Speakers

David Lopez is a civic leader, executive coach, and entrepreneur at the intersection of economic development, innovation, and community-building. Based in Louisville, Kentucky, he has spent two decades working across nonprofit, for-profit, and philanthropic sectors — with a particular focus on organizational effectiveness and building institutions that last.

As a board member of One Louisville and immediate past Chair of the Louisville Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, David has been a leading voice on Louisville's emerging opportunity to move from supply chain execution to supply chain design — arguing that the city's deep operational expertise in logistics, combined with the rise of agentic AI and digital technology, creates a narrow but consequential window for Louisville to reposition itself as a hub for supply chain innovation.

He founded Derby Pitch, a startup pitch competition connecting entrepreneurs — including early-stage companies in industrial AI and logistics technology — with investors and corporate leaders at GE Appliances and Suntory Global Spirits. He has convened cross-regional conversations on AI's role in disrupting supply chain design, bringing together operators, investors, and founders from the region and beyond.

David's prior leadership includes serving as Founding Chief Development Officer at Metro United Way and Global Lead for Fundraising and Development at Teach For All, where he helped build the fundraising strength of a global network with more than $400M in annual revenue.

Jeff is a reformed marketer, being regarded as an expert in integrated marketing. A career switch has now allowed Jeff to expand his expertise into the ecommerce world, becoming a leader in the print & promotional products ecommerce space. You can find Jeff speaking about empathy in a digital world, team leadership, being authentic online as well as sharing his passion for all things Star Trek on his podcast. As a recognized voice in the intersection of technology and humanity, Jeff explores how innovative tools — from AI to emerging platforms — can be leveraged not only to advance business goals but to deepen human connection and meaningful engagement. Find Jeff on his platform of choice, TikTok to learn more.

Dr. Heather Collins is a cognitive neuroscientist and keynote speaker who helps leaders understand what AI is doing to the human brain, and what that means for decision-making, innovation and performance.

With 50+ peer-reviewed scientific publications, including work in The New England Journal of Medicine and PNAS, and talks on stages including SXSW and TEDx, Heather brings rigorous science to one of the most urgent questions facing founders and leaders: will AI make us sharper, or quietly weaken the cognitive skills we need most?

For innovators shaping what comes next, Heather’s message is clear: the future will not belong to the organizations that adopt AI the fastest. It will belong to those that use it to build better brains.

Father of three daughters, Nimrod-Avraham May is the visionary behind God’s Gang, an animated series where love, unity, and compassion aren’t just ideals- they’re superpowers. With over 20 years of experience leading global brands like Disney and Gett, and a deep passion for storytelling, metaphysics, and the universe, N.A.M. is on a mission to inspire meaningful change through entertainment.
Blending ancient wisdom with modern adventure, God’s Gang introduces an interfaith team of superheroes who prove that true strength comes not from battle but from connection. His work bridges faiths, generations, and hearts- showing that light grows stronger when shared.
Beyond animation, Nimrod has been a driving force in Web3 innovation and startup investments, always seeking new ways to create impact. Because in his world, the greatest power isn’t just love- it’s love in motion.

Ankur Gopal is Interapt’s founder and CEO. Driven by the need to develop skilled talent, Ankur created a 6-month paid training program, which has now turned into one of the leading IT Apprenticeship models in the US.

Ankur is the recipient of the EY Entrepreneur of The Year, 40 Under 40, Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, and Business First’s Business of the Year. In 2020, he was selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur, a global distinction that recognizes and supports the world’s highest growth companies. In addition, his alma mater, the University of Illinois, honored him as their 2018 Commencement Speaker.

Ankur has been a featured speaker at The University of Chicago, Stanford University, and Mckesson’s Annual Meeting. In addition, he speaks at conferences and corporations worldwide on creating high-tech job opportunities by blending capitalism, altruism, and entrepreneurship.

Donald Woolridge, Sr. has over 30 years of leadership development with the following corporations: Kentucky Trailer Group, Katayama American Company, Aleris Corporation, and Toyota Motor Company. His career also includes human resource leadership roles as owner of D&E Consulting LLC., Human Resource Director for the International Headquarters of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and for former Louisville Metro Government, 3rd District Councilperson Mary C. Woolridge, serving as her campaign manager.

