Past Speakers
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February 6, 2023
Vinny Tafuro, Institute for Economic Evolution, Founder & Author
Vinny is a founder of the Institute for Economic Evolution. A polymath and curious by nature, he is a pioneering advocate for the twenty-first-century economy that is disrupting society’s rigid institutions and beliefs. Vinny’s economic and foresight projects explore the societal and economic shifts being catalyzed by human culture as a result of technology, corporate personhood, and evolving human cognition.
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January 30, 2023
Jeff Gigante, Next Level Brands, Partner, Co-founder
Jeff Gigante, a St Petersburg Fla. native, has been successfully developing a diverse collection of restaurant concepts, for 25 years, steadfastly earning a reputation for hospitality, community involvement, and philanthropy.
Gigante started his path to a culinary career at a young age. Inspired by memories of the shared family table, he began working in all areas of hospitality, including, service, management, and operations. -
January 23, 2023
Kim Jowell, Hillsborough Education Foundation (HEF), CEO
Kim Jowell has devoted her life’s work to advocating for the most vulnerable children and families in our communities. For more than 20 years, she’s had a proven track-record of success in leading diverse not-for-profits. Since joining Hillsborough Education Foundation as CEO in 2017, she has increased financial resources more than 20 percent. Under Kim’s visionary leadership, the nonprofit has expanded its programs to advance their mission of
strengthening public education—raising on average $8 million annually to support students and teachers in the seventh largest school district in the country. -
January 23, 2023
Mike McCollum, Hillsborough Education Foundation (HEF), Chief Advancement Officer
Mike McCollum’s entire professional career has been dedicated to social service/equity non-profit work. In 2017, Mike joined Hillsborough Education Foundation as Chief Advancement Officer overseeing development/fundraising, events and public relations efforts. During that time, Mike’s efforts have helped grow the organization’s fundraising output to $8 million (on average) annually in support of students and teachers in Hillsborough County.
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January 9, 2023
Jeb Myers, Interim President at Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School
Jeb Myers is the current Interim-President of Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School and is passionate about the Cristo Rey model which prepares students from vulnerable backgrounds for their futures through a college preparatory and professional career preparatory program. With over twenty-five years of experience in education, Jeb has served vulnerable populations of students and families as teacher, principal and president in the communities of Camden, New Jersey, the Blackfeet Nation of Browning, Montana and Minneapolis, Minnesota before coming to Tampa. When not at work, Jeb runs, reads and spends time with his family.
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December 19, 2022
Mayor Jane Castor, City of Tampa
Mayor Jane Castor is the 59th Mayor of the City of Tampa. Born and raised in Tampa, Jane has spent a lifetime in service to the community, first as a police officer, then as Tampa’s first female Chief of Police, and finally as the city’s 59th Mayor. She graduated from Chamberlain High School and attended the University of Tampa on an athletic scholarship.
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December 12, 2022
Ronald Weaver, Stearns Weaver Miller, Shareholder
Mr. Weaver has handled hundreds of permitting and zoning cases, Comprehensive Plan amendments; major transportation, comprehensive plan and property rights analyses, advocacies, or settlements for major resorts, office buildings, general retail, planned communities, regional malls, and mixed use communities. His representation includes Florida, California, and Nevada developers and government entities on concurrency, property rights and state and federal funding projects, including a $1.3 billion roadway, a $56 million people mover, city redevelopment and downtown plans, proportionate fair share agreements and property rights; as well as wetlands mitigation agreements and credits, sea level rise issues and eminent domain issues, and has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America and Tampa Bay Real Estate Hall of Fame.
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December 5, 2022
Christopher M. Bowen , Chief Development Strategist, RD Management LLC
As Chief Development Strategist for New York City-based, RD Management, LLC, one of the largest, privately-held real estate companies in the nation, Christopher M. Bowen plays an interesting and diverse role in a wide range of projects involving urban redevelopment. He will tell you that what he loves most and what he’s best at, is “connecting the dots.” To him, the most important dots to connect are people and the most upside to be had is in making it easier for people to connect and share their common knowledge and help enhance each other’s ability to climb the mountain, bringing as many others along as possible – because that mountain is life itself. That philosophy in part, in 2018, helped him create the Uptown identity for the city neighborhood around the University of South Florida. In addition to his role with RD Management, Chris Bowen is Chairman of the Executive Board of Soaring City Innovation Partnership (Soaring City), an urban, arts & sciences tech ecosystem builder and 501c3 charitable foundation he co-founded with former, Hillsborough County Commissioner, Mark Sharpe. Soaring City is the Tampa Innovation Partnership reimagined, which Mr. Sharpe cofounded with leaders of USF, Moffitt, AdventHealth, and Busch Gardens over a decade ago.