Philly Tech Week 2020

Ellen Weber joined the Fox School of Business as an Assistant Professor in the Strategic Management department. She serves as the Executive Director of Temple University’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Institute and Mid-Atlantic Diamond Ventures. Her areas of interest include funding early-stage companies, entrepreneurial ecosystems and women’s entrepreneurship.

She is also the Executive Director of Robin Hood Ventures, a leading angel group helping to fuel startup growth in the Philadelphia region.

Ellen has more than 25 years of experience creating strong teams and building strong leaders for emerging companies as well as Fortune 500 clients. She has been a Managing Director and Founder of Antiphony Partners, LLC, a strategic consulting firm that specializes in helping companies create sustainable value through innovation. Ellen was the COO and co-founder of VisionMine, which provides a specialized Open Innovation platform for large corporations.

She was involved in the growth of Investor Force, a provider of technology-based solutions for institutional investment professionals, where she created the company’s initial human resources department, facilitated strategic planning, and managed the organizational aspects of the company’s mergers and acquisitions. Additionally, she spent twelve years at Shared Medical Systems where she was responsible for initiatives encompassing organizational development, customer support and corporate communications. She was also a senior consultant for Andersen Consulting.

Ellen has been named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s Power 100, a guide to the region’s most influential people in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She was the 2018 recipient of the Alliance of Women Entrepreneur’s Iris Newman award, for demonstrating a strong commitment to advancing women, women’s entrepreneurship, and especially women’s high-growth entrepreneurship. She received the 2017 David Freschman award from the Pennsylvania Private Investors Group.

Ellen graduated from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in economics.

Philadelphia native, Charles “Charlie Mack” Alston, an entertainment giant has a long standing track record in the entertainment business, dating back to 1978 when he hosted his first house party for 250 youth in the basement of his mother’s home, subsequently becoming a concert promoter for well known Hip Hop Artists Doug E. Fresh, Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane and Stetsasonic. In 1979, Charlie Mack became a Record Promoter/A&R Director for the independent label, “April Records”. During the early 80’s, Mack began his professional career as security for Galaxy 5, road manager and security for and MC Breeze.

In 1987, Mack elevated from bodyguard to Executive Personal Assistant for his star friends Mega Star Will “Fresh Prince” Smith and Jeff “Jazzy Jeff” Townes. In 1997, Charlie Mack relocated to Los Angeles for several years and initially assisted Smith on the set of the blockbuster hit, “Enemy of The State” along with several of his subsequent major films. Known for unselfishly lending his professional relationships to aid aspiring talent and basically anyone in need, Charlie Mack played an integral role in discovering talent like Boyz II Men and others in the industry. Despite a lucrative and rewarding career working side by side with Will Smith, Charlie Mack chose to relocate back to his native Philadelphia in 2003 to be closer to his children and fulfill his dream of reigniting the entertainment and social vigor in the city of Philadelphia.

40 years in the entertainment industry, Charlie Mack has consulted with various companies such as Electric Factory Concerts, East Coast Express, Clear Channel and Live Nation; to name a few. He has provided both diverse and quality entertainment locally as well as nationally. Over the years, 215 Aphillyated and its subsidiaries have presented concerts featuring Gospel, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and R&B artists, such as: Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Gerald Levert, George Clinton and Hezekiah Walker; Comedians Chris Tucker, D.L.Hughley and Steve Harvey; Jazz Artists Najee and Larry Carlton; and Hip Hop Artists Notorious B.I.G., Jay Z, Mary J. Blige, Missy Elliott and DMX have headlined the billboards. Charlie Mack promoted and hosted Tupac Shakur’s very last concert in the city of Philadelphia and the only concert with Lil Kim and Foxy Brown on the same bill. Celebrity galas for Boyz II Men and N’SYNC are also part of his credentials. Mack added to his efforts, Film Producer, co-producing the block buster hit, “Atl,” starring Rapper T.I. Mack co-created and produced the VH1 Special – “Bridging The Gap”, which featured Queen Latifah, Eve, Snoop and The Game. Currently, Charlie Mack is lending his talents to produce the biopic of R&B Legend and Crooner Teddy Pendergrass.

