Ted Strickland

Former Governor of Ohio (2007-2011)

Ted Strickland was born in Lucasville, Ohio, one of nine children. He received his bachelor’s degree from Asbury College in Kentucky in 1963. He went on to attend the Asbury Theological Seminary and received a Master of Divinity. He continued his studies at the University of Kentucky, receiving a doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology in 1980. Strickland has served as a minister, a psychologist, and a college professor. He was an administrator at a Methodist children’s home, an assistant professor of psychology at Shawnee State University, and a consulting psychologist at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility (SOCF). In 1992, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he helped author the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), a federal initiative that now provides health insurance to millions of children of working parents.

Strickland was elected Governor of Ohio in November 2006. As governor, he focused on improving the climate for businesses in Ohio, in part through tax reductions and regulatory overhaul. He saw Ohio win the Governor’s Cup from Site Selection magazine for its success in economic development. In addition, during Strickland’s tenure, the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council raised Ohio’s state ranking for ‘business climate’ from 38th to 11th in the nation and from 7th to 1st in the Midwest.

Strickland created FAST TRAC, an initiative aimed at increasing infrastructure projects in Ohio. A supporter of renewable energy production, he signed off on a standard calling for one-quarter of Ohio’s energy to be produced by renewables within 25 years. Strickland also made education reform a hallmark of his administration, and saw Ohio public schools rise in rank from 27th to 5th in the nation according to Education Week. Also during his administration, a state university system was established to ensure greater access by Ohioans to in-state education and in turn to make it more attractive for them to remain in the state after finishing school.

After his time as Governor, Strickland ran the Center for American Progress Action Fund. He was also a fellow with the Bipartisan Policy Center and taught at the Kennedy School of Government, the Harvard School of Public Health and Ohio University. He has been married to his wife Frances for 30 years.

Paul Mass

Director, Ohio University Center for Entrepreneurship; Serial Entrepreneur

Paul Mass is the “Entrepreneur-in-Residence” at the College of Business, Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio. He also serves as Director of the University’s Center For Entrepreneurship where he will help build the entrepreneurial ecosystem supporting student and faculty entrepreneurs, as well as individuals and businesses throughout the southeast Ohio region.

Paul has benefited from a diverse career beginning as a corporate attorney and continuing on as a successful entrepreneur and business executive helping to create, fund, manage and lead companies in the cable television, radio, information service, biotech and e-commerce industries. Paul has served as a Partner, General Counsel, Chief Operating Officer, and President and CEO, respectively, at various times throughout his more than 35 year professional career. Two of the companies he helped start and manage still operate out of San Diego, CA: ClosingCorp, Inc. (www.closing.com) and GovX, Inc. (www.govx.com).

Paul received his B.A. degree in Political Science from Duke University, magna cum laude, and his J.D. degree from the Emory University School of Law, Order of the Coif and Member of the Board, Emory Law Journal.

Aladin Gohar

Delivery Executive – Industry X.0 – Accenture

Throughout his career, Aladin has been a trusted adviser enabling CEO’s and business leaders to make fully-informed decisions around technology spending, tactical IT operations, and long-term IT strategy. He has led and executed many industry-transforming technology implementations over the past 20 years.

Aladin is a board member of the BMI Federal Credit Union. He is a founder of IT Martini which helps IT professionals to achieve their career growth by discovering the very best events, the most dynamic speakers and first class professional organizations. Aladin is an advisory board member for Summit Technologies and was chairman of the Intelligent Community Forum Global Summit 2016.

Aladin is a Columbus native who graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Michelle Murcia

CFO

Michelle has more than 25 years of finance, accounting and administration experience in large companies, start-ups, public, private and not-for-profit corporations. She has worked as a C-level consultant to early-stage, start-up companies as well as serving as CFO and assisting with the development of capital access strategies. Her wide ranging venture investment experience spans early stage, Series B, C and later, and venture fund (CVC) investments, in multiple industries.

Michelle’s extensive experience with energy and energy technologies – Maxwell Technologies, Battelle, Q2Power Technologies, and as launch CEO for Ohio Advanced Energy Economy and Ohio Advanced Energy Economy Institute.