The Future of Democracy

Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and Salt Lake City mayor, Ben McAdams is currently a Senior Fellow at the Sorenson Impact Center at the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. In 2021, Ben McAdams founded the Common Ground Institute in a continued effort to help bridge ideological discrepancies that have recently impeded community and legislative progress.

Prior to representing Utah’s 4th district, Mr. McAdams served as adjunct professor of Securities Regulation at the University of Utah’s SJ Quinney School of Law and also managed his own legal practice with firms in both Salt Lake and New York.

Congress.gov

The Future of Social Impact

Michael Parker is the Executive Director of the Utah Impact Partnership (UIP), the Founder and Principal of Do Good, and is a notable leader in the field of social impact and public policy in Utah. Michael has played a crucial role in tackling homelessness and housing instability, leveraging strategic partnerships and resources to effect change. His leadership has been vital in raising $15 million towards a $30 million fund aimed at high-impact solutions for homelessness.

Michael holds a Masters in Public Policy, specializing in regional economic resilience, and a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Utah. He has also pursued studies in Business, International Relations, and Political Economy at the London School of Economics Graduate School and AI and Business Strategy at the MIT Sloan School of Management; also serving as the Vice President of Public Policy for the Salt Lake Chamber.

UtahImpactPartnership.com

The Future of Women, Money, and Power

Jacki Zehner is an enthusiastic and dedicated financial feminist. With a career in finance spanning more than three decades, she knows in her bones that the key to gender equity is financial equity. Jacki has dedicated much of her personal and professional life to the full spectrum of financial wellbeing for women and girls.

Jacki’s career in finance began at Goldman Sachs where she became the youngest woman and first female trader to make partner. She has since served on many women focused non-profit boards, giving through her family foundation, and co-founding a global philanthropic network called Women Moving Millions, through which members have collectively given over one billion dollars.

JackiZehner.com

WomenMovingMillions.com

The Future of Artificial Intelligence

Dr. Manish Parashar is Director of the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute, Chair in Computational Science and Engineering, and Presidential Professor of the Kahlert School of Computing at the University of Utah.

Dr. Parashar just recently completed a project as part of the Intergovernment Personnel Act Mobility Program (IPA) appointment at the National Science Foundation as Office Director of the NSF Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure where he oversaw investments in national cyberinfrastructure. He has also served as co-chair of the National Science and Technology Council’s Subcommittee on the Future Advanced Computing Ecosystem and the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Task Force. Manish has received a number of awards for his research and leadership, including most recently the 2023 IEEE Computer Society Sidney Fernbach Award.

ManishParashar.org

The Future of Health

Chandana Haque is Executive Director of Altitude Lab, an incubator program for early-stage healthcare startups located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to launching Altitude Lab, Chandana spent over a decade leading product and commercial strategy for life science startups in San Francisco.

Chandana earned her B.S. in Molecular Biology at Carnegie Mellon and her MBA from UC Berkeley—Haas School of Business where she focused her graduate work in strategic finance and innovation. While earning her degree, she worked in venture capital, researched novel approaches to innovation, and began angel investing.

Recursion.com

AltitudeLab.org

The Future of Journalism

Lauren became Executive Editor of The Salt Lake Tribune in 2020. The Tribune is the first major metro news organization to become a nonprofit. It achieved sustainability in 2021 under Lauren’s leadership. She co-launched the Great Salt Lake Collaborative in 2022, a group of 17 organizations focused on elevating solutions to the lake’s challenges.

Lauren has overseen a dozen news organizations in Utah, Idaho, Washington and California, including the flagship Sacramento Bee. Lauren has also served as an editor in Colorado, where her work on transparency contributed to a new law that facilitated greater access to public records, and in Reno, where her team’s work on the housing crisis was recognized nationally

SLTribune.com

The Future of Flight

Jared is an accomplished aviation executive with over 15 years of experience leading collaborative teams and developing infrastructure solutions for such organizations as Utah Advanced Air Mobility Study, Drone Commander for the Division of Aeronautics, and UTRAC Air Mobility Trajectory Anomaly Detection. He also served as Director of Aeronautics for the State of Utah while also serving on the Board of Directors for the National Association of State Aviation Officials and Chair of the National Center for Aviation Research and Education.

After his military service with the U.S. Air Force, Jared earned his political science degree from the College of Charleston and Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University. While in college, he interned in the White House under President George W. Bush in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs as the liaison between the president and the state governors. Jared teaches U.S. Government classes at SLCC and is dedicated to encouraging his students to involve themselves in local government.

