Thought Leaders
INNOVATE® Philadelphia
David Neff
Founder: Neff Associates
In 1987, David Neff founded Neff Associates, an award-winning, full-service marketing agency. Specializing in branding, advertising, media buying and planning, public relations and social media, Neff Associates services clients across a diverse group of industries including real estate, hospitality, tourism, technology, entertainment, retail, B2B, banking and education. As a results-driven...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
PATRIK STRÖMBERG
PHD MBA, CEO AT ANACARDIO
I have spent my entire career in Stockholm’s vibrant Life Science innovation space, with renowned universities, great scientists, and companies. After attaining a PhD in Biochemistry from Karolinska Institutet, I have held various positions within R&D and corporate development at Astra Zeneca and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi), such as Vice...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
TOM LAVEREN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VOKA - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MECHELEN-KEMPEN
The Mechelen-Kempen region is ideally located between the port and the airport and close to the two big metropolises of Brussels and Antwerp. It is a place where it is good to live, work and do business. Where craftsmanship is a brand. The region is booming and many fine and...
INNOVATION Quebec
JESSE VINCENT HERSCOVICI
PDG, AXELYS
Qu’elles soient petites ou grandes, elles doivent faire face à une concurrence féroce dans un environnement instable. Dans ce contexte, l’élaboration d’une stratégie de PI permet de tracer une trajectoire vers le marché. Bien que cette dernière soit un sujet d’actualité dans le monde des affaires, elle reste trop souvent...
INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1
Jenn Foster
CEO - Elite Online Publishing
We often hear about the groundbreaking moment that inspires people, but for me, it was a series of moments that guided me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit; it runs in my blood. My grandfather and father were wonderful examples of leadership and the freedom that owning a company brings....
INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2
Jeanette Jackson
CEO, Foresight CAC: Canada’s Future Economy is Innovative, Green and Cleantech Dri
The Economy is Transforming As the world shifts into a zero-emission sustainable economy, there will be a transformation of the entire infrastructure of our society. Canada has a role to play in this shift, and I believe British Columbia should take a profound and pivotable leadership role in this transition....
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
Fred Niemans
PRESIDENT, WORLD TRADE CENTER ANTWERP
It’s not the strongest species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent one. It’s the species that has the ability to cope with drastic changes. That’s Darwinism in a nutshell. His ‘survival of the fittest’… also applies to the corporate ecosystem. Agility reduces fragility: the companies and organisations that...
INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath
Andy Salmon
Professor, Pro-Vice- Chancellor External
‘THOUSANDS HAVE LIVED WITHOUT LOVE, NOT ONE WITHOUT WATER.’ (W.H. Auden, First Things First) As someone whose life has been spent on the innovative interface between education and the creative industries, I have always been fascinated by the relationships between what we need and what we want – ‘love’ or...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
DR. FIONA KERR
CEO AND FOUNDER, THE NEUROTECH INSTITUTE
With expertise in engineering, the cognitive sciences, and anthropology, I delight in looking at innovation from both a technological and a human perspective, and am fascinated by the intricacies of the process, and how two aspects greatly impact its scope and quality. One is the benefit of deeply understanding the...
INNOVATE® St. Louis
Brandon Dempsey
Husband, Father, Adventurer, Entrepreneur, Author, Professor, & Global non-profit leader - Gobrandgo!
Brandon spends his time traveling the world from the back of a BMW motorcycle and adventuring with his family. When he’s not adventuring, you will find him running a marketing agency that serves mid market manufacturing companies, working with high school kids exploring entrepreneurship, teaching marketing strategy courses at Washington...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
Melissa Bradley
Professor of the Practice, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
Melissa Bradley is a professor of the practice at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economics, and innovation. Since graduating from Georgetown McDonough in 1989 with a B.S. in finance, Bradley has remained passionate about preserving the strength of the American financial...
INNOVATE™ Kitchener Waterloo
RUTH CASSELMAN
CEO, ACCELERATOR CENTRE
Before I became the CEO of the Accelerator Centre, before I joined the board of the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), I was a founder. I co-founded Alert Labs with a simple but ambitious goal: to help buildings save water, operate more efficiently, and reduce risk through smart technology. Like...
