Wharton DC

John Gustavo Blair is originally from the Washington, DC area. He has been at the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) since 2017. At the EDA, John serves as the Director for National Business Investment and in addition to leading the team focused on supporting companies with a US headquarters, John specializes in working with emerging tech companies in sectors ranging from artificial intelligence and blockchain to drones and autonomous vehicles. Prior to joining the EDA, John spent close to a dozen years in business development roles for software and technical services companies and also consulted on sales and marketing strategies for emerging companies. John also has experience working for economic development authorities from Germany and the United Kingdom, including Frankfurt, the former East German State of Thuringia and Yorkshire, England.

John serves as the President on the Volunteer Fairfax Board of Directors. He has also served as the FCEDA representative on the Fairfax County Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP) Task Force, which developed goals, strategies and actions that will reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in Fairfax County, as well as on the Preservation Task Focus focused on preserving affordable housing in the county. John also represents the FCEDA in its memberships at the international organizations, Chamber of Digital Commerce, a leading blockchain association and at the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). John has completed the Leadership Fairfax program.

A graduate of the University of Delaware with an international relations degree and George Mason University (GMU) School of Business with an MBA, John has also served as President of the Alumni Chapter of the School of Business at GMU. Other Board experience includes serving as an Executive Director on the Executive Board of Bretton Woods Recreation Center (BWRC) in Germantown, Maryland. Bretton Woods is a 286-acre facility owned by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

An investor, serial entrepreneur, and mentor. Experience includes founder CEO of an Intel Capital portfolio company, 20x exit, CTO and m&a for a $150M public company, $300M+ SBIR contracts, chairman of the IEEE 1451.5 Std for Wireless Sensor Networks, 10+ patents. Currently founder of 2 startups, investor of 50+ companies and board roles for 5+ companies.
His main Interests include cyber security, wireless, IoT and data analytics.

Steven received his BSEE from Tamkang University in Taiwan and MSEE from SUNY Buffalo.

Blake Hall is the Co-Founder and CEO of ID.me, the next-generation digital identity network that simplifies how individuals can create a secure, private, and portable digital identity. More than 130 million members can use their ID.me Wallet to easily verify and use their identity across 30 states, 16 federal agencies, and over 600 organizations. ID.me's technology meets the federal standards for consumer authentication set by the Commerce Department and is approved as a NIST 800-63-3 IAL2 / AAL2 credential service provider as verified by the Kantara Initiative. ID.me is committed to "No Identity Left Behind" by enabling all people to have a secure digital identity.

Prior to ID.me, Blake led a reconnaissance platoon in Iraq. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, one for heroism in combat earned while stopping an Al-Qaida assault on a Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, and the other for exceptional performance hunting high-value targets. Blake holds a Bachelor of Science magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kendall N. Holbrook is the Chief Executive Officer of Dev Technology Group, Inc. located in Reston, Virginia. Ms. Holbrook was promoted to be the top executive of Dev Technology on January 1, 2018. Prior to taking on the role of CEO, she was the Vice President of Business Development for the company for 8 years. Ms. Holbrook is on the Advisory Board of Frontier Technology Inc. She is the past Chair of the After School All-Stars D.C. Advisory Board, a local non-profit organization supporting middle school students from under resourced communities and is a member of the Advisory Board of the After-School All-Stars national organization. Ms. Holbrook is also a member of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, a former member of the Fairfax County Virginia Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee (ITPAC) and is a Vice Chair at Large for the Industry Advisory Council Executive Committee under ACT-IAC. In her 27-year career, she has supported a variety of roles and has honed her skills by working hands-on with Government stakeholders to identify IT solutions that help meet their mission requirements.

Ms. Holbrook combines sharp business acumen with practical knowledge to build trust-based relationships with colleagues and clients alike. She is an active mentor to women inside her organization and within the Government IT community. She also serves as a mentor to high school students through multiple programs in Fairfax County, Va. Prior to joining Dev Technology, she served in multiple roles a HP Enterprise Services (formerly EDS), including Sales Executive, Project Manager, Business Manager and Systems Engineer. Additionally, Ms. Holbrook has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. She has owned a children’s bookstore, partnered with her teenage daughter on a skincare business, and is working on a cryptocurrency education start-up with her teenage son.

