Rebecca Haydock is CEO of Venture Central, board member of Charlottesville Angel Network, and continues to be an owner and advisor in expanding businesses. She is an entrepreneur, facilitator, educator, convener and ecosystem strategist and accelerator. Her work in Virginia accomplishes acquisition of human and financial assets to build strong communities. She develops and engages best practices in nonprofit and for profit entities through research, collaboration, and accessible and equitable human-centered design methods.

In 2024 Rebecca took over management of Venture Central on a part-time basis, while managing Central Virginia Small Business Development Center. The goal was to oversee the successful completion of two active ecosystem building grants, while supporting strategic planning and advancement of the entity which housed 434 Accelerator. In 2025 she joined full time. Venture Central supports programs and projects that fuel high-growth entrepreneurship in Central Virginia, including the Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Food and Beverage Business Accelerator planning project. 

In 2020 Rebecca took the leadership position with the Central Virginia Small Business Development Center and built it to become the top performing office in Virginia, serving 10 municipalities and expanding equitable access to resources. She has started, expanded, sold and advised companies her entire life, starting her first retail and service business at 16. After graduating from Cornell University and subsequently starting and selling her second business, she worked in economic development specializing in access to capital in New York, consulted in government contracting and business training and development in North Carolina, and moved on to New Jersey to manage a portfolio of 20 early stage technology companies as a Director at Technology Management & Funding, speaking at national conferences on the topic of technology commercialization. Rebecca left TMF to become COO of two biotech companies in Virginia, one of which sold to a pharmaceutical company.

Rebecca is a Certified Global Business Professional and specializes in growth strategy and infrastructure, contract preparedness, strategic alliances, and equity capital. She focuses entrepreneurial ecosystem advancement and works with high growth, early-stage businesses to stabilize and resource CEOs to maximize economic impact.