Commissioner Donald Palmer

Commissioner, U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)

Mr. Palmer is a former Bipartisan Policy Center Fellow where he advanced the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. Mr. Palmer is a former Secretary of the Virginia State Board of Elections and served as the Commonwealth’s Chief Election Official from 2011 to 2014. During his tenure, he implemented an online voter registration system and joined Virginia as a founding member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a nonprofit organization with the sole mission of assisting states to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens. He also served as Florida’s Director of Elections where he successfully transitioned the state from electronic voting machines to paper-based digital voting machines prior to the 2008 presidential election and expanded the Florida voting system state certification program. Prior to his work in election administration, he served as a trial attorney with the Voting Section in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where he enforced the nation’s federal voting laws. Palmer is a military veteran, retiring from the U.S. Navy after two decades as an intelligence officer and judge advocate general. Mr. Palmer earned his J.D. at the Stetson University College of Law and his master’s degree at George Washington University.

Commissioner Benjamin Hovland

Commissioner, U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)

Benjamin Hovland was nominated by President Donald J. Trump and confirmed by unanimous consent of the United States Senate on January 2, 2019 to serve on the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC). Commissioner Hovland serves as the Designated Federal Officer for the Technical Guidelines Development Committee (TGDC).

Mr. Hovland's 20-year career in elections has been shaped by his commitment to improving election administration and removing barriers to voting. Most recently, he served as Acting Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, where he was a driving force behind Congress appropriating $380 million in Help America Vote Act funds to enhance election security to the states in 2018. While at the Senate, he focused on the federal government’s role in election administration and campaign finance regulation. He organized several hearings on election security preparations and improving election administration. He was integral to restoring a quorum at the EAC in 2015.

Earlier in his career, as the Deputy General Counsel for the Missouri Secretary of State's office, he focused on legal issues related to the administration of state and federal elections, including recounts, poll worker training, voter registration list maintenance, statewide database matching, voter education resources and ballot initiative litigation. Hovland was part of the team that developed a new voter friendly web portal to help Missourians get registered, update their registration, and find their polling place. He also oversaw the development and implementation of a new voter education program, which alerted Missourians who appeared on the U.S. Postal Services’ national change of address list that they may need to update their voter registration. The program resulted in hundreds of thousands of Missourians registering to vote or updating their registration. He also engaged with Pew Charitable Trust to explore ways to improve voter registration lists, resulting in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), which is now utilized by over 20 states to make their voter rolls more accurate and reach out to millions of unregistered Americans.

As an attorney for the Fair Elections Legal Network, Hovland’s energies were focused on protecting Americans’ access to the ballot box. Thanks to his efforts, the court struck down a misleading ballot title that may have led to additional barriers to voter participation in Missouri, keeping it off the ballot. In Florida, he litigated to stop efforts to purge voters from the rolls based on inaccurate data matching in the lead up to the election.

Commissioner Hovland received his B.A. from the University of Central Arkansas and his J.D. from University of Oregon.

Dr. Jonathan Simons

Chief Executive Officer, Prostate Cancer Foundation

Jonathan Simons is a scientist, oncologist, and acclaimed investigator in translational prostate cancer research. Prior to joining PCF in 2007, he was Distinguished Service Professor of Hematology and Oncology at the Emory University School of Medicine and Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Materials Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Simons is the Founding Director of the Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University in Atlanta and Co-Director of the National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence at Emory and Georgia Tech.

Paula Schneider

President & Chief Executive Officer, Susan G. Komen

Paula Schneider is president and CEO of Susan G. Komen®, responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operation of Komen’s research, community health, public policy advocacy and global programs. Schneider brings a personal perspective to Komen’s mission as a breast cancer survivor whose mother died of metastatic breast cancer.

“I know from personal experience the devastation of breast cancer, and the power and impact of the Komen mission to end it,” she said. “I am determined to do all that I can to build on this iconic organization’s mission toend breast cancer, for everyone and forever.”

Schneider is widely regarded as an expert in organization management and finance, serving as president and CEO of American Apparel and Delta Galil Premium Brands and as president at Warnaco Swimwear Group. She served in strategic advisory roles at the private equity firm, The Gores Group.

