Our Team
Executive Leadership
Terrance Berland
Co-Founder & Principal
Terrance (“Terry”) has an extensive executive background which crosses technology, operations, strategy, and finance. Terry started his working career with the US Navy as an instructor in their Naval Nuclear Power School. After graduate school, he transitioned into consulting and was an early-elect Partner at McKinsey & Co, with a particular focus on strategy and supply chain within healthcare and finance. He then joined Bear Stearns (one of his McKinsey clients) as a Senior Managing Director in charge of large-scale transformation programs, including their rapid growth in structured derivates. After Bear’s acquisition by JPMorgan, he joined Lehman (and subsequently Barclays) as their Global Head of Purchasing and Supply Chain.
Terry and Ali started working together after his transition into the role of Chief of Staff to the CEO at Russell Investments, where they focused on building out the Office of the CEO, as well as leading a nearly $1B sale of their PE business. Terry also spent 5 years at Bridgewater Associates in their Operations and Client Service departments before co-founding an early-stage technology venture firm called Kirenaga, where he would eventually become the CEO of their largest portfolio holding, Violet Defense Group, and recently led a $20 million Series B financing for that company.
Terry graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor’s in Mathematics, and he received his MBA from Kellogg’s Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University.
Terry currently serves as a Board Member of Starter Studio, a technology incubator program in Central Florida, and previously was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Stamford Health System in Stamford, CT. And lastly, Terry is an active member of the Forbes Technology Council.
Ali McKenzie
Co-Founder & Chief of Staff
Ali has a very distinguished and diversified career which covers most of an organisation’s capabilities and needs. Prior to starting Unicorn & Lion, Ali served as the Chief of Staff for Violet Defense Group, helping to build out the company’s executive office, develop its HR functions, and helped the company raise over $20 million in a Series B financing. She was also the Chief Operating Officer of the company’s agricultural lighting division, Violet Gro. Previously, she served in multiple capacities within the Nordstrom technology organisation, bridging the gap between technology and business, including a significant role in site operations for their ecommerce business.
She and Terry first began working together at Russell Investments where they built out the company’s Enterprise Program Management Office (EPMO) as well as had line responsibility for the marketing, operations, and purchasing functions.
Ali is a member of the Chief of Staff Association and has received Chief of Staff certification from their inaugural program at the University of Oxford’s Said Business School. Additionally, Ali is a graduate of the Executive Leadership Development Program from the University of Washington and has completed certification programs in governance and leadership from both Northwestern and Cornell.
In her spare time, she has served as a Board Member of New Beginnings, a non-profit organisation in Seattle devoted to helping victims of domestic violence, and she supported the Economic Development Council for Seattle and King County to help bring more finance-oriented jobs to the Pacific Northwest.
