Brian R. Yurachek is a former 'Wall Street' asset manager and founder of Parallel Worlds, Inc., where he develops IoT-driven media platforms that connect physical environments with digital assets for next-generation user experiences.

Brian R. Yurachek is a former 'Wall Street' asset manager and founder of Parallel Worlds, Inc., where he develops IoT-driven media platforms that connect physical environments with digital assets for next-generation user experiences. Show more

Henri is an AI enthusiast, tech communicator, and proud nerd. As part of Microsoft's Digital Natives team, he is advising Europe's fastest growing tech companies on developing agentic systems in the cloud.
Having a background in classic language models, Henri is a strong advocate for LLM-enabled applications. Since the early research preview of GPT-3, he has coached countless individuals to develop with GenAI through workshops, hackathons, and conferences.
When on stage, Henri always aims for maximum genuineness: The passion for technology is real, and the demos are live (albeit not always reliable).

Henri is an AI enthusiast, tech communicator, and proud nerd. As part of Microsoft's Digital Natives team, he is advising Europe's fastest growing tech companies on developing agentic systems in the cloud. Having a background in classic language mod... Show more

Marc Robertz-Schwartz is a multi-award-winning media and marketing executive and entrepreneur. He has helped dozens of best-in-class businesses and organizations build their brand through traditional and digital marketing strategies. He has been honored and recognized with three regional Emmy awards, 19 Telly awards, International Incubator Business of the Year (2012), twice named to the Gator 100 for fastest growing companies owned by University of Florida grads, and his agency – Red Apples Media – was named a “Best Place to Work” right before he completed the sale of the agency in 2024. Marc is also the author of "The RED APPLES Way" (named an Amazon "Top New Release" in February, 2026) - a candid and entertaining story of "how nine core values turned a company founded on fear and desperation into one of passion and purpose."

Marc Robertz-Schwartz is a multi-award-winning media and marketing executive and entrepreneur. He has helped dozens of best-in-class businesses and organizations build their brand through traditional and digital marketing strategies. He has been hono... Show more

As a leading brand builder and speaker on experience, content, and audience engagement. Baron's work has contributed to the marketing success of many leading brands, including Royal Bank of Canada.CA, Visa, Conagra, Ontario Tourism, Unilever, TD Bank, and other brand leaders. Baron continues to lead his team of marketing and brand experience designers at the firm he founded in 2016, Per Se Brand Experience (PSBX).

Baron was part of Ontario Tourism's 2003/2004 SARS Recovery Program. In 2006, he was awarded the key to the City of Niagara Falls for Tourism Promotion and Innovation in the region. In 2025, he co-authored the best-selling business book, The Ripple Effect, a book featuring business networking stories across professional categories.
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In 2026, Baron was named a Catalyst Member at the Stanford Center on Longevity. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto, and Baron holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto. Since 2020, Baron has split his time between Toronto, Canada and Naples, Florida.

As a leading brand builder and speaker on experience, content, and audience engagement. Baron's work has contributed to the marketing success of many leading brands, including Royal Bank of Canada.CA, Visa, Conagra, Ontario Tourism, Unilever, TD Bank... Show more

Josh Sanchez has been recognized as one of the Top Emerging Entrepreneurs by Forbes; The Culture. A Serial Entrepreneur Josh Sold his first company at 24. He has consulted for some of the biggest companies in the Silicon Slopes. His current entrepreneurial endeavor is DFRNT Media - that has garnered over +1,000,000,000 Views across all platforms for his clients' brands. He has produced 5 Podcasts in the Top 10% of Podcasts Globally with one peaking at Top 1% Globally.

Josh builds influence engines. Using video podcasting, media infrastructure, and storytelling systems, he helps founders, executives, and brands turn conversations into capital, authority, and long term leverage.
He is widely recognized for reframing media not as marketing—but as business infrastructure. Josh teaches leaders how to stop chasing attention and instead build owned media systems that compound trust, deal flow, and dominance.
Over the next era of creator and founder-led media, Josh is positioning as the definitive authority on video podcasting and clip-first media as a business acquisition engine.

