Philly Tech Week 2019

Liz is a proud generalist committed to utilizing her interdisciplinary skillset as an urban planner, experience designer, and technologist to bridge gaps and highlight the importance of inclusion within innovation ecosystems. Recently she was named Managing Director at Backstage Philadelphia, an arm of Backstage Capital, a venture capital investment firm that invests in underrepresented founders. Additionally, Liz is the cofounder of BCKG, a think tank and consultancy that provides thought leadership and curated experiences to support leadership, growth, and momentum for startups.

Prior to launching BCKG, she cofounded and served as Co-CEO & Head of Design at Webjunto, a user experience focused design and software development agency that served 100+ startups and enterprises globally. In her free time, Liz continues to do work in the community as a civic hacking enthusiast, meetup organizer, and globetrotting public speaker.

Technology and Lifestyle Expert Stephanie Humphrey’s mission in life is to show people how technology can make their lives easier. Stephanie spent two years as the technology contributor to the nationally-syndicated talk show The Harry Show, hosted by Harry Connick, Jr. and she is currently a contributor to Good Morning America and Strahan & Sara. She is the regular on-air tech contributor to Fox 29’s Good Day Philadelphia where she’s delivered tech news since 2012. Stephanie spent three years as the technology writer for EBONY.com and a contributor to EBONY magazine and spent two years as the spokesperson for HP, Inc. on the QVC shopping channel. And Stephanie uses social media to help people understand tech basics with her weekly 60-Second Tech Break on Instagram & Twitter.

‘Til Death Do You Tweet is a seminar for students, parents, or professionals that helps them understand the potential negative consequences of online behavior - especially through social media - and gives helpful advice on how people can maintain a positive reputation in cyberspace. Stephanie is a former engineer for Lockheed Martin with engineering degrees from Florida A&M University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Annemarie is the product lead for personalization at the Wall Street Journal, and leads News Corp's Global Newsletter Council. Prior to that, she was a strategist at Vox Media and a journalist at The Huffington Post, Salon and others, where she has always worked on remote teams.

Michael Stauffer is a long-time software developer with experience in technical and artistic projects including medical imaging, neural systems modeling, and tools for music production and visualization. The Sculptor and Groove Catcher projects come from a long-burning interest in music visualization, fueled by Michael’s passions as a musician, dancer and all-around geek. He’s recently found Vizmoo to develop and commercialize the VR rhythm-and-groove game Groove Catcher, and the dynamic music sculpture system Sculptor. Michael works and creates in Philadelphia, PA.

With over 20 years of experience in healthcare operations, Devetta James offers a unique blend of leadership, vision and knowledge. She is the Senior Vice President of Customer Operations for AmerisourceBergen and her vision is to provide exceptional experiences through integrated service and support. Devetta has been with AmerisourceBergen since 2006 and has a passion for connecting people, process and technology. Devetta currently leads the customer service, customer integration and data management, customer system support, business enablement, and commercial analytics teams. In addition to her role as an leader, Devetta is one of the founding members of the Black Leadership Council and is active within the Diversity and Inclusion and Women in Network Committees at AmerisourceBergen. She is on the board of Imagine Well, a non-profit organization whose goal is to educate and empower its clients in their respective fields to refine their focus and production output within the community.

Devetta holds a Master of Science in training and development from Amberton University and a Bachelor of Science in business.administration from Northwood University. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, family and friends, catching a good movie and listening to great music.

Sara Mohazzebi is the founder of Think Free Productions, a media and production company committed to promoting stories of diversity, equality, and thinking outside the box in a variety of formats including digital media content, documentary shorts and series, commercials, music videos, and scripted television and film projects. Known as a leading expert in social good, arts/subculture, and innovative entrepreneurial coverage, Sara has consulted for wide range of high-profile and award-winning nonprofit organizations, and advertising agencies including Saatchi and Saatchi’s Team One and Shine On Sierra Leone and is a speaker and moderator at popular media and tech conferences. At Think Free, she brings her expertise and experience as a former social good and culture journalist to her current directing and executive producing slate.

Prior to Think Free, Sara was the editor-in-residence for the launch of the digital division of Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine. During her residency, Sara created and directed the original limited docu series Turning Point with co-producer and director of photography Alexis Casson featuring Amanda DeCadenet of Girl Gaze, designer Melody Ehsani, and Style Seat CEO Melody McCloskey. She also created the written series The Storytellers where she interviewed a spectrum of female storytellers about their creative process such as author Elizabeth Gilbert, television writer and director Gail Lerner of ABC’s Blackish, feature film and television costume designer Mona Many, EVP of Marvel Studios Victoria Alonso, director and activist Abigail Disney, and novelist Emily Giffin. Additionally, she created the monthly original essay submission series where the public can submit their personal essays and be published on Hello Sunshine's digital platforms.

For the past decade, Sara has been an international journalist and producer and has travelled the world covering the endeavors of social good activists, cultural influencers, icons, and A-list entertainment talent. With a reputation for reporting from refugee camps to red carpets, her work has been published in numerous popular domestic and international media outlets including The Daily Beast, Esquire, Marie Claire, Teen Vogue, Emirates Woman, + PopSugar. Sara was also the syndicated columnist + host of the series Up To Real Good, a column dedicated to socially conscious brands with a global give back to women and children’s health and development for TakePart World (Participant Media’s news division). Sara has also written for and been commissioned by the United Nations World Food Programme and the Montblanc Signature For Good initiative in addition to being a global culture correspondent for Puma Social.

Sara has an MFA in Film Producing from the American Film Institute and is the recipient of the Amy Bloch Producer Fellowship for producing excellence. She also has a B.S. in Film + Multimedia Production from Drexel University.

Her favorite word is yes.

Emeka Oguh is the founder & CEO of PeopleJoy http://peoplejoy.com/. PeopleJoy finds borrowers customized solutions across 100+ private and federal student loan repayment and forgiveness options. We give you peace of mind knowing your student loan management is in good hands. Previously Emeka founded and launched a mobile app publishing company that was acquired in 2015. Prior to that he worked as Director of Product at a financial technology startup and as a Wall Street analyst. Emeka received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He currently resides in Philadelphia, PA with his wife.