MEE, ROB
Rob Mee is CEO of Pivotal. He frequently advises the world's most admired brands, government agencies and fast-rising start-ups about the value of agile software development using an open cloud platform. A software engineer by trade, Rob started his career working at an artificial intelligence laboratory in Tokyo, writing natural language translation systems in Lisp.
SCHEEL, HENRIK
Henrik is a Danish serial entrepreneur currently living in San Francisco where he focuses on projects in entrepreneurship education, impact investing, and tech startups in the digital signage space. While still an engineering student, Henrik founded two companies in IT recycling and Design Thinking. He then worked with the Global Research team at Vestas Wind Systems and became specialized in strategy development and Innovation Management. In 2010 he moved to Silicon Valley where he founded Startup Experience, Inc.
BILDNER, JIM
Jim Bildner is the CEO at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a global venture philanthropy firm investing in early stage social enterprises that are tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems. He is also an Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School where he teaches courses on social enterprise and sparking social change.
PANIS, JACQUES
Jacques joined Shinola in 2010 to lead the company’s product development and strategic brand direction. Leveraging his dynamic portfolio—from serving as a founding member of Webosaurs, where he oversaw the interactive division for Dallas-based animation studio, Reel FX, to his 10-plus years of industry knowledge spanning product marketing, branding and sales—Panis became President of Shinola in 2013.
BISHARA, FADI
Fadi has in-depth knowledge and experience related to building successful startups in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in the world. For over 20 years, he has been successfully matching human capital and venture capital needs across the globe, guiding talented technology entrepreneurs in their path. Prior to founding Blackbox, Fadi was the founder and CEO of techVenture.
BANNICK, MATT
As managing partner, Matt leads all aspects of Omidyar Network’s operations and strategy. He works closely with the co-founders and board of directors to ensure that Omidyar Network achieves its long-term mission and strategic objectives. Matt brings a wide range of executive, international, and multi-sector experience to his leadership of Omidyar Network
LONTOH, SONITA
Sonita Lontoh is Vice President of Marketing at Siemens Digital Grid. She is a technology executive focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT), 'Smart' Connected Energy/Devices and Green Technology. Her work addresses the intersection of technology, business models and policy. In particular, she focuses on societal benefits and global cross-collaborations on innovation, human capital and leadership development.
KRUTH, HAL
Hal Kruth has been a founder, mentor, seed investor, executive manager and active board member in over 50 early stage technology ventures. He currently is Chairman of Factor(E) Ventures, a pioneering venture development firm that propels access-to-energy solutions into the developing world. Factor(E) provides a unique blend of risk capital and world-class technical resources to support early stage ideas and entrepreneurs. From 2001 through 2008 Hal was one of the top executives responsible for a spin-out ($2+billion dollar IPO) of the UK’s defense science and engineering labs
ALAM, RUNA
Runa Alam is a co-founding partner and CEO of DPI, a leading Pan-African private equity firm with over US$1.1 billion of assets under management. She has more than 30 years of private equity, emerging market management, and investment banking experience. She serves on the board of several African companies which are investee companies of the DPI funds.
BEST, JASON
Jason is a San Francisco-based technology entrepreneur who thought there should be a better way for startups and SMEs to raise money. He co-authored the crowdfund-investing framework used in the JOBS Act to legalize securities-based crowdfunding in the US. He and his business partner led the 460-day grass roots campaign to change 80-year-old securities laws in the US.
CASE, STEVE
Steve Case is one of America’s best-known and most accomplished entrepreneurs and philanthropists, and a pioneer in making the Internet part of everyday life. As chairman and CEO of Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm he co-founded in 2005, Steve partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build significant, ‘built to last’ businesses.
KEMPNER, RANDALL
Randall Kempner is Executive Director of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE). As executive director of ANDE, Randall oversees the implementation of ANDE’s extensive program, research and advocacy agenda, including its seven international chapters and multiple grant and challenge competitions that support the entrepreneurship sector.
CHANG, ANN MEI
Ann Mei Chang is the Chief Innovation Officer and the Executive Director of the U.S. Global Development Lab at USAID. The Lab is the newest bureau at USAID and aims to transform global development through science, technology, innovation, and partnerships. Prior to USAID, Ann Mei was the Chief Innovation Officer at Mercy Corps, an international NGO. She also served as the Senior Advisor for Women and Technology in the Secretary's Office of Global Women's Issues at the U.S. Department of State.
