2025 Speakers
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Macgill Eldredge
Operating Principle at Future of Work
(FoW) Partners
Dan Melnick
GM at Bandcamp
CEO at Shamrock Sports and EntertainmentBrian Corcoran
Brian Corcoran is the CEO and Founder of Shamrock Sports and Entertainment, a strategic sponsorship marketing, sales and consulting agency for leagues, teams, venues and events. Shamrock clients have included F1, NASCAR, NBA, SRX, PBA, PBR, Goulian Aerosports and Red Bull Air Race.
Director | Redgranite GroupDavid John Baker PhD
David John Baker, PhD is director of Redgranite Group, a data and science consultancy in Maine's Lakes Region. The company is developing Bolero: a plug-in for CRMs in the performing arts that allows organizations to analyze their ticketing data.
Sean Mewshaw
Director | Brave Williams
Phil Coupe
CEO | ReVision Energy
Senior Program Manager | Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Alex Birdsall
Alex joined GMRI in 2025 to support the growth of GMRI Ventures, where he helps connect science, industry, and entrepreneurship to accelerate Maine's blue economy. He brings extensive experience in product strategy, market development, and business leadership.
CEO | Vulcan AI Research
William Sullivan
William Sullivan is a founder and creative technologist building at the intersection of design, storytelling, and emerging technology. He leads Vulcan AI Research, developing immersive, AI-powered experiences and production tools for games, spatial computing, and interactive media. He also created Silicon Lobster, a community that highlights and connects Maine's tech and creative economy.
John Rooks
Rooks is a 30-year veteran of the sustainability sector. He has consulted with Fortune 5 companies, federal, state and local governments, and global NGOs on areas of environmental and social impact.
Founder | NORM. Culture and Communications
Nick Havas
Art Director | Standard Magic
Physician. Founder. Researcher. | TripleBolt
Susan Woods MD MPH
Higher Education Consulting Director | Huron
Kaitlin M Dumont
Kaitlin's expertise lies at the intersection of higher education and workforce learning. She has partnered with an ecosystem of stakeholders as a strategist and trusted advisor. Before joining Huron, Kaitlin served as the head of workforce learning innovation for Kaplan.
Andrew Vontz
Andrew Vontz is founder of One Real Voice, the podcast strategy and coaching consultancy that helps leaders excel in high-stakes, unscripted conversations. As a communications executive at Strava, he helped the company grow to 100 million users.
Founder | One Real Voice
Dan Koloski
Head of Learning Programs | Roux Institute at Northeastern University
Managing Director | Maine Venture Fund
Joe Powers
Cofounder | Established
Frank Gruber
Aaron Price
Aaron develops and produces games, from genre-defining franchises like Rock Band at Harmonix, to VR experiences like Dimensional Double Shift at Owlchemy Labs, and solo projects like Neutralize.
Game Producer, Music Maker, App Tinkerer | Owlchemy Labs
Bobby Deetjen
Director | Mid-Coast School of Technology
Managing Director | Deloitte Digital
Leyland Streiff
CEO | The VIA Agency
Leeann Leahy
Leeann grew up as a planner at big and small agencies in NYC working on clients like Johnson and Johnson, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Budweiser, and McDonald's. She was one of the most-awarded planners, earning 13 Effies. For the past eleven years at VIA, she has helped raise the profile for clients including L.L.Bean, Chick-fil-A, and Lowe's.
Chuck Carter
From game art experience beginning with MYST in 1993 and 26 additional shipped video games, to current science art contracts with NASA, JPL, Caltech and National Geographic. He is currently cofounder and CCO of From Away Games.
Creative Art Director | From Away Games
John Lewis
Executive Director | Manufacturers Association of Maine
Technology Leader and Software Architect, Founder | cQuenced
Jordan Burke
Jordan Burke is a technology leader with 20+ years of experience building and scaling complex software systems. He has led innovations in pharmaceutical compliance with generative AI at HELIO, modernized enterprise platforms at Real Capital Analytics, and architected large-scale data and cloud solutions.
