Thought Leaders

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Mouli Venkatesan

Mouli Venkatesan

Senior Vice President & CIO - Optumhealth & Enterprise Clinical Technology

Innovation means constantly learning from experiences of the past and using those as guideposts and insights to invent a better future—in this case, to make the health care system serve everyone better. Innovation can mean many things. I look at Innovation using a lens of small “i” and BIG “I”...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

JOSE ESPINOZA

FOUNDER OF MOVE THE NEEDLE, LLC

Daysi Gardenia Bernita, migrated to the USA in the pursuit of the American Dream with her six month old son in tote. Though a successful engineer in her native country of Ecuador, the language barrier and need to provide for her son and family back home, relegated her to being...

INNOVATE® Nashville

DR. GREG JONES

DR. GREG JONES

PRESIDENT, BELMONT UNIVERSITY

Social innovation—the opportunity to leverage creativity and innovation to solve complex problems and help people and communities thrive—is often associated with entrepreneurs or singular individuals. Though this is true and is certainly one aspect of the formula that leads to meaningful impact, it isn’t the full story. The reality is...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

THERESA A LYONS

FOUNDER, LYONS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

A LEGACY IN THE MAKINGOur clients are the heartbeat of our existence. They remind us why we chose this path. They are the reason we fight, innovate, and care. We carry their battles as if they were our own because, in truth, they are. The discipline of law falls under...

INNOVATE® Nashville

LAURIE OSWALD

CEO, INTERAWORKS AND CO-FOUNDER, BEST YEAR YET FOUNDATION

LEADING THE NEXT WAVE IN BUSINESSWe are in a huge change moment equal to the Renaissance and the Industrial revolution. The way we have always done business cannot continue to work in this new environment. The focus must move away from expecting employees to serve the company with no reciprocity...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

KEISHA HOWARD

KEISHA HOWARD

FOUNDER, SUGAR GAMERS

Pursuing your dreamsThe gaming industry faces a stumbling block. Playing (and making) games isn’t the only goal of the industry. The gaming industry is Big Business with entrenched systems, processes, and structures. Today’s gaming space inspires and connects people in more ways than ever before and has the power to...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

PHIL RANTA

PHIL RANTA

CEO, WORMHOLE LABS

ESPORTS ISN’T A SPORT, IT’S THE IDEA OF SPORTSSince the birth of video games, we’ve played to win. It began with high scores and simple 1v1 games, progressed through games with an objective of story completion and now, finally, an online free-for-all where a kid in Japan and an adult...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

FLORIAN VILLAUMÉ

CEO, TECHNL

Innovation in technology often conjures images of sprawling metropolises like Silicon Valley—a beacon of transformation where ideas scale into industry-defining movements. But technology thrives where it’s least expected, and I am proud to say Newfoundland and Labrador has earned its place in that conversation. With a population of just 545,000,...

INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada

OWEN SAGNESS

CEO, DIGITAL NOVA SCOTIA (DNS)

Introduction The digital sector is experiencing an unprecedented demand for skilled professionals, creating a significant talent gap. Traditional education pathways alone are no longer sufficient to meet this demand. In early2024, Digital Nova Scotia surveyed our members and produced the2024 Digital Nova Scotia Workforce Survey. This survey highlights a promising...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

RENÉ LASSERON

CEO, FIENTA

I still remember the scrappy early days of Fienta. There was no office to unlock in the morning, there weren’t even salaries to draw. There were just two of us, an idea, and all the determination we could muster. Those lean beginnings taught me a lesson I still live by:...

INNOVATE® Phoenix

Joan Koerber-Walker

Joan Koerber-Walker

President & CEO - Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. (AZBio)

Arizona is home to one of the fastest growing life science sectors in the country. The Greater Phoenix Area is at the center of the action and holds the greatest concentration of life science and healthcare innovators in the state. Health innovations are born as discoveries, are shaped, tested, and...

