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It's here! The Best Ever You list of 100 People to Watch for 2023! From finance to fashion, fitness, authors, artists, coaches and more, meet the professionals catching our attention in the year ahead. Learn more about each by clicking on their names and connecting with them on LinkedIn or Instagram. The list appears in alphabetical order.
From branding to marketing strategy, go-to-market (GTM), recruiting, raising capital & everything else in between, Belinda has been at the forefront scaling and catalysing growth for countless SaaS, Fintech, Marketplace & PropTech companies and transformed them from just another tech startup and into a household name.
Whether it was founding her own fully serviced global recruitment agency, Foccus Group, or operating as a Managing Partner for Enamus, a leading global branding and digital agency, Belinda has been at the forefront flipping countless industries on their head for years now. Belinda is also the host of Startups and Unicorns, a monthly podcast that unpacks just what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. Featuring some of the industry’s most influential people, it has climbed as high as second in the Entrepreneurship & Business category in Australia, on the Apple Podcast charts.
Alec Allred is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer for the Old North State League. The Old North State League is one of the largest collegiate summer baseball leagues in the country. As a former professional baseball player, Allred has established a business model that focuses on the players above all else. Through this model, the Old North State League has become the fastest growing league in the country.
For 30 years, Sara has guided some of the worlds best loved brands, products and companies along a strategic pathway that begins with seeing the obvious and results in the development of something obviously distinctive, relevant and successful.
As a global branding and marketing expert, Sara has a talent for revitalizing brands based on deep and meaningful consumer, market and brand understanding. Her solutions prepare the organizations she works with for sustainable development and growth.
Sara is the Co-founder and Co-CEO of My Friend The Sea and the creator of Salt Stone, an innovative respiratory wellness device for the home.
Patty Aubery is a powerhouse of wisdom, creativity and authenticity. She can be your best friend or the tough love you need to get unstuck when it seems impossible.
She's been there and done it - from her early days of building one of publishing’s first billion-dollar brands, Chicken Soup for the Soul, to her current role as president of The Canfield Training Group, she has created an inspiring life for herself (and others!) around the world.
For the last several years she’s been empowering women to show up more boldly and authentically in their lives with her best-selling book and course, Permission Granted.
Christine Belleris is the editorial director at Health Communications, Inc. (HCI), and oversees the process of taking projects from manuscript to bound book. This includes reviewing and selecting proposals under consideration for publishing, working with literary agents, conceptualizing cover design ideas, editing manuscripts for overall structure and content, overseeing editors and proofreaders, writing marketing and cover copy, and performing pre-press proofs. Before starting at HCI, she worked in educational publishing as a researcher and also as a legislative assistant and deputy press secretary for a US Congressman. She is a proud graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder where she received her degree in journalism.
Daniel is the founder of Kick Off - More Than Football and has over 20 years in the sports Industry. Sports Technology Investor and advisor to Sports VCs. Founder of Redwood International Sports. Founder of Suntech Innovation. Innovative, energetic and experienced professional with extensive background in sports data, analytics, betting and related technologies. Daniel's expertise includes delivering platforms and product and leading strategic drives through to implementation.
Grant has been creating ventures at the intersection of new technologies between the US and Europe since his late teens. An early innovator in applying blockchain technology to various industries, the companies Grant has co-founded include the leading Blockchain Analytics and AML company, Confirm, and the marketplace for digital Space assets and companies, Copernic Space. By applying innovative models and technologies such as blockchain, Copernic Space makes digital space assets such as satellite imagery and or even fractional ownership of a satellite accessible and easy to acquire for millions around the world. Space enterprises can easily manage and monetize their digital space assets and applications in one place while the global market benefits from an easy way to discover, acquire, and access them. The 3rd generation in his family to be involved in space, Grant has been engaged with the space economy since childhood, is the mind behind the model fueling Copernic Space, and is also the President of the Lady Rocket Foundation.
At age 8, Micha taught himself how to code on a flight simulator in Basic on a Zenith PC that his father was using for accounting purposes. Subsequently, he wrote his first games on a Texas Instrument TI 99 4A, ATARI 512ST and Amiga 500. Micha has been a pioneer in VoIP and launched several telecommunications services in the past decade. He enabled Skype to start SkypeIn and SkypeOut, the innovation that scaled up its monetization and other premium Skype services. In 2011, Micha co-founded Open Garden to build a new generation of mobile network leveraging the smartphone infrastructure. Open Garden is the creator of FireChat, the first off-the-grid messaging app, leveraging peer-to-peer mesh networking.
Eva Blaisdell is a 3rd generation Space maverick, who brings her vision, resources, and entrepreneurial experience from technology, real estate, Art, Fashion, and Media to change the lives of the young generations on Earth and in Space.
She aspires to put the Human Face on the Space Industry by harnessing its incredible wealth, innovation, and potential of Space, and refocus it on solving major challenges on Earth, including access to the Space economy for all, climate change, and creating rapid development of communities by providing them unique access to Lady Rocket Foundation resources.
Lady Rocket is an experienced former senior executive from Silicon Valley. She was also a CEO of HP, Compaq Europe -Poland, and founder of prominent media and platform start-ups.
Ali Bouhouch is an accomplished technology executive with over 20 years of success in leading consulting, software and data engineering teams delivering cutting-edge solutions in e-Commerce, AdTech, BI and Advanced Analytics. Deep experience leveraging Cloud, Big Data, In-Memory Processing and Cognitive Computing to drive success throughout the customer journey in digital marketing and retail. Demonstrated ability to create and articulate strategic direction at all levels; from obtaining buy-in from board members to aligning individual team members and stakeholders with achievable goals. Valuable member of the senior executive team known for a consultative, data and results driven, customer focused approach. Champion of agile methodologies in both software development and the enterprise.
Ali is a trusted leader who builds and inspires culturally diverse and geographically distributed teams to deliver results aligned with customer expectations. Full responsibility for P&L and international multi-million dollar budgets.
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Ali is a co-author of the “B2B Solutions Using WebSphere Business Connection” IBM Redbook and was the founder and chairman of multiple professional forums like the XML/WebServices SIG at www.ebig.org.
Sherianna is the author of ten traditionally published books, founder of Emotional Detox Coaching® and creator of the Cleanse Method.® She is also an adjunct Psychology Professor, former School Psychologist and has been been teaching yoga and meditation since 2002. Sherianna's Just Ask Spirit Radio Podcast reaches thousands of listeners across the globe each week. She is also a Certified Professional Life Coach, CPC. Sherianna is a speaker at 1440 Multiversity, Kripalu Health & Yoga Center and PESI® Behavioral Health
As the Founder and CEO of FIT:MATCH, Haniff is repositioning the retail landscape by introducing technology to leading brand partners that will change their consumer experience and production process by using groundbreaking AR and AI.
He is a first-generation Jamaican immigrant who is driven by helping brands and retailers, like Savage X Fenty and Fabletics grow and scale their businesses through fit technology. Haniff studied Mathematics and Psychology at Williams College in Massachusetts and has over a decade of experience in retail from his time in investment banking and private equity. At Credit Suisse and Freeman Spogli, he focused on investing in retail and consumer companies. In early 2018, Haniff created FIT:MATCH.
On a more personal level, Haniff enjoys soccer, spending quality time with his family, and getting involved in the fun and fast paced startup world! He currently resides in sunny Miami, Florida.
An Emmy award-winning journalist, Liz Brunner’s television career spanned 28 years and featured many memorable highlights. Along with co-anchoring the #1 rated 6pm newscast at ABC-TV, WCVB NewsCenter 5 in Boston, she conducted exclusive one-on-one interviews with prominent figures ranging from professional athletes to global political leaders including President Barack Obama as well as cultural icons such as Oprah Winfrey.
In 2013, Liz excitedly embarked upon her next chapter, becoming the CEO and Founder of Brunner Communications and launched BrunnerAcademy.com in 2020. Both are dedicated to helping people find their authentic voice, tell their story and lead with presence. An expert communications coach, motivational speaker, Liz is also the host of the Live Your Best Life with Liz Brunner podcast. Liz guides her guests to share their stories of self-discovery and re-creation. Listeners around the world join in on the journey garnering inspiration from the wisdom shared.
Among Brunner’s industry recognitions are multiple New England Emmy Awards, two national Gracies from the Alliance for Women in Media, an Edward R. Murrow Award, an Associated Press Award, and a Communications Achievement Award from the American Women in Radio and Television.
Corina Burton is the Co-Founder of CPR Construction Cleaning, Franchisor, Author, Founder of Unstoppable Media and Host for the Unstoppable Podcast.
Corina is a mother of 4, serial entrepreneur, brand builder, marketing expert, and industry/generational disrupter.
Corina built a Multi-Million dollar service based company in less than 2 years using branding and social platform strategies, during a global pandemic. Now a booming franchise across the country. Unstoppable Media has been recognized and segmented on several media outlets such as, CBS, NBC, ABC and Bloom featuring the Unstoppable Journal/Workbook and Podcast. As a branding expert/coach and mindset mentor, Corina lives her life believing and knowing she is Unstoppable.
For over 40 years, Jack has been teaching entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders, and people from all walks of life how to create the life they desire.
As the beloved originator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, he has taught millions of individuals hismodernized formulas for success, and certify trainers to teach his content and methodology all over the world.
He is the author and co-author of more than 150 books (66 are bestsellers) with more than 100 million copies in print in 47 languages around the world. His best-selling book, The Success Principles: How to Get From Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, has been hailed as the new self-improvement classic, now containing 67 of the most powerful secrets of success known to mankind.
Kimberly Carney is Founder and CEO of The Wires, an innovative 2-sided marketplace home to Fashwire and its sister platform GlossWire.
With over 20 years of experience in marketing for wireless and tech companies and 15 years leading in the multi-brand retail space, Kimberly is at the perfect intersection to feel the pulse of the fashion, beauty, tech and commerce landscape.
After successfully disrupting the fashion space, she recently launched into the beauty industry with GlossWire. GlossWire integrates the same technology with a focus on curation, personalization, education and community. Kimberly researched the beauty landscape and quickly identified the growth in the digitization of beauty and already proving to be a front-runner by offering a dynamic technological solution.
Kimberly has a unique perspective into fashion and beauty’s interplay of data and marketability. Kimberly is a rare mix of fashion, beauty and tech with an entrepreneurial spirit. She has an innate talent to know what the market needs and delivers it through passion, vision, drive and authenticity. Simply put, she is a trailblazer within the retail digital sector.
Jennifer is a nationally recognized keynote speaker. Her background as a self defense expert, clinical nutritionist and wellness warrior has inspired her to create empowering keynotes and interactive workshops that help professionals level up their confidence and unleash their inner warrior.
