Powering the Future Conference: From AI-Driven Energy Systems to the Visionaries Shaping Urban Growth

James von Klemper

President

KPF

https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-von-klemperer-20613118/

As President of KPF, Jamie leads the firm’s global community of designers in exploring shared architectural agendas and goals, while his own projects have set the bar for impactful architecture in urban centers around the world. 

Jamie’s work benefits from his global perspective as well as his deep understanding of a broad variety of urban contexts. His design for One Vanderbilt sparked a revitalization of New York's East Midtown district while establishing major new transit connections and public realm improvements. On the other side of the globe, North Bund Lot 91, an all-electric supertall in the center of Shanghai, supports China’s sustainability agenda while embodying a culturally representative design. 

As attentive to the hand-crafted detail as to the grand gesture, Jamie believes that an ambitious design concept is successful only when its underlying intentions are thoughtfully and rigorously born out in the details of its material realization. At 64 University Place, hand-laid brick arches complement the historic fabric of Greenwich Village, while a similar motif is expressed in terra cotta and welded aluminum in a mixed-use, tall mixed-use building at 520 Fifth Avenue. At Hong Kong’s Blue Pool Road, the cast bronze screens of 18 townhouses give privacy and human scale to each individual home within a compact urban condition. 

An active contributor to architectural discourse and education, Jamie regularly lectures at universities including Harvard, Columbia, Tsinghua, Tongji, Seoul National, and Yonsei Universities, the ESA in Paris, and at Yale, where he has taught as Saarinen Visiting Professor. In 1980, he was the Charles Henry Fiske Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. Jamie chairs the Boards of the Urban Design Forum and the Skyscraper Museum and serves as a Trustee of Bard College. 

 

Gene Byrne

Chief Business Transformation Officer

IBM

https://www.linkedin.com/in/genebyrne/

Gene Byrne has a remarkable career spanning more than three decades at IBM. In his current capacity. Gene Byrne was named the Chief Business Transformation Officer for IBM Consulting, Americas, in April of 2025. In this role, he is responsible for driving operational excellence and business discipline across the Americas. He oversees end-to-end business operations, manages the portfolio to align with strategic goals, and ensures strong alignment between markets, service lines, campaigns/offerings, and, most importantly, clients. Gene also leads the resource and talent engine to accelerate sales, revenue, and profit growth.

Prior to his current assignment, Gene was named the Global Quality Delivery Leader for IBM Consulting where he was responsible for ensuring top quality in all Service Line engagements throughout the world. He achieved “Best of Breed” results in this assignment.

Previously, Gene held the position of Global Delivery Leader of IBM Consulting’s Business Process Operations (BPO) Service Line. His responsibility included delivering for over 150 clients worldwide with 27,000 employees in six continents. He was responsible for end-to-end operations of the brand, including acquisitions, solution investments and realignment of IBM’s business process outsourcing business.

Other roles Gene held include Senior Partner Executive leading the PepsiCo Controllership BPO business covering seven delivery centers for PepsiCo Finance in five continents including: America, Canada, China, Europe, India, Middle East and Russia.

Additional roles include General Manager of IBM Business Process Operations, Finance, Administration and Supply Chain Management Solutions in Americas. In this role Gene was responsible for driving revenue, profit and client satisfaction for IBM’s award-winning Americas BPO organization. Building on a proven track record and his broad executive and management experience in finance, Gene led IBM teams responsible for F&A and procurement sales, solution development and contract management.

Gene brings more than 30 years of experience in leadership roles, including CFO for IBM’s IBM Consulting, EMEA, VP for IBM’s Corporate Marketing Distribution and Channels Management unit, and Controller for IBM’s Americas Sales organization. During his tenure in CHQ Marketing, he pioneered an end-to-end route to market design used throughout all brands today in IBM.  Gene is a recognized industry leader and authority on implementing business process outsourcing solutions across global finance functions for IBM Fortune 1000 clients.

Ryan Freed

Chief Growth Officer

Public Grid

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanfreed1/

Ryan is a Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Public Grid, where he focuses on supporting go-to-market execution and growing long-term partnerships within the multifamily real estate industry. They work with some of the top players including Avalon Bay, Nuveen, Equity Residential, Greystar, UDR, and many more.

