The premier MBA networking and empowerment event of the Pacific Northwest
The PNW MBA 2021 Conference brings together a vibrant community of business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and MBA students.
This year's theme is Ideating in the Time of Uncertainty.
Attendees will get a chance to learn, network, and go home with inspirational insights, lasting connections, and an enhanced appreciation of the corporate world.
Innovation
Get inspired by innovative entrepreneurs, talented people managers, and MBA alumni who have leveraged their degrees to change the trajectory of their careers.
1Networking
Connect with business leaders, entrepreneurs and MBA candidates, and alumni across the region to find common passion and create a long-lasting connection.
2Ideation
Build tangible skills in ideation through a mix of speaker sessions, panel discussion, and mentoring sessions scheduled throughout the conference experience.
3
Meet our Keynote Speaker
Dr. Fariba Alamdari
Former VP at Boeing and TEDx Speaker
Former VP at Boeing and TEDx Speaker
In the last 30 years Fariba has worked closely with aerospace companies to help make them more profitable, productive and innovative. In addition to publishing more than 70 articles and reports, she has chaired and spoken at many international conferences. She is also a frequent speaker on the importance of diversity and inclusion.
Read more
Dr. Fariba Alamdari
Former VP Marketing Strategy, VP Leadership and Learning at Boeing
Fariba has 30 years of senior executive leadership in the global aviation and aerospace industries. For over a decade, Fariba led Marketing for the Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. In 2018, she was asked to take the role of Corporate Vice President leading the development and execution of new Customer and Talent Leadership Development programs for The Boeing Company. In 2006, Fariba was recruited from Cranfield University in the UK where she served as the Chair of Department of Air Transport, and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Manufacturing and Science where she taught and mentored many of the airline industry executives of today.
She is currently a member of OLI Global, an executive consortium offering consultancy and advisory to the aerospace and space market.
She is also a senior leadership consultant with Inside-Out Learning Inc.
She is internationally known and is highly respected business leader with a global mindset and coaching leadership style focused on achieving results based on trust and respect for all.
In the last 30 years she has worked closely with aerospace companies to help make them more profitable, productive and innovative. In addition to publishing more than 70 articles and reports, she has chaired and spoken at many international conferences. She is also a frequent speaker on the importance of diversity and inclusion. She did a Tedx talk on the “Power of Diversity” in 2017.
Fariba is recipient of awards including: “Woman of the Year” by Air Transport News, "Ellis Island Medal of Honor“ from The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations (NECO), "Leadership Award” from the Centre for Women & Democracy, the “Professional Achievement Award’ from Women of Color, “Professional Practice Recognition Award” from State University of New York in, and “Sorenson Best Paper Award” for the paper on “Marketing to Female Business Travelers”.
She has served as the Chair of the Chancellor Advisory Board of University of Washington Bothell, currently serves on the Advisory Board of Center for Leadership & Strategic Thinking, Foster School of Business, University of Washington. She has served on the Board of the Boeing Leadership Development Excellence, NeighborCare Health, and British American Business Council in Washington State.
Fariba received a PhD, an honorary Doctor of Science and a Master degree from Cranfield University in the UK. Fariba resides in Bellevue, Washington with her husband, and has a son and a daughter.
Meet our Evening Keynote Fireside Chat
Heather Redman
Co-Founder of Flying Fish Partners
Co-Founder of Flying Fish Partners
Heather is Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish Partners, a venture firm investing in artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics companies. She serves on the boards of Beneficial State Bank (Lead Independent Director and member Audit & Technology Committees), Coldstream Holdings Inc., Greater Seattle Metropolitan Chamber (past Chair), Washington Technology Industry Association (Chair), Technology Alliance, the Ruckelshaus Center, and as a Regent of the Washington State University.
Read more
Heather Redman, J.D.
Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish Partnersg
Heather is Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Flying Fish Partners, a venture firm investing in artificial intelligence,
machine learning and robotics companies. She serves on the boards of Beneficial State Bank
(Lead Independent Director and member Audit & Technology Committees), Coldstream Holdings Inc.,
Greater Seattle Metropolitan Chamber (past Chair), Washington Technology Industry Association (Chair),
Technology Alliance, the Ruckelshaus Center, and as a Regent of the Washington State University.
She serves on the executive committee of the Global EIR Coalition, the governing advisory board of the Hawthorn Club, the Connector Board of NCWIT, the advisory board of iInovate, and as a mentor at Techstars. She was named to the 2020 Power 100 and 2019 Director of the Year by the Puget Sound Business Journal. Heather is active in local and national policy and politics. She speaks and writes frequently on a variety of topics. She holds a JD (with distinction) from Stanford and her BA from Reed.
Listen to the Speakers and Panelists
Akhtar Badshah
Founder and Chief Catalyst, Catalytic Innovators Group
Akhtar Badshah
Founder and Chief Catalyst, Catalytic Innovators Group
Dr. Akhtar Badshah is the Distinguished Practitioner and Associate Teaching Faculty at University of Washington,
and is the Founder and Chief Catalyst at Catalytic Innovators Group where he advises individuals and organizations
to catalyze their social and philanthropic investments. Akhtar is also the founder and curator of Accelerating Social
Transformation, a mid-career professional development certificate course on social impact.
Dr. Badshah led Microsoft’s
philanthropic efforts for ten years, where he administered the company's community investment and employee contributions.
Dr. Badshah is a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience in international development,
managing a corporate philanthropic program and co-founding a global nonprofit for social enterprise.
His new book Purpose Mindset: How Microsoft Inspires its Employees and Alumni to Change the World,
Harper Collins Leadership Series and Microsoft Alumni Network imprint.
Dr. Badshah serves on the boards of Microsoft Alumni Network, Global Washington, Restart Partners and The Indus Entrepreneurs, Seattle.
He is an accomplished artist and a doctoral graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. Badshah and family are very active philanthropists in the Seattle area.
Anu Arora
Leadership Coach
Anu Arora
Leadership Coach
Anu Arora is a Conscious Leadership expert, inspirational speaker and a Team and an Executive Coach.
Anu coaches leaders of high-tech companies, start-ups and educational institutions to identify core issues,
make the complex simple, and help them move past their blocks to create transformational results.
Anu is a masterful trainer and facilitator and runs workshops on a variety of career and leadership
growth topics including Mindfulness, Meditation, Happiness, Emotional Intelligence and Well-Being.
Anu has a masters in Aerospace Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology in India and has worked
on building helicopters for 7 years. She worked at Microsoft for 16 years building products and services through leading and coaching large teams.
Brandon Fleming
Chief Executive Officer at Chimerocyte Inc
Brandon Fleming
Chief Executive Officer at Chimerocyte Inc
Brandon leads the software development and commercialization at Chimerocyte,
a biotech company that is creating cutting edge cancer treatment diagnostics and therapies
for patients recovering from COVID-19. Evaluated late-stage biotech research to identify projects
that were a good fit for commercialization with the current product pipeline and communicated
analysis with strategic priorities resulting in financial backing.
Fleming background is in Applied Economic, Accounting, Strategy, and Sociology Frameworks to prescribe
strategies in startups in the Pacific Northwest and South East Asia.
He collaborated with and mentored 100+ entrepreneurs on topics of strategy,
product development, business models, idea validation, innovation assessment,
intellectual property, and career development using economic and strategic theories.
Carrie Morris
Vice President at Simplicity Consulting
Carrie Morris
Vice President, Client Services, marketing and Operations | Simplicity Consulting
Carrie is the Vice President of Client Services at Simplicity Consulting. She started her career in PR & communications at notable agencies like Waggener Edstrom and Edelman,
crafting creative narratives to shape perceptions for global tech and entertainment brands.