Speaking on topics such as women's empowerment, wellness and badassery at companies such as Apple, American Airlines, American Express GBT, Bacardi, British Airways, Del Monte, Hyatt, Nasdaq, Nike, Warner Brothers Studios, Uber and William Morris Endeavor.
Equipped with her 3rd degree black belt, Masters degree in Nutrition, health coaching and NLP certifications, Jennifer travels the world empowering people to stay strong, safe and more confident from the streets to the boardroom.
Her book, The Art of Badassery: Unleash Your Mojo With Wisdom of the Dojo is now available.
Nando Cesarone serves as Executive Vice President (EVP) and President U.S. A member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team, he oversees the U.S. small package, transportation and airline business units, as well as U.S. sales and the company’s automotive and global buildings and systems engineering groups.
In his prior role, Nando served as President of U.S. Operations, responsible for UPS operations for the world’s largest economy. Earlier in his career, Nando was the President of UPS International, leading the company's business operations in more than 220 countries and territories outside of the U.S. He also served as president of UPS’s Europe region. While there, he led the business unit to record business performance during the company’s five-year investment program into the region’s technology, network and infrastructure, which was designed to further improve speed, capacity and reliability.
Nando received an MBA from Heriot Watt University - Edinburgh School of Business. He started his career as a UPS preloader in 1990 as part of UPS’s tuition reimbursement program while attending York University and before becoming a package car driver.
Juan Chavez is an entrepreneur and Web3 leader who is currently the Managing partner at Mojis NFT and Founder/CEO of Bay Area Gaming & Sports. A highly-experienced bilingual (English and Spanish) sales and marketing leader with over 14 years of experience successfully selling at the CxO level to some of the world’s largest companies. Having worked in professional sports, Google (via Accenture), and Zoom early hardware partner DTEN. He has an outstanding track record of developing sales & marketing operations, building and leading high-performing teams, and creating stellar revenue growth. Results-focused and highly motivated, with a deep understanding of solution selling, and with the ability to achieve and consistently exceed targets. For the past few years he has immersed himself into Web3 technology. Helping large Web2 brands successfully enter the Web3 space. Successfully launching restaurants and pro skaters into the Metaverse. Notable Accomplishments: Cesar Chavez Day ( Oakland Athletics). 1st team in MLB history honor him The first Web3 restaurant partnership - Wahoo’s Fish Tacos x Mojis First to sign pro-skaters to NFT brand - Darin “Cookie Head” Jenkins, Evandro Menedez
20. Wayne Connell - DISH Network, Invisible Disabilities Association, DISH Disability Advocates Network
Wayne Connell, the Invisible Disabilities® Association's President and CEO, founded IDA in 1996 out of the desire to educate friends and family about his wife, Sherri’s debilitating illness. Soon afterwards, people around the globe began sending emails sharing how IDA had changed their relationships with their loved ones. He is co-author of the book, “But You LOOK Good, How to Encourage and Understand People Living with Illness and Pain.” Wayne’s background fueled his passion for helping people living with illness, pain and disability. His experience includes that of a professional, multitasking husband caregiver with an extensive background in management, media and technology. This man on a mission quickly launched IDA into a world-wide outreach for millions living daily with invisible disabilities.
Wayne spends his days as the Senior Manager of the telecom infrastructure team for Dish Network and Sling TV. He is also Founder and President of the DISH Disability Advocates Network, a DISH employee resource group. Wayne spends most of his evenings, weekends, vacations and holidays, volunteering for IDA as the President and CEO. He loves sharing and blogging about the great work of IDA and advocating on behalf of all people living daily with illness, pain and disability. Wayne has been given the opportunity to speak at many organizations and businesses over the years about invisible disabilities as well as share via local and national TV and radio interview
Inspired at a young age by fashion and beauty, Marc knew this was a world where he belonged. Privileged to have been groomed and mentored by Hawai'i's most sought after artists, he began his journey at Westmore Makeup Academy. Recognized in the industry as a true professional and a gifted artist he now works with some of the top names in fashion, worldwide.
Marc has traveled from New York to Milan, Paris, London and throughout Europe, but spent the majority of his time in New York working as a make-up artist for elite modeling agencies such as FORD, WILHELIMINA, I.M.G, NEXT, WOMEN, RED and Q MODELS to name a few... He also worked on countless New York fashion shows.
Marc's passion for makeup brought him to Milan, where he worked during the Fall/Winter 08' fashion shows with Versace, Valentino, Missoni, Antonio Marras, La Perla, Blumarine, Stephanel and Ferragamo.
Marc beautifies the faces of Maye Musk, Veronica Webb, Charlotte McKinney, Priyanka Chopra, Arianna Huffington, Martha Wash, Gloria Gaynor, Rose McGowan, Mj Rodriguez, Wyclef Jean, Deborah Cox, and Angelica Ross. His work has been featured in magazines like Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue Italia, and L’Officiel.
In 2009 at age fifteen,Sarah founded Generation Spirit, a national nonprofit organization that creates school-based spirit teams bringing together students with and without disabilities. After more than a decade of growing Generation Spirit in a part-time capacity, she made the leap to join the team full time in 2021. She now serves as Generation Spirit's Chief Development Officer and love working with partners and donors to bring our mission to life.
"On top of my role with Generation Spirit, I speak to companies, schools and conference groups about the power of inclusion (and how small changes can result in quick and meaningful progress.) As the younger sister of a young man with autism, I'm passionate about sharing my experiences with disability and doing my part to build a kinder and more inclusive world."
Teaching women how to prioritize SELF-CARE, Erica Diamond is a Certified Life Coach and Certified Yoga & Meditation Teacher, Lifestyle and Parenting Correspondent on Global TV, Founder of Bliss Essential (BlissEssential.co), Professional Speaker, Host of The Erica Diamond Podcast, Course Creator of Busy To Bliss (BusyToBliss.com), Author of the women’s entrepreneurial book 99 Things Women Wish They Knew Before Starting Their Own Business, and Founder & Editor-In-Chief of the Award-Winning Lifestyle Platform EricaDiamond.com® (previously WomenOnTheFence.com®).
Matt Dillon embodies with supreme freedom an idea of the American artist and cinema that we deeply love. The restlessness of youth and the freedom of maturity. A performer who has built lasting, transgenerational success without ever shying away from exploring new challenges and languages. An astounding actor and director, Dillon represents the best of an idea of American cinema born in the 1970s while celebrating the courage of unconventional choices. We are honored to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Locarno Film Festival with him.
Giona A. Nazzaro
Chinedu is a serial entrepreneur who has dared to invent the future: In 2005, he founded HopStop, the pioneering travel app that helped millions of users navigate public transportation in major metropolitan areas around the world. Apple acquired HopStop in 2013 and subsequently incorporated much of HopStop’s functionality into Apple Maps. Chinedu also founded Tripology, a lead-generation and referral business for the travel industry. Tripology was acquired by Rand McNally and is now owned by USA Today. He is the inventor of US Patent # 7,957,871, for Methods and Apparatuses for navigation in urban environments
Chinedu was also a core member of the investment team at AM Investment Partners, a $500 million volatility-driven convertible bond arbitrage hedge fund. Prior to completing his M.B.A., he spent several years in the Mergers and Acquisitions and Leveraged Finance groups of J.P Morgan Chase where he was involved in a broad range of M&A, financing and private equity transactions.
Forbes has named Chinedu one of the “10 Most Powerful People in Africa.” He was named Black Enterprise Magazine's Small Business Innovator of the Year and listed in the magazine's “Top 40 Under 40.” Chinedu has been featured in media including Bloomberg, Fortune, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC and more. Chinedu is committed to making the world a better, more cohesive place through the free flow of information.
Chinedu holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and B.S in Finance and Accounting (Honors) from Syracuse University.
Researching the conditions for human reproduction in space. Developing a step by step missions program and biomedical equipment for each mission. Making efforts towards human settlements in space sustainable. Pushing mankind beyond the next frontier. Because we are explorers and because humanity needs backup plans.
Connecting and combining ethical, medical, technical and legal perspectives. Combining my enthusiasm for space exploration, sustainability and IVF opportunities.
Nut Free Chocolates was founded in 1998 by the mother of a little boy with a potentially life-threatening peanut allergy. Gail and Mark Elvidge first learned of their son Tanner’s allergy when he suffered a reaction at 8 months old. They were shocked, concerned, and frightened to see this reaction in their small child.
The combination of love for her son and passion for chocolate inspired Gail to create Vermont Nut Free Chocolates, a company dedicated to making quality tree nut and peanut free confections. For the first two years, Gail and Mark ran the business out of their Vermont home, hand making all the chocolates in their kitchen. Previously located in the beautiful Lake Champlain Islands for the past 20 years, Vermont Nut Free Chocolates recently relocated to Colchester, Vermont and is proud to continue their production in a dedicated nut-free facility with over 30 devoted employees. In addition to ordering online, customers can now find our products in over 500 stores nationwide.
Francesco conceives, develops, publishes and operates synthetic reality metaverse, together with his co-founders and a team of rockstar developers and artists. They have been pioneering the space from 2016 with father.io - the first of its kind AR metaverse - think Pokémon Go meets Fortnite -reaching 5M downloads organically and virally - zero advertisement spending. In 2021 they launched a new metaverse franchise - World League Live. An officially-licensed multisport mobile metaverse and fan engagement platform.
Experienced Chief Executive Officer and Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in the music business. Has maintained relationships in an unparalleled network both in and out of the entertainment business. Highly Skilled in Music Publishing with the focus on music related Asset Sales, Songwriting, Artist development and all things relating to the music industry.
Lisa Gable has served four U.S. presidents and two governors, counseled Fortune 500 CEOs, and represented global public-private partnerships and nonprofits with an end goal of moving organizations to higher levels of performance. Bi-partisan in nature, she has brought together political parties, corporate competitors and disparate nations to foster quality leadership, diplomacy and results that better society and create sustainable partnerships and profitable business models.
A sought-after speaker she has given keynotes, presentations and talks for CHIEF, General Mills, JP Morgan, Mayo Clinic, Clinton Global Initiative, National Institutes of Health, National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research, Bridging the Food Industry and Public Health Divide, the Newseum, CONMEXICO, Hershey's Women Leading Women, Nestle Creating Shared Values and numerous corporate and nonprofit domestic and international conferences and events. Lisa has been featured in media outlets including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, the Today Show, the New York Times, The Hill, PBS Newshour, and a wide variety of scientific journals, podcasts, and top U.S. daily newspapers.