He is a founder-operator at heart, with experience taking companies from early ideas to real traction, and from early momentum to scalable growth. His work spans climate and energy, technology startups, edtech, health & wellness, indoor farming, and hardware.

Ryan has launched more than a dozen companies over the course of his career. Most recently, he co-founded and grew to a strategic exit at HOM, an international technology and services company focused on wellness and community in real estate. He was also the first advisor into the unicorn Elise AI helping them land their first customers and investors.

Sandhya Espitia

COO

REBNY

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandhyaespitia/

Sandhya Espitia is Chief Operating Officer at the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the city’s premier real estate trade association and a cornerstone of an industry that contributes nearly half of New York City’s local tax revenue. Representing 14,000 members across 1,000 firms, REBNY is a driving force in shaping the future of NYC’s built environment through unmatched programs, products, and services.

As COO of New York City’s premier real estate trade association, Espitia has played a pivotal role in driving REBNY’s organizational transformation and strategic impact. She oversees technology and digital strategy, membership, industry awards and events, Proptech, finance, administration, and a portfolio of programs and products serving 14,000 members in commercial and residential real estate. Under her leadership, REBNY has undergone sweeping digital, talent, financial, and operational transformation, positioning the 130-year-old institution for its next era of growth.

Espitia’s leadership has earned her recognition as one of Bisnow’s Women Leading Real Estate and as a City & State Latino Trailblazer, honoring her influence in shaping an organization that serves as a pillar of the city’s real estate industry.

Prior to REBNY, Espitia held senior roles at ICSC, the global member organization for industry advancement that promotes and elevates marketplaces and spaces where people shop, dine, work, play, and gather. As ICSC’s Managing Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, she increased regional membership, drove revenue and sponsorship for signature events, established strategic partnerships, and appointed the first Industry Advisory Board for the region, while managing offices and teams in Mexico City and New York City. Later, as ICSC’s Global Vice President, she led education, certification, and innovation initiatives for commercial real estate developers across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East. Espitia managed a global team with an immersive approach, deeply engaging with local cultures and business practices to tailor programs that enhanced ICSC’s relevance and impact in every region.

Earlier in her global career, Espitia worked at Harvard University, managing academic and professional programs for a wide range of industries, working with foreign governments and corporations as clients. She oversaw the selection of scholars in strategic industries to pursue Ph.D. studies in the United States, ensuring they returned to their countries of origin with advanced knowledge to lead research and innovation. She also administered the Fulbright Program for the U.S. Department of State in seven countries. Her work involved extensive travel and close collaboration with the private sector, NGOs, universities, governments, and foreign service officers across U.S. embassies in the Americas region.

Espitia holds a B.S. in Film and Digital Media from Texas Christian University, an M.A. in International Education from the School for International Training, and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business. She also completed a fellowship in Management and Administration at Harvard University.

Espitia serves on the boards of the New York State Board of Real Estate, The Gateway School, and has been newly appointed to the advisory board of the Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the NYU Stern School of Business, and the board of Project REAP.

Beyond her professional pursuits, she is an avid traveler with a discerning appreciation for global cities, diverse cultures, languages, architecture, and design.

David Klatt

CEO

Logical Buildings

https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-klatt-695bb511

David Klatt is the CEO and Cofounder of Logical Buildings, where he leads the company’s mission to transform how real estate owners optimize energy, carbon, and grid performance across thousands of buildings. Under his leadership, Logical Buildings deploys advanced software, data analytics, and cleantech capital solutions to unlock economic and environmental value at scale.

David serves on the CREtech Climate Leadership Board, has been recognized as a Cleantech 40 Under 40 honoree, and is a member of the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable. He is passionate about making energy efficiency profitable, accessible, and engaging—leveraging technology to accelerate decarbonization and modernize the built environment.

Prior to Logical Buildings, David was an associate at Castleton Commodities International where he focused on derivatives trading and asset acquisition opportunities across the energy landscape. Before joining Castleton, David began his career as an analyst in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Power and Energy Investment Banking group working primarily on power generation, electric and gas utilities, and renewable energy M&A. David graduated summa cum laude from University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

Beth Fisher

Senior Managing Director

Corcoran Sunshine

https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-fisher-a5692ab/

Beth Fisher, a founding member of Corcoran Sunshine, serves as the key client contact and strategic advisor, creating value throughout the research, planning, marketing, and sales process. Her diverse body of work includes over 50 new developments, valued at over $15 billion, including ultra-luxury towers, masterplan mixed-used developments, and boutique, design-driven properties in New York and select markets nationally.  

