John is a trainer, corporate speaker, tech-geek, and expert facilitator. He has led hundreds of executive teams through applied creativity, design thinking, and lean startup techniques to solve their most strategic business challenges. Across his 20-year career he has experience in non-profits, start-ups, management consulting spanning from Pharma to Finance.

Janet Getto is an innovation advisor and facilitator located in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the past 30 years, she has worked closely with clients to create and launch strategy and solutions to complex problems and develop vital collaborative and innovation skills that drive performance. She is relied upon as a facilitator, organizational developer, trainer and coach for executives, teams and project leads. Her work includes development, design, and delivery of effective innovation skill building curriculum used in major organizations. This body of work has led to tangible results for her clients.

Layston is an Innovation Operations Manager at Deliberate Innovation. A globe-trotter and experienced marketing and business development consultant for scale-up organizations, she has worked in the US, Asia, and Africa. Her diverse background across borders and industries makes her a champion at finding out-of-the-box connections and developing tailored strategies having consulted in fields such as (but not limited to) nanotechnology, linguistics, and anti-corruption. Layston brought her entrepreneurial mindset, project management skills, and her love for complex problem solving to DI to help corporations innovate with the spirit of a startup behind a lasting innovation-driven system.

Emily’s career has involved roles in innovation coaching, event design and coordination, and operations. She has used a variety of innovation methodologies such as Human-Centered Design, creative problem solving, and others to guide teams through their most complex challenges. She especially enjoys the initial scoping process to ensure teams are focusing on the right problem from the start.
Emily’s key interests include challenge mapping, creative problem solving, and empathy interviewing/research.

Cal’s experience has included roles in sales, sales operations, training, and innovation coaching. The common thread throughout his career has been a focus on creative problem solving and group facilitation. He has used Design Thinking, Agile, Open Space Technology, Gallup StrengthsFinder, and other tools to help teams find solutions to their most challenging business pursuits

Jennifer Marchant is an innovation facilitator and marketing leader with an expertise on optimizing brands, strategies and marketing capabilities for B2C and B2B businesses and start-up enterprises. She has over 25 years of diverse marketing and general management experiences at entrepreneurial and large companies across multiple consumer goods and services industries, operating with a balance of small-company nimbleness and big-company discipline. Jennifer’s depth of knowledge includes expertise in bridging cutting-edge omni-channel, dynamic marketing, with traditional data-driven brand/customer/shopper marketing. Her experience focuses on partnering across functions to transform brands, lead business transitions, evolve marketing practices and optimize go-to-market strategies with a focus on both top- and bottom-line. She received an MBA in Marketing and Management from NYU Stern School of Business and a BS in Communication from Cornell University.

Julian is an entrepreneurial hybrid who thrives at the intersection of business and design strategy. Drawn to purposeful innovation, he has a history of developing successful business models, product strategies, and experiences for global brands (Tiffany & Co., Tumi, Madison Square Garden) and startups alike. Prior to his most recent role developing innovative products, services, and businesses for X8 Ventures, he ran the New York offices for the design agency Eight Inc., best known for having helped design Apple’s retail experience. Julian is a frequent keynote on design innovation and product strategy, and has taught and/or lectured at renowned institutions such as MIT Media Lab, Columbia University, NYU, and the Young Presidents Organization. He has advised numerous startups at Techstars and elsewhere. In 2015, he headed the development of the New York campus for Carnegie Mellon’s, Integrated Innovation Institute. Julian began his career in Milan, Italy, where he lived for several years working with some of Italy’s most notable design masters. Born and raised in New York, he now lives in Montclair NJ with his wife and twin daughters.

Marc Engel is a 20-year research professional and 10-year innovation facilitator. Marc uses applied improvisation in an ideation technique he developed in 2010, called, “Out of Focus Groups®,” which he has successfully deployed for some of the world’s leading companies, including Nestlé, Molson Coors and Google. Marc is also an Advanced member of the Qualitative Research Consultants Association (QRCA), co-chair of its San Francisco Chapter, and active member of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force. He is also a member of the Applied Improvisation Network and has trained at the Creative Problem-Solving Institute.

