Launch Mississippi

03/11/2022

View Mary Helen Bass's obituary, send flowers and find service dates or sign the guestbook.

01/17/2022

07/23/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Mary Helen Bass
Board of Directors

Chief Operating Officer,
Spartan Mosquito

Mary Helen Bass, is a Mississippi native who has spent the last 25 years living, working, and exploring all around the US. She has returned home to join the team as Chief Operating Officer for Spartan Mosquito, a Mississippi manufacturing company started in 2017.

Previously, Mary Helen worked for AT&T where she has held roles in sales, distribution, ecosystem strategy, and business development. Her engagements include a diverse set of customer segments including Enterprise, System Integrators, Government, and Small Business covering the gamut of industries. Her most rewarding work was business development with companies, from startups to Fortune 10’s, who developed technical solutions for the FirstNet mission, the United States’ first private network dedicated to our First Responders.

Mary Helen has a mind for operational excellence through ongoing innovation and transformation of technology, processes, and skills development. She also has a heart for how she can learn from and then help, inspire, and support those in her world. She responds with perseverance in her mind and passion in her heart.

Mary Helen has BS degrees in both Human Resource Management and Marketing from the University of South Carolina and has been a passionate member of many philanthropic and mentoring programs throughout her career including Delta Delta Delta, AT&T’s Diversity and inclusion Initiative, COO of Women of AT&T, Employee Engagement Teams, and numerous mentorship programs.

07/21/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Alex Deli
Founder and Chairman of Board
Launch Mississippi

A twenty-year veteran in the technology industry, Alex worked as a global business development manager, technologist, innovation coach, sales executive, and software developer. Alex spent his last eight years at AT&T selling the latest 5G, mobility, AI, machine learning, and Internet of Things solutions (IoT). Through his work at the AT&T Innovation Foundry, Alex tested new business models and concepts of operation. He also developed new technologies to solve business problems and provided strategy development and leadership to Fortune 500 and Global 100 companies. He directed boardrooms and showrooms. He witnessed product launches and brought ideas to life, but something was missing. A key cultural element seemed lacking. He was ready to put down roots in his adopted home of Mississippi and celebrate the values that empowered him to do well in the business world–hospitality, kindness, integrity, and hard work. Now, he’s bringing his expertise to the place he calls home in hopes of uncovering the brilliance and innovation Mississippi has to offer.
Alex’s core focus of innovation areas includes the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, AI, mobility, software, and hardware integration. Core to his innovation roots, Alex excels at bringing together technologists and business practitioners to solve problems using technology. A veteran of the US Navy and Naval Reserve, Alex’s vast professional background combined with his passion for his adopted home state strengthens the perspective and insight he offers to entrepreneurs. He firmly believes in the ingenuity of Mississippians and aspires to see them succeed–for the betterment of their business and the betterment of our state.

07/21/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Matt Mayo
Treasurer of Board, Launch Mississippi

Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer, Pine Belt Region
Community Bank Of Mississippi

Matt rejoined Community Bank in 2012, and now has over 24 years of experience in lending, credit administration, corporate marketing, consulting, and executive management roles within the financial services industry. He has assisted individual borrowers and businesses of all size through a consultative banking partnership, while also leading internal corporate initiatives focused on risk management, new technology, innovation, efficiency and customer service.

Based in Hattiesburg, Matt is responsible for the Pine Belt Region’s lending functions and overall credit quality of more than $650 million in loans housed along the I-59 corridor from Hattiesburg to Meridian. As a member of numerous bank-wide committees, as well as the Board of Directors, he is directly involved in the executive management of the bank on a daily basis.

Matt received a BS in Banking from the University of South Alabama and completed his MBA from Samford University. He is an alumni of the Graduate School of Banking of the South at LSU. Presently, he serves as a board member for the Lamar County School District and is a member of Leadership Mississippi Class of 2021. Matt resides in the Oak Grove community with his wife, Rachael, and three children Allison, Anna Ryan, and Landon.

