Beth Holly
Beth Holly is Senior Vice President, Associate General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading science and technology company delivering life-transforming medicines for serious diseases.
Prior to joining Regeneron, Beth spent 13 years at Pfizer Inc., where she served in various positions in the Legal Division, culminating in the role of General Counsel - U.S. Pharmaceuticals, followed by 18 months at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer. In the early days of her legal career, Beth was a litigation associate at the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, following a judicial clerkship with U.S. District Judge Gerard L. Goettel of the Southern District of New York. Beth received a BS from Cornell University and a JD from Fordham Law School. Beth is the recipient of the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers in Business (2000), the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Luminary Award (2017), the 914Inc. Women in Business Awards (2017) and the National Organization for Women’s Women of Power and Influence Award (2018).
Bryce Jones
In his early twenties, Bryce Jones witnessed first hand the innovation of deforestation technology, while methods of tree planting remained stagnant. After studying biology and starting a solar consulting company, Bryce wanted a project with maximum impact on the climate crisis. He founded Flash Forest with the goal of creating a practical and scalable means of accelerating the rate of global reforestation.
Flash Forest is Canada’s first drone reforestation company created with the goal to maximize carbon sequestration and restore ecosystems across the planet. Bryce's vision is to plant 1 billion trees by 2028 and not stop there.
Bryce is CEO of Flash Forest and resides in Toronto, Ontario.
Eru Matsumoto
Featured in Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Class of 2021, ERU is a multimedia artist utilizing immersive technology and has been recognized as one of the world’s leading cellists of her generation.
As a graduate of Juilliard, her blossoming career has included a solo performance with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra premiering the music of legendary composer John Williams, a collaboration with major recording artist Adele, as well as Demi Lovato, for which she received a Grammy Award nomination.
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ERU is also known as a spokesperson of her generation, recently giving a TEDx talk in London focused on fInding meaning and a calling in life, a Keynote presentation at Lawrence University, and a lecture at Harvard University. She is also a musical director and collaborator for STEAM at Harvard.
Being a strong believer in the universal language of music being a solution to most of the current slate of problems we face on this planet, ERU capitalizes on technologies to maximize the effectiveness of music as a potential source of healing in her work. She spearheaded a collaborative research project with Harvard University and a renowned astrophysicist called The Sound of Art, aimed at finding out “What might the most beloved paintings hanging in art museums actually sound like?” through the use of algorithms found within the paintings’ colors and brushstrokes. Beethoven's X project involves composing music with the help of an AI to attempt to create what Beethoven may have written if he were alive in 2021.
At the age of 16, ERU was accepted by the Juilliard School in New York City, under the tutelage of the late David Soyer, widely considered to be the foremost master of cello pedagogy and a distinguished pupil of the legendary Pablo Casals. Her long-term instructors have included Andrew Shulman and Yehuda Hanani.
ERU has performed with symphonies all over the world including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hawaii Symphony, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, and the New York City Ballet among many other venerable institutions. She has also performed as a guest soloist at celebrated venues such as Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Wembley Arena, Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Adrienne Arsht Center, and Shanghai Symphony Hall.
ERU is actively involved in charitable work such as performing as a featured soloist for the Music for a Sustainable Planet conference, helping to create awareness of global climate issues presented by the United Nations at Carnegie Hall, and has performed as a guest soloist with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra as a Foreign Friendship Ambassador to premiere Chinese composer Peng-Peng Gong’s historical Rejuvenation Symphony, which was written for ERU.
ERU has an ever-growing legion of nearly 15,000 faithful followers on Instagram and Facebook. She performed at the Grand Finals at DOTA 2 in Seattle before a live audience of 50,000 and over 1,000,000 streaming, has made an appearance with Skrillex and Chance the Rapper on CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and was invited to be a Guest of Honor two years in a row at Anime Expo alongside legendary rock band KISS. ERU co-hosted a TV Documentary program on Chopin filmed in Warsaw, Poland where she performed a cello Sonata by Chopin in the Łazienki Palace. She has performed as star cellist at a gala concert with Nathan Pacheco and David Archuleta and is featured on numerous video game soundtracks. ERU is also a member of symphonic rock band Critical Hit which tours the US and Europe.
ERU is an honored recipient of a lifetime loan of a world-class 1835 Italian cello sponsored by the venerable ALAGO ART & STRINGS GMBH in Germany.
Gary Sheng
Gary Sheng is a NYC-based technologist and social entrepreneur dedicated to building tools, systems, and movements that empower people to 1) unplug from everything facilitating human downgrade, and 2) become agents of a better future.
