Built in Ohio

Liz Engel is a reporter at the Cincinnati Business Courier and leads editorial for its sister site, Cincy Inno, which covers tech and startup news in the region.

In this episode, Liz gives us a run down of Cincinnati's tech ecosystem and insights to where the region is headed. She also shares about her day-to-day work as a journalist and how anyone can work with a reporter on a good story.

Her past work has been featured at Forbes.com, WCPO and Cincy Magazine. She’s a Cincinnati native who made her return to the Queen City in 2014 following stints in North Carolina and Tennessee.

Read her work at www.cincyinno.com

Connect with her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/liz-engel-00430117/

Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/LizCinciBiz

Caesar Campbell serves as a North American Data Center Operations Manager at Meta.  In this episode we talk about the relationships that tech creates - both in person and virtually.

Building, nurturing, and sustaining so that it brings joy, productivity and a fruitfulness to his every day.  He's a father of three and loves snowboarding, golf and mountain biking. And Caesar's hip-hop to his core.

His professional career spans 17 years most of which has been in the infrastructure outsourcing space building teams globally and creating partnerships worldwide.  He absolutely loves the work he does at Meta but he loves the people he does it with even more.

Connect with Caesar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caesarc/

Jamie Timm is the Chief Delivery Officer at WillowTree where she and the team help the world’s most admired brands on their path to digital leadership—from product to process.

In this episode, we talk to Jamie about her path to tech, building a growing company in Columbus, and WillowTree's work with iconic brands.

Jamie has over a decade of experience leading software delivery teams at digital agencies. She brings deep expertise in aligning people and business strategies to client engagements, as well as exemplary servant leadership to both the internal teams she manages and her external stakeholders.

Jamie is particularly passionate about the opportunities for digital products to improve customer experiences in both highly-regulated mature and hyper-growth industries.

Jamie holds a degree in Communications & Public Relations from Ohio Northern University and has previously held leadership roles in communications at the Columbus Chamber and Columbus Region Economic Development Group.

Founded in 2008 as a pioneering mobile app development company, WillowTree has grown into a full-service digital product consultancy, helping their clients anywhere humans and technology intersect. Their teams provide end-to-end, full-stack development, strategy, design, and growth marketing services. Select clients include Domino’s, HBO, FOX, National Geographic, Synchrony Financial, PepsiCo and ABInBev.

Visit www.willowtreeapps.com for more information.

Connect with Jamie on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jamietimm

In this episode, we talk with Nicole Ponstingle McCaffrey and Crystal M. Franklin about inspiring girls to consider STEM careers. The conversation is centered around the American Heart Associations' STEM Goes Red for Girls event.

This episode was recorded in August as the original date of STEM Goes Red for Girls was the fall. Due to Covid-19, the event was rescheduled for March 11th.

For more information on STEM Goes Red and the event, please visit: https://ahacleveland.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/20212022ClevelandSTEMGoesRed/tabid/1241618/Default.aspx

About Nicole Ponstingle McCaffrey
Nicole is a 20+ year marketing and business development veteran with a career that spans local and global brands. As the COO of Pandata, Nicole crafts and stewards the brand and provides the strategy for the marketing blueprint. By extension, she is Pandata’s resident AI Translator, bringing approachability to AI. She also shapes and champions company culture, team growth, and talent pipeline.

She fulfills her avocation in tech and diversity-focused workforce development by serving as an OhioX Workforce Development committee member and the 2021 chair for the American Heart Association’s STEM Goes Red for Girls event.

About Crystal M. Franklin
Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, I have a first-hand. understanding for the students that attend schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and issues surrounding access to equitable education. As a
result, I have developed a passion for working with students and families to break through barriers and factors that lead to marginalization. Prior to my position as a Director of CSforCLE, I taught high school science at an American School in Pinghu, China, and worked as a Teacher-Trainer for the Peace Corps Response, in New Amsterdam, Guyana. With a background in STEM, which includes a career in clinical and academic research, teaching, and program evaluation, it was only natural that I landed at Cleveland State and became a part of CSforCLE. My goal is to push our vision of Computer Science in every school, and that every student has an opportunity to engage in. 

Accomplished roboticist, entrepreneur and educator Dr. Ayanna Howard became dean of The Ohio State University College of Engineering in March 2021.

In this episode we talk with Dr. Howard about her work at Ohio State building the next generation of builders, the relationship between industry and academia in innovation, and creating tech opportunities for all students.

Previously she was chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, as well as founder and director of the Human-Automation Systems Lab (HumAnS for short).

Her career spans higher education, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the private sector. Dr. Howard is the founder of Zyrobotics, a Georgia Tech spin-off company that develops mobile therapy and educational products for children with special needs. Its products are based on Dr. Howard’s research.