Josh Sanchez has been recognized as one of the Top Emerging Entrepreneurs by Forbes; The Culture. A Serial Entrepreneur Josh Sold his first company at 24. He has consulted for some of the biggest companies in the Silicon Slopes. His current entrepren... Show more

Richard Essangabasi Israel, also known as The Content Chef, is a 23 year old Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, and Business developer from Nigeria. He works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and business growth, and his work is driven by a simple belief: if it can be told, it can be sold. At 23, he has founded or co-founded nine ventures, each born from real problems he experienced himself like bad campus food, unreliable internet, lack of access and lack of funding for student founders. He is the Founder and CEO of The Shard Group LTD, a conglomerate that houses other subsidiary companies including Shard Network, a satellite powered campus ISP for African campuses, Shard Media Production, and Shard Builders Residency. His other ventures include Offar, a DeFi toolkit for African businesses and developers, The Messangs, a silent luxury menswear brand, Orex Prime, an Content/Media production company, and Campus Pitch Africa, a pan-African Shark Tank style pitch competition that funds student entrepreneurs. He serves as the lead investor for Campus Pitch Africa and is currently building MAI Fund, a venture capital firm focused on pre-seed and seed investments in African SMEs. He is also developing Stable Pesa, a fintech company that aims to help people across Africa achieve financial peace of mind, though it is still in development.

As a creative director and filmmaker, Richard has spent over five years mastering visual storytelling. He is the co-founder of Orex Prime, where he uses blockchain technology to help African filmmakers create and fund high quality movies. He has successfully raised over $10,000 for film projects from global partners including The Sandbox DAO, Uglycash and Base. His work has earned international awards and has been screened at major film festivals in the United Kingdom, New York, and Nigeria. He also hosts The Founders Archive, an ambitious project to film and document the stories of one million business owners around the world. He travels to different cities to record the struggles and wins of entrepreneurs, saving their lessons in a digital library for others to learn from.

As a public speaker, Richard does not deliver motivational fluff. He shares practical and honest insights drawn from five years of experience across media, Web3, entrepreneurship, and African innovation. He has spoken on global stages hosted by Google, Solana, Figma, SheFi and Ethereum at events including Figma Config, Eth Enugu, Web3 Lagos Conference, Solana Allstars Meetup, GDG EKET, ENB Onchain Summer Lagos, Devconnect Base Demo Day in Argentina, SheFi Nigeria,, Borderless 2.0/3.0 and NACOS Week 25. His speaking style is straightforward and focused on what actually works rather than what sounds good.

In business development, marketing, and sales, Richard brings over three years of hands on experience. He currently serves as the Marketing Lead and Growth Strategist at Bitsave Protocol, a decentralized savings platform focused on providing secure financial solutions and advancing DeFi adoption for global users. He helps small and medium sized businesses grow by building partnerships, revenue systems, and operational structures that actually scale. Before Bitsave, he led marketing for iLabs Nigeria, an AI Engineering Startup advancing AI chatbot adoption for SMEs founded by Alumni’s of the AI Class of 2023 at the European Business University of Luxembourg. He also served as Director of Socials for the Nigeria Association of Computing Students at Akwa Ibom State University, where he managed student engagement and organized high profile events including the NACOS Week 25 Conference. He was the campus lead for Cowrywise in 2024 and also served as a co-campus lead for Solana Allstars. He served as Regional Lead and Visual Creative Director for For The Love of DeFi, leading community growth, regional expansion, and Web3 adoption while helping organize the Innovate 25 Conference as Visual/Creative Director.

Richard studied filmmaking under a Mastercard Foundation Scholarship at the Kunle Afolayan Film and Television Academy. He has also worked as a festival curator for the Uyo International Theatre and Film Festival and as co-lead for GDGoc Aksu. His mission is simple and consistent: to support the people who take real risks to build meaningful businesses, and to help young Africans share their stories and succeed on a global stage.

Richard Essangabasi Israel, also known as The Content Chef, is a 23 year old Entrepreneur, Investor, Speaker, and Business developer from Nigeria. He works at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and business growth, and his work is driven b... Show more

Morten Rand-Hendriksen is a technology educator, keynote speaker, and developer specializing in AI, bleeding edge web standards, tech- and design ethics, and the intersections between technology and humanity.