Italian entrepreneur with over a dozen tech, fashion, and beauty startups created between the US and Europe. Addicted to Web3, genuinely believes that the right mix of decentralization and education will save the world. Founder & CEO of Zappy, the first gamified Web3 Data Monetization mobile app for GenZ, where young users can monetize by owning and selling their data, watching videos from their favorite brands, creating and selling NFT accessories, and playing mini-games. He helps many companies and investment funds approach the use of blockchain as a Web3 Advisor, like the Luxembourg-based fund Art&Luxury, which he entered in 2022. International speaker in multiple Web3 events (Toronto, London, Belgrade, Singapore, Malta) usually talks about GenZ and Web3 Education (last speech in NFT.London: “GenZ and NFTs: How to Bring Mass Adoption to the Youngsters”).
Diena Ganesh is the founder and owner of DKG Global Consultants LLC, a global business consulting company that she launched in 2014. She also contributes her time working as an ambassador to charities focused on sustainable development through empowerment of women and education of children.
She is the partnerships lead at Nodle, a wireless network connecting and securing the next trillion Internet of Things (IoT) using smartphones and Bluetooth Low Energy. The NODL token, Nodle Cash, is the native token of the Nodle Chain. Users earn Nodle Cash by connecting and contributing to the network.
Diena uses her knowledge of developing relationships with financial firms and capital market institutions, interacting with prospective business partners, and leading initial interactions and managing relationships with prospective acquisitions to help develop the Web3 ecosystem and bring the technology to a mainstream audience in various business use cases.
Paul is an incisive, high energy executive with an exceptional record of success starting in college and professional baseball, in sales, achieving annual revenue of $19.7M, in sales management growing a $0 revenue startup to $125M with an EBITDA of 52%, and growing revenue more than 400% in APAC for Seagate International CSES division. He has a proven ability to determine the essential P&L drivers, develop strategies, and drive execution through engagement with his employees and customers.
A natural leader and change agent, recruiting, retaining and energizing international organizations from 5 to 250 people. Elected player representative for two Major League Baseball Teams by team mates and served on the board of the MLB Players Alumni Assoc. marketing division
As CEO of the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Connection Team (FAACT), Eleanor provides leadership, development, and implementation for all of FAACT’s initiatives and programs, including Camp TAG (The Allergy Gang) – a summer camp for children with food allergies and their siblings that Eleanor founded in 2009.
Eleanor has a Bachelor of Healthcare Administration degree from Lewis University in Romeoville, IL, and worked in hospital management for 16 years in Chicago and suburban Chicago prior to working in the nonprofit sector.
After her son Thomas was diagnosed in 2004, Eleanor established a food allergy support group in a southwest Chicago suburb, Parents of Children Having Allergies (POCHA) of Will County, focusing on education and advocacy; chaired the FAAN Walk for Food Allergy in Chicago in 2007 and 2008; was awarded the FAAN Muriel C. Furlong Award for Community Service in 2008; and advocated in the Illinois state legislature on food allergy and Eosinophilic Disorders (EGID, EoE) issues. Thanks to the efforts of Eleanor and other patient advocates, legislation to ensure insurance coverage for elemental formulas was signed into law in 2007 and legislation establishing food allergy management guidelines for Illinois schools was signed into law in 2009.
Leading the charge at FAACT, Eleanor and the FAACT Leadership Team provides the education, advocacy, awareness, and grassroots outreach needed for the food allergy community. Eleanor serves on the DBV Technologies Peanut Allergy Patient Advisory Board, the National Peanut Board's Allergy Education Advisory Council, Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform Board GAAPP), Sea World's Allergy Resource Team, St. Louis Children’s Food Allergy Management & Education (FAME) National Advisory Board, and Association of Food and Drug Officials (AFDO) Food Allergen Control Committee. In August 2015, Eleanor was inducted into The National Association of Professional Women's (NAPW) VIP Professional of the Year Circle for her commitment to healthcare and nonprofit industries. FAACT is The Voice of Food Allergy Awareness. In 2022, Eleanor was a Contributor for The Change Guidebook (3-8-2022, HCI/Simon & Schuster).
Grammy-Nominated and NAACP Award-Winning Producer Emile Ghantous is no stranger to making hits. As the mastermind behind award-winning tracks by names ranging from Chris Brown to Snoop Dogg, Prince Royce to Pitbull, and legends such as Charlie Wilson — Ghantous does not shy away from a challenge.
Emile Ghantous recently teamed with internet ultra-sensation, Now United, to produce their most recent hit, “By My Side”, which resulted in a total knockout, garnering an impressive 330K streams and 3.7M video views in under one week. Although these numbers are remarkable, it’s the way in which “By My Side” was created that is catching the attention of industry professionals, sparking conversations and molding expectations of just where the industry is headed in years to come.
Christian Giordano is the most innovative person in the architecture field today. A visionary who is radically changing the industry through tech-first innovation, he has been highlighted as one of Building Design + Construction’s “40 Under 40” Class of 2013.
Driven by a quest of disruption with 25+ years of experience, Christian is reimagining the building industry with a progressive approach as president and majority owner of Mancini Duffy, a NYC-based architecture and design firm. “Giordano came to the 100-year-old firm with a vision to modernize the company, leaving any idea of a stuffy architecture outpost behind,” noted Real Estate Weekly.
To redefine Mancini as a top design firm, Christian has sparked industry-wide change drawing inspiration from some of the tech-forward companies Mancini works with—like Google, Peloton, Disney, and Soho House —focusing on technology that can propel the world of design forward.
Christian saw a unique opportunity to recalibrate Mancini’s approach — emphasizing technology to transform the way designers across disciplines work. He launched a research & development incubator – dubbed the Design Lab – which brings together designers, technologists, and clients to leverage technologies like Virtual Reality, 3D Printing, Drones, Generative Design, and Artificial Intelligence to break barriers limiting design capabilities. What began as an internal incubator, it has quickly grown to disrupt the way the design process is facilitated.
Indiana Gregg , CEO and co-founder of Wedo.ai, is a 5x tech founder and innovator who has worked in the creative and tech industries for over 25 years. A former singer-songwriter, US national dance champion and mother of three grown adults, Indy has built platforms and driven three exits through her career in tech.
Gregory is the Founder & Chairman of IDEAX Ventures and UCROWDME, a decentralised innovation and insights platform powered by web 3.0 technologies and professional investment deal portal.
Recently appointed as Executive & Advisory Board Member for:
AFEN Blockchain, NZTwork, Crypto Nitro and Credit Metaverse.
Appointed as a business consultant to The Royal Office Of His Highness SHEIKH AHMED BIN FAISAL AL QASSIMI Group of Companies in Dubai, UAE.
He has worked extensively in the web 3.0, innovation and technology space since 2004 where he has held several senior and director roles focused pre-dominantly in the Asia Pacific region. Gregory has been responsible for bringing on-board many well known global fortune brands and hundreds of other organisations with innovative and technology solutions.
He is a passionate entrepreneur and huge advocate for innovation, disruption and equal opportunity. Through perseverance and truly embracing and understanding the significant risk, he then created UCROWDME in 2019 and more recently IDEAX Ventures.
Barry Habib is an American entrepreneur, mortgage industry executive, bestselling author, and founder and CEO of MBS Highway. Barry is also a well known professional speaker and TV commentator on the Mortgage and Real Estate markets.
Habib is a General Partner and Lead producer of Rock of Ages, which ran for 6 years on Broadway; the 27th longest running show in Broadway history.
Barry created MBS Highway to help interpret and forecast activity in the mortgage rate and bond markets. Habib previously founded, built and sold several successful businesses including Mortgage Market Guide. CMPS, Certified Mortgage Associates, and Healthcare Imaging Solutions.
Barry is an Amazon #1 bestselling author for his book, Money in the Streets, a never-ending testament of how overpowering negative forces leads to living our greatest potential.
New York based Norwegian artist and designer working across different mediums, fusing garment making, leather work, objects and sculpture - wearable as well as pure “objects of desire”. Her work often deals with themes surrounding the abstracted body and textures, fusing traditional garment construction with unconventional patternmaking, experimental fabric manipulations and unique silhouettes.
Born and and raised in Norway, Eleen Halvorsen moved to New York to attend Parsons The New School for Design, from where she graduated in 2012. In April 2013 she launched her first conceptual capsule collection - Dancing Under The Black Moon. Since the inception of her namesake brand Halvorsen has been executing every step of construction from concept development through the finalization of each unique project, creating a language truly her own. Often taking inspirations from her moody hometown off the East Coast of Norway.
Rick Heller has turned the University of Iowa baseball program into a perennial Big Ten Conference and NCAA contender in his first nine seasons as the Hawkeyes’ head coach.
Heller has injected new life into the Iowa program, leading the Hawkeyes to 276 victories — an average of 30 wins per season — advancing to two NCAA Regionals, and claiming the first Big Ten Tournament title in program history.
In 36 seasons as a head coach, Heller owns a career record of 966-740-4. He is one of two Iowa head coaches to lead the program to the NCAA Tournament.
At Iowa Under Heller’s watch, Iowa advanced to the postseason in six consecutive years for the first time in program history, he has coached 11 All-Americans, one Big Ten Player of the Year, two Big Ten Pitchers of the Year, one Big Ten Freshman of the Year and at least one first-team All-Big Ten selection in seven seasons. Iowa has had 27 Major League Baseball Draft picks (and a total of 30 sign professional contracts) in nine seasons, including 21 in a six-year stretch, the most all-time.
Heller has also given the Hawkeyes an international flavor, taking the team to the Dominican Republic in 2016 and Taipei, Taiwan, as the United States representative at the 2017 World University Games. Heller led USA to a silver medal, as the team became the first American squad to medal in Universiade history.
The Hawkeyes were the runners-up at the 2016 Big Ten Tournament before claiming the program’s first tournament title in 2017 to lock up the school’s second NCAA Regional appearance in three seasons. Iowa made just three NCAA Tournament appearances in its history prior to Heller’s arrival.
Lewis Howes is a New York Times Bestselling author, lifestyle entrepreneur, high performance business coach and keynote speaker. A former professional football player and two-sport All-American, he is a current USA Men’s National Handball Team athlete.
He hosts a top 100 iTunes ranked podcast, The School of Greatness, which has over 300 million downloads and 1000 episodes since it launched in 2013.
Lewis was recognized by The White House and President Obama as one of the top 100 entrepreneurs in the country under 30. Details Magazine called him one of “5 Internet Guru’s that can Make You Rich.”
Lewis is a contributing writer for Entrepreneur and has been featured on Ellen, The Today Show, The New York Times, People, Forbes, Inc, Fast Company, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Men’s Health, and other major media outlets.