Ms. Holbrook is the recipient of multiple prestigious acknowledgements. She was identified as an honoree for the 2024 Federal 100 (https://events.govexec.com/evening-of-honors-2024/winners/), awarded the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce GovCon 2021 Executive of the Year Award ($75 – 300M), was selected as a 2022 Washington Business Journal Diversity in Business Honoree and was a 2023 Strong Men Strong Women in Virginia honoree. In addition, Ms. Holbrook is frequently asked to speak on topics related to business strategy and growth as well as leadership.

Ms. Holbrook holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, University of Virginia, and an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland. Ms. Holbrook is also a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

Session Panelist: Healthcare Apps & Devices

Session Moderator & Panelist: How Human and Machine Convergence can Make People Live Forever

For over 20 years, Dr. Corinna Lathan led AnthroTronix, Inc. as CEO, Co-Founder, and Board Chair to invent human-centered products in digital health, bioelectronic medicine, wearable technology, robotics, and augmented reality. Dr. Lathan details these projects in her 2022 best-selling book, Inventing the Future, Stories from a Techno-Optimist. During her tenure, AnthroTronix forged the regulatory path for Mobile Medical Apps receiving the first FDA 501k clearance for cognitive assessment and was recently sold to investors to scale the Dana Brain Vital product. Dr. Lathan continues as Chief Science Officer, and as an NIH-funded researcher, to lead scientific and operational breakthroughs in brain health outcomes measurement. She is also a member of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable and is a Former Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The Catholic University of America and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland.

Dr. Lathan currently serves as an Independent Director of PTC, Inc., an S&P 500 member (Nasdaq:PTC) and global technology provider of Internet of Things and Augmented Reality platforms, and is a member of the Audit and Cybersecurity Committees. She is also an Independent Director of Ekso Bionics (Nasdaq:EKSO) a pioneer in the field of robotic exoskeletons, or wearable robots. Dr. Lathan serves on the Audit and Governance Committees.

In addition to her public board engagements, Dr. Lathan serves on the Board of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, an independent, non-profit organization, dedicated to accelerating global efforts to reduce deaths and harm from smoking. She also serves as a Director on the nonprofit boards Engineering World Health and The KID-Museum.

Dr. Lathan was named a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and was the founding co-Chair of their Global Future Council on Human Enhancement. Dr. Lathan has been featured in Forbes, Time, and the New Yorker magazines and her work has led to such distinctions as Maryland’s “Top Innovator of the Year,” MIT Technology Review Magazine’s “Top 100 World Innovators,” and one of Fast Company Magazines “Most Creative People in Business.”

Dr. Lathan received her B.A. in Biopsychology and Mathematics from Swarthmore College and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from MIT.

Jack McDougle is the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, a business organization that has served the District of Columbia, Northern
Virginia, and suburban Maryland for more than 130 years.

Jack has worked with business, government, and nonprofits for
more than 30 years to enhance competitive advantage. Before
joining the Board of Trade, he worked on economic capacity
building projects in the U.S., Central Asia, and India. Jack led the National Manufacturing and Innovation Initiative at the Council on Competitiveness. He also served as Deputy Undersecretary for Economic Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Industry Analysis at the U.S. Department of Commerce. At the U.S. Department of State, he led components of the U.S.-hosted G8 Summit at Sea Island.

In the private sector, Jack was Vice President for Strategic Management at People’s United Bank.

Jack regularly discusses economic, business, manufacturing, and trade issues with senior government and industry officials as well as presenting at various meetings and events. Jack earned his M.B.A. in strategy and finance at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.

Keynote Speaker: David Morey: The Magic of Innovation

David Morey, Chairman and CEO of DMG Global, is one of America’s leading strategic consultants—and one of the nation’s most sought-after speakers and magicians. Mr. Morey is the best-selling author of The Underdog Advantage, The Leadership Campaign, Creating Business Magic, #1 New Release on Amazon, and Innovating Innovation. He has worked with and helped add billions of dollars in revenue and market value to some of the world’s top companies.

