Philly Tech Week 2018

Tonya Adams, a Comcast employee for over 16 years, currently manages a team of network engineers that supports Comcast Business Enterprise Ethernet services nationwide. Ms. Adams has developed a reputation for strong and engaging leadership both inside and outside of cable. She began her career as a network engineer before becoming a voice engineer where she helped launch Comcast’s first digital voice services offering and going on to support and lead strategic planning on various other projects and products. Outside of work, Ms. Adams is a proud and active member of her community with membership inWICT, NAMIC, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Upsilon Delta Omega, and served as a former youth leader for her church, as well as several other community and professional organizations.

Darlene Cavalier is a Professor at Arizona State University's Consortium for Science, Policy, & Outcomes, and the Center for Engagement and Training, part of the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. Cavalier is the founder of SciStarter. She is also the founder of Science Cheerleader, an organization of more than 300 current and former professional cheerleaders pursuing STEM careers, and a cofounder of ECAST: Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology, a network of universities, science centers, and think tanks that produces public deliberations to enhance science policymaking. She is a founding Board Member of the Citizen Science Association, a senior advisor at Discover Magazine, and a member of the EPA's National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology. Cavalier was recently appointed to the National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Designing Citizen Science to Support Science Learning to identify and describe existing citizen science projects that support science learning in both formal and informal settings.[3] The committee will develop a set of evidence-based principles to guide the design of citizen science. She is the author of The Science of Cheerleading and co-editor of The Rightful Place of Science: Citizen Science, published by Arizona State University. Darlene hold degrees from Temple University and the University of Pennsylvania and was a high school, college and NBA cheerleader. Darlene lives in Philadelphia with her husband and four children.

Andrew directs the Innovation Management group within Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation and Technology. Aligned closely with the City’s Chief Administrative Officer, Innovation Management focuses on developing capacity for innovation within municipal government and finding ways to make technology accessible and meaningful to the public. Before moving into the innovation space, Andrew directed Philadelphia’s implementation of a citywide network of technology-enabled community centers known as Keyspots. Andrew earned a graduate Degree in Geography from Temple University in Philadelphia and continues to teach there as an adjunct instructor.

Mark Willis is a designer, strategist and entrepreneur. After a decade directing digital strategy at Harvard University, he recently moved the Philadelphia area to grow his design firm, Clean Sheet Co., and to consult with startups and digital projects at the intersection of art and technology. He’s a co-founder at the Philly-based Texel Foundation, a new consortium creating open-source infrastructure to power blockchain-driven artwork projects.

Carvin Garland Haggins is a Grammy Award Winning and Multi-Platinum Selling Song Writer, Producer, Engineer, Co-Founder of Karma Productions, Co-Creator of Forever Music Inc. and the creator of Ethical Music Entertainment. The Philadelphia native has written hit songs for Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Miguel, Faith Evans, Justin Timberlake, Raheem DeVaughn, and Musiq SoulChild. Carvin has always believed that the best songs come from real life experiences, and has earned a reputation for writing songs that “mean something.” Carvin has been making music since he was 11, and has developed a unique style. In the 1990’s Carvin began working as a producer at “A Touch of Jazz” (ATOJ) for DJ Jazzy Jeff. It was there, that Carvin started getting a lot of recognition for his work. It wasn’t long before his songs started making an impact in the music industry. Carvin’s early work was featured on “The Nutty Professor II,” “Love Jones,” and the “Rush Hour 2” movie soundtracks. He also collaborated on Will Smith’s soundtrack for the movie “Wild Wild West.” At ATOJ Carvin met and began working with Ivan Barias. In 2001, Carvin and Ivan started Karma Productions and have since become one of the most sought after producing duos in the country. The pair, who are now known world-wide, have had several songs at the top of the Billboard Charts including: “Love” (Musiq), “Customer” (Raheem DeVaughn), “If You Leave” (Mary J. Blige and Musiq), and “Gotta Find My Way Back” (Jaheem) Introducing Stokley (Stokley) to name a few. During his career, Carvin has been tapped to create music for television as well. Haggins is the “Music Supervisor” for the annual Christmas television special, “Holiday Love” created by, and starring actress Kim Fields. Since the show began, Carvin has not only overseen the music that goes into the special, he’s also written several original songs for the show too; including music for artists Marvin Sapp, Brian Wilson, Wes Morgan, Karen Clark-Sheard, Tamela Mann and Shirley Caesar.

