2024 Speaker - Hamptons Tech Week

Meet our 2024 speakers

Ashley Battle

Boston Celtics

Ashley Battle has excelled in every facet of basketball as a trusted player, business strategist and transformative coach. Battle is a three-time NCAA Women's Basketball National Champion at the University of Connecticut and the 2003 Big East Defensive Player of the Year. In 2005, she was drafted 25th overall by the Seattle Storm, spent five seasons in the WNBA with the New York Liberty and San Antonio Silver Stars (now the Las Vegas Aces), and played overseas in Turkey and Spain.

After her playing days, the Pittsburgh native applied her Business Marketing and Economics degrees within the banking industry before pivoting to wealth management at Barnum Financial Group. Her strategic insight found a new arena in basketball operations at the NBA, where she not only strategized but also mentored, guiding the next generation at the international NBA Academy and Jr. NBA camps in the US. Her journey took her from a strategic role with the Jordan Brand at Nike back to the NBA, where she currently scouts for the Boston Celtics, serves as Assistant General Manager for the G-League's Maine Celtics, and provides color commentary for the WNBA's New York Liberty.

Ashley is dedicated to community, growth, leadership, and service. She is the founding member of BattleCon, which advocates for youth development and created the Culture Bound Foundation, which provides youth opportunities. Former teammates and colleagues describe her as humble, confident, genuine, and adaptable. Her philosophy, inspired by the late Kobe Bryant to "Do Epic Things," fuels her ambition to drive the WNBA's Golden State expansion team towards groundbreaking success.

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Coack AK

Coach AK Enterprises + LeadLyft

From world-class athlete to high-performance Executive Coach, Coach AK (AK Ikwuakor) is a force to be reckoned with. A former 3-time All-American Track and Field athlete from the University of Oregon and Nigerian National Champion, Coach AK's competitive spirit extends far beyond the playing field. He's leveraged his expertise to coach over 40,000 individuals and teams across 30 countries, from Fortune 100 companies like Google and Amazon to world-class sports organizations like Duke Basketball and the Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. Coach AK isn't just passionate about sports; he's used sports diplomacy to build bridges, partnering with the US government to improve international diplomatic relations through his ventures.

But Coach AK's impact goes deeper. A Certified PCC Executive Coach, the author of the bestselling book "The Next Right Move," and a featured speaker in publications like Business Insider and Sports Illustrated, Coach AK walks the walk. This Marina Del Rey-based triplet finds rejuvenation in alternative restorative practices like meditation, darkness retreats, and various holistic modalities. He balances his passion for empowering others with raising his 2 kids, proving that peak performance can be achieved in all aspects of life. Now, Coach AK is at the forefront of innovation, developing AI-powered coaching technology to equip leaders and teams with actionable strategies for lasting change. Join Coach AK and embark on a transformative journey to unlock your peak potential on and off the field.

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Ajay Nwosu

Teqball USA & COACT Capital

Ajay Nwosu, is a British entrepreneur and promient angel investor who currently serves as the CEO of Teqball USA and holds the position of President at The US National Teqball Federation. Under his visionary leadership, Teqball has successfully expanded its presence to over 150 countries worldwide, achieving the remarkable distinction of becoming the fastest- ever recognized sport globally. Notably, it has been included as a medal sport in the prestigious 2023 European Games, Asian Beach Games, African Beach Games and aspires to be part of the equally prestigious Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

He has been recognized as a visionary and for his exceptional leadership by Forbes, Bloomberg, Sports Business Journal and more.

Ajay was formerly COO at Champro Sports, a Fortune 1,000 B2B sports apparel & equipment provider, where he lead and oversaw Champro’s sales/growth trajectory and delivered double-digit revenue growth pre-acquisition of the company whilst winning multiple awards along the way for accelerated initiatives in CSR.

His academic achievements include degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Business and Economics as a student-athlete at Coventry University, England.

Beyond his corporate achievements, Ajay is recognized as an international speaker on Sports Technology, Intellectual Properties, and Web3 protocols. He has delivered notable keynotes at prestigious events such as SXSW, Global Sports Forum, and LA Sports Innovation Conference. Moreover, his contributions extend to serving on the board of directors for the Los Angeles Sports Council.

Ajay is the co-founder of COACT Capital a boutique angel investment fund channeling capital into disruptive companies across a range of industries, including Sports Technology & Sports Teams, Financial Technology, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) and more.

