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2026 North Star Summit Schedule

North Star Summit
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2026 North Star Summit Schedule

  • SEPT 22-23, 2026

Event Schedule

North Star Summit

Summit Innovation Forum

  • The guthrie Theater

7:30-8:30 am

  • 7:30-8:30

Check In & Breakfast

Registration and networking over a breakfast buffet.

8:30-8:45 am

  • 8:30-8:45

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Minnesota Star Tribune CEO and Publisher Steve Grove and Editor Kathleen Hennessey welcome attendees and premiere the 2026 North Star Index.

8:45-9:25 am

  • 8:45-9:15

AI, Policy and the Future of the Economy

Rep. Ro Khanna (CA) joins fellow leaders for a forward-looking conversation about how artificial intelligence and public policy are reshaping work, competitiveness, and economic growth.

9:25-10:30 am

  • 9:20-10:30

Insight Talks

Fast, focused talks from leaders working on Minnesota's economy, opportunity, health and civic future.

Michelle Bellanca

Minnesota innovation working to eliminate forever chemicals.

  • 9:30-9:45 am

John Phelan

Minnesota's economy and the challenge of affordability.

  • 9:45-10:00 am

Wemimo Abbey

Expanding opportunity through rent reporting, data and credit building.

  • 10:00-10:15 am

Andrew Dayton

Why better measurement can make philanthropy more effective.

  • 10:15-10:30 am

10:30-11:05 am

  • 10:30-11:15

How to Trust News in an AI World

Julie Pace (Associated Press), Varun Shetty (OpenAI), and Adam Winer (Spotify) will join Tiffany Hsu (New York Times) to explore the content, data and creative work powering AI, and what the changing technology landscape means for media, platforms and the public.

11:05-11:40 am

  • 11:20-11:55

The Business and Leadership of Sports

Matt Caldwell (Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx), Jacob Frey (Mayor of Minneapolis), Christina Hennington (Minnesota United FC) provide a candid look at the leadership decisions behind professional sports organizations, from team culture and performance to business growth and community impact. Moderated by Eric Roper (The Minnesota Star Tribune).

11:40 am - 1:00 pm

  • 11:55-1:30

Lunch & Networking Reception

Mix and mingle with other attendees while enjoying a specially prepared lunch.

1:00-1:40 pm

  • 1:30-1:55

The GLP-1 Economy

Dr. Kavita Patel, Bahram Akradi (Life Time, Inc.), and Eliana Wahnon (General Mills) share how a new generation of weight-loss drugs is transforming health care while reshaping consumer behavior, food, fitness and wellness. Moderated by Susan Dominus (The New York Times).

1:40-2:50 pm

  • 2:50-4:00

Insight Talks

Fast, focused talks from leaders working on Minnesota's economy, opportunity, health and civic future.

Christophe Beck

How Minnesota can grow, compete and attract companies.

  • 1:45-2:00 pm

Adair Mosley

New approaches to closing regional wealth gaps.

  • 2:00-2:12 pm

Nico Pronk

The science of thriving, what it takes to build healthier, thriving communities.

  • 2:12-2:24 pm

Joseph Lee

Addiction treatment and recovery in the age of AI.

  • 2:24-2:36 pm

Dr. Sally Saba

The cost of disengagement at work.

  • 2:36-2:50 pm

2:50-3:25 pm

  • 2:00-2:45

Leading Transformation: A CEO Conversation

Minnesota CEOs Dave Bozeman (C.H. Robinson), Carla Vernon (The Honest Company), and Terry Rasmussen (Thrivent) discuss how they are leading through technological and market change while keeping people, purpose and organizational culture at the center. Moderated by Allison Kaplan (The Minnesota Star Tribune).

3:25-3:45 pm

  • 4:00-5:00

Governor Exit Interview

A timely newsmaker conversation with Gov. Tim Walz reflecting on public leadership, political change and lessons from governing.

3:45-4:20 pm

  • 2:50-4:00

North Star Briefs

Fast, focused talks from leaders working on Minnesota's economy, opportunity, health and civic future.

Joseph Lee

Addiction treatment and recovery in the age of AI.

  • 2:24-2:36 pm

Dr. Sally Saba

The cost of disengagement at work.

  • 2:36-2:50 pm

4:20-5:00 pm

  • 4:00-5:00

The Surge: Conversation and Performance

Acclaimed documentary theater artists Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen join the Guthrie Theater’s Joseph Haj for a conversation about THE SURGE, a new work shaped by interviews with 43 people across the Twin Cities. Conceived in response to Operation Metro Surge, the play chronicles the experiences of communities directly affected by ICE’s actions and the extraordinary mobilization of Minnesotans to protect and care for one another. Moderated by Rohan Preston.

5:00-6:30 pm

  • 5:00-6:30

Reception & Happy Hour, Presented by Target

Day one concludes with networking and conversation over light bites and beverages.

  • The Four Seasons Minneapolis

7:00-8:00 am

  • 7:30-8:30

Check In & Breakfast

Registration and networking over a breakfast buffet.

8:15-8:30 am

  • 8:30-8:45

Welcome & Opening Remarks

  • Mill City Ballroom

8:30-9:10 am

  • 8:45-9:15

Keynote: The Road to 2036

Futurist Amy Webb explores creative destruction, technological convergence, and the forces that could reshape the region over the next decade.

  • Mill City Ballroom

9:15-10:20 am

  • 9:20-10:30

Breakout Session: Innovation in Local Media

Marc Lacey (The New York Times), Kimbriell Kelly (Chicago Public Media), and Kathleen Hennessey (The Minnesota Star Tribune) examine new models for trusted journalism, audience connection and sustainable community news.

  • 9:15-9:45 Am
  • Mill City Ballroom

Breakout Session: Innovation in Higher Education

A conversation with Rebecca Cunningham (University of Minnesota) and Rob Vischer (University of St. Thomas) about how independent creators build distinctive voices, loyal communities and new forms of media.

  • 9:50-10:20 am
  • Mill City Ballroom

Breakout Session: Practicing Radical Innovation Workshop

A hands-on session, facilitated by Barry Kudrowitz, PhD, designed to help participants apply creative problem-solving methods to real business and civic challenges.

  • 9:15-10:30 am
  • Mississippi River Ballroom

10:30-10:45 am

  • 10:30-11:15

Morning Break

Network and recharge with coffee and snacks.

10:45-11:30 am

  • 2:50-4:00

Minnesota's Health Innovation Frontier, Presented by Fairview

Fairview President and COO Jeoff Will sets the stage for a series of rapid conversations highlighting breakthrough health care and medtech solutions being developed locally—from new therapies and imaging to care delivery and the patient experience.

  • Mill City Ballroom

Dr. Michael Pitt

Physician-led health tech that improves inpatient experience.

  • 11:00-11:10 AM

Jason Bartos

How Helicopter ECMO is taking lifesaving heart and lung support to the skies.

  • 11:10-11:20 AM

Dan Que Pham

Building the world’s first nanophotonic and AI platform.

  • 11:20-11:30 aM

11:35 am - 12:00 PM

  • 4:00-5:00

Closing Keynote

Barry Kudrowitz (University of Minnesota) discusses the Absurdity of Innovation

  • Mill City Ballroom
  • $350
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Information

Amy Webb

CEO, Future Today Strategy Group

Amy Webb is the quantitative futurist who transformed strategic foresight into a rigorous, data-driven discipline, establishing the foundational methodologies that now guide leaders, organizations, and governments in anticipating disruption and securing long-term growth.


Her clients include a significant portion of the Fortune 100. New CEOs rely on her to navigate leadership transitions. Boards turn to her to understand systemic risk and opportunity amid accelerating change. She has advised three White House administrations and counsels U.S. federal agencies, Congress, and heads of state across four continents on technology and long-term planning and policy.


Her four books — including the international bestseller The Big Nine and The Genesis Machine, named by The New Yorker as one of the year’s best nonfiction — have been translated into 23 languages, with two optioned for film. She also collaborates with writers, directors, and producers on projects for Netflix, Hulu, and Marvel.


Ranked the #3 Most Influential Management Thinker in the World by Thinkers50, Forbes named her “one of the five women changing the world,” and the BBC recognized her among its 100 Women of the Year. Outside of work, she is a competitive endurance cyclist and an Assistant Scoutmaster to one of the country’s first all-girls Scout troops.

Insight Talks: Big Ideas in Brief

Fast paced presentations from bold thinkers unpacking trends shaping the Midwest’s future. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Susan Brower
State Demographer
State of Minnesota

Brower is the Minnesota State Demographer and directs the MN State Demographic Center. She travels the state talking with Minnesotans about the new social and economic realities that are brought about by recent demographic shifts.

  • Speaker
Myles Shaver
Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota-Carlson School of Management

Shaver is Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Myles’ research about corporate expansion is published in leading scholarly journals and he is invited to present at conferences and universities around the world.

  • Speaker
Chanda Smith Baker
President & CEO
Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

Smith Baker is President and CEO of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, which stewards nearly $2 billion in charitable assets and is the state’s largest community foundation. A nationally recognized executive and strategist, she brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across philanthropy, business, government, and community.

  • Speaker
Peter Meijer
Co-Founder and Head of Strategy
The New Industrial Corporation

Meijer is a co-founder and Head of Strategy at The New Industrial Corporation, an investment company specializing in project development at the intersection of venture and infrastructure capital. In Congress, he represented Michigan’s Third Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, serving on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology committees. 

  • Speaker
Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. Houston is invested in creating a better world, especially for the black community, and regularly collaborates with local government officials and business leaders to increase racial equity. The driving force behind his work over the past two decades has been to inspire a renaissance of optimism and action with and for people who believe in vibrant Black futures. 

  • Speaker
Danielle Russell
Managing Director of Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

 Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

  • Moderator
Phil Morris
Vice President & Opinion Editor
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Morris has been recognized as a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary and formerly worked as a contributing essayist for National Geographic Magazine. Morris was the recipient of a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he researched the use of social media in social justice movements.

  • Speaker
Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. Houston is invested in creating a better world, especially for the black community, and regularly collaborates with local government officials and business leaders to increase racial equity. The driving force behind his work over the past two decades has been to inspire a renaissance of optimism and action with and for people who believe in vibrant Black futures. 

  • Speaker
Danielle Russell
Managing Director of Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

 Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

Information

John Phelan

Economist, Center of the American Experiment

John Phelan is a graduate of Birkbeck College, University of London, where he earned a BSc in Economics, and of the London School of Economics where he earned an MSc.

 

John worked in finance for ten years before becoming a professional economist. He worked at Capital Economics in London, where he wrote reports ranging from the impact of Brexit on the British economy to the effect of government regulation on cell phone coverage.

 

John has written for City A.M. in London and for The Wall Street Journal in both Europe and the U.S., as well as newspapers across the Midwest. He has also been published in the journal Economic Affairs.

Insight Talks: Chanda Smith Baker

A reflection on the Minnesota paradox and the creative role that philanthropy can play in addressing systemic inequality.  

Speakers:

Chanda Smith Baker
President & CEO
Minnesota & Saint Paul Foundation

Smith Baker became the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s President & CEO on August 25, 2025.The Foundation is a trusted philanthropic partner for individuals, families and organizations statewide, providing more than 9,000 grants annually. A seasoned executive and nationally recognized thought leader, Chanda brings deep expertise in aligning vital resources with community priorities and a steadfast belief in what’s possible when people unite around a common purpose.

Insight Talks: Peter Meijer

What does it mean to rethink industry and politics from the Midwest? How can independent thinking from our region disrupt the status quo nationally? 