Shamique Thompson is a front end software engineer at AWeber. Endlessly curious and relentlessly motivated, she has dedicated herself to being a master of all things software. A graduate of Brown University, Shamique decided to embark upon her journey to master the art of Software Engineering after receiving her certification from Penn's Coding Bootcamp.

Adam Grant has been Wharton’s top-rated professor for 7 straight years. As an organizational psychologist, he is a leading expert on how we can find motivation and meaning, and live more generous and creative lives. He has been recognized as one of the world's 10 most influential management thinkers and Fortune's 40 under 40.

He is the author of 4 New York Times bestselling books that have sold over two million copies and been translated into 35 languages: Give and Take, Originals, Option B, and Power Moves. His books have been named among the year's best by Amazon, Apple, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal, and praised by J.J. Abrams, Richard Branson, Bill and Melinda Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, and Malala Yousafzai.

Adam is the host of WorkLife, a chart-topping TED original podcast. His TED talks on original thinkers and givers and takers have been viewed more than 20 million times. He received a standing ovation at TED in 2016 and was voted the audience's favorite speaker at The Nantucket Project. His speaking and consulting clients include Google, the NBA, Bridgewater, and the Gates Foundation. He writes on work and psychology for the New York Times, serves on the Defense Innovation Board at the Pentagon, and has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. He has more than 3 million followers on social media and features new insights in his free monthly newsletter, GRANTED.

Adam was profiled in The New York Times Magazine cover story, Is giving the secret to getting ahead? He was tenured at Wharton while still in his twenties, and has received the Excellence in Teaching Award for every class that he has taught. He is the founder and host of the Authors@Wharton speaker series, and co-director of Wharton People Analytics. He curates the Next Big Idea Club along with Susan Cain, Malcolm Gladwell, and Dan Pink, handpicking two new books each quarter for subscribers and donating 100% of profits to provide books for children in under-resourced communities. He and his wife Allison have published a children's picture book on generosity, The Gift Inside the Box. Adam is also the cofounder of Givitas, a knowledge collaboration platform that makes it easy to give and receive help in 5 minutes a day, and an angel investor in startups in HR and culture, technology, and consumer products.

Adam earned his Ph.D. in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan, completing it in less than 3 years, and his B.A. from Harvard University, magna cum laude with highest honors and Phi Beta Kappa honors. He has received awards for distinguished scholarly achievement from the Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, and the National Science Foundation, and and been recognized as one of the world’s most-cited, most prolific, and most influential researchers in business and economics. His pioneering research has increased performance and reduced burnout among engineers, teachers, and salespeople, and motivated safety behaviors among doctors, nurses, and lifeguards. He is a former magician and Junior Olympic springboard diver.

As a host and correspondent, Guy has interviewed more than 6,000 people including Richard Branson, Kelly Clarkson, Christopher Hitchens, Condoleezza Rice, Mark Cuban, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Roxane Gay, Eminem, Taylor Swift, and many, many others.

Guy is the host and co-creator of three NPR programs. TED Radio Hour and How I Built This are heard by more than 14 million people each month around the world. He is the co-creator and co-host of NPR’s first-ever podcast for kids, Wow In The World. For Spotify, he’s hosting the music interview show The Rewind. In 2017, Guy became the first person in the history of podcasting to have three shows in the top 20 on the Apple Podcast charts.

TED Radio Hour is a co-production of NPR and TED that takes listeners on a journey through the world of ideas.

How I Built This is a podcast about the greatest innovators, entrepreneurs, and idealists, and the stories behind the movements they built. In each episode, the founders of some of the world’s best-known companies and brands take us through their triumphs, failures, and insights. In 2016, it was named one of the top ten podcasts of the year by iTunes, and Inc Magazine called it “the best podcast to take on the new year.”

Wow in the World is a show for kids 5-10 about science, wonder, discovery and the amazing things happening in our world. The Guardian called it “a kids podcast with plenty for parents, too!”

