Andre Dickens is the 61st Mayor of Atlanta, bringing a lifelong commitment to the city and a dynamic vision to drive its progress as a global city of opportunity. A native Atlantan and product of Atlanta Public Schools, Mayor Dickens is focused on expanding opportunities, equity, and prosperity for all residents. 

As Chief Executive Officer, Mayor Dickens oversees the largest budget in Atlanta’s history, managing billions of dollars in general, enterprise, trust and pension funds. Under his leadership, the City of Atlanta achieved a historic upgrade to a AAA bond rating, the highest in the city’s history.  Well known for his goals of being a model employer, each of the city’s nearly 10,000 employees received pay increases annually and a $17.50/hr minimum wage. 

Mayor Dickens has implemented major advancements in public safety, economic development, and community support since taking office in 2022. With a vision of One Safe City, Mayor Dickens has championed initiatives to reduce crime, such as establishing the Nightlife Division to improve safety in higher crime nightlife areas. His approach also includes community-focused programs that led to a 21% reduction in homicides in 2023, with trends indicating further reductions in 2024. Through his Light Up the Night initiative, Atlanta’s street lighting network expanded with 30,000 energy-efficient LED lights installed over three years, significantly improving visibility and safety across neighborhoods. The Mayor’s Office of Violence Reduction has been instrumental in gang prevention, conflict resolution, domestic violence reduction, and more.  Additionally, Mayor Dickens  launched programs like the Midnight Basketball League and Year of the Youth, which provide Atlanta’s youth with positive outlets and skill-building opportunities, correlating directly with the city’s reduced crime rates. 

In economic development and housing, Mayor Dickens has advanced Atlanta’s affordability and inclusivity through a $58.7 million housing bond to create and preserve affordable housing, targeting homelessness and housing instability. He set an ambitious goal of establishing 20,000 affordable housing units by 2030, including innovative projects like The Melody, which uses repurposed shipping containers to offer sustainable housing for the unhoused. The city has also established a historic $60 million Homeless Opportunity Bond, the single largest investment  addressing homelessness in Atlanta’s history.  These initiatives reflect his commitment to creating stable and accessible housing for all Atlanta residents.  

Mayor Dickens also led a coalition to prevent Buckhead’s de-annexation, thereby maintaining the city’s integrity and resources. His Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure package, currently with $240 million in active projects, is dedicated to upgrading roads, public spaces, and neighborhood connectivity. The expanded Pothole Posse further streamlines infrastructure maintenance, addressing road issues and enhancing city responsiveness. 

As a proactive climate action leader, Mayor Dickens has secured substantial grant awards to support sustainable urban development and environmental resilience. This dedication to a comprehensive approach to growth and safety reinforces Atlanta’s future as a vibrant, connected, and equitable city. 

Before his election as Mayor, he served eight years on the Atlanta City Council as an at-large representative. As a Council member, he championed initiatives in public safety, transportation, affordable housing, workforce development, and senior citizen programming. Key achievements include creating the Department of Transportation, advocating for a $15 per hour minimum wage for city employees, implementing BeltLine Inclusionary Zoning for affordable housing, and establishing a $40 million Housing Opportunity Bond.  

Mayor Dickens holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State University. Dedicated to civic and community leadership, Mayor Dickens served on numerous boards, including: 

Atlanta Regional Commission (Chairman) 
Invest Atlanta (Board Chair) 
TechBridge 
Atlanta BeltLine 
Goodwill of North Georgia 
Georgia Tech Alumni Board of Directors 
US Conference of Mayors P3 Taskforce (Chairman) 
Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) Board of Directors 
National Housing Crisis Taskforce (Co-Chair, Accelerator for America) 
Center for Civil and Human Rights (previously) 

In addition to his leadership roles, Mayor Dickens is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., a deacon at New Horizon Baptist Church, and an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta. 