Beth is privileged to have worked for many of the country’s most accomplished development firms and financial institutions including Anbau, Boston Properties, Citigroup, The Carlyle Group, Goldman Sachs, Glenwood Management, LendLease, L+M Development Partners, Rabina, Related Companies, Silverstein Properties, Taconic Investment Partners, William Macklowe Company, and Vornado Realty Trust.

Record-breaking and noteworthy development experience includes 520 Fifth Avenue and 220 Central Park South in Midtown, 21 East 12th Street in Greenwich Village, 25 Park Row in the Financial District, 500 West 21st Street in West Chelsea, 15 West 61st Street/The Park Loggia and Claremont Hall on the Upper West Side, as well as extensive work on the Upper East Side. With expertise at all scales, Beth prides herself on achieving premium pricing, and on optimizing team performance and relationships across the brokerage and development communities.

Beth holds a degree in history from the University of Michigan. She is a lover of architecture and design and has resided in homes as diverse as a geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller and a classic six designed by Emory Roth. Beth lives in New York City with her husband and is a proud supporter of Women for Women and She’s the First.

 

Gunnar Branson

CEO

Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunnarbranson/

Mr. Branson is the CEO of the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate (AFIRE), an essential forum that provides high value thought leadership for real estate leaders from around the world. AFIRE’s members includes nearly 180 leading global institutional investors, investment managers, and supporting partners from 24 countries representing approximately US$4 trillion in real estate assets under management (AUM) in the US.

Mr. Branson has worked across commercial real estate, professional services, education, and association leadership. Prior to joining AFIRE in 2018, he served as CEO of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers (NAREIM), and before that, led strategy, innovation, and marketing for Fortune 500 and mid-market companies. 

Mr. Branson serves on the board of directors for Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC), a developer, owner, and operator of affordable housing in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC.  He also serves as an advisory board member for NYU Stern’s Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance.

Mr Branson is a regular speaker, writer, panelist, and spokesperson for the global real estate and investing community, focused on institutional investing, urbanism, sustainability, and future trends. He spoke on a TEDx stage, on television news such as CIBC, and interviews real estate thought leaders on The AFIRE Podcast. He has authored six stage and radio plays and recently wrote Chasing Lights, based on a podcast of the same name, to be released by Manuscripts Publishing in early 2026.

John Maher

Vice Chairman

CBRE

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-maher-7087b426/

John P. Maher is Vice Chairman of CBRE, the world’s largest commercial real estate  service organization, and a 40-year veteran of CBRE’s New York City office.  While he focuses primarily on commercial office leasing and sales, he is an expert in bringing the full complement of CBRE’s scale of resources to help clients determine and realize their objectives.  He is renowned for delivering creative and outstanding results to challenging real estate issues.  His low-key approach in high-stress situations has been a distinguishing characteristic throughout his career and has made him a trusted advisor to many of New York’s most prominent tenants and landlords.   

John is an original member of CBRE’s Law Firm Practice Group, a CBRE NYC Group Leader, a former Mentor at the NYC Board of Education, a former Board Member of the Touchdown Club of New York, and now a current Board Member of Creative Arts Works.  He received his bachelor’s degree at NYU’s Stern School of Business.  He has been a guest lecturer for the New York State Bar Association, Columbia University and the Harvard Business School. 

Eric Farina

Managing Director

Morgan Stanley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericjfarina/

Eric Farina is a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley’s Private Capital Markets Group and formerly Global Head of the Project, Commodity & Infrastructure group. Throughout his career, Eric has focused on a wide variety of innovative energy & infrastructure related transactions, structured loan products, project bonds issued into both US and international capital markets, capital advisory, structured JVs and equity placements. His activity spans most traditional markets, including: TLA, TLB, 144a/ Reg S bonds, 4(a)(2) USPP, mezz, equity PP.

