Visionary Headliners, Rockstars &
Fab Facilitators
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Jim “Coop” Cooper
Chief Technologist, HP Workplace Services
HP Inc
Growth Innovation Leadership Council Member
Coop is a thought leader, inventor, futurist, and technology evangelist for HP. He has over three decades of experience serving in a range of Executive Positions including Chief Workplace Architect and Chief Technologist for HP’s Services business. Coop has helped businesses transform their legacy workplaces to be ready for an era of modern, digital, work. Coop’s recent endeavors are in developing methods to accelerate the customer’s digital transformation journey and simplify adoption for the end users.
Amr El-Husseini
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Lodestone Advisory Group
Amr is a global strategist and investor who has worked across five continents with clients and portfolio companies in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital, M&A, growth and acceleration, corporate development, turnaround and transformation, international expansion, corporate innovation, and entrepreneurship.
Bruce Graham
Partner
Pegasus Tech Ventures
Bruce has been deeply embedded in Silicon Valley since, as a newly-minted Princeton engineer, he joined Intel to build x86 microprocessors in 1982. After earning an MBA in 1991 from Stanford he has been backing core/hard tech startups as a venture capitalist, including a stint with Bessemer Venture Partners. More recently Bruce also engages founders as a co-founder/mentor/Board member. 22 positive liquidities to date, and counting. History may not exactly repeat, but there are patterns. Cellnk, SkyCool, LatentAI are three current projects.
Shila Nieves Burney
General Partner
Zane Venture Fund
Shila is recognized as one of Atlanta’s “50 on Fire”, an UnSung Champion by Graham Walker, and has been featured on BloombergTV regarding bills that impact entrepreneurship. Shila spent 20+ years investing in marginalized communities through programs and services for large non-profit organizations and the public education sector. Her superpower is connecting with talent and building networks. Shila also founded Zane Access which provides early-stage companies led by diverse teams access to cross-functional experts, resources, best practices and customized content critical to accelerating growth.
Michel Oostwal
Former Senior Vice President,
Research & Development
Mars North America
Michel is a successful technology and business leader with 25+ years of experience in consumer and supply chain innovation in Consumer Goods and Foods businesses in Europe, Latin America, Asia, and North America. He brings a unique, global perspective of how to succeed in bringing new technology to the marketplace with insights from some of the largest consumer businesses in the world. His current interests are in scaling later stage start-ups focusing on digital transformation and new consumer platforms.
David Owens
Executive Director, The Wond’ry Innovation Center
Vanderbilt University
Dr. Owens serves as the Evans Family Executive Director of The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt’s Innovation Center, for which he led the visioning and design. He serves as Professor of the Practice of Innovation at the Owen Graduate School of Management with a joint appointment in the School of Engineering. In 2021 he was named an Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor for the university.
Lauren Oyster
Senior Manager, Catalyst by Wellstar Ventures
Wellstar Health System
Lauren leverages experience in banking, wealth management, healthcare, and startups to spur investment and growth in early-stage companies. Backed by one of Georgia’s largest hospital systems, she brings a distinctive viewpoint on the advantages of securing capital from a corporate venture fund that is shaping the future of healthcare.
Blake Patton
Managing Partner
Tech Square Ventures
Blake is the Founder and Managing Partner of Tech Square Ventures, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms in the Southeast. Under his leadership, the firm has invested in more than 120 early-stage technology companies and established Engage, a unique corporate innovation and startup go-to-market accelerator program in partnership with 15 leading corporations and Georgia Tech.
Emil Radulescu
Senior Director, Research & Development
Konica Minolta
Emil is a global R&D and PMO leader with over 20 years of experience delivering state-of-the art medical devices centered on patients’ and clinicians’ needs, helping people live a healthier, longer and happier life.
Casey Santos
Chief Information Officer
Asurion
Casey is Chief Information Officer for Asurion, a leading global tech protection and support company. As CIO, Santos is responsible for Asurion’s core technology development and operations behind the company’s tech care products and services. Casey began her career at NASA’s Mission Control as an aerospace engineer supporting multiple Space Shuttle missions including the first Mir/Space Shuttle docking mission and the first Hubble Space Telescope repair mission. She has also had previous roles at McKinsey, General Atlantic, and AlianceBernstein.
Leslie Shannon
Head of Trend and Innovation Scouting
Nokia
Leslie is a Silicon Valley-based futurist, where she focuses on identifying connectivity-related tech disruptions and opportunities, including developments in robotics, drones, visual analytics, cloud gaming, generative AI, and especially augmented and virtual reality. Leslie is the author of Interconnected Realities, a look at the current and future development of the Metaverse, and, with Catherine D. Henry, Virtual Natives, an examination of how Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s use of digital technologies is revolutionizing how humans relate to both computers and each other.
Heath Starr
Senior Vice President, Product,
Innovation, and Strategic Partnerships
SAIC
Growth Innovation Leadership Council Member
Heath is responsible for research and development, strategic alliances, industry analyst relations and operations policy and process. Starr is also responsible for SAIC’s commercial segment, wholly owned subsidiaries and venture investments.
Bo Wilkes
President, Ballad Ventures
Ballad Health
Bo is a proactive problem-solver with 15+ years of experience driving exponential growth and business value through dynamic strategy, execution, relationship management, process optimization, and leadership within healthcare industry for top-tier organizations. He currently serves as the Managing Director of the Ballad Health Innovation Center and President of Ballad Ventures.
Master of Ceremonies
Brian Fitzpatrick
Partner, Events
Frost & Sullivan