Speakers:

Peter Meijer
Co-Founder & Head of Strategy
The New Industrial Corporation

Former Congressman Peter Meijer is a co-founder and Head of Strategy at The New Industrial Corporation, an investment company specializing in project development at the intersection of venture and infrastructure capital. In Congress, he represented Michigan’s Third Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, serving on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology committees.

Insight Talks: Houston White

What building community-first businesses in Minneapolis can teach the nation about bridging divides. 

Speakers:

Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

Business leader and entrepreneur Houston White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. 

Insight Talks: Danielle Russell

What Midwest businesses must learn about data, privacy, and digital transformation.

Speakers:

Danielle Russell
Managing Director: Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

Fireside Chat: AI

Two of the nation’s most influential economic voices explore how artificial intelligence, innovation, and economic policy are reshaping the future of work, growth, and stability in the Midwest and beyond.  

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Dr. Ronnie Chatterji
Chief Economist
Open AI

Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, Ph.D., is Open AI’s first Chief Economist. He is also the Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor at Duke University, working at the intersection of academia, policy, and business. He served in the Biden Administration as White House CHIPS coordinator and Acting Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, shaping industrial policy, manufacturing, and supply chains. Before that, he was Chief Economist at the Department of Commerce and a Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

  • Speaker
Neel Kashkari
President & CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Neel Kashkari President and CEO Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Neel Kashkari took office as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on January 1, 2016, following a national search conducted by the Bank’s independent board of directors. In this role, he serves as a member on the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing the Ninth District’s perspective to monetary policy discussions in Washington, D.C. In addition to his responsibilities as a monetary policymaker, Neel oversees all operations of the Bank, including supervision and regulation, Treasury services, and payments services. 

  • Moderator
Josh Boak
White House Correspondent
The Associated Press

Boak joined the AP as an economics reporter in November 2013. He previously was deputy Washington bureau chief for The Fiscal Times and an economics reporter for Politico. He also was a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering energy, derivatives and agriculture. Boak also covered politics at The Toledo Blade, where he won a Livingston Award and a Gerald Loeb Award.

Panel: The Future of the Republican Party in Minnesota

Former Governor Tim Pawlenty sits down with rising GOP voices Julia Coleman and Zach Duckworth to discuss what’s next for the Republican party in Minnesota. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Tim Pawlenty
Former MN Governor

While serving for two terms as Minnesota’s Governor, Tim Pawlenty used innovative and conservative leadership to balance Minnesota’s budget, cut spending, reform healthcare, and improve schools without raising taxes. Due to his leadership, Minnesota had nation-leading healthcare, high school test scores and a prosperous economy. 

  • Speaker
Zack Duckworth
Minnesota Senator

Duckworth is serving in his second term in the Minnesota Senate. He represents Minnesota’s57th District which includes Lakeville, Elko New Market, Credit River, and Eureka Township. He serves as a member of the Education Policy and Commerce committees, and serves as the Republican lead for the Higher Education committee.

  • Speaker
Julia Coleman
Minnesota Senator
Carver County

Coleman represents District 48 in the Minnesota State Senate, serving communities across Carver County. First elected in 2020, she is currently Assistant Minority Leader and serves on committees focused on education, family policy, and economic growth. Before joining the Senate, Senator Coleman served on the Chanhassen City Council, where she gained firsthand experience addressing local priorities. 

  • Moderator
Rochelle Olson
The Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Columnist

Since 2000, Rochelle Olson has been a reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune covering Minneapolis and St. Paul City Halls, state government, Hennepin and Ramsey counties and the district and state court systems. In February 2025, she joined the editorial board has a columnist focused on politics at the Capitol. 

Session Information; Midwest Creativity Panel

Culture That Shapes the Nation: leading artists and creators explore how the Midwest punches above it’s weight and shapes America’s cultural story far beyond our borders

  • Speaker
Dessa
Musician, Speaker, and Writer

Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. “Congratulations”, the track she contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape, has notched over 20 million streams. As an author, she’s written for The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by the BBC, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, Penguin Random House) in addition to several literary collections. 

  • Speaker
Curtis Sittenfeld
Bestselling American Novelist

Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of seven novels including Romantic Comedy, Prep, American Wife, Eligible and Rodham, and two story collections, You Think It, I’ll Say It and Show Don’t Tell. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, EW, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, picked twice for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Best American Short Stories anthology, of which she was the 2020 guest editor. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.

  • Moderator
Ernesto Londoño
National Correspondent
The New York Times

Londoño is a correspondent on the National desk of The New York Times, where he has worked since 2014.He is the author of Trippy: The Promise and Perils of Medicinal Psychedelics, a book that blends memoir and reportage to take readers inside a wondrous field that straddles spirituality and healthcare. Ernesto joined The Times as an editorial writer, where he focused on foreign policy. Earlier in his career, Ernesto worked at The Washington Post, where his assignments included covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and The Pentagon.

Session Information CEO Panel

Leading from the Midwest: Regional CEOs share candid insights on leadership, growth, and navigating today’s fast changing business landscape. 

  • Speaker
Gianrico Farrugia
President & CEO
Mayo Clinic

Farrugia, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic, leads the world’s No. 1 ranked hospital. Powered by an 85,000-person global workforce, Mayo Clinic cares for people with serious and/or complex illnesses from all 50 U.S. states and across 135 countries annually. With a distinct focus on advancing patient-centered healthcare transformation for the entire sector, Dr. Farrugia is a pioneering voice in moving healthcare from a linear pipeline operating model to a platform-based model. Under his leadership, Mayo Clinic launched and scaled Mayo Clinic Platform, which brings together data partners, solution developers and healthcare providers to transform care through insights derived from the world’s most comprehensive repository of longitudinal, de-identified clinical data across four continents.

  • Speaker
Gunjan Kedia
President & CEO
U.S. Bancorp

Kedia is the president and chief executive officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the country. Kedia became CEO in April 2025 after serving as president since 2024. She previously served as vice chair of Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking. Kedia brings 30 years of financial services experience to her role. Before joining U.S. Bancorp in2016, she led the investment servicing business in the Americas at State Street Financial and was a member of its Managing Committee. In 2004, Kedia joined Bank of New York Mellon, where she served as an executive vice president and head of global product management for its global asset servicing business. Previously, she was a partner at McKinsey & Co. and a core leader of its financial services practice. 

  • Speaker
Beth Wozniak
Chair & CEO
nVent

Wozniak is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of nVent, a $3.3B leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. With more than 11,000 employees worldwide, nVent is focused on building a more sustainable and electrified world. Wozniak is proud of her diverse board and leadership team and is passionate about inclusion and diversity. nVent is a certified Great Place To Work™ and was named to Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production™ List. In 2023, Wozniak was honored by Twin Cities Business as its Person of the Year, and in 2024 Wozniak was named a regional Entrepreneur of the Year®2024 Heartland Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US).

  • Moderator
Allison Kaplan
Director of Innovation & Engagement
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Kaplan is Director of Innovation & Engagement for the Minnesota Star Tribune, working with the newsroom on multimedia initiatives and storytelling that deepens community connection. She brings to this newly created role more than two decades of experience as a journalist, radio show host, podcaster, television contributor, emcee, and entrepreneur. Previously, she served as editor in chief of Twin Cities Business and vice president of content for the magazine division of its parent company, MSP Communications. She created and hosted the TCB podcast By All Means, a show about leadership and innovation. A style columnist turned business editor, Ali’s areas of expertise include retail, entrepreneurship, and work culture. She’s interviewed everyone from top fashion designers and celebrities to Fortune 500 CEOs. A career side hustler, Ali is also the co-founder of Mother Of, a digital media platform that spotlights and offers advice to mothers of the bride and groom.  

Session Information; Disruptor Talks

Fast paced presentations from bold thinkers unpacking trends shaping the Midwest’s future. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Dayna Frank
President & CEO
First Avenue Productions

Frank is President and CEO of First Avenue Productions. Originally founded in 1970, First Avenue promotes over 1,200 shows annually and owns and operates the Fine Line, Turf Club, Palace Theatre, and Fitzgerald Theater, as well as the First Avenue Main room & 7th St Entry. Dayna is co-founder and a Board Member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who rallied music lovers and lobbied Congress, securing $16.25 billion dollars to Save Our Stages. Dayna is a 2018 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Rolling Stone Future 25 2021, Billboard Women in Music Top Executive, pickleball champion, and firm believer in community building through live music. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and two sons.

  • Speaker
Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

  • Speaker
Andrew Miller
Chief Revenue Officer
Minnesota Vikings

Miller enters his seventh season as chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, being named to the position on Aug. 12, 2019. Miller works alongside Vikings ownership and executive leadership in developing the organization’s vision and the strategy for all business departments. Under Miller’s leadership, the Vikings business operations units have seen tremendous success. In 2024, the team and U.S. Bank Stadium earned the No. 1 spot for “Overall Game day Satisfaction” in the NFL-wide “Voice of the Fan” survey, which measures Season Ticket Members’ and game attendees’ experience at all NFL games. The Vikings set an NFL record with the highest score the league had seen in the overall category and finished No. 1 or No. 2 in multiple areas, including “Game Entertainment” and “Gameday Staff.

  • Speaker
Ping Yeh
CEO
Vocxi Health

Ping Yeh is a cancer survivor and health tech entrepreneur building global-impact companies from the heart of the Midwest. He is currently CEO of Vocxi Health, a spinout from Boston Scientific and the University of Minnesota, pioneering breath-based disease detection. Vocxi’s platform, recently nominated for the Prix Galien Award—often referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the medical industry—uses a breathalyzer powered by quantum sensors and AI/ML to extract early signals of cancer and other illnesses from just one minute of breath. Before shifting into health innovation, Ping led breakthrough work in advanced data storage. His early nanotechnology research was used to increase hard drive storage capacity for data centers, and he went on to lead the first and second teams at Seagate to bring solid state drives (SSDs) to the world—technology that now underpins the speed and performance of AI and large language models.

  • Moderator
Kristen Painter
Business Editor
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Kristen Painter is the Star Tribune’s Business Editor. She has spent most of her career in business news, here and in Colorado. As a reporter, she covered a range of beats, including airlines and aerospace, food and agriculture, and growth and development. She’s reported from Tokyo to Sudan. Kristen was a key contributor to teams awarded the Pulitzer Prize and named a Gerald Loeb Awards finalist.

  • Speaker
Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

Disruptor Talks: Dayna Frank

When live music becomes civic power: disrupting culture and business from a concert stage

Speakers:

Dayna Frank
President & CEO
First Avenue Productions

Frank is President and CEO of First Avenue Productions. Originally founded in 1970, First Avenue promotes over 1,200 shows annually and owns and operates the Fine Line, Turf Club, Palace Theatre, and Fitzgerald Theater, as well as the First Avenue Main room & 7th St Entry. Dayna is co-founder and a Board Member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who rallied music lovers and lobbied Congress, securing $16.25 billion dollars to Save Our Stages. Dayna is a 2018 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Rolling Stone Future 25 2021, Billboard Women in Music Top Executive, pickleball champion, and firm believer in community building through live music. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and two sons.

Disruptor Talks: Zachary Mannheimer

What happens when the Midwest leans in reinventing how Americans live? The promise and barriers of being a disruptor in housing and community building. 