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Mike Piha

HitCheck

Mike Piha, based in San Francisco, CA, is a seasoned entrepreneur with a rich history of
leadership in both startup ventures and high-growth enterprises. His journey began in 1995
when he founded In2Change, a prominent distributor of contract office furniture and
technology products in Silicon Valley. Under Mike's guidance, In2Change swiftly rose to
prominence, earning recognition as one of the region's fastest-growing companies with
annual revenues exceeding $60 million. In 2014, after nearly two decades of remarkable
success, In2Change was acquired.
Currently, Mike serves as the CEO and Co-Founder of HitCheck (www.hitcheck.com), a
pioneering sports-technology company. HitCheck developed the world's premier mobile
app dedicated to testing for concussion symptoms among athletes, active consumers, and
military personnel. Launched in late 2016, HitCheck represents a true passion project for
Mike, driven by his commitment to safeguarding the health of young athletes.
Beyond his professional pursuits, Mike is deeply engaged in volunteer work within youth
sports. For over 25 years, he has provided leadership, development, and coaching within
youth football. As the founder and coach of NorCal Youth Football, Mike has impacted the
lives of over 10,000 young participants. His coaching career spans over 30 years, with
notable achievements including leading eight teams to Youth National Championships in
Orlando, Florida. In recognition of his unwavering dedication, Mike was inducted into the
American Youth Football Hall of Fame in 2010.
Mike's journey began in Bellevue, Washington, where he graduated from the University of
Puget Sound with a BA in Business Administration. During his time at university, he
distinguished himself as a four-year letterman in football. Subsequently, Mike spent seven
years in Portland, Oregon, where he married his wife, Cheryl. In Portland, he served as the
district manager for Wright Line, Inc., while also actively contributing to youth football as a
coach and Vice President of the Portland City Youth Football Association.
In 1989, Mike and Cheryl relocated to Palo Alto, CA, where they raised their two sons, Tony
and Jordan. Tony, a graduate of the University of Colorado, and Jordan, a graduate of
Chapman University, reflect their parents' commitment to education and personal growth.
Celebrating 40 years of marriage, Mike and Cheryl split their time between San Francisco
and St. George, Utah. Mike's diverse hobbies include cycling, skiing, golf, and traveling,
with pickleball emerging as his latest passion. He actively participates in competitive
pickleball and serves as the President of the Entrada Pickleball Club.

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Melissa Newhart

United Talent Agency

Melissa Newhart is an award-winning entertainment and music industry executive with extensive advertising, marketing, branding, strategic partnership, and media experience. Newhart has been named to Billboard’s “Branding Power Players” and “Latin Power Players” lists, spotlighted in HITS! “Noisemakers” and featured in publications Muse by Clio & Campaign. In 2022, Variety named Newhart to their New York Impact Report, and in 2023, Advertising Week awarded her their "Future is Female" award.

Melissa began her career at Columbia Records & joined United Talent Agency in 2017 from Roc Nation, where she was Vice President of Brand Partnerships. Throughout her career, Melissa has closed over 350 deals for over 100 different artists such as Anitta, Bebe Rexha, Jonas Brothers, Karol G, Latto, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tierra Whack, and Young Miko, working with global brands such as Mastercard, Google, Xbox, Louis Vuitton, Levi’s, and Cadillac, to name a few.

Currently an Executive in UTA’s Music Brand Partnerships group, Melissa leads the team’s East Coast business. In addition to artist specific brand strategy, Melissa has experience negotiating and executing partnerships for large-scale music properties such as Made in America Festival and TIDAL X Concert, as well as global tour sponsorships. Newhart has also been instrumental in recognizing new lanes of business for UTA and was at the forefront of UTA’s expansion into the Hip Hop and Latin music genres.

Not only does Newhart advance her clients’ careers, but she is equally as dedicated to mentoring the next generation of professionals across the entertainment industry. She is actively involved in UTA's Mentorship Program, UTA's Women's Interest Group, & Le Femme Majeure - a UTA organization & event series dedicated to bringing together music’s next generation of female leaders. Newhart has also been a featured speaker at universities such as NYU, Pepperdine, Drexel, & The Roc Nation School at Long Island University. She is currently an Adjunct Professor at NYU, teaching a course on strategic music & branding.

In 2024, Newhart became a voting member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and joined the Board of WhyHunger, an organization working to end hunger and advance the human right to nutritious food in the U.S. and around the world by providing critical resources to support grassroots movements and fuel community solutions rooted in social, environmental, racial and economic justice.

