Conference Speakers

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Robert Atkinson
Rob Atkinson is the founder and President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based technology policy think tank. Dr. Atkinson is also author of the "State New Economy Index" series and the book, "The Past and Future of America's Economy: Long Waves of Innovation that Power Cycles of Growth." He has an extensive background in technology policy, has conducted ground-breaking research projects on technology and innovation, is a valued adviser to state and national policymakers, and is a popular speaker on innovation policy nationally and internationally. Before coming to ITIF, Dr. Atkinson was Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute and Director of PPI's Technology & New Economy Project, where he wrote numerous research reports on technology and innovation policy. Previously, Dr. Atkinson served as the first Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, a public-private partnership including as members the governor, legislative leaders, and corporate and labor leaders. Prior to that he was Project Director at the former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. He received his Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Rebecca Bagley
Rebecca Bagley is President and Chief Executive Officer of NorTech, a regional nonprofit technology-based economic development organization that serves 21 counties in Northeast Ohio. As a catalyst for growing Northeast Ohio's technology industries, NorTech is leading an effort to develop regional technology clusters that will spur job creation, capital attraction, and long-term positive economic impact. Ms. Bagley joined NorTech in July 2009, bringing a wealth of experience and leadership as a nationally recognized expert in technology-based economic development. She leads the organization's effort to develop regional technology clusters and make the region's economy more economically diverse by supporting and nurturing Northeast Ohio's most promising technology projects and initiatives. Ms. Bagley connects with regional, state and federal government leaders to raise the visibility of Northeast Ohio's technology assets and drive funding to the region. Recently, Ms. Bagley and her team launched a foundation-funded $1.7 million advanced energy initiative to work with public and private sector partners to accelerate commercial activity in the region's advanced energy industry. Previously, Ms. Bagley served as Deputy Secretary for the Technology Investment Office of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) where she was responsible for the administration of several major state initiatives with a total of $79 million in yearly appropriations and more than $1.7 billion in investments. She also managed the passage of $650 million for Pennsylvania's Energy Independence Fund. She also served previously as Director of Venture Investment for DCED and managed venture and real estate investment programs. Before joining DCED, Ms. Bagley worked for several investment banks, most notably JPMorgan Chase, where she advised energy and technology companies on merger and acquisitions and raising capital in the high-yield bond group and oil and gas group. She serves on several boards and advisory councils including the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF), State Science Technology Institute (SSTI), BioEnterprise, Sustainable Cleveland 2019 Advisory Council, OneCommunity, Ohio Technology Partnership, TechLift Advisory Board, TechBelt Executive Committee, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center Advisory Board, and Ohio Wright Center for Sensor Systems Engineering. Ms. Bagley holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Phillip Battle
Phillip Battle is a policy analyst for SSTI. Mr. Battle writes for the SSTI Weekly Digest and maintains SSTI's web sites and email publications. Prior to joining SSTI, he served as a student consultant for the Texas Emerging Technology Fund. As part of his Master's report, Mr. Battle prepared an overview of that program with recommendations based on the practices of other state high-tech venture funds. He has also worked as a graduate research assistant at the IC2 Institute in Austin, as a staff researcher and writer for the Central Texas High School Data Center, and as a member of the 2006 World Congress on Information Technology policy research team. Mr. Battle holds a M.P.Aff. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dan Berglund
Dan Berglund is the President and CEO of SSTI, a nonprofit organization that leads, supports, and strengthens efforts to improve state and regional economies through science, technology, and innovation. SSTI is the most comprehensive resource available for those involved in technology-based economic development. Leading SSTI since its inception in 1996, Mr. Berglund has helped SSTI develop a nationwide network of practitioners and policymakers dedicated to improving the economy through science, technology and innovation. SSTI works with this network to assist states and communities as they build tech-based economies, conduct research on best practices and trends in tech-based economic development, and encourage cooperation among and between state and federal programs. Prior to joining SSTI, Mr. Berglund worked as a consultant and for the Ohio Department of Development in a variety of positions, including Acting Deputy Director of the Division of Technological Innovation.