Donald joined Kentucky Trailer Group in October of 2021, serving as Director of Talent Acquisition and Training & Development. He created new systems for staffing and onboarding as well as an original leadership model for management throughout the organization called the KT Approach.

From 2019 to 2021, he served as the Senior Director of Human Resources for Katayama American Company, Inc. While there, he was tasked with a turnaround, aligning the HR department with the new direction of the company. In addition to reorganizing and staffing the HR department as well as the management team, he led a regional and global effort developing
and teaching leadership techniques and disciplines for all of the company’s senior executives as well as mid-level and frontline leaders in Japan, Mexico and the United States.

Donald worked at Aleris Corporation (now Commonwealth Rolled Aluminum Products) from 2014 to 2019, where he served as the Human Resource Manager for Training & Development. He was initially responsible for the development and implementation of the pre-hire testing, recruitment strategy and onboarding/orientation program for the C.A.L.P. expansion project. He would go on to become responsible for the strategic development of all frontline and mid-level leader’s skillsets throughout the organization, blue collar recruitment, onboarding and retention as well as assisting with the launch and teaching of Aleris’ Core Values as the company grew in its partnership with the automotive industry.

Prior to working at Aleris, he worked at the Toyota manufacturing plant in Georgetown, KY for 20 years in both operations and Human Resources departments, where he learned various aspects of the Human Resource profession as well as operations and logistics. Among his many accomplishments he was a project leader for the Lexus Assimilation training course, where he created the content for a majority of the sessions for a three-day training program all new team members had to graduate before joining the Lexus team.

Donald is the founder and owner of D&E Consulting LLC. Founded in 2018, he and his wife, Erica, ventured into the world of entrepreneurship, starting an organizational & leadership development consultant firm offering executive coaching and consultation for frontline, mid-level and senior leaders to solve organizational problems at the source.

Donald is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, earning his M.MIN in ministerial effectiveness with a focus on organizational development and Indiana Wesleyan University earning an MBA in Human Resource Management.

Dr. Samuel Zaruba Smith, PhD, MBA is a faculty member at the University of Kentucky s Gatton College of Business and Economics, with appointments in Accounting and the Center for Business Data Analytics. His research is on adversarial AI and generative AI model security and his PhD research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Additionally while Director of AI Governance at Bank of America he served as an expert witness to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on the AI Risk Management Framework. Before academia, Sam led AI safety, cybersecurity and governance work at Microsoft and held roles at Amazon, Bank of America, Duke Energy, and PG&E. His personal story is that Samuel paid for his undergraduate degree by winning competitive video gaming tournaments in Magic: The Gathering Junior Super Series scholarships from Wizards of the Coast. Competitive video gaming still influences him where he has worked building offline, internet free games that teach high school students from undeserved communities how AI and software skills, so the next generation of tech and entrepreneurial talent doesn t get left behind because their zip code didn t come with broadband.

Garrett French is the founder of Citation Labs, a large-scale link-building agency for clients such as Verizon, Adobe, and Angi (formerly Angie’s List).

He is the co-author of the backlinks “bible,” Ultimate Guide to Link Building: How to Build Website Authority, Increase Traffic and Search Ranking with Backlinks (Ultimate Series).

His work on FLUQs (Friction-inducing Latent Unasked Questions) began when he asked: “How do we make sales webpages genuinely useful to humans?” and continues in his explorations of buyers’ advocacy and value maximization across an offering’s complete lifecycle.

Allison Myers is a dynamic marketing and sales maestro with 25 years of leading the charge in B2B product and service marketing. Her vibrant career is a tapestry of success stories from companies like Fives Intralogistics Corp., ControlTouch Systems, GE Appliances, and Lantech. Allison has a knack for transforming brand visibility, crafting winning communication strategies, and steering product lines to triumph. She is a leader in MHI Industry Groups as the Chair of Conveyor and Sortation Systems (CSS) and a board member of Mpro (Marketing Professionals of MHI). Known for her infectious enthusiasm, she’s always spotted rocking and accessorizing in Fives purple, showcasing her passion and team spirit. She has a heart for all things supply chain.