INNOVATE® Nashville
TYSON BICKLEY
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP
I’ve spent the better part of two decades as a partner at a large law firm, advising founders, boards and investors on mergers and acquisitions, growth equity financings, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. My practice centers on innovation – helping companies that are building for the future navigate the...
INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1
Neal Bloom
Founder - Fresh Brewed Tech
Neal Bloom Founder – Fresh Brewed Tech In San Diego many different industry clusters are contributing to and benefiting from force multiplying through collaboration. That is one of San Diego’s great strengths – collaboration. In a community that is commonly described as having a ‘give before you get’ mentality, we...
INNOVATE® Seattle
EMER DOOLEY
PHD, MBA, CREATIVE DESTRUCTION LAB (CDL), UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
Yet only a small fraction of these ideas, inventions, and potentially game-changing solutions ever make it off campus. Institutions likethe University of Washington have a responsibility to help more of them make it out into the world. Human health, the environment, theeconomy, and society depend on it. In this spirit,...
INNOVATE™ Stockholm
KATARINA GOSPIC
CO-FOUNDER, EDSVÄRD
FROM STRAWBERRIES TO THE STATES One of my first memories from when I was about 4-years old is about strawberries. I used to close my eyes and imagined one, then another. This little thought experiment was something I became obsessed with. I wanted to be like Lucky Luke, faster than...
INNOVATE® Orlando
MEGHAN WOLFGRAM
CEO OF SWIFTPAWS
Any founder can recall times when they’ve been faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, and know the experience of truly questioning themselves and their idea. In these moments, I’ve found two things in my personal startup journey that keeps me pushing forward. The first is an unwavering belief in my business....
VOICES of the Future
DK SUGIYAMA
BRIDGING WORLDS: FROM TOKYO TO THE FUTURE
DK Sugiyama’s journey across continents shapes his vision of tomorrow. Our dialogue explores the profound insights of a man whose life story reads like a blueprint for global connectivity and cultural integration. Born in Tokyo and having spent his formative years in New York, DK’s current focus is on Dubai,...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
JAMES KEIRSTEAD
CO-CHAIR, EDMONTON REGIONAL INNOVATION NETWORK (ERIN)
INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND CREATIVITYExperience has taught me that innovation is not just about creating something new, it also includes making improvements to existing products or systems. It is about taking a creative approach to problem solving and producing solutions that are unique, interesting, and useful. Innovation and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand...
INNOVATE® Austin Volume 2
Eric Simone
CEO and CO-FOUNDER
EARLY INTERNET – SAN FRANCISCO, CA (1994 – 2003)As a kid in the early 80’s when I was obsessed with my Apple computer, my eyes were opened to the power of software. After an early start at IBM, I became an entrepreneur and moved to San Francisco. While my first...
INNOVATION Quebec
PRÉFACE DE MURIELLE LABERGE
RECTRICE DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC EN OUTAOUAIS
L’innovation est intrinsèquement liée à la recherche constante d’amélioration. Elle requiert un esprit créatif et agile pour se concrétiser. C’est cet état d’esprit qui pousse les individus en quête de l’amélioration du bien-être et de la création d’un monde meilleur à se consacrer aux innovations sociales fondées sur des valeurs...
INNOVATE™ Flanders
FRANÇOIS DE VRIENDT
OWNER OF NEW VALMAR
Perspectives on InnovationTo thrive in today’s competitive business landscape, SMES must embrace automation and streamline all its processes to ensure cost-effectiveness and compatibility with other players in the market. At New Valmar, we understand this well and have made significant investments in cutting edge technologies that augment our Enterprise Resource...
INNOVATE® Utah
Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen
Founding Director - Orin r. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics
Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen, Founding Director – Orin r. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics Dr. Susan R. Madsen is the Orin R. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University and also the Founding Director of the Utah Women &...
INNOVATE™ Adelaide
KUBA KABACINSKI
OWNER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF CONSUNET.
