Board of Directors

Joseph Hammer was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors in October 2025 and brings over 20 years’ experience as a veteran financial executive and experienced Board director. Most recently he served as the Chief Investing Officer at LHX Corp., a family office service company for a single family, since February 2025 and, prior to that, served as Chief Investing Officer of LH Financial since 2010. LHX evaluates investment opportunities in a wide variety of asset classes including public companies, private companies, merger candidates, development stage companies, technology institutions, startup incubators, and other ventures to determine if they fit within the framework of the family office’s investment criteria. As the CIO, Mr. Hammer sources potential investments for the family office and provides continued guidance for many of the family’s investments in particular within the Middle East. Mr. Hammer has served as the Chairman of the Board of Nasdaq-listed Trailblazer Merger Corporation I since 2023. In addition, since 2016, Mr. Hammer has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Gratitude Railroad LLC, a community of investors operating an alternative investment platform who are inspired and dedicated to solving environmental and social problems through the profitable deployment of financial, intellectual, and human capital. Mr. Hammer is the founder of The JDH Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization he founded in 2020 that supports local and international charitable causes.

Scott Burell was appointed an Independent Director in October 2025. Mr. Burell is a seasoned healthcare finance executive with over two decades of experience leading public life sciences companies through complex transactions and growth phases. Mr. Burell currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Trailblazer Merger Corporation I (Nasdaq: TBMC), a position he has held since April 2022. Mr. Burell also currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of AIVITA Biomedical, Inc. (“AIVITA”), an immuno-oncology company, a position he has held since 2018. Prior to joining AIVITA, from 2006 to 2017, Mr. Burell served as Chief Financial Officer of CombiMatrix Corporation (Nasdaq: CBMX) through its successful acquisition by Invitae Corporation (NYSE: NVTA) in 2017. He has a proven track record in leading public and private debt and equity financing transactions, corporate reorganizations, and complex merger and acquisition activities. Mr. Burell has also served on several Boards of Directors, including Microbot Medical, Inc. (Nasdaq: MBOT), a medical device company specializing in the researching, designing, developing and commercializing of transformational micro-robotics medical technologies, since December 2016, and DIH Holding US, Inc., (Nasdaq: DHAI), a global provider of advanced robotic devices used in physical rehabilitation, since August 2025. He holds Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Business Finance from Central Washington University and is a certified public accountant.

Steve is the Chief Executive Officer of INVO Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq: INVO), a position he has held since October 10, 2019, and is also a director of INVO Bioscience, Inc., a position he has held since October 11, 2017. In addition, Mr. Shum currently serves as a member of the board of directors of CalEthos, Inc. Mr. Shum was Interim Chief Executive Officer (from May 2019 to October 7, 2019) and Chief Financial Officer of Eastside Distilling (Nasdaq: ESDI) (from October 2015 to August 2019). Prior to joining Eastside, Mr. Shum served as an Officer and Director of XZERES Corp, a publicly-traded global renewable energy company, from October 2008 until April 2015 in various officer roles, including Chief Operating Officer from September 2014 until April 2015, Chief Financial Officer, Principal Accounting Officer and Secretary from April 2010 until September 2014 (under former name, Cascade Wind Corp) and Chief Executive Officer and President from October 2008 to August 2010. Mr. Shum also serves as the managing principal of Core Fund Management, LP and the Fund Manager of Core Fund, LP. He was a founder of Revere Data LLC (now part of Factset Research Systems, Inc.) and served as its Executive Vice President for four years, heading up the product development efforts and contributing to operations, business development, and sales. He spent six years as an investment research analyst and portfolio manager of D.N.B. Capital Management, Inc. His previous employers include Red Chip Review and Laughlin Group of Companies. He earned a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in General Management from Portland State University in 1992.