VOICES of the Future

JOSE CORDEIRO

THE DEATH OF DEATH

José Cordeiro passionately advocates for a future where aging is not an inevitability but a curable condition. His journey, marked by a relentless pursuit of scientific understanding and technological innovation, is a beacon of inspiration in an era increasingly focused on health and longevity. Our conversation illuminatingly delves into longevity,...

INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2

Fred Niemans

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...

VOICES of the Future

AMNAH AJMAL

LEADING WITH HEART

Amnah Ajmal’s ascent to global corporate leadership is nothing short of riveting. She shines as Mastercard’s Executive Vice President, Market Development, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, covering 80 countries, and embodies the essence of inspiration. This conversation unveils her remarkable path through the ranks, highlighting a relentless pursuit of...

INNOVATE® Detroit

RYAN LANDAU

FOUNDER AND CEO OF PURPOSE JOBS

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic brought on an irreversible shift in the recruiting industry. Of course the sudden move to remote work (and for some, the eventual transition back to the office) turned the way startups hire on its head. But there was an even greater shift that...

INNOVATE® South Carolina

Andrew Strickland

Co-Founder & CEO, Code/+/Trust

At Code and Trust, we partner with founders, corporations, and government teams to challenge assumptions, move fast, and build software that drives real impact. My career has centered around one core belief: great ideas don’t fail because they aren’t good, they fail because they aren’t executed well. To me, innovation...

INNOVATE® Nashville

NATALIE M. CURCIO

NATALIE M. CURCIO

M.D., M.P.H., M.M.H.C.CEO & FOUNDER, CURCIO DERMATOLOGY, P.C

My late father will always be my original mentor and the embodiment of everything I have wanted to be…a successful doctor and business professional with a limitless heart for caring for others, an unending passion for giving to those less fortunate, and an unbounded love of being a parent. Losing...

INNOVATE® Nashville

ALEX SEVILLA

VICE PROVOST VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

It is the promise of innovation that brought me to Nashville and to Vanderbilt University. I was hired in August of 2021 to serve as Vanderbilt’s first Vice Provost for Career Advancement and Engagement. There were many elements of this opportunity which were attractive: joining a pre – eminent global...

INNOVATE® New Jersey Vol.2

JUDITH SHEFT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSIT

Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation EcosystemAcross the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

Luis Rocha Antunes

Luis Rocha Antunes

Managing Director, Acacia Point Capital Advisors - Portugal

The expansion of the world economy in the pre-pandemic period heightened efforts from companies looking to attract the best talent to provide an appealing workspace environment. Design, service, sustainability and experience became core requirements for the most successful and ambitious companies.The real estate industry responded and is evolving from simply...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Amy Fisher

Amy Fisher

Vice president - Padilla

BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERS, ONE BRAND AT A TIME Innovation has been described as a business strategy, a brand value, even an organizational characteristic. It implies continuous ideation, creativity, and execution based on an ability to understand and meet the needs of customers, employees, investors, and other key stakeholders. Innovation is...

INNOVATE® Nashville

MATT FORBUSH

FOUNDER OF ZIGY

Zigy was born out of the simple yet often overlooked truth that a business’s success lives or dies at the frontline. While executives may set the strategy, it’s the employees at the counter, on the floor, or behind the wheel who determine whether customers return, sales grow, and brands thrive....

VOICES of the Future

KIARA KAUR

A YOUNG VISIONARY’S MESSAGE FOR TOMORROW

As I engage in conversation with Kiara Kaur, the air fills with an electrifying sense of the future. At just seven years old, Kiara, a prodigious talent and a beacon of hope, articulates her vision with the clarity and passion of a seasoned leader. Her achievements are staggering: the world’s...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

JEFF DESJARDINS

FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VISUAL CAPITALIST

In the media landscape, technology has been the ultimate disruptor—creating several inflection points that have changed the scope of reach for content and business models. To put the evolution of our industry and its future roadmap into perspective, we can take a closer look at the three waves of media....

