Erica McMannes

Founder I Chief Experience Officer

Retired Army Spouse

As Chief People & Community Officer/Founder, Erica works with investors, board, executive partners & internal team daily on strategy and tactics aimed at driving team growth, brand growth, and mission. She manages the brilliant teams working on employee engagement, HR compliance & best practice, internal communications, DEI programming, marketing, and community building at Instant Teams day to day.

FUN FACTS

Erica supported U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Thom Tilis (R-NC) with the bipartisan Military Spouse Entrepreneurship Act of 2023.

Erica moved 14 times in 21 years as an Army spouse.

Erica once found Peter Frampton’s jacket at a thrift shop and returned it, which landed her and her dad free concert tickets. It’s a great story! Ask her about it next time you see her or get a chance to catch up.

Starting Instant Teams

Liza and Erica met as freshly uprooted military families in 2014. They quickly identified that they shared a common bond in not only the entrepreneurial and technology space but that they also had a heart for the community around them.

Throughout their professional journeys, they had both seen a need for disruptive solutions for remote team development. Companies craved immediate access to the best talent, while their peers and neighbors in the military community needed a direct connection to flexible work opportunities. Liza and Erica knew with their combined background in software development and community development, they could build a solution to bridge the growing gap.

In 2016, Liza founded Instant Teams with Erica McMannes. Together, they created a talent marketplace that uses innovative technology, career development, and a focus on skills-based hiring to create employment solutions for companies and remote careers for military and veteran spouses. Early investors included The Founder Institute, Squadra Ventures, Frontier Venture Capital, and Right Side Capital Management. In March 2022, Instant Teams closed a $13 Million Series A funding round led by Tiger Global.

Commitment to the Military Community

In 2023, Instant Teams opened their first brick-and-mortar location, serving as both a HQ for the company as well as a free coworking and community space in Southern Pines, NC.

Instant Teams has also participated in Congressional roundtables, National Defense Authorizations Act reports, Department of Defense pilot programs, and policy/advocacy work around military spouse hiring and entrepreneurship.

Erica McMannes is an alumna of the Patriot Boot Camp and V-WISE programs, and is a two-time winner of grant-led startup pitch competitions. She is a prominent voice in conversations on military spouse employment and remote team leadership and culture. In 2023, she was inducted into the Order of Our Lady of Loreto by the Army Aviation Association of America and the U.S. Army Aviation Center, recognizing her contributions to the Army Aviation community.