WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 1 WEW Speaker Panel 2020 Agenda & Speaker Bios September 2 4 , 2020 For questions, please contact: Daisy Dai dzd0017@auburn.edu , 510 - 306 - 5399 MBA & MSIS Spring 2021 Entrepreneurship Center Graduate Assistant | Auburn University WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 2 Table of Contents OVERVIEW /AGENDA ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 3 SPEAKER PANEL HOSTED BY DEAN RANFT ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 3 SPEAKER PANEL AGENDA ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... 3 ASHLEE AMMONS ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 4 DR. REBECCA VAUGHT ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......... 6 AVALON MEACHAM ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 8 RANIA MARWAN ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 11 NOUR ELBADAWY ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 12 HAYA ELBADAWY ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 13 GREG CESSNA ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................... 14 BOYD STEPHENS ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 16 WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 3 Overview Speaker Panel Hosted by Dean Ranft Many of the comments from Auburn University’s Women Entrepreneurship Week 2019 heavily emphasized the enjoyment of the panelist discussion and appreciation for its diversity. To continue with this positive momentum, the W EW planning team has compiled a list of 8 panelists that are diverse in race, gender, age, background, and industry To add a layer of diversity, this year we wanted to include women business leaders with businesses at all stages of development. We have w omen who are just starting their business all the way to women who have $1M+ in pre - seed funding. Another goal this year is to lift and support women - led businesses located in Alabama, which is why all our female panelists are Alabama natives or based in Alabama. In these trying times, we want to help not only women, but also the state’s economy. This speaker panel will be conducted via Zoom due to COVID - 19. While this is not necessarily ideal, we want to utilize our virtual format as an opportunity for inclusion by inviting students from universities and community colleges across the state of Alabama. Below is the agenda, as well as a list of the panelists, their companies, and a brief description. To RSVP for the event, please go to https://aub.ie/WEW - Speaker - Panel - RSVP - 20 To RSVP to other events, please go to https://aub.ie/auwew2020 Speaker Pan el Agenda September 2 4, 2020 | 6:30pm - 7:45pm 6: 30 pm - 6: 45 pm: Dean Ranft introduces panelist (bios provided beforehand) 6: 45 pm - 7:15pm: Q&A with Dean Ranft (questions provided to panelists and Dean Ranft beforehand) 7:15pm - 7: 40 pm: Open floor for audience questions (asked live or submitted by audience beforehand) 7: 40 pm - 7:4 5 pm: Closeout WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 4 Ashlee Ammons Mixtroz | President https://www.mixtroz.com/ BA Mass Communications and Public Relations ' 09 Baldwin Wallace University Mixtroz is a meeting and event planning platform that engages and improves meetings and events for attendees while collecting data for meeting organizers. Attendees download the Mixtroz app and complete a virtual name tag and survey customized by the organizer. At a predetermined time, the app simultaneously matches attendees and guides them to an intelligently automated match of people for a curated group c onnection experience in real - time! At the completion of the session, the organizer gains the visualized survey data collected from the interactions which can be used to drive future revenue generating or cost - cutting measures all throughout your organizati on. Mixtroz can be up and running at your meeting event in 30 minutes or less. Ashlee Ammons holds a BA in Mass Communications and Public Relations from Baldwin Wallace University. She is the 38th Black Female to raise over $1M in pre - seed funding. Prior to co - founding Mixtroz with her mother, Kerry Schrader, Ashlee established a career as an Events Producer working with an impressive list of A - listers including Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Jay - Z, as well as legacy brands like Moet Hennessy and Co ca - Cola. Ashlee serves on the boards of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Tech Birmingham, is a 2019 Birmingham Business Journal 40 Under 40 recipient as well as Birmingham 40 Under 40 of the decade and Business Journals National Rising Star. In additi on, Ashlee is a proud member of Delta Zeta Sorority where she was named to