Sally Huss has been an artist and writer all of her life. She attended Occidental College for three years before graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in Fine Art. At the same time Sally was developing her artistic skills, she was developing her tennis skills, becoming a Wimbledon and US National Junior Champion, and eventually a Wimbledon semi-finalist in the Women's Division in both singles and doubles.
It was on a tennis court in Beverly Hills that Sally met her match – Marv Huss. The two were married in Aspen, Colorado in 1976. Marv, a fine tennis player himself, had been the Director of National Advertising and Promotion for Hallmark Cards, and had created the original Hallmark card shops. The two combined their talents in business, tennis and art by first developing The Aspen Club, a luxury health spa and tennis club with eleven outdoor courts, two indoor courts, sixteen racquetball courts, two squash courts, a restaurant, bar, twelve spectacular condominiums, and 1,500 members.
Sally became the first woman head tennis professional there and played a "Battle of the Sexes" against the infamous Bobby Riggs to promote the club’s opening. Sally has written over 80 books with another 45 variations (multicultural and Spanish versions.) All may be found through her website and on Amazon. All of the books focus on social/emotional issues and are designed to uplift the lives of children everywhere. Presently Sally and Marv live in Colorado Springs.
Kelly M. Jenrette, a native of Atlanta, now resides in Los Angeles with her husband, Melvin Jackson Jr. In 2018, she and her husband became the first African American married couple to be nominated for Emmy’s® in the same year. Kelly’s Emmy® nomination was for her portrayal of Annie in Season 2, Episode 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale. She currently stars on All American: Homecoming, the spinoff show for The CW's hit show All American. Her two latest films can be found on Netflix: Uncorked and All Day and A Night, in the latter, Kelly stars alongside Jeffrey Wright and Ashton Sanders. Kelly is also in the second season of the hit anthology show Manhunt: Deadly Games (Lionsgate/Spectrum) currently available on Netflix. Kelly has also been a series regular on the Fox comedy, Grandfathered, starring John Stamos; She's had recurring guest star roles on Mixed•ish (ABC), Here and Now (HBO), Pitch (FOX) and Graves (EPIX). You may also remember her from her twelve Kmart commercials as Kmart Kelly!
Pamela Gail Johnson founded the Society of Happy People in 1998. She started the first three globally celebrated happiness holidays and has helped millions of people discover more happiness.
Pamela is the author of Practical Happiness: Four Principles to Improve Your Life , speaker and a life coach.
Pamela’s been a frequent media guest on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, radio and podcasts, her work has been covered by magazines, newspapers and online publications. She’s also a contributing writer for online magazines and sites.
She started her career working at Junior Achievement, then in the mental health and substance abuse field at the Hazelden Foundation. She was an award-winning salesperson for American Express and Staples. Currently Pamela helps leaders and teams create more engaged workplace cultures through her speaking and programs.
Mary Joye, LMHC is a licensed mental health counselor, life coach, author, and speaker in her area and on self-help websites. Recently, Mary has also been a contributing author of "Becoming Whole Again" and “From Codependent to Independent" for DailyOM.com. Mary is the author of Codependent Discovery and Recovery 2.0: A Holistic Approach to Healing and Freeing Yourself .
Mary personally and professionally learned how debilitating it can be to entertain or help everyone else while disregarding your own needs. She sought knowledge and enlightenment about giving and living well during the passing of a family member. It is her belief that others can learn to arrive from the conditioning of their past to a place of holistic abundance and enlightened fulfillment.
Entrepreneur with broad experience in designing and launching products from scratch. Developing the concept, to wireframe, to mockup, to beta testing, then to launch followed by driving traffic with email campaigns, online marketing and search engine optimization. Direct experience with design, development, maintenance and marketing working in several startups and as well as established companies.
Specialties: Web/Mobile: User Interface, User Experience, HTML, CSS, Javascript, Dreamweaver, Flash, BBEdit, FTP, Omniture Site Catalyst, Google Analytics, WebTrends, CMS Platforms, E-Mail Campaigns, Search Engine Optimization, Web 2.0, OmnitureGraffle, Wireframing, Mockups | Marketing: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, Acrobat, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Photography
In her role as Chief Operating Officer, Terri leads efforts to drive growth by implementing organization-wide plans that enable the company to serve its financial advisors more efficiently and effectively, including access to a fully digitized service experience. Terri served most recently as Executive Vice President, Investor Services at Charles Schwab in San Francisco. She previously held senior leadership roles at First Command, USAA and Thrivent Financial. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ Professional, Certified Wealth Strategist, and member of the Financial Planning Association, she is highly regarded in the industry and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CNBC, Investopedia and Kiplinger’s.
Former Congressman Ric Keller served eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was Chairman of the Higher Education subcommittee and served on the Judiciary and Education Committees.
Today he is an author, TEDx Speaker, TV commentator and partner at the law firm of Hill, Rugh, Keller and Main.
He lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife, Lori, and their blended family. He enjoys riding motorcycles and going to concerts, college 🏈 games, and comedy clubs.
Merilee Kern, MBA is an internationally-regarded public relations and branding analyst, strategist, futurist and tactician. She serves as Chief Strategy & Publicity Officer for The Ascendant Group—an industry-leading CEO and personal branding agency. Separately, she also owns and operates Kern Communications, a boutique PR and marketing communications agency through which she also helps business leaders, professional sports figures, authors, speakers and product/service purveyors build and monetize strong brands and gain key publicity. This includes top-tier regional, national and global press coverage across all mediums: broadcast TV and radio, print and online (see www.kerncomm.com/placements.html). Merilee also serves as a Senior Advisor for Alphamille, a Fintech.
As a prolific branding and marketplace trends voice of authority, Merilee both represents and reports on noteworthy industry change makers, movers, shakers and innovators across all B2C and B2B categories. This includes field experts and thought leaders, brands, products, services, destinations and events.
Also as the Founder and Executive Editor of “The Luxe List" and Executive Producer and Host of multiple television programs, including the national Savvy Ventures show that airs nationally on Bloomberg/FOX Business as well as the Savvy Living TV show airing in major U.S. markets.
51. Amberly Lago - Speaker. Author. Entrepreneur. Motivator. Speaker. Author. Entrepreneur. Motivator.
TEDx Speaker, Bestselling Author, Podcast Host, Nike Sponsored Athlete & Nationally Recognized Fitness Coach who overcame 34 surgeries to save her leg from amputation after a near-fatal accident. She is known as the “resilience queen” and her message of grit, grace, and perseverance is driving results and helping people reach peak performance in every area of their life. Amberly Lago is a TEDx Speaker, Podcast Host, Coach, Entrepreneur, and leading expert in the field of resilience and transformation. She is the best-selling author of True Grit and Grace and empowers people around the world by sharing her story of how she turned a tragedy into triumph. At age 38, Amberly’s life was turned upside down when she was hit by an SUV while riding her motorcycle. Recovering from 34 surgeries to save her leg from amputation, she was diagnosed with an incurable chronic pain disease. As a result, she lost her fitness business and had zero self-confidence. Today, Amberly is a true inspiration of motivation and resilience. Through her book, coaching methods, and workshops she has curated unique tools to teach others how to tap into their superpower of resilience and persevere through any of life’s challenges. She offers hope and solutions for anyone (like her) to live life to the fullest.
Leal is a longtime veteran of the hotel industry with extensive experience building brands, having most recently served as the president/CEO, Virgin Hotels for 10 years, where he oversaw the launch of five Virgin-branded hotels and the development of another 10 in its pipeline. Previously, he was president/partner at Tecton Hospitality, an independent management company, which owned and operated a diverse portfolio of 35 branded hotels and boutique hotels. In 2002, anticipating the growth of boutique hotels, he launched Desires Hotels, a division of Tecton Hospitality and one of the first management companies focused on the growing lifestyle hotel segment and one of the first to use CRM technology to understand consumer preferences. Under his leadership, Desires Hotels had 20 boutique hotels located in U.S. and global urban and resort locations. Prior to those positions, he held general management positions for Interstate Hotels, Lane Hotels and The Continental Companies.
Nestor Limas has always been passionate about fitness, even before his successful career in the Pro Soccer Industry. As a personal trainer, his goal is to help YOU get the body of your dreams and to make you feel good about yourself.
Nestor Limas works with busy professionals, with busy & hectic lives, to improve their health. We will break down your day-to-day schedule, putting bumpers into your schedule to ensure that you get to the gym. With our systems, you'll be set up for success with Accountability, Training, and Nutrition plans - helping you to find the balance between your professional work and fitness.
Michael McGrath is an Asset Management and Investment Funds partner based in the Boston office. His practice focuses on counseling global asset managers across a broad spectrum of asset classes in the formation and operation of investment funds, regulatory compliance, and securities and commodities law.
Michael has extensive experience advising clients with respect to the formation and operation of private equity funds, hedge funds, real estate funds, credit funds, separate accounts, and mutual funds. He frequently helps clients navigate the regulatory and structuring challenges associated with developing novel investment products, implementing strategic transactions, and arranging joint ventures and seed investments.
Michael is a frequent author and speaker on the practical implementation of securities laws in the asset management industry. He is a CFA charter holder, and a member of the CFA Institute’s U.S. Investment Performance Committee.
Laura is a professional actualizer and co-creator. She founded StrataBrand to narrow the time-to-market gap between marketing, public relations, and strategic planning, a gap that is widening as each discipline becomes more specialized. Laura’s gift lies in the co-creation of what you desire to put out into the world with who you genuinely are.
With a sophisticated background ranging from assisting the head of a global media firm, creating content and conducting interviews for an international magazine, helping to develop a strategic plan for one of the world’s largest public parks, and actualizing fundraising and marketing efforts for a large multi-national nonprofit, Laura brings a desirable and distinctly unique perspective to her work.
In his early 20s, David Meltzer quickly rose to the top of his game in the business world, becoming a millionaire. David lectured around the globe and saw rapid success in every business project he touched. But something was missing, and in his 30s as a multimillionaire, he went on a rapid downward spiral that ended in bankruptcy. It was only then that David realized, in order to revive and thrive, he needed to codify what had made him successful in the first place. He has since emerged to realize even more rewarding heights of success in business and life.
David Meltzer has created a platform that uses four overarching principles—gratitude, empathy, accountability, and effective communication—and these principles have allowed him to communicate and mentor everyone from college students to c-suite executives. These four principles in everyday practice allow David to live by his mission to “make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.”
Roanne Mesirow founded Mezz Entertainment to develop the careers of individuals and companies in the music, fashion, and hospitality industries, through creative direction, promotion, management, and event production.
