Together in Innovation: Opportunity is knocking – are you ready?

Awais is a visionary healthcare innovator and self-taught data scientist dedicated to eradicating preventable blindness through artificial intelligence (AI). He pioneered the world's first fully autonomous and explainable AI for retinal disease detection, positively impacting over 100,000 patients in South Asia. His startup, Ophthalytics Inc., has won accolades like the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Health Equity Initiative (HEI) award for its transformative impact. With 15 years of experience in technology, Awais also leads AI product development for GE in manufacturing and contributes to deep learning, generative AI, computer vision, and enterprise architecture. His work exemplifies a blend of innovation and compassion in addressing global healthcare challenges.

Brian Betts has over 25 years of experience in auditing, accounting operations, strategic planning, and nonprofit management. Before his current role of President and Chief Financial Officer, Brian served as Senior Vice President, Controller at Operation HOPE.

Prior to joining Operation HOPE, Brian worked in the nonprofit industry for over 10 years, specializing in developing accounting systems and implementing processes to streamline accounting functions while adhering to federal and state requirements. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Tennessee and earned a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Memphis. He has active Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses in both Tennessee and Georgia.

Derrick Brent is the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO. As the Deputy Director, he serves as the principal advisor to Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, managing a wide portfolio of programs and operations for one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world, with more than 13,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $4 billion. His responsibilities include working with Director Vidal to lead the USPTO; advance IP policy and procedures for the benefit of the country; expand the USPTO’s outreach efforts to incentivize and support more innovation and entrepreneurship nationwide; and execute the agency’s policies, priorities, and programs. 

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John Hope Bryant is an American entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and prominent thought leader on financial inclusion, economic empowerment, and financial dignity. Mr. Bryant is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE, Inc., the largest nonprofit provider of financial literacy and economic empowerment services in the United States for youth and adults. He is also the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bryant Group Ventures, and Founder and Principal of The Promise Homes Company, which is the largest minority-controlled owner of single-family rental homes in the United States.

John Hope Bryant has received hundreds of awards and citations for his work, including Oprah Winfrey’s Use Your Life Award and the John Sherman Award for Excellence in Financial Education from the U.S. Department of the Treasury. He is a founding member of the Clinton Global Initiative, and a contributor to Huffington Post, THRIVE Global and Black Enterprise. Bryant was named as Georgia Trend’s “100 Most Influential Georgians in 2022.” In 2021, he was awarded U.S. Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Advocate of the Year. In 2020, he was named one of “LinkedIn’s Top Voices: U.S. Influencers.” Bryant was also named as the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s “The Power 100: Most Influential Atlantans in 2020,” American Banker magazine’s 2016 “Innovator of the Year,” and one of Time magazine’s “50 Leaders for the Future.” He is also a co-founder of Global Dignity and a member of the World Economic Forum and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Expert Networks.

Earl Camp is Vice President of Business Development for NOW Corp. He is responsible for leading NOW’s channel partnership strategy. Prior to joining NOW, he served in various roles for Purchasing Power, Harbor Payments, Assurant, KeyBank, and Morgan Stanley. Earl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance from Morehouse College. He also studied at the American University of Paris and participated in the Corporate Strategy Executive Program at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management. 

Connie Casteel is an expert in the federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding programs, which are utilized by small companies to develop innovative products and services. Ms. Casteel is a Senior Extension Professional Research Faculty at Georgia Institute of Technology, currently serving as SBIR/STTR Catalyst for the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC). ATDC’s mission is to increase Georgia’s economic development by assisting entrepreneurs and startup companies throughout Georgia. With over 20 years of SBIR/STTR assistance experience, Ms. Casteel’s primary responsibilities include educating entrepreneurs and companies on the federal SBIR/STTR programs, providing strategic direction, coaching and consulting, one-on-one proposal support, and providing commercialization guidance.  Ms. Casteel’s background is in proposal management, competitive intelligence, and innovation.

Shahzad Chaudary has been a banker in the Atlanta market for 30 years and has financed a mix of commercial real estate projects totaling over $500 million. He specializes in Small Business Administration (SBA) financing via the SBA 7a and 504 loan programs along with retail, office, and hospitality industries-related financing.  

For the past six years, Shahzad has been serving the Atlanta metro area as the Regional President of Wallis Bank. Under his leadership, Wallis Bank has established presences in the city of Dunwoody (Dekalb County) and the city of Duluth (Gwinnet County). 

Shahzad is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where he majored in aerospace engineering with a minor in economics and finance. 