In his free time, Mayor Dickens enjoys quality time with his daughter, live music, sports, and travel, while always championing Atlanta’s sports teams. 

Garrett Langley is a technology entrepreneur who has dedicated the last decade of his career to the bold mission of Eliminating Crime. Garrett founded and leads Flock Safety, the first all-in-one technology platform pioneering a new way for communities to think about public safety — with efficacy, affordability, transparency and accountability in mind.

Flock Safety was founded following Garrett 's own experience with crime in his neighborhood. Upon approaching law enforcement to provide evidence and secure justice, he learned how existing neighborhood security solutions were simply not effective in providing actionable evidence that solves crime. An electrical engineer and serial technology entrepreneur, Garrett and co-founders Matt Feury and Paige Todd founded Flock Safety in 2017 to transform the nascent public safety technology space with the most advanced technology, unwavering ethical commitments, and an inclusive community-forward approach.

Flock Safetyʼs transformative mission follows from Garrettʼs experience growing successful companies that reimagined traditional sectors: Clutch, a monthly car subscription service that allowed consumers to swap their vehicle for any occasion, and

Experience, a mobile-first fan experience platform that allowed users to upgrade live events. Overseeing the engineering, design, product, data science, and customer support groups at Experience, Garrett led the sale of the company to Cox Enterprises for $200 million in 2014.

Outside of work, Garrett dedicates his time to inspire future engineers to build technology that serves as a force for good.

Garrett sits on several Boards through his alma mater, the Georgia Institute of Technology, including the Advisory Board for the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Georgia Tech Athletic Association Alexander Tharpe Board, and the Board of Directors of Georgia Advanced Technology Ventures (GATV), which supports Georgia Techʼs economic development and innovation initiatives. He also serves on the Metro Atlanta Chamber Board of Directors, the Board of the High Museum, and the Board of the Atlanta History Center.

Garrett lives in Atlanta with his wife, Megan, his children, and his dog.

Muthu Muthiah is the Chief Investment Officer at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, stewarding the institution’s assets to create returns that advance the Children’s mission.

Previously, he oversaw the strategic and sustainable growth of Inatai Foundation. Muthu is a seasoned asset management professional, with experience investing globally across various asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, real estate, real assets, and both public and private investments in emerging economies. He has led investment teams and strategies at Emory Investment Management, Covariance Capital Management, the University of Richmond, the State Board of Administration of Florida, and RSM Equico.

Muthu holds a BHM from Mangalore University and an MBA from Rollins College.

Ezeomo Akhirome serves as Deputy Director of the Division of Financial Management at the Georgia Department of Community Health, where he oversees multibillion-dollar procurement operations and financial management for one of the state's largest agencies. In his role, he manages complex procurement processes, vendor relationships, and contract compliance for healthcare programs serving millions of Georgians.

As the agency's Small Business Liaison, Ezeomo is committed to fostering opportunities for small and diverse businesses within Georgia's procurement ecosystem. He provides guidance to vendors navigating state procurement processes and works to ensure compliance with state and federal procurement regulations.

Ezeomo brings over a decade of extensive experience in public and private sector financial management, procurement strategy, and vendor relations. He plays a key role in modernization initiatives, including oversight of technology procurement and implementation projects that enhance service delivery for Georgia's Medicaid and CHIP programs.

Ezeomo holds a Master of Public Administration from Kennesaw State University and a
Bachelor of Business Administration in Managerial Science from Georgia State University. He brings specialized expertise in strategic sourcing, contract negotiations, supply chain management, and public policy implementation.

Based in Atlanta, Ezeomo is dedicated to advancing efficient, transparent, and equitable
procurement practices that support the Georgia Department of Community Health's
mission to serve the healthcare needs of Georgia's most vulnerable populations.