My parents brought me to Adelaide from Poland at age 12, attracted by the Australian national values of freedom, respect, equality and a fair go. At age 21, while completing my Information Technology studies at Flinders University, a friend and I bought a fledgling web development business for $200. Nearly...
David Neff
Founder: Neff Associates
In 1987, David Neff founded Neff Associates, an award-winning, full-service marketing agency. Specializing in branding, advertising, media buying and planning, public relations and social media, Neff Associates services clients across a diverse group of industries including real estate, hospitality, tourism, technology, entertainment, retail, B2B, banking and education. As a results-driven...
PATRIK STRÖMBERG
PHD MBA, CEO AT ANACARDIO
I have spent my entire career in Stockholm’s vibrant Life Science innovation space, with renowned universities, great scientists, and companies. After attaining a PhD in Biochemistry from Karolinska Institutet, I have held various positions within R&D and corporate development at Astra Zeneca and Swedish Orphan Biovitrum (Sobi), such as Vice...
TOM LAVEREN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER VOKA - CHAMBER OF COMMERCE MECHELEN-KEMPEN
The Mechelen-Kempen region is ideally located between the port and the airport and close to the two big metropolises of Brussels and Antwerp. It is a place where it is good to live, work and do business. Where craftsmanship is a brand. The region is booming and many fine and...
JESSE VINCENT HERSCOVICI
PDG, AXELYS
Qu’elles soient petites ou grandes, elles doivent faire face à une concurrence féroce dans un environnement instable. Dans ce contexte, l’élaboration d’une stratégie de PI permet de tracer une trajectoire vers le marché. Bien que cette dernière soit un sujet d’actualité dans le monde des affaires, elle reste trop souvent...
Jenn Foster
CEO - Elite Online Publishing
We often hear about the groundbreaking moment that inspires people, but for me, it was a series of moments that guided me. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit; it runs in my blood. My grandfather and father were wonderful examples of leadership and the freedom that owning a company brings....
Jeanette Jackson
CEO, Foresight CAC: Canada’s Future Economy is Innovative, Green and Cleantech Dri
The Economy is Transforming As the world shifts into a zero-emission sustainable economy, there will be a transformation of the entire infrastructure of our society. Canada has a role to play in this shift, and I believe British Columbia should take a profound and pivotable leadership role in this transition....
Fred Niemans
PRESIDENT, WORLD TRADE CENTER ANTWERP
It’s not the strongest species that survives, nor is it the most intelligent one. It’s the species that has the ability to cope with drastic changes. That’s Darwinism in a nutshell. His ‘survival of the fittest’… also applies to the corporate ecosystem. Agility reduces fragility: the companies and organisations that...
Andy Salmon
Professor, Pro-Vice- Chancellor External
‘THOUSANDS HAVE LIVED WITHOUT LOVE, NOT ONE WITHOUT WATER.’ (W.H. Auden, First Things First) As someone whose life has been spent on the innovative interface between education and the creative industries, I have always been fascinated by the relationships between what we need and what we want – ‘love’ or...
DR. FIONA KERR
CEO AND FOUNDER, THE NEUROTECH INSTITUTE
With expertise in engineering, the cognitive sciences, and anthropology, I delight in looking at innovation from both a technological and a human perspective, and am fascinated by the intricacies of the process, and how two aspects greatly impact its scope and quality. One is the benefit of deeply understanding the...
Brandon Dempsey
Husband, Father, Adventurer, Entrepreneur, Author, Professor, & Global non-profit leader - Gobrandgo!
Brandon spends his time traveling the world from the back of a BMW motorcycle and adventuring with his family. When he’s not adventuring, you will find him running a marketing agency that serves mid market manufacturing companies, working with high school kids exploring entrepreneurship, teaching marketing strategy courses at Washington...
Melissa Bradley
Professor of the Practice, Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business
Melissa Bradley is a professor of the practice at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, where she teaches impact investing, social entrepreneurship, P2P economics, and innovation. Since graduating from Georgetown McDonough in 1989 with a B.S. in finance, Bradley has remained passionate about preserving the strength of the American financial...
