Maria S. Salinas is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the largest business association in Los Angeles County representing more than 1,600 member companies and serving the interests of more than 235,000 businesses across the Los Angeles region. 

An accomplished business woman, entrepreneur and a stalwart community leader, Salinas’ business acumen and financial expertise has led her to the boardrooms of community organizations, higher education institutions and community banks. She has extensive experience in finance and accounting, corporate governance, audit and regulatory matters. 

Melanie Cristol is the founder & CEO of Lorals, a sexual wellness brand that helps people across the world have more frequent and more pleasurable intimate experiences. Melanie and Lorals have been featured in the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Fast Company, Autostraddle, Playboy, and other publications worldwide. She is a frequent podcast guest on shows such as Art of Manufacturing, Girl Boner, How Cum, and Women Who Tech. Prior to founding Lorals, Melanie worked as an attorney at the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where she represented consumer-products, healthcare, and technology companies, as well as individuals. In a highlight of her legal career, Melanie was part of the legal team that secured gay marriage rights for the western United States. She has also fought for LGBTQ rights in California and Ohio as a field organizer with the National LGBTQ Task Force.

Adam Chapnick Is An Advisor At Bixel Exchange Startup LAunch Program And Is A Globally Recognized Serial Entrepreneur Known For Disrupting Long-Established Industries With Tech-Supported New-Model Approaches. He’s An Active Consultant To Tech Founders On Strategy, Operations, And Financing.
He Was A Principal At Indiegogo, Which He Helped Build Into The World’s Largest Crowdfunding Platform, With Over 200,000 Campaigns, Users In Over 175 Countries, Operating In Multiple Languages And 5 Currencies.
Adam Founded Distribber.Com, The Flat-Fee VOD Distribution Service That Empowers Content Creators To Distribute Their Work Like A Major Studio.

Gina Pak Is The COO & Co-Founder Of Lawgood, A Legaltech Company That Is Revolutionizing How Contracts Are Done Through Data And Machine Learning. Prior To Lawgood, Gina Was A Corporate Lawyer At Large Firms In New York And Los Angeles Working With Fortune 500 Companies. She Was Also A Law Professor At Peking University. Gina Graduated From Columbia Law School.

 Dr. Corneil Montgomery Is An Accomplished Community Affairs And Corporate Social Responsibility Executive With Over 10 Years Of Leadership Experience At Global NGOs, Regional And Local Government Entities, And Top Fortune Corporations. He Has Demonstrated An Ability To Lead Through Rapid Change, Solve Problems, Build Innovative Community Programs, And Collaborate With Key Stakeholders To Support Organizational Goals And Objectives. His Core Skills Are In Community Affairs, Corporate Social Responsibility, Strategic Planning, Strategy And Organizational Development, And Stakeholder Engagement.
In 2019, He Was Named Head Of Corporate Social Responsibility Impact, Managing Bank Of The West’s National Team Of Professionals And Directly Responsible For Helping The Company Create Shared Value Through, Corporate Philanthropy, Social Impact Strategies, Employee Engagement, And Other Activities That Protect And Enhance Bank Of The West’s Reputation.

Lindsey Heisser is the Director of the LA Tech Talent Pipeline at Bixel Exchange, the Center for Innovation and Technology at the LA Area Chamber of Commerce.

 From Heisser’s prior experience as Co-Founder and Managing Director of branding and marketing agency, Tribemint, which hyper-focused on LA tech start-ups and her 10+ years in the private sector, she brings Bixel Exchange a non-traditional approach to program design and strategy, deep tech employer relationships, and an unparalleled resilience for underrepresented young people to thrive in the technology sector. 

As a recognized diversity and inclusion strategist, Heisser pushes employers to evaluate and shift systemic barriers and connects with talent to alleviate imposter syndrome with the goal to create inroads and change that serve the whole LA Tech Talent Pipeline ecosystem.

Petula has past web, printable design experience with a lateral step into the medical field as a full-time Emergency Medical Tech (EMT) to fulfill a personal dream to help others. She loved every minute of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) field yet decided to follow her heart and come back to her first love - Design. Currently, She attends Santa Monica College’s B.S. Interaction Design program. In the future, she plans to attend a master’s program in Human-Computer Interaction.

