Team

Anne founded Universal Strategies Limited in 1999. With more than 40 years of experience in the global marketplace with senior government and private sector business and trade positions, Anne is a seasoned leader with a reputation as a “go to” problem solver bringing clear thinking to complex situations for large and small business clients.  She has a strong background in international trade, business development, environmental solutions, inward investment, government procurement, waste recovery and manufacturing.

Anne is a global thinker with a substantial network of global contacts in government, business and industry. She has led numerous trade missions worldwide and organized high level business, trade and procurement events including events at the White House and at USA and foreign embassies.

A well-known leader and innovator in the global tire and waste tire industry, in 1989 Anne was called on by the UK Government to lead the national solution for the nation’s waste tire recovery problem.  She successfully developed, financed and operated an $86 million waste tire fueled power station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands UK.  To accomplish this, she brought the entire UK tire industry together to support a national program for the environmentally friendly recovery of waste tires. Along with being the initial developer and investor, she attracted a major equity investment of US$25 million and debt financing of US$61 million.

Anne was recognized by tire industry and awarded the Tire Industry Pioneer Award for her innovation and leadership in waste tire recovery.  She was the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award winner by the Hartford Business Journal. Her businesses and achievements have been highlighted in articles in international publications including The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, The (London)Telegraph and Dunn and Bradstreet Reports.

Attorney Wendell Davis, based in Connecticut, has held senior positions in government and private sector law firms.  From 2017-2021 Wendell was the New England Regional Administration for the US Small Business Administration managing the activities of six district offices and oversaw SBA’s financial, export, disaster relief, government contracting and business development programs. In fiscal Year 2019, the SBA provided 4250 loans supporting more than $1.5 billion dollars through the agency’s various loan programs with the assistance of over 200 hundred lenders across the region. Additionally, New England small businesses were awarded a record $4.1 billion in federal contracting dollars and New England entrepreneurs and innovators received over $468 million dollars in grants.

Leading SBA nationally with a focus on Manufacturing, Wendell was named Chair of the SBA’s Office of Field Operations Manufacturing/Supply Chain Recovery Task Force for COVID-19 recovery and served on FEMA’s Region 1 Economic Recovery Manufacturing Task Force.     He instituted cross-agency impact outreach initiatives between multiple Federal agencies including Treasury, Commerce, the US International Development Finance Corporation, and the Federal Reserve to assist manufacturers overcome impacts of COVID-19.   Wendell’s efforts resulted in numerous regional and national outreach events highlighting the manufacturing industry and he led four White House round tables with the White House Office of Public Liaison focused on the challenges of SMEs and championing manufacturers’ efforts and importance in the Nation’s economy.  In 2018, Wendell negotiated a groundbreaking co-sponsorship agreement between the SBA and a Fortune 50 company focused on strengthening OEM supply chains and improving opportunities for SME’s of OEM(s).

Prior to his work with the SBA, Mr. Davis was managing partner at DCB Law Group, LLC where he established the firm’s Business Law and Commercial Transactions Practice Group which represented lenders and a diversified client base of small and medium-sized businesses in all aspects of commercial finance transactions. The practice group represented non-traditional lending outlets including regional development authorities, non-profits, community based micro lenders and borrowers seeking federal and state guaranteed loans. Wendell has acted as state and national counsel for Tier 1 wireless and infrastructure clients. Over his distinguished career, his representation has included closing multi-million dollar deals, negotiating Master License Agreements and contracts with Federal and State governments, utility companies, municipalities and private land owners and managing the build out of a state-wide communications network.

Wendell is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and received an undergraduate degree from Central Connecticut State University, where he is a past president of the University’s alumni association and was named the Alumni of the Year in 2017.