Judy Wallace is a leadership researcher, educator, and founder of Hear-O: The Art of Leading by Listening. This advisor-led platform unites leaders across disciplines and generations. It advances leadership through appreciative inquiry.

Her work illuminates leadership beyond formal authority. Attention to meaningfulness creates enduring impact, even when informal and overlooked.

Rooted in historical inquiry, she engages with hope for a good, shared future. History explains what people of the past wanted for us today. Awe forms the heart of her approach. It is an encounter with the transcendent that awakens attentiveness, nurtures moral imagination, and honors lived experience with humane and faith-based wisdom.

As Principal Strategist, Partnerships & Impact at The Innovate Summit, Judy serves up insight, connection, and practical tools for real-world leaders.

Brian Wallace is the Founder and President of NowSourcing, an industry-leading content marketing agency that makes the world’s ideas simple, visual, and influential. Brian has been named a Google Small Business Advisor for 2016-present, joined the SXSW Advisory Board in 2019-present and became an SMB Advisor for Lexmark in 2023.

An active speaker, actor, entrepreneur, motivator, and author, Herb “Flight Time” Lang is an 18-year former player and coach with the World-Famous Harlem Globetrotters. He is originally from Brinkley, Arkansas, where he was a former All-State standout student-athlete graduating at the top of his class while serving as senior class president. Herb later obtained his degree in Education from Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport. During his tenure there, he led the Trans-America Athletic Conference in scoring and won the National Association of Basketball Coaches Slam Dunk Contest on ESPN.

Throughout his travels, to nearly 90 countries while entertaining as “Flight Time,” some of Herb’s most memorable moments include meeting Pope Francis, President Obama, and appearing on numerous national television commercials and reality TV shows—most notably CBS’s “The Amazing Race.” He currently resides in Ruskin Florida with his wife Elena. Herb is the proud father of three Antonio, Nicholas, and Reya Lang, and continues to make a difference through kindness and his life experiences, which he believes are the keys to maximizing what we get out of life. He is a true believer in that we are all rich with love and kindness. #kindnessisfree

I’m Demetrius Gray, founder of Captain. I’m proud to share that as a company, we’ve secured a total of $104M in financing, led by world-class investors to accelerate the deployment of capital to contractors.

Patrick Henshaw is the VC–rancher–tech–wrangler hybrid they warned the spreadsheets about. With one foot in a bass-stocked Texas pond and the other in a Kentucky boardroom, he bridges the worlds of early-stage venture capital and hands-on rural grit.

Patrick has raised, founded and led venture funds, along with high-growth startups, and helped build regional innovation ecosystems from the ground up. When he’s not chasing IRR benchmarks and regional impact through innovation, he’s fine-tuning solar rigs, running power washers, or selecting the perfect hook for bluegill.

He reads term sheets like others read weather reports, and he cares as deeply about trust, community, and legacy as he does about markup and MOIC. Tesla in the driveway, CPAP by the bed, crossbow by the door — if “Frontier Capitalist” were a job title, Patrick would’ve trademarked it.

Orli is the Head of ARC Global ARC Innovation at Sheba Medical Center. Orli joined ARC in May 2022 as the Chief Business Officer, to lead the strategic partnerships and grow ARC’s network of international partners, including leading medical centers, industry partners, academic institutions, government offices and Start-ups. Today Orli serves as the head of ARC Global and as the CEO of Liberty Science ARC Health Space 2030.

Orli leads the global initiatives of ARC, including Liberty Science ARC in NJ, establishing advanced Innovation & simulation labs for the future of healthcare, an accelerator for startup companies and other initiatives, including global consulting. Prior to Sheba, Orli worked for more than 18 years in different key roles in marketing, sales, commercial and strategy for few pharmaceutical companies, including Teva Pharmaceutical industries Israel, Pfizer, Janssen, J&J, and MSD.