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Gail Levy

HFactor Water

Gail Levy is an accomplished businesswoman with extensive experience in
domestic and international product development, sales, and brand marketing.
She founded HFactor® Hydrogen Infused Water after researching hydrogen
water's potential health benefits and discovering its efficacy in helping with
aches and pains. Gail had just lost her best friend to cancer and discovered that
the side effects she’d suffered in treatment might have been eased with a
hydrogen boost.
Gail felt she could honor her friend by making hydrogen water effective and
accessible to everyone. Enlivened by this mission, she spent three years
researching how to manufacture hydrogen water so that it has a shelf life and
efficacy to engineer the most natural process possible to combine hydrogen and
water with zero impurities and to create optimal impact, and thus, HFactor was
born. In addition, she created the hydro pack, a unique vessel that maintains the
integrity of the hydrogen to deliver maximum benefits.
Today, HFactor® products are available at over 6,000 retailers, including
Walmart, Albertsons, Safeway, Sprouts Farmers Market, CVS, and ShopRite.
Prior to founding HFactor®, Gail was a pioneer in the e-commerce industry,
creating a design and fulfillment company for home décor, gifts, and outdoor
lifestyle products. Her startup became one of the most successful online
fulfillment companies for corporations such as 1-800 Flowers, FTD, Pro Flowers,
Hallmark, and Garden.com.

Gail also has extensive experience in the fashion industry, designing fashion-
forward hard goods for celebrity brands like Martha Stewart, Katie Brown,

Jaclyn Smith, and Christopher Lowell in the tabletop, home office décor, and
garden industries. Her company's private label designs were featured on shows
like Oprah, CBS, and NBC Home Show 'Winners.' Furthermore, Gail founded
the White House Millennium Green Council, an initiative focused on promoting
the greening of America. She brought together public and private groups,
including the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency,
The Department of Energy, The Department of Justice, The U.S. Forest Service,
and numerous well-known private corporations. She led the White House
initiative shepherded by First Lady Hillary Clinton. Gail was honored at a formal
ceremony at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC.

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Stephen Pitt-Walker

Optima Board Services Group

STEPHEN PITT-WALKER is a global technology and business leader, board director, business lawyer, entrepreneur, business strategist, and board governance and performance expert.

Stephen is a passionate governance specialist and advocate for ethical business practices, ensuring that people, the planet, and prosperity are balanced in the business stakeholder equation.

He is the CEO and Founder of Optima Board Services Group, an interdisciplinary board advisory firm that offers corporate governance, board performance, legal and regulatory, risk management, decision support and advisory services. Optima serves the mid-market, private equity, family offices and venture capital backed start-up sectors.

Stephen has led Fortune 500 businesses for brands such as Gartner, HP, and Honeywell (as well as more than sixty premium brand clients during his career), where he led global or regional P&L, business growth, business transformation, M&A, post-merger integrations, in managed and professional services businesses, managing significant business risk and opportunities.

He is an Independent Non-Executive Director at Circular Unity (Portugal), a technology business that has developed software that measures and reports on environmental impact and sustainability. He serves as the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Westgate Executive Branding (Canada), retained General Counsel and Board Advisor for Orenda Learning (Singapore), and Country Chair (Australia) for the global Virtual Advisory Board. He is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and Fellow of the Strategic Management Institute.

In addition to his extensive business experience, he serves as a director on several not-for-profit boards; he is a human rights advocate and has addressed both the British and Australian parliaments on human rights issues.

Stephen is a veteran of the Australian Defence Force, a graduate of the Royal Military College of Australia, and former Military Intelligence Officer. He holds a Juris Doctor, Master of International Studies (International Relations), Master of Arts (International Economics & Finance), and Post-Graduate Honours (1st Class) in Political Science.

He is headquartered in Sydney but splits his time between global clients and his firm (Optima Board Services Group) which has presence in New York, Dubai, and Sydney.

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Fred Sharp

SAP

As the Global Chief of Staff for SAP’s Intelligent Spend & Business Network division, Fred is
a dynamic leader who is pivotal in driving strategic initiatives, fostering operational
excellence, and supporting the executive leadership team. With a proven track record of
orchestrating cross-functional efforts and optimizing organizational processes, Fred brings
a wealth of experience to their role. With a deep understanding of SAP's mission and vision, Fred collaborates closely with the ISBN CRO and other senior leaders to shape the division’s direction and ensure alignment
across various departments. As the division now spans 60 countries, Fred has leveraged his
time as a Sr. Account Executive to ensure that the division remains committed to serving
customers and is at the forefront of innovating, both inside of SAP and out.
Before assuming the role of Chief of Staff, Fred was a Sr. Account Executive while also
holding a key leadership position on the SAP Emerging Talent Advisory Board, where he
demonstrated a remarkable ability to bridge the gap between past and future SAP. Fred’s
experience in business operations, sales, and go-to-market, enabled him to own
transformational initiatives that have propelled ISBN’s success.Before SAP & Ariba, Fred worked in various leadership and management roles within sales
and business operations. Fred graduated from Bowling Green State University with
undergraduate and graduate degrees in Business Administration. He resides in Detroit,
Michigan, with his wife, Mara, and two children, Leila and Milo.