When Morten talks about technology, people listen (as evidenced by his 90,000 followers on LinkedIn and 150,000 followers on TikTok).

For more than 15 years, Morten has helped millions of people around the world empower themselves by helping them understand and use emerging technologies. If you work on or with the web, there's a good chance you've seen one of his online courses or viral videos, read his articles and tutorials, or attended one of his live presentations. In his work he uses his neurodivergent understanding of the world to translate complex technical concepts into practical knowledge people can apply in their work and lives.

Morten uses his background in philosophy, politics, and design to explore how technology shapes human experience, communication, communities, and power structures. He centres his work around helping people build a healthy disrespect for the sanctity of technology so they can develop the functionings and capabilities to do and be what they have reason to value, and the agency and autonomy to build their own futures in a rapidly changing technological landscape

Every keynote, conference talk, panel discussion, and workshop Morten delivers is filled to the brim with relatable stories, deep technical insight, and practical takeaways, giving audiences the tools they need to engage with technology on their own terms.

Morten Rand-Hendriksen is a technology educator, keynote speaker, and developer specializing in AI, bleeding edge web standards, tech- and design ethics, and the intersections between technology and humanity. When Morten talks about technology, pe... Show more

Geoffrey Klein works with organizations to leverage AI for efficiency as well as effectiveness. Geoffrey’s aim is to help develop effective communication to increase engagement. He is a dynamic keynote speaker, TEDx presenter, MIT AI-certified consultant, and best-selling author of THE CONTENT BEAST and is working on his latest project, an AI reference book explaining common terms with analogies.

He teaches business communication at Wharton School of Business and social media marketing at Temple University, and produces visual content.

In addition to his AI Certification from MIT, Geoffrey has certifications from SmarterX, CAIO.com, LinkedIn Learning. With the speed that AI evolves, Geoffrey continues to ensure he is staying ahead with continued AI education.

Geoffrey loves sushi and has an extensive Pez-Candy dispenser collection.

Geoffrey Klein works with organizations to leverage AI for efficiency as well as effectiveness. Geoffrey’s aim is to help develop effective communication to increase engagement. He is a dynamic keynote speaker, TEDx presenter, MIT AI-certified consul... Show more

Dylan Gamez is the Marketing and Public Relations Director for The Hacienda in New Port Richey and Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora- built in 1927 and 1883 respectively. Dylan started her career in hospitality at Walt Disney World while finishing her degree in Broadcast Journalism at UCF. Dylan splits her time between Mount Dora and New Port Richey, but reside in Fruitland Park with her husband, Barrett and their three dogs and two cats. Dylan is currently on the Marketing Committee for VISITFLORIDA, Vice President of New Port Richey Main Street and deeply involved with Florida’s Sports Coast- Pasco’s Tourism Board, Mount Dora Area Chamber of Commerce and other local organizations and nonprofits. Dylan was recently named one of the 50 Most Dynamic Women in the Tampa Bay Area by the Laker-Lutz News and won an award from the Secretary of State for a marketing video she produced for New Port Richey Main Street. She most recently was a speaker at the VISIT FLORIDA Conference on Tourism.

Dylan Gamez is the Marketing and Public Relations Director for The Hacienda in New Port Richey and Lakeside Inn in Mount Dora- built in 1927 and 1883 respectively. Dylan started her career in hospitality at Walt Disney World while finishing her degre... Show more

Jim Grisanzio works at Oracle on the Java Developer Relations Team. He hosts the Duke’s Corner Java Podcast, where he interviews Java developers around the world to capture their stories about the technology and the community. Jim also publishes the Inside Java Newsletter, produces video and photography, delivers community sessions at events, facilitates the Java User Group and Java Champions programs, and contributes to the team’s community development efforts. Jim has been building and contributing to FOSS communities for decades at Sun and Oracle.

https://grisanzio.com/

Jim Grisanzio works at Oracle on the Java Developer Relations Team. He hosts the Duke’s Corner Java Podcast, where he interviews Java developers around the world to capture their stories about the technology and the community. Jim also publishes the ... Show more

10 years in product. 6 years in AI, starting on AI drone ships for the military. Dozens of shipped products still used today. Tech work spanning Sony, Walmart, the U.S. Department of Defense, and high-growth startups.