Since launching Mezz Entertainment, Roanne has optimized her artists’ exposure and branding through social media platforms, press, radio airplay, and promotional interviews.
Roanne’s talent in promoting her clients includes: landing deals with Grammy Award-Winning music producers, obtaining write-up’s in Billboard’s online magazine, securing interviews on SiriusXM’s Shade45 and Hip-Hop Nation Channels, acquiring clothing sponsors, establishing brand partnerships between her artists and global companies such as Reebok, booking album release parties with Live Nation, and placing her artists into major music festivals, including Essence Festival, SummerStage, SXSW, and A3C.
Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. Founded in 1985 the organization now has over 10,000 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Each year, BNI generates millions of referrals resulting in billions of dollars worth of business for its members.
Dr. Misner’s Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California. He is a New York Times Bestselling author who has written 26 books including one of his latest books – Who’s in Your Room? He is also a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been a university professor as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of La Verne.
Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by both Forbes and CNN, Dr. Misner is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times, as well as numerous TV and radio shows including CNN, the BBC, and The Today Show on NBC.
Marine Corps Veteran-turned-national-tv-personality Eric Mitchell is a world-leading expert in sports media, regularly appearing on the world’s largest outlets from BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, Bloomberg, CNN, and more. His signature blend of snark and industry expertise landed him columns at none other than RollingStone, GritDaily, PopWrapped, Disrupt -- and most recently -- Editor in Chief at NFT Today Magazine. When he’s not making media appearances or running his empire at LifeFlip Media, he can be found entertaining his thousands of loyal followers on social media through his authentic filter-free content.
Caroline Moassessi is the founder and author of the food allergy and asthma blogsite Gratefulfoodie. But her passion for spreading awareness is fueled with passion. She speaks nationally to the food industry, state, and local groups to raise awareness and to encourage food allergy-related change through policy and education.
After a brief move back to her home state of California, Caroline discovered a life-changing parent support group. After experiencing the power of connecting with other parents, she co-founded the long-running (over 16 years) Northern Nevada Asthma and Food Allergy Education Group. Caroline has appeared on Sirius XM – Doctor Radio, her local ABC affiliate network, and local radio. She also served on as past board president and as treasurer for the American Lung Association Southwest Regional Board.
Caroline was the lead advocate for mandated school stock epinephrine law in the State of Nevada. In addition to presenting the need for epinephrine legislation at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), with deceased NCSL past present, Senator Debbie Smith. In addition to helping co-author the first school food anaphylaxis policy in the State of Nevada. Caroline continues to volunteer her time with the Washoe County School District to support revised policymaking.
Her passion for making change and raising awareness has brought her to Capitol Hill twice to discuss food allergy-related legislation. It continues as she reaches out to her elected officials.
Her belief that communication and sharing of information continued as Product Editor and contributor for Allergic Living Magazine. Caroline’s past work includes Huffington Post contributor and a frequent visitor on the Parenting Food Allergy Podcast. She never passes up an opportunity to speak or talk about tools for successful living with food allergies and asthma.
Caroline has a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management and has traveled the world as a trainer in this industry. An avid baker, she is finally dabbling in bread making and more cooking. Caroline loves reading, learning, and making jewelry. But most of all, she enjoys living a simple life with her family. She lives in Reno with her husband, college-aged son and high school-aged daughter who manage food allergy and asthma.
Growing FAACT’s communication and engagement with the food allergy community, Caroline will be hosting FAACT’s Roundtable Podcast. Stay tuned for FAACT’s exciting lineup of guests that you won’t want to miss.
Stephanie Mulligan grew up in a beautiful village in western Maine. She graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with her B.S. in Elementary Education and a concentration in English. She founded the publishing company McSea Books after teaching middle school. She encourages young readers to explore the relationship between education and the great outdoors. Stephanie lives in Maine with her husband and their darling children. Steph is the author of How to Catch a Keeper and How to Tap a Maple. Her next book is Just a Kid from Maine which she co-wrote with her husband Matt Mulligan.
Founder of E! Entertainment TV and several other TV networks . President of Metan Global. A pioneer in media for the past 50 years.. Metan is an entertainment and technology company. Involved in all aspects of media and connects brands to media it either creates or acquires. Offices in Beijing, Shanghai and LA.
He also runs a consulting and development business that examines the effects of technology innovation on the underlying business of media and entertainment. He was the primary consultant to Microsoft's MITV (interactive TV) project for several years and also provided concept development services to Paul Allen's Digeo platform . He was consultant to World Digital Media for strategy. WDM is a joint venture of Sirius Radio, Radio Shack, and Dish Network. has done the strategic planning on a dozen TV networks around the world.
Kirwin's unique life journey has equipped him with the tools needed to empower business owners, CEOs and visionaries to see beyond their limits. He works with senior executives to develop business and life strategies for holistic success.
Kirwin has also been one of the leading global instructors and conference speakers on the business and technology landscape for the past 25 years. Kirwin was noted as one of the Caribbean’s first Master Certified Novell Instructors and Microsoft Certified Trainers. He has traveled the world equipping major corporations such as AT&T, American Airlines and NASA. Kirwin’s unique teaching gift has always been to make the complex simple. He pioneered the introduction of many certifications in the Caribbean such as CIW, CEH, CHFI and many more.
Today, Kirwin shares his life journey with his lovely wife Onikka and daughter Kristin. He is also the pastor and founder of Champion Dynamics, a Christian Ministry that is committed to changing lives for Jesus Christ.
Sophia A. Nelson is an award-winning author, journalist, and university scholar/adjunct professor in Virginia. Nelson is a USA Today columnist and contributing editor to thegrio.com as well as a contributor to the Washington Post. You can see her regularly on MSNBC, CNN, and PBS as a legal and political analyst. She was most recently a scholar-in-residence and adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Christopher Newport University. She is a former investigative counsel to the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform, and senior counsel with the international law firm of Holland & Knight, LLP. She is the author of four nonfiction books: Black Woman Redefined, The Woman Code, and ePluribus One, and Be The One Your Need.
65. Tiffany O'Donnell - Mayor of Cedar Rapids, CEO of Women Lead Change, Emmy-Award winning journalist
Tiffany O’Donnell is the Mayor of Iowa’s 2nd largest city, Cedar Rapids. She is also the Chief Executive Officer of Women Lead Change.
Tiffany O’Donnell is a community leader who has spent the last 20 years working to make Cedar Rapids a dynamic, prosperous and welcoming city. For 15-years, she was an Emmy-award winning news anchor in front of the camera at CBS2/Fox28. Behind the camera, she was working to make Cedar Rapids a more vibrant community. Recognizing the critical need for redevelopment of NewBo, she served on the capital fundraising campaign for the NewBo City Market. Tiffany would go on to serve as the Vice-Chair of its Board of Directors. The Market would end up being the lynchpin for future development in the area.
She is also proud of her leadership roles in community organizations including Kids First Law Center, an organization that represents children in high conflict divorce and custody cases, Alzheimer’s Association of East Central Iowa, Revival Theatre Company and Chair of the Board of the Iowa Children’s Museum. Today, she proudly sits on the steering committee for ConnectCR and is a part of the capital campaign for HallMar Village, an expansion of Mercy Medical Center’s current HallMar facility. She and her husband are also advocates for the Indian Creek Nature Center. The Center was co-founded by her late mother-in-law, Jean O’Donnell.
Tiffany joined Iowa Women Lead Change as its first Chief Operating Officer. In 2017, she became the Chief Executive Officer, succeeding its co-founder. The organization is focused on workforce development through a gender lens, dedicated to advancing women leaders at all levels. Now called Women Lead Change, Tiffany has led the organization through tremendous growth, tripling its revenue and expanding its scope and reach well beyond Iowa’s borders onto a national scale. The organization is considered a premier women’s leadership development organization and O’Donnell is a nationally known thought leader in the space. She has appeared in the New York Times, O Magazine and most recently published in Medium. She is also a sought-after speaker including a recent appearance on the TEDx Furman stage.
Tiffany is currently the Chair of the statewide public/private EPIC Corporate Challenge. Nearly 250 Iowa companies and individuals have signed on to take the Challenge which asks Iowa companies to measure their progress in advancing women leaders. In 2020, O’Donnell led the addition of a metric to the Challenge that specifically identifies progress in advancing women of color.
From TV Guide to the New York Times, Kim has been featured in dozens of publications and is a familiar face to millions who welcomed her into their homes as a popular host on QVC, where she logged more than 6,000 hours of live television. Her work with renowned designers and stylists inspired Kim to launch the Kim Parrish Collection in 2005, a signature fashion line that ran for a successful 7 years and was featured on HSN, QVC-UK, ShopNBC and The Shopping Channel in Canada.
Now Kim is celebrating how women look at every age, in her role as beauty expert of Jane Seymour’s Secret to Youthful Looking Skin, the nationally top-ranked infomercial that introduces Crepe Erase, a two-step system designed to visibly smooth, firm and lift dry, crepey skin. In 2017, Crepe Erase launched on QVC and was nominated for a Customer Choice Award in the Rising Star Category.
Kim’s entrepreneurial and leadership endeavors were recognized by the Stevie Awards for Women in Business with awards for Female Executive of the Year, Female Innovator of the Year, Women Helping Women and PR Campaign of the Year in 2015 and 2016. As President of MAOTeen, Inc., she transformed a fledgling teen pageant into a national scholarship competition that awarded $33 million of in-kind and cash scholarships annually and was recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as one of 100 blue ribbon award-winning businesses from across the country.
Spearheading and coordinating the development of a street medicine team for the city of Las Vegas based out of the city's largest homeless shelter with the goals of delivering immediate care to the the city's homeless population, reducing barriers to ongoing primary care and reducing the level of unnecessary 911 calls from the city's most medically fragile and vulnerable patient population.
Ken is frequently referred to as the Elon Musk of Hospitality! He is the Founder and Chairman of EV Hotel. Ken is a visionary who has his mindset on giving the hospitality industry a major, long-need overhaul. His goal is to revolutionize the hospitality Industry with technology innovations that will create centric experiences for guests and employees.
EV Hotel is a crypto and tech hotel.
This innovative hotel brand will deliver more than just crypto payments, as it will include everything crypto related and technology like never seen before in the Industry,” said hospitality veteran and EV Hotel CEO, Founder and Chairman, Ken Patel. “EV Hotel is focused on reinventing hospitality and distance itself from the traditional tactics of the industry.”
2021 Hospitality Power Index TM names Ken Patel as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Hospitality leaders Globally.