Julian Andrea Bailey serves as the Small Business and Supplier Diversity Manager for the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS), State Purchasing Division. In this position, Bailey leads the Division’s efforts to facilitate communications and engagement with minority-owned, woman-owned, and veteran-owned businesses through the Small Business and Supplier Diversity Program. This program was put in place in July 2022 because of an executive order issued by Gov. Brian P. Kemp. In addition, she oversees the Georgia Business Certification Program implemented Jan. 2, 2024, through House Bill 128, as well as State Purchasing Division’s communications platforms.

Bailey joined DOAS in 2013 and has established a strong knowledge base in state procurement operations, policies, and systems. She has successfully implemented and managed numerous training programs on navigating the procurement process and systems in the state of Georgia. Prior to joining DOAS, Bailey worked with the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Center at Georgia Institute of Technology. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations from Howard University and a Master of Business Administration degree in Management from Troy University. She is a Professional Certified Marketer (PCM®) with the American Marketing Association.

DJ believes in putting people first while leveraging technology to deliver value. He has
expertise in global transformations, digitization strategies, and change management
across the Healthcare, CPG, and Finance sectors. Based in Atlanta, he is Invesco's
Digital Procurement Lead.

Curtis Crowder leads Global Responsible Procurement within the Supply Chain
Management (SCM) organization for Fidelity Information Services (FIS). Curtis engages
across FIS’ supply chain, to imbed social, economic, and environmental practices into
the strategic sourcing process, reducing supplier & supply chain risk and imparting
client and corporate value.

David Cummings is an Atlanta-based tech entrepreneur who has founded 10 companies employing thousands of people, including Pardot,  Salesloft , and Intown Golf Club. David is also the founder of the Atlanta Tech Village — the United States’ 4th largest tech hub — and the lead investor in Calendly, the world’s most popular scheduling app. After selling Pardot, he was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year winner and one of the 100 Most Influential Atlantans by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Now, he’s renovating one of the largest collections of historic buildings in the country in downtown Atlanta.

David is a member of YPO Southern 7, on the boards of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, Buckhead Coalition, Central Atlanta Progress, Atlanta Committee for Progress, and the Westminster Schools. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, David earned a bachelor of science degree in economics from Duke University and an honorary doctorate from Mercer University. David blogs regularly at DavidCummings.org and tweets at @davidcummings.

Dr. Loretta Daniels, director of the Technology Association of Georgia’s Bridge Builders program and CEO and Managing Partner at Kendall and Kendrick Consulting Group, is an expert in organizational Leadership, DEI, conflict management, and communication. In addition, she specializes in cultural competency. As an executive leader in the corporate arena, she has served in executive leadership roles such as Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Executive Director of Sales Operations, and General Manager. In addition, she has written corporate training manuals Leading by Example and Fast Track to Excellence. As the former Executive Director of Corporate Relations of Kennesaw State University (KSU), she worked with medium and large organizations to define and deliver leadership growth certificate programs aligned with the company's vision and objectives. Dr. Daniels has recently created TAG Bridge Builders, a social justice and equity initiative to promote Georgia's Black tech professionals advance from mid-level positions to senior-level leadership roles, providing access to funding and customer acquisition for Black tech entrepreneurs.

Dr. Daniels partnered with C-level Leadership and HR to determine leadership development goals,identify training gaps, enable cultural workplace initiatives, and implement gender pay equality and equitable hiring practices. In addition, she served as the University Office of Diversity and Inclusion Co-Chair and Presidential Commission on Gender & Work-Life Issues. Also, she advised executive teams, including the President and Chief Diversity Officer, consulted as a subject matter expert on DEI challenges and solutions, and supported DEI's continuous improvement efforts.

As an adjunct leadership instructor at KSU since 2002, Dr. Daniels delivered in-class and online lectures encouraging students to think strategically by applying fundamentals to real-world problems. Courses taught included Corporate Communication and Conflict Resolution, Human Communications, Public Speaking, Writing for Public Communication, and Foundations of Leadership. Additionally, she has designed a Coursera Specialty Certificate program, Advanced Leadership Skills for the 21st Century Specialization Certificate, which will be offered in Spring 2023.

