Inspiring the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs at the Diversity and Equity Accelerator through Learning for Startups (DEALS) Workshop

SPEAKER BIOS

Andre Dickens was elected as the 61st mayor of Atlanta by 64% of the voters in the runoff election on November 30, 2021. Prior to becoming the mayor, he served as an at-large City Council member for two terms. In addition to serving in public office, Mayor Dickens has been a businessperson and nonprofit executive and is an engineer, deacon, father and native Atlantan. His career follows his passions and his impact follows his commitment.

John Flavin is the Founder and CEO of Portal Innovations, a premier venture development engine that builds and invests in life sciences ventures. John is a proven leader with a track record of bringing valuable corporate, academic, and civic enterprises from concept to reality, including Advanced Life Sciences, MediChem, MATTER and the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Chicago. John is Co-Founder and Chairman of Pyxis Oncology (NASDAQ: PYXS), Executive Chair of ClostraBio, and Board member at Grove Biopharma.

Suna Lumeh is the Director of Operations for the Atlanta expansion, Suna is establishing and leading Portal Innovation's platform in Atlanta at Science Square Labs. Previously, Suna held clinical R&D roles in pharma, across both early and late-stage biologics development. She grew her specialty in pharmacovigilance (safety & efficacy) and immunogenicity assay development—sourcing, developing, and integrating novel diagnostic technologies and robotics platforms—before moving into the early venture space. She has since served as a biomedical science consultant for early-stage startups, ultimately co-founding two VC-backed biotech and digital health startups.

Nwanyinma (Nnodum) Dike is the AI Advanced Manufacturing catalyst at the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) at Georgia Tech. In Nwanyinma's role at ATDC, she serves as the liaison between the Georgia Artificial Intelligence Manufacturing Corridor (Georgia AIM) and the ATDC, championing advanced technology startup entrepreneurs and working to accelerate the state's transition to automation in manufacturing, while diversifying the next generation of AI leaders.

Lee Thomas has over 20 years of experience in the cost-estimating industry. Lee founded Construction Check in 2023 to create a more accessible and credible cost-estimating service for construction stakeholders. Prior to this, they were the Chairman and CEO of Project Cost Solutions (PCS) for 14 years, where they oversaw strategic business processes and organizational design. Lee started as Assistant Controller at Project Time & Cost in 2007 and was the Controller at U.S. Cost, Inc. from 2003 to 2007. Before this, they were the CEO of eklubs for seven years.

NaThanya Ferguson serves as the manager of the USPTO's Office of Innovation Outreach (OIO) and leads the development and delivery of USPTO's national outreach programs tailored to inspire, educate, and empower underserved and underresourced independent inventors, small businesses, and entrepreneurs. Under Ms. Ferguson's leadership, the OIO team works collaboratively with federal government agencies and national organizations to increase the awareness of the importance of intellectual property protection and provide access to key resources to assist innovators with using their intellectual property to reach their full potential.

Jennifer Whitlow currently serves as Head of Community Partnerships at Fusen, a platform that connects college students with the community and resources needed to successfully launch their startups. She is also a part-time lecturer at the College of Computing at Georgia Tech teaching a special topics course on entrepreneurship. With over 13 years of experience in higher education, she has a proven track record of creating strategic initiatives, program management, and developing partnerships that help students achieve their personal and professional goals.

Aditya Kunjapur is from Houston, Texas, and interned for 5 summers with Shell and ExxonMobil as an undergraduate. His interest in biomolecular engineering was sparked by a desire to develop renewable liquid transportation fuel alternatives, and he remains excited to create new routes to chemicals from renewable sources using biocatalysis. During his post-doc, he became fascinated by the enormous potential of designer bacteria for biomedical applications. Whether for healthcare or sustainability goals, Aditya is most interested in taking functional group chemistries that are underrepresented in nature and designing routes to introduce them onto building block molecules.

Carmen Lyles-Irving is a Patent Attorney with the United States Patent and Trademark Office's Office of Enrollment and Discipline. Prior to her role with the Office of Enrollment and Discipline, Ms. Lyles-Irving was a Primary Patent Examiner in Technology Center 1700 specializing in prosecuting patent applications in the field of Fuel Cells and Batteries. In addition to working as a Primary Patent Examiner, she has detailed at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Office of Petitions and with the Texas Regional Office. Ms. Lyles-Irving has worked at the USPTO since July of 2012, before that Ms. Lyles-Irving worked as a Registered Patent Attorney where her practice involved patent preparation and prosecution as well as trademark preparation and prosecution.

Mary Harris was senior consultant/collaborator on a research grant funded by the National Science Foundation to explore how best to improve minority participation and promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the national I-Corps program. SBIR Coach and Mentor: Based on her company's success with NIH Small Business Innovation Research Program, Dr. Harris' firm- BioTechnical Communications—offers education, training, and mentoring to technology-based small businesses owned by under-represented minorities and women.

Monique Mills is a degreed electrical engineer turned serial entrepreneur. With an emphasis on business innovation, she currently serves as the CEO of her strategy consulting firm, TPM Focus, which provides revenue-focused strategies to companies that are starting up or expanding. And she serves as President of her family-owned small-business acquisition company, Focused Innovation Group. She serves as Mentor, Advisor, Consultant, and Strategic Partner to several entrepreneurial and innovation organizations as well as economic development agencies.

Nakia Melecio is a Senior Research Faculty member of Georgia Tech Innovation Enterprise Institute and Principal in Venture Lab. In this role, Nakia helps researchers commercialize their Biotechnology, Energy, Defense, Military Technology, Education, Government Technology, and Aerospace Technology. He also helps them secure investments from a network of federally funded laboratories, universities, and corporations. Nakia also is the Founder/Director of MedTech Center of Excellence, created to support and address the unique needs of early-stage medical device technologies where they provide expertise in product realization, technology, medical device manufacturing, biotechnology, life science, and therapeutic innovations to early-stage entrepreneurs.

Dawn Ross is registered patent attorney who helps businesses and entrepreneurs secure and protect their innovation, brands, copyrights and build a strong business foundation. Attorney Ross truly believes that advancement of her community requires the ownership of intellectual assets to enable monetization and the assembly of more established business legacies that have generational impact.  As the co-founder and managing partner of the Commercial Sector of Ross & Owens Ross Law, she is committed to making sure her community is equipped with the knowledge, tools, network and legal guidance, necessary to facilitate business growth.

Nicole Morris is a Professor of Practice at Emory University School of Law and the inaugural Director of the Innovation & Legal Tech Initiative as well as the TI:GER® Program Director. Nicole Morris works with innovators & entrepreneurs to help them identify the value of their product and how to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Prior to joining Emory Law, she practiced patent law for over twenty years in large and mid-sized law firms and has represented clients in patent and trademark matters.

Contact:

Erika Jefferson
Black Women in Science & Engineering (BWISE)
404/461-9964 (cell)
[email protected]