Speakers:

Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

Disruptor Talks: Andrew Miller

What does it mean to innovate in one of America’s most tradition-bound industries? How a Midwest team can disrupt sport business and fan engagement 

Speakers:

Andrew Miller
Chief Revenue Officer
Minnesota Vikings

Miller enters his seventh season as chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, being named to the position on Aug. 12, 2019. Miller works alongside Vikings ownership and executive leadership in developing the organization’s vision and the strategy for all business departments. Under Miller’s leadership, the Vikings business operations units have seen tremendous success. In 2024, the team and U.S. Bank Stadium earned the No. 1 spot for “Overall Game day Satisfaction” in the NFL-wide “Voice of the Fan” survey, which measures Season Ticket Members’ and game attendees’ experience at all NFL games. The Vikings set an NFL record with the highest score the league had seen in the overall category and finished No. 1 or No. 2 in multiple areas, including “Game Entertainment” and “Gameday Staff.

Disruptor Talks: Ping Yeh

How do personal experience and Midwest grit fuel innovation? Lessons from building medtech breakthroughs outside the coasts.

Speakers:

Ping Yeh
CEO
Vocxi Health

Ping Yeh is a cancer survivor and health tech entrepreneur building global-impact companies from the heart of the Midwest. He is currently CEO of Vocxi Health, a spinout from Boston Scientific and the University of Minnesota, pioneering breath-based disease detection. Vocxi’s platform, recently nominated for the Prix Galien Award—often referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the medical industry—uses a breathalyzer powered by quantum sensors and AI/ML to extract early signals of cancer and other illnesses from just one minute of breath. Before shifting into health innovation, Ping led breakthrough work in advanced data storage. His early nanotechnology research was used to increase hard drive storage capacity for data centers, and he went on to lead the first and second teams at Seagate to bring solid state drives (SSDs) to the world—technology that now underpins the speed and performance of AI and large language models.

Speaker Information

Michelle Bellanca

Chief Executive Officer, Claros Technologies Inc.

Michelle Bellanca is the co-founder and CEO of Claros Technologies, an advanced technology company that is on a mission to destroy PFAS for good. Claros aims to close the loop on PFAS (“forever chemicals”) – one of the most pressing issues worldwide. She leads an international team developing effective and efficient technology for PFAS destruction at the source, bringing breakthrough solutions to global markets. Her career includes numerous leadership positions at 3M Corporation, such as Global Business Director and Managing Director of Strategic Ventures Asia Pacific. Prior to 3M, Michelle developed IBM’s capital and operating leasing businesses in Latin and South America and began her career in international business development at the Japanese Government’s Ministry of International Trade & Investment in Tokyo, Japan. Michelle was recently named to the TCB100, and her leadership has been recognized with prestigious honors, including the Edison Marketing Award and the 3M Marketing Professionalism award. She has successfully secured over $39 million in financing for Claros since its inception. This same drive extends to her personal life, where she balances her executive responsibilities with raising four children, running marathons, and serving as a trained EMT.

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Carla Vernón

Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, The Honest Company

Carla Vernón has served as a Board Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST), a purpose-driven personal care company since January 2023. She brings more than 25 years of experience scaling iconic consumer brands, leading business transformations, and building high-performing, values-driven teams. As one of the first Afro-Latine/o/a CEOs of a U.S. publicly traded company, her leadership reflects the diversity of Honest’s consumers and the values that guide the brand.

 

Prior to Honest, Carla served as Vice President of Consumables Categories at Amazon. In this role, she held full profit and loss responsibility and led supply chain and technology teams for Everyday Essentials across Amazon.com. Previously, she was a Corporate Officer and President of the Natural and Organic Operating Unit at General Mills, where she helped scale the business into the second-largest manufacturer of organic food and advance its regenerative agriculture efforts.

 

Carla holds an A.B. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, where she is a former Trustee, and an MBA from The University of Texas. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and on the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino.

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Ro Khanna

Congressman, State of California

Ro Khanna is a United States Congressman from California’s 17th District in the heart of Silicon Valley. He has a vision to build America into a modern manufacturing and innovation superpower, and he partners it with a commitment to passing Medicare for All, a livable minimum wage, $10 a day childcare, and free public college and trade school. He is a progressive with a fresh economic vision.

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Wemimo Abbey

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Esusu, Inc.

Wemimo Abbey grew up in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, and came to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for college at the age of 17. Struggling to secure a loan without a credit score, his mother borrowed money from a predatory lender at an exorbitant 400% interest rate. These challenges inspired Wemimo and his Co-Founder to launch Esusu, driven by the belief that no matter where you come from, the color of your skin, or your financial identity, it should not determine where you end up in life. Esusu’s platform empowers renters to build credit through rent payments, offers property management analytics, and provides rental assistance for financial stability. Recently valued at $1 billion in a $130 million Series B fundraising round, Esusu has earned a spot on the Forbes Fintech 50 Most Innovative Companies List for three consecutive years. Wemimo currently serves on The SEC Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council, a Commissioner and Executive Member on the Board of The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Board of Trustees at the University of Minnesota Crookston, a board member at the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), and Co-Chairs The Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) Director Circle.

 

Before Esusu, Wemimo founded Clean Water for Everyone, delivering affordable clean water access to 250,000+ people in six countries. He also founded a data analytics company focused on gathering machine-readable data on NGOs in Africa, which was successfully acquired in 2014. Wemimo’s earlier career involved being a mergers and acquisitions consultant at PwC, working on deals valued at over $50 billion, and gaining experience with Accenture, the European Commission, and Goldman Sachs. Wemimo’s work has been featured in major publications, including Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, New York Times, Quartz, The Atlantic, USA Today, Vice, Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Finance. He was named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, TIME100 NEXT List in 2023, and awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year Nationally. In 2021 and 2022, Goldman Sachs recognized him as one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.” He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Business Management and earned his M.P.A. from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

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Amy Webb

CEO, Future Today Strategy Group

Amy Webb is the quantitative futurist who transformed strategic foresight into a rigorous, data-driven discipline, establishing the foundational methodologies that now guide leaders, organizations, and governments in anticipating disruption and securing long-term growth.


Her clients include a significant portion of the Fortune 100. New CEOs rely on her to navigate leadership transitions. Boards turn to her to understand systemic risk and opportunity amid accelerating change. She has advised three White House administrations and counsels U.S. federal agencies, Congress, and heads of state across four continents on technology and long-term planning and policy.


Her four books — including the international bestseller The Big Nine and The Genesis Machine, named by The New Yorker as one of the year’s best nonfiction — have been translated into 23 languages, with two optioned for film. She also collaborates with writers, directors, and producers on projects for Netflix, Hulu, and Marvel.


Ranked the #3 Most Influential Management Thinker in the World by Thinkers50, Forbes named her “one of the five women changing the world,” and the BBC recognized her among its 100 Women of the Year. Outside of work, she is a competitive endurance cyclist and an Assistant Scoutmaster to one of the country’s first all-girls Scout troops.

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John Phelan

Economist, Center of the American Experiment

John Phelan is a graduate of Birkbeck College, University of London, where he earned a BSc in Economics, and of the London School of Economics where he earned an MSc.

 

John worked in finance for ten years before becoming a professional economist. He worked at Capital Economics in London, where he wrote reports ranging from the impact of Brexit on the British economy to the effect of government regulation on cell phone coverage.

 

John has written for City A.M. in London and for The Wall Street Journal in both Europe and the U.S., as well as newspapers across the Midwest. He has also been published in the journal Economic Affairs.

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Susan Dominus

Staff Writer, New York Times

Susan Dominus is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and has worked for The New York Times since 2007, initially as a Metro columnist. She is a graduate of Yale College and has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Dominus also teaches journalism at Yale College.

 

In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for their reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. She has also received a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York and a Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award from the New York Press Club. Her article about menopause in The New York Times Magazine earned a National Magazine Award.

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Julie Pace

Executive Editor and Senior Vice President, Associated Press

Julie Pace is Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of The Associated Press, leading global news coverage from more than 100 countries. Since Pace assumed the role in 2021, AP has significantly expanded its digital news offerings for media and technology customers and led the growth of AP’s direct to consumer platforms, which are among the fastest growing in the U.S. Under Pace’s leadership, AP has also expanded its use of AI technologies to enhance its product offerings, while maintaining the news organization’s deep commitment to eyewitness journalism and fact-based, nonpartisan news. During Pace’s tenure, the AP has been awarded four Pulitzer Prizes, and produced an award-winning documentary on the Ukraine war that won an Academy Award and a BAFTA.


Previously, Pace was Washington Bureau Chief for AP, directing the news organization’s coverage of the presidency, politics and the U.S. government during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.


Before that, Pace was AP’s White House Correspondent, contributing aggressive news reporting and sharp analysis to the AP news report. Pace won the White House Correspondents’ Association Merriman Smith award in 2013 for her work explaining the Obama campaign’s complex approach to voter turnout.


She joined AP in 2007 as a multimedia reporter, developing and executing AP’s plans for live video coverage of 2008′s Election Day and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.


A native of Buffalo, New York, Pace began her career as a reporter in 2003 at South Africa’s only independent television network, before spending two years reporting on politics and elections at the Tampa Tribune and its partner television station WFLA. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. She lives in New York.

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Adair Mosley

CEO, GroundBreak Coalition

Adair Mosley is a visionary leader reshaping the future of equity in Minnesota. As CEO of GroundBreak Coalition, he leads one of the nation’s most ambitious mobilizations of capital and partnership—orchestrating $5.3 billion over 10 years to close wealth gaps through homeownership, entrepreneurship, and commercial real estate development. GroundBreak brings together 40+ corporate, civic, and philanthropic partners in a backbone coalition deploying both market-rate capital ($4.2 billion) and flexible non-market rate capital ($1.2 billion) to build a future where Black communities thrive—not just survive.

 

A strategist, builder, and truth-teller, Adair’s work is rooted in justice and scaled by innovation. Previously, as CEO of the African American Leadership Forum and Pillsbury United Communities, where he launched Justice Built Communities, securing $5 million to prioritize Black-owned development. He led the $7 million capital campaign for North Market, a nationally recognized grocery and wellness model designed to address food access and health equity. He revitalized North News—a Black-led media outlet—ensuring authentic storytelling from within the community. He helped develop a pioneering policy solution that created a national billing code for community health work, strengthening sustainable investment in grassroots health equity.


Adair’s influence extends across sectors. He sits on the boards of Walker Art Museum, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Community Advisory Board, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and and GreenLight Fund National. His leadership has been recognized by Harvard’s Young American Leaders Program and Twin Cities Business magazine, which named him one of “100 People to Know.”


With a MSc in Cities from the London School of Economics, training from Stanford’s d.school in Human-Centered Design, and credentials from the University of Minnesota and University of Michigan, Adair brings a rare blend of grassroots insight and executive strategy to every room he enters.


Whether working alongside community visionaries and leaders or corporate executives, Adair leads with an unwavering belief: systems can—and must—be rebuilt for justice. He isn’t interested in incremental change. He’s here to reimagine what’s possible and to construct a future that honors Black brilliance, ownership, and self-determination.

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Andrew Dayton

Founder and CEO, Constellation Fund

Andrew Dayton is the founder and CEO of the Constellation Fund, a Minneapolis-based foundation dedicated to effective poverty alleviation. Constellation leverages modern analytics alongside community insights to identify, fund, and empower the people and organizations making the greatest measurable impact on poverty in the Twin Cities. Through its research arm, CoLab, Constellation also catalyzes and funds longitudinal research on what actually drives economic mobility.

