Launch NY Announces New Board Member, Quincy Allen, Bringing Rochester-Based Leadership Engaged in Global and Regional Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Inclusion Initiatives

Buffalo, NY, February 11, 2020 – Launch NY, Upstate New York’s first and only venture development organization to provide pro bono mentoring and the most active seed fund in New York State and #InvestLocal Financing Platform to high-growth startups across the 27 westernmost counties of the state, has added Quincy Allen, who has over 35 years of leadership experience in the technology services industry and community leadership. most recently serving as IBM’s go-to-market leader of Cognitive Process Services and chief marketing officer for IBM Cloud from 2015 to 2018. Quincy is currently on the board of Office Depot and is an advisor for the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester.

Quincy Allen, Board director and member of the Audit Committee at Office Depot Corporation Joins Launch NY Board

Prior to becoming a Board director and member of the Audit Committee at Office Depot Corporation, Allen worked as the Chief Marketing Officer and Go-To-Market Leader of Cognitive Process Services and IBM Cloud CMO from 2015 to 2018. As the Chief Marketing Officer he developed marketing and brand strategies. He produced lauded campaigns that won ITSMA Marketing excellence for Building Brand Differentiation and Frost and Sullivan’s Cloud Company of the Year. Before IBM, he served as Chief and Strategy Officer at Unisys Corp, CEO of Vertis Communications, and President of Production Systems Group at Xerox Corporation. He previously served on the boards of Gateway Computers and NCR Corp.

Allen earned his MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester (UR) and his BSEE at Northeastern University, and he currently serves as an advisor at the Ain Center for Entrepreneurship at UR, leveraging his experience in the tech industry, business development, and diversity and inclusion challenges and opportunities. He also was part of the foundational economic development planning efforts that led to the creation of the Greater Rochester Enterprise in 2002.

“I am honored to be a member on the Launch NY Board of Directors,” said Allen. “As a long time resident of Rochester working in a cutting-edge global industry, I am committed to lifting up our entire community to participate in the new economy through Launch NY’s robust platform for growing scalable businesses in collaboration with partners across our region.”

“Quincy and I are both University of Rochester alumni, which was my path to co-founding my first startup, so we both appreciate the critical role Rochester-based companies play in the Launch NY portfolio and the regional economy.” said Marnie LaVigne Ph.D., President and CEO of Launch NY. “I am thrilled to join forces with him on behalf of uniting and strengthening the many entrepreneurial resources driving innovative products and employment of the future right in our own backyard. Quincy’s ability to bring ‘big’ vision and strategy to inclusive economic development will be invaluable to our board.”

For more information about Launch NY and its programs, visit www.launchny.org, and follow Launch NY on its Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages.

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