Manager he engages in multiple programs such as Hyperspace Challenge and ActivateNM as an active member, as well as sitting as board member or board observer of numerous portfolio companies.
As noted in Process, the Fund Manager champions the Fund’s investment process, while the Investment Committee is responsible for approving all investment decisions.