Many of his transactions have been recognized by financial industry publications with "Deal of the Year" awards, including in PFI, ProjectFinance and EuroMoney. These include advisory and placements for assets under construction or operating, in the broad energy & infrastructure sectors (thermal & renewable power, LNG, all forms of low carbon energy, digital infrastructure, ports, airports, toll roads, social infra). In addition, he has executed numerous monetization transactions backed by commodities, future flows or export receivables. Eric graduated with a MSc (Engineering) from Ecole Centrale Paris.

Jeremy Smilovitz

Managing Director

Blackstone

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-smilovitz-52774630/

Jeremy Smilovitz is a Managing Director for Blackstone Credit and Insurance (BXCI) based in New York. He is involved with originating and executing investments in the energy transition, renewable energy, and digital infrastructure sectors.

Before joining Blackstone in 2025, Mr. Smilovitz spent over a decade at Morgan Stanley advising clients in the power, energy, and infrastructure sectors on structured financing solutions. Prior to that, Mr. Smilovitz began his career at RBS focused on financing power and renewables projects.

Mr. Smilovitz received a BS in Finance, a BS in Accounting, and an MS in Accounting from New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Ksenia Kaladiouk

Partner

McKinsey & Company

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ksenia-kaladiouk-04310317/

Ksenia Kaladiouk is a Partner in McKinsey & Company’s Boston Office who serves as a leader in the Electric Power & Natural Gas and Strategy & Corporate Finance practices. Her work spans corporate and business strategy, investor relations, valuation, strategic financial planning, as well as M&A in the context of the energy transition. She works across the energy value chain with utilities, renewables developers, energy technology players, IPPs and infrastructure investment firms. She is the author of several external publications on the future of the power sector and grid evolution.

Prior to McKinsey, Ksenia was a Research Associate at MIT’s Lab for Regional Innovation and Spatial Analysis, a Harvard Kennedy School Rappaport Fellow with the City of Boston and a Product Manager at the Corporate Executive Board (now Gartner).

Ksenia holds a Master of City Planning (MCP) from MIT in Cambridge, MA and a BA magna cum laude from the Cornell University.

 

Jeff Kanne

President and Chief Executive Officer

National Real Estate Advisors

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreykanne/

President and Chief Executive Officer, National Real Estate Advisors, LLC and Chief Executive Officer, National Real Estate Development, LLC 

Mr. Kanne leads National Real Estate Advisors and its subsidiaries, overseeing firm-wide strategy, operations, major transactions, new business development, and investor engagement. He reports directly to the Board of Directors, on which he serves, and chairs both the Investment Committee and the Management Team. 

Since 2000, Mr. Kanne has guided the evolution of NEBF’s real estate investment platform and the formation of National Real Estate Advisors and National Real Estate Development. His expertise spans the full real estate investment and development lifecycle, with deep insight into legal, financial, and construction-related matters. 

Mr. Kanne also serves as Vice Chairman of Sabey Data Centers, where he supports strategic direction and long-term planning for one of the nation’s leading data center developers and operators.  

Before entering the real estate investment field, Mr. Kanne served in the Peace Corps and worked as a lumber trader. He later practiced law in Washington, D.C., where he advised on multi-billion-dollar international debt restructurings and complex real estate transactions, with a focus on development projects for nonprofit organizations and universities. He subsequently formed a private law practice and was closely involved in structuring numerous large-scale real estate development investments nationwide for institutional clients. 

Mr. Kanne received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Juris Doctor with high honors from the University of Iowa. He is licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia and Maryland. Mr. Kanne is a member of the Order of the Coif of the University of Iowa College of Law.

Marcin Borowski

Founder and CEO

URBA Enterprises

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcinborowski/

Marcin Borowski is the Founder and CEO of URBA Enterprises, a real estate and industrialized construction group delivering resilient housing across all asset classes- from affordable homes to ultra-luxury developments. Born in Poland, he expanded URBA across Europe, successfully developing thousands of apartments and homes, and is now scaling operations in the United States. Marcin focuses on making resilience the default standard through industrialized construction, standardized systems, and digital tools- enabling housing and communities to be built faster, safer, and more sustainably.