Deepak Dashairya works in the Office of Public Engagement at the USPTO creating intellectual property awareness programs and managing outreach services to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, makers, and universities across the nation. Dashairya is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 20 years of federal service.

Before joining USPTO in June 2020, he served in leadership roles at the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Commerce, both in Washington D.C. and the Detroit Metropolitan Area, where he currently resides. Dashairya received a Bachelor of Science in statistics and a Master of Science in applied statistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Terri Denison became the District Director for the Georgia Office of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in May 2002. Ms. Denison started her SBA career in 1987 as a Presidential Management Intern at the agency’s Washington, D.C., District Office. In 1989, she moved to the SBA’s headquarters office. Here, Ms. Denison worked with the agency’s Minority Enterprise Development and One Stop Capital Shop programs and as a field operations analyst in the Office of Field Operations. In 1994, she served as an SBA representative on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community Interagency Task Force.

As Georgia District Director, Terri has received honors from the Atlanta Business League, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Microenterprise Network, Greater Atlanta Economic Alliance, Atlanta Business Chronicle, and Who’s Who in Black Atlanta.

Terri holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American government from Cornell University and a Master of Arts degree in urban studies from Trinity University. She is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute. A native of Corpus Christi, Texas, Terri currently serves as the vice president of the Cornell Alumni Association of Atlanta and as a member of the Cornell University Council. Other personal interests include ballroom dancing and travel.

NaThanya Ferguson serves as the director of the USPTO’s Innovation Outreach Division, which focuses on outreach to independent inventors, small businesses, entrepreneurs, and underserved communities of innovators across America.

She joined the USPTO in 1989. During her 35-year tenure at the agency, she has worked as a contracting officer representative, lead patent analyst for the Patent Process Reengineering initiative, strategic planning project manager for the Office of the Commissioner for Patents, and project manager for USPTO's Council for Inclusive Innovation.

NaThanya has received numerous awards, including a Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 2015 for her contribution to the innovative and collaborative implementation of the First Inventor to File statutory provisions of the America Invents Act, a Department of Commerce Distinguished Career Award in 2011 for continued outstanding service, and a Silver Medal Award in 1999 for her contribution to the development and implementation of the Patent Process Reengineering initiative.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business and management from Johns Hopkins University and a Master’s Certificate in project management from Management Concepts and Regis University.

Dr. Edgar Garay is the founder and CEO of Falcomm, a fabless semiconductor company on a mission to provide the most energy-efficient power amplifier products for hardware manufacturers in the wireless communication market. Dr. Garay founded Falcomm in 2021 based on his doctorial research from Georgia Tech, where he is currently the CEO. Falcomm’s core technology is based on a new class of ultra efficient solid-state power amplifiers, called the Dual-Drive PA. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Falcomm has received over $5 million in venture capital funding and is the first company to receive investment from the Georgia Tech Foundation. The company is working with major satellite manufacturers and defense prime contractors to get the technology to market.

In 2018, Ajay co-founded a pioneering healthcare innovation company, Annoviant, Inc. He and his co-founder, Dr. Naren Vyavahare, licensed a patented technology from Clemson University and focused on developing innovative cardiovascular devices that offer significant clinical and economic benefits. Annoviant actively collaborates with a diverse network, including leading research institutions, hospitals, incubators, and industry partners, to advance its innovative solutions. Annoviant has received four grants from the National Institute of Health.  

Before co-founding Annoviant, Ajay was employed with small to large-sized corporations and was instrumental in launching numerous innovative technologies and products that positively impacted millions worldwide. He is a named inventor or co-inventor on 68 patents, including 22 U.S. patents.

Kyle Ingram is an attorney for Trademarks Customer Outreach within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Prior to this, he was a trademark examining attorney for six years.

As an attorney, Kyle has previously worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons. Before attending law school, Kyle served in the U.S. Air Force as a contracting officer. When he isn’t working, Kyle enjoys fitness, travel, and learning about nature.

Kyle obtained his Juris Doctor from the University of Oregon, his Master of Natural Resources in natural resource management from Virginia Tech, and his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Virginia. 

Nakia Melecio is a Senior Research Faculty member of the Georgia Tech Innovation Enterprise Institute and Principal in the Venture Lab. In this role, Nakia helps researchers commercialize their biotechnology, energy, defense, military technology, education, government technology, and aerospace technology. He also helps them secure investments from a network of federally funded laboratories, universities, and corporations. Nakia is also the Founder and Director of the MedTech Center of Excellence, created to support and address the unique needs of early-stage medical device technologies. MedTech provides expertise in product realization, technology, medical device manufacturing, biotechnology, life science, and therapeutic innovations to early-stage entrepreneurs.

