Dennis Beard

Dennis has served as a Partner and Chief Financial Officer for Open Prairie’s fund management operations for the past 20 years and represents Open Prairie on the Board of Directors of Innara Health.  As an entrepreneur and Certified Public Accountant with over 30 years of experience, Dennis has developed a keen understanding of the challenges faced by portfolio company executives and has implemented strategies that have resulted in significant growth. Dennis has held Board of Director positions with companies in several industries including banking, healthcare, medical device, information technology, communications and agriculture. He is a charter member of the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program for the University of Illinois EnterpriseWorks business incubator and also serves as a General Partner with Serra Ventures, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm specializing in investments in university-developed emerging technologies.  Under his leadership as Chief Executive Officer of the Home Recovery Companies, a leading provider of home healthcare services in the Mid-Atlantic region, the company grew over ten-fold and Dennis structured the successful sale of the business in 2008. In addition to his work in venture capital and private equity, he is and Adjunct Lecturer for both the University of Illinois College of Business and the Millikin University Tabor School of Business MBA Program.  As an Audit Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dennis provided auditing, financial reporting, government compliance and SEC reporting for small business and Fortune 50 clients.  He is also a graduate of the National Venture Capital Association Venture Capital Institute.  Dennis received the Academic Excellence Award while earning his Executive MBA from the University of Illinois and has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Millikin University.