Anthony Fiore

Chief Program Officer

NYSERDA

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-fiore-chief-program-officer-nys-48a66215b/

Anthony J. Fiore was appointed Chief Program Officer for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) on January 25, 2023. In this position, Mr. Fiore leads NYSERDA’s cross cutting programmatic strategy, leveraging program and market assessments to optimize sector-specific interventions and economywide strategies to meet the climate goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act and execute on New York’s Climate Action Council Scoping Plan – the framework for how New York will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve net-zero emissions, increase renewable energy use, and ensure all communities equitably benefit in the clean energy transition.

Mr. Fiore has over 25 years of government experience across a broad range of disciplines. Most recently Mr. Fiore has served as the Chief Decarbonization Officer for the City of New York. In this role, Mr. Fiore was responsible for overall management of carbon emissions from government operations and oversaw competitive grant programs related to energy efficiency, innovative technology development, distributed clean energy generation, large-scale renewable energy development, energy supply contracting, and workforce development.

Prior to this role Mr. Fiore served as the City’s Director of Energy Regulatory affairs where he served as the City’s primary energy policy advocate before numerous local, State, and federal agencies, and providing analysis over a wide range of regulatory and legislative matters related to energy. Mr. Fiore also has extensive knowledge in water quality, environmental health and safety, engineering and operations, and restructuring of revenue collection operations.

Mr. Fiore previously served on a number of energy related boards and committees including NYC Building Sustainability Board, Pathways to Carbon Neutral NYC Technical Advisory Committee, Northeast Deep Decarbonization Pathway Advisory Committee and the NY Smart Grid Consortium Board. Mr. Fiore holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from Binghamton University, and a Master’s in Public Health from the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University with a concentration in Environmental Health Sciences. Mr. Fiore has also conducted research in evolutionary ecology at Binghamton University and the University of Michigan.

Sam Chandan

Director, Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance

NYU Stern

https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/sam-chandan

Sam Chandan is Director of the Chao-Hon Chen Institute for Global Real Estate Finance at the New York University Stern School of Business, home to the school’s applied real estate research initiatives, industry and policy engagement, and undergraduate and MBA real estate programs.

Prior to joining Stern in February 2022, Professor Chandan was the Larry & Klara Silverstein Chair and academic dean of the Schack Institute of Real Estate at the NYU School of Professional Studies. He is also founder of Chandan Economics, an economic advisory and data science firm serving the institutional real estate industry, a contributor to Forbes, and host of the Urban Lab on Apple Podcasts.

Evan Caron

Co-Founder and CIO

Montauk Capital

https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanc1/

Evan Caron was previously Head of Venture Investments at Riverstone (Riverstone Private Equity), a $40B+ energy investment and infrastructure firm. Prior to that, Evan was CEO and Co-Founder of ClearTrace, an ESG data management platform focusing on tracking corporate emissions and environmental reporting. Evan is also a Co-Founder of Daylight Energy, an early stage community energy software network. As a cofounder of HGP Storage, Evan was active in building an in-front-of-the-meter utility scale battery storage business with over 400MW/800MWh of capacity. Evan serves on the Board of RPower, a distributed energy solutions platform backed by Isquared. Evan previously held a Board position in a large retail energy provider, MP2 Energy, which was acquired by Shell in 2017. Evan brings over 20 years of experience in managing energy, electricity risk, and other complex commodity structures while working at Deutsche Bank, Mercuria, and Trailstone.

Michael DeLucia

Partner

Montauk Capital

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-r-delucia/

Michael, a seasoned investor at the intersection of energy, infrastructure, and technology, serves as a Partner at Montauk Capital, where he leads venture investments across the firm’s focus areas and is a member of the Montauk Capital’s Investment Committee.

Before Montauk Capital, Michael led private-company investments at Wellington Management’s Private Climate Investment Fund, overseeing venture and growth-stage investments across the energy and built-environment sectors. During his tenure, he served on the boards of Orennia and TS Conductor following Wellington’s lead investments in those category-defining businesses.

Earlier in his career, Michael was a Founding Partner of Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners (SIP), an Alphabet-backed spin-out that builds and operates technology-enabled infrastructure businesses. At SIP, he led investments and company formation efforts across distributed energy, the circular economy, and digital infrastructure. Prior to SIP, he was part of Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs investment team, launching and leading venture investments and incubations in urban and industrial technologies spanning energy, water, and waste systems.