Kim Perell is a serial entrepreneur, 2x bestselling author, and angel investor, who has made headlines for her transformative story of a startup entrepreneur to a leading tech CEO and prominent angel investor. Kim has been a technology CEO for the last 20 years, scaling companies from $0 to a $1B in annual sales. Kim started her first company from her kitchen table, became a multi-millionaire by the time she was 30, and sold her last company for $235 million to Singtel, one of the most prestigious telecommunication companies in the world.
Kim’s book, JUMP, Dare to Do What Scares You in Business and Life published by Harper Collins, was an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller. Kim’s first book, The Execution Factor, The One Skill That Drives Success, was also a national bestseller.
A great believer in paying it forward, Kim loves to help aspiring entrepreneurs achieve success and is an investor in more than 100 companies, with successful exits to leading brands including Apple and Intuit and an early investor in TheTradeDesk (NASDAQ: TTD)
Brock Pierce is a futurist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and impact investor with an extensive track record of founding, advising and investing in disruptive businesses. He's credited with pioneering the market for digital currency and has raised more than $5B for companies he has founded, opening opportunities for millions of people. Pierce is the Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of EOS Alliance, Block.one, Blockchain Capital, Tether, and Mastercoin (first ICO).
Pierce is an early investor in Bitcoin and one of the largest investors in the Ethereum crowdsale. He is the founder of IMI Exchange, the world’s leading digital currency marketplace for games, with annual sales exceeding $1B and investors such as Goldman Sachs, which was sold in 2016 for more than $100M. Pierce founded ZAM, one of the world’s largest media properties for gamers, which was acquired by Tencent in 2012. He founded IGE, the pioneer of digital currency in online games, achieving revenues exceeding $100 million in 2006 and sold in 2007. Pierce is also a co-founder of D10e, GoCoin, Blade Payments, Five Delta (sold NASDAQ: SRAX), Xfire 2.0, Playsino, Evertune, GamesTV, and DEN.
Mr. Radko is the celebrated artist whose ravishing glass-blown ornaments have for decades adorned homes all over the world. He has emerged from hiatus with a brand new line called HeARTfully Yours™. Christopher’s passion for creating these unique collectibles was born from a Christmas mishap when his family decked their 14-ft Christmas tree with heirloom glass ornaments and the new stand on which it was mounted collapsed under the weight and shattered almost everything. His grandmother said he ruined Christmas forever. Distraught and determined to rectify the situation, Christopher found a glassblowing factory to recreate the pieces from his sketches along with some original designs. As family and friends learned of the incident and saw Christopher’s new ornaments, they all clamored to purchase some for themselves, encouraging him to create more and launch an eponymous brand in 1986.
Throughout the succeeding decades Christopher’s success accumulated countless celebrity fans including Elton John, Oprah Winfrey, Robert Redford, Kim Basinger, Elizabeth Taylor, John Travolta, Bruce Springsteen, Hugh Jackman, Dolly Parton, Robert DeNiro, Kris and Kylie Jenner, and Barbra Streisand.
Kimberly is a skillful and strategic leader who leverages her more than 25 years of experience in HR, talent acquisition and diversity & inclusion training to transform leadership and companies into high-performing organizations.
Reed teaches organizations the importance of optimizing the DEIB (Diversity, Equality, Inclusion and Belonging) Synthesis using game-changing insights that will drive breakout innovation in your organization. First-hand experience and stories. Creativity in ideas and application. Memorable lessons.
Reed is a best-selling author of Optimists Always Win! – Moving from Defeat to Life’s C-Suite (Simon Schuster/HCI Communications) where she shares personal stories and advice on overcoming life’s most difficult challenges. As a motivational speaker, she imparts her optimism in overcoming life’s challenges, serving as an “Ambassador for Cancer Warriors” and drawing from her own battle with breast cancer. 100% of the book proceeds are donated to two Cancer charities.
73. Chuck Richard, PhD - Co-Founder, CEO SmartPitch Baseball & Cricket Speed Gun Co. & Dexter Richard
Inventors and cofounders of SmartPitch. SmartPitch tm in the App Store & Play Store. The app that turns everyone's smartphone into a pro-level, precision speed gun .... for less than the price of bleacher seat ticket and less than 1% of a radar gun.
Mike Robbins is the author of five books, Focus on the Good Stuff, Be Yourself Everyone Else is Already Taken, Nothing Changes Until You Do, and, Bring Your Whole Self to Work, which have been translated into fifteen different languages. His fifth book, We're All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belonging, came out in 2020.
As an expert in teamwork, leadership, and emotional intelligence, Mike delivers keynotes and seminars (both in-person and virtually) that empower people, leaders, and teams to engage in their work, collaborate, and perform at their best. Through his speeches, seminars, consulting, and writing, Mike teaches important techniques that allow individuals and organizations to be more appreciative, authentic, and effective.
Prior to his speaking, writing, and consulting career, Mike was drafted by the New York Yankees out of high school. He turned the Yankees down and instead chose to play baseball at Stanford University, where he pitched in the College World Series. He was drafted by the Kansas City Royals out of Stanford and played three seasons of professional baseball in the Royals organization before arm injuries ended his playing career while still in the minor leagues.
Mike is a contributing author to: Chicken Soup for the Single Parent’s Soul, Creating a Marriage You’ll Love, and Thirty Things to Do When You Turn Thirty.
He lives in Novato, CA (in the San Francisco Bay Area) with his wife Michelle, and their two daughters, Samantha and Rosie.
Susan Foley Rocco is the Founder and Host of Women to Watch Media® – the premier global media platform for women leaders. With a professional background in marketing, communications, sales and advertising, Susan identified the need for a stand-alone multimedia platform profiling women leaders in order to inspire and encourage more women to pursue leadership roles worldwide.
Susan routinely features women who are C-suite executives at companies such as Comcast, Thomson Reuters, The Federal Reserve, and IBM. As well as, notable journalists and news anchors.
Gary B. Rosen is the partner-in-charge in the Firm’s Valuation, Forensic & Litigation Services group for the NY Region. He provides accounting, audit and consulting services, including solvency, valuation opinions and asset recovery for numerous closely-held and public corporations, real estate entities, financial services institutions, business development companies, private equity funds, government agencies and international corporations. Mr. Rosen has approximately 44 years of financial advisory, consulting, and public accounting experience with extensive background in fraud engagements, forensic accounting, complex litigation matters, shareholder/partnership disputes and other areas of investigative accounting. He has testified as an expert witness in numerous litigation cases in a variety of federal and state courts regarding agreed upon procedures reports, fraud, lost profits, valuations, white collar crime, solvency, commercial and residential real estate, product liability, estate matters, shareholder and partner disputes and matrimonial matters. Where he is able to communicate complex financial information in a manner judges and juries can understand. With extensive lecture and public speaking experience, Mr. Rosen is requested at national conferences on topics relating to internal controls, fraud and audits. He is a contributing author for one of Practitioners Publishing Company’s audit guides and also served as a professor at the graduate level at Monmouth University. Mr. Rosen has also developed several continuing legal education seminars which he has presented to numerous law firms throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan areas.
Wade Rouse is the USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and internationally bestselling author of 15 books, including five memoirs and ten novels.
Wade’s books have been translated into 21 languages and have been bestsellers across the world. He chose his grandmother’s name, Viola Shipman, as a pen name to honor the working poor Ozarks woman whose sacrifices changed his family’s life and whose memory inspires his fiction.
2022 has been a busy year for Wade, who published three new books. They include The Edge of Summer (July), inspired by his grandmother’s buttons and button jars, which was an instant national and indie bestseller; Magic Season (May), his first memoir in a decade, about how the love of baseball was the only thing to bond him and his Ozarks father, which was a Barnes & Noble Father’s Day selection, a USA Today summer reading sports book selection, and a Best Book of Summer by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
His latest book is the winter/Christmas novel, A Wish for Winter, which published November 15, and has already been selected as a “Best Christmas Book” by Country Living Magazine, the November Meijer Book Club Pick and hailed by New York Times bestselling authors Susan Mallery (“I love this book—funny, perfect and wonderfully good!”) and Sherryl Woods, Sweet Magnolias (“Once again, Viola Shipman has written a captivating story for anyone whose memories of the past run deep and whose dreams for holiday magic seem just out of reach.
Wade hosts the popular Facebook Live literary happy hour, “Wine & Words with Wade,” every Thursday at 6:30 p.m. EST on the Viola Shipman author page where he talks writing, inspiration and hope, takes readers on tours of the places that inspire his novels, throws costumed monthly office parties, and welcomes bestselling authors and publishing insiders.
As founder of BurrstSports, Grant has a vision to help 10,000+ student athletes monetize their brand in the Web3 space. He is positively impacting the next generation.
Danial is an award-winning Creative Director who has more than a decade of experience. He has contributed his unmatched capabilities to 21st Century Fox, Universal Pictures, Disney, Pixar, World Bank Group, United Nations, Google, and many other industry giants. He is also the founder of World’s First CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Media House & Agency, Social Junction Pvt. Ltd.
Sasha K. Shillcutt, MD, MS, FASE is a tenured and endowed Professor and the Vice Chair of Strategy in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). Sasha CEO & Founder of Brave Enough, a well-published researcher in cardiac anesthesiology and gender equity, author, and international speaker. Sasha’s greatest passion is empowering and encouraging others to achieve wellbeing in their professional and personal lives. She speaks frequently to executives and leaders on the topics of professional resilience and gender equity. Her TEDx talk titled: Resilience: The Art of Failing Forward has been viewed by thousands of people. Her writing has been published in both the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA. She leads conferences and retreats for professional women through her organization, Brave Enough. Her first book, Between Grit and Grace: How to be Feminine and Formidable, has sold thousands of copies and her second book Brave Boundaries is now available.
At VaynerMedia, I oversee anything and everything that has to do with people and their experience, including but not limited to: talent management, employee experience & retention, learning & development, coaching, culture, internal communications and recruitment for over 1800 employees.
Steve primarily focuses on next-generation B2B and enterprise-related startups. He invests across a wide variety of technology areas, including machine learning /artificial intelligence, intelligent applications, and next-generation cloud infrastructure. Steve is on the board of portfolio companies Clari and Leaf Logistics. He also serves as the executive chairman of Spotnana, Troop, Stratify, Magnify, and Center.
Before joining Madrona in 2020, Steve had a long career building and running scale businesses, including being the founder and CEO of Concur [NASDAQ: CNQR] and serving on the executive board of SAP [NYSE: SAP], running its cloud business group.
Steve loves working with others to build cool products and companies. But he also enjoys spending time with family and good friends – ideally skiing, exploring the world, or enjoying a great meal, good wine, and great conversation.