Carrie joined Simplicity’s leadership team in 2011 to help individuals and organizations achieve more.
Her strength, passion, and leadership helped land Simplicity on the Inc. 500/5000 Fastest-Growing Companies
list for five years running, and her focus on relationships has helped the company grow through referrals.
Outside of work, Carrie is the proud mom to twin teenage boys; founder and host of the Purpose Lounge podcast;
and an integrative-nutrition health coach who helps busy working moms thrive, not just survive.
Deldelp Medina
Executive Director at Black & Brown Founders
Deldelp Medina
Executive Director at Black & Brown Founders
Deldelp Medina has more than ten years of experience in Diversity and Inclusion, Design Thinking,
Product Market Fit, Lean Startup, scaling and investment strategy.
She brings her cross-cultural expertise engage in meeting the demographic shift.
Medina does this by identifying, pitching, structuring, relationship building, negotiating and creating close strategic partnerships.
Elizabeth Scallon
Award Winning Startup and Innovation Ecosystem Builder, Advisor & Speaker
Elizabeth Scallon
Award Winning Startup and Innovation Ecosystem Builder, Advisor & Speaker
Elizabeth is a scientist, mentor, and 15 year leader in scientific and technological innovation.
Known for a keen ability to locate disruptive and innovative technology, Elizabeth currently leads the Go To Market &
Operations for the Amazon Alexa Fund and Startups team. Here she is engaging ambient and immersive startup founders and
investors through startup programs, business development, and technical support. The Alexa Fund also provides up to $200
million in venture capital funding to fuel voice technology innovation.
Elizabeth led the launch of WeWork's startup and incubation arm, WeWork Labs in US West and LATAM, and previous to
WeWork Elizabeth led the team at CoMotion Labs at the University of Washington coaching and growing the robust bench of NW tech and biotech startups.
An out lesbian from before the L Word pilot episode, Elizabeth has a passion for spotlighting and developing
outsider voices. A tendency that aided her biotech startup team at VLST (her title: Head of Ops) grow to 50 employees and $35M in funding.
Obsessed with growth and knowledge, Elizabeth went from a degree in Biochemistry, to Georgetown's Global Executive MBA in Innovation,
Entrepreneurship, Emerging Markets. She was most recently invited to join the 2019 cohort of Harvard Business School's YALP
program which aims to develop leaders who understand cross-sector collaborations for shared prosperity and can implement them more
effectively and spread them more rapidly than in the past.
Erin Bailey Lake
Public Speaking & Presentation Skills Coach
Erin Bailey Lake
Public Speaking & Presentation Skills Coach
Have you ever sat through a presentation that was so boring, so dull, so useless, you thought:
I might actually die listening to this? Erin Bailey Lake’s expertise is fixing those presentations.
She and her mother own a company called “i-Cue" where they help presenters around the world deliver insightful,
interactive, effective speeches. Erin's elevator pitch includes 8 popular communication workshops teaching you
to get to the point – persuasively.
She lives in Amelia Island, FL with her beautiful wife, 3 stepchildren, and 7-month-old son.
Gaia Borgias
Director at Mobility Innovation Center
Gaia Borgias
Director at Mobility Innovation Center
Gaia Borgias runs the Mobility Innovation Center at the University of Washington.
Through her program, discrete public-private partnerships are established to produce
near-term innovation solutions for the transportation industry.
Previously, Ms. Borgias worked for the College of Engineering as Associate Director of
Industry & Foundation Relations, where she promoted faculty research for aerospace and
space applications as well as advanced manufacturing and robotics.
Her career has included professional roles in advertising, manufacturing and business
development earning her a 20 under 40 Award from Inland Business Catalyst Magazine and
a first place award at the Airbus BizLab Innovation Challenge in Toulouse.
In her personal time, she is a mom and a committed mentor to students. She has volunteered on
a variety of non-profit boards and committees over the past decade.