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Nneka Ukpai

POP Venture

Nneka Ukpai is an avid investor and digital innovation enthusiast focused on funding and scaling new products for early and growth-stage companies, digitizing legacy enterprises, and helping accelerators, venture capital, private debt, and private equity firms grow their portfolios by providing a private network of professionals with deep subject matter expertise in every field necessary for a growing company to thrive. Nneka is a results-driven serial entrepreneur who co-founded one of the most popular social apps in Brazil and co-founded a B2B2C fintech in Washington, D.C. As a two-time technology founder, Nneka understands the challenges faced by growing tech and tech-enabled companies and routinely advises companies looking for ways to expand their digital offerings or grow through strategic acquisition. Nneka is currently the Chief Investment Officer at POP Venture, a registered fund designed to bring investment opportunities to the masses through multimedia distribution.

Prior to POP, Nneka was the Head of Financial Innovation at Better, the fastest fintech to surpass $100 Billion in funded volume. Nneka was part of the small and mighty deal team that took Better public in 2023. For the decade preceding Better, Nneka honed her legal skills as a senior attorney at a global law firm defending large corporations, Boards, and C-suite executives in regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions across multiple jurisdictions in the United States, Europe, Africa, and East Asia.

Nneka is a proud alumna of Howard University and Harvard Law School, where she currently holds a distinguished teaching faculty position in Harvard’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.

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Nolan Carroll

ex NFL

Nolan A. Carroll II a native of Jacksonville, Florida is a retired National Football League (NFL)
player. He graduated from Clay High School and is a graduate of the University of Maryland.
At Clay High, besides playing football, he played soccer and ran track in the same school year.
He was swift with speed becoming one of the fastest, if not the fastest, high schoolers in Clay
County, Florida where he was coined the nickname “Flash.” Nolan received many athletic
awards in high school: First place in Florida Crown Conference in track and field, first place
winner at the 11th annual Clay County Track and Field Championship 4X400, 100 Meter Dash
and 4X100 Meter Relay. He was named Florida Star Conference Athletic Award All Conference
for boy’s track, Clay County Football Super 11 and All County Player and Florida Times Union
Super 24 High School Football Player.
He received a full scholarship to the University of Maryland. He jumped a vertical of 41.0, which
was the third best mark among defensive backs in Maryland’s history and ran a 4.35 in the 40 at
his Maryland Pro Day. Nolan was invited to the NFL Combine in 2010- he was impressive and
caught the eye of many scouts which landed him invites to workouts with various NFL teams.
After graduating from college, Nolan was drafted in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL draft by the
Miami Dolphins where he excelled in his four years with the Dolphins. Nolan started 20 games
in his four years with Miami and was a playmaker at all levels. He had 5 interceptions, one
forced fumble and 3 quarterback sacks in his career with the Dolphins. In 2013 Nolan lead all
Dolphins’ cornerback in tackle percentage stopping opposing quarterback completion
percentages. Nolan was one of the top free agent corners available in 2014. In 2014 Nolan
made the list of potential pro bowl eligible players.
As a free agent, Nolan signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014. In 2015 week-6, Nolan was
named to “Gruden's Grinder.” Nolan shut down Odell Beckham Jr. and had a pick-6 to change
the momentum of the game for an Eagles win. By the 11th game in the 2015 season, before his
season ending injury when a fellow players fell on and broke his fibula, Nolan ranked 2nd
amongst all NFL cornerbacks with 57 tackles, 10 pass-defensed, and two interceptions
including a return for a touchdown. In 2015 Nolan made the list of potential pro bowl eligible
players.

After spending eight years in the league, Nolan retired from the Dallas Cowboys and went into
business. Finding a new passion—public speaking—he published a motivational book, “It’s Up
To You,” and he found a way to utilize his playing experience to help encourage others. Nolan
knew from experience that changing habits and environments can accelerate growth potentials
and encourage change for the better.
In 2016 Nolan established the Nolan Carroll Foundation with a mission to support educational
opportunities and promote healthy lifestyle for today’s disadvantaged youths. The foundation is
active in providing S.T.E.M. educational opportunities to help improve academic achievements
among underprivileged youths.
In 2021, seeing doors closed to high school football players due to COVID-19 restrictions, which
prevented opportunities to advance to the next level football, Nolan started a Junior College
Athletic program. The program is designed to give a second chance to players to develop their
on-field skills, and gain experience while furthering their college degree to help them achieve
their goals to play college football.
Nolan’s hope is to inspire others to reach for their dreams and change their lives for the better...
one positive step at a time.
Nolan is the proud dad of Nolan Carroll III.

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Chris Van Dusen

Solyco Capital

Chris Van Dusen is a Senior Partner at Solyco Capital as well as Chief Growth Officer and Partner in 3 exits through Acquisition. Solyco, is a vertically integrated investment firm that delivers capital solutions for late-stage startup and growth companies. They take a private equity approach to venture capital.