A featured speaker at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in 2016, Schneider also was named one of Los Angeles Business Journal’s 500 Most Influential People for 2016 and garnered the National Association of Women’s Business Owners Inspiration Award in 2010.

As Komen’s president and CEO, Schneider is responsible for the world’s largest breast cancer research portfolio (almost $1 billion in funding to date), and a network of more than 80 Komen Affiliates serving millions of women and men in the United States and globally.

Lo Toney

Founding Managing Partner, Plexo Capital

Lo is the Founding Managing Partner of Plexo Capital, which he incubated and spun out from GV (Google Ventures), based on a strategy to increase access to early-stage deal flow. Plexo Capital invests in emerging seed-stage VCs and invests directly into companies sourced from the portfolios of VCs where Plexo Capital has an investment. Investors in Plexo Capital include Alphabet (holding company of Google), Intel Capital, Cisco Investment, the Royal Bank of Canada, Kapor Capital, the Hampton University Endowment (Cambridge Associates client), the Ford Foundation, family offices, and technology executives.

Prior to founding Plexo Capital, Lo was a Partner on the investing team at GV, where he focused on marketplaces, mobile, and consumer products. Before GV, Lo was a Partner with Comcast Ventures, leading the Catalyst Fund and worked with the main fund focusing on mobile messaging marketplaces.

He also worked with Zynga as the GM of Zynga Poker with full P+L responsibility For Zynga’s largest franchise at the time. During his leadership, web bookings increased by over 150% with margin expansion. Lo has also held executive roles with Nike + eBay as a startup funded by top tier investors.

Lo received his M.B.A from the Haas School of Business (University of California at Berkeley), where he completed the Management of Technology program, a joint curriculum program with the College of Engineering. Lo received his B.S from Hampton University in Virginia.

Jihan Bowes-Little

Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Bracket Capital

Jihan began his investing career in London on Goldman Sachs’ esteemed Global Macro Proprietary Trading Desk. In 2006, he moved to Credit Trading, where he managed a multi-billion dollar portfolio throughout the Great Financial Crisis, generating record profits and gaining invaluable expertise investing in semi-liquid markets and emerging asset classes at scale. He then joined Millennium Capital as a Portfolio Manager, and was later recruited to lead a multi-strategy portfolio for BlueCrest Capital, where he was promoted to Partner in 2012. Jihan has layered experience identifying and investing across multiple asset classes, lending him unique insights into evolving investable themes, portfolio construction and asset allocation.

Bracket Capital is an alpha driven global investment manager focused on later-stage, technology-enabled companies with asymmetric risk-reward profiles. We leverage decades of experience at Investment Banks and Hedge Funds investing in semi-liquid assets to optimize net returns and cash distributions for investors. Our process combines deep analytical expertise with a unique network of early investors and entrepreneurs, thereby gaining access to proprietary deal-flow and providing valuable liquidity to the venture eco-system. We believe employees and investors deserve transparent, efficient and equitable access to secondary markets for Private Companies. Bracket Capital Fund I Portfolio companies include: SpaceX, Coinbase, Palantir, Lyft, AirBnB, Bird, SoFi, Impossible Foods, eToro, and Clover Health among others.

Jihan graduated with honours from Brown University (2002) with a double major in Economics and Philosophy. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children.

Wes Moore

Chief Executive Officer, Robin Hood

Wes Moore is the Chief Executive Officer of Robin Hood, one of the largest anti-poverty forces in the nation.

Wes’ first book, “The Other Wes Moore,” a perennial New York Times bestseller, captured the nation’s attention on the fine line between success and failure in our communities and in ourselves. He is also the author of the recently released, “Five Days.”