Ms. Borgias received her Bachelor’s of Science in Design Management from the Art Institute
of Portland and she is a proud alum of the Leadership MBA program at the University of Washington, Bothell.
Harshul Asnani
SVP/SBU Head - Technology Business at Tech Mahindra
Harshul Asnani
SVP/SBU Head - Technology Business at Tech Mahindra
Harshul Asnani brings over 20 years of experience in strategic sourcing, business development, building new markets in IT,
Engineering/R&D and BPO outsourcing with a primary focus on Communications and Hitech industries. He has worked in a wide range
of leadership roles at a global level spanning North America, Latin America, Europe and India.
In his current role, Harshul serves as Tech Mahindra’s SBU Head responsible for Technology Business,
based out of Silicon Valley. His charter is to build 360-degree strategic partnerships with Technology companies worldwide.
Harshul sits on the Board of the Bay Area Council, Advisory Board of University of Washington School of Business
and is a TiE Silicon Valley Charter Member.
Jason Lemelson
Chief Executive Officer at FLTR, Inc.
Jason Lemelson
Chief Executive Officer at FLTR, Inc.
Jason Lemelson is a serial entrepreneur that has spent his career founding, growing and operating
consumer goods companies that service national retail channels.
He has an extensive background in product development, foreign sourcing, manufacturing and domestic sales and marketing operations.
His organizations are intensely focused on creating meaningful product enhancements, delighting
consumers and rapidly achieving scale.
He is currently the CEO of Ubiolabs, FLTR and Gen3 Mobility which operate across a diverse set of product categories and retail channels.
Jennifer Olsen
Principal | OneDigital
Jennifer Olsen
Principal | OneDigital
Jennifer came to the OneDigital team when OneDigital purchased her company, Resourceful, in September 2020.
As Principal of the HR Consulting practice for Washington state, Jennifer enjoys working with clients who care
about making a positive impact for their customers, clients, employees and their community.
Jennifer draws on two decades of full-spectrum HR in varied industries and training as a Certified
Executive Coach to amplify impact at the individual and organizational level. Her commitment to the
community shines in Jennifer’s volunteer leadership. She serves on the board of directors for Life
Sciences Washington.
Jennifer was recognized as a Puget Sound Business Journal “40 Under 40” and University of Washington
Bothell Alumni of the Year. Jennifer holds an MBA in Technology Management from the University of Washington
Bothell and BA from the University of Washington Tacoma.
Kelly Maloney
CEO | OLI Communications
Kelly Maloney
CEO | OLI Communications
Kelly Maloney is CEO of OLI Communications, a firm she founded during the height of the pandemic.
As the former President and CEO of the Aerospace Futures Alliance and the Washington State Space
Coalition, she has worked statewide and nationwide, as well as internationally, to grow and strengthen
the aerospace and space industries in Washington.
Kelly has been part of several successful start ups
throughout her career. Her industry experience ranges from high tech, medical, higher education, manufacturing,
aerospace and space. She is a former city councilmember and has her master’s degree from Gonzaga University.
Pradnya Desh
CEO of Advocat
Pradnya Desh
CEO of Advocat
Pradnya Desh is the CEO of Advocat AI, a legal intake, research and drafting platform
that makes corporate contracting faster. She is driven by the belief that technology
can make legal services efficient and affordable. Advocat recently completed a $1.3M
seed round, and won the San Diego Angel Conference.
She founded and was Managing Partner of an award-winning ten-attorney law firm where
she managed the attorneys, staff and operations. Previously as the Managing Partner
of Desh International and Business Law, she led the firm from startup to an award-winning
law firm. She managed the attorneys, staff and operations. She also negotiated deals
and advised on commercial law matters including contracts, licensing, and international trade.
Formerly, Ms. Desh was a US diplomat in the State Department, and a U.S. trade negotiator
with USTR in Geneva. She represented the United States in international organizations,
including the WTO and the UN Committee on Trade and Development. Ms. Desh joined Governor
Christine Gregoire's trade delegation to India and Korea in October 2012, and
Governor Inslee’s trade delegation to Korea and Japan in 2016.