Senior Investment Officer | Maine Technology Institute
Lou Simms
Lou Simms serves as a Senior Investment Officer at Maine Technology Institute since 2015, dedicated to supporting the growth of Maine's innovation economy.
David De Cristofaro
An expert in Fan Experience, David brings insights as a music scientist and futurist. He has guided cutting-edge extended reality (XR) projects with artists like U2 and companies like Live Nation and Full Stop Management. He was a Featured Session Speaker for SXSW 2025.
Innovation and Fan Experience | The Current Sea
Michael Dutton
Michael Dutton is a content producer, media strategist, and product engineer with a passion for creative risk and innovation. He has led partnerships for MTV Networks, IMG, The Associated Press, Matterport, and Verizon. Now in Maine, Michael looks after the media partnerships side of The Lost Kitchen and is an Executive Producer of the Magnolia/HBO Max series.
Cofounder | Rare Agency, The Lost Kitchen
CEO | Phiphen
Molly Connors
Molly Connors is founder and CEO of Phiphen, an independently owned film, television, and digital media company. She is Emmy nominated and has produced films earning four Academy Awards and 11 nominations. Notable credits include BIRDMAN (2014 Academy Award-winner), FROZEN RIVER, KILLER JOE, and THE IMMIGRANT.
Actor
Matthew Delamater
Shannon Bean
Investor | CEI Ventures
Whit Richardson
Whit Richardson organized his first crypto meetup in Portland in 2017. After a career as a business journalist in Maine, he has worked at Coinbase, Gauntlet, and currently leads product marketing at Espresso Systems. He is the founder of Maine Startups Insider, the go-to source for news about Maine's startup community.
Maine Chapter President | Stand with Crypto
Co-founding Partner | p3 Maine
Morgan Myer
Before returning to his home state of Maine, Morgan worked in television camera departments and edited in-house at ad agencies in NYC and Boston. His work has won Best New Experimental Filmmaking at AFI Fest and was twice selected as Vimeo Staff picks. Morgan is co-founding partner of p3, a creative agency specializing in commercial and branded content.
General Partner | dLab
Nick Plante
Matthew O'Malia
CEO and President | Timber HP
Stephanie Whitman
Stephanie Whitman is Vice President of Marketing at Geiger, the world's largest privately held and family-owned promotional products distributor founded in 1878. Since joining in 2022, she led Geiger's global brand modernization and launched Geiger's first ESG guide.
Vice President of Marketing | Geiger
Data Science and AI Leader | Northeastern University
Conor Laver
Technical Narrative Design | Bitpart.AI
Ben Swanson
Barbara Bobbie Silber Lamont
Angel Investor | Maine Angels
Chris Clawson
Founder | Clozure
Co-Founder, Principal | BIG Acts
Jeremy Litchfield
Jeremy Litchfield is a Maine entrepreneur and strategy consultant who co-founded Atayne, a certified B Corp performance apparel company. After exiting Atayne, he founded BIG Acts, a brand strategy consultancy working with clients like Shake Shack, Whole30, and Kripalu.
Marketing Executive | Gachi Marketing
Anna Maria Lee
A strategic marketing leader passionate about helping businesses scale smarter. Deep background in building high-performing teams, brand strategy, and demand generation for early-stage startups.
Jimi Michel
Jimi Michel is the Chief Information Officer at Island Health Care and has previously held senior roles at athenahealth, Aetna/CVS Health, and UC Davis Health. He has worked internationally including with the Gates Foundation designing data platforms for water and sanitation investments in Ghana, Bangladesh, Mozambique, and Cambodia.
Chief Information Officer | Island Health Care
Yona Belfort
Yona Belfort is the Co-Founder of Minnow Technologies, where he leads the mission to modernize food delivery with the Minnow Pod, a secure and smart pickup solution. Prior to founding Minnow, Yona spent eight years at IDEO. He has an M.S. in Product Design from Stanford University.