Most of my career has been spent inside fast-moving teams where everything needed to be done yesterday. So I have often been product manager, designer, prototype builder, sales team, and marketer all in the same week.

That gave me a very practical view of AI and how to make people care about it, which led me to start making AI explainers on YouTube.

My work has now reached 7M+ people and 41K+ subscribers. I have also worked with AI companies, research labs, and YC startups to help tell their stories clearly, including Higgsfield AI, Emergent AI, Brilliant, Stanford Human-Centered AI Lab, the Center for AI Safety, SerpAPI, and Abacus AI.

10 years in product. 6 years in AI, starting on AI drone ships for the military. Dozens of shipped products still used today. Tech work spanning Sony, Walmart, the U.S. Department of Defense, and high-growth startups. Most of my career has been sp... Show more

Dan Tudor is the Founder and President of Tudor Collegiate Strategies (TCS), a nationally respected athletic recruiting advisory firm that specializes in training college admissions and coaching staffs to communicate and recruit their prospects more effectively. Since 2005, Tudor has been called “America’s recruiting coordinator” thanks to his company’s cutting-edge strategies, research and advice to the college coaching community.

TCS publishes the popular Monday Morning Admissions newsletter and podcast, as well as the College Recruiting Weekly newsletter and podcast the country every week, boasting over 50,000 readers and listeners. Dan and his team speak regularly at college coach and admissions conventions around the country.

Dan Tudor is based in North Carolina, and can be reached by email at dan@dantudor.com.

Dan Tudor is the Founder and President of Tudor Collegiate Strategies (TCS), a nationally respected athletic recruiting advisory firm that specializes in training college admissions and coaching staffs to communicate and recruit their prospects more ... Show more

Layshi Curbelo is a user experience designer specializing in digital accessibility, with a focus on creating inclusive solutions with high return on investment (ROI). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Advertising, a Master's degree in Education with a specialization in Instructional Design, and certifications in User Experience.

She is the CEO of Command Z Studio and the Command Z podcast, where she explores trends and challenges in design. Additionally, she produces other design-focused podcasts, including Design Tracks from Design Matters and If U Seek from the company Useberry. She is also the CTO and Co-Founder of Yestoday, an innovative software that blends creativity and functionality for entrepreneurs and creatives, ensuring that technology transforms ideas into tangible realities.

With over a decade of experience, Layshi has worked on international projects and has been a speaker at prestigious events such as Design Matters, South by Southwest, Interaction Foundation, and the 2020 Ibero-American Biennial, where she was a finalist. She has created educational materials used in more than 16 countries and has spoken at over 30 international conferences. Her commitment is to make every digital experience accessible and effective, changing the world one pixel at a time.

Layshi Curbelo is a user experience designer specializing in digital accessibility, with a focus on creating inclusive solutions with high return on investment (ROI). She holds a Bachelor's degree in Advertising, a Master's degree in Education with a... Show more

Christopher Kemper is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of distinguished military service, a decorated combat leader, and a non-traditional problem solver who now helps businesses win on digital ground.

Chris began his career at the Virginia Military Institute, earning a B.A. in International Studies and Modern Languages. Over two decades of service, he held command and leadership roles at every level, including Deputy Commander of Camp Marmal Garrison Command in Afghanistan and Commander of the 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry. His work in reconnaissance, intelligence, and operational strategy sharpened his analytical mindset and built his reputation for solving complex challenges by viewing them through an unconventional lens.

After retiring from the Army, Chris transitioned into civilian business leadership, managing global software development teams and leading multi-million dollar government contracts. This blend of military precision and civilian innovation laid the groundwork for co-founding EMILY Revolutionary Marketing Group®, where he now leads strategic growth for clients across industries.

At EMILY, Chris merges his strengths in analytics, systems thinking, and team leadership with cutting-edge digital marketing — offering SEO-first, AI-integrated strategies that help businesses grow their online visibility, attract qualified leads, and scale effectively. EMILY’s clients include national franchises, local nonprofits, manufacturers, and fast-growing service brands seeking a competitive edge.