Skip Walter
Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, Factor10X, Inc
Skip Walter
Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, Factor10X, Inc
Skip is an innovative creator of software products and successful entrepreneur and intrapreneur.
Skip is an author, mentor and coach of executives and senior product managers at health care, biotech,
cybersecurity, and professional services companies. Factor10X is an early stage startup providing
federated search software with visual analytics for individuals to extend and enhance their professional work.
Skip is driven to create order out of disorder along with adding structure to an unstructured world through narrative,
imagery, and computing so that people may act faster, better and cheaper. Software products that he and his
collaborating teams created are in use by millions of professionals each day.
Prior to starting Factor10X, Skip was Chief Product Officer at FTI Consulting and VP of Contract Lifecycle
Management at Conga. Skip holds four patents for visual analytics. Skip is a graduate of Duke University
and taught graduate students at Illinois Tech and UW Seattle and Bothell.
Three children and four grandchildren provide endless enjoyment as Skip watches each grow and develop.
Sundar Balakrishnan
Professor at UW Bothell and Board Member at Swerve Robotics
Sundar Balakrishnan
Professor at UW Bothell and Board Member at Swerve Robotics
Prof. P.V. (Sundar) Balakrishnan was recruited to help start a new Business School on the Eastside for the UW.
He joined the University of Washington, Bothell in 1994 as the first founding permanent full-time faculty member
of the new Business Program. His Ph.D. and Master’s are from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Sundar is currently serving as a UW Faculty Senator. He is a member of the UW Faculty Council on University
Libraries that oversees the 18 libraries and 9 million+ books, etc collections across the state; and is involved
in the search for a new Dean of University Libraries. Sundar recently served as the Associate Dean of Graduate
Programs for three years, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the MBA and MSA programs. He successfully
increased the number of MBA applications by 60 percent and doubled the size of the incoming MBA class despite
the global pandemic. He wiped out the historic deficit in the MSA program and got it to a solid foundation.
He spearheaded the MSA new degree 5-year review successfully.
Earlier he served as the Acting Director
(i.e., Dean) of the Business Program in its early years. Responsible for managing and running the business
school involving both Strategic and day-to-day operational activities, he helped launch a number of new options,
degrees, and other initiatives. He has also served on the Search Committee for the UWB Chancellor, and Vice-Chancellor;
the 5-year Review Committee member for two different Chancellors; Chair of search committee for the Director of Computing
& Software Systems; and as elected Member of the Campus Council on Promotion, Tenure and Faculty Affairs.
He has done pioneering work in employing Artificial Intelligence methodologies such as, Neural Networks and Genetic Algorithms,
for addressing important marketing problems. The areas of Prof. Balakrishnan's research are Buyer-Seller Negotiations,
Relationship Marketing, Retail Locational Decisions, and New Product Marketing & Marketing Strategy;
and most recently at the interface of Marketing-Finance studying the evolution of Investor behavior in US Stock Markets.
He is the developer of NEGOTIAT, a negotiation training simulator, and the co-developer of his own DSS software GENESYS
and PRODLINE software for product line designs. He has recently co-developed GADOS, data analytics software, for market
segmentation that results in significant improvements in customer targetability.
He was listed among the Top 300 most prolific management scholars (1997 INFORMS survey) based on publications over
a ten year period. He has been listed in various editions of MARQUIS' Who's Who in America for many years.
He received the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021; faculty fellow at the 42nd AMA-Sheth Doctoral
Consortium; multiple teaching awards including the most prestigious University of Washington's Distinguished Teaching Award.
He is a keynote speaker; and has given seminars in the United States, Europe, Japan, India, Israel, Canada,
and Australia. He has served as a consultant to a number of organizations and has recently joined the non-profit board
of SWERVE Robotics to advance STEM education.
His legacy is a top-tier public university business education on the Eastside carefully nurtured.
