2023 EDISON AWARDS

Schedule of Events

Schedule is subject to change.

Wednesday, April 19th

Welcome Reception

All registered guests are invited to attend our opening reception at The Edison and Ford Winter Estates to meet fellow attendees and start cultivating connections. We’ve seen many new collaborative relationships arise following a chance meeting at one of our events, leading to fruitful and profitable new ventures. Tour the estates beforehand, or join your new friends for dinner afterwards in downtown Fort Myers.

Location: Edison and Ford Winter Estates, The Coconut Grove
2350 McGregor Blvd, Fort Myers, FL 33901

Attire: Resort Casual/Business Casual. Keep in mind that the event is outdoors.

4:00 pm

Private Tour of The Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Limited quantity available. Trolley transportation to the Estates is available. Attendees should meet in Luminary Hotel lobby at 3:45 p.m.

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Welcome Reception at The Edison and Ford Winter Estates

Sunset

Dine Around Downtown Fort Myers

Enjoy the lively nightlife of the downtown area, dine outdoors, enjoy a rooftop drink, or a sweet snack. A wide variety of food options and activities are waiting to be explored during this self-paced optional excursion time.

Thursday, April 20th - DAYtime Agenda

Meet the Innovators Forum

Participate in executive-level networking and presentations involving a spectrum of innovators and experts covering future focused diverse topics. Connect with fellow innovators and talk to the teams that created the Edison Award winning products and services at the  Innovators’ Showcase.

Expert Facilitator, Andrea Kates, will host the daytime events and Edison Achievement Award honoree Pat Gelsinger will share his transformational story.

Location: Caloosa Sound Convention Center
1375 Monroe St., Fort Myers, FL 33901

Attire: Business Casual

7:30 a.m.

Continental Breakfast  /  Registration Check-in Opens

All attendees of the 2023 Edison Awards must be registered to attend.

7:30 a.m.

Innovators’ Showcase Exhibition Hall Opens

The Innovators’ Showcase gives guests a hands-on look at nominated products and services between sessions. Throughout the day, guests can visit with Edison Award finalists and share their experiences.

8:30 a.m.

Meet the Innovators Forum Welcome

Andrea Kates
Founder Suma Ventures Inc; Meet The Innovators Forum Host

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Andrea Kates

Andrea Kates is a San Francisco Bay Area-based authority at moving innovation to revenue. She focuses on uncovering untapped opportunities and galvanizing strategic vision. For 20 years she’s led bold initiatives in virtually every sector and every geography that help companies figure out where to place their bets on emerging products, services and technologies and to scale dynamic business models. In essence: How do you disrupt before being disrupted, avoid the blind side and get ahead of the future? Leaders who work with Andrea develop a new mindset about future growth, informed by both data and new insights.

Andrea was CEO of the San Francisco SaaS software company that pioneered the application of Lean Startup with scaleup and large companies. In that capacity, she had visibility into more than 13,000 commercialization, technology, and innovation initiatives covering a broad spectrum of companies within the innovation ecosystem from government research labs to large companies (3M, Intel), and a wide range of startups.

Based on her experience, she developed the original Get to Next methodology which is specifically designed to equip corporate teams to ACTIVATE Innovation. The core components are: ENVISION emerging opportunities with fresh eyes, EXPAND rapidly through new lenses and future-focused technologies, BUILD initiatives from early stage through to scale, and ENGAGE leaders and teams with the new direction.She has “futureproofed” teams in virtually every sector including mobile (Ford US + China, GM, Audi), manufacturing/energy (ABB, Audi, GM, Shell-Asia Pacific + Europe), technology/mobile (Fujitsu, HP, Cisco); healthcare (Atrium Health, Mayo Clinic, Roche), B2C consumer goods/hospitality (United Airlines, Sodexo, ALFA-Middle East) and financial services (Allstate, AIG, Citi). Her original research in cross-industry growth was published in her book, Find Your Next.

Andrea has been the featured keynote speaker and global thought leader on the TED main stage, Aspen Ideas Festival, CXO Forum in Tokyo, Rueda de Innovación (Colombia), and in corporate settings (3M, Cisco, Phocuswright: The Future of Travel, OpenFinance Mexico: The Future of Finance, Dubai 2020). Her board affiliations include: Embrace Global, Copenhagen Fintech, OpenFinance Mexico, and Stanford University’s global institute on Responsible Digital Leadership.

Today, Andrea works with leaders to discover their best future with a tangible, practical set of steps called: GET TO NEXT.

8:40 a.m.

Fireside Chat with Pat Gelsinger

Patrick Gelsinger
CEO, Intel; 2023 Edison Achievement Award Honoree

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Patrick Gelsinger

Patrick (Pat) Gelsinger is chief executive officer of Intel Corporation and serves on its board of directors. On Feb. 15, 2021, Gelsinger returned to Intel, the company where he had spent the first 30 years of his career.

