SPEAKERS

  • Mayor Sue Finkam has been deeply connected to the City of Carmel for decades, serving 12 years on the City Council and founding FireStarter, LLC, a full-service marketing agency in the city. Her leadership emphasizes enhancing quality of place, engaging residents, and delivering excellent city services. Under her guidance, Carmel has shifted toward putting people at the center of projects.

  • Carol Coletta has spent a lifetime focused on cities and their success. She is a Fellow with the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University where she is exploring how public space can foster social connections at scale, particularly across demographic differences.

  • John Fernandez is CEO of Amplify Bloomington, an entrepreneur support organization fueled by leading business and civic partners, including Indiana University. He leads strategic initiatives to support entrepreneurship growth and development of the Trades District innovation hub.

  • As an Elkhart native, Mayor Rod Roberson is passionate about and committed to his hometown. Roberson graduated from Elkhart Central High School, where he was an All-American, All-State football and basketball player. He went on to graduate from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Economics, where he earned All-Big Ten Conference honors and was drafted by New Jersey into the NBA. Roberson played two years of basketball overseas in the Philippines and Sweden. With 25 years of corporate management experience, including a significant tenure at Coca-Cola, and 12 years in non-profit management—six of which he served as Executive Director of Church Community Services—Roberson has demonstrated a strong commitment to leadership and community service. First elected to public office in 2000 as an at-large City of Elkhart Councilman, Roberson dedicated 16 years to the City Council, serving as parliamentarian, finance chair, and council president. Guided by the values of family and public service instilled by his parents, he has consistently adopted a service-first approach throughout his career. In 2020, he became mayor, driven by an unwavering commitment to the people of Elkhart. In 2023, Mayor Roberson was re-elected for another four-year term, marking the first unopposed mayoral race in Elkhart's history. He was also the City of Elkhart’s first African American mayor. A year later, he was honored with the International Making Cities Livable Mayor’s Vision Award in Cortona, Italy. Mayor Roberson recently launched ASPIRE, a groundbreaking development program aimed at revolutionizing Elkhart with a $180 million investment projected to generate over $550 million in economic activity. This strategy focuses on investing resources into catalyst quality of place projects and neighborhoods, while upgrading the infrastructure and public safety capabilities needed to support a vibrant city. Mayor Roberson and his wife, Regina have four children and three grandchildren.

  • Joni Williams is the Assistant Director of Strategic Integration and Program Development at the Nashville Planning Department. She leads cross-departmental initiatives to align urban design, place-making priorities, and policy innovation. Joni is currently overseeing the integration of Historic Zoning staff into the Planning Department to strengthen coordination across planning and preservation efforts.

  • Founder and CEO of The Normies, as well as an on-screen entertainer. The Normies are a collective of lifelong friends who gather together to watch movies, TV shows, and pretty much anything trending in the pop culture sphere! Accompanying these reaction videos are SNL-style sketch parodies based on the content being watched, as well as podcasts and group gaming streams! The Normies strive to make no one feel alone in this world by being the friend group you're missing back home or from years past. Come take a seat with us and let's have a good time! Aside from The Normies, Suraj also does Theatre acting in the city. Most recently, he played Jay Gatsby at the Civic Theatre in Carmel in their production of The Great Gatsby.

  • Andrea Richter-Garry serves as President & CEO of Indy Economic Development. Through her work, Richter-Garry is dedicated to attracting foreign direct investment into the city of Indianapolis and expanding business retention and expansion efforts across Marion County.

    As Senior Vice President of International Engagement for the IEDC, Richter-Garry oversaw the development and outreach strategy to forge and maintain relationships with foreign governments, international businesses and global stakeholders for the State of Indiana. She also creates economic development plans for the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Secretary of Commerce.

    Richter-Garry has more than seven years of government and international experience through her work at the White House and U.S. Department of State. She served as Advanced Lead to President Barack Obama and planned the logistical, security, and communications aspects of the President’s domestic and foreign travel. Through her time at the White House, she engaged with foreign governments, international organizations, military bodies and public sector groups to organize trips and programs.

    Prior to her work at the White House, she served as the chief of staff of the Bureau of Energy Resources for the U.S. Department of State. In this role, Richter-Garry shaped foreign policy engagement in terms of energy and national security. During her time working for the U.S. Department of State, she developed expertise in economic and international summit development.