Chris holds an MBA from Brenau University and a Graduate Certificate in Financial Management from the University of Maryland Global Campus. His certifications include Google Digital Marketing, Google Generative AI Leader, SERanking, Google Search & Display Ads, Surfer AI Search and Meta Marketing Analytics.

A proud father, husband, and dog dad, Chris lives in Newberry, South Carolina with his wife Molly and daughters Ellis and Madeline. Whether deploying troops or building brands, he leads with clarity, data, and purpose.

Christopher Kemper is a retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel with 23 years of distinguished military service, a decorated combat leader, and a non-traditional problem solver who now helps businesses win on digital ground. Chris began his career at... Show more

Collette helps businesses translate how people strategy directly underpins business strategy. Crucially how to engage the potential 90% of your team who, according to Gallop, are disengaged and increasingly unhappy. Collette she's a neuroscience informed practitioner, fixing engagement is not easy - but it is not as hard that you'd imagine.

Employee engagement is at a crisis low and it is probably silently killing your businesses - if your average employee paid to work 37.5 hours a week - an average you might be getting less than 4 hours a week from them.

We can cut through the noise and talk openly and honestly about human operating systems that help build high-performing teams and joyous workplaces (remote or other) based upon the combined strengths your people are today, not continuing being suffocated by environments and ways of working that were built for a imaginary human being that doesn't even exist!

Collette combines 25 years in digital marketing space, 15 in leadership including an CEO role; with her accredited Leadership coaching qualification (AC) + qualified neuroscience for change practitioner (APMG), making her uniquely qualified to help your teams, help themselves and your businesses thrive again.

Collette helps businesses translate how people strategy directly underpins business strategy. Crucially how to engage the potential 90% of your team who, according to Gallop, are disengaged and increasingly unhappy. Collette she's a neuroscience info... Show more

Anuradha Tibile is a powerhouse of creativity and passion, with a voice that can captivate any audience. She has not just mastered the art of storytelling with a degree in Journalism & Mass Communication, but has also been an amazing keynote speaker at various GDG events.

She's a skilled orator who has held audiences spellbound with her speeches, and her knack for crafting visually compelling communication materials shines through in everything she does.

Anuradha is a true changemaker, driven by a desire to use her skills to make a positive impact on the world. Whether it's through her oratory, her leadership, or her creative communication skills, she's constantly pushing boundaries and inspiring others.

Sparked by a passion for technology, she embarked on her professional journey by joining Google Women Techmakers on April 24, 2023. Since then, she has blossomed within the industry, actively contributing to the prestigious Tensor Flow group & Google Developer Groups.

Anuradha Tibile is a powerhouse of creativity and passion, with a voice that can captivate any audience. She has not just mastered the art of storytelling with a degree in Journalism & Mass Communication, but has also been an amazing keynote speaker ... Show more

Riz Vazir has a deep background in tech and healthcare consulting, most recently as Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft. He founded Scroll By Choice to address a health crisis caused as collateral damage from the unrestricted monetization of human attention using sophisticated technology. His mission is to equip kids & adults to thrive with technology. Without this, employers face diminished human capital, schools will see declining academic performance, and society will experience increased loneliness. Riz is a certified change management professional with an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Riz Vazir has a deep background in tech and healthcare consulting, most recently as Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft. He founded Scroll By Choice to address a health crisis caused as collateral damage from the unrestricted monetization of h... Show more

Rahul Bhattacharya is a design educator, writer and curator working across visual culture, pedagogy, and technology. His practice spans design, writing, and curation, with a sustained engagement in art history, semiotics, and the politics of form. He writes across academic research, editorial platforms, and long-form reflections on visual culture, performance, and emerging technologies, while his curatorial work extends into public space through exhibitions, workshops, and performance platforms. He is a co-founder of the Kolkata International Performance Art Festival and Nine Schools of Art, both grounded in collective learning and co-creation.