Steve and his family run the Singh Family Foundation, which focuses on education for girls, conservation, and several local charitable initiatives.
Mr. Richard (Ricky) Sitomer is the CEO and Founder of Star Jets International and has been in private aviation for 20 years. He is an expert in all aspects of private aviation. As Chief Executive Officer, he is focused on marketing partnerships, branding, sales initiatives and strategic takeovers to exploit growth opportunities within the Private Charter and Private Aviation industry. Mr. Sitomer has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, with a major in Finance, earned in 1990. Ricky is a sports enthusiast who enjoys working out, playing tennis, golf, and skiing and spending time with his wife and 3 children in New York City and the Hamptons. He is an avid traveler and a private jet enthusiast.
Dillon S. Smith has built a career around developing innovative strategies for effectively delivering his client's messages to their defined markets. His expertise focuses on media driven and marketing intensive strategies. Dillon’s experience began in the political arena, where he served as a consultant and campaign manager for candidates in state and national elections.
In 2014, he accepted the challenge of finding a way to reach middle and high school students with a mental health message. Knowing that music can be a universal and uniquely effective method of communication with young people, Dillon developed a music-based presentation with artists who had personal stories about the trauma of bullying. He founded The Allstar Nation Tour, through which he was able to reach hundreds of thousands of middle and high school students in performances in public schools nationwide. His tour and mission has been recognized by hundreds of media outlets and has been featured on numerous live TV segments.
Dillon built on the tremendous success of Allstar by developing, organizing and directing the Socials Tour, which exploded in 2019 into the leading tour of social media influencers and creatives. The Socials Tour takes the most well-known social media creatives and artists on a nation-wide series of performances. The tour reaches the target market of young people from ages 10-20, and includes a strong focus on attending parents. Virtually every performance is sold to capacity. More significantly, the tour generates hundreds of thousands of followers for the creatives and artists who are featured nationally. The combined social reach of the talent on Socials Tour exceeds 50 million followers.
In addition to his strategic touring and marketing focus, he and his team manage a select group of individual artists and creatives, focusing primarily on tailoring individually-designed strategies to keep them in the public eye and to build follower bases that run into the tens of millions. His clients at Team Checked include some of the globes largest influencers, multiple 2020 iHeart Social Star Nominees, X-Factor Finalists, and Billboard charting artists/song writers, netting a combined following of over a half a billion people.
Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on Facebook marketing and social media. She is a Forbes’ Top Social Media Power Influencer, author of The New Relationship Marketing and coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day. Forbes recently described Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.”
Mari is a recognized Facebook Partner; Facebook headhunted and hired Mari to lead the Boost Your Business series of live events across the US and she also consults with Facebook for their Blueprint Certification programs.
Tabitha Soren explores the expansive power of photography by pushing its material limits and embracing its unreliable nature. She probes the surface of the photograph to unlock the rich history of the medium and experiments with sculptural and painterly interventions to further complicate the inherent uncertainty of the source. This layered approach underscores not only the bounds of the viewer’s perception but also makes visible the psychological states of Soren’s subject matter, creating a tension between what is seen and what lies underneath.
A visual artist in different domains for over twenty-five years, Soren has long explored the intersection of psychology, culture, politics, and the body. Her mediated images examine the vulnerabilities we all carry and provide the outline for a narrative still endlessly unfolding. Whether capturing solitary individuals running through empty streets, harnessing the sublime power of the natural world, or obscuring violent scenes with a dense application of ink and resin, Soren calls forth the underlying and pervasive energy that propels a twist of fate, upends a story, and challenges a belief. She never lets the viewer forget that there is something looming just outside of the frame- maybe a threat, a dashed hope, an unfair assumption, or an impending change in fortune- that deserves respect and consideration.
Though a palpable sense of pathos connects all her images, Soren begins each new series using the methodical investigative tools she used during her time in journalism. Books, research studies, and statistics lay a necessary analytical foundation for the visual ideas she communicates. These data points then merge with her experiences growing up in a military family, spending her youth moving around the world and adjusting to the cultural differences, social structures, and visual cues that came with each relocation.
Joe is a Professional Sports Trailblazer and Visionary founding a Professional Baseball Minor League and has positively influenced many people's lives in the Sports and Business World. Best selling Author- Athlete's Guide To Success A Roadmap To Becoming A Champion. Top Baseball Coach and Mentor
Joe founded a Professional Baseball Minor League from his 30+ years of playing baseball, basketball, football and coaching sports and business management.
Haley Stark is a stroke survivor, author, student and activist. Her life after her stroke is majorly taken up by involvement in activities based around public-speaking, government and politics, and promoting the awareness of disability rights.
Written after her life-threatening spinal cord stroke in May of 2014, "Tying the Ribbon" is the honest, personal, and unapologetic story. She addresses the physical sensation of paralysis and regaining nerve function, as well as the mental battles and triumphs associated with overcoming obstacles.
Lisa is a leading authority in book proposal development, whose clients have signed 5- and 6-figure book deals with HarperCollins, Random House, Hachette, Beyond Words, New World Library, New Harbinger, St. Martin's Press, Yale University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, HCI and other major publishers, as well as self published.
Lisa Tener's clients are making a difference in the world with their books and their message. They have appeared on Oprah, Today, CBS Early Show, Good Morning America, Fresh Air, CNN, PBS, Fox News, in the New York Times and much more. For over a dozen years, Lisa served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School's continuing education course on Writing and Publishing Books, where she taught workshops on writing, book proposals and publishing. She also taught writing and publishing workshops for Harvard Medical School's leadership course for women in healthcare.
In addition to private coaching on writing books and book proposals, developing an author platform and overcoming creative blocks, Lisa offers private courses to help you:
Complete your writing projects (in any genre)
Write a nonfiction book
Write a nonfiction book proposal
Write in a heightened state of creative flow
Tap your creativity
Her popular courses include the wildly effective and empowering Get Your Writing Done program and the Stevie-Award-winning Bring Your Book to Life® Program.
Georgetown University Francis X. Rienzo Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Lee Reed named Edwin Thompson as the new head coach of the baseball program on Sept. 1, 2020. Thompson came to the Hilltop after spending five seasons as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky University and has 19 years of collegiate coaching experience as well as four years working with USA Baseball. He has recruited and coached 24 All-Americans and 43 players who went on to play professional baseball.
Thompson guided the Hoyas into a historic 2022 season that featured the program's first BIG EAST Baseball Championship appearance since 2018, the first BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Owen Carapellotti and the first BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the year following a six-win campaign in 2021.
Prior to Georgetown:
Before arriving at Eastern Kentucky as the Head Coach, Thompson spent three seasons at Georgia State University, where he served as the pitching coach for the Panthers in 2013 and 2014 before being promoted to recruiting coordinator/defensive coordinator before the 2015 season. His 2015 recruiting class was ranked by Perfect Game as one of the top-100 recruiting classes in the country. The Panthers won at least 30 games in two of his three seasons.
Thompson spent the 2011 and 2012 seasons at Duke University as the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Following the 2012 campaign, Thompson served as the interim head coach for one month. While working with the Blue Devils, his 2012 recruiting class was recognized by Baseball America as one of the incoming classes in the South and rated among the top-35 in the nation by Perfect Game. The group included four future Major League Baseball draft picks. Thompson worked with a total of 18 players at Duke who would go on to play professional baseball, including current New York Mets All-Star pitcher Marcus Stroman.
Prior to joining the Duke coaching staff, Thompson compiled a 37-33 record in two seasons (2009-10) as the head coach at NCAA Division III Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. His 2010 team went 25-11, setting the school record for wins in a season. Thompson’s coaching career began at the University of Maine at Farmington where he served four seasons (2005-08) as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.
The Jay, Maine native played collegiately at Howard University and the University of Maryland before concluding his career at Webber University in Babson Park, Florida, where he helped the team to a school-record 37 wins and its first-ever regional appearance. He earned a bachelor’s of science degree in general business at Webber in 2003.
Thompson played one year for the Bangor Lumberjacks in the independent Northeast League before starting his coaching career. He and his wife have a child together.
Chef Tsai is a James Beard & Emmy Award-Winning chef, philanthropist, T.V. personality, and entrepreneur. He is the creator of award-winning restaurants, author of five cookbooks, and current host/executive producer of PBS-TV’s Simply Ming. In 2022, Chef Tsai became Iron Chef Tsai as he joined the cast of 5 world-class chefs in the Netflix series Iron Chef: Quest for an Iron Legend. Chef Tsai is the foremost interpreter of East-West cooking. He has always been a believer that “you are what you eat” and that food is medicine.
In 2020, Chef Tsai founded MingsBings: a nationally recognized, award-winning, consumer-packaged goods startup. MingsBings brings healthy, plant-based, gluten-free convenience to the frozen food aisle. MingsBings are now sold in over 2,000 retail stores, including Target and Wegmans, and are also available at venues including Yale University, TD Garden, and Fenway Park. From inception, some proceeds have benefited two charities close to Chef’s heart: Dana Faber and Family Reach.
Beyond his contributions through MingsBings, Chef Tsai lives by a “Do Good” mentality. He is the Chairman of the National Advisory Board for Family Reach and has helped raise over 10 million dollars for the foundation since 2012. Chef Tsai is a leading voice for stop AAPI hate initiatives, including partnering with Harney and Sons to create his “Be Kind” tea blend, contributing all proceeds to stop AAPI hate initiatives. He is also a chef ambassador for World Central Kitchen; he has raised over a million dollars for the organization and has cooked alongside José Andrés when needed. Ming has been a proud Harvard Nutritional Roundtable member for over 20 years. He has appeared in publications from Esquire to The Boston Globe, was featured on People magazine’s list of 50 most beautiful people, and is a regular contributor on Good Morning America. He recently went viral through his engaging social media educational cooking videos, passing 200 million views as a top content creator.
Mother, wife, sister, advocate
Gary Vaynerchuk is a serial entrepreneur, and serves as the Chairman of VaynerX and the CEO of VaynerMedia. Gary is considered one of the leading global minds on what’s next in culture, relevance and the internet. Known as “GaryVee” he is described as one of the most forward thinkers in business - he acutely recognizes trends and patterns early to help others understand how these shifts impact markets and consumer behavior. Whether its emerging artists, esports, NFT investing or digital communications, Gary understands how to bring brand relevance to the forefront. He is a prolific angel investor with early investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Venmo, Snapchat, Coinbase and Uber.
Gary is an entrepreneur at heart -- he builds businesses. Today, he helps Fortune 1000 brands leverage consumer attention through his full service advertising agency, VaynerMedia which has offices in NY, LA, London, Singapore and is expanding its presence in Mexico City.