Morey has advised six Nobel Peace Prize winners, twenty-two winning global presidential campaigns—along with a who’s who of Fortune 500 CEOs and companies including GE, Verizon, Apple, Samsung, Deloitte, LinkedIn, Google, The Coca-Cola Company, Mars, KPMG, McDonald's, Microsoft, News Corp., Nike, Pepsi, P&G, Disney, Visa, NBC, CVS, American Express, TPG, and many others.

Morey was a four-time All-American Decathlon competitor and is a graduate of the Wharton School (BS) and the London School of Economics (MSc).

Limor Schafman is the Director of Strategy at LG NOVA, a team within LG Electronics dedicated to working with the startup and entrepreneurial community to innovate and create impactful technologies that will lead LG, its partners, and the world into the future. She also heads the Cleantech-OverDrive Task Force which is developing NOVA's first new venture in this market sector.

In her role, she leads strategy development and cross-team collaboration for incubation, corporate development, strategic partnerships, ecosystem, engagement and fund activities. This global program works with startups and entrepreneurs to innovate for the future.

Prior to joining LG, Limor co-founded and lead the Telecommunication Industry Association’s Smart Buildings Program, which convened commercial real estate and information, and communication technology experts to develop its TIA-UL smart building benchmark and certification, Spire™. As founder of KeystoneTech Group, Limor provided market strategy and business development consulting services to startups in PropTech, telecom/mobile and other sectors. She co-led the National Institute of Standards and Technology–Global City Teams Challenge Smart Buildings SuperCluster and co-chaired the Smart Buildings & Urban Design group of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Smart Regions Initiative.

Limor has a deep understanding of the digital and digitized environment, stemming from her work in IoT, mobile and communications infrastructure, theme park, video game, and other technology sectors, and her experience as an international corporate attorney. She has led technology-oriented organizations, serving as co-founder and President of the IPv6 Forum Israel Chapter (now Chair Emeritus); President of the World Future Society DC Chapter and co-founder and head of Games Gateway, a serious games meetup. Limor is also an international speaker and moderator and has served as a show host for several online media outlets.

Kashif Siddiqui is the Head of Innovation for Bank of America’s Global Payments Solutions unit. In his role, Kashif leads the team responsible for managing the payments innovation pipeline, strategic analysis of emerging payment capabilities, and delivering transformative solutions across Consumer, Small Business, Business Banking, Merchant, Corporate and Large Corporate Business lines.

Kashif has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry in payments, digital product management, strategy, corporate development/partnerships, and execution. Some of the transformative industry projects he has been able to contribute to include the formation of Zelle, piloting and launch of Square and the creation of Apple Pay.

He began his career at JPMorganChase leading a variety of restructuring initiatives across the bank. Kashif then joined Silicon Valley Bank where he helped to start the bank’s payments business and was responsible for new product development and oversight. Subsequently, Kashif joined Cross River Bank as the Head of Payments product management supporting the creation of new products and payments access points for FinTech challengers. Kashif joined Bank of America in 2019.

Kashif is a recovering Computer Engineer with his BS and MBA from Columbia University.

Dr. Natcha serves as a Board member of Thailand's National Innovation Agency, CU Enterprise, Chulalongkorn School of Integrated Innovation. She is the Global Chief Innovation Officer, Chairman of the CUE Foundation, and an Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering at Chulalongkorn University.