 

Before founding Constellation, Andrew served as Deputy Legislative Director to former San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee, directing the city’s state and federal policy priorities. He previously co-owned The Bachelor Farmer, Marvel Bar, and Askov Finlayson, three award-winning hospitality and retail businesses in the Twin Cities.

 

Andrew received a B.A. in History from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughters.

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Varun Shetty

VP, Media Partnerships, OpenAI

Varun Shetty works on media partnerships at OpenAI, developing collaborations with media and entertainment companies and exploring how AI can enable new products, creative experiences, and business models. His work sits at the intersection of technology, content, and partnership strategy, with a focus on building practical opportunities for creators, companies, and audiences. Prior to OpenAI he worked at Meta and The New York Times.

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Adam Winer

Principal Product Manager, Spotify

From creating YouTube videos before ‘creator’ was a job title to leading content insights at Spotify, Adam Winer has made a career of understanding why media resonates with audiences, even as the definition of media constantly evolves. As Spotify’s Head of Content Strategy, Insights & Analytics for seven years, he led a team that turned audience research into product and business strategy recommendations. He recently moved over to building for podcast creators and audiences. Over the course of his career, Adam has also been a senior vice president at Condé Nast, an early YouTuber who was part of a program that helped coin the term ‘creator,’ and — a million years ago — a cast member on VH1’s pop-culture comedy show Best Week Ever.

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Rebecca Cunningham

President, University of Minnesota

Rebecca Cunningham became the 18th President of the University of Minnesota on July 1, 2024.

 

President Cunningham leads the University of Minnesota’s mission to educate the next generation of leaders, strengthen communities across the state and generate discoveries that improve lives throughout Minnesota, the nation and the world.

 

She has articulated a bold vision for the University of Minnesota as a magnet for top talent, a powerful driver of economic vitality and one of the nation’s most impactful public research universities. Central to that vision is the University’s role as a modern land-grant institution—one that delivers real-world solutions, expands opportunity, and serves the public good.

Under her leadership, the University is championing real world learning as a defining element of an accessible, world-class education, ensuring students are prepared to lead, innovate and contribute across sectors. She has also made improving health and healthcare for all Minnesotans—today and for decades to come—a central institutional priority, alongside protecting and advancing the state’s natural resources, with a particular emphasis on rural economic vitality and precision agriculture.

 

These priority areas are embedded in Elevate Extraordinary 2030, the strategic roadmap launched under President Cunningham in October 2025. This roadmap builds upon the University’s historic strengths while setting objectives greater than anything already accomplished. It is being implemented with strong support and ongoing engagement from students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners throughout Minnesota.

 

In parallel, President Cunningham is leading the launch of a new brand and travelling across the state and nation to engage with prospective students and loyal alumni in celebration of the University’s 175th year. She also maintains a faculty appointment in the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology & Community Health.

 

In January 2026, President Cunningham led the University of Minnesota—Minnesota’s health and healthcare leader—to forge a new agreement with M Physicians and Fairview that affirms and supports the University’s critical role in medical education, research discovery and clinical care and brings the stability needed to build a long-term solution to meet Minnesota’s most pressing health and healthcare needs. 

 

The University is one of a handful of public universities that works across all the health sciences—medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, public health and veterinary—to deliver research, education and care. This includes 887 active clinical trials across a range of conditions and diseases, training 70 percent of Minnesota’s health care professionals and serving 1 million patients—including Minnesotans from all 87 counties.

 

Before joining the University of Minnesota, President Cunningham served as the Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan, where she was responsible for expanding its annual research portfolio to a record $2 billion. At Michigan, she led a university-wide strategy that bolstered discovery and impact across three campuses, accelerated knowledge translation, supported entrepreneurial activity, expanded statewide economic development and advanced undergraduate student success.

 

A renowned expert in public health, President Cunningham was inducted in the National Academy of Medicine in 2019. She holds a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College, and she completed her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Michigan. 

 

President Cunningham resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband, Ken, and their dogs Charlie and Olive. They have five grown children. With a long history of family members living in the Twin Cities, President Cunningham considered Minnesota her second home years before her presidency began. For more than 30 years now, her family has participated in YMCA family camp, canoed the Boundary Waters and enjoyed trips to the Walker Art Center, the Guthrie Theater, the Bell Museum and Minnesota State Fair—experiences that deepened her early connection to Minnesota.

 

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Kimbriell Kelly

Editor-in-Chief, Chicago Public Media

Kimbriell Kelly is the Editor-in-Chief of Chicago Public Media, the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsroom, overseeing a team of more than 140 talented staff for the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

 

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism executive and 25-year veteran investigative editor and reporter, Kelly has overseen multiple award-winning projects in some of the nation’s largest newsrooms, including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

 

As former assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief at the Los Angeles Times, Kelly oversaw coverage of politics and policy in Washington, D.C. During her tenure, Kelly led the bureau’s coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the 2020 Trump election challenge and, in her first year as bureau chief, launched three successful series, the “United States of California,” “Covering Kamala Harris” and “Extreme Heat.” Kelly edited the immigration coverage that led to the bureau’s first Pulitzer Prize in 17 years.

 

Prior to joining The Times, Kelly was an investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where she was part of the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for the series “Fatal Force,” uncovering the FBI’s undercounting of fatal officer-involved shootings. She was a 2019 Pulitzer finalist for explanatory reporting for “Murder with Impunity,” a year-long examination of unsolved homicides across major cities in America. She is also the winner of the Polk Award for national reporting, Sigma Delta Chi for public service, among other awards, and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize and Selden Ring. Prior to moving to Washington, Kelly was a reporter, editor and publisher in metropolitan Chicago for almost 15 years at the Daily Herald and the Chicago Reporter, where her investigation into Countrywide Financial’s subprime mortgage lending led to the nation’s largest fair-lending settlement.

 

Kelly serves on the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is vice president of the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. She was twice named Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, in 2020 and 2021, and has served as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley, Roosevelt University and American University.

 

Education: M.S. Journalism, Boston University. B.A. English, St. Xavier University in Chicago. +

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Terry Rasmussen

President and CEO, Thrivent

Theresa (Terry) Rasmussen is president and chief executive officer of Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services company. She is a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors and serves on its Executive Committee.

 

Thrivent offers advice, insurance, investments, banking and generosity products and programs to clients in communities across the United States. Under Rasmussen’s leadership, Thrivent is transforming into a holistic financial services organization, helping current and future generations achieve financial clarity, enabling lives full of meaning and gratitude.

 

Before her current role, Rasmussen was president of Thrivent’s core life, health and annuities business after serving 10 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Prior to joining Thrivent, Rasmussen held a series of leadership roles at American Express, including serving as vice president and managing counsel. Earlier in her career, she was a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, as part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. 

 

She is chair of the board of directors for H.B. Fuller Company, a $2.9 billion global adhesives and specialty chemical products company, where she also chairs the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Rasmussen also is chair of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) Board of Directors where she chairs the Executive committee, and serves on the Compensation and Internal Compliance, and Finance committees. Additionally, she is a board member of the Walker Art Center, a world-renowned contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, where she’s a member of the Audit and Finance committees. She previously served as a board member for the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF).

 

Rasmussen received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Minnesota State University at Moorhead. After passing the CPA exam, she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota.

 

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Barry Kudrowitz

PhD, Head of Design Innovation, College of Design - University of Minnesota

Barry Kudrowitz, PhD, is a professor of product design and Head of the Department of Design Innovation in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, USA. There, he founded and directed the product design program from 2011–2021. Kudrowitz received his PhD from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying humor, creativity, and idea generation. Kudrowitz is interested in how creativity is perceived, evaluated, and learned. He has years of experience working with the toy industry and has taught toy design for over a decade. Kudrowitz co-designed a Nerf toy, an elevator simulator that was in operation at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and a ketchup-dispensing robot that was featured on the Martha Stewart Show. He is the author of Sparking Creativity: How Play and Humor Fuel Innovation.

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Rob Vischer

President, University of St. Thomas

As president, Rob Vischer has advanced the university’s key priorities while reinforcing St. Thomas’ commitment to its mission of whole-person formation and fostering what Pope Francis called a “culture of encounter” in which every student has the experience of being seen, known, and loved. He has also worked to strengthen the national visibility of Minnesota’s largest private university through distinctive academic programs and by becoming the first university to jump directly from Division III to Division I athletics.

 

Vischer received a B.A. from the University of New Orleans and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Before entering academia, he practiced corporate litigation at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago and clerked for three federal judges.

 

Vischer serves on the board of the Association for Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU).  He serves on the executive committee of GREATER MSP and as a board member of the Minnesota Business Partnership and the Greater Twin Cities United Way. 

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Jacob Frey

Mayor, Minneapolis

Jacob Frey fell in love with Minneapolis while running the Twin Cities Marathon. The day after graduating from law school, he moved across the country to make Minneapolis his new home. After practicing law and winning the city’s first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Award for his civil rights work, Jacob served as a City Council Member for Ward 3 before being elected as the 48th mayor of Minneapolis.

Under his leadership, the city has led the nation in affordable housing policy, producing 8.5 times the amount of deeply affordable housing compared to before he took office. He pioneered the elimination of exclusionary zoning, setting a national example, and has led the city through crisis to improve safety, revitalize downtown, and drive economic growth through inclusive policies. Jacob’s commitment to change was further demonstrated in 2021 when voters approved an entirely new form of government, ensuring more effective, equitable, and efficient city services for everyone in the great city of Minneapolis.

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Christophe Beck

Chairman, President and CEO, Ecolab and Chair of Greater MSP

As chairman, president and CEO of Ecolab, Christophe Beck leads 48,000 associates around the world who are advancing Ecolab’s purpose to protect people and the resources vital to life. Under his leadership, Ecolab has entered a new chapter of accelerated growth by helping customers achieve best-in-class performance while using fewer natural resources.

 

Since becoming CEO in 2021, Christophe has sharpened Ecolab’s focus on where customer needs are growing fastest and where the company is positioned to lead. During this period, Ecolab has grown sales to $16 billion and delivered record earnings, driven by breakthrough innovation, disciplined execution and the most engaged and diverse workforce in the company’s history. Today, Ecolab helps protect one-third of the world’s food supply and a quarter of the power generated globally. By 2030, the company aims to help protect 2 billion people from infections and conserve enough water to meet the drinking needs of 1 billion people.

 

As the world’s water company, Christophe is leading Ecolab across the fastest growing industries in the world where water and performance matter most, including microelectronics, data centers and life sciences. The company enables chip manufacturers and data center operators to deliver higher performance with less water, less energy and greater reliability. In life sciences, Ecolab supports the development and manufacturing of life‑saving drugs through end‑to‑end solutions that meet the highest standards for quality and safety. 

 

Christophe is a purpose-driven leader who cares deeply about strengthening the communities where Ecolab operates. He serves as co‑chair of the U.N. Water Resilience Coalition, a CEO‑led initiative mobilizing private‑sector action to address water stress in the world’s most vulnerable basins. In Minnesota, where Ecolab has been headquartered for more than a century, he has convened business, government and nonprofit leaders to advance initiatives that strengthen the local economy, including sustainable aviation fuel, medical technology and health innovation, and public‑private collaboration to address homelessness and expand economic opportunity.  

 

Christophe joined Ecolab in 2007 and has held multiple senior leadership roles, including leading the successful integration of Nalco. He was named president and CEO in 2021 and chairman in 2022. He serves on the boards of Delta Air Lines and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and is chair of GREATER MSP. A native of Switzerland, he holds dual Swiss and U.S. citizenship and earned a master’s degree in engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Christophe and his wife have two children and live in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. 