Mouli Venkatesan

Mouli Venkatesan

Senior Vice President & CIO - Optumhealth & Enterprise Clinical Technology

Innovation means constantly learning from experiences of the past and using those as guideposts and insights to invent a better future—in this case, to make the health care system serve everyone better. Innovation can mean many things. I look at Innovation using a lens of small “i” and BIG “I”...

JOSE ESPINOZA

FOUNDER OF MOVE THE NEEDLE, LLC

Daysi Gardenia Bernita, migrated to the USA in the pursuit of the American Dream with her six month old son in tote. Though a successful engineer in her native country of Ecuador, the language barrier and need to provide for her son and family back home, relegated her to being...

DR. GREG JONES

DR. GREG JONES

PRESIDENT, BELMONT UNIVERSITY

Social innovation—the opportunity to leverage creativity and innovation to solve complex problems and help people and communities thrive—is often associated with entrepreneurs or singular individuals. Though this is true and is certainly one aspect of the formula that leads to meaningful impact, it isn’t the full story. The reality is...

THERESA A LYONS

FOUNDER, LYONS & ASSOCIATES, P.C.

A LEGACY IN THE MAKINGOur clients are the heartbeat of our existence. They remind us why we chose this path. They are the reason we fight, innovate, and care. We carry their battles as if they were our own because, in truth, they are. The discipline of law falls under...

LAURIE OSWALD

CEO, INTERAWORKS AND CO-FOUNDER, BEST YEAR YET FOUNDATION

LEADING THE NEXT WAVE IN BUSINESSWe are in a huge change moment equal to the Renaissance and the Industrial revolution. The way we have always done business cannot continue to work in this new environment. The focus must move away from expecting employees to serve the company with no reciprocity...

KEISHA HOWARD

KEISHA HOWARD

FOUNDER, SUGAR GAMERS

Pursuing your dreamsThe gaming industry faces a stumbling block. Playing (and making) games isn’t the only goal of the industry. The gaming industry is Big Business with entrenched systems, processes, and structures. Today’s gaming space inspires and connects people in more ways than ever before and has the power to...

PHIL RANTA

PHIL RANTA

CEO, WORMHOLE LABS

ESPORTS ISN’T A SPORT, IT’S THE IDEA OF SPORTSSince the birth of video games, we’ve played to win. It began with high scores and simple 1v1 games, progressed through games with an objective of story completion and now, finally, an online free-for-all where a kid in Japan and an adult...

FLORIAN VILLAUMÉ

CEO, TECHNL

Innovation in technology often conjures images of sprawling metropolises like Silicon Valley—a beacon of transformation where ideas scale into industry-defining movements. But technology thrives where it’s least expected, and I am proud to say Newfoundland and Labrador has earned its place in that conversation. With a population of just 545,000,...

OWEN SAGNESS

CEO, DIGITAL NOVA SCOTIA (DNS)

Introduction The digital sector is experiencing an unprecedented demand for skilled professionals, creating a significant talent gap. Traditional education pathways alone are no longer sufficient to meet this demand. In early2024, Digital Nova Scotia surveyed our members and produced the2024 Digital Nova Scotia Workforce Survey. This survey highlights a promising...

RENÉ LASSERON

CEO, FIENTA

I still remember the scrappy early days of Fienta. There was no office to unlock in the morning, there weren’t even salaries to draw. There were just two of us, an idea, and all the determination we could muster. Those lean beginnings taught me a lesson I still live by:...

Joan Koerber-Walker

Joan Koerber-Walker

President & CEO - Arizona Bioindustry Association, Inc. (AZBio)

Arizona is home to one of the fastest growing life science sectors in the country. The Greater Phoenix Area is at the center of the action and holds the greatest concentration of life science and healthcare innovators in the state. Health innovations are born as discoveries, are shaped, tested, and...

