Philly Tech Week 2018

Michael Tonge is a Brooklyn native, with a Sociology degree from Bucknell University. While still in school he conceived The Culture LP, formerly a blog that has evolved into a marketing consultancy for independent artists and galleries. Upon graduating, he and his partners started collaborating with local artists and creators. At the same time, Michael began his professional career as a corporate analyst for J.P. Morgan, before making the career switch to marketing and advertising. Developing grassroots events across the city coupled with a broad set of skills from the ad industry, has led to Michael’s latest role — Senior Marketing Manager, at the Brooklyn Museum. In December 2017 he also joined the NYC hub of the Global Shapers, a youth led venture in partnership with the World Economic Forum. Living and working in Brooklyn, New York — you’ll probably catch him at a local art show, or anywhere with good music, food and people. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @Mikey718_

H. Adam Holt has been a financial advisor for 20 years helping to build and manage his wealth management firm to over $1B in assets under management. Adam is known for his early adoption of technology to build customer experiences that is trend-setting in the industry. He is the founder and CEO of Asset-Map, LLC, a fintech firm dedicated to creating engaging visual communication tools used throughout the customer and advisor journey.

Adam obtained his Bachelors of Science in Economics and Environmental Planning from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, an MBA from Drexel University, and a Certificate in Retirement Planning from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Adam also attended the American College where he earned his Chartered Financial Consultant® designation.

Tariq is a veteran software engineer with over 15 years of industry experience in software development. He has also been a distinguished Java instructor for Temple University's MESA program since 2011.

Alan Flake is an attending surgeon in the Division of General Thoracic & Fetal Surgery at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where he is Vice Chair of Research, holds the Ruth and Tristram C. Colket, Jr. Endowed Chair in Pediatric Surgery and acts as Director of the Center for Fetal Research. He is also Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Dr. Flake has led a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded research laboratory directed toward surgical correction of fetal anomalies and fetal stem cell and gene therapy for over 20 years. Under Dr. Flake's leadership, the Center for Fetal Research is exploring innovations in prenatal treatment, particularly in the areas of gene and stem cell therapy, and for life-threatening anatomic malformations and diseases. Recently, the Center has developed new technology for physiologic support of the extreme premature infant, a development that could have major implications for the treatment of prematurity.

Dr. Flake has published extensively with authorship of over 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 review articles and book chapters. Clinically, Dr. Flake actively participates as a Fetal Surgeon in the Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment Program at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia with interests in fetal diagnosis and therapy, in utero stem cell and gene therapy, extracorporeal support of the extreme premature infant (the artificial placenta/uterus), hepatobiliary surgery, and minimally invasive neonatal and pediatric surgery.

Adina Halter is Chief Technologist for Accessibility at Comcast where she ensures the accessibility of all Comcast products from web, to mobile apps, set top box applications, smart-home applications and other internet-of- things offerings. Adina started her career out of college as a 3D animator before moving into print design and then web design and development. She has since expanded into the mobile and internet-of- things technology space. She is also a cross-product tech innovator in the use of artificial intelligence. Adina is an advocate for product development that delights users with differing disabilities and maintains an open-source repository of accessible coding solutions. She is a member of the W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative Education and Outreach working group and tweets, instructs, and speaks on coding, accessibility, and women-in- tech issues. Adina also serves as co-lead for the Comcast MyAbilities Employee Resource Group, which empowers employees with disabilities and equips their allies across the company. In the last year, she has helped to double membership to over 1,000 members.

Abhi Nemani is a writer, speaker, organizer, and technologist.

He currently runs a GovTech startup called EthosLabs, designed to accelerate good government through great technology, where he has consulted with dozens of cities and startups on growth, product, and innovation.

Previously, Mayor Kevin Johnson of Sacramento appointed him as interim Chief Innovation Officer to build out the city's budding startup sector, through venture investments, grants, and partnerships. Before that, he served as the first Chief Data Officer for the City of Los Angeles, where he led the city's efforts to build an open and data-driven LA. As CDO, Abhi led Los Angeles to #1 ranking for US open data cities, by publishing over 400 datasets and earned the city the Platinum Open Data Certification; to help put that data to work, he mobilized LA's growing developer community by hosting hackathons and by building independent civic tech non-profits. To drive innovation within city hall, Abhi built a nationally-recognized Mayoral Dashboard, led data and analytics trainings for city staff, and piloted data science projects to address key policy issues.

Prior to joining LA's Mayors Office, he helped build, launch, and run the national non-profit, Code for America, a technology organization dedicated to reinventing government for the 21st century. Abhi led CfA’s product strategy as its teams tackled local government challenges ranging from transparency and business licensing to food stamps and public safety. He also led the organization's efforts to scale through building multiple new programs: a first-of-its-kind civic startup accelerator, an international volunteer corps, and a collaborative network for hundreds of government innovators. Additionally, Abhi developed the organization’s policy portfolio — working hand-in-hand with area experts and local leaders — to enact over 30 municipal policy reforms on topics including open data, healthcare, and procurement.

Abhi has served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the OpenGov Foundation, a member of the Board of Directors of Data4America, and has served as Innovator-in-Residence at GovDelivery. He is also an investor in CityGrows, a leading public sector service delivery startup.

Previously, Abhi worked for Google, developing social engagement strategies, the Rose Institute, managing multiple local government transparency research teams, and the Center for American Progress, focusing on connecting a national network of public-minded youth advocates. He graduated magna cum laude from Claremont McKenna College with a honors degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE), and studied political philosophy and rhetoric at the University of Oxford.

Abhi's work has been featured in the New York Times, Government Technology, Government Executive, and Forbes, and he has been featured as a speaker at SxSW, the World Bank, and various universities and conferences around the world.

Maya Baratz is the Managing Director of Comcast NBCUniversal LIFT Labs Accelerator, Powered by Techstars, through which she actively invests in media and connectivity companies. Maya is a longtime startup advisor and a recent Harvard University Nieman Fellow with a deep footing in and passion for consumer products. She has led the strategy and development of new-to-market digital products and revenue streams, most recently as the Head of New Products at Disney/ABC Television and, prior to that, as a product and media executive for companies including The Wall Street Journal, MTV, Flickr and Monster.com. Maya has also written extensively about technology and startups for publications including Fortune, Fast Company, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. And she has created and led a product development course at institutions including Columbia Business School and General Assembly.

Jason Berger is a partner at the Philadelphia based law firm Margolis Edelstein and chairs the firm’s Entertainment and New Media practice group.

Jason’s expertise lies in recognizing talented artists, individuals and companies, developing strategy to achieve long-term success, and protecting their interests by rigorously negotiating and drafting the agreements forming the basis of their business relationships.

Jason’s practice focuses on securing and negotiating agreements in the music, television/film, digital media, technology, art and fashion industries. Jason’s client base covers the entertainment, media and technology industries and includes established and developing artists, songwriters, producers, bands, independent record labels, digital distribution companies, content creation and management companies, music publishing companies, apparel companies, management companies, executives, actors, models, and multimedia fashion and lifestyle companies.

Jason is a member and active participant in The Recording Academy’s Philadelphia Chapter, formally serving as an Advisor to the Board of Directors and currently involved in the Chapter’s Advocacy Committee.

Jason is active in his community of Philadelphia, PA, where he is an adjunct professor at Drexel University’s acclaimed Music Industry Program, teaching a wide variety of music and entertainment related topics. When not assisting his clients or working with his students, he is involved in a variety of music related endeavors from curating live performances to cofounding and developing nicethingsMUSIC, a technology inspired independent record label and distributor.