  • Jim Rawlinson is the Director of READI and leads a number of redevelopment initiatives at the IEDC including the Redevelopment Tax Credits program and READI, as well as the Lilly Endowment Inc. funded grants initiatives around Blight Reduction & Redevelopment, and Arts and Culture. The READI program invests over $1 billion into quality of life projects across the state of Indiana. Jim has over a decade of experience in economic development, having spent time with the City of Indianapolis, as well as the Veridus Group. He has led and been a part of a number of creative economies initiatives including the creation of Film Indy, Music Crossroads, Musical Family Tree, the Indy Music Strategy, managing COVID related grants funding for Indianapolis Music Venues, and more. Jim received his Masters of Public Administration from Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where he currently serves as Adjunct Faculty.

  • Paul Jacobs is President and CEO of Premium Audio Company, the Indianapolis-based audio company behind globally recognized brands including Klipsch, Onkyo, Integra, Magnat and Heco. With more than four decades in the consumer electronics industry, Jacobs has spent more than 30 years with Klipsch, rising from sales representative to President and CEO and helping guide the company’s evolution into a global premium audio business. Today, he leads a portfolio that spans home entertainment, professional audio and consumer technology markets around the world. His career sits at the intersection of product design, engineering, music, brand building and global commerce—demonstrating how creativity and innovation can become significant business enterprises.

  • As IEDC’s Sr. Vice President of Regional Economic Development, John supports regional development and business attraction, retention, and expansion in partnership with local and regional partners across Indiana. John joined IEDC in September of 2026 from One Southern Indiana where he served the last four years as Chief Economic Development Officer for Clark, Floyd, and Scott County Indiana. John currently serves as Board Chair for the Indiana Economic Development Association (IEDA) and board member for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana. John earned his undergraduate degree from Southeast Missouri State University and graduate degree from the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. He lives in New Albany, IN with his wife Carly and two children, Lucy (7) and Gray (5).

  • Tim George is the CEO of Pathemy Strategies, a consulting firm that empowers organizations to creatively grow their vision and impact at the intersection of economic development, talent, innovation, and policy. Pathemy has served statewide organizations in developing strategies to grow the creative economy, boost entrepreneurship, improve workforce delivery, and more. Before founding Pathemy, Tim worked as executive vice president for innovation & collaboration at the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), served as director of policy for former Indiana governor Eric Holcomb, and practiced corporate law in Charlotte, NC. Tim has a law degree from the University of Texas School of Law and a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in Illinois. Now a proud Hoosier, Tim is passionate about seeing Indiana thrive.

  • Taylor’s role at the Indy Chamber involves connecting business and community leadership for strategic civic initiatives. Primary areas of focus include public health, transportation, sustainability, infrastructure, and those issues related to inclusive growth. Before coming to the Indy Chamber, Taylor served on the Public Policy team at United Way of Central Indiana and has previous experience in research roles at international development and local policy advocacy organizations. Outside his Chamber duties, Taylor serves on the Board of Directors for Southeast Neighborhood Development, Believe Circle City High School, Reconnecting Our Waterways, and the Garfield Park Neighborhood Association. Taylor holds a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics from Taylor University and a Master of Science in International Relations from the University of Bristol.

  • Courtney Zaugg is a serial entrepreneur, ecosystem builder, and connector who lives at the intersection of economic development, entrepreneurship, and community innovation. As Co-Founder and Managing Partner of VentureVets, she's built one of the nation's premier launchpads for veteran and military-spouse founders: a tight-knit community backed by a 501(c)(3) accelerator and hands-on investment support, where entrepreneurs get real access to capital, mentorship, and each other. That community has helped 75+ portfolio companies raise over $18 million and counting, turning military experience into momentum for building great companies.

    Through her consulting practice as a certified economic developer, Courtney has helped communities design entrepreneurial ecosystems that actually work, drawing on nearly two decades of expertise in market analysis, stakeholder alignment, and strategic programming. As a former Ambassador and Coalition Manager for Right to Start, she built state-level coalitions and pushed for reforms that make it easier for anyone to start a business.

    Since 2017, she's co-founded six companies spanning construction, technology, and social impact. She holds dual certifications as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) and Entrepreneurship Development Professional (EDP) through the International Economic Development Council, where she also serves on the board. She sits on the board of HVAF and the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's Advisory Committee.

    A veteran spouse and mother, Courtney brings firsthand insight to supporting military families and expanding economic opportunity in veteran communities, one founder at a time.

  • As Executive Director of the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, Jill McMillan Palm provides entrepreneurial education and capacity-building resources to nearly 10,000 individual artists, arts nonprofit leaders, creative businesses and arts enthusiasts annually.