JOSE CORDEIRO

THE DEATH OF DEATH

José Cordeiro passionately advocates for a future where aging is not an inevitability but a curable condition. His journey, marked by a relentless pursuit of scientific understanding and technological innovation, is a beacon of inspiration in an era increasingly focused on health and longevity. Our conversation illuminatingly delves into longevity,...

Fred Niemans

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...

AMNAH AJMAL

LEADING WITH HEART

Amnah Ajmal’s ascent to global corporate leadership is nothing short of riveting. She shines as Mastercard’s Executive Vice President, Market Development, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, covering 80 countries, and embodies the essence of inspiration. This conversation unveils her remarkable path through the ranks, highlighting a relentless pursuit of...

RYAN LANDAU

FOUNDER AND CEO OF PURPOSE JOBS

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic brought on an irreversible shift in the recruiting industry. Of course the sudden move to remote work (and for some, the eventual transition back to the office) turned the way startups hire on its head. But there was an even greater shift that...

Andrew Strickland

Co-Founder & CEO, Code/+/Trust

At Code and Trust, we partner with founders, corporations, and government teams to challenge assumptions, move fast, and build software that drives real impact. My career has centered around one core belief: great ideas don’t fail because they aren’t good, they fail because they aren’t executed well. To me, innovation...

NATALIE M. CURCIO

NATALIE M. CURCIO

M.D., M.P.H., M.M.H.C.CEO & FOUNDER, CURCIO DERMATOLOGY, P.C

My late father will always be my original mentor and the embodiment of everything I have wanted to be…a successful doctor and business professional with a limitless heart for caring for others, an unending passion for giving to those less fortunate, and an unbounded love of being a parent. Losing...

ALEX SEVILLA

VICE PROVOST VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY

It is the promise of innovation that brought me to Nashville and to Vanderbilt University. I was hired in August of 2021 to serve as Vanderbilt’s first Vice Provost for Career Advancement and Engagement. There were many elements of this opportunity which were attractive: joining a pre – eminent global...

JUDITH SHEFT

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CSIT

Jump Into New Jersey’s Innovation EcosystemAcross the globe, countries are seeking to harness the power of the invention to innovation pipeline to drive economic growth and address a wide range of societal issues including national security, health, inequity, education, and environmental challenges. It is estimated that 85% of a country’s...

Luis Rocha Antunes

Luis Rocha Antunes

Managing Director, Acacia Point Capital Advisors - Portugal

The expansion of the world economy in the pre-pandemic period heightened efforts from companies looking to attract the best talent to provide an appealing workspace environment. Design, service, sustainability and experience became core requirements for the most successful and ambitious companies.The real estate industry responded and is evolving from simply...

Amy Fisher

Amy Fisher

Vice president - Padilla

BUILDING THOUGHT LEADERS, ONE BRAND AT A TIME Innovation has been described as a business strategy, a brand value, even an organizational characteristic. It implies continuous ideation, creativity, and execution based on an ability to understand and meet the needs of customers, employees, investors, and other key stakeholders. Innovation is...

MATT FORBUSH

FOUNDER OF ZIGY

Zigy was born out of the simple yet often overlooked truth that a business’s success lives or dies at the frontline. While executives may set the strategy, it’s the employees at the counter, on the floor, or behind the wheel who determine whether customers return, sales grow, and brands thrive....

KIARA KAUR

A YOUNG VISIONARY’S MESSAGE FOR TOMORROW

As I engage in conversation with Kiara Kaur, the air fills with an electrifying sense of the future. At just seven years old, Kiara, a prodigious talent and a beacon of hope, articulates her vision with the clarity and passion of a seasoned leader. Her achievements are staggering: the world’s...

JEFF DESJARDINS

FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VISUAL CAPITALIST

In the media landscape, technology has been the ultimate disruptor—creating several inflection points that have changed the scope of reach for content and business models. To put the evolution of our industry and its future roadmap into perspective, we can take a closer look at the three waves of media....

INNOVATE® Ecosystems