Wes, a Rhodes Scholar, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Johns Hopkins University in 2001. Wes then served as a captain and paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, including a combat deployment to Afghanistan. He later served as a White House Fellow to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Jake Wood

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Team Rubicon

Jake Wood is cofounder and CEO of Team Rubicon, the only nonprofit disaster response organization that utilizes the skills of military veterans to rapidly deploy emergency response teams. In repurposing the skills gained during service – like emergency medicine, risk assessment and mitigation, logistics, teamwork and decisive leadership - Team Rubicon provides veterans with a sense of purpose, community and identity created by joining a new mission. Since the organization’s founding in 2010 following the devastating Haiti earthquake, Team Rubicon has responded to over 230 disasters and grown from eight to 75,000 volunteer members. Under Wood’s leadership, the organization has responded following the 2011 tornado in Joplin, Missouri, Hurricane Sandy, the 2013 tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, the 2015 earthquakes in Nepal and the devastating hurricanes in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico in 2017. Team Rubicon has been finished in the top three of the Nonprofit Times’ “Top Nonprofit To Work For in America” lists three years in a row.

Prior to Team Rubicon, Wood served four years in the United States Marine Corps where he graduated at the top of his class at Boot Camp, the School of Infantry, and the Marine Scout Sniper School. During his service he deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and earned numerous commendations. Wood left the Marine Corps a Sergeant.

A leading veterans’ advocate, Wood has briefed President Obama on veterans’ issues, met with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to talk about Team Rubicon’s role in veteran transition and disaster response and testified before a Senate committee to improve mental health care services for returning veterans. He has also appeared in the major media, including MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, Al Jazeera, US News & World Report, Forbes, Huffington Post and Fox News and penned an op-ed for The New York Times. An expert on veteran reintegration, disaster response and social entrepreneurship, Wood has spoken at Harvard, University of Wisconsin, University of Washington, University of Southern California, and Syracuse University as well as Goldman Sachs, Jones Lang LaSalle and Home Depot. He has also delivered keynote addresses at the National Emergency Management Conference and the National Green Building Conference and presented at TedX San Diego in 2010. In 2014, Crown Publishing published Wood’s book, Take Command: Lessons in Leadership.

Wood has received numerous awards including: the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “40 Under Forty”; the LA Chamber of Commerce Visionary Leader Award; the Goldman Sachs “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs” award; GQ Magazine’s 2011 “Better Men, Better World” Gentleman of the Year designation; University of Wisconsin’s “Forward Under 40” award; the Grinnell Prize for social change; the Heinz Foundation’s Heinz Award; and was selected as a CNN Hero in 2012. He was also selected as a Millennium Fellow by the Atlantic Council.

Wood holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin with a double major in Business and Political Science. He played football for the Badgers on a full athletic scholarship and was twice selected to the Academic All-Big Ten football team. He splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City with his lovely wife.

Secretary Michael Chertoff

Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (2005-2009)

As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2005 to 2009, Michael Chertoff led the country in blocking would-be terrorists from crossing our borders or implementing their plans if they were already in the country. He also transformed FEMA into an effective organization following Hurricane Katrina. His greatest successes have earned few headlines – because the important news is what didn’t happen.

At Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff provides high-level strategic counsel to corporate and government leaders on a broad range of security issues, from risk identification and prevention to preparedness, response and recovery. “Risk management has become the CEO’s concern,” he says. “We help our clients develop comprehensive strategies to manage risk without building barriers that get in the way of carrying on their business.”

Before heading up the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Chertoff served as a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Earlier, during more than a decade as a federal prosecutor, he investigated and prosecuted cases of political corruption, organized crime, corporate fraud and terrorism – including the investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Mr. Chertoff is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1975) and Harvard Law School (1978). From 1979-1980 he served as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, Jr.

In addition to his role at Chertoff Group, Mr. Chertoff is also senior of counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, and a member of the firm’s White Collar Defense and Investigations practice group.

Juliet Scott-Croxford

Chief Executive Officer, Worth Media

Juliet currently serves as CEO for media brand Worth, responsible for leading its transformation from a print magazine to a content platform that focuses on 'Worth beyond Wealth' and inspires and informs an affluent, influential and successful community of individuals to be their best selves.

Juliet began her career as a management consultant, learning to code at IBM Business Consulting Services, before focusing on business strategy and organizational change, working with clients to solve complex business problems across a variety of sectors through the use of technology.

Her experience in this area took her to a role at Boxwood (now KPMG) where she worked as a senior consultant in strategy and business change, with a focus on the media and technology sector. After working as a consultant with Guardian News & Media on its print to digital strategy, in 2012 she was confirmed in a permanent role to lead strategy and operations for the Guardian Media Group's commercial division based in London .

