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\u2014 Seattle-based venture capital firm Ascend<\/a><\/strong> promoted Nate Bek<\/a><\/strong> to principal. Bek joined the firm as an associate in January 2024 and was most recently senior associate and head of research.<\/p>\n Kirby Winfield<\/a><\/strong>, Ascend\u2019s founding general partner, credited Bek with helping the firm\u2019s companies launch with national press coverage, researching and communicating its investment theses, and sourcing deals including Neuramill<\/a> and Endurance Energy<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNate has been a force multiplier for Ascend. It\u2019s rare for a micro VC fund to have a resource like him,\u201d Winfield said. \u201cHe not only executes and publishes novel market research and thought leadership that strengthens our brand and expands our reach; he\u2019s also hyperconnected in the Seattle ecosystem and has sourced some of our most compelling investments.\u201d<\/p>\n Winfield added, \u201cWe\u2019re excited to see him continue to grow as Ascend becomes a nationally recognized pre-seed firm.\u201d<\/p>\n Bek was previously a startups and venture capital reporter at GeekWire. He co-wrote a widely read GeekWire guest column<\/a> in August making the case that many of Seattle\u2019s most promising startups are building physical products such as rockets, power plants and off-road vehicles.<\/p>\n \u2014 Brandon Paddock<\/a><\/strong> left<\/a> Microsoft to start his own AI software company. Paddock, who is based in Seattle, was a principal software architect in Microsoft\u2019s Office organization and the technical lead for \u201cAgent Mode\u201d in Word, which shipped last fall and became the default Copilot experience in Word early this year. His last day was Sept. 11.<\/p>\n \u201cI am incredibly excited about what I\u2019m building, but not quite ready to talk about it here,\u201d he wrote on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n Paddock first worked at Microsoft from 2005 to 2013, including on search features in Windows 7 and Windows 8. He rejoined in 2016 after serving as CTO of Seattle startup Zealyst. He also built the Twitter client Tweetium as a side project.<\/p>\n \u2014 Seattle-based STEM education nonprofit Technology Access Foundation<\/a><\/strong> named Donya Loyd Kemp<\/a><\/strong> director of TransformED<\/a>, which works with teachers at partner public schools to put TAF\u2019s project-based STEM learning model into practice.<\/p>\n Kemp comes to TAF from Atlanta, where she was principal of Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and director of project-based learning at Charles R. Drew Charter School. She was most recently a senior consultant at Potential Unleashed Consulting.<\/p>\n In a TAF Q&A<\/a>, Kemp said she was excited to contribute to work \u201cthat recognizes the brilliance of students, particularly students who have historically been underestimated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo excited to have Donya on board. Leveling up for our children and teachers,\u201d TAF co-founder and executive director Trish Millines Dziko<\/a><\/strong> wrote on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2014 Zillow Group<\/strong> named Rikki Tremblay<\/a><\/strong> vice president and principal accounting officer as Jennifer Rock<\/strong> retires as chief accounting officer, according to a regulatory filing<\/a>. Rock will stay on in an advisory role through March 1, 2027.<\/p>\n Tremblay has worked at the Seattle-based real estate company since 2014, most recently as vice president of reporting, technical accounting and controls. She previously held audit roles at Deloitte.<\/p>\n \u2014 Joy Chik<\/a><\/strong> joined<\/a> the board of NewCore<\/a><\/strong>, a Tel Aviv- and San Francisco-based startup building an identity platform for people and AI agents. NewCore emerged from stealth in June<\/a> with $66 million in funding.<\/p>\n Chik, who is based in the Seattle area, spent 28 years at Microsoft, most recently as president of identity and network access. She announced her departure<\/a> in April.<\/p>\n \u2014 Werner Koepf<\/a><\/strong> is now<\/a> chief technology officer at VanillaSoft<\/strong>, a sales engagement software company. Koepf, a longtime Seattle-area tech leader, was previously chief product and technology officer at AI localization company LILT and senior vice president of engineering at Karat.<\/p>\n He has also held engineering leadership roles at Conversica, Ticketmaster, Expedia and Amazon, where he led the gifting business, including Wish List and registries.