Dr. Daniels received a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Organizational Leadership from Johnson University, a Master of Science (MS) in Conflict Management, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Communication from Bradley University, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mass Communication/Media Studies from KSU. She is a Certified Diversity Professional and the author of two books, For Women Only, Women Mean Business (J & W Publishers, 1992), and Unlock Your Success, a Comprehensive Guide for Starting a Successful Business (J & W Publishers, 2006). Dr. Daniels' upcoming book, Leadership, and Diversity - A Practice-Based Systemic Approach to Cultural Competency, published by SAGE Publications, will be available in January 2024. This textbook will offer a new and comprehensive approach to organizational Leadership to address the paradigm shift in our global business community.

Sandy Donaldson is the Co-Founder, President, & Chief Strategy Officer of Impiricus. He is a healthcare expert and entrepreneur powering growth for the world’s leading life science brands and organizations.

Dave is Featurespace’s Founder, responsible for driving Featurespace’s innovation strategy, and working with our global client base to provide the industry with the very best machine learning technology. After studying at the Australian National University and the University of Cambridge, Featurespace began as a concept and has become the leading enterprise financial crime platform for financial institutions and technology providers. Dave is also a Board member of The Knoble, bringing together networks of financial crime specialists to prevent criminals from using the world’s financial systems to profit from the suffering of others. 

Gardiner Garrard is the co-founder and managing partner of TTV Capital. Under his leadership, TTV has been an early investor in Green Dot, Bill.com, Cardlytics, MX, Greenlight, TaxBit, SmartAsset, among many others.

Gardiner began his venture capital career in the late 1990s and was one of the first to recognize the broad implications of financial technology, or what we now call ‘fintech,’ on businesses and consumers alike. He co-founded TTV in 2000 based on the thesis that the biggest opportunities develop when emerging technology can be applied to a specific use case. In the twenty-five years since, Gardiner has led the TTV team to invest in more than 100 companies across core financial technologies and embedded fintech, including eight that have attained valuations of $1 billion or higher.

Gardiner is active in the venture capital community and dedicates his time to supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs. He is the Chair of the Shuford Entrepreneurship Program at UNC Chapel Hill, a member of the advisory board at the Goizueta Business School, and a past board member of the Georgia Economic Development Board. In 2004, he was honored with the Goizueta Business School’s Outstanding Recent Alumni Award and has been recognized multiple times as one of Institutional Investor’s top fintech investors.

Gardiner earned an M.B.A. from the Goizueta Business School at Emory
University and a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Robin Gregg is the CEO of RoadSync, a digital payments platform for the logistics industry. With over 20 years of experience, she has a strong background in building and scaling financial solutions.

Before joining RoadSync, Robin held leadership positions at FleetCor, Revolution Money (which was sold to Amex in 2010), and Capital One. Her career began in management consulting at Charles River Associates.

Robin is actively involved in various professional organizations. She has served as an advisor and angel investor for various start-ups in Atlanta, and is a member of the Atlanta Growth Collective and the Entrepreneurs' Organization. She has also served as Co-President of the Harvard Business School Club of Atlanta.

Gregg earned her MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Washington and Lee. Originally from West Virginia, she currently resides in Atlanta and is a proud mom to her two sons, Liam and Sam, and their rescue dog, Lucy.

Neeraj is a servant leader and a proven change agent with over 20 years of experience in leading engineering, business management, and consulting functions at Fortune 100 companies. Neeraj joined Southern Company Technology Organization in Oct 2022 as Director of Business Excellence and currently leads  Strategic Supplier Management, Risk and Compliance, Innovation and Emerging Tech, and Service Management functions that enable the next generation of energy solutions for our electric and gas customers.

Prior to joining Southern Company, Neeraj held several leadership roles at Amazon and Ernst & Young, where he led product development, cloud engineering, and business management functions for mission-critical systems.