their first - ever 35 Under 35 in 2018. Press /Speaking Engagements : WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 5 o Kauffman Foundation: “ ESHIP Summit 2019: Mother - Daughter Co - Founders Share Their Tech Startup Journey” o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtlKQMHhTOc&feature=youtu.be o Forbes: “ Rising Startups To Watch With Diverse Founders ” o https://www.forbes.com/sites/marenbannon/2020/06/25/rising - startups - to - watch - with - diverse - fo unders/#3407d3a330dd o WVTM 13: “Mixtroz Getting Ready to Launch ‘Socially Distant’ Option” o https://www.wvtm13.com/article/mixtroz - getting - ready - to - launch - socially - distant - option/31925012# o The Hustle: “This startup is trying to master networking by video conference” o https://th ehustle.co/07062020 - mixtroz/?fbclid=IwAR26avuaATVOIMFvuDrD8_wUMWgwxrBTROmtiF0U - 1lEQA5_p -- cLqIhtcs o Hypepotamus: Coronavirus Startup Survival Stories: Ashlee Ammons of Mixtroz o https://hypepotamus.com/people/coronavirus - startup - survival - stories - ashlee - ammons - of - mixtroz/ o Bham Now: Ho w 5 Birmingham startups + startup communi ties are working now — why it matters o https://bhamnow.com/2020/05/28/how - 5 - birmingham - startups - are - working - now - why - it - matters/ o Alabama News Center: “Birm inghan’s Mixtroz is launching a virtual version of its connections platform” o https://alabamanewscenter.com/2020/03/27/birminghams - mixtroz - is - launching - a - virtual - version - of - its - connections - platform/ o Birmingham Business Journal : “ Birmingham business leaders sound off on race, social justice and calls to action ” o https://www.bizjournals.com/birmin gham/news/2020/06/08/birmingham - business - leaders - race.html o Mixtroz Among Birmingham Winners in Statewide Business Awards o https://www. bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2019/12/30/mixtroz - among - birmingham - winners - in - statewide.html WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 6 Dr. Rebecca Vaught Van Heron Labs | Founder http://vanheronlabs.com/ B.S. Molecular, Cell, Microbial Biology '15 Auburn University Ph.D. Biological Sciences '19 Monash University Van Heron Labs is a bootstrapped, pre - revenue, biotech start - up founded in mid - February of 2020 which is predicated on a platform technology that uses genetics to optimize nutri ent environments. In essence, we use bioinformatics (biocomputing) to profile and subsequently streamline the association between biochemistry and metabolism for a particular biological entity, bio - matter or bio - system, and seek to develop the most biologi cally relevant and efficient nutrient substrates to be supplemented or applied to biological matter enabling amelioration. The platform has cross - disciplinary and cross - industry relevance and can be deployed in virtually any setting where organic or biolog ical matter is present. Currently, we're using the technology to increase the efficiency of bioaugmentation (a type of bioremediation) and enzyme production for biotechnology, but in the future, we want to use the technology towards improving biologic drug production, stem - cell research/therapies, synthetic biology, wastewater treatment, bio - energy, and agriculture. We have two locations for our operations, one in Houston, Texas where the company was founded, and one at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotech nology in Huntsville, AL. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 7 Press/Speaking Engagements: o The Sugar Science: “Rebecca Vaught, PhD, Co - Founder Van Heron Labs, Reframing the Understanding of Organismal and Cellular Performance” o https://thesugarscience.org/episode - 5 - rebecca - vaught - phd - co - founder - van - heron - labs - reframin g - the - understanding - of - organismal - and - cellular - performance/ o Bio Space: “Women in Bio: Rebecca Vaught Launches Van Heron Labs” o https://www.biospace.com/art icle/women - in - bio - rebecca - vaught - launches - van - heron - labs/ o Bio Space: “Foresight Biosciences & Van Heron Labs form a strategic alignment” o https://www.biospace.com/article/foresight - biosciences - and - van - heron - labs - form - a - strategic - alignment/ WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 8 Avalon Meacham Stan’s Stuff Seasoning | Owner https://stanstuffseasoning.com/ B.A. Marketing ‘18 Troy University MBA ’21 Auburn University Avalon started Stan’s Stuff in 2016 while at Troy University Stan's Stuff Seasoning is th e perfect blend of salt and spice to use on your seafood, chicken, beef, pork, vegetables, dips and more. It was originally developed by a Panama City, FL fisherman who needed an all - purpose seasoning for all of his meals. Since its creation, it has gained a loyal fan base in the Florida panhandle area and tourists are taking Stan's Stuff back home with them across the United States. Stan's Stuff is sold in 19 retail locations as well as online. The COVID - 19 pandemic actually provided a financial boost to our company's sales because consumers were forced to cook at home and were looking for new spices to use. Our year to date sales for 2020 are at $4,000 (approximately 970 bottles) as of August 1st, which is double the amount of sales we had at this point in 2019. We are looking forward to expanding our product availability as we are starting to approach major grocery retailers. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 9 Press: o Panama City Living Magazine: “Spice & Taste: Local Flavor – Stan’s Stuff” o https://panamacityliving.com/spice - taste - local - flavor - stans - stuff/ o This article was written to feature my story as a young entrepreneur selling Stan’s Stuff in th e Panama City area o TroyToday: Troy University’s Alumni Magazine Fall 2017 issue o https://today.troy.edu/students/troy - entrepreneurs - taste - success/ o This article featured my collaboration with fellow students and the Troy University Small Busines s Development Center for different needs I had in my business o News Channel 13 WJHG in Panama City: “Tis the season” o https://www.wjhg .com/content/news/Tis - the - season - says - one - Panama - City - woman -- 464283383.html o News Anchor, Ron Marasco, interviewed and featured my business in response to the Panama City Living article he had read earlier that month o Dothan Eagle: “Troy University launc hing business accelerator for students” o https://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/troy - university - launching - business - acceler ator - for - students/article_81425f3c - d19a - 11e7 - a97e - ab435e2ef0f3.html o This article discussed how my business journey sparked the creation of Troy University’s IDEA Bank that will serve entrepreneurial students for years to come o TEDx at Troy University: “My lessons from the Appalachian Trai” o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6B3N52cYmQ , o https://www.ted.com/tedx/events/21862 o The tal k focuses on what it means to find your passion. Avalon shares how her hiking trips on the Appalachian Trail helped her find her calling and solidify her career choice. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 10 Left: Rania Marwan (Founder) Middle: Haya Elbadawy (Administrative Manager) Right: Nour Elbadawy (Design Manager) Crowd is founded a mother, Rania Marwan, and her two daughters, Haya and Nour Elbadawy. It is an app that facilitates the creation of greater connections among different groups, including wo men entrepreneurs around the world. It offers the chance for users with common interests to belong to crowds of different fingerprints; creating their own communities that they want to navigate across. Crowd is currently in its the developing stage. Their goals consist of creating global support systems that is effective in offering solutions, entertaining and engaging users, provide a targeted marketing venue for buyers and sellers. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 11 Rania Marwan Crowd | Founder Ph.D. Political Science Auburn University DBA Business Administration ’17 Ain Shams University Masters Public Administration ’05 American University B.A. Economics ’98 American Univeristy Rania Marwan is currently a Ph.D. Candidate (ABD) in the Department of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University. She earned her Doctoral degree in Business Administration (DBA) from Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt in January 2017. S he had her master’s degree in Public Administration from the American University in Cairo, Egypt in 2005. She had her Bachelor’s degree also from the American University in Cairo majoring in Economics in 1998. Marwan has experience in teaching at Auburn Un iversity in the Department of Political Science, as well as at the German University in Cairo in the Faculty of Management and Technology. Marwan has published work in relation to organizational culture, knowledge management, strategic innovation and gend er, and leadership styles in international journals. Aside from her academic pursuits, Marwan is the founder of a nonprofit organization in Cairo, Egypt called Haweyya foundation, which focuses on educating women in Egypt’s rural areas on how to read and write. Her nonprofit organization (Haweyya foundation) is part of her strong belief in the power of women in society, as well as her ongoing passion for supporting women of the world to become socially independent. In pursuit of her passion, Marwan is cu rrently writing her dissertation on “Networks as Engines of Social Change in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region: A Focus on Entrepreneurship Efforts.” She is in her data collection phase, interviewing female entrepreneurs from all over the MEN A region. The interviews she is conducting with women amidst war torn regions such as Lebanon, and the recent bombing that happened there inspired her to create her own company that focuses on creating networks that work. Marwan’s current passion project is founding an app that facilitates the creation of greater connections among different groups, including women entrepreneurs around the world. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 12 Nour ElBadawy Crowd | Design Manager Masters Graphic Design Auburn University at Montgomery B.A Graphic Design Auburn University at Montgomery Nour ElBadawy is an Auburn University at Montgomery graduate, from Fine Arts in Graphic Design. She is currently working towards achieving her master’s in Graphic Design. ElBadawy has excelled in all of her classes, maintaining a GPA of 4.0 and voted Outstanding Student of the Fine Art department at Auburn University at Montgomery in 2020. She has been regularly listed on the Dean’s list throughout her undergrad years. ElBadawy was also the Vice President o f the student club - AdFed where she worked to promote graphic design career preparedness. Nour has sought out freelance design and fundraising opportunities in Egypt, Mexico, Spain and the U.S. and is fluent in Arabic, French, Spanish and English. In Eg ypt, ElBadawy engaged with a client in her graduation final project to create a new identity and a multidimensional campaign for an eyewear company. Her Egyptian client was a female entrepreneur who is recognized for breaking gender barriers and proving h erself in a field primarily dominated by male businessmen. ElBadawy assisted in filming a historical documentary on Spain focusing on Moriscos history. Her work in Spain extended over a one - month period visiting Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Malaga, Seville and Gibraltar. In Mexico, ElBadawy traveled to Guadalajara to assist with fundraising and supporting indigenous women entrepreneurs. In the U.S, ElBadawy designed the logo for the “Unite Alabama” campaign that works to take out racial language in the Alabama Constitution. ElBadawy’s current passion project is designing an app that facilitates the creation of greater connections among different groups, including women entrepreneurs around the world. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 13 Haya ElBadawy Crowd | Administrative Manager MBA Auburn University at Montgomery B .S. Business Administration Auburn University at Montgomery Haya earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with high honors May 2020; she has been selected as 2020 Outstanding St udent of Management. ElBadawy is currently pursuing her Master’s in Business Administration at Auburn University at Montgomery. One of the biggest accomplishments that she has achieved within her two years of undergrad, is the initiation of a campaign (Un ite Alabama), with her sister (Nour) and two other girls, that works to take out the racial language in the Alabama Constitution. Haya is fluent in four languages (English, Arabic, French and Spanish). In the past few years Haya traveled to Guadalajara , Mexico to assist with fundraising and supporting women in the indigenous community. She assisted in organizing group events in Spain by visiting cities such as Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, Granada and Malaga discussing the history of the Moriscos. Haya is c urrently pursuing her dream of starting her own company, aside from doing her MBA at the age of 19, she is working in the development of an app that facilitates the creation of greater connections among different groups, including women entrepreneurs aroun d the world. Press: o Four AUM Honors students turn class assignment into campaign to modernize Alabama Constitution o http://www.aum.edu/four - aum - honors - students - turn - class - assignment - campaign - modernize - alabama - constitution WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 14 Greg Cessna CEO | Consumer Fresh Produce MBA ’17 Auburn University Executive Leadership: International Business ’98 American University of Paris Executive Education ’98 Duke University Entrepreneurial Management ’94 Carnegie Mellon University B.S. Analystical Chemistry ’79 Indiana University of Pennsylvania Greg Cessna is an entrepreneurial leader with over 40 - years of public and private company experience. Greg’s ability to develo p business strategy that drives profitable growth is consistently