As Assistant Dean, Communication Design, at UID Gandhinagar, he leads curriculum design and academic strategy, building transdisciplinary frameworks that connect design, culture, and critical thinking. His work with AI through dotai develops systems that act as analytical and ethical companions, foregrounding interpretation, memory, and cultural specificity. Through teaching, tool-building, and collaborative labs, his practice focuses on how designers think, decide, and work within evolving technological conditions

Rahul Bhattacharya is a design educator, writer and curator working across visual culture, pedagogy, and technology. His practice spans design, writing, and curation, with a sustained engagement in art history, semiotics, and the politics of form. He... Show more

Andrew Schiffman, Head of Artist Relations at LGND Music, an NFT music platform. He was previously the Vice President of Business Development at YellowHeart, a NFT Ticketing and Marketplace platform and Music partnership Ambassador at Rally.io.
He has over 20 years in the music industry working at various global companies like MTV, VEVO and UMG. His passion for music and tech allowed Andrew to become a master programming strategist and curator across platforms from broadcast to digital. He has worked on many groundbreaking campaigns, events, series and album releases from the MTV Video Music Awards, MTV2 120 Minutes and artists like Muse, Linkin Park, J. Cole and The Black Keys.

Andrew Schiffman, Head of Artist Relations at LGND Music, an NFT music platform. He was previously the Vice President of Business Development at YellowHeart, a NFT Ticketing and Marketplace platform and Music partnership Ambassador at Rally.io. He ... Show more

Lead UX/Digital Product Designer with over 20 years of experience and certification in design strategy. My career spans major tech hubs, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London, where I've delivered impactful digital solutions across diverse industries.

Beyond client work, I'm committed to advancing the design community through thought leadership and mentorship. I regularly publish insights on UX and product design, speak at industry conferences and events, and mentor emerging designers. My work has built an engaged audience of 10,000+ followers across Medium, LinkedIn, and X.

Lead UX/Digital Product Designer with over 20 years of experience and certification in design strategy. My career spans major tech hubs, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London, where I've delivered impactful digital solutions acro... Show more

Working since 12 years for Germany's biggest financial daily "Handelsblatt", since 2024 as Deputy Lead of Weekend & Report. Since 2022, covering as well Web3, crypto, and NFTs and building the first newspaper-driven NFT community in Europe. Moderated several events in Germany and Italy. Founder of the digital art platform VistaVagabond.xyz in 2023.

Working since 12 years for Germany's biggest financial daily "Handelsblatt", since 2024 as Deputy Lead of Weekend & Report. Since 2022, covering as well Web3, crypto, and NFTs and building the first newspaper-driven NFT community in Europe. Moderated... Show more

Born in Colombia and forged in the media hubs of Miami and Washington, D.C., I am a Senior Strategist operating at the intersection of cultural identity and global operations. For 12 years, I’ve built digital ecosystems for giants like Disney, NBCUniversal, and National Geographic. I was the mind behind the award-winning Nat Geo en Español YouTube channel—pioneering a strategy that earned a Gold Creator Award and surpassed 1 million subscribers in less than a year. From Executive Producing documentaries like Puerto Rico: Surviving María to co-founding the National Geographic Hispanic Employee Inclusion Group (EIG), my mission is to use technology as a megaphone for authentic representation. Currently, I am merging a decade of high-level strategy with AI certifications from NVIDIA and Google, ensuring that as the industry redesigns itself, inclusion is baked into the foundation, not added as a footnote.

Born in Colombia and forged in the media hubs of Miami and Washington, D.C., I am a Senior Strategist operating at the intersection of cultural identity and global operations. For 12 years, I’ve built digital ecosystems for giants like Disney, NBCUni... Show more

Brendan Keefe serves as Chief Investigator for Atlanta News First Investigates. He’s one of the most-decorated investigative reporters in the nation.

Brendan’s investigations have earned two National Emmys, the George Foster Peabody Award, the DuPont-Columbia Silver Baton, nine National Edward R. Murrow Awards, and more than 145 regional Emmys.

His biggest motivation is uncovering systemic and institutional failures with the goal of making our communities better and safer places in which to live. Brendan’s stories have changed laws, led to multiple patents, fixed the nation’s 911 system, and stopped DEA agents from searching innocent air travelers nationwide.

Brendan has worked as an investigative reporter in Atlanta for over a decade. He began his career 35 years ago as a news photographer. Brendan never really put the camera down as a reporter and anchor in cities across the nation, including Houston and New York City.