Richard Hesse leads Commercial Procurement at Inspire Brands, where is responsible for enterprise-wide sourcing, vendor negotiations, and innovation initiatives across a multi-brand portfolio. With over a decade of experience in procurement and partnerships, he specializes in coaching startups through enterprise buying, accelerating digital transformation, and is passionate about driving a new narrative of enterprise procurement.

Vanessa Larco co-founded Premise, a modern VC firm focused on Consumer Tech (B2C) and Consumer Enablement Tech (B2B2C) in early 2025. She is focused on backing technical founders with an eye for consumer behavior change at the pre-seed and seed stages.  

Prior to starting Premise, Vanessa was a General Partner at NEA from 2016 to 2025 where she focused on Enterprise SaaS and Consumer Internet investing. Vanessa has led investments in Kindred, Mejuri, Assembled, Greenlight, and others. She was also a board observer at Robinhood from 2017 through the IPO in 2021.

Prior to joining NEA, she held Product leadership roles including; Director of Product Management at Box (NYSE: BOX) where she worked on building the next generation of productivity apps, Product Lead for Voice API at Twilio, Co-founder at Funloop, Product/Studio Lead at Playdom (acq. Disney) and leading the Speech Recognition Experience team at XBOX Kinect.

Vanessa holds a BS in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She has been on the Board of Advisors for Georgia Tech’s College of Computing since 2019.

Brooke MacLean is a storyteller, strategist, and builder. As the CEO of Marketwake, an award-winning digital marketing agency, Brooke has built a team that serves clients across the globe. Under her leadership, Marketwake has grown into one of the most respected agencies in the Southeast, earning a place on the Inc. 5000 Fastest-Growing Businesses list five years in a row and being named one of Inc.’s Best Places to Work for four consecutive years.

Before Marketwake, Brooke served as CEO of Kevy, an email marketing automation company she grew after being tapped by Atlanta tech leader, David Cummings.

She is also the Founder and Chairman of Marketwake Ventures, an investment firm that champions early-stage companies. Her portfolio includes transformative brands like Sonar (backed by Slack and Craft Ventures), Curamia Tequila, and SupportNow.

Brooke is not just a business leader—she’s a speaker who inspires and empowers. From delivering a TEDx talk to hosting Venture Atlanta, the Southeast’s largest venture capital conference, Brooke has shared her voice with audiences across the country. Her topics range from leadership and resilience to the importance of play in the workplace, all delivered with a mix of warmth, humor, and actionable takeaways.

At her core, Brooke is driven by the belief that businesses thrive when they focus on people— building strong cultures, fostering collaboration, and turning challenges into opportunities for growth. Whether she’s in a boardroom, on a stage, or in the trenches with her team, Brooke brings energy, clarity, and a commitment to helping others amplify their potential.

Richard Makerson is a technology business executive with diverse global business experience with Fortune 100 & 500companies across retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics business verticals. His passion for problem solving and finding creative solutions to his customers’ most challenging problems has allowed him to emerge as a trusted advisor within the enterprise mobility industry.

Currently, Richard serves as CEO & Managing Partner of BlueFletch, an enterprise mobile software company with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Richard is responsible for leading the strategic direction, innovation and growth of the software and consulting businesses within BlueFletch. Richard co-founded BlueFletch in October 2008 and took over the CEO & Managing Partner responsibilities in 2015. Since becoming CEO of BlueFletch, Richard has led the organization's 3x growth in consulting revenue and led the pivot to a software as a service company. Software sales have grown +100% year over year since 2018.

Prior to founding BlueFletch, Richard spent 3 years with Accenture managing teams for
the United States Postal Service. In his roles as consultant, he led technical teams and worked across operational groups to develop an innovative mobile application platform which enabled rapid development of mobile applications and the hosting of multiple mobile applications on a $600M+ mobile device investment of the Customer.