demonstrated through his leadership experiences. Recently, Greg led the sale of Extrel Corporation, a scientific instrument company located in Pittsburgh, in February of 2020 to a private e quity firm. In 2014, Greg led the sale of Consumer Fresh Produce to DIAM and remained at Consumer Fresh Produce as the CEO. Prior to these transactions, Greg was instrumental is over a dozen acquisitions or sale side transactions. In 2005, Greg founded Northbound Consulting, Inc. A company dedicated to the development of executive level leaders in both private and publicly held companies. Through his consulting company, Greg has developed value - based leaders for Samsung, Martin Preferred Foods, AMX, Ex trel Corporation, Hillandale, and Henderson Brothers. WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 15 Today, Greg is the Chairman and CEO at Consumer Fresh Produce in Pittsburgh PA and a Director at a number of privately held, family owned businesses including: • MacLean Fogg, named private company Board of the Year in 2020 by Family Business Magazine. • Henderson Brothers, Pittsburgh’s largest privately held insurance broker • Foxcrest, The Orchards • Architectural Impact Products Greg is also active on several non - profit and advisory boards including Auburn University’s MBA Advisory Board, Auburn Universities Entrepreneurial Board, University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, and Propel Charter Schools Foundation Board. Greg is a frequent writer for SMART Business Mag azine and was name to the list of TOP 50 CEO’s in Pittsburgh in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, Greg was named a Top Tiger Alumni by Auburn Universities Alumn i Association. Greg has participated as a panelist or speaker at the ASPIRE Conference, FOX (Family Of fice Exchange Conference), and many other business conferences throughout the world. Greg is a retired member of Young Presidents Organization and actively engaged in mentoring young entrepreneur students at the University of Pittsburgh and Auburn Univers ity. Contact: gcessna@northboundconsulting.com WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 16 Boyd Stephens Founder | Netelysis Applied Mathmatics Auburn University For the past nineteen years Boyd has been privileged to launch and successfully sustain three Alabama based technology startups. Currently his primary focus encompasses the operations and day to day activities of Netelysis, where the business’ efforts revo lve around IT network design and administration and the network traffic analytic space. The firm’s in - house software development processes and engineering technologies heavily leverage open source software/services and COTS (common off the shelf) based har dware systems. During the summer of 2014 Boyd and a few other principals began what later became the I85 Cyber Corridor Research Project (i85cyber.org) which was a 5.5 years research initiative launched to ascertain the parts, pieces, and particulars of what was required to create & sustain the systems/services/infrastructure necessary for a robust tech startup ecosystem throughout Central Alabama. These efforts led to the creation and evolution of an entrepreneurship/business development training series and to the launching of Launch & Learn Labs, a regional apparatus for startup incubation, acceleration and training. Contact: email: bstephens@netelysis.com web: launchlearnlabs.co m WE W Speaker Panel Bios 2020 Auburn University Harbert College of Business 17 Press /Speaking Engagements : Here’s how city spawned 10 tech startups in six months (podcast) https: //soundcloud.com/montgomeryadvertiser/heres - how - city - spawned - 10 - tech - startups - in - six - months Brighter ideas: Free courses spawn tech startups https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/money/business/2015/05/30/brighter - ideas/28239485/ Tech startup formula finds spark in a changing Montgo mery https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/solutions - journalism/2018/03/13/tech - startup - formula - finds - spark - changing - montgomery/416459002/ StartUp U brings new approach to st arting a new business https://www.wsfa.com/2019/09/10/startup - u - b rings - new - approach - starting - new - business/ Personal code: Boyd Stephens connects Montgomery to its future https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/community/2019/10/15/community - hero - boyd - stephens - connects - montgomery - its - future/2439495001/ The man with the plan: Boyd Stephens named 2019 Com munity Hero of the Year https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2020/02/12/boyd - stephens - named - 2019 - community - hero - year - montgomery - alabama - beasley - allen/4727113002/