After recently celebrating 10 years of having Top 10 Billboard Charting records, Carvin and Ivan followed that up with 5 Grammy nominations in 2011. They were nominated for Jaheem’s hit song “Finding My Way Back.” They were also nominated in the R&B Song of the Year category for “Gone Already” by Faith Evans. Most recently, Carvin worked on projects for Ledisi, Raheem DeVaughn, Estelle and 2014 Grammy nominated albums for Chrisette Michele and TGT. The creator of the Ethical Music Entertainment label, Haggins is behind a movement to bring respect back to radio. His artist Montina who is one of the Momma’s who sings background for Beyonce, Mz Lynx who was on MTV, Lex Dime who has a movement called Lost Girls and BriaMarie, whose singles “IDK” and“Celebrate” was featured on VH1’s Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Haggins’ mission is to make music that is positive, has clean and clever lyrics, and will keep you moving. To Haggins, not only making music, but raising up another generation of musicians, writers and producers that create “real” music is as important. In an effort to give young people the opportunity to explore their artistic potential, Carvin is one of the founders of the Creative Minds Performing Arts School. The school will house “Karma Junior Productions,” and is projected to open in 2020. Haggins also gives back in other ways. He was a teacher at Chester Community Charter School and on the board of directors for the Recording Academy- Philadelphia chapter. He has received numerous honors for his work and service, including being named a Creative Ambassador for Philadelphia, receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence and Innovation for BMM 2012, and was recognized for his accomplishments and community service, at the 16th Annual Artist Ball in Philadelphia. He’s currently a member of the Philadelphia Task Force. A organization created by the city to help the creative arts. When he’s not in the studio, or working on music curriculum for his school, Carvin is in fellowship with his family and friends at Southern Baptist Church in Philadelphia. At SBC, Carvin is a Reverend and Sunday School teacher.

Kathryn is VP of Marketing at La Colombe Coffee Roasters. She drives marketing and communications efforts for one of the leading independent coffee roasters and ready-to-drink companies in the US. With a knack and a passion for positioning brands at the intersection of aspirational lifestyle and functional, Kathryn works to build brand awareness and promote La Colombe’s products and services to consumers through retail, e-commerce, cafe, and hospitality channels. Kathryn came to La Colombe from her position as Director of Marketing for Free People, a boutique women’s fashion brand and part of Urban Outfitters, Inc. An intuitive understanding of people and their behavior helps Kathryn accomplish her ultimate goal: connecting more people with great product.

Dana S. Wilson currently serves as Vice President of Customer Experience for Comcast Cable, the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. In this role, she is responsible for leading end-to- end improvement initiatives to transform the experience for Comcast customers. Dana previously served as Executive Director of Strategy & Operations where she led departmental strategic initiatives to drive customer-focus and high performance across products. During her tenure, Dana has led the delivery of Comcast’s Olympics experience for both the 2012 Summer and 2013Winter games. In addition, she led the integration of the NBC Sports Live Extra Olympics app on X1, providing Xfinity customers with 1,000 hours of live streaming coverage of the Sochi Winter Games. The innovative experience was the first of it’s kind in the industry and gave customers 500 extra hours of live event coverage on the set-top box. Dana started her career at Comcast as Senior Director of Product Planning and Delivery for Comcast Interactive Media, where she managed execution of the Xfinity product roadmap for online and mobile entertainment. Prior to joining Comcast in 2011, Dana acquired a wealth of knowledge from the management consulting, chemical, utility and municipal industries. Dana has worked for companies such as: Accenture, Rohm and Haas Company, Philadelphia Gas Works and City of Philadelphia where she gained her engineering experience and extensive knowledge in the areas of enterprise performance management, operational excellence, product development, customer service, and manufacturing. Dana S. Wilson is a graduate of Drexel University and holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemical Engineering. During her professional tenure, Dana has obtained a Six Sigma Black Belt Certification which reflects her expertise in leading and executing initiatives within an organization that are focused on driving high performance and customer service.

Shelly Bell is the founder of Black Girl Ventures (BGV), a social enterprise dedicated to finding creative place-based solutions to dissolve the race and gender gap in access to capital. She is the Google Digital Coach for DC - named Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 by Technically DC and one of the Top 40 New Power Women in Tech by DCA Live (2017). She is among the nation's most sought community organizers, motivational speakers and hosts in the Washington, DC Metro area. With a background is performance poetry, K-12 education and Computer Science she vibrates her passion for community building by helping people amplify their power to live the best life possible on their own terms!