Co-founder and Head of Hardware | Minnow
Owner | Saintlyy, a music consultancy
Nicole St. Jean
Nicole is building the future of entertainment where music, marketing, and tech collide. With a decade leading music partnerships at companies like Peloton, Twitter, and Wave, she creates creative campaigns for audiences to connect with art across emerging platforms
Actor
Xander Berkeley
Xander Berkeley is an actor, writer, director, producer, photographer and fine artist based in Maine. He has starred in TERMINATOR 2, APOLLO 13, A FEW GOOD MEN, HEAT, AIR FORCE ONE, GATTACA, and SHANGHAI NOON. On television he has starred in 24, THE WALKING DEAD, and TRUTH BE TOLD. He most recently joined the Star Wars universe in Disney's THE MANDALORIAN.
Ken Cochrane
Ken Cochrane is the Head of Engineering at Akuity, leading the development of a managed GitOps platform built on Argo CD. He has built and led globally distributed engineering teams and developed web platforms used by millions of users worldwide. Prior to Akuity, he was part of the founding teams at Docker and CashStar.
Head of Engineering | Akuity
Burak Sezen
Burak Sezen is a serial entrepreneur and investor with expertise at the intersection of healthcare, data, and emerging technologies. He founded and exited two healthcare analytics companies. He is currently a Partner at 6ixth Event Capital, investing in early-stage crypto and AI startups, and is an angel investor in multiple Maine-based startups.
Founder and Partner | The 6ixth Event
Founder | gatherwise
Erin Knight
Angel Investor | Maine Angels
Mary Ellen Eagan
Bill Carr
Bill Carr joined Amazon in 1999 and spent more than 15 years with the company. As Vice President of Digital Media, Bill launched and managed Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. Today Bill is an author and co-founder of Working Backwards LLC where he coaches executives on how to implement Amazon's management practices.
Co-Author, Working Backwards | Ex-Amazon VP of Digital Media
George Matelich
George Matelich is the co-founder of Rely, a due diligence automation platform for institutional real estate buyers. He also co-founded Nexus Maine, invests in startups, and was once a pizza-blogger in San Francisco.
Co-Founder | Rely
Partner, I.P. and Technology Law | Verrill
Adam Nyhan
Founder and President | Oak AI
Tom Law
Tomas Amadeo
Tomas Amadeo, MS, is a mechanical engineer, design consultant, STEM educator, and artist based in Portland, Maine specializing in product design and research. He earned his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University. As director of ATMOS Collective, Tomas is creating a collaborative design studio in downtown Portland.
Design Consultant and Director | Amadeo Design LLC and ATMOS Collective LLC
Brian Bousquet-Smith
Head of Operations | MedRhythms
Founder | nested
Ryan D'Wolff Munro
Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer | HighByte
Torey Penrod-Cambra
Torey Penrod-Cambra is the Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer of HighByte. She is passionate about securing equal STEM opportunities for women and excited by the potential of AI in industrial environments. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from Miami University.
Noah Workman
Noah Workman is a content technology innovator and award-winning marketer with deep expertise in content automation and scalable video systems. He has built and led an agency serving global brands including Pfizer, HP, Consensys, and Sesame Street.
Content Technology and Marketing Leader, Founder | cQuenced
Kachina Miller
As founder of Watermelon Pie, a social recipe sharing platform, Kachina combines a love of technology and recipes. Before this entrepreneurial adventure, she worked in healthcare IT for over a decade, leading large customer support teams and digital transformation projects
Founder | Watermelon Pie
Chairman | The VIA Agency
John Coleman
John Coleman is the founder and chair of VIA, which he launched in 1993. Under his leadership, VIA served brands including Samsung, CBS Radio, L.L.Bean, TD Bank, and Unilever, landed twice on the Inc. 500 list of America's fastest-growing companies, and earned Ad Age's Small Agency of the Year honors twice.
Senior Product Designer | Aras Digital Products
Ena Katalini
One of the key members of the Design team, focused on crafting exceptional user experiences through research, intuitive information architecture, and UI design.