Richard has been recognized for his professional and civic involvement as a recipient of the Diversity Game Changer Award by the Technology Association of Georgia, the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s and Georgia Trend’s 40 Under Forty Business Leader, Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Small Business Person of the Year Award and Eagle Award as a graduate of the Georgia Mentor Protégé Connection program.

Richard is an alumnus of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2020, an executive-level leadership program series that focuses on exploring critical community, civil and social issues facing the Atlanta area. The program provides an extensive look into some of the most challenging issues facing greater Atlanta and allows selected leaders to gain insight into how they can utilize their leadership to improve the community.

Richard also served as CEO of R&R Express, a freight shipping company he started his senior year at Morehouse College. His responsibilities included managing company employees and executives, payroll and reporting legal documentation required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Through his leadership revenues doubled each year.

Early childhood STEAM education and uniting with the business community to solve community issues is a passion of Richard’s through youth mentoring. Richard is currently on the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, Leadership Atlanta and a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta where he supports the organization's commitment to defending the potential of young people through mentoring. Richard is also serves on the board of directors for Emory’s Center for Ethics. One of the nation’s top ethics programs with a focus on bioethics, health science and artificial intelligence (AI) and a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta, where the business community comes together to inform, engage, and inspire members to drive real progress in metro Atlanta, our businesses, and the nation.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Morehouse College in Computer Science. He enjoys spending time with his wife, daughters Harris (6) and Ricki (4). When he has spare time, Richard can be found playing tennis, golf or snowboarding on his favorite mountains in the winter.

Virginie Raphael is obsessed with serving founders at the earliest stages and passionate about finding ways to better align founders and funders.
 
Virginie launched FullCircle to scale the impact of her work with a perpetual fund structure to invest in a better workforce.

Prior to founding FullCircle, Virginie was a Managing Director at Tusk Ventures where she was an early employee and spent eight years advising and investing in early-stage founders operating in highly regulated industries. Before Tusk, Virginie honed her analytical and financial skills as a banker at Lehman Brothers/Barclays. 
 
French born, she was swept away by New York’s resilient entrepreneurship culture and enduring optimism.

A former founder, Mercato Managing Director Ryan Sander’s first exposure to the world of private equity was as a young venture backed co-founder of Calixus, a software company that helped newspapers transition into the then-emerging digital world. Calixus was later acquired by the Media News Group, and Ryan went on to earn his M.B.A. from the University of Texas McCombs School of Business before joining Comcast (NAS: CMCSA) as a business operations manager.

After helping to roll out Comcast’s next-gen IP architecture and systems, Ryan pivoted into private equity. Ryan begun his investment career at Escalate Capital, a leading private credit and growth capital solutions provider, where he spent 5 years as a mezzanine investor focused on rapidly growing later-stage software, SaaS, and tech-enabled companies. During his tenure, Ryan acquired a deep understanding of the growth equity landscape. This understanding, in conjunction with his operational and entrepreneurial experience, afforded him a firm foundation for his current work building and supporting Mercato’s growth portfolio, Traverse.

As a Managing Director, Ryan currently serves on the board of directors of Atomic, Lendio, Lambda, ObservePoint, and Stance, and invests in the South, Southeast, and Pacific Northwest. He was recently named to Class 26 of Kauffman Fellows—the premier venture education program, and the largest network of VCs and innovation leaders in the world.

Maria Roux currently serves as the Chief Procurement Officer for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Office of Procurement. In this role, she oversees procurement operations across the Department’s Operational, Right of Way, and Engineering and Design functions, as well as ensures procurement compliance. She also provides strategic guidance and training to local governments that utilize Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) funds for Engineering and Design procurements.

With more than 25 years of experience in training and development and over 17 years in government procurement, Maria brings a unique and impactful blend of expertise to her role. Her professional background includes serving as the Training Supervisor for the State Purchasing Division, where she led the development and delivery of statewide procurement training. Under her leadership, training initiatives were successfully deployed to prepare agency staff for procurement certification and to support the professional growth of Georgia’s procurement workforce.

