Who We Are
Established in 1990, the Orange County Chapter of NIRI comprises corporate investor relations practitioners and investor relations consultants representing public companies of all sizes across a wide spectrum of industries, along with service providers who support the profession. The chapter hosts a number of meetings, networking events and other opportunities for professional development throughout the year within a welcoming and supportive community.
Mission Statement
NIRI Orange County is dedicated to advancing excellence in investor relations, which includes aspects of finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance, for a diverse community of professionals. We strive to provide timely education, resources, and networking opportunities that empower our members and promote best practices in the field.
About NIRI
Founded in 1969, NIRI is the professional association of corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate management, shareholders, securities analysts, and other financial community constituents. NIRI is the largest professional investor relations association in the world with members representing over 1,500 publicly held companies and $12 trillion in stock market capitalization
Investor Relations Definition
Investor relations is a strategic management responsibility that integrates finance, communication, marketing and securities law compliance to enable the most effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, and other constituencies, which ultimately contributes to a company’s securities achieving fair valuation.
Bylaws of Orange County Chapter of NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations
Board of Directors
NIRI Orange County Board of Directors is responsible for all activities of the local chapter, and serves as the local representatives of NIRI: The Association for Investor Relations. Additionally, the Orange County board strives to maintain relationships with other local professional organizations representing individuals who interact with IROs or the investment community. We invite you to contact members of the board to discuss chapter matters or topics of interest affecting investor relations professionals.
David Erickson is an independent investor relations consultant, leveraging his more than 30 years of experience in developing and implementing Investor Relations programs for a variety of companies. Most recently, he was Vice President, Investor Relations for Evolus, a performance beauty company headquartered in Newport Beach, California.
Previously, Erickson was Vice President, Investor Relations, Corporate Communications, and Corporate Social Responsibility for Establishment Labs, a global medical device and aesthetics company based in Costa Rica. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Investor Relations at Edwards Lifesciences, a global medical device company headquartered in Irvine, California. David is an active member of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), having served in leadership positions at both the national and local levels, and was named a NIRI Fellow in 2014. He helped develop NIRI’s certification program, the Investor Relations Charter, and earlier helped create a similar program in conjunction with NIRI and the University of California, Irvine where he also served as an instructor. David has a B.S. in Business Administration (double major in Finance and Marketing) and an MBA with an emphasis in Finance from California State University, Long Beach.
He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the CSULB Department of Finance and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Child Creativity Lab, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting creativity through STEM-based educational programs and activities. Erickson is also a mentor in the CSULB Corporate Mentoring Program.
Cynthia Skoglund, is the principal of the Skoglund Consulting Group. She was the former senior manager and member of the Business Development and Corporate Strategy team at Beckman Coulter, a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation. Prior to the company being acquired by Danaher in 2011, Skoglund was the Investor Relations Officer at Beckman Coulter.
In addition to managing her boutique consulting firm, she is also an Independent Inspector of Election working with American Election Services, LLC (AES) providing independent inspector, tabulation, and certification services for corporations, organizations and associations worldwide.
With over 25 years of experience in investor relations and communications, Skoglund is an active member of NIRI and was named NIRI National Volunteer of the Year in 2015. She has been involved in the NIRI Orange County Chapter since its beginning and has served on its board for more than 15 years including past president. She currently serves as director at large and senior advisor of the chapter.
Mitch Haws is a seasoned investor relations and communications executive with over 30 years of global experience. Mitch currently serves as senior vice president of investor relations for Semtech Corporation (Nasdaq: SMTC). Previously, he served as corporate vice president of investor relations at Advanced Micro Devices (Nasdaq: AMD). Prior to that, he was vice president of investor relations at Skyworks Solutions and vice president of investor relations and global communications at Freescale Semiconductor. He is a certified Investor Relations Charter (IRC)® holder, was honored as a fellow of The Association for Investor Relations in 2023 and currently serves on the NIRI national board of directors. Mitch holds a Bachelor of Arts in communications from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from Westminster College.
Cody Cree is the co-founder of Thompson Cree Advisors, an independent financial communications and corporate advisory firm. Over the last decade, Cody has led investor relations campaigns for micro- and small-cap publicly-traded companies across a variety of industries, including consumer, technology, industrials, and business services. He leads all critical aspects of client engagements that center around stakeholder outreach and relations, investment thesis development, communication strategies, and capital markets advisory. Cody began his career on the buy-side, providing key market research and leading client-service logistics. He earned his BS in business administration with an emphasis in finance from Chapman University. Cody and his family currently reside in Newport Beach, California.
Eli Marcus brings 25 years of experience across product management, customer experience, sales, and marketing. At CBS Interactive, he develped e-commerce products and rose to the position of VP of Product, where he launched the web content syndication platform Content Cast.
Now leading the investor relations practice at The Buddy Group, Eli has produced over a dozen investor days for companies such as Jack in the Box, Xperi, Adeia, and Reynolds Consumer Products. He believes that investor relations communications should be crafted with the same finesse as a company’s marketing efforts.
Eli holds an MBA from the American Jewish University and a JD from the University of California, Hastings.