Cathy Belk
Cathy Belk is the Chief Relationship Officer of JumpStart, where she is responsible for the marketing, communications, and development of all the stakeholder relationships. She brings a wealth of experience in consumer and business marketing and business management to the JumpStart team. She joined JumpStart after four years at American Greetings, where she had a series of brand and business management roles, including Director of the American Greetings brand within the $1.5 billion greeting card business and Director of Innovation. As Director of Innovation, Ms. Belk led a team in developing and launching a new product, eventually taking over management of the product as it developed into an $80 million annual business. Prior to American Greetings, she worked extensively in branding, marketing and communications management at The Coca-Cola Company and Procter and Gamble, where she focused on brand development for both mature businesses, such as Coca-Cola classic and Crest, and start-up companies, including Full Throttle. Prior to her consumer marketing experiences, Ms. Belk dedicated six years to the commercial banking industry, holding a series of positions at Bank of America, where her most recent experience was serving the dynamic Northern Virginia middle-market business community, providing financial support to enterprises with up to $250 million in annual revenues. Ms. Belk was a Keller Scholar and received an M.B.A. with a focus in Marketing from Duke University and earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Davidson College.

Chuck Brandt
As Chief Technology Officer of The Technology Collaborative, Chuck Brandt coordinates the Technology Commercialization Initiative, which distributes upwards of $3 million of early stage technology development awards annually. The Technology Collaborative is a nonprofit organization funded in part by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a consortium of 50 member firms along with the participation of Carnegie Mellon University, University of Pittsburgh, Penn State University, the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the Pittsburgh Technology Council, and the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. The Technology Collaborative programs aim to grow jobs and companies in Pennsylvania focused on target market segments involving advanced electronics, next-generation networking, embedded system, cybersecurity, and robotic applications. A graduate of the University of Illinois and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dr. Brandt has spent the past 30 years in the microelectronics, electronic materials, and tech-based economic development fields.

Stephen Brawley
Stephen Brawley is currently the President and CEO of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania. BFTP/CNP is part of a statewide network that invests in tech-based startups as well as small, existing manufacturers to promote job opportunities and economic growth in the commonwealth. As the CEO, Mr. Brawley is responsible for the implementation of the Ben Franklin investment program in the 32-county footprint served by the center, and oversees a portfolio of approximately 150 company projects. Mr. Brawley has been with the center for more than 18 years and has extensive experience in economic development and seed investing. Prior to his current role, he held various positions at the center, including Vice President and Associate Director, Director of the South Central Regional Office in Harrisburg and Program Director of Training and New Business. Mr. Brawley has been employed with various state and university programs since 1989. He currently sits on several boards, including the regional Technology Councils, the Innovation Transfer Network, a number of Keystone Innovation Zones, and the Investment Committee for Penn Venture Partners, a local venture fund. Mr. Brawley is a graduate of the Penn State University with a Master’s degree in Public Administration.

Michael Cassidy
Michael Cassidy is President of the Georgia Research Alliance, a partnership of six research universities and the business community working with state government to build the environment to nurture the growth and development of the technology sector of the Georgia economy. Before joining the Alliance in 1993, Mr. Cassidy managed the Advanced Technology Development Center based at Georgia Tech, one of the nation's oldest technology incubators. Prior to that he worked for the IBM Corporation where he held various staff and management positions. Mr. Cassidy consults with several states on issues of science and technology policy. He represents Georgia on the Southern Technology Council and the Southern Governors' Association Advisory Committee on Research, Development and Technology and also serves on the SSTI Board of Trustees.

Sheri Collins
A 24-year public servant of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Ms. Collins serves as a Technology Investment Specialist within the Department of Community & Economic Development's Technology Investment Office. For the past six years, she has played an integral role in the development of the state's ground-breaking Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) program, overseeing the designation of 29 KIZs as well as the deployment and management of over $13 million in operational funds. The KIZ program was a vital component of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell's 2004 Economic Stimulus package. This multi-faceted program was designed to retain the state's talented graduates, improve and encourage Pennsylvania's research and development efforts, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship programs while providing a tradable tax credit to KIZ companies participating in the program. Prior to her joining the Technology Investment Office, Ms. Collins served as the Special Assistant to the Chief Counsel of the $25 billion Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System.

Deborah Cummings
Deborah Cummings is the Assistant Director of the Technology and Innovation Division within the Ohio Department of Development. The division works to shape the future economy of the state through a balanced portfolio of programs to support research and commercialization, entrepreneurial assistance, cluster development, and expansion of Ohio's talent pool. The division is responsible for the strategic development, management, and administration of the Ohio Third Frontier, Ohio's Thomas Edison Program, the Ohio Venture Capital Authority, and Ohio's Technology Investment Tax Credit Program. Ms. Cummings' business career has encompassed both the private and public sectors, and has been comprised of technology-based economic development strategic planning, economic impact analyses, program assessments, best practice methodology, and science and technology policy. Prior to joining the state of Ohio, Ms. Cummings spent ten years with Battelle's Technology Partnership Practice, a consulting team that focuses Battelle's broad experience and capabilities to better serve private industry, state and local governments, universities, and nonprofit technology organizations in designing, implementing, and assessing technology to improve the economic vitality of a region. Ms. Cummings earned her M.B.A. from The Ohio State University and her Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio University.