Vien Nguyen
XR Consultant
Seth Goodall
CEO | Maine Center Ventures / Maine Graduate and Professional Center
President | Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs Texas Chapter
Alec Walker
Founder | Nexus Maine
Jimmy Haight
Adam Ayan
Owner / Chief Mastering Engineer | Ayan Mastering
Miljan Bajic
Organizational Coach | Milimax Group / Agile to Agility
Lead Data Analyst | WEX
Ivy Mead
Ivy Mead is a seasoned data science professional with experience across both Fintech and Biotech industries. She excels at leading analytics teams and coaching larger teams to upskill technical capabilities. She takes a measured approach to GenAI adoption, looking to use it for the right applications.
Founder, CEO | Paramount Planet Product
Ariadne Dimoula
Emily Brackett
Founder | Visible Logic, Inc.
Domjan Baric
Head of Data Science | Aras Digital Products
Project Manager | Maine MEP (Manufacturing Extension Partnership)
Shaun Gill
Media and Tech Founder | Young Brands
John Young
Jon Leslie
Partner / SVP Product and Solutions | From Away Games / Favro
Nathan Holland
Founder | EQL
Tax Attorney | Law Offices of Jennifer VanHorne
Jennifer Vanhorne Esq.
CEO | Branes.AI
Theodore Omtzigt
Kippy Smith
Kippy founded the EdTech company Small Wins Dashboard in 2022 to pursue a vision of schools as true learning organizations. The Small Wins Dashboard was acquired by sideby, Inc. in 2025. Her career in the public education sector has centered on continuous improvement, organizational development and professional learning.
Senior Vice President of Learning | sideby, Inc.
Jeff Poulin
Jeff is an American creative, educationalist, cultural administrator, and social entrepreneur working globally with a belief that creativity shapes a more just world. He founded Creative Generation, a values-forward global collective. He is a public scholar and serves as an Adjunct Instructor at Carnegie Mellon University. A tap dancer by trade, Jeff lives and works in Portland, Maine.
Founder and Managing Director | Creative Generation
Chief Client Officer and Partner | Garrand Moehlenkamp
Jessie Gilligan
Jessie Gilligan is Chief Client Officer and Partner at Garrand Moehlenkamp, an independent advertising agency recognized for helping brands grow through strategy, creativity, and measurable performance. With more than 15 years of experience leading brand transformation and client partnerships.
Chief Sustainable Materials Officer | UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center
Susan MacKay
Susan MacKay, Ph.D. is the Chief Sustainable Materials Officer at the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center (ASCC) where she serves on the Executive Management team. She also serves as the UMaine program manager for a research alliance with Oak Ridge National Laboratory developing forest-derived, recyclable materials for large-scale additive manufacturing.
David Bass-Clark
Angel Investor | Maine Angels
Brent O. Phillips
Podcast Producer | Humanitarian AI Today
CEO | LIO
Todd Haedrich
Todd Haedrich is the CEO of LIO, a company transforming the way inpatient mental health care is delivered. Before joining LIO, Todd was the CEO of Optimize Health, a leader in the remote patient monitoring industry. He has over two decades of experience leading healthcare technology businesses.
Senior Editor, CRN | The Channel Company
Dylan Martin
Dylan Martin is a tech journalist with more than five years of experience reporting on the global semiconductor industry. He is currently a senior editor at CRN, where he produces breaking news, exclusive interviews and analyses about the semiconductor and PC industries. Known on X (Twitter) with his @DylanOnChips handle.
Joseph Rousseau
Founder | Zal.aiBen Fichter
Founder | ConductorAI
Todd Haedrich is the CEO of LIO, a company transforming the way inpatient mental health care is delivered. Before joining LIO, Todd was the CEO of Optimize Health, a leader in the remote patient monitoring industry. He has over two decades of experience leading healthcare technology businesses.
Mike Perna
Principal | Flying Point Advisors
Ford Bohrmann
Engineering Manager | Whatnot
Founding Director | Maine Tech Week
Torie DeLisle
Chief Information Officer | L. L. Bean
Joseph Rouhana
Steve Musica
Angel Investor | Maine Angels