Orli holds an MBA in health care innovation from Reichman University, a master of Health Administration and Public Health from Bar Ilan university and a BSc in Biology and Medicine science from Tel Aviv University. She was a teaching assistant in 2 courses at Reichman University as part of the MBA program of healthcare innovation: Redesign healthcare and Innovation in Healthcare services.

Ben Whitaker, Senior Director of Digital Marketing at Confluent Health, is a seasoned digital marketing strategist with over 25 years of experience across healthcare, B2C ecommerce, and automotive industries. With a robust background spanning both client-side
and agency environments, Ben brings deep expertise in consumer-driven markets and a proven ability to craft strategies that deliver measurable results.

Renowned for strengthening the digital foundations of organizations, Ben excels at enhancing end-to-end user experiences and seamlessly guiding customers to critical resources and touchpoints. In the ecommerce sector, he successfully grew sales from zero to
$1 million per month over three years with limited resources. Earlier in his career, he mastered SEO, enhanced early social media platforms, and elevated hundreds of automotive dealerships to Google’s top local search results while streamlining inventory distribution
on platforms like Autotrader and Cars.com. He has also optimized hospital and behavioral health websites, developed patient-focused digital tools, supported addiction recovery providers, and built a UK company’s U.S. operations into a multi-million-dollar
success on Amazon and Walmart.

Ben recently launched Foundational Growth Marketing to consult with and empower small businesses to build strong digital footprints. He has been featured on multiple podcasts, spoke at AI Week in Louisville, KY, and is delighted to return to The Innovate Summit
as a panelist discussing transformative digital strategies in healthcare.

Adam Koehler is a serial entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience in technology, digital content, real estate, and marketing. As Founder & CEO of Content Credits, he is transforming digital content consumption with a patent-pending micropayment platform, offering an alternative to restrictive subscription paywalls. Initially self-funded, Content Credits was developed with support from his in-house tech team at Reversed Out.

Dr. Kelly Cohen, the Brian H. Rowe Endowed Chair in aerospace engineering, and Director AI Bio Lab in Digital Futures, has been a faculty member since 2007 in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Since May 2024, Dr. Cohen is serving as the President of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS). From mid 2017 until December 2021, he served as the Interim Head of the above UC/Aerospace Department. Dr. Cohen also has a secondary appointment in Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Cohen is the co-founder of a Health Start-up "Genexia", serves as Chief Scientific Advisor to Brandrank and is also a Board member of the non-profit "Cincinnati AI Catalyst (CAIC)"

His career is marked by achievement in the field of aerospace engineering and education, including UC's 2023 faculty-to-faculty mentoring award, UC's Faculty Career Award, SOCHE (Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education) Excellence Award, UC George Barbour Award for Good Faculty-Student Relations, UC Faculty Core Values Award, UC Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Outstanding Technical Contribution Application Award, the CEAS Distinguished Researcher Award and the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities Excellence in Teaching Award, among many others.

Dr. Cohen's expertise: Intelligent Systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced air mobility, assured autonomy, eXplainable AI, fuzzy logic control, genetic fuzzy systems, computational intelligence, system identification, reduced order modeling, structural vibration control, and feedback flow control.

Current Work: Collaborative UAV control and task planning, digital decisioning twins, multi-agent decision making, UAV operations for enhanced situational awareness and resource allocation, AI enabled personalized medicine, disaster management using UAVs, UAV flight control design and testing, UAVs for package delivery, estimation and control for feedback aerodynamic flow control, system identification/control of rotorcraft/VTOL aircraft