He was embedded with the US Army during the Iraq war. Brendan has also taught generations of journalists as a member of the visiting faculty of the Poynter Institute. Brendan graduated from Kenyon College with a degree in English Literature.

Today, Brendan is a one-man-band by choice, serving as his own photographer, producer and video editor on complex investigations for Atlanta News First, and Gray Media’s national program, InvestigateTV+.

Brendan Keefe serves as Chief Investigator for Atlanta News First Investigates. He’s one of the most-decorated investigative reporters in the nation. Brendan’s investigations have earned two National Emmys, the George Foster Peabody Award, the DuP... Show more

Dmytro is a Senior Cloud Operations Engineer at Sage Austria and an AWS Community Builder based in Vienna, Austria. He co-leads AWS User Group Vienna alongside AWS Hero Linda Mohamed, helping grow one of Central Europe's most active cloud communities.
Before Sage, Dima built his cloud foundation at APA-IT — the technology arm of the Austrian Press Agency — where he architected cloud infrastructure for Austria's national broadcaster ORF and developed media workflow systems where latency and reliability are not negotiable. That background in broadcast-grade infrastructure shaped how he thinks about every system he touches today.
By day, Dima manages complex enterprise infrastructure — AWS migrations, Cloudflare security at scale, Progress OpenEdge systems, and production environments where a wrong config means a very bad morning for a lot of people. He's the engineer who gets paged at 2 AM when 1.6 million requests hit in a single day, and who turns those incidents into architecture lessons worth sharing.
His talks bridge the gap between deep technical depth and real-world pragmatism: no theoretical slides, no happy-path demos. If he's on stage, there's a production story behind it, numbers to back it up, and something the audience can implement on Monday.
Outside of infrastructure fires, Dima is a photographer who built a serverless AWS pipeline to process over 8,000 community event photos in a single conference season — because if you're going to automate something, it might as well be something you love.
Dima speaks at AWS Community Days across Europe — Vienna, Prague, Budapest — and has presented at events as far as Abu Dhabi. He's been recognized as Rookie of the Year at Sage and brings the same energy to the community that he brings to an incident bridge call: calm, direct, and focused on what actually works.

Dmytro is a Senior Cloud Operations Engineer at Sage Austria and an AWS Community Builder based in Vienna, Austria. He co-leads AWS User Group Vienna alongside AWS Hero Linda Mohamed, helping grow one of Central Europe's most active cloud communities... Show more

Pionero de UX en Argentina. Fundador de Kambrica, consultora de UX estratégico. Desde 1996 ha trabajado en más de 1000 proyectos para más de 40 industrias. Fue docente en 11 universidades y orador en más de 30 conferencias en 24 países. Creador de Experience Decisión Making, sistema que integra teoría de la decisión a los procesos de UX. Mentor de profesionales que quieren dar el salto de ejecutores a líderes.

Pionero de UX en Argentina. Fundador de Kambrica, consultora de UX estratégico. Desde 1996 ha trabajado en más de 1000 proyectos para más de 40 industrias. Fue docente en 11 universidades y orador en más de 30 conferencias en 24 países. Creador de Ex... Show more

Lorena Carthy-Wilmot's work focuses on mobile threats: mercenary spyware, targeted intrusions, watering-hole attacks in the wild, and the detection gaps MDM and EDR stacks were never built to close.

She works directly with CISOs and security leaders across European markets while keeping an active hand in the technical work. Her background spans protecting high-value targets such as journalists in the Nordics and advanced digital forensics investigations with the Norwegian Police. Her research at iVerify treats the phone as what it actually is: a sensor-rich physical asset that crosses trust boundaries on the body, where security culture tends to fail at the human layer.

Lorena is based in Oslo, Norway.