Before rejoining Intel, Gelsinger was CEO of VMware. In that role, he transformed VMware into a recognized global leader in cloud infrastructure, enterprise mobility and cyber security – almost tripling the company’s annual revenues. Gelsinger was also ranked the best CEO in America in 2019, according to an annual survey by Glassdoor. Prior to joining VMware in 2012, Gelsinger was president and chief operating officer of EMC’s Information Infrastructure Products business, overseeing engineering and operations for information storage, data computing, backup and recovery, RSA security and enterprise solutions. Gelsinger began his career in 1979 at Intel, becoming its first chief technology officer, and also serving as senior vice president and the general manager of the Digital Enterprise Group. He managed the creation of key industry technologies such as USB and Wi-Fi. He was the architect of the original 80486 processor, led 14 microprocessor programs and played key roles in the Intel® Core™ and Intel® Xeon® processor families, leading to Intel becoming the preeminent microprocessor supplier. Gelsinger earned several degrees in electrical engineering: an associate degree from Lincoln Technical Institute, a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. He holds eight patents in the areas of VLSI design, computer architecture and communications, is an IEEE Fellow, and serves as a member of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee. Gelsinger and his wife have been married for over 30 years; they have four children and eight grandchildren. He is also a published author and speaks frequently on faith, work and philanthropy.

9:25 a.m.

Lewis Latimer Fellowship

The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program provides access and mentorship to an exceptional small group of Black innovators. The one-year fellowship is designed to help participants unlock the potential of exponentially-advancing technologies, such as artificial intelligence & robotics, digital biology, nanotechnology and computing systems, and collide that with the arts and culture to build societally beneficial and profitable new ideas. During this session, the founders of the program will introduce the 2023 Lewis Latimer Fellows.

Frank Bonafilia

Frank Bonafilia
Executive Director, The Edison Awards; Co-founder, Lewis Latimer Fellowship

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Frank Bonafilia

Frank Bonafilia is both the Executive Director of the Edison Awards and co-founder of Edison Universe, a non-profit organization focused on fostering the next generation of innovators. In 2020, Frank co-founded the Lewis Latimer Fellowship–a program that supports the advancement of Black Innovators through mentorship. Frank is a 25-year marketing executive with an award-winning career in financial services, advanced retail solutions and the successful development and launch of profitable new products and services. Early in his career Frank was involved with the Edison Awards when he managed the Sponsorship and Awards Division of the American Marketing Association. In that capacity, he was responsible for the Division’s overall profitability and extension of the Edison Awards brand, which is manifested in the Edison Awards’ current status as an independent organization. Frank holds an MBA from Saint Xavier University and a BA in International Communications from the University of Kansas. When he’s not working he enjoys traveling and spending time with his wife Anna watching their three children Franco, Dante and Gianna participate in sports and school activities.

Jon Cropper
Founder, Futurlogic Advanced Concepts; Co-founder, Lewis Latimer Fellowship

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Jon Cropper

Jonathan Cropper is a respected luxury brand strategist, global creative director and futurist. Envisioneering and futurecrafting is his trade and passion.

Jonathan is the founder of Futurlogic Advanced Concepts, a highly confidential, business development, design, and branding studio.

Current areas of focus:

● Future of home-living
● Future of food
● Luxury 3.0
● Post-Covid, social impact entrepreneurship
● Immersive, interactive, content development

He has designed and implemented innovation strategies with the leadership of:

Aston Martin, Credit Suisse Private Bank, Airbus, Feadship, Sir David Adjaye, Four Seasons (Private Jet Program), Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, BIG Architects, S3 Architecture, ITV, Warner Bros / DC Comics, Hearst, Lockheed Martin, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Ralph Lauren, to name a few.

Futurlogic is also an agent representing Aston Martin Design, and is an experience design affiliate for NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab at CalTech.

Most recently, Jon was the Head of Global Real Estate, Aviation & Marine Partnerships for Aston Martin Lagonda.

In this unique role, he was responsible for creating the overall strategy, alliance formation, and execution of the brand’s expansion into these new verticals.

Jon began his career at MTV: Music Television, where he helped design the business plans for MTV’s expansion into Asia, Latin America, and South Africa.

After MTV, he was recruited by cultural icon Quincy Jones, to serve as Director of Business Development for his media company at Time Warner. He was responsible for sourcing and evaluating all multimedia and new venture opportunities.

Jon later joined Nissan North America as Senior Manager, Head of Youth and Urban Communications (a new internal unit that he created). In this capacity, Jon was responsible for all youth, multicultural marketing, and strategic alliances for both the Nissan and Infiniti brands. Jon efficiently managed a $100 million annual budget, and oversaw the production of dozens of multimedia communications campaigns.

Jon was recognized by Brandweek Magazine as the “Best Marketer Under 40 in America” for his marketing innovations.

He was also the Chief Marketing Officer for Badboy Worldwide Entertainment Group, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ collection of companies. During his tenure, Jon was instrumental in developing partnerships with Estee Lauder (launched the "Unforgivable" fragrance that became the #1 men's fragrance in the U.S.), Sprint, and Diageo (designed the repositioning strategy for Ciroc Vodka, one of the biggest successes in recent spirits industry history).

Prior to his role at Badboy Worldwide, Jon was an Executive Creative Director and Senior Vice President at Young & Rubicam Brands, where he led diverse creative teams, and formed an advanced mobile media and communications think tank. He designed and executed numerous campaigns for clients such as Sony, Vodafone, Starbucks, Telefonica, Jaguar and AT&T.

Jon received his BA in International Economics from the University of Pennsylvania. He enjoys travel, multimedia art, collecting first-edition magazines, beautiful architecture, and science fiction.

Carmichael Roberts
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Material Impact and Co-Lead, Investment Committee, Breakthrough Energy Ventures

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Carmichael Roberts

Carmichael is co‐founder and managing partner of Material Impact, a fund that builds resilient technology companies developing products to solve real‐world problems using innovative materials. He is also the co‐lead of the investment committee at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a mission‐oriented group chaired by Bill Gates committed to creating and building companies that address climate change and the long‐term sustainability of the planet.