Dr. Natcha is a highly experienced leader in strategic planning and innovation, driving transformative initiatives in higher education. Under her vision of “Innovations for Society”, she conducted extensive research, authored three impactful whitepapers on Scaleup Nation. Additionally, she spearheaded the establishment of Thailand and University Innovation and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem which includes CU Innovation Hub, Siam Innovation District, CU Enterprise, ASEAN University Network - University Innovation and Enterprises, and Global Innovation Club. These initiatives successfully brought together multiple global agencies, governments, academic networks, private partners, and investors to empower talents and develop over 300 innovation enterprises. These efforts resulted in a remarkable total market valuation of US$600 million, benefiting the lives, learning, and work of over 5 million citizens. Chula Deeptech Demo Day 2023 attracted over 500 global government and private sector representatives along with investors and experts. The event showcased over 100 Deeptech enterprises that have collectively raised more than US$10 million. As a global chief innovation offer, I played a key role in establishing a strategic partnership between Chulalongkorn University and Cornell University, known as the Cornell Global Hub Network , along with 11 other university partners. This collaboration focuses on addressing global research challenges facing humanity today. Dr. Natcha’s outstanding achievements, resulting in her being honored with the Prime Minister Award: National Startup 2023 in the Evangelist of the year category. Furthermore, she has been shortlisted for Outstanding Leadership and Management Team at the Times Higher Education Awards Asia 2021, and her CU Innovation Hub received the Asia Star awards in 2022. As a pioneer in Asia, she established a transdisciplinary platform that provides future-oriented and demand-driven education, research, and innovation enterprise and co-founded the School of Integrated Innovation. Under her leadership, Chulalongkorn university achieved a top ranking in Asia according to the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2021 in driving sustainable development goals. Dr. Natcha obtained her PhD in Manufacturing Engineering and Operations Management from the University of Nottingham, UK. She is a certified institute director (IOD) graduate member, Project Management Professional, and ISO9001 auditor. Dr. Natcha combination of academic prowess, leadership experience, and extensive government and industry engagement positions her as an invaluable asset to drive innovation and enhance sustainable growth in any forward-thinking organization. She is prepared to contribute to success, nurture future leaders, create sustainable impact, and embrace continuous learning.

Mr. Tien Wong is a tech investor, entrepreneur, and CEO. He is Chairman & CEO of Opus8, Inc., a private investment and advisory firm investing in exceptional life science and tech enabled services companies, as well as specializing in raising capital for promising tech companies and alternative investment fund managers.

He is Founder of CONNECTpreneur, a global community of 25,000+ founders, investors, CEOs, and business leaders. CONNECTpreneur organizes the world’s largest monthly virtual investor pitch events as well as in-person Forums with upwards of 500 attendees, featuring VIP guests, speakers, exciting presenting companies, and the best CXO to CXO networking on the East Coast. Since 2012, over 1200 companies have presented, half of whom have received funding from investors from the CONNECTpreneur investor network.

Mr. Wong is also a Venture Partner in IronGate Capital Advisors, a VC and Fund of Funds manager investing in dual use technologies; Investment Advisory Board member of Virginia Venture Partners; and Chairman of Lumious, an ed tech company which provides learning & development services to Fortune 500 customers.

Mr. Wong was appointed by Governor Martin O'Malley to the 9-person Maryland Venture Fund Authority which oversees $84 million in VC allocations; he serves on the Boards of Directors of the Austin Venture Association, Association for Enterprise Growth (Chair), Frederick Innovative Technology Corp., Inc. (FITCI), and Junior Achievement, as well as on the Council of Advisors for the Washington Institute for Business, Government, & Society and the Entrepreneurship Advisory Council of The Universities at Shady Grove. He is a Mentor at the Mach37 Cybersecurity Accelerator and Conscious Venture Labs.

Mr. Wong received the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Greater Washington and the 2003 EY Performance Excellence Award. He was inducted into the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame and the Montgomery County Business Hall of Fame. He has been named by Washingtonian magazine as a “Tech Titan” for the last 7 years (’17 – ‘23), a 2-time Washington Business Journal "Power 100" selection as one of the region's most influential leaders (‘12 and ‘13), a 3-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 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.

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 generates $3 billion in revenue as divisions of Conduent (NYSE: CNDT), Continuum, and Xerox. CyberRep garnered prestigious awards including Customer Inter@ction Solutions magazine's MVP Quality Award, Customer Interface magazine's ACCE (Award for Call Center Excellence), as well as INC. magazine's "Inc. 500" recognition (2017-2000) 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 Time Magazine, The Washington Post, Inc. Magazine, and Success Magazine.

In the past, he has served as Treasurer and National Board Member of the Professional Association for Customer Engagement; 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, Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County (MD) Economic Development Corp., Monte Jade Science and Technology Association, Digital DC Tech Fund, TradeUp Capital Fund, Potomac Officers Club, FounderCorps, and Startup Maryland. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College.