Philly Tech Week 2019

Michael O’Bryan is widely recognized as an expert practitioner and thought leader in the fields of community development, organizational culture, and trauma-informed practices. Since 2015, O’Bryan has served as the Director of Youth and Young Adult Initiatives at the Village of Arts and Humanities, a nonprofit headquartered in North Philadelphia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music from the University of the Arts and a certificate in Childhood Trauma Studies from Jefferson University. O’Bryan is currently a Corzo Fellow at The Corzo Center for The Creative Economy at The University of the Arts, and an Innovation Fellow at Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, in support of a startup venture focused on the advancement of behavioral skills and equity in the field of workforce development. Prior to that, O’Bryan spent more than a decade working directly with underserved populations — including veterans, adults in recovery, returning citizens, and families experiencing homelessness — and as a consultant and advisor for multiple nonprofits, businesses, and local government agencies. O’Bryan speaks to audiences nationwide about his work, including convenings hosted by Cornell University, The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, NeighborWorks America, and the famed Apollo Theatre in New York. His commitment to service has also helped him amplify his contributions to the Philadelphia region by serving on the boards of two philanthropic institutions: The Samuel S. Fels Fund and The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.

Lauren Capone is the Marketing Communications Coordinator for the Philadelphia Flyers. Now in her second full season, Capone serves as a main contact for all off-ice public relations efforts and helps shape messaging for all major marketing campaigns. She also assists the Flyers social media team, providing live content for home games and other special events. Previously, Capone spent two years as an Athletic Communications Assistant with Temple University Athletics while she earned her Master’s Degree in Sports Business from Temple’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management. In 2015, Capone graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Strategic Communication where she was a four-year letter winner and First-Team USAG All-American on their Division I women’s gymnastics team.

Emily Allen is the Director of People Operations & Success at Seer Interactive. Emily joined Seer in September of 2013 as the agency's first HR and recruiting person and over the last 5.5 years has built out the People Operations function to support a company of ~200 employees. As a member of the Executive Team, Emily is charged with ensuring Seer's talent acquisition strategy, HR practices, benefits, compensation and employee development resources appropriately support the growing team, while keeping culture in the forefront of it all. Recently, Emily has launched the second version of the company’s Compensation Strategy including salary transparency. As a (very) busy mom of three children three and under, Emily strives to create a work environment amenable to a diverse team with support mechanisms in place as team members move through the various seasons of their lives; enabling them to bring their true, best selves to work.

Leigh has been an active member of Investors Circle Philadelphia, now Social Venture Network, since 2013 and over that time has made investments in over 20 early stage companies in the social impact space. She also serves on the Investment Committee of two of the Patient Capital Collaborative Social Impact funds. Leigh has extensive operational experience managing both startups and high growth communications businesses. Her career has included stints as Chief Operating Officer of NTL Inc., the largest cable company in the UK (now part of Virgin Media). More recently, Leigh was an investor, Board member, COO and CFO of RealWinWin Inc., a Philadelphia based startup which captures energy efficiency incentives for large corporate customers.

Brendan Lowry is a Philadelphia-based artist and entrepreneur. All of his client-work, investments, and ventures are currently produced through his creative agency, Rory. Prior to Rory, Brendan was part of the founding team at Curalate. He still doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up.

Phil is Think Company's Executive Vice President, overseeing organizational strategy, design processes, knowledge management, and consulting on new business opportunities. He was hired as Think Company's second employee in 2008. Phil has been consulting, teaching, and writing about innovation, design, and technology since 1992. He has led consultative design teams across many industries including Life Science, Finance, Consulting, Retail, Healthcare, and Big Data. Additionally, Phil was an adjunct faculty member for the Digital Design program at Jefferson University (formerly Philadelphia University) from 1995-2014 and led experience design for the team that won the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE in 2017.

Michael is a recognized expert in the field, with over 20 years’ experience in information security and investigations. Michael’s professional experience includes several leadership positions in the medical, public accounting, technology, finance, and pharmaceutical industries. During his time with AIG he designed the IT Risk Management group for the Personal Lines Division. At Clifton Gunderson, Michael created and led the Information Security Solutions group under the assurance umbrella. Building from his experience Michael created a Risk Organization with over 20 employees and targeted, high profile clients. In September 2012 ionRISK had been acquired by Essex technology Group, one of IBM’S few premier partners. He was asked to join Essextec as Vice President of Business Risk Services and CISO to lead a strategic initiative for the future placement of the company, their clients and partners. He has led and worked numerous fraud and other investigations some very notable. While in the corporate world, he developed and implemented security policies, compliance programs, disaster recovery, business continuity, digital forensics and technical security assessments. Currently, Michael holds a Global Information Security and Compliance position with Amber Road, a leader in global trade compliance. Additionally, Michael has been working with several organizations around Artificial Intelligence and its impacts on security and risk through deep learning and predictive modeling.

Tucker Roberts currently serves as the President of Comcast Spectacor’s Spectacor Gaming division and the company’s Philadelphia Fusion esports franchise that competes in the Overwatch League. In this role, Tucker is responsible for driving the sustained success of Comcast Spectacor’s esports business, as well as the Fusion’s day-to-day operations in Los Angeles. Reporting directly to Comcast Spectacor Chairman and CEO Dave Scott, Tucker leads the organization’s strategic growth within the esports space. In 2019, Tucker has provided direct oversight of the company’s expansion into global markets and League of Legends, the most popular esport in the world. In addition, Tucker has guided the creation of Fusion Arena in the Philadelphia Sports Complex, which will open its doors in 2021 and stand as the largest new construction, purpose-built esports arena in the Western Hemisphere. Tucker joined Comcast Spectacor as a strategic advisor in September 2017, shortly after the company announced the establishment of its Philadelphia-based esports franchise in the new Overwatch League. Tucker was named President of the Fusion in January 2018 and since that time, he has played an instrumental role in formulating the Fusion’s international roster of players and coaches, as well as the creation and launch of the team’s brand. Prior to joining Comcast Spectacor, Tucker acquired several years of experience working in esports with industry leaders Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts. Tucker first developed his interest in the rapidly growing space during a summer internship while studying at The Wharton School. Tucker earned a B.S. in Marketing and Management from The University of Pennsylvania in 2013, and currently lives in Los Angeles.