Prior to venture, as an entrepreneur, Carmichael built several successful companies that create innovative products by applying material science. His strategy as a venture investor is based on his successful career as an entrepreneur in materials innovation, blending a unique business model of licensing university technology and commercializing it through targeted partnerships with Fortune 500 companies.

Prior to his career as an investor, Carmichael co‐founded several ventures, in which he served as President and CEO or Chairman.

Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Carmichael worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Genzyme for $1.3 billion, and in new product and business development at Dow Chemical (formerly Union Carbide Corporation).

Elected to the Board of Trustees of Duke University in 2013, Carmichael currently serves as Vice Chairman. He was appointed to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors in 2017 and currently serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee.

Carmichael also serves on the boards for the Consumer Technology Association, WGBH, and Massachusetts General Hospital Physicians Organization. Carmichael was selected by the Aspen Institute to participate in the Finance Leaders Fellowship program as a senior leader in the venture capital industry.

Carmichael received his BS and PhD in organic chemistry from Duke University and completed his postdoctoral National Science Foundation fellowship at Harvard University. Carmichael also has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

10:00 a.m.

Break / Innovators’ Showcase

10:15 a.m.

The New Economy: Building Critical Human Infrastructure that Matters Today – Panel Discussion

Infrastructure is one of the last industries to innovate, and long perceived as bureaucratic and slow to change. We are here to update this notion, and look at interesting infrastructure-related solutions – around water preservation, using digital twin and 3-D mapping software, designing sustainable communities, and engineering with resiliency in mind. 

This panel will explore the role of startups, venture capital, accelerators, and business development in relation to leveraging infrastructure innovation to promote economic growth. 

Mike Orth
President, Governments and Environment, Black & Veatch

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Mike Orth

Mike Orth is the president of the Governments and Environment market sector at Black & Veatch, which focuses on serving the needs of government clients at the federal, state and municipal level as well as the growing field of environmental services. During his 32 years with Black & Veatch, Mike most recently served as executive vice president and managing director of the company’s water business in the Americas, where he guided the company’s growth in supply, storage, treatment and conveyance. Mike was appointed to the Black & Veatch Board of Directors in August 2022.

Lucienne Pears
Vice President of Economic & Business Development, Babcock Ranch Kitson & Partners

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Lucienne Pears

In her role as Vice President of Economic & Business Development, Lucienne strives to create a sustainable economy in Babcock Ranch. She grew up in rural upstate New York, graduated from Salisbury University on Maryland's eastern shore studying environmental science and urban planning.

Living in SW Florida since 2002, Lucienne spent nearly a decade consulting on land development projects. In 2009 Lucienne shifted her focus to economic development, committed to improving the lives and opportunities of residents. During her years in Charlotte County’s EDO, Lucienne was recognized twice (2017 & 2018) as one of the Top 50 Economic Developers in North America by Consultant Connect, a consortium of site selection consultants, economic developers, and industry CEOs. She has also been honored as a Person to Watch by Florida Trend magazine. Under Lucienne’s leadership, the EDO secured several key-commitments: the sale of Murdock Village, over $2 billion in capital investment in Charlotte County, and over $3.2 million in grant funding for infrastructure improvements to support economic development.

Since joining Kitson & Partners in 2018, Lucienne has been a key teammate in attracting projects and funding to Babcock Ranch, including securing $7M in funding from the FL legislature for the construction of a regional emergency shelter. In addition to attracting primary employers to create jobs in keeping with the Babcock Ranch vision for sustainability, Lucienne also works to support and grow the existing business community and focuses on long term strategies to keep Babcock Ranch at the cutting edge of Innovation.

Diana Zhou
Venture Partner, Eclipse Ventures

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Diana Zhou

Diana is a Venture Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Previously, Diana was the Senior Director of Global Business Development at Virgin Hyperloop and led the company’s go-to-market initiatives around the world to deploy and deliver hyperloop transportation projects through public-private partnerships with governments and private entities. Prior to joining Virgin Hyperloop, Diana was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman in New York, where she advised private sector companies and governments around the world on business and corporate strategies, risk and economic modeling, product development and market entry decisions, and strategic and regulatory trends. Previously, she was also a member of the Global Shapers community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Diana holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA-International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her focus was on the intersection of business, technology, and economic development. She received a grant from the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation for her research on the development of an electric vehicle industry in China. She received her BA in Economics and International Studies from the University of Chicago.

11:00 a.m.

The Future of Economic Development: Optimizing for Impact – Panel Discussion

Panelists provide insight on strategies that leverage innovation to deliver more impactful economic benefits to our society. Traditional measures of business success have always been centered around the bottom line. While those are and should indeed be the measures of any business success, this definition must be expanded since the business also depends on people and environmental resources such as water, energy, oxygen, and gas which are limited in nature.

Given the vast array of issues economic leaders face to secure successful operations, ranging from natural disasters, AI takeover, and a generational gap, it would benefit to join the conversation as we explore how meeting talent needs, attracting and supporting early-stage entrepreneurs, and embracing a diversified workforce can optimize the impact of our business strategies.

Gracelyn Byrd
Agronomist, US Sugar

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Gracelyn Byrd

Gracelyn Byrd is an agronomist at U.S. Sugar, a vertically integrated farming company in Clewiston, FL that produces sugarcane, sweet corn, and winter vegetables such as green beans, lettuce and other leafy greens. Her role involves designing experiments and conducting research to help U.S. Sugar’s farmers identify and implement data-driven solutions to agronomic problems. Byrd’s early career has been defined by her pursuit of valuable skill-building opportunities that set her apart from other young professionals in the agriculture industry.