Among many accolades, Forbes named Dr. Howard to its America's Top 50 Women In Tech list. In May 2021, the Association for Computing Machinery named her the ACM Athena Lecturer in recognition of fundamental contributions to the development of accessible human-robotic systems and artificial intelligence, along with forging new paths to broaden participation in computing.

Connect with Dean Howard on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ayanna-howard/

Learn more about Ohio State's College of Engineering: www.engineering.osu.edu

Warner Moore is a strategic executive leader and manager with a background in technology and information security. In this episode we talk with Warner about Columbus's tech growth, future opportunities for tech in Ohio, and the cybersecurity landscape. 

He has focused his career in working with entrepreneurial growth organizations where technology is their business and product. Within these organizations, Warner has an accomplished record of building successful cybersecurity programs and high performing teams who embrace DevOps culture and practices.

As an international speaker, Warner has been invited to present to university students, technology professionals, and business leaders in a classroom setting as well as at conferences such as Startup Week, CloudDevelop, Path to Agility, InfoSec Summit, CodeMash, Security BSides, DevOpsDays, and Abstractions.

Warner is passionate about culture, innovation, and community. His commitment to these values is demonstrated though his work leading organizations such as Ohio LinuxFest, LOPSA, and Toastmasters. The culmination of this work is the founding of Tech Community Coalition in 2016, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enable the greater tech community.

After building security and privacy capabilities for numerous organizations across industries at companies such as CoverMyMeds and Bold Penguin, Warner founded the cybersecurity strategy firm Gamma Force. Through Gamma Force, Warner serves as a virtual CISO for clients that include Deep Lens and Smart Columbus and advises startups to scale them through concept and growth phases.

Learn more about Gamma Force: www.gammaforce.io

Connect with Warner on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/warnermoore

Alison Sathe is the Cincinnati-based Founder of not one but two companies in the MedTech space.

Alison founded Regulatory Mark and ClearMark to provide best in class regulatory consulting and electronic QMS solutions for medical devices to her domestic and international partners.

In this episode, we talk with Alison about Ohio's MedTech and BioTech opportunity, the path that led her to building two companies, and more.

As a biomedical engineer, Alison began her career working in medical device startups and has specialized in regulatory and quality affairs for over 15 years.

Previously an executive team member overseeing Regulatory and Quality Affairs for companies with domestic and international registrations, Alison has managed teams and been regulatory lead for multiple product lines from concept and strategy through product release including early regulatory body interactions, regulatory submissions, and product clearance/approvals.

Learn more about Regulatory Mark: www.regulatorymark.com

Learn more about ClearMark: www.clearmarkqms.com

Connect with Alison on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alisonsathe

Steve Lekas is the co-founder and CEO of Columbus-based Branch Insurance. In this episode we talk with Steve about the moment that led to going all-in with Branch, building an InsurTech in Columbus, and why he's excited to be doing it here in Ohio.

Steve got his start in insurance at Allstate to put himself through school at Kent State. A decade later he went on to build the first-ever online home insurance business at Esurance.

After 18 years in the industry, Steve became increasingly frustrated with how broken insurance had become with lengthy processes and rising costs. Chasing down his entrepreneurial calling, Steve set out to right the wrongs of the industry by creating insurance that’s quick, easy, affordable, and built to do good.

In August 2019, Branch Insurance launched the quickest way to bundle home and auto insurance online and is now expanding nationally. To learn more about Steve and Branch Insurance, head to OurBranch.com.

Dana Allender is a life-long resident of Northeast Ohio and the Founder of SUN he works with emerging technology startups and small businesses to build “revenue roadmaps” to create scalable, sustainable growth. 

In this episode we talk to Dana about his passion for building Cleveland's tech ecosystem, the role AI and AI companies can play in this growth, and revenue journeys for tech companies.

Active in a number of civic and nonprofit organizations, he has served on the Alumni Board of Trustees at Walsh University where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Business and is a Past President of the Kent State University (Stark Campus) Alumni Association.  He’s a mentor in the startup community as well, working with JumpStart and previously with cohorts of the Bounce Innovation Hub and Fintech71.  Most importantly, he is a current member of OhioX, serving on the New Ventures and Technology Committee. 

Connect with Dana on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-allender-88aaba/

Learn more about Dana's work at SUN: www.sungrowsyou.com

Melissa Cutcher is the Executive Director at Technology First, a trade association for IT professionals and technology companies in the Dayton region.  In this podcast, we talk with Melissa about leading during challenging times and get the lowdown on Dayton's tech ecosystem.

Melissa has a Bachelor’s degree in organization management and Master’s degree in business administration with a focus on organization leadership.  Melissa is active in the Miami Valley and is a contributing member to many groups and organizations in the area.  Melissa is a learner and loves reading, building connections, boating, spending time with her daughter Ashley, husband Jeff, and dogs Bailey and Cooper.

For more information on Technology First, please visit: www.technologyfirst.org

Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melissacutcher