Solyco builds its portfolio of assets brand by brand - instead of through specific categories. Once the investment is secured, a partner led team is deployed on secondment to work alongside the portfolio company’s executive team. In 2022 Van Dusen joined Solyco. He is the last partner to be brought on by the firm. He manages sourcing of capitalization and serves in CMO and CRO roles for the brands in the portfolio.

Chris Van Dusen is a successful marketing and growth professional with extensive early stage and capitalization experience. Prior to joining Solyco, he launched marketing agency Parcon LLC. He was a partner in an Orange County liquor distillery, Surf City Still Works, where he led the successful merger with Kimo Sabe. He is formally the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) of Balanced Health Botanicals (BHB) in Denver, CO which he successfully exited in 2021.

Chris received his Bachelor's degree in Economics from the College of William and Mary. He is active in the community and has held a variety of board seats at institutions like the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) and the Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF). In addition to his non-profit work, Chris is a Regional Board member of Alder, a member of Entrepreneurs Organization(EO), and has traveled extensively speaking on a variety of topics. A life-long athlete he also has is brown belt in Jiu Jitsu.

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Company http://www.solycocapital.com

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Jessica Kriegel

Culture Partners

CHIEF SCIENTIST OF WORKPLACE CULTURE

Jessica is the Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture for Culture Partners, leading research and strategy in best practices for driving results through culture. For 15+ years, Jessica has been guiding global, national, Fortune 100, and other organizations across finance, technology, real estate, and healthcare industries on the path to creating intentional cultures that accelerate performance.

As a keynote speaker, Jessica leverages her ongoing research and decade and a half of global organizational culture innovation, providing leaders with the map and tools for how to build cultures that deliver results.

After earning her MBA and working as a global consultant for a human capital management solutions provider, Jessica consistently saw highly-stressed leaders failing to deliver against lofty financial goals. She knew that if these leaders could transform their cultures, performance and profitability would follow. But, because culture is often viewed as an intangible, these leaders didn’t know where to begin. So, Jessica set out on a personal mission to “quantify culture.” Her doctoral research and consulting engagements with Oracle, Toyota, Lockheed Martin, Federal Reserve, and Bank of America to name a few, led to the Culture Equation — a tested model that aligns an organization’s purpose, strategy, and culture to deliver consistent results.

Today, Jessica applies data-driven insights to dismantle the chaos of poor morale, low performance, and missed financial goals. CEOs have leaned on her to ask questions that their internal resources may be too afraid or unaware to ask, and get the results they need. As a certified Business Impact ROI specialist, she can translate seemingly soft-skill programs into monetary values. With data, humor, and energy, Jessica is a disruptive thought leader on culture transformation that companies need to build organizational success. She works with clients in-person and virtually to drive business results. She is based out of a little house on the river in Sacramento, California.

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John Frehse

Ankura

John Frehse is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura, based in the New York office. He has more than 20 years of experience focused on labor and operations strategy.

John has developed and implemented strategies for more than 100 companies, and he delivers to corporate leaders innovative labor solutions that incorporate solutions to employee needs. His work has spanned a wide range of industries, including food and beverage, automotive, chemical, electronics, pharmaceuticals, power, call centers, banking/insurance, distribution, telecommunications, mining, government and healthcare.

John’s professional philosophy is that people are the most valuable resource of every company. His experience has proven that in order to create long-term success, a thoughtful and methodical approach to labor must be created.

Before joining Ankura, John was a founding partner of Core Practice LLC, an international labor strategies firm. Prior to that, he was head of Global Strategic Services Sales for Blue Pumpkin Software, now known as Verint. His clients included the manufacturer of automobile driveline and drivetrain components and systems, a multinational food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, and a Canadian telecommunications and media company.

John sits on the board of The Workforce Institute and is a thought leader for its think tank. He is also a member of the advisory board for HR.com’s Workforce Management practice, where he educates management teams on union negotiation strategies and employee engagement methodologies.

His professional experience includes:

Labor strategy development for an American specialty storage and organization products retail chain, a consistent Fortune 100 “Best Companies to Work For,” on warehouse and distribution operations.
Restructuring of a Canadian telecommunications and media company’s contact center operations, which reduced turnover by more than half in the first year and captured over $10 million in labor savings in the first year.
Labor and advisory work for several multinational food manufacturing and processing conglomerates.
Labor strategy development for various mining operations globally.
Cost reduction and performance improvement for one of the largest American department store retail chain’s contact center operations.

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Trace Cohen

NY Venture Partners

Trace Cohen has an MBA from Columbia Business School and is a senior manager at American Express on the SE&D team that drives scale for AMEX's digital products and provides a seamless enablement-enabled experience through collaboration and iteration to save time and increase revenue.

Prior to that he was the Managing Director of New York Venture Partners where he manages over 50 direct early stage startup investments. NYVP is a Family Office that invests in early-stage startups that provides an ecosystem of financing, mentorship and strategic marketing.