In addition to running multiple businesses, Gary documents his life daily as a CEO through his social media channels which has more than 30 million followers across all platforms. His podcast ‘The GaryVee Audio Experience’ ranks among the top podcasts globally. He is a five-time New York Times Best-Selling Author and one of the most highly sought after public speakers.
Gary serves on the board of MikMak, Bojangles Restaurants, and Pencils of Promise. He is also a longtime Well Member of Charity:Water.
Milestone's Chairman, Jess Varughese, has spent the past 27 years consulting as a trusted advisor to the senior management teams at several global financial institutions. Jess, a Chartered Accountant from the United Kingdom, was previously a Partner at KPMG Consulting where he led the firm’s focus on its major global financial clients. He also led the Global Financial Services Practice at Navigant Consulting, a 2,300 person publicly traded consulting company. He has advised U.S. and European clients in the areas of Merger and Integration, Operational, Financial and Technology Transformation, Risk Management and Global Sourcing Initiatives.
Jennifer Vaughn is an Award-Winning TV news anchor and Award-Winning author of fiction and narrative nonfiction. She's had roles in internationally televised presidential debates alongside CNN, ABC News, Fox News and has interviewed every president, and presidential candidate since 1999.
Her debut novel, Last Flight Out, was featured in the Swag Bag at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Beverly Hills, Ca. in 2013, while Jennifer's 2019 release, Shadow Kid, earned a Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal for Excellence in Writing. 2022's release, Made In Hollywood is an Amazon Top Ten Hot New Release, and has earned a Readers' Favorite Silver Medal for Excellence in Writing.
Jennifer has been interviewed by dozens of television and radio stations and has been featured in publications that include The Huffington Post, NH Magazine, Thrive Global, INC. Magazine, and NH Business Magazine. She lives in beautiful New Hampshire with her family.
96. Dana Veitch - Entrepreneur. Business Leader. Visionary. Blazing New Trails. Founder of KissCam, LLC.
Dana Veitch is an entrepreneur who identifies profitable business opportunities. From the oil and gas industry where he managed mergers and acquisitions totaling more than $1B to the marketing field where he trademarked KissCam, LLC. for use in branding, engaging customers and generating revenue opportunities through venues and social media, Dana is a true visionary in developing successful companies.
In 2011, Dana was attending a Denver Nuggets basketball game when the Kiss cam segment started. He and his date were disappointed not to have been featured on the arena’s JumboTron. Dana pondered just how many other people would like to participate in the Kiss cam experience. This led him to trademark "KissCam," develop the KissCam app and expand the KissCam experience from North American sports arenas to venues worldwide. His goal is to offer all fans a chance to engage with the KissCam during live events via contests, and photo-worthy moments.
Prior to KissCam, LLC, Dana operated Advent Oil and Gas Company where he still serves as president. Before this, he was in the producing property transaction side of the oil and gas business and was in M&A operations for companies such as ARCO, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Shell Oil.
Pepe Villegas is a multifaceted artist and architect who specializes in a variety of creative expressions. From painting to photography to video production, his work is featured in collections around the world.
During the late Eighties, Kara Young formed part of an elite group of models who helped to redefine the ideal of the "All-American" look. Young along with fellow compatriots heralded a shift in society's perception of All-American beauty from the stock standard blonde hair blue-eyed look to an appreciation of the true American melting pot.
Young began modelling in 1987 in her hometown of San Francisco and her modelling career kicked into overdrive when she moved to New York a year later, signing with Elite Model Management. With her smouldering gaze, cheshire cat grin and wild, unruly tresses, Young had a look which was distinct, fresh and alluring. Young was a muse for the industry featured frequently by British Vogue, Vogue Italia and Paris Vogue.
Young's look played to her advantage by appealing to a broad cross-section of communities. Recognising her mass-market appeal, US Vogue selected Young to appear on an unprecedented three solo covers of the fashion bible photographed by Richard Avedon and Patrick Demarchelier. Young's girl-next-door look also made her a regular fixture in mainstream fashion publications including Glamour, Mademoiselle and US Elle. Advertising campaigns for the Gap, Byblos, Revlon and Guerlain cosmetics followed suit as well as appearances in the Victoria's Secret catalogue and Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, making Young one of the most in-demand models of her generation.
ESTV, the first ever dedicated 24/7 linear esports channel and AVOD service were launched in May, 2019 to meet the demand for round-the-clock coverage from an insider perspective. Currently available on OTT, mobile, cable and satellite platforms.
Launched in March, 2005, Television Korea 24, Inc. ("tvK24") is based in Los Angeles, CA. tvK24 owns and operates two networks, tvK and tvK2 and a video on demand service, tvK-Pop. tvK is the first 24-hour Korean American network available nationwide as digital basic service. Both networks are specifically programmed to meet the needs of Korean viewers living outside Korea. tvK services the first generation Korean-Americans.
The second network, tvK2 is now available in Sothern California, New York, New Jersey and Hawaiian Islands and more geared towards offering programs to the 1.5 and 2nd generation Asian-Americans.
Shelley Zalis, CEO of The Female Quotient (The FQ), is an internationally renowned thought leader, movement maker, and champion of equality. She is a pioneer for online research, becoming the first female chief executive ranked in the research industry’s top 25. Today, through The FQ, Zalis works with Fortune 500 companies and mission-oriented organizations to advance equality in the workplace.
About Us:
The 100 People to Watch for 2023 was developed by Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino, Brian J. Esposito, and Waynescot Lukas for Best Ever You.
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is the founder of BestEverYou.com and the Chief Executive Officer of Compliance4. Through these companies, she has helped individuals and organizations around the world be their best and achieve world-class excellence with gratitude-based behavior and belief systems. She is one of America's foremost personal and corporate development consultants specializing in mindset, gratitude, facilitating change, and taking action.
Elizabeth is a Master Life Coach and the bestselling author of 8 books including the award-winning book Percolate – Let Your Best Self Filter Through (Hay House/Penguin Random House, April 4, 2014) and The Change Guidebook – How to Align Your Heart, Truths, and Energy to Find Success in All Areas of Your Life (HCI/Simon & Schuster, 4/5/22)
Elizabeth is host of the long-standing popular podcast The Best Ever You Show. The show was created in 2010 from her home office, which has millions of downloads and listens with over 600 guests.
Elizabeth lives her daily life with multiple, life-threatening food allergies. Elizabeth and Sally Huss have co-authored three best-selling children's books: A Lesson For Every Child: Learning About Food Allergies,Self-Confident Sandy and Best Ever You.
Elizabeth is a member of the Forbes Business Council and serves as a leadership advisor for the Olympia Snowe Women's Leadership Institute. Elizabeth was named a Top 50 Women CEO for 2022.
Elizabeth and her husband, Peter R. Guarino, Esq., live in Maine with their four sons.
Ranked among the world’s top 10 CEOs for 2020 & 2021 in The World CEO Rankings Awards by Adria Management, LLC, Brian J. Esposito is the founder and CEO of Esposito Intellectual Enterprises, LLC, (EIE). An award-winning serial entrepreneur and business leader, he is recently renowned for being a core part of an innovative team to build Nodle—the world’s largest wireless network and ecosystem of connected devices—and as well as Turrncoin,a registered SEC digital security that on a monthly basis shares 100% of thee revenue generated from its TheXchange’s VirtualStaX platform to all Turncoin holders. TurnCoin is the only revenue sharing digital security that derives its value and yield from the sale of VirtualStaX. The Xchange is the First Global Talent Exchange and a one-of-a-kind platform that set to completely reimagine and disrupt the global fan economy. Turncoin is presently sitting at just under a $15b and has the full support and investment from tremendous icons such as Drew Brees, Patrick Mahomes, Randy Jackson, David Meltzer, Luke Bryan, Von Miller, Cam Jordan, Wendell Carter, and many more to continue to be announced. For one of his early businesses, which ranked among The Fastest-Growing Private Companies by Inc. 5000 for six consecutive years.
In December 2019, as well as August of 2022, he was featured in The Corporate Investment Times, the next-gen investment magazine in the Middle East. Recognized in 2021 as one of the Top 100 People In RealEstate as well as in 2022 recognized as one of thee Top 100 Innovators and Entrepreneurs. In 2022, he co-led the development and launch of ChainTech Labs, licensed and registered out of the DIFC in Dubai, UAE. ChainTech Labs is the holder of NFT project sensations and communities such as BAPES/BAPESCLAN, CubeX, Apiens, and Bloodlines. ChainTech Labs also developed a revolutionary NFT airlines rewards system in partnership with Etihad Airways. With over 20 years of experience in high-profile executive roles involving complex business challenges and high-stakes decisions, Brian founded Esposito Intellectual Enterprises (EIE) in New York in 2013. Wholly owned by Brian, EIE currently consists of 90+ entities, 150+ joint ventures that have been accumulated around the world, and proudly operates in over 25 industry focuses. There is just one degree separating any industry or market that Brian may want to enter into and do business in. With a technique that he spent years perfecting, Brian connects not only the right people, but the right people at the right time. “Integrity is at the core of who we are and what we do at EIE. We strive to do good business with good people,” he says.
For almost four decades, Wayne Scot Lukas has been a top celebrity fashion stylist who has worked with many of the most famous faces in the world—think Tina Turner, Janet Jackson, , Meryl Streep and Christie Brinkley to name a few. His styling can be found on World Music Tours and seen in countless magazines, including Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Elle, Italian and British Vogue, and Marie Claire, among others. Wayne has been a featured 20th century expert in several bestselling books, on the CNN special the 2000’s and he’s starred in numerous award winning documentaries. Wayne has singlehandedly created some of the most iconic museum quality costumes, music videos and advertising branding in the fashion, T.V. and film industry.
Reality television enthusiasts will recognize Wayne, who was born and raised in New Jersey, from hosting the hit TLC fashion intervention show What Not To Wear. While others might have seen him on Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood or Inside Edition He also hosted and sold his wildly successfully clothing line Lukastyle on The Home Shopping Network, Evine, and on Shop Canada with Joan Rivers. His likeability, style and deep history of the business including his respectful way of speaking and connecting to the public has made him a sought-after consultant for other designers, celebrities, and television personalities.
Today, Wayne is a social media expert, speaker and brand consultant for designers, celebrities, NFT brands, and Fortune 500 companies. He is also writing his own book on his 38 years in the business and is being touted as the first Metaverse fashion stylist. His NFT fashion line will be based on the costumes he has created for numerous music videos and celebrity clients. He will help you dress like a star, in your own life!