Jim Cramer is the founder of Greenway Group, a leading strategy consulting and business networking firm. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books, including the critically acclaimed Design Plus Enterprise: Seeking a New Reality in Architecture. He is co-author of How Firms Succeed 5.0: New horizons for the Professional Services Firm, and the editor of the annual Almanac of Architecture & Design.

Cramer is the former chief executive of the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. (1988-94), the recipient of more than 80 awards and honors, a Richard Upjohn Fellow of the AIA, and a Fellow of the International Leadership Forum in La Jolla, Calif. He is currently the president of the Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Design Futures Council.

Rena leads CVG’s Investment Partnership Program. She has been instrumental in fostering connections between firms in the CVG network and developing the infrastructure of CVG’s knowledge sharing community. Additionally, Rena advises all CVG Investment Partners on best practices in finance and operations.

Rena is a nationally-recognized expert in small firm practice and author of The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management (Wiley, 2010). With 20 years of experience as the owner of a small architecture firm, and over 10 years as a consultant and educator, Rena brings a special understanding of design firms managed by entrepreneurial architects. Rena served as executive editor of AIA’s The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, 15th edition (Wiley 2013) and is past-chair of the National Advisory Group for the AIA Practice Management Knowledge Community. She is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Mark R. LePage is the Partner in Charge of Operations at Fivecat Studio Architecture, a leading residential architecture firm located in Westchester County, New York. Mark and his wife, architect Annmarie McCarthy, launched Fivecat Studio in 1999 at the age of 29 with no money and no clients. Together they have grown the regional firm to a staff of six, managing projects worth more than $10 million. Mark is the founder of Entrepreneur Architect, this online education resource inspiring architects to build better businesses. He launched the blog in 2007 as a personal project to document ideas for business success. In 2012, Mark relaunched Entrepreneur Architect at EntreArchitect.com and introduced the The Entrepreneur Architect Podcast. Working to become an influential force in the profession, Mark’s mission is to teach sole proprietors, small firm architects and students the importance of business success in the profession of architecture.

Jim Rains, FAIA, is the owner of Rains Studio, PA, in Ramseur, N.C., which provides construction contract administration services for architects and owners, including LS3P, Schenkel Shultz, First Citizens Bank Corporation, the North Carolina Zoological Society, The Freelon Group Architects, and the North Carolina National Guard. Jim is also the Director of Materials Technology Laboratories and Facilities in the College of Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, where he works with students, faculty and staff within the five design programs, helping to prepare designers for practice.

Jim graduated from North Carolina State University with a BA in Environmental Design in Architecture and was the founder of the Knowledge Community for Construction Contract Administration, which represents more than 1,100 AIA members. Jim is co-writer of the Construction Specifications Institute’s Construction Contract Administration Practice Guide, published by J. Wiley.