Wharton DC

Keynote: The Future of Food

Seth Goldman, Founder and TeaEO Emeritus Honest Tea and now Executive Chairman of Beyond Meat, will inspire attendees with lessons he has learned on the path to success fueled in significant part by innovation, but overcoming huge obstacles. He will discuss many facets of "The Future of Food," from creative and more sustainable ways to grow, produce, distribute, and encourage the use of more healthful food products - and better ways to use water & other vital resources.

Keynote: Creating Business Magic

David Morey will discuss and demonstrate (through his performance of magic) his theme from his latest book "Creating Business Magic: How the Power of Magic Can Inspire, Innovate, and Revolutionize Your Business".

Midday Featured Panel

James P. Moore, Jr. is the founder and CEO of the newly launched Washington Institute for Business, Government, and Society. Based in Washington, D.C., the Institute is dedicated to addressing challenging issues facing the intersection of business, government, and society, particularly in the area of high technology and innovation. Furthermore, it is committed to the education of future leaders through scholarships and other opportunities, underscoring its trademarked slogan ‘Shaping the world together”.
Prior to launching the Institute, he served as Managing Director of the Business and Public Policy Initiative at Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business and taught courses in international trade, ethics, management and leadership. He received the school’s highest award for distinguished teaching and was also inducted into its honor society.

Midday Featured Panel

Susan Penfield is Booz Allen’s Chief Innovation Officer, Strategic Innovation Group Lead, and a member of the Firm’s 11-person Leadership Team. She drives the firm’s innovation agenda to build and scale functional differentiation and develop and monetize breakthrough solutions in the areas of digital transformation, artificial intelligence, advanced cyber, and augmented and virtual reality.

Susan came to Booz Allen 24 years ago and has transformed numerous business units across her tenure. She led the firm’s billion-dollar digital business spanning the defense, national security and civilian sectors. Susan then took on the leadership of the health business, advancing it to become the firm’s largest and fastest growing account and providing transformational consulting and technology to public and private sector healthcare clients.

Susan is a dedicated philanthropist and serves on the board of several not-for-profits including the globally recognized social good incubator, SEED SPOT, and the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is a passionate advocate for the recruitment, retention, and the advancement of women, and speaks routinely on STEM-related topics.

Susan was recognized as one of the top 25 executives to watch in 2019 by WashingtonExec magazine for her pioneering work driving technology innovation in government.

Midday Featured Panel

Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™, the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,200 consumer technology companies and which owns and produces CES® – The Global Stage for Innovation.

Shapiro directs a staff of about 200 employees and thousands of industry volunteers, leading his organization’s promotion of innovation as a national policy to spur the economy, create jobs and cut the deficit. CTA advocates for a lower deficit, skilled immigration, free trade and policies that support innovative new business models. CTA does not seek government funding for industry.

Shapiro is a New York Times bestselling author, whose books include “Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation” (HarperCollins, 2019), “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses” (HarperCollins, 2013) and “The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream” (Beaufort, 2011). Through these books and television appearances, and as a columnist whose more than 1,000 opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, Shapiro has helped direct policymakers and business leaders on the importance of innovation in the U.S. economy. He is considered an “influencer” on LinkedIn and has more than 300,000 followers.

Midday Featured Panel &
Session Panelist: PitchMasters

Mr. S. Tien Wong is a technology entrepreneur, CEO, and angel investor. He is Chairman & CEO of Opus8, Inc., a private investment and strategic advisory firm specializing in raising capital for private equity and venture capital fund managers, as well as and promising tech companies. He is also Chairman of Tech 2000, Inc., an ed tech company which provides advanced tech training, learning analytics, and software development to Fortune 500 customers. Mr. Wong is also Chairman of Lore Systems, Inc., an IT services company which provides managed hosting, IT support, "virtual CIO," and cloud computing solutions for commercial, nonprofit, and government clients.

He is Founder and Host of the Big Idea CONNECTpreneur Forum, a community of over 7000 founders, CEOs, angels, VCs, CXOs and other business leaders in the Mid-Atlantic region. The community hosts quarterly 1/2-day Forums with upwards of 550 attendees, featuring VIP guests, speakers, exciting presenting companies, and the best CXO to CXO networking in the region.

In 1991, Mr. Wong co-founded and served as Chairman & CEO of CyberRep, Inc. until its acquisition in 2003 by Affiliated Computer Services, a “Fortune 500” company. CyberRep was one of the world’s largest privately held CRM outsourcing companies, operating 9 customer interaction centers throughout the USA with over 2,300 employees and $80 million in revenue. Today, the CyberRep/ACS business unit is a $2 billion division of Conduent (NYSE: CNDT), a spinoff of Xerox. CyberRep garnered prestigious awards including Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine's MVP Quality Award and Customer Interface magazine's ACCE (Award for Call Center Excellence), as well as INC. magazine's 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000's "Inc. 500" recognition as the 51st, 53rd, 72nd and 408th fastest growing private company in the USA, respectively. CyberRep was profitable for 11 straight years and was backed by Allied Capital, a $5 billion investment company.

A recognized international expert in CRM, direct marketing, and BPO, Mr. Wong has presented at dozens of conferences around the world. He has also provided industry commentary on the ABC, Fox, NBC, CNBC, Maryland Public Television, and China’s CCTV networks, as well as for publications such as Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and Success Magazine.

Mr. Wong received the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Greater Washington and the 2003 Ernst & Young Performance Excellence Award. He was inducted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame. He is a 2012 and 2013 Washington Business Journal "Power 100" selection as one of the region's most influential leaders, a three-time SmartCEO Magazine selection as a "Smart100" CEO ('09, '10 and '11), a 2013 InTheCapital "Fifty on Fire" awardee, community service honoree as a member of Greater DC Cares 2009 "Class of Change” and The Gazette of Politics and Business selection in 2010 as one of "25 CEOs You Need to Know." He is a member of YPO and is a frequent guest lecturer on entrepreneurship, leadership, venture capital, and private equity at the University of Maryland and Georgetown University where he is an Entrepreneur in Residence.

Mr. Wong was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to the 9-person Maryland Venture Fund Authority which oversees $84 million in venture capital allocations; he serves on the Boards of Directors of the Montgomery County (MD) Economic Development Corp., Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Potomac Officer's Club, and FounderCorps. He serves on the Investment Advisory Boards of the Commonwealth of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology GAP Fund, and the Digital DC Tech Fund, and is a Mentor at the Mach37 Cybersecurity Accelerator and Conscious Venture Labs. In the past, he has served as Treasurer and National Board Member of the American Teleservices Association; Chairman of the Executive Leadership Committee for the Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE); Trustee of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and on the Boards of the Maryland Tech Council, Association for Corporate Growth, Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, TradeUp Capital Fund, and Startup Maryland. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.