Michael began his career in finance at J.P. Morgan before moving into project finance and infrastructure roles at institutions including Macquarie Group, where he structured and financed power and utility projects across North America.

In addition to his work at Montauk, Michael teaches at New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and advises early-stage technology founders on strategy and capital formation.

Michael holds a B.A. in Philosophy and Economics from Brown University.

Jared Della Valle

CEO, Founder

Alloy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-della-valle-94277b7/

Jared Della Valle has been a real estate professional and architect for more than 20 years and has managed the acquisition and predevelopment of more than 2 million sf in New York City along the Highline, In the Hudson Yards, in DUMBO and in Downtown Brooklyn. 

Jared Della Valle is co-chair of the Downtown Brooklyn partnership, sits on the Board of the the Architecture League of New York, and is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council. He has previously taught at Columbia University, Syracuse University, Washington University, Parsons School of Constructed Environments and Lehigh University. Jared has widely lectured at major universities and institutions and his work has been the subject of more than 150 articles and publications including a monograph entitled “Think/Make” published by Princeton Architecture Press. He holds a B.A. from Lehigh University and Master’s degrees in both Architecture and Construction Management from Washington University, St. Louis, MO. He is a LEED Certified, licensed Architect in New York State, holds an NCARB (National College of Architectural Registration Boards) Certificate and is a licensed real estate broker and a Fellow of the AIA (American Institute of Architects).

Joanne Wright

Global Real Estate Lead

IBM

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanne-wright4/

Joanne Wright drives IBM's enterprise transformation as the company's "Client Zero" – delivering $4.5 billion in savings while simultaneously proving how AI and hybrid cloud unleash productivity, innovation, and growth at global scale. She delivers measurable business outcomes by transforming IBM's own operations first, then demonstrating these proven strategies to clients worldwide.

Leading IBM's operations, procurement, CIO, Chief Data and Analytics Office, and Global Real Estate organizations, Joanne has transformed how the company works. With her "Client Zero" vision, Joanne has revolutionized IBM through three core principles: eliminating operational complexity, simplifying end-to-end workflows, and automating manual tasks while embedding AI everywhere. Her teams saved an estimated 22 million hours since 2023 by deploying watsonx AI and automation tools, and under her leadership, IBM has redesigned its operating model, reimagined quote-to-cash processes, and deployed AI to create transparent, intelligent, and predictive supply chains that set the standard for enterprise transformation.

In her tenured career at IBM, Joanne has held key leadership roles across procurement, manufacturing, supply chain, real estate, client support and operations. Her Client Zero approach doesn't just improve internal productivity – it creates a blueprint for how enterprises can harness AI to transform their businesses and unleash a new era of growth.

Joanne champions diversity and inclusion as head of IBM's Women at IBM Community, where she founded the company's Women's Business Resource Group. Her leadership has earned recognition as a Stevie Awards Female Executive of the Year, a two-time Fortune Most Powerful Women Next-Gen Award recipient, and Girls Inc. National honoree.

Joanne holds a bachelor’s degree from Glasgow Caledonian University. She enjoys spending her personal time with her teenage twins and is an avid tennis, swimming and cooking fan.

Doug Priest

Public Transportation & Urban Infrastructure Lead

Microsoft

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougpriest/

Doug Priest is Transportation & Urban Infrastructure Lead with Microsoft Worldwide Public Sector He works with cites globally to identify and develop solutions to pressing problems in transportation and cities.  Doug has worked in digital transformation and leadership positions over the last fourteen years, including in the Governor’s Office in New York State, where he was a fellow and advisor to the Deputy Secretary for Technology & Innovation. He has also worked in the private, non-for-profit and higher education sectors, including at Microsoft where has been for the past four years.

Kevin Kong

CEO & Founder

Everstar

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinkong91/

Kevin Kong is the Founder & CEO of Everstar, building AI to rapidly deploy American nuclear reactors and power America’s dominance in AI advancement and energy resilience. Previously, Kevin was CTO & Co-Founder of an enterprise AI company (exited) and led engineering teams at Bird and Rakuten. He studied economics at Harvard, cybersecurity at Stanford, and nuclear engineering at MIT.