Aaron is an experienced corporate innovation and innovation facilitator. Aaron is also the author of the book Today’s Innovator, and an innovation expert with nearly twenty years of experience leading innovation in fast-paced, complex organizations. Aaron served as Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Customer Advocate at Transamerica, a multi-national financial services company.

Nick’s career has been focused on helping drive better decisions through data, with a passion for co-created and practical, implementable strategy. He enjoys the challenge of making the complex simple, pushing teams to excel and ensuring appropriate adaptive measurement plans support initiatives.

He started his career with market research and analytics providers before spending 19 years holding roles of increasing seniority leading country, regional and global teams for a world-leading pharmaceutical company. His focus has been on portfolio and corporate strategy, creating thought-provoking and challenging insights and leading large-scale change programs, always with a focus on getting to implementation and outcomes.

For Zoryana, it’s all about designing experiences. Whether it’s a business meeting in New York or a wellness retreat in Bali, she works hard to create a setting where the attendees can truly focus on their goals. She uses her extensive knowledge of the US and international hospitality market, creative mindset, and strong attention to detail to turn the event ideas into a successful reality.

Zoryana is an avid traveler who studied and worked in Europe, Asia and Africa. She holds a BBA in International Business from Berkeley College and an MBA in International Business & Marketing from Baruch College.

A leader in sustainability and strategy, Apple has launched many companies’ environmental sustainability programs and deployed global workplace strategy initiatives. Apple strives to help teams successfully reach their goals by maximizing each team member’s individual potential. She leverages her experience as a business owner, an agent for change, a savvy communicator, and an implementation expert.

Karen has been a senior leader in life sciences organization for over 20 years and is trained as an expert in creative problem solving. Amongst her industry roles, Karen worked at Pfizer where she led business planning, provided operational and strategic guidance, and executed projects for pipeline and in-market products in numerous therapeutic areas including vaccines, oncology, and primary care. Her expertise includes payer, physician, and consumer healthcare. Karen has a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mary is an innovation guide, facilitator, and thought partner. Her career joy is to help individuals and teams identify and solve important challenges, tap into their creative potential, discover and implement innovative solutions, and do their best work. In her 20 years in the pharmaceutical/biotech field, she has contributed as a research scientist, team leader, project leader, program manager, business analyst, and supporter of innovation across global companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Amgen, and Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
As an innovation leader, she has designed and implemented programs to bring new ideas to life and promote innovation in both culture and action. Mary is consistently recognized as a leader, mentor, and collaborator who brings experience, knowledge, and fun to her partnerships.

Erin Gordon is a certified professional facilitator, seasoned strategy consultant, and coach with specialties in visualization, leadership development, and team performance. She delivers facilitation and studio services that leverage creative techniques and visual methods for clients in person and virtually.

After many years in pharmaceutical market research, Sally has seen a lot: what works, how to manage the unexpected, and what might go awry. Her experiences sparked ideas about how to do better, then better still.

A lifelong educator with a passion for helping people and organizations grow to be the very best version of themselves. She founded Monarch Strategies LLC to help carry out her personal mission and passion. She provides consulting serves around Creative Problem Solving & Innovation, Executive Coaching, and Technology & Productivity Coaching.

A behavioural scientist and facilitator, Scott Winter integrates the best methods of coaching, group learning and team facilitation with the latest research in Positive Psychology, Social Cognitive and Psychological Neuroscience to deliver engaging and impactful initiatives that stimulate growth, personal and team development, or change within a system or process for individuals, teams, and organizations.