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Ron Schutz

Republican Candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota

Ron Schutz is a lifelong Minnesotan and grew up on a dairy farm.  He attended Marquette University on an Army ROTC scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  He graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota law school and spent the first four years of his legal career in the JAG Corps where he spent two years as a defense lawyer and then two years as a prosecutor.  He tried 20 felony court martials.

 

After leaving the Army, Mr. Schutz joined a 200-lawyer national litigation firm and served as the firm’s Chairman from 2019-2024. He is currently the Republican Candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota.

 

Mr. Schutz is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is the preeminent organization of trial lawyers in North America.

 

He has frequently been recognized as one the top lawyers in the country. In 2024 he was named to Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers and he was named to the same list in 2025. 

 

Mr. Schutz is married to his high school sweetheart Janet, and they have three adult children. Mr. Schutz has run several marathons and triathlons and enjoys hunting and other outdoor adventure activities. He has trekked to Mount Everest Base Camp, Machu Picchu, and the Refugio on Mt. Cotopaxi.  He has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and the Gran Paradiso (Italian Alps). 

Session Information: Morning Keynote

The Great Progression: Understanding the Next Great Digital Age: Peter Leyden reveals how AI and emerging tech could spark a new era of progress and possibility.

Speakers:

Peter Leyden
Tech Expert & Futurist

Leyden is a tech expert and thought leader on artificial intelligence, climate technologies and a more positive future through his keynote speaking, writing and advising.

Insight Talks: Big Ideas in Brief

Fast paced presentations from bold thinkers unpacking trends shaping the Midwest’s future. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Susan Brower
State Demographer
State of Minnesota

Brower is the Minnesota State Demographer and directs the MN State Demographic Center. She travels the state talking with Minnesotans about the new social and economic realities that are brought about by recent demographic shifts.

  • Speaker
Myles Shaver
Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Minnesota-Carlson School of Management

Shaver is Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. Myles’ research about corporate expansion is published in leading scholarly journals and he is invited to present at conferences and universities around the world.

  • Speaker
Chanda Smith Baker
President & CEO
Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation

Smith Baker is President and CEO of the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, which stewards nearly $2 billion in charitable assets and is the state’s largest community foundation. A nationally recognized executive and strategist, she brings more than 25 years of leadership experience across philanthropy, business, government, and community.

  • Speaker
Peter Meijer
Co-Founder and Head of Strategy
The New Industrial Corporation

Meijer is a co-founder and Head of Strategy at The New Industrial Corporation, an investment company specializing in project development at the intersection of venture and infrastructure capital. In Congress, he represented Michigan’s Third Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, serving on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology committees. 

  • Speaker
Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. Houston is invested in creating a better world, especially for the black community, and regularly collaborates with local government officials and business leaders to increase racial equity. The driving force behind his work over the past two decades has been to inspire a renaissance of optimism and action with and for people who believe in vibrant Black futures. 

  • Speaker
Danielle Russell
Managing Director of Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

 Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

  • Moderator
Phil Morris
Vice President & Opinion Editor
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Morris has been recognized as a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary and formerly worked as a contributing essayist for National Geographic Magazine. Morris was the recipient of a Knight-Wallace Fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he researched the use of social media in social justice movements.

  • Speaker
Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. Houston is invested in creating a better world, especially for the black community, and regularly collaborates with local government officials and business leaders to increase racial equity. The driving force behind his work over the past two decades has been to inspire a renaissance of optimism and action with and for people who believe in vibrant Black futures. 

  • Speaker
Danielle Russell
Managing Director of Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

 Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

Insight Talks: Myles Shaver

Why does Minnesota punch above it’s weight in headquarters and talent? Fresh insights into the Midwest’s competitive edge. 

Speakers:

Myles Shaver
Professor & Associate Dean of Faculty & Research
University of Minnesota-Carlson School of Management

Shaver is Associate Dean of Faculty and Research at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management where he is a Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and holds the Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Corporate Strategy. Myles’ research about corporate expansion is published in leading scholarly journals and he is invited to present at conferences and universities around the world. 

Insight Talks: Chanda Smith Baker

A reflection on the Minnesota paradox and the creative role that philanthropy can play in addressing systemic inequality.  

Speakers:

Chanda Smith Baker
President & CEO
Minnesota & Saint Paul Foundation

Smith Baker became the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation’s President & CEO on August 25, 2025.The Foundation is a trusted philanthropic partner for individuals, families and organizations statewide, providing more than 9,000 grants annually. A seasoned executive and nationally recognized thought leader, Chanda brings deep expertise in aligning vital resources with community priorities and a steadfast belief in what’s possible when people unite around a common purpose.

Insight Talks: Peter Meijer

What does it mean to rethink industry and politics from the Midwest? How can independent thinking from our region disrupt the status quo nationally? 

Speakers:

Peter Meijer
Co-Founder & Head of Strategy
The New Industrial Corporation

Former Congressman Peter Meijer is a co-founder and Head of Strategy at The New Industrial Corporation, an investment company specializing in project development at the intersection of venture and infrastructure capital. In Congress, he represented Michigan’s Third Congressional District in the US House of Representatives, serving on the Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Science, Space, and Technology committees.

Insight Talks: Houston White

What building community-first businesses in Minneapolis can teach the nation about bridging divides. 

Speakers:

Houston White
CEO & Entrepreneur
Houston White Ventures

Business leader and entrepreneur Houston White is a creative visionary who brings people, cultures, and communities together to elevate one another. 

Insight Talks: Danielle Russell

What Midwest businesses must learn about data, privacy, and digital transformation.

Speakers:

Danielle Russell
Managing Director: Data, Measurement, and Analytics
Google

Russell is a seasoned senior strategy and operations executive with over 25 years of experience advising C-suite leaders at Fortune 500 companies. As a Managing Director at Google and a recognized Top Technology Executive in Michigan, she drives business growth and digital transformation by helping clients modernize their marketing efforts. 

Fireside Chat: AI

Two of the nation’s most influential economic voices explore how artificial intelligence, innovation, and economic policy are reshaping the future of work, growth, and stability in the Midwest and beyond.  

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Dr. Ronnie Chatterji
Chief Economist
Open AI

Aaron “Ronnie” Chatterji, Ph.D., is Open AI’s first Chief Economist. He is also the Mark Burgess & Lisa Benson-Burgess Distinguished Professor at Duke University, working at the intersection of academia, policy, and business. He served in the Biden Administration as White House CHIPS coordinator and Acting Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, shaping industrial policy, manufacturing, and supply chains. Before that, he was Chief Economist at the Department of Commerce and a Senior Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

  • Speaker
Neel Kashkari
President & CEO
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis

Neel Kashkari President and CEO Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Neel Kashkari took office as president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on January 1, 2016, following a national search conducted by the Bank’s independent board of directors. In this role, he serves as a member on the Federal Open Market Committee, bringing the Ninth District’s perspective to monetary policy discussions in Washington, D.C. In addition to his responsibilities as a monetary policymaker, Neel oversees all operations of the Bank, including supervision and regulation, Treasury services, and payments services. 

  • Moderator
Josh Boak
White House Correspondent
The Associated Press

Boak joined the AP as an economics reporter in November 2013. He previously was deputy Washington bureau chief for The Fiscal Times and an economics reporter for Politico. He also was a business reporter for the Chicago Tribune, covering energy, derivatives and agriculture. Boak also covered politics at The Toledo Blade, where he won a Livingston Award and a Gerald Loeb Award.

Panel: The Future of the Republican Party in Minnesota

Former Governor Tim Pawlenty sits down with rising GOP voices Julia Coleman and Zach Duckworth to discuss what’s next for the Republican party in Minnesota. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Tim Pawlenty
Former MN Governor

While serving for two terms as Minnesota’s Governor, Tim Pawlenty used innovative and conservative leadership to balance Minnesota’s budget, cut spending, reform healthcare, and improve schools without raising taxes. Due to his leadership, Minnesota had nation-leading healthcare, high school test scores and a prosperous economy. 

  • Speaker
Zack Duckworth
Minnesota Senator

Duckworth is serving in his second term in the Minnesota Senate. He represents Minnesota’s57th District which includes Lakeville, Elko New Market, Credit River, and Eureka Township. He serves as a member of the Education Policy and Commerce committees, and serves as the Republican lead for the Higher Education committee.

  • Speaker
Julia Coleman
Minnesota Senator
Carver County

Coleman represents District 48 in the Minnesota State Senate, serving communities across Carver County. First elected in 2020, she is currently Assistant Minority Leader and serves on committees focused on education, family policy, and economic growth. Before joining the Senate, Senator Coleman served on the Chanhassen City Council, where she gained firsthand experience addressing local priorities. 

  • Moderator
Rochelle Olson
The Minnesota Star Tribune Editorial Columnist

Since 2000, Rochelle Olson has been a reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune covering Minneapolis and St. Paul City Halls, state government, Hennepin and Ramsey counties and the district and state court systems. In February 2025, she joined the editorial board has a columnist focused on politics at the Capitol. 

Session Information; Midwest Creativity Panel

Culture That Shapes the Nation: leading artists and creators explore how the Midwest punches above it’s weight and shapes America’s cultural story far beyond our borders

  • Speaker
Dessa
Musician, Speaker, and Writer

Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. “Congratulations”, the track she contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape, has notched over 20 million streams. As an author, she’s written for The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by the BBC, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, Penguin Random House) in addition to several literary collections. 

  • Speaker
Curtis Sittenfeld
Bestselling American Novelist

Sittenfeld is the bestselling author of seven novels including Romantic Comedy, Prep, American Wife, Eligible and Rodham, and two story collections, You Think It, I’ll Say It and Show Don’t Tell. Her books have been selected by The New York Times, Time, EW, and People for their “Ten Best Books of the Year” lists, picked twice for Reese Witherspoon’s book club, optioned for television and film, and translated into thirty languages. Her short stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The Best American Short Stories anthology, of which she was the 2020 guest editor. She lives with her family in Minneapolis.

  • Moderator
Ernesto Londoño
National Correspondent
The New York Times

Londoño is a correspondent on the National desk of The New York Times, where he has worked since 2014.He is the author of Trippy: The Promise and Perils of Medicinal Psychedelics, a book that blends memoir and reportage to take readers inside a wondrous field that straddles spirituality and healthcare. Ernesto joined The Times as an editorial writer, where he focused on foreign policy. Earlier in his career, Ernesto worked at The Washington Post, where his assignments included covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring and The Pentagon.

Session Information CEO Panel

Leading from the Midwest: Regional CEOs share candid insights on leadership, growth, and navigating today’s fast changing business landscape. 

  • Speaker
Gianrico Farrugia
President & CEO
Mayo Clinic

Farrugia, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Mayo Clinic, leads the world’s No. 1 ranked hospital. Powered by an 85,000-person global workforce, Mayo Clinic cares for people with serious and/or complex illnesses from all 50 U.S. states and across 135 countries annually. With a distinct focus on advancing patient-centered healthcare transformation for the entire sector, Dr. Farrugia is a pioneering voice in moving healthcare from a linear pipeline operating model to a platform-based model. Under his leadership, Mayo Clinic launched and scaled Mayo Clinic Platform, which brings together data partners, solution developers and healthcare providers to transform care through insights derived from the world’s most comprehensive repository of longitudinal, de-identified clinical data across four continents.