Charles DeVries
Charles DeVries has 15 years of government and community affairs experience with a focus on economic development, entrepreneurship and higher education. As Director of Government Affairs, Mr. DeVries plays an integral role in the creation and management of economic development programs for Automation Alley, Michigan's largest technology business association. He interfaces with government agencies and officials, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Automation Alley's 1,000 member organizations to launch high-growth, early stage tech firms and to promote sustainable economic growth in Michigan's technology sector. Mr. DeVries began his public service career working for U.S. Congressman Fred Upton (MI-6) in 1995. His career continued in the President's Office at Western Michigan University, where he helped manage the state and federal appropriations process as Assistant Vice President for Legislative Affairs and promoted the university's research and legislative agendas in Lansing and Washington. As an active member of the community, Mr. DeVries co-chaired two United Way campaigns at Western Michigan University, raising more than $200,000 in each. In 2004, he was appointed to the Board of Directors at Great Oaks Public School Academy in Warren, where he currently serves as Vice President. Mr. DeVries holds a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Western Michigan University.

Christina Gabriel
Christina Gabriel led Innovation Economy grant making at The Heinz Endowments until 2010. Philanthropist Teresa Heinz Kerry created this program to capitalize on the research and technology strengths of southwestern Pennsylvania's universities, medical centers, corporate and government laboratories to promote economic growth and broaden economic opportunity. From 1998 to 2006, Dr. Gabriel worked at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, eventually becoming Vice Provost and Chief Technology Officer. Among her other responsibilities as a member of the university's core management team, she led the restructuring of the university's technology transfer function to enable a higher volume of transactions and closer collaboration with the business community. She also represented all three of the region's major research universities on the leadership team of the corporate consortium that competed successfully in 2004 to manage the five-year R&D Services Support Contract for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory. She previously worked for the National Science Foundation to direct industry-university collaborative centers programs and by 1997 was Deputy Head of the agency's Engineering Directorate. Dr. Gabriel began her professional career as principal investigator conducting experimental research at AT&T Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, focusing on lasers, optical fibers and thin-film waveguide devices for telecommunications, switching and computing applications. She holds three patents. Earlier this year she was appointed by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to the Obama Administration's National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee on Sponsored Research and the Penn State Research Foundation Board. Dr. Gabriel received both her Master's and Doctoral degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.

William Generett
William Generett is the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Central Keystone Innovation Zone (PCKIZ). He provides broad based leadership for the PCKIZ, a consortium of sixteen institutions of higher education, businesses, governmental entities, nonprofits and foundations, in stimulating the growth of regional technology-based industries and economic development within the commercially zoned areas of the Hill District, Uptown, Northside, Southside and downtown neighborhoods of the city of Pittsburgh. Until December 2009, Mr. Generett simultaneously worked as the Director of the Hill House Economic Development Corporation (HHEDC), where he provided leadership with both the evaluation and implementation of social entrepreneurial ventures. Mr. Generett’s career includes that of an entrepreneur, corporate executive and an attorney. He was the founder and president of a non-medical homecare company, where he managed 40 employees who provided services to over 100 clients throughout Allegheny County; served as the Vice President of legal staffing and recruiting for one of the nation’s largest legal staffing agencies; and for six years, practiced law in various capacities as a law clerk, associate and senior associate with a real estate and corporate law firm in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Generett is an active member of the Pittsburgh community where he serves on several boards and advisory commmittees, including Pittsburgh Economic and Industrial Development Corporation, The Green Innovators, and the City of Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority Technology Loan Fund Advisory Committee, among numerous others. Mr. Generett earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish from Morehouse College, received his Juris Doctorate from Emory University, and is licensed to practice law in the states of Pennsylvania and Georgia.