 Kat unleashes innovation as the Director of Bixel Exchange’s Startup LAunch Incubator program, a nonprofit Small Business Development Center (SBDC). She leads the development and implementation of Bixel Exchange’s core business advisory services, helping empower more than 300 tech startups each year. Kat believes in the power of diverse people centered solutions, equity and purpose driven passion.She frequently guest teaches at universities and nonprofits on tech, entrepreneurship and social impact. In addition to teaching, she’s had the honor of speaking at Kapor Center, 500 Startups, Quake Capital, CORO, Univision, SBA, United Way and BCG Digital Ventures. Kat was named L.A. Biz 2018 Woman of Influence and a 2019 Techwomen headliner.

Dandy Reyes, a Full Stack Software Engineer Consultant at Talent Path, is a former Snap Design Academy participant. He was a student at Los Angeles City College and graduated with two AA's. He has a non-traditional education to computer science and is a major participant in the Tech Talent Pipeline program.

In the law, and in life, Mike Gatto has always felt a calling to improve how society works for its citizens. That calling led him to serve in the California State Assembly, where he won eight elections to serve four terms. That calling makes him a different kind of attorney, a problem solver focused on obtaining efficient, excellent results.

During his tenure in the Assembly, Mike Gatto served on the Banking & Finance committee, presided over Assembly sessions as Assistant Speaker, and chaired the Appropriations, Consumer Protection & Privacy, and Utilities & Commerce committees. As chair of Appropriations, he determined billions in spending each year. As chair of Consumer Protection & Privacy, he was involved in several innovative initiatives involving technology and cybersecurity. As chair of Utilities & Commerce, he guided landmark utility and energy policy, and regulatory reforms. Along the way, he developed substantial expertise in each of those subject areas.

Sarah is a partner in the Santa Monica office of Fenwick & West. Her practice focuses on technology companies, specifically in the areas of start-up company formation, early- and growth-stage finance, technology licensing and regulatory considerations, venture capital investment transactions, and mergers and acquisitions. Sarah advises investors on their venture investments.

Sarah is passionate about serving entrepreneurs and VCs alike, and she supports the local Los Angeles VC investment community in a number of different ways. She periodically guest lectures at UCLA Anderson School of Management and the UCLA Blackstone Launchpad Start-up Accelerator. In the past Sarah has served as a panelist in "Lean Startup Machine" competitions and guest lectured, moderated panels or spoken at events for the UCLA Center for Memes, UCLA Extension, Claremont McKenna College, Women Founders’ Network, Digital LA, the SoGal Startup Summit, and Sustainatopia. Sarah was selected as one of Variety’s “Hollywood New Leaders: Lawyers,” in 2013, and has been a Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Star every year since 2015.

Wendy Estrada manages the first LAUSD student-run bank in Lincoln High School. A new program designed to provide students with real-world financial education and work experience. 

Wendy is an experienced community and social services professional with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry. Skilled in Management, Leadership, Marketing, Training and Development, Customer Service, and Business Development.

Ling Hung is the managing director of Castchem Corp., one of China's leading specialty polystyrene companies servicing the foundry industry. She has been involved in the industry for almost 20 years and, in addition to her role at Castchem, consulted for multinationals trying to establish a presence in China, such as Vulcan Engineering, North America's largest in-house engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to the casting and heavy industrial markets. Previously, Hung worked in content and technology at Oxygen Media, Alki Software, Moviso and WTN Beijing, now part of AP TV. She is an angel investor and was on the board of the Pasadena Angels, providing early-stage financing to start-up ventures in the Southern California region. Hung holds a bachelors of arts from University of California, Los Angeles and a master's of science in journalism from Columbia University.

Steven is an expert in market strategy: online advertising, conversion-rate optimization, market segmentation, business development and sales. He has a diverse background in both finance and online advertising, having previously served as a Nasdaq market maker and the co-founder of a health and sustainability-oriented online marketing firm.Company Name

Shirin has extensive experience in strategic planning, gaming, branding, product development and marketing. She is the founder and CEO of PlayWerks, an interactive media company that creates high-quality, multi-platform immersive games and experiences that engage children and adults. She previously worked at MGA Entertainment on Bratz and at Mattel on Barbie, where she performed ongoing research and analysis of industry trends, consumer motivations and competitor activity.

Ronette is skilled in preparing startup companies to raise money, with more than 15 years of CFO experience with startups. She previously held startup advising roles at SAMs Preccelerator, WFN Workshops, MuckerLabs and LumaLaunch.

Moosh Walks is a Transmedia brand focused on Building Future Female Billionaires. 

We focus on empowering storytelling around our original characters for young girls. First product to market are 3D socks. 

Prior to launching Moosh Walks, Olga was a pioneer on YouTube with 1.3M fans and over 160M + views on her content.

FUN FACT: Olga immigrated to the USA as juggler with Ringling Brothers Circus.