Juliet joined the Guardian's executive committee in 2015 and, as chief delivery officer; was responsible for the strategic implementation of the global three year turnaround plan and subsequent transformation and growth for the Guardian's US operation, relocating to New York in 2016.

She lives in Westchester with her husband and son, is a keen runner, yogi, and skier.

Josh Richards

@joshrichards

Joshua Kenneth Richards, known as Josh Richards, may have grown up in a small town outside of Toronto, Ontario, but he always had big town dreams. Today, he is an 18-year-old social media influencer, entrepreneur, angel investor, musician, writer, actor, and host.

Richards has been an entrepreneur since as long as he can remember, telling Forbes "I had my first company when I was 13 years old. I had a hockey merch company." Ater a brief entrepreneurial hiatus where he spent his time growing his social media accounts to over 30M followers across platforms, he put his entrepreneurial hat back on and founded TalentX, the largest TikTok management and production company, and Sway House, one of the top talent collectives on the internet. He then immediately proceeded to launch his own energy drink Ani Energy, acquire 10% of social good company Dog for Dog where he became partners with Snoop Dog and Chelsea Handler, launch a JV with Warner Records and sign to it as a recording artist, invest in TikTok competitor Triller and become its chief strategy officer, and invest in Ellen DeGeneres' UnHide also serving as their co-creative director.

As a savvy businessman with an eye for consumer needs, Richards is a consistent angel investor, investing in dozens of companies including ReKT Global, Lendtable, Atmos, Versus Game, AON3D, Poppi, Chalk Messaging, Stir, and Humaning. His love and knack for business has attracted the eyes of notable entrepreneurs, some becoming mentors, including Sean Rad (founder, Tinder), Josh Wolfe (MP, Lux Capital), Erik Torenberg, Sam Altman, Chad Hurley (founder, YouTube), Justin Kan (founder, Twitch), Ashton Kutcher, Kevin Harrington, and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss,.

Besides being an entrepreneur, Richards is signed to The Gersh Agency across the board and has starred in multiple indie films including Under the Stadium Lights and Summertime Dropouts. He also co-hosts the BFFs Podcast with Dave Portnoy and has a song with over 100M streams. Richards is also an avid writer and has an op-ed published in Newsweek and others. In June of 2020, Richards penned an emotional open-letter to his fans which was subsequently covered by Elite Daily.

Charity and giving back is something Richards has always valued and held dear. He participated in the All In Challenge where he played a role in raising what became over $50M for kids impacted by COVID-19, donated 100,000 masks to his and his friends' schools, created a clothing line where all proceeds were donated to the NAACP, and gave out blankets to the homeless on Giving Tuesday. He also spoke at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, alongside billionaire Stan Bharti and Chance King (replaced Larry King last minute due to illness), where he spoke about climate change and what Gen Z can do to raise awareness about this important issue and how they can play a small part in the solution. Richards also gave a supporter $10,000 for creating the best video raising awareness about climate change.

Richards was named to Forbes' 2019 Highest-Earning TikTok Stars list and was named one of the next 20 cultural pioneers by Highsnobiety; has been a speaker at business conferences such as Hawke Media Quarantine Conference and CES; has been featured in VanityFair, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, Business Insider, E!, Entertainment Tonight, The Hollywood Reporter, Elite Daily, The Blast, Cosmopolitan, TechCrunch, Billboard Executive Turntable, New York Post, Market Watch, and more; has been profiled on CNBC, Forbes 1, Forbes 2, Insider, Benzinga, Seventeen, and International Business Times,; and has appeared on camera for ET, Fox Business Network, TODAY Show, and others.

You can connect with Josh Richards on Linkedin as well as on Triller, TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter via @JoshRichards.

Griffin Johnson

@lmgriffinjohnson

Griffin started his social media career while in nursing school, going viral for his TikToks in his scrubs. After moving to LA into the Sway House, Griffin has grown his following by collaborating with some of the top TikTokers and digital media creators. On top of that, Griffin’s YouTube activity and following has been rising at an exponential rate. Griffin’s passion for acting and modeling has also led him to pursuing his many talents outside of social media. Griffin’s known as the most down-to-earth and relatable Sway member by his fans.