  • Speaker
Gunjan Kedia
President & CEO
U.S. Bancorp

Kedia is the president and chief executive officer, and a member of the Board of Directors of U.S. Bancorp, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the country. Kedia became CEO in April 2025 after serving as president since 2024. She previously served as vice chair of Wealth, Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking. Kedia brings 30 years of financial services experience to her role. Before joining U.S. Bancorp in2016, she led the investment servicing business in the Americas at State Street Financial and was a member of its Managing Committee. In 2004, Kedia joined Bank of New York Mellon, where she served as an executive vice president and head of global product management for its global asset servicing business. Previously, she was a partner at McKinsey & Co. and a core leader of its financial services practice. 

  • Speaker
Beth Wozniak
Chair & CEO
nVent

Wozniak is the Chair and Chief Executive Officer of nVent, a $3.3B leading global provider of electrical connection and protection solutions. With more than 11,000 employees worldwide, nVent is focused on building a more sustainable and electrified world. Wozniak is proud of her diverse board and leadership team and is passionate about inclusion and diversity. nVent is a certified Great Place To Work™ and was named to Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Manufacturing & Production™ List. In 2023, Wozniak was honored by Twin Cities Business as its Person of the Year, and in 2024 Wozniak was named a regional Entrepreneur of the Year®2024 Heartland Award winner by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US).

  • Moderator
Allison Kaplan
Director of Innovation & Engagement
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Kaplan is Director of Innovation & Engagement for the Minnesota Star Tribune, working with the newsroom on multimedia initiatives and storytelling that deepens community connection. She brings to this newly created role more than two decades of experience as a journalist, radio show host, podcaster, television contributor, emcee, and entrepreneur. Previously, she served as editor in chief of Twin Cities Business and vice president of content for the magazine division of its parent company, MSP Communications. She created and hosted the TCB podcast By All Means, a show about leadership and innovation. A style columnist turned business editor, Ali’s areas of expertise include retail, entrepreneurship, and work culture. She’s interviewed everyone from top fashion designers and celebrities to Fortune 500 CEOs. A career side hustler, Ali is also the co-founder of Mother Of, a digital media platform that spotlights and offers advice to mothers of the bride and groom.  

Session Information; Disruptor Talks

Fast paced presentations from bold thinkers unpacking trends shaping the Midwest’s future. 

Speakers:

  • Speaker
Dayna Frank
President & CEO
First Avenue Productions

Frank is President and CEO of First Avenue Productions. Originally founded in 1970, First Avenue promotes over 1,200 shows annually and owns and operates the Fine Line, Turf Club, Palace Theatre, and Fitzgerald Theater, as well as the First Avenue Main room & 7th St Entry. Dayna is co-founder and a Board Member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who rallied music lovers and lobbied Congress, securing $16.25 billion dollars to Save Our Stages. Dayna is a 2018 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Rolling Stone Future 25 2021, Billboard Women in Music Top Executive, pickleball champion, and firm believer in community building through live music. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and two sons.

  • Speaker
Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

  • Speaker
Andrew Miller
Chief Revenue Officer
Minnesota Vikings

Miller enters his seventh season as chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, being named to the position on Aug. 12, 2019. Miller works alongside Vikings ownership and executive leadership in developing the organization’s vision and the strategy for all business departments. Under Miller’s leadership, the Vikings business operations units have seen tremendous success. In 2024, the team and U.S. Bank Stadium earned the No. 1 spot for “Overall Game day Satisfaction” in the NFL-wide “Voice of the Fan” survey, which measures Season Ticket Members’ and game attendees’ experience at all NFL games. The Vikings set an NFL record with the highest score the league had seen in the overall category and finished No. 1 or No. 2 in multiple areas, including “Game Entertainment” and “Gameday Staff.

  • Speaker
Ping Yeh
CEO
Vocxi Health

Ping Yeh is a cancer survivor and health tech entrepreneur building global-impact companies from the heart of the Midwest. He is currently CEO of Vocxi Health, a spinout from Boston Scientific and the University of Minnesota, pioneering breath-based disease detection. Vocxi’s platform, recently nominated for the Prix Galien Award—often referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the medical industry—uses a breathalyzer powered by quantum sensors and AI/ML to extract early signals of cancer and other illnesses from just one minute of breath. Before shifting into health innovation, Ping led breakthrough work in advanced data storage. His early nanotechnology research was used to increase hard drive storage capacity for data centers, and he went on to lead the first and second teams at Seagate to bring solid state drives (SSDs) to the world—technology that now underpins the speed and performance of AI and large language models.

  • Moderator
Kristen Painter
Business Editor
The Minnesota Star Tribune

Kristen Painter is the Star Tribune’s Business Editor. She has spent most of her career in business news, here and in Colorado. As a reporter, she covered a range of beats, including airlines and aerospace, food and agriculture, and growth and development. She’s reported from Tokyo to Sudan. Kristen was a key contributor to teams awarded the Pulitzer Prize and named a Gerald Loeb Awards finalist.

  • Speaker
Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

Disruptor Talks: Dayna Frank

When live music becomes civic power: disrupting culture and business from a concert stage

Speakers:

Dayna Frank
President & CEO
First Avenue Productions

Frank is President and CEO of First Avenue Productions. Originally founded in 1970, First Avenue promotes over 1,200 shows annually and owns and operates the Fine Line, Turf Club, Palace Theatre, and Fitzgerald Theater, as well as the First Avenue Main room & 7th St Entry. Dayna is co-founder and a Board Member of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), who rallied music lovers and lobbied Congress, securing $16.25 billion dollars to Save Our Stages. Dayna is a 2018 Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute, Rolling Stone Future 25 2021, Billboard Women in Music Top Executive, pickleball champion, and firm believer in community building through live music. She lives in Minneapolis with her wife and two sons.

Disruptor Talks: Zachary Mannheimer

What happens when the Midwest leans in reinventing how Americans live? The promise and barriers of being a disruptor in housing and community building. 

Speakers:

Zachary Mannheimer
Founder & Chairman
Alquist 3D

Zachary, a native of SE Pennsylvania, studied Theater and Philosophy at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. Post-graduation he ventured to London and NYC, creating, and operating several experimental theater companies. A transformative road trip in 2007 led him to Des Moines, IA where he spearheaded and established the non-profit Des Moines Social Club with a dedicated group of artistic collaborators. In 2020 he co-founded Atlas Community Studios, addressing community and economic development in over 25 states. Zack recognized the acute need for quality, affordable housing in America and, in response, established Alquist 3D to 3D print homes in underserved communities.

Disruptor Talks: Andrew Miller

What does it mean to innovate in one of America’s most tradition-bound industries? How a Midwest team can disrupt sport business and fan engagement 

Speakers:

Andrew Miller
Chief Revenue Officer
Minnesota Vikings

Miller enters his seventh season as chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings in 2025, being named to the position on Aug. 12, 2019. Miller works alongside Vikings ownership and executive leadership in developing the organization’s vision and the strategy for all business departments. Under Miller’s leadership, the Vikings business operations units have seen tremendous success. In 2024, the team and U.S. Bank Stadium earned the No. 1 spot for “Overall Game day Satisfaction” in the NFL-wide “Voice of the Fan” survey, which measures Season Ticket Members’ and game attendees’ experience at all NFL games. The Vikings set an NFL record with the highest score the league had seen in the overall category and finished No. 1 or No. 2 in multiple areas, including “Game Entertainment” and “Gameday Staff.

Disruptor Talks: Ping Yeh

How do personal experience and Midwest grit fuel innovation? Lessons from building medtech breakthroughs outside the coasts.

Speakers:

Ping Yeh
CEO
Vocxi Health

Ping Yeh is a cancer survivor and health tech entrepreneur building global-impact companies from the heart of the Midwest. He is currently CEO of Vocxi Health, a spinout from Boston Scientific and the University of Minnesota, pioneering breath-based disease detection. Vocxi’s platform, recently nominated for the Prix Galien Award—often referred to as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in the medical industry—uses a breathalyzer powered by quantum sensors and AI/ML to extract early signals of cancer and other illnesses from just one minute of breath. Before shifting into health innovation, Ping led breakthrough work in advanced data storage. His early nanotechnology research was used to increase hard drive storage capacity for data centers, and he went on to lead the first and second teams at Seagate to bring solid state drives (SSDs) to the world—technology that now underpins the speed and performance of AI and large language models.

Session Information States v. Washington: Who's Leading?

Two Midwestern Governors explore what states can do better than Washington, and how Governors are stepping up in a time of national gridlock. 

  • Speaker
Governor Walz
41st Governor of Minnesota

Governor Tim Walz is Minnesota’s 41st Governor. He was first elected Governor in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. Accomplishments from his time as Governor include providing universal free school meals for students, protecting reproductive freedom, strengthening voting rights, laying the groundwork to get Minnesota to 100% clean electricity by 2040, cutting taxes for the middle class, and expanding paid leave for Minnesota workers. Throughout his time as Governor, Tim has prioritized making Minnesota the best state in the country to raise a family. Born in a small town in rural Nebraska, Tim’s parents instilled in him the values of public service, generosity toward your neighbors, and working for the common good that guide his commitment to Minnesota today.

  • Speaker
Governor Pritzker
43rd Governor of Illinois

Governor JB Pritzker is Illinois’ 43rd Governor, elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022 with the highest vote share for any Democratic governor in more than 60 years. Since taking office, he has accomplished one of the most ambitious policy agendas in the nation. During his tenure, he has worked with the General Assembly to overcome years of fiscal mismanagement by balancing the state budget every year, eliminating the state’s multi-billion-dollar bill backlog, improving pension funding, and achieving nine credit rating upgrades. He raised the minimum wage to a living wage and made historic investments to infrastructure. He has attracted massive new investments in electric vehicle manufacturing and quantum computing, helping Illinois’ economy reach over a trillion dollars.

  • Moderator
Lisa Lerer
National Political Correspondent
The New York Times

Lisa Lerer is a national political correspondent for The New York Times, who has written about American politics, power, and elections for nearly two decades. She has covered five presidential campaigns, the White House, and Congress. Her focus is examining the big personalities, ideas and emotions that drive American politics. She joined The Times in 2018, as the founding author of the On Politics newsletter. Previously, she was a national political writer at The Associated Press, and reported for Politico, Bloomberg News, Business week and The American Lawyer magazine. She was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Columbia Journalism School. After about a dozen years in Washington, she now lives in New York City with her family.

Insight Talks: Susan Brower

What do the numbers tell us about the Midwest’s future? Demographic shifts that will define the next generation of regional leadership and growth.

Speakers:

Susan Brower
State Demographer

 Brower is the Minnesota State Demographer and directs the MN State Demographic Center. Susan’s work applies an understanding of demographic trends to changes in a range of areas including the state’s economy and workforce, education, health, immigration and rural population changes.

Speaker Information

Michelle Bellanca

Chief Executive Officer, Claros Technologies Inc.

Michelle Bellanca is the co-founder and CEO of Claros Technologies, an advanced technology company that is on a mission to destroy PFAS for good. Claros aims to close the loop on PFAS (“forever chemicals”) – one of the most pressing issues worldwide. She leads an international team developing effective and efficient technology for PFAS destruction at the source, bringing breakthrough solutions to global markets. Her career includes numerous leadership positions at 3M Corporation, such as Global Business Director and Managing Director of Strategic Ventures Asia Pacific. Prior to 3M, Michelle developed IBM’s capital and operating leasing businesses in Latin and South America and began her career in international business development at the Japanese Government’s Ministry of International Trade & Investment in Tokyo, Japan. Michelle was recently named to the TCB100, and her leadership has been recognized with prestigious honors, including the Edison Marketing Award and the 3M Marketing Professionalism award. She has successfully secured over $39 million in financing for Claros since its inception. This same drive extends to her personal life, where she balances her executive responsibilities with raising four children, running marathons, and serving as a trained EMT.

