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.

Laurie Actman serves as the Chief Marketing, Communications and Program Officer at the Penn Center for Innovation (PCI) at the University of Pennsylvania. Laurie as part of the Executive Team oversees the strategic implementation of PCI’s programs and partnerships, marketing, and communications and helped to plan and launch the Pennovation Center, Penn’s new startup incubator where she actively manages programs and partnerships as well. Previously she served as PCI’s Chief Operating Officer from launch in 2014 to December 2016. Before PCI she has worked for notable organizations in the private, non-profit and public sectors in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. including as Chief Policy Officer for the CEO Council for Growth, Consultant to Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter on his sustainability and ARRA initiatives, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Viridity Energy, and Deputy and Interim Director for the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation, a $150 million public private project capitalized by the US Department of Energy and based at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.. She received her undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning and Real Estate from UNC-Chapel Hill. Actman lives in Bala Cynwyd with her husband and three children and is an elected Board Member of the Lower Merion School District.

Will Walsh leads a team of UX professionals in Vanguard’s International division and is responsible for creating global digital experiences for financial advisors and institutions that balance the cultural nuances and maintains brand equity.

Before joining Vanguard, Will led UX for Sidecar, a local Philly startup and spent 10 years at Comcast as a UX Director where he helped shape the future of the TV experience and transform the frontline experience for techs and agents.

There is no single path a user takes and it’s up to us to guide and delight them at every juncture.

Ebony Lee is Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, leading strategy, financial analysis and portfolio management of new growth initiatives for Comcast. She is also responsible for building partnerships and programs for startups and other industry disruptors to accelerate innovation at Comcast. She joined Comcast in 2008 as a founding member of Comcast’s award-winning, cloud- based X1 Entertainment Operating System and was also the operations lead for the innovation technology joint venture with Verizon Wireless. Prior to joining Comcast, she held various strategy and planning roles at Sprint Nextel, including for their next generation 4G wireless platform and products. Ebony was also a management consultant for A.T. Kearney in the Communications, Media & High Tech Industry Practice where she led a range of strategy and operations projects for Fortune 500 companies.  Ebony holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BS in Commerce from the University of Virginia. She currently serves on the Board of Musicopia and volunteers with KIPP Philadelphia.

A creative powerhouse, Envy has been writing, hosting and producing award winning content for radio, tv, print and the web in the Philadelphia Metro Area for well over 15 years. She is an award-winning veteran of both music format Radio ONE and talk radio’s ICBC and LEVAS Communications, and regional TV’s Good Day Philadelphia as a regular contributor. Envy’s range in all forms of relevant media is proven - from hosting radio, television and web shows; to her entrepreneurship in publishing, voice acting and media coaching; to finding engaging ways to balance branding through social media with living an actualized, spirit-centered life—with style. She is a details driven media pro specializing in polish, personality, authenticity and Star People.

Steve Zemanick has more than 18 years of experience in the information technology industry with a wide range of expertise in providing end-to-end digital transformation solutions to global organizations.

Mr. Zemanick is a Director of Consulting Services of an Emerging Technology Practice for CGI, a global information technology consulting and systems integration corporation. He has architected and led the delivery of enterprise solutions for Health, Life Science, Technology and Government organizations.

Mr. Zemanick has applied his extensive experience in the strategy and implementation of global solutions leveraging cloud platforms, modern architectures, and disruptive approaches such as intelligent automation and artificial intelligence. Additionally Mr. Zemanick currently serves as a Cybersecurity Advisory Board Member for Rutgers University’s certification program.

OMAR GRANT DIRECTOR, CREATIVE – NEW YORK As Director, Creative, New York for Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI), Omar Grant is responsible for discovering, signing and fostering the growth of songwriters and producers in the R&B, hip-hop and gospel genres. In addition, Grant oversees showcases, workshops and panels aimed at educating and supporting the creative community. He reports directly to BMI Vice President, Creative, Atlanta, Catherine Brewton. Since joining BMI in 2017, Grant has been instrumental in signing and fostering the growth of decorated songwriters and producers in the R&B, hip-hop and gospel genres, such as 2019 GRAMMY-Award winning producer Ayo, Ari Lennox, Pi’erre Bourne, TrifeDrew, Lil TJay, Maddox Grayson, and STREETRUNNER. Grant has also spearheaded many of BMI’s signature programs including “How I Wrote That Song®” surrounding the 2018 GRAMMY Awards, “Songwriters Social Club”, and the hip-hop “Know Them Now” series where he was responsible for bringing the primarily Atlanta-based showcase to New York City. Before coming to BMI, Grant worked at BET Networks where he was the director of BET’s Music Matters, a broadcast and digital platform that promotes both emerging and well-established talent through original programming, monthly events and nationwide tours. Grant was responsible for scouting talent, managing all live events and the supervision of new marketing strategies and releases. Prior to BET Networks, he worked at AOL in Television Production where he developed, managed and executed creative show concepts for on-air programming. Grant received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Management and Operations from Nyack College.