In 2015, Jackson Andrews co-founded one of the earliest U.S. offices for Endeavor where he served as Managing Director and on the Board of Directors for over a decade. Founded in 1997, Endeavor supports high-growth entrepreneurs in overlooked markets, globally operating in 45 countries and 8 U.S. markets. He sourced, supported, and led one of the highest growth U.S. portfolios within Endeavor that collectively raised $1.2B in capital, generated $345M in annual revenues, and employs 2,000 people. Endeavor’s rules-based global venture fund, Catalyst, has over $500 million in assets under management and a portfolio of 63 “unicorns” – companies valued over a billion dollars. Prior to Endeavor, he served as Managing Director and Partner at Spouting Rock Capital. He has served on the client solutions advisory council for Legg Mason Asset Management and holds the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation. In 2014, he was named to the Milken Institute’s Global Young Leaders Circle. He has been named to the Louisville Business First ‘Power 50’ list multiple times including the inaugural cohort in 2021. In 2022, he was recognized as Mentor of the Year by the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame - KY Chamber of Commerce. He is a graduate of Centre College and an alumnus of Harvard Business School (PLDA). He and his wife are active in the community and have two children.

Dr. Sundeep "Sunny" Dronawat is a seasoned entrepreneur, community leader, and champion of economic growth in Louisville. With a distinguished academic background (PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of Louisville, and MBA from University of Louisville) and a proven record in business leadership, Sunny brings a unique blend of expertise to every venture he undertakes.

In 1992, Sunny arrived in Louisville as an immigrant graduate student, armed with only $50 and no familiar faces. Against all odds, he has not only forged a successful career but also found a home in this city. Married for a quarter-century, he and his wife are proud parents of two daughters, 21 and 18, who are JCPS alumni and are now pursuing higher education.

Building Businesses, Building Louisville:

Sunny's enterprising spirit is evident in his success stories. He co-founded and led multiple companies, including POS on Cloud (acquired by Newtek in 2019) and Samiteon, a leading provider of AI and IT Services, which was recently given a STEP grant for export promotion. Notably, he constructed a $13 million sustainable hotel with La Quinta of Louisville on Old Henry Road, demonstrating his commitment to both economic development and environmental responsibility. Sunny Dronawat is a partner in Triple Crown Holdings, a real estate fund with over $75 Million in Assets under Management. Sunny is also a partner in PlayPickleBall Club, an innovative indoor pickle ball facility. Sunny leads Fetal life, an NIH funded Medical Device company that has a pregnancy device in clinical trial for FDA approval. He is the Principal Investigator for a $2.0 Million grant from NIH for improving medical care of underserved and minority communities.

Leadership and Community Service:

Sunny's dedication extends beyond the boardroom. He currently serves as Chairperson of the Louisville Water Company and on the Board of Jefferson Community and Technical College and Advisory Board of University of Louisville School of Business. Recognized as a Kentucky Colonel and a recipient of the prestigious MOSAIC Award for outstanding immigrant in Louisville, Sunny's dedication to community service is undeniable. He was appointed for a second term as Commissioner, Kentucky Commission on Small Business Innovation and Advocacy by Governor Andy Beshear. Has been awarded Alumni of the Year by University of Louisville – Speed Scientific School – 2018. Sunny’s policy paper on Big Data Governance was used by Electronic Transaction Association to present policy on Big Data which is precursor to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to Obama White House.

Key Accomplishments:

• PhD, Chemical Engineering and MBA from University of Louisville, Healthcare Innovation Certificate from Harvard Medical School.
• Built and sold multiple successful companies, creating jobs, and driving economic growth.
• Led the Louisville Water Company, a vital public infrastructure asset.
• Championed sustainability initiatives through innovative hotel construction.
• Actively involved in community development through various board positions.
• Recognized for outstanding contributions as a business leader and immigrant.

A Passion for the Future:

Dr. Sundeep "Sunny" Dronawat is a visionary leader with a deep understanding of Louisville's economic landscape. His commitment to innovation, community service, and sustainable growth positions him to make significant contributions in the years to come.

EDUCATION

• 2023 Healthcare Innovation, Harvard Medical School.
• 2002 MBA, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
• 1995 Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE
• 1992 M.TECH, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, INDIA

BOARD POSITIONS

• Chairperson of the Board, Louisville Water Company
• Advisory Board Business School, University of Louisville
• Board Member Jefferson Community and Tech College
• Commissioner, Kentucky Commission on Small Business Innovation and Advocacy
• Member, Kentucky Work ready skills Advisory committee.
• Past Board Member Kentucky State Park Foundation
• Board Member Indian Community of Kentucky
• Board Member Indian Professional Council of Kentucky
• Big Data Committee, Electronic Transaction Association (ETA)
• Contineo, an educational software company
• Chairperson of Board, Samiteon and Fetal Life, Inc.