Lorena Carthy-Wilmot's work focuses on mobile threats: mercenary spyware, targeted intrusions, watering-hole attacks in the wild, and the detection gaps MDM and EDR stacks were never built to close. She works directly with CISOs and security leade... Show more

Chad Crawford is a third-generation Floridian and a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV host and outdoor adventurer with a unique perspective on Florida unlike anyone else in the world. Over his 25-year career, he has dedicated himself to telling the story of the state he loves. Chad has collaborated with major government agencies, conservation groups, and tourism organizations, giving him a rare perspective into the tourism industry. In his current role as Director of Strategic Partnerships with Conservation Florida, he continues to build valuable relationships to help protect the state's natural resources. Chad is a father of four and resides in Lake Mary. He enjoys fishing, camping, open water swimming, and taking on whatever adventures Florida can serve up.

Chad Crawford is a third-generation Floridian and a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV host and outdoor adventurer with a unique perspective on Florida unlike anyone else in the world. Over his 25-year career, he has dedicated himself to telling the st... Show more

Lauren Mucciolo has produced and/or directed more than a dozen documentaries for PBS Frontline -- many as international co-productions with the BBC’s Storyville, Panorama and Current Affairs programs, and Channel 4 in the UK. Her most recent films for Frontline are the Emmy-nominated documentaries "Born Poor" and "Alaska's Vanishing Native Villages," both released in 2025.

A seven-time News & Documentary Emmy nominee and two-time Grierson nominee, Lauren has won two RFK Journalism Awards, one Online Journalism Award, a Best Director Award from the Royal Television Society, a SXSW Film Festival Jury Prize, among many other honors for her films. She came to the Cronkite School in 2019 from Brooklyn, New York to help launch the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism as its inaugural executive producer. During her tenure, national multimedia investigations from the Howard Center have been published in top national news outlets like PBS NewsHour and The Associated Press, and recognized with dozens of awards. She was an editor on the Howard Center's collaboration with The AP, PBS Frontline and the University of Maryland on the multi-platform "Lethal Restraint," a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting and a Murrow Award winner.

Lauren Mucciolo has produced and/or directed more than a dozen documentaries for PBS Frontline -- many as international co-productions with the BBC’s Storyville, Panorama and Current Affairs programs, and Channel 4 in the UK. Her most recent films fo... Show more

Tearyne Almendariz is the founder and principal consultant at NLBC Works, LLC, a strategy and implementation firm focused on web accessibility, digital event production, and equity-centered practices. With over a decade of experience in digital communications and content operations, Tearyne specializes in designing inclusive digital experiences that prioritize usability, belonging, and access.

As Co-Lead of the Drupal Diversity & Inclusion (DDI) initiative, Tearyne works to improve representation and foster safer, more inclusive environments within the open source community. She also serves as Vice President of the Midwest Open Source Alliance (MOSA), supporting regional efforts to broaden participation in open source through mentorship, education, and community-led governance.

At the intersection of tech and equity, Tearyne brings deep expertise in event management, leading digital conferences, hybrid gatherings, and live streams that reflect diverse voices and accessible design standards. Her background in instructional design and program strategy enables her to guide teams through thoughtful, impact-driven delivery across platforms and audiences.

Tearyne Almendariz is the founder and principal consultant at NLBC Works, LLC, a strategy and implementation firm focused on web accessibility, digital event production, and equity-centered practices. With over a decade of experience in digital commu... Show more

Ana Sarmiento is a senior media executive and an expert in navigating the complexities of the post-AI media landscape. Her focus extends beyond content creation to the critical mechanics of performance: using AI to unlock deeper audience insights and solving the real-world challenges facing modern media companies. From combating the traffic implications of liquid content to standing out in increasingly saturated creator marketplaces, Ana provides real world data-backed tactics. She draws on her deep experience in revenue operations to help organizations identify hidden costs and implement the emerging business models required to thrive in a synthetic media world.

She is the Director of AI Revenue at Advance Local and has an extensive background at industry giants including Disney, Paramount, and HBO. She has an EMBA from UCLA Anderson and a BBA from The University of Georgia. She brings a rare trifecta to the stage: creative media intuition, technical product rigor, and the high-stakes financial strategy of management consulting. Ana provides an action-oriented blueprint for turning Generative AI innovation into commercial success.

Ana Sarmiento is a senior media executive and an expert in navigating the complexities of the post-AI media landscape. Her focus extends beyond content creation to the critical mechanics of performance: using AI to unlock deeper audience insights and... Show more