RUTH CASSELMAN
CEO, ACCELERATOR CENTRE
Before I became the CEO of the Accelerator Centre, before I joined the board of the Golden Triangle Angel Network (GTAN), I was a founder. I co-founded Alert Labs with a simple but ambitious goal: to help buildings save water, operate more efficiently, and reduce risk through smart technology. Like...
TYSON BICKLEY
HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP
I’ve spent the better part of two decades as a partner at a large law firm, advising founders, boards and investors on mergers and acquisitions, growth equity financings, joint ventures and other strategic transactions. My practice centers on innovation – helping companies that are building for the future navigate the...
Neal Bloom
Founder - Fresh Brewed Tech
Neal Bloom Founder – Fresh Brewed Tech In San Diego many different industry clusters are contributing to and benefiting from force multiplying through collaboration. That is one of San Diego’s great strengths – collaboration. In a community that is commonly described as having a ‘give before you get’ mentality, we...
EMER DOOLEY
PHD, MBA, CREATIVE DESTRUCTION LAB (CDL), UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON.
Yet only a small fraction of these ideas, inventions, and potentially game-changing solutions ever make it off campus. Institutions likethe University of Washington have a responsibility to help more of them make it out into the world. Human health, the environment, theeconomy, and society depend on it. In this spirit,...
KATARINA GOSPIC
CO-FOUNDER, EDSVÄRD
FROM STRAWBERRIES TO THE STATES One of my first memories from when I was about 4-years old is about strawberries. I used to close my eyes and imagined one, then another. This little thought experiment was something I became obsessed with. I wanted to be like Lucky Luke, faster than...
MEGHAN WOLFGRAM
CEO OF SWIFTPAWS
Any founder can recall times when they’ve been faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges, and know the experience of truly questioning themselves and their idea. In these moments, I’ve found two things in my personal startup journey that keeps me pushing forward. The first is an unwavering belief in my business....
DK SUGIYAMA
BRIDGING WORLDS: FROM TOKYO TO THE FUTURE
DK Sugiyama’s journey across continents shapes his vision of tomorrow. Our dialogue explores the profound insights of a man whose life story reads like a blueprint for global connectivity and cultural integration. Born in Tokyo and having spent his formative years in New York, DK’s current focus is on Dubai,...
JAMES KEIRSTEAD
CO-CHAIR, EDMONTON REGIONAL INNOVATION NETWORK (ERIN)
INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND CREATIVITYExperience has taught me that innovation is not just about creating something new, it also includes making improvements to existing products or systems. It is about taking a creative approach to problem solving and producing solutions that are unique, interesting, and useful. Innovation and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand...
PRÉFACE DE MURIELLE LABERGE
RECTRICE DE L’UNIVERSITÉ DU QUÉBEC EN OUTAOUAIS
L’innovation est intrinsèquement liée à la recherche constante d’amélioration. Elle requiert un esprit créatif et agile pour se concrétiser. C’est cet état d’esprit qui pousse les individus en quête de l’amélioration du bien-être et de la création d’un monde meilleur à se consacrer aux innovations sociales fondées sur des valeurs...
FRANÇOIS DE VRIENDT
OWNER OF NEW VALMAR
Perspectives on InnovationTo thrive in today’s competitive business landscape, SMES must embrace automation and streamline all its processes to ensure cost-effectiveness and compatibility with other players in the market. At New Valmar, we understand this well and have made significant investments in cutting edge technologies that augment our Enterprise Resource...
Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen
Founding Director - Orin r. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics
Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen, Founding Director – Orin r. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics Dr. Susan R. Madsen is the Orin R. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University and also the Founding Director of the Utah Women &...
KUBA KABACINSKI
OWNER AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF CONSUNET.
My parents brought me to Adelaide from Poland at age 12, attracted by the Australian national values of freedom, respect, equality and a fair go. At age 21, while completing my Information Technology studies at Flinders University, a friend and I bought a fledgling web development business for $200. Nearly...