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Connect. Collaborate. Contribute.™
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The Austin Forum on Technology & Society Advisory Board provides guidance and support in the areas of impact, development, community relations, and programming of future topics and speakers. Their participation helps increase the influence and impact of the Austin Forum for the whole community.
The Advisory Board meets 8-10 times a year and is comprised of voluntary members of partner organizations and at-large community leaders in technology, business, government, and education. Board members provide guidance and support in the areas of impact, development, community relations, and programming.
The Advisory Board meets 8-10 times a year and is comprised of voluntary members of partner organizations and at-large community leaders in technology, business, government, and education. Board members provide guidance and support in the areas of impact, development, community relations, and programming.
Advisory Board
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Navira Abbasi
Galvanize Navira Abbasi is currently the Director of Evangelism for Galvanize, serving as its brand ambassador for local technology learning communities in data science and web development. Her mission is to understand the needs of people and translate that insight into a solution or an experience that feels bespoke to the individual and to facilitate integration between various members in Austin and Galvanize. Prior to her career in technology, she was the founder and designer for a high-end handbag company and worked as a travel blogger. She went on to become a software engineer after attending Hack Reactor, a full-stack coding bootcamp. |
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Fares Bagh
ARM Fares Bagh is the VP of SOC and Solutions Enablement team at Arm, the world’s leading semiconductor IP company. In his role, Fares focuses on delivering complete solutions specific to market segments where various IPs are validated together and deliver optimum performance. His team’s work spans from IOT to supercomputers. Fares joined Arm in 2016. Before that, Fares held various executive position in NXP, Freescale, Avdent Solar, a solar startup acquired by Applied Materials, and Intel . Fares has personal interest in Python, machine learning, and squash(the sport not the gourd). |
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Kirsten Billhardt
Dell Technologies @Dell Kirsten is the Global Marketing Director of the Edge and IoT solutions group at Dell Technologies – the organization responsible for integrating technologies from across the seven strategically aligned businesses within Dell Technologies, as well with tech providers externally. Kirsten was nicknamed ‘Positron’ by a former manager, and it fits the way she leans into the entrepreneurial and collaborative model required by this new business operating within an incredibly large and complex parent organization. Kirsten’s team is directly responsible for creating demand, attracting new buyers, and driving internal engagement for a range of edge computing, computer vision, and increasingly vertical-specific solutions, while partnering with corporate marketing functions to enable the business with comms, messaging, and branding support. Prior to Dell Technologies, Kirsten was at General Motors outside Detroit. Kirsten started at GM at 18 years of age through a co-op program at what is now known as Kettering University. Kirsten earned both a BS in Industrial Engineering from GMI/Kettering, and a Masters in Engineering from Purdue University while working in purchasing and supplier quality engineering roles. Kirsten then earned an MBA from Harvard University as a GM Fellow and returned to Detroit for roles in internal strategy consulting and product planning for GM’s first generation of hybrid-electric vehicles. Kirsten fell in love with the sunshine and energy of Austin and moved to town in 2005. She also fell in love with Bjorn Billhardt whom she married in 2008 and they now raise their three young boys together. Kirsten is an avid reader of biographies, WWII books (but not the military stories), and whatever her book club tells her to read. She’s a runner and a fan of barre classes, summer family road trips, fashion….and rarely, if ever, says no to girls’ getaways. |
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Charlie Burgoyne
Valkyrie Charlie Burgoyne is the founder & CEO of Valkyrie Intelligence, a consulting firm with domain expertise in applied science and strategy. Charlie is also the Managing Partner for Valkyrie Signals, an AI driven hedge fund based in Austin, as well as managing partner for Valkyrie Labs, an AI product company. Charlie leads a team of highly trained scientists and strategists to implement advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence into industrial processes and consumer products. Previously, Charlie held a variety of roles including Principal Director of Data Science at Frog Design, Director of Data Science at Rosetta Stone, Vice President of R&D for a government contracting firm specializing in cybersecurity and machine learning, a research physicist for the DOE and NNSA, and a research astrophysicist for NASA in conjunction with George Washington University. Charlie holds a master’s degree in theoretical physics from Georgetown University and a bachelor’s in nuclear physics from George Washington University. He has a real passion for languages and speaks French, German, and Italian. |