Dr. Salvatore Menzo, based in Connecticut, is in his 30^th year in public education.   Sal has spent more than half this time as a superintendent of Wallingford, Connecticut school system with a 5700 student population of K-12 plus adult education.  He currently is Superintendent of the Goodwin Magnet School system with K-12 schools in greater Hartford Connecticut and Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Starting out as an educator in a socially and economically diversified school district, he recognized the need to establish partners for his students with local businesses and resources.  This philosophy continues to influence his work over the last 12 years as superintendent of Wallingford Public Schools.  With a focus on STEM and workforce development, Sal has applied a collective impact approach, collaborating with local businesses, community organizations, and state-wide groups, to develop a nationally recognized framework for employment pipelines.

In his work in workforce development, Sal has been recognized as an educational leader locally, nationally, and internationally.  He has been called upon to speak at many state, national, and international convenings on workforce development as a resource and example for others. He was a featured speaker at the White House regarding workforce development for defense supply chain companies. He was recognized by the Thomas Industries North American Manufacturing platform as one of the 2019 Champions for Industry.  In addition as the only educator, Sal has been appointed by the Secretary of Commerce to the Connecticut Export Council.  He is a member of United States Senator Chris Murphy’s Manufacturing and Aerospace Advisory Council.  Over the last three years, Sal led an international aerospace collaborative with Melbourne, Victoria Australia.  This partnership is providing one-of-a-kind STEM experiences for students while engaging local businesses in the development of pipeline programs for students as potential future employees.

With a strategic mindset situated in education with an understanding and appreciation for business, Sal is committed to working with other companies and communities to assist in ensuring their economic sustainability and growth.  He is very passionate about preparing high school graduates for success while supporting the employment needs of industry.

Sal received his undergraduate degree from Connecticut College and the University of Sydney.  He was conferred his Masters and Doctoral degrees from the University of Connecticut.

Space Law attorney Kim Ellis Hayes is based in North Carolina and Victoria, Australia. Kim is an award winning scientist & lawyer with expertise in extractive metallurgy research & development, Space Research, Technology Education & Strategic Stakeholder Engagement. Kim is a subject matter expert in Suborbital Crew (SubC) Space Transportation Services, in support of NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) system qualification of suborbital spaceflight systems for NASA Astronauts & other NASA personnel. This includes relevant techniques for suborbital research and testing processes for human tended and autonomous research in a reduced gravity environment(microgravity)and advancement of payload TRL ahead of orbital deployment for NASA Flight Opportunities.

Kim is the Space Technology Discipline & Aerospace Legal Lead for Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, and an Adjunct Faculty member of the International Space University, she leads curriculum development for undergraduate, postgraduate and professional level education related to Space Operations internationally and manages a collaborative industry partner network for student space research programs. Kim’s team mentors student microgravity experiments which have been launched to the International Space Station for the last 3 years.
Accredited as an International Lawyer with the International Institute for Space Law, Kim is a TEDx speaker and thought leader in Space Policy, Governance and Law and was recruited by the World Economic Forum consortium, the European Space Agency & MIT to contribute to creating the model to provide a new, innovative way of addressing the orbital challenge by encouraging responsible behavior in space through increasing the transparency of organizations’ debris mitigation efforts.

Kim serves on a number of advisory boards, review panels and executive committee’s related to Aerospace & Technology in Australia, Europe and the United States. These include the American Bar Association Forum of Air and Space Law committee, the International Bar Association, the International Defense & Aerospace Industries group (Co-chair), USRA NASA Postdoctoral Program and Monash University Aerospace Industry Advisory Group. As an official observer to the United Nations Hague Space Resource Governance Working Group Kim contributed to the development of the first Building Blocks for the development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Science with a double Major in Chemistry, Bachelor of Laws, Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice and is admitted to the New South Wales Supreme Court as an Australian Attorney. Currently undertaking certification for Sub-orbital spaceflight, Kim is a currently a Scientist-Astronaut Candidate with the International Institute for Astronautical sciences and will hold FAA qualifications US FAR § 460.5(b) (standards for space flight crew for suborbital space vehicles) which enables her to conduct microgravity research on suborbital spacecraft such as Blue Origin’s, New Shepherd and Virgin Galactic Spaceship 2 spacecraft.