Trace has sourced/met thousands of founders, conducted due diligence, leading to multiple strategic investments every month, while also helping to manage over 50 current investments. He also runs the Active Investors Community with hundreds of investors around the world providing deal flow, speakers and networking opportunities through my newsletter, Slack channel and Upstream app.

He was the President and Co-Founder of Launch.it, a new self-publishing platform for PR professionals, agencies and brands to launch and socialize everything new.

Prior to that Trace was an SVP at iFluencePR where he “created understanding for a complex world.” He specializes in strategic PR for tech companies looking to develop their communications, branding and outreach strategies to connect with their communities and customers with transparency.

Trace is a graduate of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University with a double major in Entrepreneurship and Marketing. He is one of the original Co-Founders and former CMO of Brand-Yourself.com, which helped students and young professionals manage their reputation and personal brands online. Best class he has ever taken.

Specialties: Branding, Identity, Leadership, personal brand, online identity, personal website, SEO, consulting, strategic communications, presentations, social media, twitter, business, marketing, entrepreneurship, thinking, ideation, PR, Public Relations, launching.

John Frehse

Ankura

His professional experience includes:

Restructuring of a Canadian telecommunications and media company’s contact center operations, which reduced turnover by more than half in the first year and captured over $10 million in labor savings in the first year.

Labor and advisory work for several multinational food manufacturing and processing conglomerates.

Labor strategy development for various mining operations globally.

Cost reduction and performance improvement for one of the largest American department store retail chain’s contact center operations.

Melina Scotto Mastin

CISO Consultant

Melina Scotto is a seasoned CISO and Cyber Advisor to Fortune 500 corporations and federal civilian agencies. Her journey to CISO began 25 years ago as a database / IT manager at transportation nonprofit CTAA, where she managed and maintained network security. She had the honor of serving on the President’s Y2K security committee, specializing in disaster recovery for US city transportation systems. Melina reduced risks at a variety of non-profits before accepting a network security role at John Snow Inc, securing global health systems that provided life-saving antiretroviral drugs to PEPFAR countries. She then transitioned to domestic healthcare at George Washington Medical Faculty Associates. As a network security engineer, she focused on maintaining technicality in a dynamic virtual server and mobile device environment. In 2012, Melina joined the National Institute of Health (NIH), where she served 10 years in engineering security and leadership posts. She subsequently became Federal Health CISO and CPO for General Dynamics Information Technology, leading cybersecurity engineers and analysts across 140 Federal Health and state/local health contracts (FISMA/FedRAMP). Along the way, Melina collected certifications including, CISSP, CEH, CISA, CCSP, PMP and HCISPP. Most recently, she held the post of Vice President of Global Information Security and CISO at Hilton, where she focused on reducing cyber-risk across global systems, services, and applications.

Maryland resident and lifelong Orioles fan. When not securely linked into a server, she enjoys volunteering with the Girl Scouts of the Nation’s Capital to encourage our next generation of women in tech. Melina also serves on advisory boards focused on cybersecurity education awareness such as Dark Reading, NCyTE, and Capital CISO.

Jessica Schaefer

Jessica Schaefer is an American businesswoman and distinguished entrepreneur in the public relations industry, celebrated for pioneering Bevel, a trailblazing communications firm dedicated to the technology and venture capital sectors.
Under her visionary leadership as Founder and CEO, Bevel emerged as a powerhouse and indispensable partner for clients with over $500B in assets under management, a testament to her leadership in a field where, according to 2023 research from the National Association of Women Business Owners, fewer than 5% of women-owned firms in America surpass the $1M revenue threshold. In a 2023 milestone, Jessica orchestrated a landmark deal by securing the acquisition of Bevel by Jeffrey Herzog's Avenue Z, creating the first digital communications unicorn with an impressive valuation of $75 million.
With an expansive portfolio that spans fintech, venture capital, big data, AI and regulatory technology, Jessica played a pivotal role in propelling a wide array of companies from their nascent stages to successful exits. Jessica's deep industry knowledge and strategic prowess have not only scaled visions into substantial achievements but also positioned her as a pivotal value partner through every phase of her clients' journeys. Launching Bevel in 2017 to fill a critical void in the market, Jessica has adeptly bridged the gap between clients and key stakeholders, utilizing a blend of traditional and new-age media to enhance brand visibility and recognition in essential markets. Among her notable clients are Acorns, DIRTY LEMON, Greycroft, Point72 Ventures, Torch Capital, Rally Rd, and the Sundance Institute. Prior to establishing Bevel, Jessica honed her skills at Point72, where she led the communications strategies for its venture capital division and served as Vice President of Corporate Communications for the family office. This role was crucial in developing her mastery over media relations, reputation management, and crisis communications, providing her the acumen to launch Bevel and elevate it to its industry-leading position today. Prior to Point72, Jessica had multiple sales and marketing roles at Moody's, including Head of Marketing Communications and Director of Global Sales, where she managed a portfolio worth $12.5 million. Jessica's professional journey commenced at a mid-sized PR agency in New York City during the 2008 financial crisis, where she orchestrated communications strategies for notable clients such as OppenheimerFunds, RBC, RBS, and Jefferies. Her contributions to the field have been honored with numerous accolades, including PR News’ “Rising Stars 30 under 30” and Moody’s “Rising Star Award.” Jessica was also celebrated on the Innovate Finance Women in FinTech Powerlist for 2023, underscoring her influence and leadership in the industry. Jessica holds an MBA in Finance from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College and earned her Bachelor's degree in Public Relations from Quinnipiac University. Beyond her professional achievements, Jessica serves on the Board for the Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation and dedicates her expertise to public relations efforts for nonprofits focused on pediatric cancer.