Maria’s work has earned her the opportunity to present procurement and training content to professionals and suppliers across the country and throughout the state of Georgia. Her dual expertise in procurement and instructional design fuels her passion for building capacity in the public procurement community. She holds multiple professional certifications in both fields, further demonstrating her commitment to excellence and continuous improvement.

Maria is recognized for her dedication to fostering understanding, compliance, and success within the government procurement landscape—for both procurement professionals and the supplier community.

David is the Founder and CEO of Evident, a VC-backed technology company based in Atlanta, GA.

The world's largest organizations rely on Evident's award-winning technology to help them protect their business and brand from third-party risk. Evident enables the safe and private exchange of proof of insurance, identity, business, and other personal data - helping customers collect and analyze both individual and business credentials so they can make fast and informed decisions about engaging new third-party partners, prospective employees, franchisees, and more, without compromising their privacy.

In today’s new remote-first, ever-changing regulatory environment, Evident's secure, privacy-first enterprise platform provides a highly scalable and configurable solution to manage communications, storage, decisioning, and ongoing monitoring of individual and business credentials.

An accomplished cybersecurity entrepreneur, David has held key leadership roles at market-pioneers Motorola, AirDefense, VeriSign, and SecureIT. He has a history of introducing innovative technologies, establishing them in the market, and driving growth - with each early-stage company emerging as the market leader.

After being recruited at a young age by the Department of Defense, David has been at the forefront of cybersecurity including firewalls as corporations began connecting to the Internet, web security as online shopping emerged, wireless security as Wi-Fi and smartphones became ubiquitous, and security sensing networks as analytic technology became mainstream. His expertise has been featured in CNN, The Wall Street Journal and other leading publications.

Jonathan is a passionate Strategic Procurement Leader with over 20 years of experience working inside large enterprises and small firms with a knack for transforming challenges into opportunities. Jonathan specializes in supplier optimization and procurement transformation, always keeping a customer-focused mindset. He believes that building strong relationships is the key to success, and through effective stakeholder engagement, Jonathan empowers partners to navigate the procurement landscape with confidence. Known for his collaborative spirit and servant leadership, he is excited to share insights and strategies that foster meaningful collaborations between startups and corporations.

Francisca Villegas is a bilingual business leader and Senior Procurement Solutions Manager at Microsoft, where she oversees global sourcing strategies across a $500M portfolio of the Marketing Organization. With over a decade of international experience spanning procurement, marketing, sustainability, and data analytics, Francisca is experienced in integrating AI into processes to unlock efficiency and innovation. Originally from Chile, she earned her MBA in International Business and Marketing in the U.S. and has since built a career that bridges Fortune 500 strategy and startup ecosystems. Her entrepreneurial work includes coaching ventures through Georgia State University’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute and completing a fellowship in China where she partnered with global incubators to support international pitch competitions. As External Engagement Chair for Microsoft’s HOLA ERG in Atlanta, Francisca leads cross-industry partnerships and community initiatives that amplify Latinx representation and inclusive innovation.

Geri Lynn Williams, Assistant General Counsel for The Home Depot, is an attorney with strong business acumen, and 20+ years of experience providing practical guidance to several business units and corporate functions of the World’s largest privately held company (Cargill, Incorporated) and the World’s largest home improvement retailer (The Home Depot). She is an out-of-the-box thinker, and a trusted adviser who delivers distinctive value to her business clients through actionable advice and pragmatic risk - management. After being recruited by her business partner, Geri accepted a business role - Director – Payments Acceptance - and for two years, lead the team responsible for lowering Home Depot’s cost of accepting $157 B in sales revenue. Geri’s passion for transactional work led her back to the Legal Department where she now supports Home Depot’s store operations. In her spare time, she enjoys rollerblading and being a dotting auntie.