07/21/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Bret Becton, PhD
Board of Directors, Launch Mississippi

Dean of College of Business & Economic Dev.,
The University of Southern Mississippi

Bret Becton, PhD, became Dean of the College of Business and Economic Development at The University of Southern Mississippi on July 1, 2019. Previously, Dr. Becton served as Dean of the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette from July, 2017 to June 2019, the Associate Dean in the College of Business at Southern Miss from 2014 to 2017 and a professor of management from 2008 to 2017 at Southern Miss. His first full-time academic appointment was as an assistant professor of management at Winthrop University from 2005 to 2008.
Prior to joining academia, Dr. Becton was a management consultant specializing in human resource management and organizational change for over 11 years. As an employee of Morris & McDaniel, Inc., the Center for Business and Economic Development at Auburn University Montgomery, Right Management Consultants, and Becton Management Solutions, Dr. Becton has provided consulting services including expert witness testimony, job analysis, job description development, employment test development, compensation and benefits analysis, performance management, training program development and delivery, and organizational assessments to numerous private and public sector organizations.
Dr. Becton received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi, a M.S. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from University of Tulsa, and a Ph.D. in Management with a dual emphasis in human resource management and organizational change from the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University.

07/21/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Joseph D. Songy
Board of Directors, Launch Mississippi

PARTNER,
Bryant Songy Snell Global Partners

Joey is a founding member of Bryant Songy Snell Global Partners. In September 2019, after leaving the Bryant administration, he established Songy LLC. In January 2020, Songy LLC was merged into the Bryant Songy Snell partnership.
From January 2016 through August 2019, Joey served as Chief of Staff for Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant. At the time of this appointment, Joey was the youngest Governor’s chief of staff in the country at age 31. Prior to being appointed chief of staff, he held the positions of counsel and policy director in Bryant’s administration. While counsel and policy adviser, his portfolio included tax policy, economic development, public finance, revenue, workforce, and technology.
In February 2018, Joey was appointed by the White House to the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee on Trade to represent state and local governments. This committee was established by executive order, and later by statute, to provide the executive branch with advice on proposed trade agreements. Joey maintains a secret clearance for this board appointment.
Prior to joining Bryant’s administration, Joey practiced law in Purvis, Mississippi, where he founded the Songy Law Firm. In 2016, Joey received the Top 50 under 40 from the Mississippi Business Journal and the Top 50 award from Mississippi Top 50.
Joey is a 2007 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration. He earned his law degree in 2010 from the University of Mississippi. He and his wife, Kate, live in Madison and they have one child, Joseph.

07/21/2021

Board of Directors Spotlight:

Luke Lightning, PhD
Vice Chairman of Launch Mississippi

HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION, BIM Designs

Luke joined the BIM Designs team in June 2020 as the Head of Business Development, with over 8 years of business development and sales experience working with startups, accelerators, investors and global enterprise-level companies. Luke's top clients included Amazon, Atlassian, Best Buy, Capital One, Cisco, Expedia, Facebook, Ford Motor Company, Google, Honda, IBM, Intuit, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Oracle, Paypal, Pinterest, Red Bull, Salesforce, Samsung, Twilio, Twitter, and Verizon. He's successfully helped startups scale their sales operations and worked in the biotech industry as a research leader for over 9 years, resulting in an IPO by ARYx Therapeutics in 2011.

In his current role, Luke works closely with the sales, marketing and operations team to identify new prospective clients and helps oversee the business development, innovation, marketing, and staffing teams objectives.

Luke received his BA from Carleton College and PhD from the University of Washington. He worked as a Postdoctoral Scholar at UCSF and an Assistant Professor at Purdue University. For the past 7 years, he has worked with the SF Giants as the lead community organizer of Native American Heritage Night. He currently resides in Barbados with his wife Kimberly and their two cats, Frank and Indy.

For more info about Launch MS, visit www.launchms.org

07/09/2021

Launch Mississippi is busy recording sessions at the University of Southern Mississippi for their upcoming “Launch Academy,” which will help guide innovators within the state of Mississippi as they bring their ideas to life.
For more information, visit www.launchms.org

03/26/2021

Check out the article on Launch MS in Innovate MS’s new 2021 issue!