Philly Tech Week 2019

Michelle Sipics is the Senior Editor of the Accenture Technology Vision at Accenture Labs. The Technology Vision is Accenture’s premiere thought leadership, used to guide growth strategies for the company and its top-tier clients. In her role at Accenture, Michelle is passionate about enabling communications and interplay between technical and non-technical teams, giving companies the opportunity to maximize workforce contributions. Prior to joining Accenture, Michelle led content and strategy planning for numerous technical and research organizations. She lives in Philadelphia and holds BS and MS degrees in Computer Engineering from Drexel University, as well as a master’s degree in Science Writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Sarah Schwab is the director of marketing for the Philadelphia Flyers. Now in her fifth season with the club, she oversees the team’s branding, promotional, publicity, social, and digital media initiatives. She has previously worked in public relations and marketing roles for the National Constitution Center and the University of Pennsylvania. She graduated from Temple University with a degree in Strategic and Organizational Communications. A Montgomery County native, Sarah now lives in Aston, PA with her husband and daughter.

Kris is a Partner Solutions Architect and the Global Machine Learning Segment Lead for the AWS Partner Network. Kris started his career as a Quantitative Strategist at Goldman Sachs, developed predictive maintenance apps as an AI Engineer at ATT, and prior to AWS was Computer Vision Architect at GoPro. He founded and sold 2 Silicon Valley startups in Finance and Network Monitoring: ClearStation and SiteRock. As the technical lead for horizontal support of AI/ML he's the 1st line of support for AWS Partners looking to develop or expand their use of these technologies across all markets including: Finance, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Public Services, Telecommunications, E-Commerce.

Alexis is a forward thinker and autodidact. She is a writer, producer and director with over 9 years of experience in various aspects of television and digital production - including shooting and editing. Having worked with companies and brands such as HBO, VH1, CBS, The Food Network, Coach, Hello Sunshine, etc… Alexis specializes in creating premium content, both scripted and unscripted - including short and long form branded, lifestyle and docu-series'.

In 2012, Alexis created an award-winning documentary series called, "The Peculiar Kind." It has been shown around the world, including a special exhibition at the Tate Modern and over 50 colleges and universities, including Yale University, Brown University and the University of Sydney. Soon after it's premiere Alexis partnered with Afropunk and was also asked by Model, Activist and 2013 TED Talk Special Curator, Cameron Russell, to give a TED Talk about the need for multi-hyphenate diversity in film and television.

“The Peculiar Kind” is an excellent series-turned-documentary project that encourages widespread conversation concerning every inch of the fight for gender parity and LGBTQ equality within the framework of civil rights. With the permission of its producers, the “Peculiar Kind” documentary is available for screenings. - Indiewire

Currently, Alexis is freelancing, writing a YA dramedy for network television and continues to working with her talented colleague, creating innovative content.

Wayne Kimmel is a sports tech venture capitalist, entrepreneur and the author of Six Degrees of Wayne Kimmel.

Wayne has been named a Top Innovator by Philadelphia Magazine and is on the Philadelphia Business Journal's Power 100 list.

He is the Managing Partner of SeventySix Capital, the venture capital company he founded in 1999, and invests in startup consumer facing tech companies in the sports, health and retail industries. Wayne has invested in over 50 startup technology and healthcare companies, including SeamlessWeb (now public as GrubHub, Take Care Health Systems and Nutrisystem. Among the Fortune 500 companies that have acquired his portfolio companies are Aramark, Intel, IBM, Walgreens and Yahoo!

His partners at SeventySix Capital are Jon Powell, CEO of Kravco Company LLC, a leading real estate company that developed the King of Prussia Mall, and Ryan Howard, Major League Baseball National League MVP and 2008 World Series Champion with the Philadelphia Phillies.

With a rise in global entrepreneurship and the inclusion of technology in sports, Wayne focuses part of his investment strategy on sports, sports betting and esports. At SeventySix Capital, Wayne was an early investor in Whistle Sports, a global sports media company, Philadelphia-based N3rd Street Gamers, a community of competitive and recreational video gamers that produces a series of esports tournaments, leagues, and casual gaming events, and Vegas Stats & Information Network (VSiN), the first media network dedicated to delivering the news, data and expert analysis of the rapidly growing sports betting industry, co-founded by acclaimed sportscaster Brent Musburger.

SeventySix Capital’s Athlete Venture Group allows players to invest, learn, and work directly with top sports tech startups and entrepreneurs. The firm aims to bridge the gap between athletes, entrepreneurs, and investors by creating opportunities for athletes to become tech investors and for entrepreneurs to access the financial and social capital that professional athletes have to offer. Athlete Venture Group members, including Ryan Howard, DeMarco Murray and Ralph Sampson, work hands-on with SeventySix Capital's portfolio companies in esports, sports betting, data collection, data analytics, media and more.

Wayne, Jon and Ryan are also a partners in Rubicon Talent, a sports marketing and talent agency with a wide range of clients including NFL and NBA stars, Hall of Famers, MVPs, Heisman Trophy winners, Olympic icons, media personalities, and celebrity chefs.

Wayne is on the Board of Einstein Healthcare Network and was on the Board of Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland at College Park and the Delaware Law School. He is passionate about Philly’s pro sports teams and about working to make the world a better place.

Christine Mina is the Manager of Digital Media for the Philadelphia Flyers (NHL). Christine joined the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014. In her current role, Christine oversees all digital media platforms including the team’s mobile app, social media platforms, and the team website, PhiladelphiaFlyers.com. She is responsible for strategizing and executing all digital content and marketing initiatives as well as tracking and analyzing digital revenue generation.   Prior to joining the company, Christine held public relations and communications positions for the Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL).   Christine received a Bachelor’s degree in communication and rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh.

Sujay received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Osmania University in India. After college, Sujay formed Jyothi, a nonprofit organization that provided victims of physical abuse with a platform to voice their complaints anonymously. He then obtained his Masters in Electrical Engineering from University of Pennsylvania where he started prototyping the original Lilu Massage Bra alongside his cofounder, Adriana. Today, after 3 years of research, product development in Shenzhen, China and user testing with over 130 moms, Lilu has successfully launched the Lilu Massage Bra and will start shipping to moms in the US in May 2019.

When Sujay is not building things for Lilu, loves to sketch and enjoys playing with electronics & creating frankenstein watches from broken parts.