After graduating from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, earning a B.S. in Agriculture with a concentration in Agribusiness Management, Byrd moved to Clewiston, FL in May 2017 to join Ag Technologies, LLC as a precision agronomist. She honored the company’s mission of creating an environment for growers to confidently identify, develop, implement, and maintain precision agriculture technology solutions on their farms. Byrd became a Certified Crop Advisor, a benchmark of professionalism for agronomists in North America, to strengthen her agronomic problem-solving skill set. She eagerly accepted the agronomist position with U.S. Sugar in 2019, recognizing it as an opportunity to combine her experience with precision agriculture technology and her agronomic skills to develop comprehensive solutions to enhance U.S. Sugar’s long-standing legacy of innovation, sustainability, and stewardship.

In addition to gaining professional experience, Byrd has been building her career through academics and leadership development programs. In 2022, she graduated from the University of Florida with her M.S. in Agronomy with a concentration in Agroecology and from the Florida Fruit & Vegetable Association’s Emerging Leader Development Program. She is currently enrolled as a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. Her research will focus on characterizing spatial and temporal variability in Florida soils to determine their impact on the yield and quality of cropping systems.

Laura DiBella MPE
Florida Secretary of Commerce; President & CEO, Enterprise Florida

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Laura DiBella

Laura DiBella serves as the Secretary of Commerce, the chief economic development agency charged with retaining and recruiting high-impact industries to the dynamic state's 67 counties.

A certified Maritime Port Executive, from November 2019 to July 2022, Laura served as the first-ever, full-time Executive Director of the Florida Harbor Pilots Association, the statewide organization that represents the ~100 most highly skilled mariners that navigate nearly all vessel traffic in and out of Florida's seaports. Charged to represent and further their mission as the “first responders of Florida’s Blue Economy”, she helped ensure the uninterrupted flow of commerce through Florida's 14 operating deepwater seaports while the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent supply chain crisis ravaged the world.

Previous to the Pilots, from 2014-2019, Laura served as the Executive Director of the Nassau County (Florida) Economic Development Board, as well as, Port Director for the Port of Fernandina, Ocean Highway and Port Authority of Nassau County (2017-2019). While serving both roles she oversaw a number of high-profile recruitment and expansion projects encompassing manufacturing, corporate headquarters, healthcare, and logistics, coupled with many millions in grant funding awards. She was also instrumental in the Federal Marine Highway designation awarded to the Port of Fernandina in 2019.

Laura’s earlier career expands across numerous industries, from manufacturing to marketing, in addition to being a Florida licensed Real Estate Broker for over 20 years – collectively of which delivers extensive experience that has helped her excel in her diverse roles and responsibilities to date.

Danielle Mousseau
Manager of Economic Development, Florida Power & Light, 35 Mules

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Danielle Mousseau

Danielle is manager of 35 Mules, where she leads efforts to grow early-stage startups in the program and support Florida’s growing startup ecosystem.

Danielle joined FPL in 2008, and has held various roles across the organization, including client and event management, product and email marketing, electric vehicle infrastructure project management and, most recently, economic development.

In her previous roles, Danielle’s achievements include marketing efforts that earned second in the nation for email communications among utilities from J.D. Power for 2013. When FPL began growing its clean vehicle fleet, Danielle led and managed more than 70 charging station infrastructure projects across company service centers and offices. In economic development, she was named as one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers in 2020.

Danielle currently serves on the boards of Florida Venture Forum, Synapse, GrowFL’s Advisory Board and the Jupiter Police Foundation’s Advisory Board. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in strategic communication from the University of Minnesota. A native Floridian, born and raised in South Florida, Danielle currently resides in Tequesta, Florida.

11:45 a.m.

Lunch Break / Live Demos / Innovators’ Showcase

1:00 p.m.

On Stage Demonstration

1:05 p.m.

Young Edison Challenge

Ashley Maher, Chief Executive Officer of the Charlotte Community Foundation will introduce the 2023 Young Edison Challenge Student Winners.

Ashley Maher
Chief Executive Officer, Charlotte Community Foundation

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Ashley Maher

Ashley Maher joined the Charlotte Community Foundation in March 2017 as the Director of Development and Marketing. Shortly after in 2018, Maher served as the Interim Executive Director was named the new ED in August. The following year, Maher became Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation. Maher tripled the assets of CCF in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to provide significant year over year growth in assets while working through Hurricane Irma, the 2022 tornadoes, Hurricane Ian and Nicole.

Maher previously served as the Director of Marketing with Unity Medical in Port Charlotte. Prior to that served in a variety of employed roles for the Charlotte County Homeless Coalition, notably in the Volunteer Coordinator and Public Relations positions where she developed an extensive volunteer program for the over 600 unduplicated monthly volunteers and increased awareness and donations for the mission of the organization.

Maher has a history of previously serving on various nonprofit boards such as, The United Way of Charlotte County, Fred Lang Foundation, Senior Friendship Centers and O.C.E.A.N. Currently Maher serves as a trustee for Fawcett Memorial Hospital and as a Board member for, Gulf Coast Partnership-Vice Chair, Peace River Housing Community Partners- Vice Chair, Babcock Neighborhood Schools Advisory Committee, Charlotte Technical College, Community Organizations Active in Disaster, Co-Chair, Charlotte County Long-Term Recovery Steering Committee, Treasurer, City of Punta Gorda Charter Review Committee, Vice-Chair and the Economic Development Partnership of Charlotte County.