He is very proud that the Business School, which started out in small, rented facilities with about 30 students,
has now grown to have an international reputation in a beautiful campus. Most recently the campus was ranked
number one among all public universities in terms of value for money. The business school is the same age as his twin daughters
- and he thinks of it as his triplet!
Listen to the Mentors
Ann Paulson
Department Chair at Edmonds College
Ann Paulson
Department Chair in the Business Management Department at Edmonds CollegeAnn Paulson teaches courses including Entrepreneurship, Ecommerce and Facilitation.
Prior to working in education, Ann worked for 15 years in business,
including consulting and business planning for growing companies.
Ann has an MBA and a PhD in Educational Leadership from the University of Nebraska.
She has volunteered for 501 Commons for years as an Executive Service Corps Member and a consultant to more than a dozen nonprofits.
She is currently working as an Advisor for the Whitman Student Consulting Corps.
Dhiresh Kumar
Vice President at Tech Mahindra
Dhiresh Kumar
Vice President, Business Head - Pacific NorthWest (PNW) Region in Tech Mahindra
Business Technology Leader with over two decades of strategy, business development,
general management and solution delivery experience in the global IT product and
service business with Fortune 500 clients.
He engages as a trusted advisor to lead corporations, helping
drive their growth and transformation agendas, leveraging the power of digital technologies.
Dhiresh is currently responsible for managing all engagements in my PNW region,
P&L, build & grow Partnership with established ISVs and emerging unicorns within the region.
Dhiresh holds an MBA in Technology and Marketing Management from the IIM Bangalore,
India and Electrical Engineering from DEI Agra, India. He's an avid cricket player and
enjoys travelling & Hiking when free. Dhiresh lives in Bothell, WA with his wife & 2 boys.
Jennifer Dye, MBA
Center Director and Business Advisor
Jennifer Dye, MBA
Center Director, Certified Business Advisor and Marketing/Communications professional Jennifer Dye has lived in the South Puget Sound area since 1992. From her early careers in hospitality and property management,
she started a small business in Kent, WA in 2001. In the next 12 years she grew the business from a 500 sq. ft. storefront to a 9000
sq. ft. studio with two satellite programs. She went on to found two non-profits – H.E.R.O. Association; an organization providing
scholarship assistance to at-risk kids, and Do or Dye Self Defense; an organization teaching personal safety and empowerment.
Through these various careers, she developed a love of the entrepreneurial spirit, and, wanting to help other business owners,
she earned her M.B.A. in Leadership from the University of Washington, Bothell and a Certificate in Adaptive Leadership from
Leadership Eastside in 2016. Upon graduation, she began working for the Washington Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
and earned her Certified Business Advisor designation. Through her work with the SBDC, and as a small business owner herself;
Jennifer has a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities faced by entrepreneurs today.
She is passionate about helping them plan for their futures.
Having become a recognized leader in the business community, Jennifer was invited to teach Marketing Management
at the UWB School of Business in 2017 and for South Puget Sound Community College in 2020. She has also done
numerous workshops and speaking engagements for area Chambers of Commerce, business networking groups, Parks
and Rec programs and other community organizations.
Jennifer was also a financial advisor, and holds her FINRA Series 7 and 66 registrations, along with her Life
and Health Insurance licenses. She earned an Executive Certificate in Business Analysis and Digital Transformation
in 2020. She is a believer in life-long learning, and her vision is to forge genuine, long term relationships with
her clients and be their trusted advisor by conducting her business with the utmost integrity.
She lives in Olympia, WA and spends her free time volunteering as the Communications Director for Friends of
Capitol Forest; a local trail maintenance non-profit, singing with the SPSCC Percival Choir, teaching fitness
and skiing classes, and mountain-biking, hiking and kayaking throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Maryam Soomro
VP, Firmwide Compensation at Goldman Sachs
Maryam Soomro
VP, Firmwide Compensation at Goldman Sachs
Maryam is a Vice President within Firmwide Compensation at Goldman Sachs.
