Born and raised in Venezuela, Patricia Halfen Wexler left her home country after graduating with honors with a degree in Industrial Engineering from Simon Bolivar University. She began her business career with management consulting and investment banking experience across Latin America at BCG and DLJ, respectively. After obtaining her MBA with High Distinction (Baker Scholar) from Harvard Business School, Patty joined The Walt Disney Company’s Strategic Planning Group. She then joined Elevation Partners, a ~$2 billion private equity fund focused on media and technology which invested in Facebook, Yelp and Forbes among many others. Thereafter, she ran global business development for Locaweb, the leading Brazilian web-hosting provider. After overseeing the McNamee family office she co-founded Starlight Ventures, an early-stage investment fund where she led all aspects of operations, led multiple investments into impactful companies, raised tens of millions of dollars and delivered top quartile returns. She is the founder and Managing Director of Avila VC, a Miami-based venture firm built to back the foundational companies of our resilient and thriving future. Investments to date span from distributed hydropower to grid optimization software, from 3D printing of biomaterials to AI for traffic optimization across the Western Hemisphere. She lives in Golden Beach with her husband, three children and pandemic puppy.