Maher is the loving mother of two young boys, Noah and Tanner. She enjoys volunteering and creating new experiences for her family, playing flag football and snowboarding in her spare time.

1:20 p.m.

The Global Perspective: Leading Sustainable Business – Panel Discussion

Exercise your mind and discuss pressing challenges leaders face as we move toward a sustainable future together. Be it carbon neutral measures, shifting to renewable energy, designing an environmentally conscious supply chain, or the use of biodegradable packaging, sustainability is more than a trend. It is core to the longevity of our ecosystem and key to the success of our society given that collectively we all rely on natural resources for business, leisure activities, and basic survival.

At the Edison Awards, it is our mission to foster an innovation community that creates a positive impact in the world. We hope you will join us in exploring innovative initiatives in Leading Sustainable Business.

Bob Maughon, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer, SABIC

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Bob Maughon, Ph.D.

Bob Maughon is the executive vice president, Sustainability, Technology & Innovation and Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer at SABIC.  He oversees a global organization with 20 research centers around the world and a talented team focused on driving process, product and application innovation to support SABIC’s growth agenda.  Additionally, Maughon has responsibility for Corporate Sustainability, Product Stewardship, Technology Licensing and Technology Ventures.

Dr. Maughon joins SABIC after a 21 year career at Dow, where he most recently served from 2013-2019 as the R&D vice president for Packaging & Specialty Plastics and Hydrocarbons at Dow.

Maughon serves as a board member of the University of Michigan Engineering Leadership Advisory Board and the AspenTech Executive Advisory Board.

He holds nine U.S. Patents and has numerous publications and presentations at external conferences.

Maughon earned his BA degree in chemistry from Rice University and his PhD in organic chemistry from the California Institute of Technology.

Carmichael Roberts
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Material Impact and Co-Lead, Investment Committee, Breakthrough Energy Ventures

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Carmichael Roberts

Carmichael is co‐founder and managing partner of Material Impact, a fund that builds resilient technology companies developing products to solve real‐world problems using innovative materials. He is also the co‐lead of the investment committee at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a mission‐oriented group chaired by Bill Gates committed to creating and building companies that address climate change and the long‐term sustainability of the planet.

Prior to venture, as an entrepreneur, Carmichael built several successful companies that create innovative products by applying material science. His strategy as a venture investor is based on his successful career as an entrepreneur in materials innovation, blending a unique business model of licensing university technology and commercializing it through targeted partnerships with Fortune 500 companies.

Prior to his career as an investor, Carmichael co‐founded several ventures, in which he served as President and CEO or Chairman.

Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Carmichael worked in business development at GelTex Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Genzyme for $1.3 billion, and in new product and business development at Dow Chemical (formerly Union Carbide Corporation).

Elected to the Board of Trustees of Duke University in 2013, Carmichael currently serves as Vice Chairman. He was appointed to the Duke University Health System Board of Directors in 2017 and currently serves on the Audit and Compliance Committee.

Carmichael also serves on the boards for the Consumer Technology Association, WGBH, and Massachusetts General Hospital Physicians Organization. Carmichael was selected by the Aspen Institute to participate in the Finance Leaders Fellowship program as a senior leader in the venture capital industry.

Carmichael received his BS and PhD in organic chemistry from Duke University and completed his postdoctoral National Science Foundation fellowship at Harvard University. Carmichael also has an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Florian Schattenmann
CTO and VP of R&D and Innovation, Cargill

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Florian Schattenmann

Florian Schattenmann is Cargill’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President for Innovation and Research & Development (R&D). He oversees a global team that is driven by the vision of relentlessly creating value for Cargill and its customers via research, application and product development, and technical service support across agriculture, food, animal feed and bioindustrial markets. He also leads the Strategic Growth Business Accelerator, designed to accelerate and scale cross enterprise innovation- and science-driven strategic growth businesses. Current focus areas include alternative protein and human health technologies.

Prior to joining Cargill in November 2018, Florian spent eight years at The Dow Chemical Company. His most recent role was Vice President for Performance Materials & Coatings R&D, where he led innovation across a diverse set of specialty businesses. Florian has also held leadership roles at SulphCo Inc. and GE-Bayer Silicones. Earlier in his career, Florian managed several research laboratories at GE’s Global Research Center.

Florian is a certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt, holds seven U.S. patents and has numerous publications. He serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards for Texas A&M AgriLife and College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, the College of Science and Engineering at University of Minnesota, and the Department of Chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA and his Diplom Chemiker degree from the Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany. Florian and his family live in Golden Valley, MN. Besides spending time with his family, he loves playing the bass, road cycling and working out.

2:00 p.m. 2:30 p.m.

Break / Innovators’ Showcase

2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Interactive Breakout Sessions

More details about the breakout sessions will be announced soon.

  • Get to Next with Andrea Kates
  • Securing Capital with Christine Gulbranson and Diana Zhou
  • Artificial Intelligence: the Good the Bad and the WTF? with Sandy Clark and Thomas Stutesman
  • IgniteX Accelerator, Black and Veatch with Jason Haney and Andrew Foster
  • Fireside Chat with Bracken Darrell 

Andrea Kates
Founder Suma Ventures Inc; Meet The Innovators Forum Host

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Andrea Kates

Andrea Kates is a San Francisco Bay Area-based authority at moving innovation to revenue. She focuses on uncovering untapped opportunities and galvanizing strategic vision. For 20 years she’s led bold initiatives in virtually every sector and every geography that help companies figure out where to place their bets on emerging products, services and technologies and to scale dynamic business models. In essence: How do you disrupt before being disrupted, avoid the blind side and get ahead of the future? Leaders who work with Andrea develop a new mindset about future growth, informed by both data and new insights.