Marietta D. Murton serves as the Small Business Loan Officer at Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, empowering Latino entrepreneurs by providing them with the necessary capital and resources for their businesses to flourish. With nearly two decades of experience in the banking sector and involvement with Latino community non-profits, Marietta has a profound insight into the challenges Latino-owned businesses face. Her journey began in Peru, leading her to graduate from Georgia State University and embark on a banking career that started at Bank of America in 2004 and later included a leadership role at Regions Bank. 

Marietta has also played a pivotal role in supporting the Latino community through her strategic work with the Department of Commerce Census Bureau and leadership positions within Latino non-profit organizations, including the Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA) and the Gwinnett County Public School System's Hispanic Mentoring Priority Programs. Her expertise extends to fostering relationships with key stakeholders across government, business, and community sectors, underscoring her commitment to enhancing the socioeconomic landscape for Latino entrepreneurs.

Jeff Patterson brings over 30 years banking experience to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Jeff has been a chief credit/operations officer and has served as a bank president and board member. Most recently, he served as director for Georgia State University’s Small Business Development Center. Jeff is a certified export and trade counselor and earned his Master of Business Administration from Brenau University.

In her role, Jena Roscoe concentrates on developing, growing, and sustaining international, federal, state, and local government partnerships and alliances in support of Operation HOPE programs and initiatives. She also monitors and participates in public policy forums around financial literacy, financial inclusion, economic education, economic empowerment and development, small business and entrepreneurship education, and economic disaster preparedness resiliency, and leads the organization’s public policy campaigns.

Jena is a member of the Urban Financial Services Coalition (UFSC), National Bankers Association, Association of Blacks Foundation Executives, The LINKS, Inc., Black Women’s Roundtable, U.S. Women’s Chamber Of Commerce, Women & Housing & Finance, Inc., French – American Chamber Of Commerce, and the United Nations Association of the National Capital Area. 

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Camp Springs, Maryland; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Kershaw, South Carolina; Jena currently resides in the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Area. She is an undergraduate alumnus of the Howard University School of Communications and a graduate of The American University in Paris study abroad program.

Dr. Nordine Sebkhi is a researcher, engineer, and entrepreneur whose passion is to bring innovation to improve quality of life for all, especially those living with disabilities. His current focus is on the development of wearable body motion tracking systems designed to improve independence in mobility and digital access for people living with physical disabilities, with the ultimate goal of increasing their participation in the workplace and engagement in their social communities, both online and in person.

Dr. Sebkhi holds a Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech and an Ingenieur Diploma in electronics and signal processing from a French engineering school (ENSEEIHT in Toulouse, France).

Before founding Kinemo, he worked as an embedded designer for an autonomous driving car company (Wheego), as a researcher in optoelectronics under Dr. Russell Dupuis at Georgia Tech (2015 laureate of the Draper Prize), as a product manager in mobile device management (AirWatch), and as an electronic engineer at a space company (Thales Alenia Space).

As Vice President, Kim serves as Bank of America’s Atlanta market’s Small Business Administration (SBA) Senior Business Development Officer, helping local small business owners with access to capital. That includes driving business integration by working with multiple lines of businesses. During the past 20 years, she has worked in various positions within Bank of America in roles focused on customer service and building client relationships. She is responsible for partnering with business bankers and community partners to provide the most appropriate lending solutions to small business owners, identifying and implementing strategies to help drive credit applications. She maintains and builds a network of referral sources, including internal and external partners, community development corporations, commercial referral sources, and prospect lists provided by marketing intelligence. 

Drew Tonsmeire serves as the area director with the University of Georgia (UGA) Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at Kennesaw State University. With more than twenty-eight years’ experience within the UGA SBDC network, he consults with small business owners on strategic marketing and business management. His background includes service as president and CEO of a local chamber of commerce, as well as experience in the retail, manufacturing, and service environments. Drew is an experienced digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and marketing.

Drew has been awarded the UGA SBDC Professionalism Award, Consultant of the Year, Project of the Year, and Best Education Programming Award within the UGA SBDC. He previously served as chair for the national SBDC annual conference, which is the premiere education programming for SBDC professionals across the country.

Kenneth Wright is a lifelong resident of Georgia with an extensive career in manufacturing management. He retired in February 2021 from his position as general manager or Carlsen Precision Manufacturing, and he has continued to innovate. He is currently partnering with the Global Center for Medical Innovation (GCMI), Georgia Tech's Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), the MedTech Center for Excellence, and Georgia Tech to develop a prototype for a solution to eliminate the virus that causes COVID-19. He is married with a daughter and grandson.