Charm City Dreamers

In this episode we explore corporate charitable giving and the future of philanthropy. John currently serves as the President of the T. Rowe Price Foundation and President of the Program for Charitable Giving. Enjoy!

For more than 10 years, Jeffrey Zwillenberg has focused his career in education reform to help ensure that all kids have the opportunity to be successful in school and beyond. As the Senior Executive Director of Reading Partners Baltimore, Jeffrey leads a staff and AmeriCorps team of 35+ members, achieving programmatic, community engagement, and fundraising goals to further expand and evolve Reading Partners' impact on Baltimore students and throughout Baltimore communities. Prior to Reading Partners, Jeffrey held several roles at national nonprofit New Leaders, including the national director of program operations and the national director of city team operations.

McKeever "Mac" Conwell II is the founder and managing partner of RareBreed Ventures. Mac is a former software engineer and two-time founder. One of Mac's companies failed, the other went on to a succesful exit. In this episode we explore the early stage startup ecosystem in the region and specifically discuss investing in under-represented communities.

In this episode, we interview Tom Osha who is the senior vice president of innovation and economic development of the Wexford Science & Technology Institute. We explore what is an innovation district and how the work they are doing at University Of Maryland Bio-Park and other projects can be scaled nationally to expedite the future of industry and innovation.

Baltimore Tracks is a coalition of Baltimore-based technology & tech-enabled company leaders that are committed to increasing opportunities for People of Color in technology. Learn more about this initiative through our interview with Baltimore Tracks co-founders Nick Culbertson (CEO of Protenus) and Sherrod Davis (Chief of Staff of Protenus)

Eddie is the Co-CEO of the World Trade Center Institute (WTCI). WTCI's mission is to empower globally-minded leaders with new ideas and valuable connections. They believe that sharing knowledge and experiences makes a positive impact on Maryland and across the globe. Today more than 2,500 Maryland firms benefit from WTCI's global connections, events, programs and services. Their members range from local startups to many of the region's top corporations, universities, and government agencies.

Ron is President at Gula Tech Adventures which focuses on cyber technology, cyber policy and recruiting more people to the cyber workforce. Since 2017, GTA has invested in dozens of cyber start-ups and funds and supported multiple cyber nonprofits and projects.

Ron was the co-founder and CEO of Tenable Network Security. He helped grow the company to 20,000 customers, raise $300m in venture capital and grow revenues to $100m, setting up the company for an IPO in 2018.

Please enjoy this episode focused on the future of inudstry!

Christy Wyskiel is the Senior Advisor to the President of Johns Hopkins University for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. In this role, she also serves as the Executive Director of Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, the division of the university responsible for technology transfer, industry research partnerships, and company incubation under the brand 'FastForward.' Since her appointment in 2013, Christy has transformed the culture of commercialization at Johns Hopkins, opening 43,000 square feet of FastForward innovation space to support startup companies, facilitating the creation of 90+ companies, and generating $333 million in university revenue from licensing and industry collaborations. Johns Hopkins University startups have raised over $2.7 billion in venture capital during her tenure. Christy is a fierce advocate for the future of Baltimore and the role that Johns Hopkins University can play in populating the city skyline with companies borne, built and grown locally.

In this episode we explore the future of industry in Baltimore and how it has the potential to be the first "EquiTech" city. Jamie McDonald is CEO of UpSurge. She is an experienced entrepreneur, movement builder, and speaker. Prior to joining UpSurge, she was an advisor to global entrepreneurs, social innovators, and impact-focused executives. She's been deeply involved in work on behalf of Baltimore throughout her career.