Andrea was CEO of the San Francisco SaaS software company that pioneered the application of Lean Startup with scaleup and large companies. In that capacity, she had visibility into more than 13,000 commercialization, technology, and innovation initiatives covering a broad spectrum of companies within the innovation ecosystem from government research labs to large companies (3M, Intel), and a wide range of startups.

Based on her experience, she developed the original Get to Next methodology which is specifically designed to equip corporate teams to ACTIVATE Innovation. The core components are: ENVISION emerging opportunities with fresh eyes, EXPAND rapidly through new lenses and future-focused technologies, BUILD initiatives from early stage through to scale, and ENGAGE leaders and teams with the new direction.She has “futureproofed” teams in virtually every sector including mobile (Ford US + China, GM, Audi), manufacturing/energy (ABB, Audi, GM, Shell-Asia Pacific + Europe), technology/mobile (Fujitsu, HP, Cisco); healthcare (Atrium Health, Mayo Clinic, Roche), B2C consumer goods/hospitality (United Airlines, Sodexo, ALFA-Middle East) and financial services (Allstate, AIG, Citi). Her original research in cross-industry growth was published in her book, Find Your Next.

Andrea has been the featured keynote speaker and global thought leader on the TED main stage, Aspen Ideas Festival, CXO Forum in Tokyo, Rueda de Innovación (Colombia), and in corporate settings (3M, Cisco, Phocuswright: The Future of Travel, OpenFinance Mexico: The Future of Finance, Dubai 2020). Her board affiliations include: Embrace Global, Copenhagen Fintech, OpenFinance Mexico, and Stanford University’s global institute on Responsible Digital Leadership.

Today, Andrea works with leaders to discover their best future with a tangible, practical set of steps called: GET TO NEXT.

Dr. Christine Gulbranson

Dr. Christine Gulbranson
CEO, Christalis

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Dr. Christine Gulbranson

Dr. Christine Gulbranson is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor and innovator. She has served as CEO, Chief Innovation Officer, VC/Investor, Board Director and advisor for large and small, public and private corporations, family offices and non-profit organizations. She is known for building new markets and transforming a breadth of industries including cleantech/renewables, mobility, big data/IT, materials, ag and healthcare while mitigating financial risks.

Christine is CEO of strategic advisory firm Christalis. She was the CEO and Director of a private family (Sergey Brin) foundation office for impact investing, Chief Innovation Officer of the University of California System, a general partner at VC firm GCP, and senior investment advisor to a family office in Europe. She was a judge on Discovery Channel’s Big Brain Theory to find the ‘next great American innovator’ which aired in over 100 countries as well as a scientist at LLNL. Christine has served for over 20 years as a director on more than a dozen private and public service boards and has been recognized by Silicon Valley Business Journal as Top 40 under 40 business leaders in Silicon Valley, as innovator for the 21st century by MIT’s Technology Review and as UC Davis’ distinguished engineering alumni in business.

Christine grew up in rural Northern California and Germany and is a first-generation college graduate. By age 25, she earned five degrees from UC Davis – BS in Physics, a BS, MS, and PhD in Materials Science & Engineering, and an MBA. She holds patents in the fields of nanotechnology and lighting.

Diana Zhou
Venture Partner, Eclipse Ventures

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Diana Zhou

Diana is a Venture Partner at Eclipse Ventures. Previously, Diana was the Senior Director of Global Business Development at Virgin Hyperloop and led the company’s go-to-market initiatives around the world to deploy and deliver hyperloop transportation projects through public-private partnerships with governments and private entities. Prior to joining Virgin Hyperloop, Diana was a management consultant at Oliver Wyman in New York, where she advised private sector companies and governments around the world on business and corporate strategies, risk and economic modeling, product development and market entry decisions, and strategic and regulatory trends. Previously, she was also a member of the Global Shapers community, an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Diana holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MPA-International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School, where her focus was on the intersection of business, technology, and economic development. She received a grant from the Harvard Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation for her research on the development of an electric vehicle industry in China. She received her BA in Economics and International Studies from the University of Chicago.

Sandy Clark
Infosec Research Scientist and Cyber Security Analyst, Apple Inc

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Sandy Clark

Sandy's work is instrumental in understanding the mechanisms underlying vulnerability, exploitation and defense. Building models and tools to help defenders make the best use of security resources while limiting risk and liability. Sandy is also interested in developing security metrics that help analyze the efficacy of various software life-cycle processes.

Sandy's PhD research focused on developing dynamic, adaptive defensive strategies against an ever evolving and often hostile cyber-ecosystem.

Thomas Stutesman
Principal Solution Architect, Pure Storage

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Thomas Stutesman

Thomas Stutesman started his career in technology in 1978 when a local business contacted his high school to see if anyone in the computer club could help them with a system problem. Tom solved the problem and received payment for his work. That was the start of his technology consulting career.

Throughout his career he has held various engineering, product management, marketing and sales engineering leadership roles. He has performed technology engagements with 90 of the Fortune 100 companies.

His most rewarding roles have been working with youth and community service.

As an officer in the Civil Air Patrol, he coached and mentored the CyberPatriot program, which is a national cyber defense competition for Middle and High school students. The teams he worked with won state and regional competitions, including going to the National Championships beating out over 5000 other groups.