Mike connects innovation strategies of corporations to a global network of startups in all industries across all stages of growth, In addition, as Chief Business Officer at LabCentral, Mike is helping to create the next generation of powerhouse biotech companies by providing an environment where visionaries can thrive. He has spent the past several years helping entrepreneurs win and the global platforms that support them grow their impact in his roles as President of MassChallenge, Chief Business Officer at New Lab in Brooklyn, NY, Principal with Collective Next and partner to the TED organization.
While at MassChallenge he focused on expanding the impact of this early stage accelerator program on a global scale, leading strategic partnerships with individuals, corporations and government leaders across all MassChallenge programs. He scouted and launched all global locations, including UK, Switzerland, Israel, Mexico and a dozen other programs in Poland, Australia, Morocco, Colombia, Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Singapore, creating sustainable revenue models to support this rapid growth, as well as building its community of over 2000 high impact startup companies.
Wherever he goes, Mike is typically helping individuals and organizations turn ideas into action through people, and has spoken extensively on accelerating innovation through entrepreneurship at forums like the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, Global Expansion Summit, Chief Innovation Officer Summit, Innovfest Singapore, Entrepreneurship Export Exchange, Smart Philanthropy Conference, and the Taiwan Bio Forum.

Garret Fitzpatrick is an explorer and systems engineering leader, with experience blending systems and design thinking to deliver solutions in industry, government, and academia. Garret first learned the art of complex problem solving as a crew survival engineer at NASA, designing and managing critical life support systems for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. He has also led the product development team at Shell TechWorks and now leads an engineering team to expand the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope – the project that produced humanity’s first image of a black hole in April 2019. Garret has a Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering Mechanics and Astronautics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s of Science in Science Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three sons.

Shwen is a recognized pioneer in digital health and health innovation, as well as a well-respected industry thought-leader who was named a Top 40 “Healthcare Transformer” by MM&M in 2015, a PR Week “Health Influencer 50” in 2017 & 2018 and a Constellation Research “Business Transformation 150” in 2020. He was recently recognized in Medika’s list of “Fifty of the Most Influential Voices in Healthcare for 2021” and sits on various advisory boards, including: Google (Healthcare), SXSW (Health), MM&M Healthcare Transformers, PharmStars (incubator), GRYT Health and the Digital Health Coalition.
Shwen brings almost 20 years of experience leading digital strategy and driving innovation in commercial, communications, and clinical organizations, both on the client-side and at leading creative agencies. He is often featured in industry publications and speaks regularly at industry events.
Shwen has also been very involved in the health tech startup ecosystem over the last 10 years and organizes startup events and pitch competitions annually; he also plays a role in advising and running healthcare hackathons around the world as part of the MIT Hacking Medicine team.

Kimberly Tableman is currently the Chief Clinical Development Officer at Castor, a company with technology powering and democratizing Clinical Research.
After earning her MIS degree from Central Michigan University and her MS degree in Information and Knowledge Strategy from Columbia University, she launched a career focused primarily in technology and pharmaceuticals where she successfully led the development and launch of several key products. While at Pfizer and GSK, Kimberly was the architect and leader of initiatives aimed at transforming the life sciences industry. Prior to that, she worked in management consulting at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.
Kimberly is passionately committed to serving patients first and amplifying their voices to facilitate a positive care journey and accessibility to precision-medicine treatments.
She lives on the Shoreline of CT with her three children Ava, Ethan, and Brooklyn and she hopes to leave the world a better place for them.

Heather is a strategic, articulate leader with over 15 years in the pharma/biopharma industry and is based in San Francisco CA. She has held roles across commercial and operations, innovation coaching and business development. As a coach and advisor, she has led and formed teams to solve business problems through design thinking and agile principles. She is excited to help teams find solutions to bring delight and value to their customers.

Lisa’s career spans business roles in operations, innovation and marketing – both consumer packaged goods and pharmaceutical marketing – as well as leadership roles in non-profit organizations. Regardless of the role, Lisa has been committed to bringing fresh, strategically-grounded thinking and action-orientation. A proactive leader, Lisa is skilled at identifying and implementing effective, forward-thinking solutions. Lisa has an undergraduate degree in business from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from New York University.