Her team drives strategy and implementation of compensation philosophy,
policy and practice globally. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Maryam was at KPMG
in Real Estate Partnership tax where she worked on tax compliance for a
broad range of real estate and private equity funds.
Maryam graduated from University of Washington Bothell’s School of Business
with a focus in accounting. The leadership experiences she gained at UWB were
instrumental to starting her professional career in New York. Her hope is to
provide the same mentorship to the next group of UWB’s women business leaders
that she received during her time at UWB
Ram Dixit
Global Leader at UiPath
Ram Dixit
Global Leader at UiPath
Ram Dixit is a veteran of the high-tech industry with over 25 years of experience building and managing
strategic partnerships and launching new global businesses. He has worked at some of the largest companies
in the world including Hewlett Packard, Deloitte Consulting and Microsoft. He is currently with UiPath,
the leading platform for Intelligent Automation and is their Global Leader for one of their largest and most strategic alliances.
Outside of his professional pursuits, Ram is passionate about social justice and equity issues.
He is the Co-Founder and President of the MLK Gandhi Empowerment Initiate, whose mission is to
enable greater equality in the digital economy by empowering marginalized communities through a public/private partnership.
Ram holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts
and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Bangalore, India.
Ram has called Washington State home for the past 22 years, where he lives with his wife and two kids.
Scott Bright
Chief Executive Officer at Jeeva Wireless
Scott Bright
Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, Jeeva Wireless, Inc.
Scott is an accomplished technology executive with 30+ years of entrepreneurial and growth-phase experience.
He currently serves as CEO at Jeeva Wireless, a start-up spun out from the labs at UW, focused on ultra-low
power wireless IoT technology and supply chain automation.
Scott also serves part-time as an Adjunct Professor
of Electrical Engineering at Seattle University, and was previously co-founder and CEO of Synapse Product Development.
Scott holds four U.S. patents, received his B.S. Electrical Engineering from Ohio University and M.B.A. from University of Washington,
Bothell and is a Governance Fellow with the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Scott is married an has two college-age daughters, lives in Seattle with two doodle-dogs, and enjoys rock-climbing,
back-country ski touring and mountaineering in his spare time.
Shau Phang
Senior Director, Software Engineering at Salesforce
Shau Phang
Senior Director, Software Engineering at Salesforce
Shau Phang is an experienced leader in building globally distributed software supporting enterprise
scale platforms and systems.
With over 20 years of experience in the software engineering industry,
Shau has held different roles in application support, product management and software engineering in
the tech industry.
Shau currently is the Senior Director in software Engineering leading Data Plane
at Salesforce Marketing Cloud based in Indianapolis. Previously Shau worked at Microsoft developing
product roadmap in Azure Data and machine learning.
Meet the Judges
Emer Dooley
Entrepreneurship Faculty, UW Foster School
Emer Dooley
Entrepreneurship Faculty, UW Foster School
Emer is a faculty member at the University of Washington Foster School of Business,
teaching in technology strategy, entrepreneurship and venture capital.
She works with the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, involving students
in all aspects of company creation, technology commercialization and investment.
Emer raised and ran The Alliance of Angels Seed Fund I, a small early-stage technology fund.
She is launching an accelerator called Creative Destruction Lab specializing in Computational
Health at the UW in Fall of 2021.
A former computer designer, and high-tech executive, she holds BSc and MEng degrees
from the University of Limerick, and an MBA and PhD from the University of Washington.
Emer is the Board Chair of The Ashesi University Foundation, and a board member of Women’s
World Banking and is a fan of anything outdoors -preferably someplace new.
Richard Tong
Managing Partner at Tong Holdings
Richard Tong
Managing Partner at Tong Holdings
Richard Tong has over 40 years of experience in technology, marketing, investing and management
in a wide variety of business settings. Most recently Rich co-founded a computer vision and machine
learning startup that was eventually sold to Lear, a $15B automotive supplier. Prior to this,
he co-founded venture capital firms in Seattle and China with an aggregate of $6B under management.