For over 20 years he coached and refereed youth soccer. He also launched a traveling soccer program that grew from a few teams to over 100 in just three years. When he retired from the program he had coached over 2000 games and refereed nearly 1000 games.

In the area of community service he was an elected official in his community serving 22 years as a trustee. In that time frame he helped raise bonds to purchase over 1000 acres to create open space and parks. He also worked on restoring hundreds of acres of land to natural wetlands which greatly improved water quality.

In Business Thomas’ area of expertise is in Applications, Database analytics and performance.

In the 1980’s he launched a data analytics company which focused on consumer buying patterns. After several years of successful profitable operation it was acquired. He then took a role focusing on sales of marketing of the tools he helped create.

He has managed the creation of several products that drove over 1 Billion Dollars of revenue each.

He specialized in pre-IPO organizations helping them determine marketing, product and sales strategies. One company, Powersoft, he managed Global Field Marketing and worked on the merger with Sybase in 1994 for 940 Million.

He has held technical marketing leadership roles at Informix (Acquired by IBM), StorageTek-Sun (Aquired by Oracle). At NetApp he was hired to manage the technical partner relationship with IBM, he helped drive over 100 Million is partner sales his first year.

At Hitachi he helped form the Converged Solution Organization and managed solution development, technical sales and marketing. This group grew from zero revenue to 250 Million annual revenue in 24 months.

He then transitioned to focusing on database technologies becoming the Global Expert on Database for all of Hitachi. Creating numerous tools and integrations his engineering teams were always on schedule and under budget.

Presently he is working with Pure Storage where he is the Principal Solution Architect in the office of the CTO.

His daughter is a graduate of The United States Air Force Academy and an active duty Captain. His son is a cybersecurity specialist in the United States Airforce. His wife, business partner and High School Prom date make their home in Florida.

Jason Haney
Project Manager, Growth Initiatives & Innovation, Black & Veatch

Andrew Foster
Innovation & Strategy – Health, Safety, and Emergency Management, Black & Veatch

Bracken Darrell
President and Chief Executive Officer, Logitech

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Bracken Darrell

Under Bracken Darrell’s 10 years of leadership as president and CEO, Logitech has reinvented itself into an award-winning design company, an industry force pursuing a more sustainable and equal world, and a top performer on the SIX Swiss Exchange and Nasdaq Global Select Market.

As a result, Logitech has been the recipient of numerous awards. These include more than 200 design awards over the past three years from the likes of CES, iF Design, Red Dot, Good Design and IDA, as well as repeated recognition by Fast Company as a leading innovator by design. Logitech has also won numerous sustainability accolades, including first in a 2021 list of climate-conscious Swiss companies and inclusion on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for Europe. Bracken himself has been named Swiss CEO of the year by Obermatt three times in the past four years, won the P&G Alumni Innovation Award, and the 2022 Edison Achievement Award.

Bracken joined Logitech as president in April 2012, and assumed the role of chief executive officer in January 2013. He brings to Logitech nearly thirty years of experience in product, people and brand management through design. Prior to joining Logitech, Bracken was executive vice president of Whirlpool Corporation and president of Whirlpool EMEA, where he guided the company through the economic downturn of 2008. Previously, he was with Procter & Gamble, most recently as the president of Braun, the home appliance business. In addition to a total of twelve years with Procter & Gamble – in executive management positions as well as earlier years in brand management – Bracken served with General Electric Company for five years, most recently as the general manager of Consumer Home Service. He began his career with Arthur Anderson and then PepsiCo.

Bracken is on the Board of Dean Advisors of Harvard Business School and serves on the board of directors of Life Biosciences, a longevity company.

Bracken holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in English from Hendrix College in Arkansas.

Thursday, April 20th - Evening Agenda

Edison Awards Gala

Celebrate with fellow innovators while we recognize and honor the best in innovation and innovators!

Location: Caloosa Sound Convention Center 1375 Monroe St., Fort Myers, FL 33901 Attire: Black-tie Preferred

5:30 p.m.

Opening Reception

Start the evening with a cocktail reception and mingle with those met earlier in the day while sampling decadent hors d’oeuvres.

7:00 p.m.

Dinner & Ceremony

The 2022 Edison Awards Gold, Silver, and Bronze Winners will be announced and the prestigious Edison Achievement Award will be presented to Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, and Sir Jonathan Ive, co-founder of LoveFrom and former Chief Design Officer at Apple Inc.

Katie Linendoll
TV Personality, Consumer Technology Expert; Edison Awards Gala Host

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2023 Edison Awards Gala Host

Katie Linendoll

As one of the most in-demand technology experts worldwide, Linendoll is recognized by a wide-range of audiences for her reporting and frequent appearances as a regular expert contributor for major media outlets including The TODAY Show, The Rachael Ray Show and numerous other outlets including The Weather Channel, CBS Sports Radio, Robert Irvine Magazine, and more.

In addition to frequent live, in-studio media appearances, Linendoll runs her own production company which allows her to shoot, produce, and edit her own tech news stories in some of the most exotic and extreme locations—ranging from a remote community in the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan to NASA’s zero-gravity training lab 63-feet underwater off the coast of the Florida Keys. Linendoll’s cutting-edge technology stories have been featured as TV and digital segments and series on The Weather Channel, Popular Science, and Sports Illustrated to name a few.