Terri Glueck
As Director of Community Development & Communications, Terri Glueck leads Innovation Works’ efforts as they relate to stakeholder communications, and works with all parts of the IW organization to coordinate messages about the value of entrepreneurship and early stage technology companies to the region’s economy. Ms. Blueck has over 15 years of marketing and communications experience within the technology, nonprofit and economic development fields. Prior to joining IW, she was the Director of Corporate Communications for a startup life sciences company, TissueInformatics, Inc., and was Vice President of Strategic Marketing and Communications for the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance. She also worked as a marketing communications consultant for early stage technology companies and regional nonprofit organizations, providing total marketing communications support in lieu of in-house staff. She has received numerous honors and awards for her work within the marketing and communications fields and has been a guest speaker and panelist at local and national professional conferences. Ms. Glueck received her B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University.

The Honorable John Gordner
Senator John Gordner was first elected to the state Senate in a special election in November 2003 and was re-elected in 2004 and 2008 to represent the 27th Senatorial district, which includes all of Columbia, Northumberland, Montour and Snyder counties and part of Luzerne and Dauphin counties. Senator Gordner serves as Chairman of the Labor and Industry Committee and Vice Chairman of the Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee. He also serves on the Appropriations Committee; Community, Economic and Recreational Development Committee; Judiciary Committee; and the Transportation Committee. Prior to his election to the Senate, Senator Gordner served for 11 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. During his service in the General Assembly, he has been active in advancing many economic development projects that have helped area businesses create thousands of jobs for district residents. As a member of the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority, Senator Gordner has promoted the technology industry and economic development. He was instrumental in the Authority's approval of the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone, which is bringing high-tech jobs to the 27th district. Senator Gordner also has assisted companies throughout the area in job creation projects. He has been named Legislative Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Development Centers, and also has been honored with the National Federation of Independent Businesses Guardian of Small Business Award. He is a past recipient of the Adam Smith Leadership Award by Economics Pennsylvania, a statewide organization that promotes financial literacy programs in public and private schools. Senator Gordner is involved in his community, serving as a member of the statewide Board of Economics Pennsylvania, among numerous other organizations. Senator Gordner earned his Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College in 1983, and earned his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law in 1987.

Sean Greene
Sean Greene is the Associate Administrator for Investment, and Special Advisor for Innovation at the U.S. Small Business Administration. He brings 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur, investor, and business strategist to the SBA. He was the founder and CEO of Away.com, an online travel company that he sold to Orbitz. He was also a Co-Founder of Rock Creek Ventures and LaunchBox Digital, a seed stage investment firm in Washington, D.C. Previously, he was a management consultant with McKinsey and Co. Mr. Greene holds an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.B.A. from Yale’s School of Management, and also was a Fulbright Scholar at the National University of Singapore.

Matt Harbaugh
Matt Harbaugh is the Chief Investment Officer of Innovation Works (IW), a Pittsburgh-based seed fund that has invested over $40 million in more than 100 seed stage companies since 2000. This pace of investment has made IW one of the most active seed stage investors in the United States. Mr. Harbaugh oversees IW's investment fund, chairs its investment committee and helps IW find, evaluate and invest in the region's most promising startups. He has extensive expertise in capital formation, and utilizes this knowledge in advising companies on how to raise outside capital and working with follow-on investors. Since the inception of its seed fund, IW’s portfolio companies have been successful in raising more than $500 million in follow-on funding from VCs, angels and strategic investors. In addition to the IW seed fund, Mr. Harbaugh has played a key role in the creation of several other funds and initiatives to capitalize on high potential technologies. These include the University Innovation Grant Fund (a proof of concept fund), AlphaLab (an accelerator for Internet and software companies), and an initiative that resulted in the creation of Pittsburgh Equity Partners (a small early stage venture fund). Prior to IW, Mr. Harbaugh served as Vice President of Finance for a venture-backed startup and was an investment banker at PNC Capital Markets, where he helped middle-market companies raise growth capital through private placements of debt and equity. He is active in the Pittsburgh community where he is a member of the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association, serves on the Board of Trustees of the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, and serves on the Advisory Cabinet of CMU’s Project Olympus. He guest lectures on topics related to venture capital and entrepreneurship at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Harbaugh received his J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from George Washington University, and his B.A. from Duke University.