Gary is the Chief Operating Officer of Civics Unplugged, a NYC-based social enterprise he co-founded whose mission is to empower leaders of Gen Z to build the future of democracy. He was recently honored by Forbes 30 Under 30 for his work helping build CU. Before co-founding Civics Unplugged, Gary served as a Software Engineering Team Lead at Google, as well as co-director of Dancing Pineapple, a popular electronic music blog and live events company followed by hundreds of thousands of feel-good music lovers.
Jack Coyne
Jack Coyne is a filmmaker based in New York City. He has a B.A. in Film Studies and Economics from Wesleyan University in Connecticut.
Jack's first job out of college was the Studio Manager and Associate Producer for filmmaker Casey Neistat. After a year on the job he became the first employee of the Social Media startup Beme, and at different times served as the Community Lead, Head of Business Operations and Product Manager. Beme was acquired by CNN in late 2016 and Jack spent a year working as a Host/Producer for the Beme News YouTube channel.
In February 2018 Jack left CNN to start a production company and launch his own YouTube channel. The channel has since grown to over 170,000 subscribers and millions of views. Jack continues to create videos for his channel and a range of clients while also working as a marketing consultant for startups.
James Ford
James E. Ford is an award-winning educator and consultant on issues of equity in education. Ford is the Executive Director of the Center for Racial Equity in Education (CREED) and the Principal Consultant at Filling the Gap Educational Consultants, LLC. James currently serves on the North Carolina State Board of Education.
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Formerly, he served as the 2014-15 North Carolina Teacher of the Year and the representative for 95,000 public school teachers throughout the state. For a full year, he traveled the state and country speaking before thousands of teachers, students, business leaders and policymakers about the importance of education.
While in this position, he lobbied the state legislature to help secure the first post-recession raises for teachers and was made chair of the Governor's Teacher Advisory Committee. The Governor (McCrory) acknowledged Ford during his 2015 State of the State address for his hard work and recognition. In Spring 2015, He, along with 54 other state teachers were invited to the White House to be honored by President Obama in the Rose Garden during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Ford taught World History at Garinger High School in Charlotte, NC starting in 2010. Ford earned a bachelor of science in mass communication from Illinois State University in 2003 and a master’s degree in teaching from Rockford University in 2009. He is currently pursuing his PhD at UNC-Charlotte in Urban Education.
Ford was recognized as Charlotte Magazine’s 2014 Charlottean of the Year, and the 2014 National Alliance of Black School Educators’ Teacher of the Year. Ford is a self-professed “equity warrior” who believes education is a human right. He writes and speaks extensively on the topics of race, class, and education equity and advocates for the most underserved student populations. Most notably, an article written after the Charleston shooting about the need to address racism earned him a handwritten note of praise from Secretary Arne Duncan. He writes for Education Post, EdWeek, Charlotte Magazine, Charlotte Agenda and EducationNC. His work has also appeared in Ebony and ASCD Educational Leadership magazine.
Joe Torre
Joe Torre was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on July 27, 2014, and the New York Yankees retired his Number 6 at a ceremony at Yankee Stadium the following month.
Joe is currently serving as a consultant to MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred. Prior to serving as a consultant, Joe held the position of Chief Baseball Officer for Major League Baseball. In this capacity, he oversaw areas that included Major League Operations, On-Field Operations, On-Field Discipline and Umpiring. He served as the Office of the Commissioner’s primary liaison to the general managers and field managers of the 30 Major League Clubs regarding all baseball and on-field matters. Since December 2009, he has served on the Commissioner’s Special Committee for On-Field Matters.
In the Fall of 2010, Torre concluded his third and final season as Manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who he led to the National League Championship Series in 2008 and 2009. Previously, he spent 12 seasons as Manager of the New York Yankees (1996-2007), guiding them to the Playoffs every year, including six World Series appearances and four World Championships (1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000).
Torre made his managerial debut with the New York Mets on May 31, 1977, becoming the first player-manager in the majors since 1959. He managed the Mets until 1981 and the Atlanta Braves from 1982-84. After spending nearly six seasons as a television broadcaster for the California Angels, he managed the St. Louis Cardinals from 1990-95.
Torre ranks fifth in all-time managerial wins, with 2,326. The Associated Press named him Manager of the Year in 1982 and 1998. In 1996 and 1998, the Baseball Writers Association of America named him American League Manager of the Year and, in 1996, The Sporting News named him Sportsman of the Year. He won ESPN’s ESPY Award for Best Manager/Coach of the Year in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2001.