Jason Bayuk

Barnum Premier Client Group

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional and fiduciary, Jason Bayuk offers investment management and asset protection solutions to individuals and their families. He also works extensively with business owners and corporate executives as well as professional athletes in both the NBA and NFL. Jason is an NFL Players Association Registered Financial Advisor.

Jason is part of a team of financial professionals that provides strategic advice that is integrated, comprehensive, and customized for each client. Each member contributes specialized perspectives and expertise. Together they strive to preserve and grow each client’s wealth while helping them make the best long-term decisions through a portfolio management process based on disciplined planning and analysis of their overall financial situation. They also develop income and asset protection strategies utilizing life insurance, disability income insurance, and long-term care insurance.

Jason is a sought after presenter and passionate educator delivering financial literacy programs at major corporations across the country. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics from New York University. Jason has previously worked as a reinsurance broker and risk analyst at Guy Carpenter, LLC, and as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley.

Jason’s work on behalf of his clients has received numerous recognitions including membership in MetLife’s Chairman’s Council which is awarded to the top performing financial services executives in the organization.Jason has additionally qualified for MassMutual’s Top of the Council which represents the elite in the field force and consists of the top 125 performing advisors. With Jason’s outstanding achivements and impressive leadership trajectory, MassMutual has appointed Jason to serve as co-chair of the MassMutual AAX and African American sub-committee and MassMutual’s AAX Marketing sub-committee. Jason is also proud to be making a difference at at his firm and actively serves on Barnum Financial Group’s DEI committee.

Jason grew up in White Plains, New York where he was an avid basketball player and was a two-time captain on his team where he played at NYU. He currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife Stefanie and their son Mason. Jason enjoys traveling and is a passionate fisherman.

Robert Blackwell Jr.

Quant16

Quant16 (formerly known as EKI-Digital) is a leader in quantitative digital strategy and execution. Financial and
performance improvement opportunities are discovered using quantitative models (mathematical, economic and
statistical) and have help large public and private sector organizations identify and capture $billions in savings.
Robert has written several papers and given presentations related to digital modernization, innovation and efficiency
in the public and private sectors. Robert has been an advisor to government and business leaders on ways to better
leverage its procurement and IT investments to improve revenue and service quality while reducing costs and risk
from portfolios of spend. Quant16 uses advanced analytics to identify and capture efficiencies in vendor spend
portfolios for large organizations. Killerspin LLC, the world’s leading table tennis engagement brand. The Killerspin
experience reaches hundreds of thousands of people annually. It strives to connect people to those they care about
through its UnPlugNPlay offerings. Killerspin created the designer and media categories for table tennis, through its
global partnerships. Killerspin events have been seen in over 160 countries around the world.
Founded TESC.Love which is a movement of people of good will dedicated to proving that the free enterprise system
works for everyone by advocating for large organizations to “Just Do Business” with black companies who in turn
take on the responsibility for of creating the social capital that lifts the black community from poverty to prosperity.
Urban Fishing Development, a Real Estate development company that helped to facilitate the development of
economically and technologically integrated communities in transitional Chicago neighborhoods.
Co-founded Blackwell Consulting Services with Robert Blackwell Sr. who had been a senior executive at IBM. While
at Blackwell Consulting Services, Robert Jr. established and managed key business practice areas and dealt with
financial services and pharmaceutical industries. Robert Jr. and his team were responsible for the development of
several customer applications that received numerous prestigious awards including the first Lotus Beacon award.
Bytewise International, a technology company that specialized in the development of complex financial planning
systems for large organizations and options pricing, trading and portfolio management systems for the OEX, S&P
500 and foreign currency markets. Member Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Chicago Board of Trade – Traded
equity options using propriety quantitative models. Robert’s professional career started at IBM in 1981 where he
received an award of excellence for a system, he developed that used algorithms to present equipment upgrade
opportunities to IBM salespeople.
Robert studied math at the University of Illinois and has written papers on the application economic magnetism and
fractal geometry in quantitative investment portfolio management and the use of ecosystems economics in
systematization of organizational innovation and transformation efforts.
Robert is and has been on several boards, helped a number of young entrepreneurs start businesses and enjoys
reading and writing about math, economics and history. Robert is an advisory board member of the Illinois Tech
School of Computing, Commercial Club of Chicago, Executive Committee of the Civic Federation (Chair of the
Government Efficiency and Community Impact Committee), Chair of the Technology Committee for the Business
Leadership Council, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and until this year served as an advisory board member for
US Bank and the Field Museum.