    Prior to landing in Nashville in 207, her professional experience spanned positions in fundraising, marketing, sales, advocacy, and more at nonprofit arts organizations and for-profit creative businesses in her hometown of Valparaiso, IN, as well as Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; and Boston, MA. Jill is a graduate of Pepperdine University with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communication, and completed an intensive Masters-level arts administration workshop at Valparaiso University.

    She is recognized as a thought leader and advocate for the arts sector, having served on Americans for the Arts’ Private Sector Council from 2018-2022 (as Co-Chair from 2021-2022) and as a member of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Music Industry Advisory Group since 2018. Her accolades include being elected to the Nashville Emerging Leaders class of 2019, and being named as a finalist for the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Emerging Leaders Award in the Arts, Entertainment, and Music Business category in 2021 and winner in 2022. She was also a founding board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art Nashville (MOCAN), on which she served from 2022-2024, and a graduate of the Leadership Middle Tennessee Class of 2025.

  • As a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), Jason Hester draws on 25+ years of experience to encourage communities and regions to utilize collaborative and data-driven efforts to support business recruitment, local expansions, and capital investments that create jobs for residents and build communities that people enjoy.

    He is an annual guest speaker at the Indiana Economic Development Academy and has been a featured panelist at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Economic Future Forum hosted by the International Economic Development Council, and at multiple other state & regional events speaking on topics of business attraction, expansion, and Foreign Direct Investment best practices.

    In June of 2025, Hester was named Chief Economic Development Officer of the Indy Chamber, where he leads the state's premier regional economic development program – the Indy Partnership – focused on domestic and international business attraction efforts in collaboration with state and local economic development partners and communities throughout the greater 10-county Indianapolis area.

    Previously, he served 15 years as head of the Greater Columbus (Indiana) EDC, and prior leadership roles were held with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, City of Kokomo, and City of Elwood, Indiana.

  • Karen Radcliff is President and CEO of Hamilton County Tourism, where she has spent more than 30 years helping shape one of Indiana’s fastest-growing destinations. During her tenure, she has led long-range strategy, tourism development and marketing initiatives, including the research and partnerships that helped launch Grand Park Sports Campus in Westfield and the creation of Hamilton County’s tourism capital fund.
    Radcliff began her career in arts and culture as Communications Manager for the Eiteljorg Museum and has continued to champion the role of culture, live entertainment and creative experiences in building strong communities and destinations. She is also a founding board member and officer of the Creative Economy Leadership Alliance, advocating for greater recognition and investment in Indiana’s creative industries.

  • Isaac Bamgbose is Founder and CEO of New City Development, an Indianapolis-based real estate development firm focused on creating places that strengthen communities and foster connection. Before launching New City, Bamgbose spent six years with Hendricks Commercial Properties, where he helped lead major Indianapolis developments including Ironworks and the transformation of the former Coca-Cola bottling plant into the Bottleworks District.
    Today, his work includes Hobbs Station, a $300 million mixed-use development in Plainfield, as well as projects across Central Indiana spanning housing, retail, office, recreation and community space. Bamgbose describes his approach as “creating place, not just having space,” using thoughtful design, mixed uses and long-term investment to build developments that contribute to the identity and vitality of their communities.

  • Toph is the CEO of Elevate Ventures, the #1 most active Seed and Early-Stage investor in the Great Lakes Region and top twenty in the United States, the Chief Visionary for Rally, where cross sector innovation convenes and the host of Innovate or Evaporate podcast. He is an innovator, entrepreneur, business creator, community builder, job maker and wealth creator throughout his endeavors over the last 30 years having co-founded eight businesses in seven different sectors with multiple exits to Fortune 500 companies.

  • Miah Michaelsen is the Executive Director of the Indiana Arts Commission (IAC), where she advances the agency's mission to champion and invest in arts and creativity to strengthen Indiana's people and communities. Her priorities include partnering broadly to extend the public value of arts and creativity for all in Indiana; building knowledge, capacity, skills, and networks that increase markets and audiences for Indiana's creative sector; amplifying awareness of the social, cultural, educational, and economic value of arts and creativity across Indiana; and connecting people and communities to opportunities to create and experience art. Current projects at the IAC include serving as program partner for the READI 2.0 Arts and Culture Initiative.

    Before joining the Arts Commission, Michaelsen served as the first Assistant Economic Development Director for the Arts for the City of Bloomington, Indiana. She has taught arts marketing as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University’s O’Neill School and has served as an independent consultant to Indiana communities seeking direction on cultural planning. She continues to serve the field as a committee member and grant panelist for agencies such as the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Midwest, Nebraska Arts Council, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Ohio Arts Council and Cuyahoga Arts and as a juror for exhibitions public art commissions, and festivals. She also presents and provides training on the intersection of government, economic development, and the arts. She currently serves on the board of Arts Midwest in Minneapolis, MN.

