Philly Tech Week 2020

Jordan DiPietro has been working in the financial industry for 15 years and spent the last decade as a marketing and growth specialist at The Motley Fool. He has a passion for creating quality content and building digital products that focus on individuals, entrepreneurs, and business owners. He loves copywriting, his two young kids, skimming old swipe files, and all-things-Philadelphia.

Dr. Frank Lee is the cofounder of the celebrated Drexel University Game Design Program and the creator of the Cira Centre video game series, which is the Guinness-certified world's largest video game.

A past columnist for both The New York Times and The Washington Post, Gene now writes regularly for The Hill, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes, Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Guardian.

Gene has written 5 books on business management, specifically geared towards small and medium sized companies. His most recent is In God We Trust, Everyone Else Pays Cash.

Nationally, Gene appears regularly on MSNBC and Fox News as well as The John Batchelor Show and SiriusXM's Wharton Business Channel where he talks about the financial, economic and technology issues that affect business leaders today.

Through his keynotes and breakout sessions, Gene helps business owners, executives and managers understand the political, economic and technological trends that will affect their companies and—most importantly—the actions they can take to continue to grow and profit.

Gene owns and operates the Marks Group PC, a highly successful ten-person firm that provides technology and consulting services to small and medium sized businesses.

Prior to starting the Marks Group PC Gene, a Certified Public Accountant, spent nine years in the entrepreneurial services arm of the international consulting firm KPMG in Philadelphia where he was a Senior Manager.

Jack Markell served two terms as Delaware’s Governor, completing his tenure in 2017. During his time in office, Delaware’s job growth was the best in the region and one of the best in the country. Under his leadership, Delaware won the top spot in President Obama’s Race to the Top competition and high school graduation rates saw some of the best increases in the country. Markell served as Chair of the both the National Governors Association and the Democratic Governors Association and as President of the Council of State Governments. He also served for ten years as Delaware’s State Treasurer.

Beginning his career in the private sector, Markell helped lead the wireless technology revolution as the 13th employee at Nextel, where he served as senior vice president for corporate development. His other business experience includes a senior management position at Comcast Corporation and work as a consultant with McKinsey and Company. Since leaving office, Markell serves on a variety of corporate and non-profit boards.

Markell was born and raised in Newark, Delaware, and graduated from Newark High School along with his wife, Carla. He went on to receive an undergraduate degree in economics and development studies from Brown University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Markell is a Henry Crown Fellow and a Rodel Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He and Carla reside in Wilmington, Delaware. Their children, Molly and Michael, are in their 20s.

Keith Clinkscales CEO, KTC VENTURES

Media executive Keith Clinkscales — whose award-winning career has impacted media and urban culture across platforms — is highly regarded as an innovator, strategist, and thought leader.

Clinkscales has partnered with AT&T to create the “Humanity of Connection” series through his KTC Ventures. The partnership will pivot to deliver targeted content to the emerging field of streaming services currently impacting the media landscape.

That natural progression — relationships morphing into partnerships — has been a staple of Clinkscales’ career. His dedication to urban audiences has created never-before-seen outlets, like his brainchild The Shadow League, Since its inception in late 2012, The site has grown to become a leading destination for sports, race and culture.

An Emmy Award-Nominated and a two-time Peabody Award Winner, Clinkscales has earned over 60 credits as an Executive Producer of films and documentaries. Most notably Clinkscales was one of the creators of ESPN’s critically acclaimed “30 for 30” documentary series.

In 2013, REVOLT Founder and Chairman Sean Combs appointed Clinkscales as Chief Executive Officer of REVOLT Media & TV. With Clinkscales at the helm, REVOLT ushered in the third largest, independent network launch in cable television history.

In the 1990s, Clinkscales worked alongside the legendary Quincy Jones to launch Vibe magazine, the premier publication for hip-hop/R&B music, fashion and entertainment news. Clinkscales served as CEO of the publication and established Vibe’s successful digital presence, vibe.com.

Clinkscales earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a magna cum laude graduate

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.

Lauren is the Director of the Community Lending Circles program through the Global Atlanta Innovation Hub at CARE USA. Driven to alleviate global poverty, Lauren has helped thousands of refugees, marginalized communities and entrepreneurs gain access to capital through her leadership in US micro finance, economic empowerment and HR/training consulting services at various NGOs including CARE, Friends of Refugees and Habitat for Humanity Int'l. Lauren is a West Indian immigrant from the UK and grew up in Northeast Atlanta. She studied Int'l Economics and Sociology at Emory University, is partially accredited by the Department of Justice as an Accredited Representative for Immigrants and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources Certification.

April Walker is the Director of the Philadelphia Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) located in Malvern, Pennsylvania and a member of Microsoft’s North American MTC leadership team. April oversees Microsoft’s state-of-the-art innovation center that enables digital transformation for enterprises throughout the greater Philadelphia area. An accomplished engineer and expert in cybersecurity, AI, and cloud, April began her career in STEM more than 30 years ago in the DC area and amassed an impressive portfolio of success leading organizations in the corporate arena. A technology evangelist and change-leader, she has been the catalyst for driving innovation for many F500 corporations. A well-known and respected thought leader in both technology and D&I, April has a noteworthy array of keynote and speaking engagements conducted throughout the country where she is sought after to share her experiences as a technology leader and woman of color thriving in the world STEM. April is a graduate of MIT Sloan School of Management and earned an MBA and an Executive Certification in AI, George Washington University, M.S. in Engineering Management and University of Maryland, B.S. in Global Business. A community advocate, she recently was appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney to the Philadelphia Works, Inc. board and is board member of the Philadelphia POWER of Professional Women’s organization.