JaredEsselman.com

The Future of Trees

Dr. Nalini Nadkarni is the Professor Emeritus in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Utah. Her academic and research focuses include community and ecosystem ecology of tropical and temperate forest canopies; the effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity and community function; and the development of database tools for canopy researchers.

Dr. Nadkarni has received several dozens of awards, grants, and fellowships in her career including a Guggenheim Fellowship, AAAS Award for Public Engagement, Wilson Award for the Advancement of Social Justice, Archie Carr Medal for Conservation and is a National Geographic Explorer at Large. Nalini collaborates with faith-based groups, artists, and people who are incarcerated to engage the public with the multiple values of trees.

NaliniNadkarni.com

The Future of Race

Sidni L. Shorter, PsyD, is President and CEO of the Utah Black Chamber of Commerce, an entrepreneur, and a fierce advocate and practitioner of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). She was recently named the Director of the Utah Minority Business Development Agency.

Sidni is the CEO of ExecuteNow!, a client -­‐ focused finance and accounting firm with a mission to ensure non-­‐profits and small to mid-­‐sized organizations have affordable access to capital, prudent financial management, and forward-thinking leadership. She acquired ExecuteNow! and led the organization to develop and implement programs for national clients to address the disparity in access to affordable capital and investments for minority and women-led businesses.

Minority Business Development Agency

The Future of Religion

Tanner Bean is a partner at the law firm Fabian VanCott. His work focuses on management-side employment law, appeals before state and federal courts, and litigation matters. He devotes considerable time and attention to the issue of religious liberty.

He frequently writes and presents on the topic, travels to national and international religious freedom conferences, was a founding member and chair of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society’s Religious Liberty Fellowship program, founded the Idaho Interfaith & LGBT Summit on Religious Liberty and Nondiscrimination, and serves as the Vice Chair of Operations and Administration of the Religious Freedom Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. He is a firm believer that our nation, through a robust commitment to pluralism, is big enough for all of us, no matter our faith, race, sexuality, or other identity.

FabianVanCott.com

The Future of Education

Candice Pierucci serves as the House of Representative for District 49 (Riverton and Herriman). She is the youngest female legislator in Utah’s history and was elected in a special election at the age of 27. Rep. Pierucci is the Chair of the Standing Education Committee, Vice Chair of the Conservative Caucus, Vice Chair of the Conservative Millennials PAC and Chair of the Republican Women Lead PAC. Rep. Pierucci also serves on the Government Operations Committee and Public Education Appropriations.

Rep. Pierucci passed historic school choice legislation in Utah during the 2024 legislative session, and has focused her legislative efforts on national security, education, and public safety. Candice was the Director of Community Relations for Congressman Chris Stewart where she oversaw community outreach, military academy nominations and military and veterans casework. Over the years, Pierucci has worked on presidential, congressional, and local campaigns.

CandicePierucci.com

The Future of Space Exploration

Dr. Charles Swenson is a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Utah State University, where he’s twice won Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Charles is a renowned space scientist and thought leader in the future of space exploration including 37 publications on Space Science, Instrumentation for Measuring the Space Environment, Space Systems Engineering and Small Satellites.

USU is the leading institution for Aerospace Engineering and Technology within Utah, making Dr. Swenson one of the top minds in space exploration in the state. Dr. Swenson has been involved in leading-edge research involving small spacecraft for many years. One of his most recent projects involves a mission in partnership with NASA and Brazil.

Electrical and Computer Engineering | Utah State University

The Future of Government Transparency

Sunny has spent over 20 years working in the technology industry. Her primary passion is building and growing startups like Instructure and Because Learning. In 2021, after selling her company, she co founded Utah Tech Leads, a trade association and political action committee (PAC) to get Utah tech companies involved in local policy making.

Sunny is currently co-founder and CEO of Seer. Seer uses AI to digest and summarize legislative bills — and empowers users to track and collaborate on these bills within a first-of-its-kind workflow platform. Sunny also serves as a board member of Equality Utah and is a Trustee at Salt Lake Community College.

Seer.ai

Zach Holmquist is an accomplished entrepreneur known for his role in co-founding Teem and driving its successful acquisition by WeWork in 2018. His expertise in software product development has been instrumental in creating solutions that have changed the landscape of workplace culture.

With a strong track record in building mission-driven teams, Zach has made significant contributions to companies such as Neutron, LiveRecover, and Voyage. His passion for entrepreneurship and creating impactful software products has been a driving force throughout his career.

Seer.ai