People
Meet the people behind the Institute.
Meet our researchers and Board of Directors. For research questions, interviews or speaking invitations, the profiles below explain our areas of work and how to reach us.
Research team
Dr. Mariela Salasin
Co-founder
Mariela leads the Institute's qualitative empirical and policy work. Her research at Pepperdine University, where she is a Postdoctoral Fellow, focuses on leadership, identity, and long-term performance in venture capital. She brings more than twenty years across venture capital, finance, infrastructure, and technology, including leadership roles at JPMorgan, Verizon, and Ascendus, and served as Executive Director of SomosVC and Partner at ALMA Fund.
Speaks to
Mariela speaks about capital allocation and technology policy, barriers in institutional fundraising, and bringing people together around evidence.
Contact
mariela@colibristrategies.com
Dr. Itzel Moncadain
Co-founder
Itzel leads the Institute's quantitative empirical work. Her doctoral research at Pepperdine University examines venture capital fund configuration and the structural drivers of performance and risk-return efficiency. She previously worked in fund investing, portfolio analysis, and institutional capital strategy as an investor at Reinventure Capital and a Private Equity Associate at Cebron Group.
Speaks to
Itzel speaks about venture performance measurement, portfolio choices and their relationship to returns, and the assumptions behind institutional screens.
Contact
itzel@colibristrategies.com
Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors.
For media
What we will and will not comment on.
For a story, interview or event, we can explain our findings, methods and the market questions they raise. Print-resolution exhibits are available on request. We keep numerical claims tied to the published evidence and do not comment on individual firms, funds or people.
Media contact
hello@colibri.institute
Advance copies
Available to press and analysts before publication, under embargo.
Coverage
Where our research has been written about.
Emerging managers outperform established firms: new research
Coverage of White Paper I, reporting the finding that emerging managers outperformed established managers on DPI, IRR, and TVPI across nearly 2,500 venture capital funds raised between 2000 and 2024.