Information

Carla Vernón

Chief Executive Officer and Board Director, The Honest Company

Carla Vernón has served as a Board Director and Chief Executive Officer of The Honest Company (NASDAQ: HNST), a purpose-driven personal care company since January 2023. She brings more than 25 years of experience scaling iconic consumer brands, leading business transformations, and building high-performing, values-driven teams. As one of the first Afro-Latine/o/a CEOs of a U.S. publicly traded company, her leadership reflects the diversity of Honest’s consumers and the values that guide the brand.

 

Prior to Honest, Carla served as Vice President of Consumables Categories at Amazon. In this role, she held full profit and loss responsibility and led supply chain and technology teams for Everyday Essentials across Amazon.com. Previously, she was a Corporate Officer and President of the Natural and Organic Operating Unit at General Mills, where she helped scale the business into the second-largest manufacturer of organic food and advance its regenerative agriculture efforts.

 

Carla holds an A.B. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, where she is a former Trustee, and an MBA from The University of Texas. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and on the Board of Trustees for the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino.

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Ro Khanna

Congressman, State of California

Ro Khanna is a United States Congressman from California’s 17th District in the heart of Silicon Valley. He has a vision to build America into a modern manufacturing and innovation superpower, and he partners it with a commitment to passing Medicare for All, a livable minimum wage, $10 a day childcare, and free public college and trade school. He is a progressive with a fresh economic vision.

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Wemimo Abbey

Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Esusu, Inc.

Wemimo Abbey grew up in the slums of Lagos, Nigeria, and came to Minneapolis, Minnesota, for college at the age of 17. Struggling to secure a loan without a credit score, his mother borrowed money from a predatory lender at an exorbitant 400% interest rate. These challenges inspired Wemimo and his Co-Founder to launch Esusu, driven by the belief that no matter where you come from, the color of your skin, or your financial identity, it should not determine where you end up in life. Esusu’s platform empowers renters to build credit through rent payments, offers property management analytics, and provides rental assistance for financial stability. Recently valued at $1 billion in a $130 million Series B fundraising round, Esusu has earned a spot on the Forbes Fintech 50 Most Innovative Companies List for three consecutive years. Wemimo currently serves on The SEC Small Business Capital Formation Advisory Committee, Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council, a Commissioner and Executive Member on the Board of The Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Board of Trustees at the University of Minnesota Crookston, a board member at the Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA), and Co-Chairs The Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) Director Circle.

 

Before Esusu, Wemimo founded Clean Water for Everyone, delivering affordable clean water access to 250,000+ people in six countries. He also founded a data analytics company focused on gathering machine-readable data on NGOs in Africa, which was successfully acquired in 2014. Wemimo’s earlier career involved being a mergers and acquisitions consultant at PwC, working on deals valued at over $50 billion, and gaining experience with Accenture, the European Commission, and Goldman Sachs. Wemimo’s work has been featured in major publications, including Bloomberg, CNBC, Financial Times, Fortune, Inc. Magazine, New York Times, Quartz, The Atlantic, USA Today, Vice, Wall Street Journal, and Yahoo! Finance. He was named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, TIME100 NEXT List in 2023, and awarded EY Entrepreneur of the Year Nationally. In 2021 and 2022, Goldman Sachs recognized him as one of the “100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.” He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Business Management and earned his M.P.A. from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Information

Amy Webb

CEO, Future Today Strategy Group

Amy Webb is the quantitative futurist who transformed strategic foresight into a rigorous, data-driven discipline, establishing the foundational methodologies that now guide leaders, organizations, and governments in anticipating disruption and securing long-term growth.


Her clients include a significant portion of the Fortune 100. New CEOs rely on her to navigate leadership transitions. Boards turn to her to understand systemic risk and opportunity amid accelerating change. She has advised three White House administrations and counsels U.S. federal agencies, Congress, and heads of state across four continents on technology and long-term planning and policy.


Her four books — including the international bestseller The Big Nine and The Genesis Machine, named by The New Yorker as one of the year’s best nonfiction — have been translated into 23 languages, with two optioned for film. She also collaborates with writers, directors, and producers on projects for Netflix, Hulu, and Marvel.


Ranked the #3 Most Influential Management Thinker in the World by Thinkers50, Forbes named her “one of the five women changing the world,” and the BBC recognized her among its 100 Women of the Year. Outside of work, she is a competitive endurance cyclist and an Assistant Scoutmaster to one of the country’s first all-girls Scout troops.

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John Phelan

Economist, Center of the American Experiment

John Phelan is a graduate of Birkbeck College, University of London, where he earned a BSc in Economics, and of the London School of Economics where he earned an MSc.

 

John worked in finance for ten years before becoming a professional economist. He worked at Capital Economics in London, where he wrote reports ranging from the impact of Brexit on the British economy to the effect of government regulation on cell phone coverage.

 

John has written for City A.M. in London and for The Wall Street Journal in both Europe and the U.S., as well as newspapers across the Midwest. He has also been published in the journal Economic Affairs.

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Susan Dominus

Staff Writer, New York Times

Susan Dominus is a staff writer for The New York Times Magazine and has worked for The New York Times since 2007, initially as a Metro columnist. She is a graduate of Yale College and has studied as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health and Yale Law School. Dominus also teaches journalism at Yale College.

 

In 2018, she was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize for public service for their reporting on workplace sexual harassment issues. She has also received a Front Page Award from the Newswomen’s Club of New York and a Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award from the New York Press Club. Her article about menopause in The New York Times Magazine earned a National Magazine Award.

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Julie Pace

Executive Editor and Senior Vice President, Associated Press

Julie Pace is Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of The Associated Press, leading global news coverage from more than 100 countries. Since Pace assumed the role in 2021, AP has significantly expanded its digital news offerings for media and technology customers and led the growth of AP’s direct to consumer platforms, which are among the fastest growing in the U.S. Under Pace’s leadership, AP has also expanded its use of AI technologies to enhance its product offerings, while maintaining the news organization’s deep commitment to eyewitness journalism and fact-based, nonpartisan news. During Pace’s tenure, the AP has been awarded four Pulitzer Prizes, and produced an award-winning documentary on the Ukraine war that won an Academy Award and a BAFTA.


Previously, Pace was Washington Bureau Chief for AP, directing the news organization’s coverage of the presidency, politics and the U.S. government during President Donald Trump’s first term in office.


Before that, Pace was AP’s White House Correspondent, contributing aggressive news reporting and sharp analysis to the AP news report. Pace won the White House Correspondents’ Association Merriman Smith award in 2013 for her work explaining the Obama campaign’s complex approach to voter turnout.


She joined AP in 2007 as a multimedia reporter, developing and executing AP’s plans for live video coverage of 2008′s Election Day and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.


A native of Buffalo, New York, Pace began her career as a reporter in 2003 at South Africa’s only independent television network, before spending two years reporting on politics and elections at the Tampa Tribune and its partner television station WFLA. She is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. She lives in New York.

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Adair Mosley

CEO, GroundBreak Coalition

Adair Mosley is a visionary leader reshaping the future of equity in Minnesota. As CEO of GroundBreak Coalition, he leads one of the nation’s most ambitious mobilizations of capital and partnership—orchestrating $5.3 billion over 10 years to close wealth gaps through homeownership, entrepreneurship, and commercial real estate development. GroundBreak brings together 40+ corporate, civic, and philanthropic partners in a backbone coalition deploying both market-rate capital ($4.2 billion) and flexible non-market rate capital ($1.2 billion) to build a future where Black communities thrive—not just survive.

 

A strategist, builder, and truth-teller, Adair’s work is rooted in justice and scaled by innovation. Previously, as CEO of the African American Leadership Forum and Pillsbury United Communities, where he launched Justice Built Communities, securing $5 million to prioritize Black-owned development. He led the $7 million capital campaign for North Market, a nationally recognized grocery and wellness model designed to address food access and health equity. He revitalized North News—a Black-led media outlet—ensuring authentic storytelling from within the community. He helped develop a pioneering policy solution that created a national billing code for community health work, strengthening sustainable investment in grassroots health equity.


Adair’s influence extends across sectors. He sits on the boards of Walker Art Museum, Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, Community Advisory Board, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, and and GreenLight Fund National. His leadership has been recognized by Harvard’s Young American Leaders Program and Twin Cities Business magazine, which named him one of “100 People to Know.”


With a MSc in Cities from the London School of Economics, training from Stanford’s d.school in Human-Centered Design, and credentials from the University of Minnesota and University of Michigan, Adair brings a rare blend of grassroots insight and executive strategy to every room he enters.


Whether working alongside community visionaries and leaders or corporate executives, Adair leads with an unwavering belief: systems can—and must—be rebuilt for justice. He isn’t interested in incremental change. He’s here to reimagine what’s possible and to construct a future that honors Black brilliance, ownership, and self-determination.

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Andrew Dayton

Founder and CEO, Constellation Fund

Andrew Dayton is the founder and CEO of the Constellation Fund, a Minneapolis-based foundation dedicated to effective poverty alleviation. Constellation leverages modern analytics alongside community insights to identify, fund, and empower the people and organizations making the greatest measurable impact on poverty in the Twin Cities. Through its research arm, CoLab, Constellation also catalyzes and funds longitudinal research on what actually drives economic mobility.

 

Before founding Constellation, Andrew served as Deputy Legislative Director to former San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee, directing the city’s state and federal policy priorities. He previously co-owned The Bachelor Farmer, Marvel Bar, and Askov Finlayson, three award-winning hospitality and retail businesses in the Twin Cities.

 

Andrew received a B.A. in History from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife and daughters.

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Varun Shetty

VP, Media Partnerships, OpenAI

Varun Shetty works on media partnerships at OpenAI, developing collaborations with media and entertainment companies and exploring how AI can enable new products, creative experiences, and business models. His work sits at the intersection of technology, content, and partnership strategy, with a focus on building practical opportunities for creators, companies, and audiences. Prior to OpenAI he worked at Meta and The New York Times.

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Adam Winer

Principal Product Manager, Spotify

From creating YouTube videos before ‘creator’ was a job title to leading content insights at Spotify, Adam Winer has made a career of understanding why media resonates with audiences, even as the definition of media constantly evolves. As Spotify’s Head of Content Strategy, Insights & Analytics for seven years, he led a team that turned audience research into product and business strategy recommendations. He recently moved over to building for podcast creators and audiences. Over the course of his career, Adam has also been a senior vice president at Condé Nast, an early YouTuber who was part of a program that helped coin the term ‘creator,’ and — a million years ago — a cast member on VH1’s pop-culture comedy show Best Week Ever.

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Rebecca Cunningham

President, University of Minnesota

Rebecca Cunningham became the 18th President of the University of Minnesota on July 1, 2024.

 

President Cunningham leads the University of Minnesota’s mission to educate the next generation of leaders, strengthen communities across the state and generate discoveries that improve lives throughout Minnesota, the nation and the world.

 

She has articulated a bold vision for the University of Minnesota as a magnet for top talent, a powerful driver of economic vitality and one of the nation’s most impactful public research universities. Central to that vision is the University’s role as a modern land-grant institution—one that delivers real-world solutions, expands opportunity, and serves the public good.

