Gina Gelabert           
Principal

Gina is President of R.G.G. Consulting, a firm that advises on strategic planning, marketing, communications and consumer insight to Fortune 500 companies including Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Verizon Wireless, Nestlé, Colgate Palmolive and Procter & Gamble among others. She was formerly Vice President in charge of Strategic Planning and Business Development for Martí Flores Prieto & Wachtel, where she supervised and directed the planning functions for advertising, public relations, promotions and direct marketing, totaling over $80 million in reported billings. Gina also served as Marketing Services Manager for Colgate Palmolive, where she directed brand planning, media and research services.

Gina holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Trinity College and a Masters in Science of Communications from the University of Illinois. Her interests include behavioral science, psychology and metaphysics.

Mark Nierman
Principal

Mark is the owner and President of Papa Cash, a network of over 40 Hispanic-focused financial service centers in Southern California. With over 33 years of experience, Mark brings a wealth of knowledge to Bergerac Investments and is considered one of the nation’s leading experts in providing financial services to Hispanics.

During his career, Mark has acquired and managed over 200 retail financial locations. Before launching Papa Cash, he was Chief Operating Officer of Popular Cash Express, where he had operational and profit-and-loss responsibility for all locations nationwide. Mark has founded and operated several check cashing franchises including All City Check Cashers, Admiral Check Cashing and Inglewood Quik Check. With a keen eye for site selection, Mark has established landlord relationships with Fortune 500 companies such as Verizon, Starbucks, and Sprint, which look to him to provide optimal retail locations for their services. He has also developed Hispanic-oriented marketing strategies and products including loan products for Household Financial Corporation and prepaid credit cards for Heuristic Technologies.

Mark holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the University of Illinois.

James Provenzano
Principal

James is President of Clean Air Now, a public advocacy group that focuses on educating the public on the need to transition society toward a renewable hydrogen energy economy. He has over 15 years of experience in dealing with the public and private sectors in implementing hydrogen energy technologies and plays a major role in shaping policy and the deployment of “green” technologies to improve our quality of life.

Prior to Clean Air Now, James worked for Xerox Corporation as Manager of Environmental Programs. While at Xerox, James was a founding board member of The South Bay Business Environmental Coalition, a joint effort between major corporations, government agencies and community groups to address environmental issues in the South Bay region of Los Angeles. He has spoken at many national and international conferences regarding his work in hydrogen and in renewable energy.

James earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Boston College and a Master of Arts in Biology from the University of California at Los Angeles.

Juan Pablo Semidey
Principal

Juan Pablo is a Principal at Trinexus, Inc., a strategic IT consulting and technology solutions provider that caters to a broad array of industries. He has more than 12 years of experience in technology consulting, business development, and sales and has held management positions at leading technology firms including Virtual, Inc. and PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. Prior to founding Trinexus, Juan Pablo worked for Oracle Caribbean, a leading enterprise software company in Latin America.

Juan Pablo is a Board-certified engineer, a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), a certified Sales and Marketing Executive (CME, CSE), and a professional real estate appraiser. Juan Pablo is a member of the Colegio de Ingenieros y Agrimensores de Puerto Rico, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Sales and Marketing Executives of Puerto Rico (SME), and of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS).

Juan Pablo holds a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and from Princeton University, respectively, and a Master’s Degree in Engineering Management from the Universidad Politécnica de Puerto Rico.

Larry Slonina
Principal

Larry is President of U.S. Advisory Services, Inc. (USASI), a financial consulting firm that specializes in providing business and compliance-related consulting services to firms that cater to unbanked and underbanked customers. He brings more than 28 years of financial and management consulting expertise to Bergerac Investments, particularly in banking, consumer lending, and check cashing.

During his extensive banking career, Larry worked both as a bank regulator at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and as a senior executive with leading community banks in the state of Illinois, such as Lincoln National Bank, LaSalle National Bank and Banco Popular. He is regarded as a leading industry expert in establishing relationships between banks and non-traditional financial services providers, and has been a featured speaker at various industry and public-policy forums.

Larry holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and Finance from the University of Illinois and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

Eli Stearns       
Principal

Eli is President of 3G Productions, a full service entertainment production company that offers a complete array of sound reinforcement and staging equipment. 3G Productions specializes in concert tours, trade shows, corporate and other special events. Eli is also Managing Director of Truman & Maclay, LLC, a development firm focusing on Hispanic housing developments in Southern California.

Eli brings to Bergerac Investments a long history of creating very successful startup businesses. Prior to his involvement with 3G Productions and Truman & Maclay, Eli was partner of Markley Stearns, Inc., a real estate development, leasing and consulting company that specialized in securing customized space requirements for the telecommunications industry.  During his tenure at Markley Stearns, Eli guided the development of over 12 projects in Western Europe and the continental U.S. worth over $500 million for the telecommunications industry.

Eli is a licensed real estate broker and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture from the University of Illinois.

Enrique Luis Vázquez       
Principal

Enrique is Chairman of Continental Risk Insurance, a Puerto Rico-based insurance company that offers property/casualty and other commercial insurance lines. Enrique has over 16 years of experience in management, underwriting and marketing of insurance. He holds insurance industry designations from the Insurance Institute of America such as Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), Associate in Risk Management (ARM), Associate in Fidelity and Surety Bonding (AFSB) and Associate in Reinsurance (ARe).

Enrique holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from The College of the Holy Cross and a Juris Doctor degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He has a certification in Risk and Insurance from the College of Insurance in New York.