Paul Riser

A Detroit native, Paul Riser is currently a Senior Program Officer for the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation focused on entrepreneurship and economic development. Riser is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, chief technologist, and systems engineer with over 25 years of professional experience working with start-up firms to global enterprises in the areas of business strategy, venture financing, IT architecture, technology integration and medical device development.

At the Foundation, duties include managing, identifying, and building relationships with stakeholders that allow the Foundation to deploy resources that align with its investment strategies. The Entrepreneurship and Economic Development focus area was a natural fit for Riser as it leverages his passion, background, and experience in social entrepreneurship, non-profit work, tech-based and small business support services, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Riser relishes the opportunity to help influence generational systems change and positively impact people through a lens of equity and inclusion.

With the experience of being an entrepreneur himself, Riser brings a deep understanding of entrepreneurial ecosystem building and a desire to listen, learn, and drive measurable change in Western New York and Southeast Michigan. Riser is greatly inspired by the commitment, energy, optimism, talent, and fortitude of the people in each region. The guiding principles of his work are empathy, equity, inclusivity, continuous learning, innovation, collaboration, humility, servant leadership, and diversity.

In previous roles, Riser served as the Managing Director of Tech-Based Entrepreneurship at TechTown Detroit and Chief Technology Officer for Innovative Health Technologies, a Detroit startup developing regenerative, biomimetic medical devices. Riser is also the CEO of the Riser Group, a Northville based real estate and business development firm. Paul Riser serves as a board member of Entrepreneurship Funders Network (EFN), Global Institute of Innovation Districts (GIID), Accelerate4KIDS and Michigan Mobility Institute. Riser graduated from Florida A&M University with a BS in computer science and later earned an MBA in technology management.