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Kirk Cesari
SetterRoche LLP Kirk Cesari is an Intellectual Property attorney in Austin, Texas with about 20 years of experience. He has held positions as in-house counsel at multiple companies, senior attorney at multiple law firms, and was the founder of his own firm in 2010. Recently, in 2019, he joined Setter Roche LLP as partner to open an Austin based office, helping expand the growing IP firm from Denver. He has a background in electrical engineering, has founded a few startup companies, and has always been intrigued by the intersection of technology, law, and business. His practice mainly involves counseling clients on IP strategy, IP licensing and contracts, patent filings, and trademark filings. His work has exposed him to numerous technology areas, including digital communications, data storage, data networks, processors, semiconductors, many types of software, medical devices, power systems, IoT devices, and artificial intelligence, to name a few. Supporting the Austin Forum aligns with his goal to provide Intellectual Property education to the community to share the knowledge he has acquired over the years. He is also the executive producer of the #1 rated indie movie about patent trolls filmed in Austin! (assuming there are no others, defaults to #1). He is admitted to practice in Texas, Minnesota, and before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. |
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Kuan Collins
SAIC Kuan is a Master Solutions Architect in Intelligent Software at SAIC. She enjoys travelling and Marvel movies when she is not developing software solutions for the government. She is recognized as the technical expert and resource in specialized engineering and data analytics areas; specifically, systems engineering, high performance computing, and artificial intelligence. She has led senior solutions architect teams and develops intelligent software solutions for actionable insights from the best available data sources through data-driven methods for all customer groups and for strategic bids. Dr. Collins has created complex data methodologies for managing varied datasets, and processing environments that control the organization’s end-to-end data life-cycle needs. She draws on her expertise in the field’s concepts, derived from a Ph.D. and 19 years of experience, to develop technical strategies, and road maps, and solve complex problems for intelligent software customers. She partners with SAIC’s strategic allies, startup communities (mentor at Capital Factory) and academia, to research emerging technologies and recommend enhancements to improve decision quality and customer experience. Through conferences and demonstrations, she educates customers on new technologies that SAIC can bring to bear for their benefit. Dr. Collins combines authority in engineering, negotiation skills, and collaborative cultures to implement organizational transformation. |
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Brad Englert
Brad Englert Advisory @EnglertBrad Brad is the CEO and founder of Brad Englert Advisory, a technology planning and consulting services firm, and is an author, advisor, and technologist. Previously, he served as Chief Operating Officer for ITS and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for The University of Texas at Austin, and was a partner with Accenture. Services offered through Brad Englert Advisory include strategy creation, IT governance, organization effectiveness, cloud solution evaluation and selection, career coaching, and career development training. |
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Hugh Forrest
SXSW Interactive @Hugh_W_Forrest Hugh serves as Chief of Programming for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival. This event brings more than 25,000 digital creatives from across the United States and around the world to Austin for five days of panels, brainstorming, networking, deal-making and fun. Forrest graduated from Austin High School in 1980, and then majored in English at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Before joining the SXSW team, he founded a small alternative publication called The Austin Challenger. |
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Amber Gunst
Austin Technology Council @amberjgunst Amber became ATC’s Interim CEO after a 20-year career in sales and business development. A Michigan native, Amber was Allied Waste’s national commercial sales/retention leader before moving to Austin in 2009. Amber is an expert in member association sales and services and spent 4 years at the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, where she was the top sales and retention leader in the State of Texas and ranked in the Top 7 nationally in sales of chambers with revenue over $1.5. Prior to her ATC role, she worked for a global staffing firm where she was responsible for client development and management as well as consulting staff management, which gives her a strong understanding of the talent and staffing needs of our region’s tech companies. Amber joined ATC in the role of Head of Sales and Membership Services and during her time at the company worked as a member of the leadership team to craft a new vision for member engagement and growth which has resulted in the doubling of membership in less than a year and increasing by 18%. In addition to her role at ATC, she serves as a mentor for the Founder Institute’s global accelerator program, and has served on the board of C2 Change. Amber studied English and Creative Writing at Grand Valley State University. |