Ellen Hemmerly
Ellen Hemmerly is Executive Director and President of the UMBC Research Park Corporation and Special Assistant to the Vice President for Institutional Advancement at University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). She is responsible for managing the development of a high-technology research and technology park, which includes an incubator, accelerator and research park. She also is a co-principal investigator of ACTiVATE ®, a technology commercialization program. The UMBC Research and Technology Park currently houses 50 companies including 24 incubator companies and 9 emerging technology companies with access to faculty research collaborations, student workers, specialized technology training programs, and a full range of business services including access to experienced entrepreneurs and funding. ACTiVATE ® is a regional technology commercialization program geared toward professional women that produced 24 startup companies in its first four years of operation. Ms. Hemmerly sits on numerous boards, including the Greater Baltimore Technology Council, New Markets Venture Fund, Maryland Business Incubator Association and Research Parks Maryland. She is past President of AURP, the Association of University Research Parks and has received numerous awards and recognitions, including in 2009 when she was elected by The Daily Record as one of Marylands Top 100 Women. In 2008, the UMBC incubator and accelerator were honored with the County Executive's New Direction Award for exemplifying the quality of Baltimore County Businesses in the future. Prior to joining UMBC, Ms. Hemmerly was a Vice President at the Baltimore Development Corporation (BDC) serving as its Senior Lender and Director of the Enterprise Development Fund, where she successfully started up the city's first business incubator and spent two years as a business development officer marketing Baltimore to high technology businesses. Prior to joining BDC, Ms. Hemmerly was an Associate with K.S. Sweet Associates, a real estate advisory and development firm, and TDH, a venture capital firm. Ms. Hemmerly holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Moravian College and a M.B.A. from Cornell University's Johnson School of Management.

Bomani Howze
Bomani Howze is the program officer for Innovation Economy at The Heinz Endowments. In this role he is responsible for a multi-million dollar grant-making portfolio designed to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in the Pittsburgh region by expanding economic opportunity. The strategy he has developed is a long-term effort to reduce persistent racial economic disparities by strengthening each of the components that contribute to wealth creation. Taking a holistic approach that is framed within an African American cultural ethos, the goal is to enable control and ownership of land, financial institutions, businesses and homes within a full-circle group economy. A particular emphasis is to provide support for urban businesses and the entrepreneurs who lead them. In earlier positions, Mr. Howze has served as a nonprofit executive, a small business entrepreneur and an elected community leader. He began his professional career as a public school teacher selected to help implement an innovative, year-round curriculum in an economically depressed neighborhood in Norfolk, VA. During his tenure the school realized dramatic improvements in student achievement, and Mr. Howze later introduced some of the same reforms within an African-centered public school curriculum in Pittsburgh. He has served as vice president of the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Black MBA Association, president of the Three Rivers Investment Club, and elected keynote speaker for Leadership Pittsburgh XXV. Howze was appointed by Governor Ed Rendell and serves on the Pennsylvania Minority Business Development Authority. In 2009, Mr. Howze was invited to present his work at a conference on regional innovation clusters at the National Academies in Washington, DC. Mr. Howze earned his Bachelor’s degree at Norfolk State University in Virginia and his M.B.A. at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. As an interdisciplinary International Studies Fellow, he worked with education programs in Venezuela, Brazil, South Africa, Kenya, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.

James Jordan
Jim Jordan joined the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG) in 2005 and is an officer of the company. He is an accomplished Fortune 20-level executive with strong experience in industry, consulting and academia. A recognized expert in market development and guiding the successful formation of entrepreneurial startup businesses in the life sciences industry, Mr. Jordan became Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in 2007. Prior to joining the PLSG, Mr. Jordan served as Senior Vice President of a $3 billion division of McKesson Corporation, a leading distributor of healthcare systems, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products, and as a Vice President for Marketing at Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest consumer products and healthcare companies. He has held a range of management positions in sales and marketing, operations, supply chain management, information technology, finance and quality assurance with several Fortune 500 medical device companies including C.R. Bard, Inc. and Boston Scientific, Inc. Mr. Jordan has leveraged this experience in several startup ventures and is active on several Boards of Directors. His experience also includes consulting engagements with numerous companies such as Medtronic, Frost & Sullivan, Circuit City, Philip Morris, Northrop Grumman, Schwartz Pharmaceutical and Otsuka Pharmaceutical. He previously served as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Richmond and is currently a Distinguished Service Professor of Biotechnology Management and the Director of the Master of Science in Biotechnology Management at Carnegie Mellon University. Mr. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Merrimack College and a Master’s in Business Administration from Boston University.