Under her leadership, the University is championing real world learning as a defining element of an accessible, world-class education, ensuring students are prepared to lead, innovate and contribute across sectors. She has also made improving health and healthcare for all Minnesotans—today and for decades to come—a central institutional priority, alongside protecting and advancing the state’s natural resources, with a particular emphasis on rural economic vitality and precision agriculture.

 

These priority areas are embedded in Elevate Extraordinary 2030, the strategic roadmap launched under President Cunningham in October 2025. This roadmap builds upon the University’s historic strengths while setting objectives greater than anything already accomplished. It is being implemented with strong support and ongoing engagement from students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners throughout Minnesota.

 

In parallel, President Cunningham is leading the launch of a new brand and travelling across the state and nation to engage with prospective students and loyal alumni in celebration of the University’s 175th year. She also maintains a faculty appointment in the School of Public Health’s Division of Epidemiology & Community Health.

 

In January 2026, President Cunningham led the University of Minnesota—Minnesota’s health and healthcare leader—to forge a new agreement with M Physicians and Fairview that affirms and supports the University’s critical role in medical education, research discovery and clinical care and brings the stability needed to build a long-term solution to meet Minnesota’s most pressing health and healthcare needs. 

 

The University is one of a handful of public universities that works across all the health sciences—medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, public health and veterinary—to deliver research, education and care. This includes 887 active clinical trials across a range of conditions and diseases, training 70 percent of Minnesota’s health care professionals and serving 1 million patients—including Minnesotans from all 87 counties.

 

Before joining the University of Minnesota, President Cunningham served as the Vice President for Research and Innovation at the University of Michigan, where she was responsible for expanding its annual research portfolio to a record $2 billion. At Michigan, she led a university-wide strategy that bolstered discovery and impact across three campuses, accelerated knowledge translation, supported entrepreneurial activity, expanded statewide economic development and advanced undergraduate student success.

 

A renowned expert in public health, President Cunningham was inducted in the National Academy of Medicine in 2019. She holds a medical doctorate from Jefferson Medical College, and she completed her residency in emergency medicine at the University of Michigan. 

 

President Cunningham resides in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her husband, Ken, and their dogs Charlie and Olive. They have five grown children. With a long history of family members living in the Twin Cities, President Cunningham considered Minnesota her second home years before her presidency began. For more than 30 years now, her family has participated in YMCA family camp, canoed the Boundary Waters and enjoyed trips to the Walker Art Center, the Guthrie Theater, the Bell Museum and Minnesota State Fair—experiences that deepened her early connection to Minnesota.

 

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Kimbriell Kelly

Editor-in-Chief, Chicago Public Media

Kimbriell Kelly is the Editor-in-Chief of Chicago Public Media, the nation’s largest local nonprofit newsroom, overseeing a team of more than 140 talented staff for the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

 

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism executive and 25-year veteran investigative editor and reporter, Kelly has overseen multiple award-winning projects in some of the nation’s largest newsrooms, including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

 

As former assistant managing editor and Washington bureau chief at the Los Angeles Times, Kelly oversaw coverage of politics and policy in Washington, D.C. During her tenure, Kelly led the bureau’s coverage of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the 2020 Trump election challenge and, in her first year as bureau chief, launched three successful series, the “United States of California,” “Covering Kamala Harris” and “Extreme Heat.” Kelly edited the immigration coverage that led to the bureau’s first Pulitzer Prize in 17 years.

 

Prior to joining The Times, Kelly was an investigative reporter at the Washington Post, where she was part of the team that won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting for the series “Fatal Force,” uncovering the FBI’s undercounting of fatal officer-involved shootings. She was a 2019 Pulitzer finalist for explanatory reporting for “Murder with Impunity,” a year-long examination of unsolved homicides across major cities in America. She is also the winner of the Polk Award for national reporting, Sigma Delta Chi for public service, among other awards, and was a finalist for the Goldsmith Prize and Selden Ring. Prior to moving to Washington, Kelly was a reporter, editor and publisher in metropolitan Chicago for almost 15 years at the Daily Herald and the Chicago Reporter, where her investigation into Countrywide Financial’s subprime mortgage lending led to the nation’s largest fair-lending settlement.

 

Kelly serves on the steering committee of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is vice president of the board of the Fund for Investigative Journalism. She was twice named Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, in 2020 and 2021, and has served as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley, Roosevelt University and American University.

 

Education: M.S. Journalism, Boston University. B.A. English, St. Xavier University in Chicago. +

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Terry Rasmussen

President and CEO, Thrivent

Theresa (Terry) Rasmussen is president and chief executive officer of Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services company. She is a member of the Thrivent Board of Directors and serves on its Executive Committee.

 

Thrivent offers advice, insurance, investments, banking and generosity products and programs to clients in communities across the United States. Under Rasmussen’s leadership, Thrivent is transforming into a holistic financial services organization, helping current and future generations achieve financial clarity, enabling lives full of meaning and gratitude.

 

Before her current role, Rasmussen was president of Thrivent’s core life, health and annuities business after serving 10 years as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. Prior to joining Thrivent, Rasmussen held a series of leadership roles at American Express, including serving as vice president and managing counsel. Earlier in her career, she was a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Tax Division, as part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. 

 

She is chair of the board of directors for H.B. Fuller Company, a $2.9 billion global adhesives and specialty chemical products company, where she also chairs the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee and is a member of the Compensation Committee. Rasmussen also is chair of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) Board of Directors where she chairs the Executive committee, and serves on the Compensation and Internal Compliance, and Finance committees. Additionally, she is a board member of the Walker Art Center, a world-renowned contemporary art museum in Minneapolis, where she’s a member of the Audit and Finance committees. She previously served as a board member for the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation (ICMIF).

 

Rasmussen received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Minnesota State University at Moorhead. After passing the CPA exam, she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota.

 

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Barry Kudrowitz

PhD, Head of Design Innovation, College of Design - University of Minnesota

Barry Kudrowitz, PhD, is a professor of product design and Head of the Department of Design Innovation in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, USA. There, he founded and directed the product design program from 2011–2021. Kudrowitz received his PhD from the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying humor, creativity, and idea generation. Kudrowitz is interested in how creativity is perceived, evaluated, and learned. He has years of experience working with the toy industry and has taught toy design for over a decade. Kudrowitz co-designed a Nerf toy, an elevator simulator that was in operation at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., and a ketchup-dispensing robot that was featured on the Martha Stewart Show. He is the author of Sparking Creativity: How Play and Humor Fuel Innovation.

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Rob Vischer

President, University of St. Thomas

As president, Rob Vischer has advanced the university’s key priorities while reinforcing St. Thomas’ commitment to its mission of whole-person formation and fostering what Pope Francis called a “culture of encounter” in which every student has the experience of being seen, known, and loved. He has also worked to strengthen the national visibility of Minnesota’s largest private university through distinctive academic programs and by becoming the first university to jump directly from Division III to Division I athletics.

 

Vischer received a B.A. from the University of New Orleans and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. Before entering academia, he practiced corporate litigation at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago and clerked for three federal judges.

 

Vischer serves on the board of the Association for Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU).  He serves on the executive committee of GREATER MSP and as a board member of the Minnesota Business Partnership and the Greater Twin Cities United Way. 

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Jacob Frey

Mayor, Minneapolis

Jacob Frey fell in love with Minneapolis while running the Twin Cities Marathon. The day after graduating from law school, he moved across the country to make Minneapolis his new home. After practicing law and winning the city’s first annual Martin Luther King Jr. Award for his civil rights work, Jacob served as a City Council Member for Ward 3 before being elected as the 48th mayor of Minneapolis.

Under his leadership, the city has led the nation in affordable housing policy, producing 8.5 times the amount of deeply affordable housing compared to before he took office. He pioneered the elimination of exclusionary zoning, setting a national example, and has led the city through crisis to improve safety, revitalize downtown, and drive economic growth through inclusive policies. Jacob’s commitment to change was further demonstrated in 2021 when voters approved an entirely new form of government, ensuring more effective, equitable, and efficient city services for everyone in the great city of Minneapolis.

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Christophe Beck

Chairman, President and CEO, Ecolab and Chair of Greater MSP

As chairman, president and CEO of Ecolab, Christophe Beck leads 48,000 associates around the world who are advancing Ecolab’s purpose to protect people and the resources vital to life. Under his leadership, Ecolab has entered a new chapter of accelerated growth by helping customers achieve best-in-class performance while using fewer natural resources.

 

Since becoming CEO in 2021, Christophe has sharpened Ecolab’s focus on where customer needs are growing fastest and where the company is positioned to lead. During this period, Ecolab has grown sales to $16 billion and delivered record earnings, driven by breakthrough innovation, disciplined execution and the most engaged and diverse workforce in the company’s history. Today, Ecolab helps protect one-third of the world’s food supply and a quarter of the power generated globally. By 2030, the company aims to help protect 2 billion people from infections and conserve enough water to meet the drinking needs of 1 billion people.

 

As the world’s water company, Christophe is leading Ecolab across the fastest growing industries in the world where water and performance matter most, including microelectronics, data centers and life sciences. The company enables chip manufacturers and data center operators to deliver higher performance with less water, less energy and greater reliability. In life sciences, Ecolab supports the development and manufacturing of life‑saving drugs through end‑to‑end solutions that meet the highest standards for quality and safety. 

 

Christophe is a purpose-driven leader who cares deeply about strengthening the communities where Ecolab operates. He serves as co‑chair of the U.N. Water Resilience Coalition, a CEO‑led initiative mobilizing private‑sector action to address water stress in the world’s most vulnerable basins. In Minnesota, where Ecolab has been headquartered for more than a century, he has convened business, government and nonprofit leaders to advance initiatives that strengthen the local economy, including sustainable aviation fuel, medical technology and health innovation, and public‑private collaboration to address homelessness and expand economic opportunity.  

 

Christophe joined Ecolab in 2007 and has held multiple senior leadership roles, including leading the successful integration of Nalco. He was named president and CEO in 2021 and chairman in 2022. He serves on the boards of Delta Air Lines and the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation and is chair of GREATER MSP. A native of Switzerland, he holds dual Swiss and U.S. citizenship and earned a master’s degree in engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Christophe and his wife have two children and live in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. 

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Ron Schutz

Republican Candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota

Ron Schutz is a lifelong Minnesotan and grew up on a dairy farm.  He attended Marquette University on an Army ROTC scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.  He graduated with honors from the University of Minnesota law school and spent the first four years of his legal career in the JAG Corps where he spent two years as a defense lawyer and then two years as a prosecutor.  He tried 20 felony court martials.

 

After leaving the Army, Mr. Schutz joined a 200-lawyer national litigation firm and served as the firm’s Chairman from 2019-2024. He is currently the Republican Candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota.

 

Mr. Schutz is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, which is the preeminent organization of trial lawyers in North America.

 

He has frequently been recognized as one the top lawyers in the country. In 2024 he was named to Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s Top 200 Lawyers and he was named to the same list in 2025. 

 

Mr. Schutz is married to his high school sweetheart Janet, and they have three adult children. Mr. Schutz has run several marathons and triathlons and enjoys hunting and other outdoor adventure activities. He has trekked to Mount Everest Base Camp, Machu Picchu, and the Refugio on Mt. Cotopaxi.  He has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and the Gran Paradiso (Italian Alps). 

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The Midwest Migration Story – Examining our history with a focus on talent attraction, retention, AI’s impact and regional demographic shifts.

The Midwest Migration Story – Examining our history with a focus on talent attraction, retention, AI’s impact and regional demographic shifts. 

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