Ari Paul

Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer, BlockTower Capital

Ari Paul co-founded BlockTower Capital in 2017, and began his career in the financial services industry in 2006. Between 2006 and 2010, Mr. Paul was a trader and derivatives market maker with Susquehanna International Group, and then a proprietary derivatives trader until 2013. Between 2013 and 2017, Mr. Paul served as portfolio manager and risk manager for The University of Chicago’s $8 billion Endowment where he managed a “tail-hedging” strategy via long volatility investments. In his role, Mr. Paul also worked with the chief risk officer in risk management and analytics, and performed research on the characteristics of endowment investments and asset classes, including researching cryptocurrency. Mr. Paul began investing in cryptocurrency in 2014. He has previously invested in exchange traded cryptoassets, initial coin offerings, and other parts of the crypto and blockchain ecosystem. In addition to his enthusiasm for crypto, Mr. Paul brings experience as a professional trader, portfolio manager, risk manager, and capital allocator to the digital asset industry.

Mr. Paul earned a BA in political science from the University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA from The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is a CFA charterholder.

Sa'ad Shah

Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Noetic

Sa’ad Shah is the co-founder and managing partner of Noetic, a venture capital firm that seeks to invest in emerging and early stage psychedelic based wellness, therapeutic and pharmaceutical companies around the world. The firm strongly believes that psychedelic treatments will have a profound impact on mental health through the treatment of PTSD, Treatment Resistant Depression, Addiction, Anxiety and other mental health and inflammatory related ailments.

Sa’ad has spent the last 22 years in capital markets and asset management industry with a focus on alternative investment strategies. Prior to co-founding Noetic, Sa’ad was a managing director at The Carlyle Group. Sa’ad is also a the co-founder and managing partner at Grey House Partners, venture partner at Alpha Partners, an affiliate partner at Lindsay Goldberg LLC and a venture advisor to Learn Capital LLC.

He is also a filmmaker, scriptwriter and producer, and a board member of The Necessary Angel Theatre in Toronto and Council of Advisors for The Wende Museum in Los Angeles. Sa’ad graduated with a BA Economics and Political Science from Columbia University.

JR Rahn

Co-Founder, Board Director & Co-Chief Executive Officer, MindMed

JR is a former Silicon Valley tech executive who realized that transformational solutions to mental illness and addiction might lie in psychedelic medicines.

He spent 2 years researching and began personally investing in psychedelic research through his investment company. JR partnered with drug development veteran Stephen Hurst to start Mindmed in 2019, assembling a leading clinical drug discovery and development team with vast experience conducting clinical trials and research on drug candidates derived from psychedelics. Before starting Mindmed, JR worked in market expansion and operations at Uber.

Lyn Alden

Founder, Lyn Alden Investment Strategy

Lyn’s background lies in the intersection of engineering and finance.

Lyn has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a master’s degree in engineering management, with a focus on engineering economics and financial modeling. She oversees the finances and day-to-day operations of an engineering facility.

She has been performing investment research for over fifteen years in various public and private capacities. Her work has been editorially featured or cited on Business Insider, Marketwatch, Time’s Money Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Street, CNBC, US News and World Report, Kiplinger, Huffington Post. In addition, she’s appeared on Kitco, Real Vision, The Investor’s Podcast Network, The Rebel Capitalist Show, Macro Voices, The Market Huddle, What Bitcoin Did, and many other podcasts.

Lyn is also a regular contributor to Seeking Alpha, FEDweek, and Elliot Wave Trader.

Ambassador Michael Oren

Israeli Ambassador to the United States (2009-2013)

Ambassador Michael Oren has devoted his life to serving Israel and the Jewish people around the world.

As a Member of Knesset and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, he interacted with foreign leaders and defended Israel in the media. He spearheaded efforts to strengthen Israel-Diaspora relations, to develop the Golan Heights, and to fight BDS. As Chairman of a classified subcommittee, he dealt with some of Israel’s most sensitive security issues.

Prior to that, for nearly five years, Oren served as Israel's Ambassador to the United States. He was instrumental in obtaining US defense aid, especially for the Iron Dome system, and American loan guarantees for Israel's economy.