Guy joined NPR in 1997 as an intern for All Things Considered and worked virtually every job in the newsroom from temporary production assistant to breaking news anchor. His first job was the assistant to NPR’s legendary news analyst Daniel Schorr.

In 2000, at the age of 25, Guy was made NPR’s Berlin bureau chief, where he covered Eastern Europe and the Balkans. During his six years abroad, he reported from more than 40 countries including the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Macedonia.

Between 2004-2006 he left NPR to work in television as CNN’s Jerusalem correspondent. In 2006, Guy returned to NPR to serve as defense correspondent where he covered the Pentagon and the US military. For his reporting from Iraq, Raz was awarded both the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Daniel Schorr Journalism prize. His reporting has contributed to two duPont awards and one Peabody awarded to NPR. From 2009 to 2013, Guy was weekend host of NPR News’ signature afternoon newsmagazine All Things Considered.

Guy is also an avid cyclist who makes his own bone broth and cashew milk

Lisa is Seer’s Data Strategy Lead based in Philadelphia. She harnessed a passion for data and her tenure within digital marketing and business operations to focus on pushing Seer forward in utilizing data-driven strategies. Her favorite thing to do is dig deep into data to help clients solve complex business questions. Her second favorite thing to do is convince Wil of the virtues of bridge tables & ngrams.

Before Seer, Lisa worked in roles across the board in digital marketing and software with positions at TIG Global, MICROS Systems, and Oracle. Recently hitting ten years in the industry, Lisa started her career in PPC before branching into SEO, product management, program management, R&D, and finally Data Strategy. She has experience with clients at all levels and across most major industries. In her role as Data Strategy Lead, Lisa gets to touch a ton of Seer’s clients in one way or another, which is one reason she loves what she does.

Lisa is a graduate of the University of Delaware. In her free time, she enjoys eating at every new restaurant in the city and doing all things outdoors with her husband Bernard, kids George and Annie, and their too-energetic pup Deacon.

Gavin Roy is currently the Interim CTO at AWeber. With over 25 years of experience in the Internet industry, Gavin is responsible for the technical architecture and operational stability of several large-scale web properties. He is the author of “RabbitMQ in Depth,” and actively contributes to several open source projects and communities, including Erlang, Python, PostgreSQL, and RabbitMQ. Gavin is a member of several professional organizations, including the Erlang Ecosystem Foundation (EEF), Python Software Foundation (PSF), and the IEEE.

Mr. Robert A. Celestin, Esq. has practiced entertainment law in New York City for over 25 years. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, Mr. Celestin started his legal career as an associate at the corporate law firm, Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler in New York. He then went on to work in the legal department of Clive Davis’ Arista Records before becoming the VP/GM of Uptown Records, Inc., (“Uptown”), the label responsible for merging hip-hop and R&B and launching the careers of “Mary J. Blige”, “Jodeci”, “Guy” and others. At Uptown, Mr. Celestin worked alongside Andre Harrell and Sean “P-Diddy” Combs. He later went on to work for Untouchables Entertainment, Inc., as VP/GM and was instrumental in the success of rappers “Pete Rock and CL Smooth”; R&B trio “Intro”; and R&B vocalist “Donnell Jones”. Mr. Celestin went to work with his mentor, entertainment attorney Louise West, Esq., in representing “Timbaland”, “Missy Elliot” and “Ginuwine”. Mr. Celestin also managed the Grammy nominated and platinum selling Pop/R&B group “City High”. Presently, Mr. Celestin’s law firm, the “Law Offices of Robert A. Celestin”, represents and provides strategic advice and counsel to independent record label start-ups and production companies, recording artists, music producers, songwriters, reality TV stars, DJ’s and others. Present clients Include “Desiigner”, “6ix9ine”, the Estate of the late “Xxxtentacion”, “Fatboy SSE”, “Dj Self”, “Ezinma”, “Winners Circle Publishing”, “Anthony Flammia”, “JTK Pro Beats” and many more.