    She lives in Bloomington with her husband, Jonathan, and has two adult sons, Brendan and Wyeth.

  • Richard McCoy is the founding Executive Director of Landmark Columbus Foundation in Columbus, Indiana. His work focuses on design excellence as civic practice: how communities make decisions about buildings, landscapes, public space, and cultural heritage, and how those decisions shape civic life over time.

    At LCF, he leads work across Progressive Preservation, Exhibit Columbus, the Civic Design Institute, and Monumental Gestures. His background in art conservation continues to shape his approach to stewardship, original intent, public memory, and long-term care.

  • Dr. Lizzie Cooksey is a performer, educator, and entrepreneur from Louisville, Kentucky. Being a freelance musician, she learned that in order to succeed you have to find and create opportunities for yourself. Dr. Cooksey holds three degrees in music, including a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University, Jacobs School of Music. Her passion for business and entrepreneurship grew during her time at IU as a Venture Capital Fellow with IU Ventures and an intern and incubator participant with IU Innovates. She is the founder of several chamber groups, including The Bourbon & Brass Company, a Louisville-based brass quintet. She is currently working on a new venture pairing the tasting notes of Bourbon with music to create an unforgettable experience, pairing taste with sound and sight with scent.

  • Prior to joining the Indiana Chamber, Adam was co-founder and chief executive officer of PoliticalBank.com, an innovative campaign technology platform utilized by local, state and federal candidates throughout the world. He previously served as Regulatory Policy Director and Special Counsel in Governor Mike Pence's administration, where he focused on economic development, entrepreneurship and regulatory policy initiatives.

  • Adam has more than 25 years of experience in campus and city development – leading more than $2 billion in built projects under his planning, design, and construction leadership. For his clients, he creates opportunities that deliver exceptional, competitive places that elevate and inspire.

    Adam is currently Principal, Urban Development Strategies at RATIO Design, a position he has held since February 2026. Prior to this position, he was an Associate Vice President, Capital Planning and Projects for Indiana University and he also served as the Director, Department of Metropolitan Development for the City of Indianapolis. Lastly, he founded the EDEN Collaborative where he was awarded the Monumental Award, Indianapolis’ highest design award, for its planning work on the St. Clair Place Neighborhood in 2012.

    He holds two bachelor’s degrees from Ball State University - the first in Environmental Design and the second in City Planning. He also earned a Certificate of Undergraduate Studies, Urban Studies/Affairs from the University of Illinois Chicago.

  • Julie Heath is the inaugural Executive Director of IU Innovates, Indiana University’s system-wide initiative to support and accelerate entrepreneurship through student-led startup hubs, sponsorship of IU entrepreneurship resources, and impact storytelling.

    Creativity, innovation, and impact networks are interlaced throughout her work at the university and nationally. Heath serves on the leadership council of the ESHIP Alliance, a new network collectively designed to advance entrepreneurship ecosystem building as a valued practice, a trusted profession, and as a model for economic health and community wellbeing in the United States.

    Between 2021 and 2023, Heath developed the state of Indiana's first entrepreneurship ecosystem strategy, which included new economic impact data, storytelling, a statewide inventory of resources, and ecosystem navigators. Prior to working for Indiana's Secretary of Commerce, she led a nonprofit entrepreneur support organization with a mission to remove barriers for aspiring founders. This work was informed by her leadership roles at two social impact tech startups.

    Heath's career began with intra-preneurship at the Smithsonian Institution, including the launch of the Lunder Conservation Center at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire, where she focused on figurative work on oversized paper. Her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art is from the University of California, Davis, where she studied with Wayne Thiebaud and faculty connected to the Bay Area Figurative movement.

    She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent fifteen years on the East Coast, and now splits her time between Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.

  • Josh Richardson is President of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, where he helps lead statewide economic development strategy with a focus on business growth, talent and Indiana’s long-term competitiveness. He previously served as Commissioner and Chief of Staff of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and as Chief of Staff for Commerce in the Office of the Governor. Across those roles, Richardson has worked at the intersection of workforce, data, public policy and economic development—experience that gives him a broad perspective on how Indiana can build the talent and business environment needed to compete in a changing economy. Richardson is a graduate of Ball State University and earned his J.D. from the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.