A graduate of Princeton and Columbia, Dr. Oren was a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale, and Georgetown. He holds four honorary doctorates and was awarded the Statesman of the Year Medal by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Dr. Martin Luther King Legacy Prize for International Service. His last three books—Six Days of War, Power, Faith, and Fantasy, and Ally: My Journal Across the American-Israel Divide—were all New York Times bestsellers. He received the Los Angeles Times History Book of the Year Award, a National Humanities prize, and the Jewish Book Award.

Christopher Hahn

Host, Aggressive Progressive Podcast

Christopher Hahn is a highly sought after progressive pundit and host of the Aggressive Progressive Podcast. He hosts a national syndicated radio show and has made over 2500 national television appearances on a variety of political, pop culture and public policy topics.

Christopher’s skill in dealing with public policy issues was honed during five years he served as a senior aide to United States Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.). During that time, his responsibilities included dealing with post 9/11 Homeland Security activities, domestic policy, federal environmental matters and economic development. His responsibilities included coordinating regional, federal, state and local inter-agency initiatives. Hahn helped shape the Senator’s public policy agenda during his first term.

As Chief Deputy County Executive for Nassau County, Chris was the senior appointed official under County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Chris was primarily responsible for directing and managing the daily administration, communications and operations of county government. Nassau County had a $2.6 billion budget, 8,700 employees and 47 departments. Duties included dealing with the entire legislative agenda, overseeing contracts, personnel decisions, coordination with federal, state and local governments and officials, supervision of all communications and press activities and the preparation and management of the budget. Appointed at the age of 33, Christopher was the youngest person in the history of Nassau County to hold the position of Chief Deputy County Executive.

Christopher serves on the boards of Stony Brook University, The Regional Plan Association of New York, New Jersey & Connecticut and the NY League of Conservation Voters.

He is an avid runner, tri-athlete and an accomplished improv comic.

Christopher earned his B.A. at the University at Albany, and his J.D. at St. John’s University School of Law.

Lou Evans

President & Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Energy Group

President and CEO of Commonwealth Energy Group, LLC Louis has over 30 years of electrical experience. A graduate of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry Pennsylvania Apprenticeship and Training Council, Louis is a highly skilled and licensed Master Electrician. His experience in the electrical industry covers clients from the commercial, industrial, healthcare, hospitality, and residential sectors. In 2008, Louis founded CEG in an effort to assist companies in lowering their operating costs by lowering their energy consumption and subsequently their carbon footprint. Louis is also an active member of the United States Green Building Council, Green Business Certification Inc., and is a LEED Green Associate. Active in the community, Louis serves as Chairman of the Lackawanna County Industrial Development Authority, is a Member of the Lackawanna County Assessment Appeals Board and a Member of the Treatment Court Advocacy Center of Lackawanna County. Lou also finds great gratitude in his service to the local community by being on the committee for a local United States Congressman’s Military Candidate Selection Board.

Edward J. Fortunato

Chief Economist, Exelon Corporation

Edward J. Fortunato is the Chief Economist of Exelon Corporation. As the Chief Economist, he tracks global and domestic economic forces, forecasts future economic trends, and analyzes how these patterns and events impact the company. Over the last seventeen years at Exelon, Edward has managed the proprietary trading book and the short-term analytics group. He has led the implementation of trading strategies in both the proprietary and hedging books and has run the fundamental analysis group. Prior to working at Exelon, Edward served as the Vice President of Natural Gas Trading at Merrill Lynch Global Commodities, and was a Senior Energy Trader at Edison Mission Energy. He originally started out in the oil business, trading oil, natural gas, and other commodities. Edward has an MBA with high honors in finance from Boston University and a BBA from Baruch College. He is an active community member, and has been involved with Catholic Charities and Our Daily Bread Hot Meal Program since 2012. He also currently serves on the Board of Directors for Partners in Excellence Scholarship Program and Marian House, and is the Chair of the Loyola University Maryland’s Data Science/Science Board of Directors. Although a native New Yorker, Ed now lives in historic Ellicott City, Maryland with his wife, Sarah, and dog, Dozer.