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Michael Ignatowski
AMD Michael Ignatowski is a Senior Fellow at AMD Research in Austin, where he leads the research work in advanced memory architecture for high performance computers. Mike was involved in AMD’s role in winning the bid for the Frontier Exascale system to be installed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory next year. Before joining AMD 10 years ago, Mike work at IBM in upstate New York for 27 years in advanced development and research. Mike has a master’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor’s degree in physics from Michigan State University. Outside of work, Mike serves on the board for Common Ground for Texans (CG4TX.org), a local group dedicated to promoting civil discourse among diverse communities and seeking common ground solutions toward a healthy democracy. He also servers on the board of 350-Austin, a local chapter of the international 350.org organization dedicated to reducing the threat of climate change. Mike is also the former president of the Central Texas Chapter of the World Future Society. |
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Harold Ingersoll
Atchley & Associates @atchleycpas Harold is a partner at Atchley & Associates, LLP. Harold has more than 30 years of leadership experience in consulting, public accounting and the U.S. Air Force. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from Texas State University. Prior to becoming a partner at Atchley & Associates, LLP in 2005, Harold managed his own accounting practice and later merging with Faske Lay & Co., LLP as a partner. Harold is retired from the Air Force and the Air Force Reserves. Harold centralizes his practice in mergers and acquisitions, business valuations, litigation support, expert witness consulting and forensic accounting. He has extensive expertise in these practice areas in addition to succession planning, taxation, attestation, and general business consulting. As the managing partner of the consulting services group, he has the ability to evaluate and explain complex business transactions as well as see them through to success. |
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Karl Popham
Austin Energy @Austin Energy Karl Popham is the Electric Vehicles & Emerging Technologies Manager at the nation’s 8th largest public power utility, Austin Energy. Karl has been the Principal Investigator on three U.S. Department of Energy grants advancing transportation electrification and smart utility technologies. Karl is co-author of “Smart Cities: Applications, Technologies, Standards & Driving Factors” a book published by Springer in 2017. He has published several articles on emerging trends and is the electrification lead for Austin’s Smart Mobility Roadmap that includes autonomous transportation. Previously he served as Austin Energy’s interim Chief Information Officer and Division Manager of the Program Management Office, a Managing Director at Hewlett-Packard Services, Director at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, and a Captain in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers. |
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Matt Sanchez
CognitiveScale Matt is the Founder and CTO of CognitiveScale, leading the development of CognitiveScale’s core products and infrastructure. He serves as the principal architect and product visionary for the company’s cloud-based cognitive applications across various industries. Recently, Matt was the leader of IBM Watson Labs and was the first to apply IBM Watson to the financial services and healthcare industries. Before joining IBM, Matt was Chief Architect and employee number three at Webify, which was acquired by IBM in 2007. Matt earned his BS degree in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin in 2000, has been granted six US patents, and is the author of more than a dozen more. |
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Marie Todd
Slalom Marie leads Slalom’s Business Advisory Services practice in Austin, TX. She partners with the leaders of Austin’s most influential companies to define the art of the possible, build solutions and drive execution. Marie has led teams that ideated, designed, delivered and implemented cutting edge prototypes, accelerators and software for clients utilizing design thinking, custom development and PaaS/SaaS offerings. She also spent 10+ years facilitating large scale organizational transformations for clients. Throughout her career, Marie has led globally dispersed teams and understands the importance of enabling individuals from all walks of life to bring their best self to everything that they do. Marie is passionate about helping people to utilize their strengths to achieve their goals. She is a working parent with two small children who has worked in organizational transformation for most of her career and is always looking for ways to apply those methods whether that is at home or at work. |