Linendoll is one of the first women in tech to make significant contributions to the industry, starting her career at the age of 12 when she began coding and earning networking certifications before graduating from high school. Linendoll went on to receive a degree in Information Technology New Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Following graduation, she began working behind-the-scenes in production for ESPN where she won an Emmy Award for her work on SportsCenter and later contributed more than 60 written and digital pieces as a sports tech expert. Following her work at ESPN, Linendoll was nominated for a second Emmy Award for her work as a co-host on A&E’s We Mean Business, a reality show designed to help revamp small businesses across the country.

During her career, Linendoll has hosted more than a dozen shows and series focused on technology and innovation and has also been named a special correspondent at major tech conferences including Comic-Con, CES, E3, Toy Fair, and Maker Faire. She is frequently booked as an emcee and keynote speaker at major corporate events with top international brands including IBM, Dell, Global Semiconductor Alliance, Lenovo, Deloitte, QuickBooks, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, SAS, Kronos, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, The Outdoor Association, Teradata, and GE to name a few.

Linendoll is a Silicon Valley Visionary Award Recipient, which celebrates Silicon Valley leaders in technology, education, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. Alongside her two Emmy nominations, and one win, Linendoll also holds a Guinness World Record for the “Most High Fives in One Minute”.

Linendoll calls Boston and NYC home. She leads an active, faith-filled lifestyle as a runner, fitness enthusiast, musician, and avid traveler. She also devotes a large percentage of her time to select philanthropic causes in healthcare, tech & US Veterans.

10:00 p.m.

VIP After Party

All winners are invited to celebrate at a reception after the awards ceremony at the The Oxbow Rooftop. Enjoy panoramic riverfront views on the Caloosahatchee River, just a short walk from the Caloosa Sound Convention Center. Location: The Oxbow 1300 Hendry St, Fort Myers, FL 33901

Friday, April 21st

Community Day

Enjoy an exciting day designed to engage students and the community at large in future-forward thinking. Stay tuned for more details!

Location: Caloosa Sound Amphitheater
1375 Monroe St., Fort Myers, FL 33901

Attire: Casual

9:00 a.m.

Welcome

Priya Ahluwalia
Moaloo Ventures; Community Day Co-host

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2023 Edison Awards Speaker

Priya Ahluwalia

Priya is a true entrepreneur at heart. She serves as the Co-Founder of MoAloo Ventures. She is currently helping three tech-startups launch in the market - PlateRate (a food tech startup), Linguiyo (an Ed-Tech startup), and Shandoka (an electric motorcycle startup). She is also a language professor in Hindi and Mandarin. She loves traveling, trying new wines, and discussing space exploration.

Katie Linendoll
TV Personality, Consumer Technology Expert; Community Day Co-host

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2023 Edison Awards Gala Host

Katie Linendoll

As one of the most in-demand technology experts worldwide, Linendoll is recognized by a wide-range of audiences for her reporting and frequent appearances as a regular expert contributor for major media outlets including The TODAY Show, The Rachael Ray Show and numerous other outlets including The Weather Channel, CBS Sports Radio, Robert Irvine Magazine, and more.

In addition to frequent live, in-studio media appearances, Linendoll runs her own production company which allows her to shoot, produce, and edit her own tech news stories in some of the most exotic and extreme locations—ranging from a remote community in the Philippines in the wake of Super Typhoon Haiyan to NASA’s zero-gravity training lab 63-feet underwater off the coast of the Florida Keys. Linendoll’s cutting-edge technology stories have been featured as TV and digital segments and series on The Weather Channel, Popular Science, and Sports Illustrated to name a few.

Linendoll is one of the first women in tech to make significant contributions to the industry, starting her career at the age of 12 when she began coding and earning networking certifications before graduating from high school. Linendoll went on to receive a degree in Information Technology New Media from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Following graduation, she began working behind-the-scenes in production for ESPN where she won an Emmy Award for her work on SportsCenter and later contributed more than 60 written and digital pieces as a sports tech expert. Following her work at ESPN, Linendoll was nominated for a second Emmy Award for her work as a co-host on A&E’s We Mean Business, a reality show designed to help revamp small businesses across the country.

During her career, Linendoll has hosted more than a dozen shows and series focused on technology and innovation and has also been named a special correspondent at major tech conferences including Comic-Con, CES, E3, Toy Fair, and Maker Faire. She is frequently booked as an emcee and keynote speaker at major corporate events with top international brands including IBM, Dell, Global Semiconductor Alliance, Lenovo, Deloitte, QuickBooks, Intel, Mercedes-Benz, SAS, Kronos, Society of Manufacturing Engineers, The Outdoor Association, Teradata, and GE to name a few.

Linendoll is a Silicon Valley Visionary Award Recipient, which celebrates Silicon Valley leaders in technology, education, venture capital, and entrepreneurship. Alongside her two Emmy nominations, and one win, Linendoll also holds a Guinness World Record for the “Most High Fives in One Minute”.

Linendoll calls Boston and NYC home. She leads an active, faith-filled lifestyle as a runner, fitness enthusiast, musician, and avid traveler. She also devotes a large percentage of her time to select philanthropic causes in healthcare, tech & US Veterans.

9:15 a.m.

Young Edison Challenge

9:50 a.m.

Inspiration Stories from Pro-athletes

10:20 a.m.

Audience Perspective: What Is Your Vision for the Future of Fort Myers?

10:35 a.m.

Pro-Athlete ‘Shark Tank’ Pitch Panel

11:15 a.m.

Leadership Interview

11:30 a.m.

Demonstrations + Entertainment

12:30 p.m.

Closing Remarks