David Koegel
David Koegel has been with the federal government since 1985, beginning as a chemical engineer at the Army’s Night Vision and Electro-Optic Laboratory where he worked on advanced infrared detector materials. He spent several years detailed to the Pentagon, most significantly during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In the Department of Energy, Mr. Koegel organized and led retrospective peer reviews, was the AMTEX (American Textiles) program manager, was a program manager in the Advanced Energy Projects division as well as in the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. Currently in the Office of Laboratory Policy and Evaluation, he is involved in the annual evaluation of the ten Office of Science national laboratories, is a member of the DOE Technology Transfer Policy Board and is the Office of Science Small Business Program Manager. Mr. Koegel has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, and a Master of Science in Materials Science Engineering, both from the University of Arizona.

Rob Ksiazkiewicz
Rob Ksiazkiewicz is a policy analyst for SSTI, where his duties include writing articles for the SSTI Weekly Digest and helping to maintain SSTI's web sites and email publications. Prior to joining SSTI, Mr. Ksiazkiewicz worked with GSP Consulting in Pittsburgh, PA. At GSP, he conducted research and aided in the preparation of reports on technology-based economic development issues. He also interned with the U.S. Commercial Service in Pittsburgh. Mr. Ksiazkiewicz attained his Master's degree in Public and International Affairs from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where his research included issues related to green technologies and renewable energy development.

Ray Leach
Ray Leach is a serial entrepreneur, experienced angel investor, expert in technology entrepreneurship, and has been CEO of JumpStart since its founding in July 2004. Mr. Leach started his career as an expert in information technologies at IBM, where he worked with a wide range of Fortune 500 organizations. He then founded and bootstrapped two startup companies, Publishing Solutions, Inc. and the Interactive Media Group, leading the organizations through growth rates that exceeded 200% per year for six years, until their successful sale to Multigraphics Inc. in 1997. Upon the acquisition, Mr. Leach became Senior Vice President of Digital Systems and Vice President of Sales at Multigraphics, where he directed a range of technology-oriented product and service businesses. In 2000, he founded Capella Investments, Inc., an investment and management consulting firm focused on startup information technology companies. Immediately prior to leading JumpStart, Mr. Leach taught workshops at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and served as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence for CommonAngels, Boston's largest angel investing organization. Mr. Leach serves on numerous boards and advisory councils, including the Advisory Council of the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship of the U.S. Department of Commerce, as well as the Public Policy Subcommittee of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF). He is one of the current leaders of the Northeast Ohio Venture Capital Task Force, which works to support capital formation in Ohio, and is a charter member of the Ohio chapter of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE), the world's largest organization fostering international entrepreneurship. Mr. Leach earned an M.B.A. as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Finance from the University of Akron.

Ginger Lew
Ginger Lew is Senior Counselor to the White House National Economic Council and the Small Business Administration. She provides economic policy advice on a broad range of matters that impact small businesses. In addition, she co-chairs the White House Interagency Group on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and leads the White House Interagency Taskforce on Regional Innovation Clusters.

Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Lew was the managing partner of a communications venture capital fund, and a venture advisor to an early stage venture fund. Ms. Lew also was Chairman and board member of an investment fund based in Europe. She served on the boards of publicly traded companies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations.

Under the Clinton Administration, Ms. Lew was the Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Small Business Administration where she provided day to day management and operational oversight of a $42 billion loan portfolio. Before joining SBA, Ms. Lew was the General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce where she specialized in international trade issues.

Rich Lunak
Rich Lunak is President & CEO of Innovation Works, the nation's third most active early stage investor according to Entrepreneur Magazine. Mr. Lunak leads Innovation Works' efforts to provide business expertise, seed capital and other resources to high-potential, technology startup companies in the Pittsburgh region. Since 2000, Innovation Works has invested in more than 125 regional technology startups which have gone on to raise more than $800 million in follow-on investment. Additionally, 72% of the Pittsburgh region's venture capital investments went to Innovation Works' portfolio companies since 2007. Prior to joining Innovation Works in 2005, Mr. Lunak was a successful technology entrepreneur. He helped lead Automated Healthcare from a three-person startup to a $65 million acquisition by McKesson Corporation, the nation's 16th largest company. He became Group President, McKesson Automation, where he led five autonomous business units that served more than 13,000 customers, generated several hundred million in revenues and managed more than 1,800 employees with operations in four states. He was responsible for acquiring new technologies and the design, development and rollout of numerous robotic, automated and software products that are installed in leading healthcare providers across the country and around the world. Mr. Lunak holds several U.S. patents. He is a guest lecturer at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon and is a member of numerous boards of directors. For several years, Mr. Lunak served as an officer of the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association. He also is the winner of the 2008 Carnegie Science Center entrepreneur's award.