CERTIFICATIONS

• Fellow of Life Management Institute
• Fellow of Financial Services Institute

AWARDS

• Alumni Fellow of Year 2018 University of Louisville- Speed Scientific School
• Kentucky Colonel
• 2015 Leadership Louisville Class
• Business First of Louisville’s “Top Forty under 40” in 2004
• 2008 MOSAIC award by Jewish Community Foundation of Louisville for community service and outstanding immigrant
• La Quinta Hotel wins the Kilowatt Award for Green Energy by Louisville Sustainability Council - 2022

ACADEMIC

• Adjunct Professor at Bellarmine University
• Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Southeast
• Sunny has published over ten papers in peer reviewed Scientific Journals
• Principal Investigator for a $2 Million NIH grant to work on medical devices for underserved and minority communities.

History of success helping companies and non-profits get found, get business and get results online. I am considered an educator and consultant for WordPress, HubSpot, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing and Inbound Marketing and have been quoted in the Savannah Morning News and elsewhere on these topics (article available here: http://ow.ly/zZJNM).

As of August 2014, my best Facebook client gained 3,000 additional followers in 4 weeks time, and my client with the most overall growth increased the number of leads generated from her website from 0 (before our work) to over 30 a month (within a month after my work).

20+ years tramping through war zones and natural disasters for BBC News. She’s traded her flak jacket for a new mission: to prove that a little bravery and optimism can go a long way.

Melanie Marshall is a speaker, coach and filmmaker who spent over 20 years as a BBC journalist in some of the world’s most high-risk places. Working under immense pressure, in wild uncertainty, for high stakes; she managed to come out the other side with award-winning results, and with her sanity and sense of humour (mostly) intact.

Now from the TEDx stage to the boardroom, she uses the lessons she learned to help leaders, teams and companies thrive in uncertainty by leaning into their bravery and optimism.

Shorty Award winner, Webby nominated and named Business Insider's #1 Ad Executive, Jeff Barrett works with major influencers and brands like Adobe, Experian, Oracle, FIS and more on communications and influencer strategy. He spent three years traveling to almost every state in the country writing about startup ecosystems for Inc and Entrepreneur. Currently he is the host of the Shorty Awards' podcast, It's No Fluke.

Known as the Queen of Relationship Marketing, Jessika is on a mission to redefine corporate America and create something she wanted to be part of. Jessika founded NOW Marketing Group in 2010 with only a laptop and a vision to give people with heart an upper hand. NOW Marketing Group was recognized as Inc. Best places to work 2022, is a Forbes recognized Agency Partner, Partnered with Facebook, Google and and a certified inbound partner with Hubspot.

NOW Marketing Group works with more than 100 clients across the United States and beyond, choosing to serve – not sell. Jessika lives by a personal mission of helping inspire people to love more, give more and be more through authentic relating and proving doing what’s right, not what’s easy can turn a vision to a profitable agency that produces results.

Jeremy Knauff ran a successful digital marketing agency for nearly two decades until a health crisis nearly killed him and destroyed his business.

He rebuilt from that devastating loss by developing a process that his agency now uses to help clients get featured in the media so they can become a recognized authority in their industry, attract more clients, and earn more money.

He is a speaker, author, founder of the digital marketing agency Spartan Media, and a Marine Corps veteran.

For over two decades, Rachael Schwartz has been leading strategy, innovation, and product
management in consumer products and electronics with a focus on driving personalization and
intuitiveness of physical products through digital technology, voice, and AI.

Rachael currently is the Digital Strategy Leader across all of cooking at GE Appliances as well as the
Executive Director, Product for Built-in cooking. In those roles, she is responsible, not only for the end-
to-end revenue and profitability for the built-in cooking category (wall oven and cooktops) but also for
envisioning and driving digital technology across GEA’s cooking appliances.