Andrea Abrams

Phygicode

Andrea Abrams is a fashion and retail industry veteran and global executive. She is a retail technology and blockchain investor, participating in pre-seed rounds of notable startups for physical and digital commerce. Andrea is the founder and CEO of PHYGICODE, a consortium and lab creating a phygital approach to Web3 adoption. Andrea is also an investor and NED at 3D engine Threedium, Board Advisor at Lukso Blockchain, Board Advisor at Digital Fashion Week, Strategic Advisor to Web3 investment firm Scytale Ventures, a lead pre-seed investor in phygital marketplace The Dematerialised and a member of the Board of Trustees of Women of the Future Latin America, among others.

Andrea is featured in the Top 100 Women of The Future inaugural book, she is the Davos Blockchain Hub (WEF) 2022 and 2023 Keynote speaker on Web3 for fashion, a Vogue Greece Game Changers 2022, a Bryte Fashion Forces Top 100 (finishing #1), a Women in Tech Top 100 Speakers 2023, a Threedium Top 50 XR Award recipient and a MEWS Award Nominee for Web3 Impact Project. She was the curator and co-host of Phygital Wednesday at CV Lab's WEB3 HUB in Davos during WEF 2024. Andrea has been a Mentor at the Farfetch x OV Dream Assembly incubator (2022 & 2023) and a Metaverse Fashion Week 2023 curator.

Andrea previously founded Abrams Global, an international advisory services firm focused on cross border and omnichanel strategies for retailers, fashion groups and retail property owners, advising prominent clients such as Saint Laurent, The White Company, Lladro, Sears, Ivanhoe Cambridge, Cap3000 and American Dream, among others. She is also a co-founder of Interconnected LLC, a business accelerator focused on retail, fashion and hospitality.

Andrea spent a large part of her career in senior positions with US retail REIT NYSE: GGP - now part of Brookfield Properties (the second largest shopping center owner at the time), where she was involved in launching GGP Ventures/GGP International, with transactions in Turkey, Brazil and Central America, and leading mixed-use development for projects such as Summerlin (Las Vegas), Ward Village in Honolulu and Houston’s Woodlands Town Center. Having lived and worked in multiple countries in the Americas and Europe, Andrea is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian. She has been a member of ICSC, BCSC, AIA and ULI.

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Meet our 2024 speakers

Ashley Battle

Ian Epstein

Lloyd Danzig

Kyle Martino

Coack AK

Richard Kim

Ajay Nwosu

Zoe Wilson

Cary Grossart

Mike Piha

Neel Elsherif

Melissa Newhart

Sherene Strausberg

Gail Levy

Sarah Matz

Stephen Pitt-Walker

Jamian Polk

Fred Sharp

Sankeetha Selvarajah

Nneka Ukpai

Vijay Kumar

Kevin Fried

Carol Suchman

Carrie Barratt

Amber Renée Waddy

Nolan Carroll

Chris Van Dusen

Jessica Kriegel

John Frehse

Taylor Duncan

Ray Mate’

Theo Tabah

Sott Garber

Andrew petcash

Nassir Criss

Andrew Day

Trace Cohen

Jayden Ziegler

Chris Marshall

Nike Garcia

John Frehse

Corey Moran

Kristy Watson

Alison Smith

Chelsea Smith

Keith Lovett

Wiley Matthews

Derrick Mitchell

John Ore

Gary Adelman

Michael Ben-Shimon

Darragh Fitzpatrick

Melina Scotto Mastin

Kelci Zile

Justin Crawford

Sean Mascoll

Craig Schmell

David James

Scott Shine

Megan Gray

Maxwell Cohen

Yale Fishman

Veronica Woodrufr

Jessica Schaefer

Carrie Barrett

Maureen Farmer

Jason Bayuk

Robert Blackwell Jr.

Amber Renée Waddy

Andrea Abrams

Neal Wadhwa

Andrew Hazen

Aneil Lala

Ryan Potter

Mark Ferraro

Kareem Massoud

Brian Halweil

Dan Heston

Nathaniel Powell