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Authenticity with John Volturo

John Volturo is a credentialed International Coaching Federation (ICF) Executive Coach and the President of the ICF in Los Angeles (ICF-LA). He is recognized nationally as one of a few individuals who has served in multiple C-Suites as an out member of the LGBTQ+ community in both public and private companies. John works with leaders to develop individuals and teams. His focus includes helping leaders of all identities show up authentically, and with confidence, presence, vision and clarity, in alignment with their values, so they may produce better conversations, better decisions, and better outcomes. As a former Senior Executive, Chief Marketing Officer, General Manager and Board Member at startup to established enterprise-size companies, John built diverse and inclusive global teams, led companies through transitions and, through sound strategy, tight execution, team leadership, and an indomitable spirit, helped to generate over $1.5B in top-line growth. John work includes Twitter, Capital One, IBM, Slack, Viacom, Spark Networks, Bertelsmann, Guthy-Renker, and Frontdoor. John has an MBA, is a Master Practitioner in Energy Leadership, is a Conscious Business Coach, and is an LGBTQ+ and DEI advocate. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband Adam and their twin girls. Learn more at https://volturocoaching.com/. Juliana Wells, from Long Island, NY is a junior at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. She is on the pre-health track majoring in sociology with a minor in chemistry. Juliana is passionate about human rights and steadfast in her belief in equality and justice for all. She loves kids and plans to pursue a career focused on children’s health. Juliana was one of the very first Student Ambassadors at Smile Train, an international children’s charity providing training, funding and resources to local medical professions to provide free cleft and lip palate repair. She was thrilled to be interning at Smile Train this summer. In her free time Juliana enjoys reading, baking, exploring different teas, yoga and playing mahjong. Joey Waters has been in education for almost twenty years as a middle and high school English teacher, News Literacy instructor, and Assistant Principal.  Moreover, Joey has served as a teacher mentor liaison and then as the administrative coordinator of that same program for the Cold Spring Harbor Central School District.  Joey’s passion is teacher engagement and bolstering student opportunities to pursue their passions and excel beyond the confines of the classroom.  Joey has presented at various conferences on topics ranging from creating inclusive classrooms to the social emotional significance of accessible literature.  In addition to her background in education, Joey has experience running a small business and works as a freelance writer, editor and English tutor. Joey is a graduate of Boston College, has taken a number of management courses through Hofstra University’s MBA program, and has a degree in Education from C.W. Post, Long Island and in Educational Leadership from Stony Brook University.  She is currently an Assistant Principal with the Syosset Central School District on Long Island.

Impactful Storytelling with Julia Leeb, Mariam Al-Dhubhani, and Mohammed Al-Jaberi

Julia Leeb is a journalist, photographer and filmmaker specialized in the production of VR (Virtual Reality) content. She works as a war photojournalist and filmmaker, and is the author of North Korea: Anonymous Country and other books. Leeb's long-term projects have been published internationally and document political upheaval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Iran. Elle Magazine listed Julia Leeb within the 80 international characters and Refinery29 named her under the 29th most inspiring women in Germany. Mariam Al-Dhubhani is a Yemeni-Russian award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and curator. She first pursued her passion for media during the 2011 Arab uprisings and co-founded her first media production. Her films have been screened globally in festivals such as Carthage, Interfilm, and Oaxaca. She also utilizes Virtual Reality in highlighting stories from Yemen. Mohammed Al-Jaberi is the program and communication officer of the EU-funded Cash for Work Project at the UNESCO regional office for the GCC and Yemen. Besides his daily job, Mohammed is an awarded filmmaker focusing on stories from/about Yemen. He holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in International Politics and is currently concluding his master's degree in Management of Sustainable Development Goals from LUMSA University.

Growing and Sustaining a Strong Network with Audrey Chen

A graduate of Northwestern University, Audrey Chen is an independent Marketing and Communications consultant.  Audrey started her career in Washington, D.C. at Top 100 law firm Venable LLP, before moving to Asia where she is currently based. She has experience in a wide-range of specialties including crisis management and public relations, business and brand development, strategy, and stakeholder and investor relations. Prior to striking out on her own, she focused on business development with global brands owned by Fortune 500 companies such as Starbucks, Unilever, Diageo, Nestle, and AkzoNobel, as well as regional and local brands in the Asia-Pacific/Australasia region (including India and China) during her agency career. She is passionate about supporting and partnering with other female-led businesses as well as fellow start-ups and entrepreneurs. In her personal time, she volunteers and has a keen interest in investment. Natasha Das is a third-year student at Northwestern University in Qatar, majoring in Media Industries and Technology. She has an interest in research and climate change. Outside of university, she likes debate and music.  Natasha brings a blend of media knowledge that including public relations, marketing, and analytics.

