Derrick K. Collins

Derrick Collins serves as the Interim Dean for the College of Business at Chicago State University.  Previously, Mr. Collins was Assistant Clinical Professor of Finance at Northwestern University’s J.L. Kellogg School of Management where he teaches the courses Venture Capital and Private Equity Investing, and Entrepreneurial Finance.  Mr. Collins also extends his private equity experience into business practice by serving as a General Partner of the business advisory firm, Hickory Trestle, and private equity advisory firm, Magna Saxum Advisors.  Prior to this, he served as a General Partner of Polestar Capital Partners, a venture capital partnership focused on investing in minority-controlled technology companies.

Mr. Collins began his private equity career during his tenure at Shorebank Corporation, an Illinois bank holding company, where he served as President of Shorebank Capital Corporation, the venture capital subsidiary of Shorebank Corporation.  While at Shorebank, Mr. Collins also served as a Commercial Loan Officer in the banking subsidiary, South Shore Bank.

Derrick has lectured extensively on the topic of venture capital and investing in entrepreneurial companies, including presentations at the Credit Suisse International Business School, the National Football League’s Player Development Program, the National Minority Supplier Development Council’s Advanced Management Education Program, the Chicago Urban League’s NextOne Program, the Wall Street Journal’s Black Entrepreneurship in America Conference, and guest appearances on Chicago’s WGN-TV Minority Business Report, as well as numerous other private and public conferences and meetings.

Mr. Collins’ current and past board affiliations include Chicago Community Ventures, Adamation, Inc., BridgeStream, Inc., ViaNovus, Inc., the National Association of Investment Companies, and co-founder and board member of the accelerated entrepreneurial program, the Runners’ Club.

Derrick earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.                       v