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Jay Williams
Quantum Materials Williams Technology Group @pl8to Jay is the founder and managing partner of Williams Technology Group and the Chief Technology Officer for Quantum Materials, and has been a chief technology officer and consultant to many of the Fortune 500. As a consultant, he developed a highly refined process for managing a company’’s technology infrastructure, including applications, security, and network assets. Jay is a highly sought-after, enterprise systems architect and problem solver. He has advised a number of high profile technology companies on their products and is known for a rare combination of deep technology expertise, expert problem solving ability and business acumen. Jay is widely respected by peers and has influenced many pivotal technology consortia and industry steering groups. He is frequently consulted by venture and capital investors for analyses of new technology strategies. |
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Sherri Greenberg
At-Large Member The University of Texas @srgreenberg Sherri Greenberg is a Professor Practice and Fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government at the LBJ School of Public Affairs. She is a Chairperson of the Board of Managers of Central Health, a Member of the City of Austin Regional Affordability Committee, and a Member of the UT Opportunity Forum Steering Committee. Also, she serves on the Texas.Gov Steering Committee, the Austin CityUP Board of Directors, the Austin Forum on Technology & Society Advisory Board, and the City of Austin General Obligation Housing Bond Review Committee. Additionally, she has served as a Senior Advisor to Austin Mayor Steve Adler. Greenberg was a Texas State Representative from 1991 to 2001, and she chaired the House Pensions and Investments Committee and the Select Committee on Teacher Health Insurance. She also served on the House Appropriations,Economic Development, Elections, and Science and Technology Committees. Previously, Greenberg was the City of Austin Capital Finance Manager, and a Public Finance Officer at Standard & Poor’s. Greenberg holds an MSc in Public Administration and Policy from the London School of Economics. Her teaching and research interests include: technology and innovation, urban and state issues, public engagement, housing, transportation, healthcare, public finance, and campaigns and elections. Her recent publications are: Congress and Social Media: Beyond Facebook & Twitter, Using Innovation and Technology to Improve City Services, Austin Anchors & The Innovation Zone: Building Collaborative Capacity, Congressional Committees and Social Media, and Congress + Social Media. |
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Mitch Jacobson
At-Large Member Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) @ATI_UT Mitch has been a leader in bringing together government, industry, academia, utility and community interests to organize and shape the $2.5b economy in Clean Technology and Clean Energy in Central Texas as the Director of the Clean Energy Incubator at ATI. He is now the Director of the Austin Technology Incubator at the University of Texas at Austin, a resource for early stage technology companies in “deep tech” – that is solutions that pertain to energy, water, waste, transportation, agtech and the life sciences. He is also the Executive Director of the UT Blackstone LaunchPad on the UT Campus. Mitch serves on the Board of The Nature Conservancy, The Environmental Sciences Institute at UT Austin, The Texas Foundation of Innovation & Commercialization, EcoRise and The Austin Forum on Technology & Society. Prior to all of this, Mitch was in the Computer / IT industry for 25 years. He founded the Eyes of Texas Partners angel investment group, was the VP of Sales for Tech Data Corporation and Director of Sales, European Expansion and ROW Expansion for Dell for many years. |
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Michael Ward Jr.
At-Large Member Austin Urban Technology Movement Michael Ward Jr. is a social entrepreneur focused on increasing the upward mobility and social capital of underserved communities, specifically people of color. Michael currently lives in Austin, TX and is the president of the Austin Urban Technology Movement (AUTM). AUTM is a nonprofit that bridges the gap between the technology industry and the Black, Brown, and Latinx communities through job placement, career development, and networking opportunities. Michael is also the co-host of Culture Crawl ATX, a podcast that invites random guests to engage in conversations about controversial topics. Originally from Miami, FL, Michael earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Global Studies from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. Upon graduating from UNC, Michael started his career at Oracle selling both front-end and back-end enterprise software for cloud and on-premise technology. During his time at Oracle, Michael also led Oracle's Black employee resource group, African-American Business Leaders for Excellence (ABLE), across the United States, Canada, and Brazil. In his free time, Michael enjoys traveling with his wife, eating good food made with love, and anything basketball related. |