<\/p>\n \u2014 Mike Katz<\/a><\/strong> joined the board<\/a> of MNTN<\/strong>, a publicly traded connected TV advertising company. Katz left Bellevue-based T-Mobile<\/a> this year after 28 years<\/a>, most recently as chief business and product officer. He remains an adviser to T-Mobile\u2019s CEO.<\/p>\n \u2014 Christopher Budd<\/a><\/strong> joined Salesforce<\/strong> as director of security industry engagement, a new role connecting the company\u2019s security team and research with the broader security industry. He joins Iain Mulholland and other former Microsoft colleagues. Budd, who has contributed many pieces to GeekWire<\/a> over the years, previously led X-Ops communications at security company Sophos.<\/p>\n \u2014 Jay Carney<\/a><\/strong> joined<\/a> venture capital firm SV Angel<\/strong> as general partner and head of public policy and communications. He will connect the firm\u2019s portfolio companies and founders with policymakers in Washington and state capitals. A major focus will be Project Blueprint, SV Angel\u2019s new effort to partner with tech founders and lawmakers to shape AI policy.<\/p>\n Carney, who is based in Washington, D.C., was previously global head of policy and communications at Airbnb, and Amazon\u2019s senior vice president of global corporate affairs from 2015 to 2022. He was White House press secretary to President Obama from 2011 to 2014.<\/p>\n \u2014 Seattle-based A Place for Mom<\/a><\/strong> named<\/a> Jason Conley<\/a><\/strong> chief technology officer. The company helps families find senior care. Conley will lead its technology strategy, engineering and data organization, including the use of AI across customer experiences and internal operations.<\/p>\n Conley will work remotely from Lexington, Ky. He was previously CTO at VIP Medical Group and Envera Health, and held senior technology roles at BrightSpring Health Services.<\/p>\n \u2014 Luis Montero<\/a><\/strong> rejoined<\/a> the Seattle-based Gates Foundation<\/strong> to help shape its AI communications strategy across global health and development. Montero left the foundation about a decade ago for a career in tech.<\/p>\n His roles since then include global head of policy communications at Discord and public affairs positions at Edelman, Google and Microsoft, where he worked on executive communications for President Brad Smith. He is based in New York.<\/p>\n \u2014 Vancouver, B.C.-based defense tech startup Juno Industries<\/strong> expanded<\/a> its board, advisory and leadership teams. The company develops AI-native command and control software and sensor systems for the Canadian Armed Forces and allies.<\/p>\n New leaders include head of engineering Dylan Neid<\/a><\/strong>, who spent nearly a decade at AbCellera; head of strategy Tania Belisle-Leclerc<\/a><\/strong>, former director of policy to Canada\u2019s ministers of foreign affairs and national defense; and head of growth Bryan Riddell<\/a><\/strong>, former CEO of Team Rubicon Canada. <\/p>\n Claude Rochette<\/strong> and Alnesh Mohan<\/a><\/strong> will join the board once Juno goes public through a reverse merger<\/a> with Trail Blazer Capital Corp., a shell company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.<\/p>\n \u2014 And in case you missed it:<\/p>\n Nate Bek, left, with Ascend founding general partner Kirby Winfield at the firm\u2019s Founders Bash event Thursday night. (GeekWire Photo \/ John Cook) \u2014 Seattle-based venture capital firm Ascend promoted Nate Bek to principal. Bek joined the firm as an associate in January 2024 and was most recently senior associate and head of research. Kirby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7061005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223114,223115,223116,223117,223118,223119,223120,223121,223122,223123,223113,223124,223125],"tags":[3038,10452,81400,221600,50826,26986,169122,11539,1430,4125,13767,38690,15336,3644],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7061004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-place-for-mom","category-ascend","category-brandon-paddock","category-gates-foundation","category-jay-carney","category-joy-chik","category-mike-katz","category-mntn","category-nate-bek","category-sv-angel","category-tech-moves","category-technology-access-foundation","category-zillow","tag-agent","tag-architect","tag-ascend","tag-bek","tag-exec","tag-exits","tag-geekwire","tag-microsoft","tag-mode","tag-names","tag-nate","tag-promotes","tag-taf","tag-word"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/brandon-paddock.jpg\")
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