MMV Financial Inc. has added April Young to its senior management team to reinforce the company’s presence in the United States, the specialty finance firm announced Tuesday.

Young joins Toronto-based MMV Financial on Dec, 1, as senior vp and managing director. Based in Reston, Virginia, Young will be responsible for the business development activities of the company in the U.S.

“The success of MMV Financial is due, in many respects, to the ability of our team and bringing the vision of our company to those we invest in/with. Now April will not only bring her experience to that vision but continue to build it in the United States,” said Minhas Mohamed, CEO.

Young spent the last ten years as senior vp and managing director for the Mid-Atlantic Region, Technology and Life Sciences Division of Comerica Bank. Prior to joining Comerica Bank, Young was founding executive director of the Potomac KnowledgeWay Project, a non-profit, leadership organization designed to help Greater Washington become a global leader in digital information products and services.

Previously, Young served as senior fellow for regional economic development at George Mason University’s Institute for Public Policy and served as the first director of the Northern Virginia Roundtable. Prior to that, Young was thedDirector of the Virginia Department of Economic Development and also served as senior vp of NVRDevelopment.

Young holds bachelors and masters degrees in urban and regional planning from George Washington University as well as a Ph.D. in public policy analysis from Saint Louis University.

“We are extremely excited to have April join MMV’s senior management team, where we will benefit immensely from her in-depth experience of the venture debt market in both the Technology and Life Sciences markets,” said Mohamed.

MMV Financial provides creative debt solutions directly to technology and life-sciences companies across North-America. The company is backed by top U.S. and Canadian private equity firms and financial institutions including CCP Equity Partners, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Fonds de Solidarité des Travailleurs du Québec, NewStar Financial Inc., ROI Capital, and Wells Fargo Co.

IE