CONNOLLY, KEVIN
Kevin is an emerging markets specialist in the technology industry with over a decade's experience launching products and initiatives across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Kevin currently serves in Microsoft's Affordable Access Initiative, an organization that partners with local start-ups, entrepreneurs, and businesses worldwide to connect the 4 billion people worldwide currently lacking access to the Internet.
CHANG, EMILY
Emily Chang is the anchor of "Bloomberg West," a daily live show about tech, innovation and the future of business. She also hosts "Studio 1.0," an in-depth interview show, where she speaks to influencers in technology and media. Guests have included Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg, Virgin's Richard Branson, author Malcolm Gladwell, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and more. Emily also serves on BUILD’s National Board.
CARROLL, ANTHONY
With over 35 years as a corporate lawyer & business advisor in international trade and investment, Tony is keenly focused on sub-Saharan Africa. Currently working to transfer new technology and methodology to the region, his passion for Africa, its business and overall development date back to his Peace Corps service in Botswana in the late 1970s.
GREINER, HELEN
Helen Greiner is CEO of CyPhy Works, Inc, a company that designs and delivers innovative robots. In 1990, she co-founded iRobot (NASDAQ:IRBT), which has become the global leader of mobile robots with the success of the Roomba™ Vacuuming Robot and the PackBot™ and SUGV Military Robots. Ms Greiner served as President of iRobot until 2004 and Chairman until October 2008.
HENNESSY, JOHN L.
John L. Hennessy is the President of Stanford University. A pioneer in computer architecture, in 1981 Dr. Hennessy drew together researchers to focus on a computer architecture known as RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer), a technology that has revolutionized the computer industry by increasing performance while reducing costs. In addition to his role in the basic research, Dr. Hennessy helped transfer this technology to industry. In 1984, he cofounded MIPS Computer Systems, now MIPS Technologies, which designs microprocessors. In recent years, his research has focused on the architecture of high-performance computers.
JOHNSON, SHEILA C.
Sheila C. Johnson, Entrepreneur; Founder and CEO of Salamander Hotels & Resorts. As a leading executive in the hospitality sector, one of the nation’s top professional sports team owners, a pioneer in the entertainment industry, a prominent patron of the arts, and a champion of women’s empowerment around the world, Sheila C. Johnson has a distinguished record of accomplishment that reflects her wide-ranging passions.
KIRSCH, EMILY
Emily Kirsch is Co-Founder and CEO of Powerhouse, the world's first and only solar focused incubator and accelerator with over 20 solar startups and cleantech organizations. Prior to founding Powerhouse, Emily worked with former advisor to President Obama, Van Jones, at the Ella Baker Center where she launched and led the Green Jobs Corps - Oakland's first solar training program.
CHESKY, BRIAN
Brian is the co-founder and CEO at Airbnb. He drives the company's vision, strategy and growth as it provides interesting and unique ways for people to travel and changes the lives of its community. Under Brian's leadership, Airbnb stands at the forefront of the sharing economy, and has expanded to over 1,000,000 listings in 190 countries. Brian met co-founder Joe Gebbia at the Rhode Island School of Design where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in industrial design.
DOERR, JOHN
John Doerr is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who knows well you’re only as good as the entrepreneurs you serve. John and his partners at Kleiner Perkins strive every day to find, fund, and accelerate the success of truly disruptive entrepreneurs. John has backed the best – including Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt of Google; Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com; and Scott Cook and Bill Campbell of Intuit.
GARCIA, CHRIS
Chris Garcia is an American entrepreneur and political advisor based in Los Angeles, California. He is Co-Founder of TapEx, a startup crowdshipping app, and Managing Principal of Chris Garcia & Associates LLC, a U.S.-based consultancy. He also represents a private mid-market net worth family. Mr. Garcia lends his expertise as an entrepreneur, investment banker, and volunteer foreign diplomat.
LIU QING, JEAN
Jean LIU is the President of Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest mobile transportation platform based in China. Jean joined DiDi in July 2014 from her previous position as Managing Director at Goldman Sachs (Asia). Jean was ranked one of Fast Company’s top five “The World’s Most Creative People in Business in 2016.” She was also listed as one of Fortune’s top five 2015 global “40 Under 40” business leaders, and tops Fortune’s 2015 China “40 Under 40” business leaders list, together with Cheng Wei, DiDi’s CEO.