At Microsoft, he was Vice President of marketing for Windows, Office and server products in an era
where sales increased by over 20x to $15B in revenue. He earned an MSEE and an MBA from Stanford University
and was a GM Scholar at Princeton University where he earned BSE EECS. He currently holds more than 22 patents
in the areas of computer vision, artificial intelligence, IoT devices, and cloud computing. He is co-author of
The Marketing Playbook and has lectured at the University of Washington, Stanford, Berkeley, and Tsinghua University.
Today, he divides his time between helping communities through the COVID-19 crisis with initiative such as Restart.Us,
Millions of Masks for Children, CovidWA, entrepreneurs realize their dreams,
investing in a long-term just democracy ,economy, and society at LinkedIn and Tong Family.
Sona Vaish Venkat
Senior Enterprise Software Executive
Sona Vaish Venkat
Senior Enterprise Software Executive
Sona Vaish Venkat is an accomplished senior technology executive with more than 20 years of experience
in the enterprise software industry. Sona has helped both technology leaders including Microsoft and SAP
as well as emerging startups implement the corporate, go-to-market (GTM), and product strategies to
successfully navigate change and capitalize on new market opportunities.
Most recently, Sona is founder of her own strategy consulting and investment firm, Awara Ventures,
where she works with PE and venture backed cloud startups on GTM and partnership strategy.
Previously, from 2017 to 2019, Sona was at Microsoft as General Manager, Global Business Development
where she led strategic partnerships, M&A strategy and investments for Microsoft’s Enterprise Applications.
Prior to MSFT, Sona was with SAP from 2004-2017 where her journey spanned several business units and consecutively
increasing responsibility. As Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Head of Competitive and Market Intelligence,
she was responsible for helping SAP analyze markets and respond to the competition.
In 2014, Sona partnered with SAP’s Office of the CEO to refresh and roll out a strategy to transform
into a cloud and platform company. Sona also held various marketing leadership roles and helped
launched three separate partner programs for SAP for which she was recognized consecutively by CRN
Magazine as a Channel Women Leader.
Sona started her enterprise software career in product marketing at Oracle, helping launch E-Business Hosting
(now Oracle Cloud) and Oracle Mobile Solutions.
Sona serves as an advisor for several startups including Aviso and Gloat, two companies transforming business
through artificial intelligence technologies.
Sona is currently Treasurer and Board Member for TiE Seattle, a global renown non-profit organization
whose mission is to inspire and equip technology entrepreneurs.
Sona holds a Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.
She graduated magna cum laude from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Business Administration.
She lives with her husband and two sons in the greater Seattle area.
Event Schedule
The conference will culminate with an opportunity for attendees to “pitch” their idea that they have workshopped throughout the day to senior business leaders, receive feedback, and get recognized for great pitches, sending them off to start pitching new ideas in their respective places of work.
Morning Keynote - Dr. Fariba Alamdari former VP of Boeing
How to Develop Ideas Under pressure – Elizabeth Scallon
Innovating During Challenging Times – Panel Discussion
Perfecting the Pitch – Panel Discussion
Group Working Sessions & Mentoring
Pitch Competition
Fireside Chat Keynote - Heather Redman
Closing & Awards
Hurry up! Book your Seat
Early Bird
$50
ON SALE THROUGH
APRIL 30 th 2021*
Full conference includes speaker sessions, mentoring, and a friendly pitch competition.
*Sales end at 11:59 pm
Standard
$80
SOLD-OUT
Full conference includes speaker sessions, mentoring, and a friendly pitch competition
Spectators &
non-competitors
$80
ON SALE
The competition is sold-out and currently waitlist only.
However, you can still register to attend the conference, interact with our speakers, and listen to
the team pitches
Buy Ticket
