2014 Featured Speakers
Last year’s speakers included:
Main Stage
Changing the World: Fostering Remarkable Community Leaders

M. Night Shyamalan and Dr. Bhavna Shyamalan
Co-founders of the M Night Shyamalan Foundation
Building a Franchise: The Intersection of a Sports Team and a City

Christina Weiss Lurie
Minority owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, Film Producer, Philanthropist
Building a Franchise: The Intersection of a Sports Team and a City

interviewer Diana Lind
Executive Director & Editor in Chief of Next City
Experiential Learning: Supporting the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

Nick Bayer
CEO of Saxbys Coffee
Innovation, Technology and Development: The Next Decade for Penn

Dr. Amy Gutmann
President, University of Pennsylvania
Innovation, Technology and Development: The Next Decade for Penn

interviewer Jim Gardner
Anchor 6abc
Uniting a City: Lessons from the Taney Dragons

Alex Rice
Coach of the Taney Dragons
Uniting a City: Lessons from the Taney Dragons

Interviewer Chris Stigall
Host, Talk Radio 1210, WPH
Building for Innovation: Inside Comcast’s new Vertical Campus

Karen Dougherty Buchholz
Senior Vice President, Administration of Comcast Corporation
Eds and Meds: How the Healthcare Revolution Will Change Philadelphia

Dr. Stephen K. Klasko
President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and the TJUH System
Eds and Meds: How the Healthcare Revolution Will Change Philadelphia

Dr. Steven M. Altschuler
CEO of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Eds and Meds: How the Healthcare Revolution Will Change Philadelphia

interviewer Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel
Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania
Philly Schools: What I’ve Learned and Where I’m Going

Dr. William Hite
Superintendent of Philadelphia School District
Pot Is Coming: Realities, Positives and Pitfalls

Daylin Leach
State Senator
Pot Is Coming: Realities, Positive and Pitfalls

interviewer Daniel Denvir
Senior staff writer at Philadelphia City Paper
Finding Opportunities In a Creative Economy

Dr. Keith Leaphart
Brand manager of Replica Creative, Chairman of The Lenfest Foundation
Innovation Neighborhood: Drexel’s Vision for the Future

John Fry
President of Drexel University
The Power of the Positive Message

Emma Fried-Cassorla
Founder of Philly Love Notes
The Making of a World Class City

Ajay Raju
Co-chairman and CEO of Dilworth Paxson
ThinkFest U Presented by Wells Fargo

Men are from Marlboro Country, Women are from Wisteria Lane: Gender Inequalities in Mass Media
Dustin Kidd
Department of Sociology at Temple University

Understanding Behavioral Finance: Bad Behavior is Hazardous to Your Wealth
Wesley Gray
Drexel’s LeBow College of Business

Human Impact on Life in Extreme Environments
Erik Cordes
Department of Biology at Temple University

Inside Ferguson: Punitive Consequences of Minority Stereotypes
Dr. Kelly Welch
Department of Sociology and Criminology at Villanova University

Dissent: The History of an American Idea
Dr. Ralph Young
Department of History at Temple University

The Power of “Frugal”: How Low Cost Innovations are Changing the World
Dr. MB Sarkar
Fox School of Business at Temple University

What Ancient Greece Can Teach us About Modern Technology
Jordan Shapiro
Department of Humanities at Temple University

3D Printing: Enabling Innovation in Tactile Technology
Katherine J. Kuchenbecker
School of Engineering at University of Pennsylvania
Inside Philadelphia’s Economy: The Intersection of Our City and Our Universities
Stephen P. Mullin
Adjunct Faculty at the Drexel School of Economics and President of Econsult Solutions, Inc.
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