Our Team

Marisa has been working in the business planning industry since 2007 and has specialized in EB-5, L-1, and E-2 visa business plans since 2012. Prior to launching Pinnacle Plan Writing, she was the senior project manager and immigration specialist at Masterplans, a major business plan writing firm based in Portland, Oregon. Since 2012, she has managed and developed more than 1,000 business plans for visa petitions, including nearly 500 EB-5 plans for direct investment, regional center projects, and new regional center operations. At Pinnacle, Marisa focuses on the firm’s EB-5 division, leading plan development and working closely with petitioners as well as partner attorneys and Regional Centers. 

Prior to focusing on business plans for immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications, Marisa managed almost 2,500 business plan projects for entrepreneurs seeking bank loans, angel funding, or venture capital. Her portfolio includes plans for businesses spanning a multitude of industries, ranging from small businesses operating on a local level to large, multinational ventures. 

Marisa is a frequent panelist at conferences hosted by IIUSA (the national not-for-profit trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program) and serves on the editorial board for the Association’s quarterly Journal. She has been named one of the “Top 5 Business Plan Writers” by EB-5 Investors Magazine every year since 2015. Marisa earned a Bachelor’s of Arts degree from Columbia University in 2005 and has engaged in continuing education courses in finance, market research, and industry-specific best operating practices throughout her career to remain abreast of changing dynamics in the industries she serves.
When not wearing one of the many hats she dons at Pinnacle, Marisa can be found on a mountain trail, “walking” her St. Bernard-mix horse dog, cooking with her wife, or getting schooled by her son in a high stakes game of Magic: The Gathering.

ML joined Pinnacle in 2018 and has helped write, research, and manage a wide variety of projects across an equally wide variety of industries, specializing in EB-5 business plan development. Prior to working with Pinnacle, ML’s career has spanned a variety of industries that has given her diverse experience in technical writing, procurement, quality assurance and regulatory compliance, business planning, ESOL community education, grant writing, and project management. 

ML holds a degree in Writing-Intensive English from Marquette University and brings an attention to detail, operational insights, well-honed research skills, and enthusiasm to her work at Pinnacle.

When not working (or engrossed in list-making), ML is typically focused on traveling to new places, searching for new hiking/biking trails, finding secret camp spots, soliciting interesting book and movie recs, and/or making up reasons to stop at literally any bakery.