Finding the Right Partners with ZuCasa's Gregory Butler

Gregory Butler, co-founder and CEO of online event and ticketing platform ZuCasa, has over 15 years of experience building, expanding, and exiting successful technology companies.  Beginning in 2005, Gregory built PCAudioLabs from a one-room operation into a world-renowned provider of audio-centric computers.  Distribution for the company exceeded 250 retail outlets nationwide and in Europe and achieved double-digit YOY revenue growth.  The company's first product line (the Rok Box) earned the first computer nomination for the TEC Award since Apple's nomination in 1988.  Company partnerships included Microsoft, Intel, AMD and more. Following his successful exit with PCAudioLabs, Gregory was hired by Harman International to rebuild the Lexicon brand at a time when revenue was dropping by double digits, year-over-year.  After generating and leading a three-year business plan and product/technology roadmap, the brand returned to double-digit increases in annual revenue.  Gregory's digital strategy led to 100%+ increase in all key web metrics, leading to a fully functional eCommerce platform. In 2015, Gregory went on to become the Global Managing Director of WholeWorldBand, an international company with locations in California and Ireland, an innovated music creation and sharing site developed by 10cc founder, Kevin Godley and financed largely by Barry Maloney, the hugely successful tech investor in Ireland and billionaire financier, Dermot Desmond.  In addition to managing a multinational organizational structure, and securing several million dollars in financing, Gregory led the marketing and product strategies for the company and negotiated partnerships with Ryan Seacrest Production, Warner Music Group Records and Vh1 Save The Music.  WholeWorldBand's user base expanded into multiple countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Russia, with the average Time a user spent on the app increasing 14x. In 2020, along with Tony Rennert and Martha Chang, Gregory launched ZuCasa, a new video engagement platform for creators to engage their audiences, and fans to experience content together. WeAreZuCasa.com Gregory has worked on multiple Grammy-nominated albums and Emmy-winning TV shows, as well as Executive Producing a nationally syndicated TV series. Spencer Striker is an associate professor-in-residence for communication, specializing in digital media design. Striker’s creative scholarship is organized around digital media design that embraces interaction design, mobile media, digital media and learning, game media, and entrepreneurship. He has taught at the American University in Dubai, (where he served as Coordinator of the Digital Media Program), the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater, (where he co-founded the Media, Arts, and Game Development Program), and Indiana University at Bloomington. Striker has designed and taught a wide range of creative production courses, including Mobile Game Design, 2D Computer Animation, Digital Podcast Production, Sound Design, Web Design, Creative Opportunities in Contemporary Media, New Communication Technologies, and Next Gen Interactive Entertainment.  Striker has developed History Adventures, World of Characters—a fully interactive digital book series that presents a fresh approach to history education, designed for today's digital generation. This interactive, multimodal learning experience combines mobile entertainment technology with the power of narrative design—bringing the pages of history to life. Striker holds a Ph.D. in Digital Media from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, a Master’s in New Media Production and Design from Indiana University at Bloomington, and undergraduate degrees in Radio-TV-Film (B.S.) and History (B.A.) from the University of Texas at Austin. Yanis Cherif is a student entrepreneur working on creating production content for small businesses in Qatar. Through his college experience, he was able to find his passion for commercial content creation through various communication courses.  His goal is to create a better and more fair way of producing content for businesses in Qatar and their marketing strategies.

Understanding Your Digital Footprint with Mathieu Trepanier

Dr. Mathieu Trepanier is CEO and co-founder of XT Horizon, a digital insights agency. Mathieu is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of 15 years of continuous innovation in start-up environments focusing on digital consumer insights with world leading clients across several industries and geographies. Mathieu holds a Ph.D. in managerial economics and strategy from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University (USA), a M.Sc. in applied economics from HEC Montréal (Canada) and a bachelor’s from Laval University (Canada). Over the years, Mathieu has provided cutting-edge digital insights services to leading clients such as Nestlé, Purina, Nespresso, Hillspet, Colgate-Palmolive, P&G, Reckitt Benckiser, Pernod Ricard, Michelin, General Mills, The Boston Consulting Group, GSK, Sanofi, IQVIA, Coty, L’Oréal, PepsiCo, Campbell Soup Company, Ardent Mills, Rich Corporation, Firmenich, Kraft, Abbott Laboratories, ConAgra Foods, Kering, Dyson, Richemont, Groupe Bel, PwC, etc. Anthony Wallace is a Network Engineer & Computing Security Analyst, Northwestern University in Qatar.  Prior to joining the IT team at NU-Q, Anthony Wallace served at The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, first with the information security department and then as a data analyst for security application development. Before that, he was geo-strategic and cybersecurity analyst for various US government entities. His career in information technology began as a fascination and hobby that he has cultivated since childhood. He earned his bachelor degree from the University of Oklahoma in international security studies with a minor in Arabic. He holds ITIL and NIST certifications and currently is pursuing a master’s degree in information security engineering at the SANS Technical Institute. Stefan Baumann is a student at Carnegie Mellon University Qatar majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Cognitive Neuroscience. He is an international student who moved to Doha in 2018 from Zürich, Switzerland, which is where he grew up, but Stefan also have roots from the US and France - so is fluent in English, German, and French. Stefan has a deep curiosity for the World, which is supported through his passion to learn. After graduation, he is aiming to work in the industry of applied computational neuroscience, e.g. companies who develop brain-machine interfaces like Neuralink. His other interests include: - Psychedelic research (using psychedelics to combat mental illnesses) - Innovative entrepreneurship and investing (incl. cryptocurrencies) - Philosophy of mind and the hard problem of consciousness - Artificial intelligence and ethics of machine learning models