Under Rachael’s direction, GE Appliances has launched a “better with time” strategy in which the
company is selling ovens and ranges with the promise of new capabilities over time through over-the-air
updates. New capabilities to existing units already in homes have included a launch of Airfry to units
built before Airfry was the hot feature, screen upgrades including adding dynamic wallpaper content
that reflects the seasons or holidays, weather widgets, and fun facts, a 1-step Turkey Mode for
Thanksgiving (that also included thanksgiving images, fun facts, and a “gobble gobble sound” in place of
the timer sound), and a Steakhouse mode that makes a perfect steak in the oven using Reverse Sear
methodology. GE Appliances is also expanding its App functionality to making cooking easier and more
convenient including remote control capabilities (preheat oven from app), remote monitoring (view in-
oven camera from app), and generative AI features like a recipe generator and a chatbot that answers
owner’s appliance questions.

Prior to GE Appliances, Rachael led strategy for Bose's consumer electronics division where she
supported overall division strategy as well as strategy related to Bose's new big endeavors including
augmented reality ("Bose AR"), IoT/ smart home, and Bose Frames ("Sunglasses with a soundtrack").
Before Bose, Rachael was General Manager of Keurig Connect and VP Product Management, at Keurig,
the leading single serve coffee brewing system, and numerous beverage brands including Green
Mountain Coffee, Tully’s, and Timothy’s. Keurig Connect is Keurig’s Internet of Things program,
providing consumers with enhanced beverage experiences enabled by a smart personal brewing system.
She also started Keurig’s innovation program and its strategy group where she launched Keurig Kold
beverage system and Campbell’s Soup k-cups.

Rachael’s early career including working for several strategy consulting firms for 12 years, providing
strategy consulting to innovation and R&D teams at large consumer products, foods and beverage, and
financial services clients. She holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business in Strategic
Management and Marketing and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in Design of the Environment
(architecture and design). She is based in Louisville, KY, where she lives with her husband and 2 teenage
boys.

Joseph Lewin is a marketing and sales strategist. Over the last ten years, he’s helped companies create marketing systems that scale business growth. He focuses on using podcasts, live stream events, and personal brand building to establish credibility and build relationships for clients. He hosts The Strategic Marketer, OUTBOUND, and Relationship-Led Growth Live.

Dawn Marie Yankeelov creates communication, identifies workforce development paths, and champions business strategies that drive corporate growth through leadership, research, and partnership in the US, Canada, and Europe.

She is a marketing and communications professional with 34+ years experience working with teams to determine key strategies for communications with target audiences and industries. Technology and healthcare are specializations. A full spectrum of media, print or static to mobile for PR and marketing, is envisioned for business development and presentation.

Dawn welcomes challenges and responsibilities that require out-of-the-box thinking to build outstanding teams. As president of Aspectx, she routinely works with startups and large corporations to create new products or services or to innovate utilizing market intelligence and management programs to assess clients’ workflow, and transform branding and marketing communications for bottom-line results.
In her role as Chair and CEO of TALK, her work includes championing STEAM curricula for youth and related education, federal and state tech policy and advocacy, and event planning.

As a journalist, over the years, she has written hundreds of articles for numerous trade publications on diverse topics for a range of industries, from food and wine production to technical trends, software, taxation, automation and more.
She has spoken internationally on tech topics from knowledge management to digital marketing to cybersecurity for professional audiences seeking insight for critical thinking.

Nick Mattingly is CEO & Co-founder of Switcher, Inc. building a next generation video commerce workflow to create, share, host and earn. Switcher is trusted by brands like SAP, Mars, Chanel, Golf Channel, NASCAR, WWE and more. Over 2 million videos were made with the platform in 2023 by users in over 115 countries. Switcher has been featured in USA Today, BBC, Fortune, Inc. Magazine and more. Prior to starting Switcher in 2014, Nick led a digital agency helping business owners build their websites and brands online. Nick has previously presented on sessions at Summit Live, VidSummit, Video Marketing World, MoJo Con, and most recently at an Apple Sponsored - BEA Mobile Video event at NAB.