During his 17-year playing career (first/third baseman, catcher) with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, Torre compiled a lifetime .297 batting average, had 2,342 hits, 252 home runs and 1,185 RBI’s, and hit over .300 five times. He was a nine-time All-Star and the National League’s 1971 Most Valuable Player, batting .363 with 230 hits, 24 home runs and a league-leading 137 RBIs.
Torre is also Chairman of the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation (www.joetorre.org), which he and his wife, Ali, launched in 2002. In 2010, Torre was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. He has also served as Co-Chair of the US Justice Department’s National Task Force on Children Exposed to Violence.
The Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation’s mission is to develop educational programs that will end the cycle of domestic violence and save lives. Since its inception, the Foundation has educated thousands of students, parents, teachers and school faculty about the devastating effects of domestic violence.
Currently reaching children in schools and community centers in metropolitan New York City, and schools in Los Angeles and Cincinnati, Margaret’s Place, a tribute to Joe’s mother, provides middle and high school students with a “safe room,” in which to talk about violence-related issues to each other and to a professional counselor trained in domestic violence intervention and prevention.
Torre is the co-author of three books: The Yankee Years (Doubleday 2009), Chasing the Dream: My Lifelong Journey to the World Series (Bantam 1997, 1998) and Joe Torre’s Ground Rules for Winners: 12 Keys to Managing Team Players, Tough Bosses, Setbacks and Success (Hyperion 1999).
Torre was born on July 18, 1940 in Brooklyn, NY. He and Ali have four children, Andrea, Michael, Cristina and Lauren.
Maneet Chauhan
Maneet Chauhan's passion for all things culinary started at an extremely young age. Seemingly born with a ladle in her hand, she started her culinary "journey" in her homeland of India, where she graduated at the top of her class at the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, India's top culinary and hotel management school. After interning at India's finest hotels and kitchens, including names like the Taj Group, Oberoi Hotels and Le Meridien, it was off to the U.S., where she attended The Culinary Institute of America and graduated with high honors, sweeping all awards in her class.
After some valuable fine-dining field experience on the East Coast, it was time to conquer Chicago. This task began with her being the only woman to go up against 40 male chefs for an executive chef position. Once again successful, Chef Chauhan was ultimately the opening chef of Vermilion restaurant. As executive chef of Vermilion, she was at the helm of executing the Indian-Latin cuisine developed by Rohini Dey and her kitchen teams in New York and Chicago. With Chef Chauhan at the helm, the restaurant earned many accolades, including Chicago magazine's Best New Restaurant, Esquire's Restaurant of the Month and Wine Enthusiast's Best New Restaurant in the U.S. Vermilion then set its sights on New York City and launched an equally impressive outpost in the heart of Manhattan. Soon after its doors opened, Chef Chauhan was nominated as the Best Import to New York by Time Out magazine.
During her tenure with these landmark restaurants, they received exceptional reviews from Bon Appétit, USA Today, Time, Esquire, Travel & Leisure, Gourmet, Town & Country, Business Week and O, The Oprah Magazine, as well as getting a stunning three-star review from the Chicago Tribune.
After eight years of leading the kitchens of Vermilion in both New York City and Chicago, Chef Chauhan ventured out on her own and founded Indie Culinaire, an avant-garde culinary and hospitality company. In a short period of time, she has established herself as an honorary figure and a leading volunteer for prestigious culinary schools, industry events and premier nonprofit foundations. After being the only Indian female ever to compete on Iron Chef and a fierce competitor on The Next Iron Chef, Chef Chauhan is now a full-time judge on the Food Network hit show Chopped, which has been nominated for a Critics' Choice Award and granted Chef Chauhan the honor of receiving the prestigious James Beard Award of Excellence.
Along with Chopped, Chef Chauhan has established herself as a go-to figure when it comes to Indian cuisine and spices, as evidenced by being invited to teach the multinational audience of ABC's The View how to cook Indian food. Additionally, Chef Chauhan was chosen as the only chef to cook at the first-ever Indiaspora Inaugural Ball, honoring the re-election of President Barack Obama.
A big supporter of culinary education, Chef Chauhan credits her success to the solid culinary foundation she received at the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration, India, and the Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park. She was recently honored by an invitation back to the CIA campus as the commencement speaker. She also received recognition of Distinguished Service to the Foodservice and Hospitality Industry as the ambassador of the Culinary Institute of America. She is constantly mentoring new graduates and is involved with the educational arm of the National Restaurant Association's ProStart program, which educates high school students in the areas of hospitality and culinary arts, giving them "real life" skills and encouraging the culinary world as a career.
An active supporter of various charities such as CRY (Child Rights and You) and P.A.V.E. (Partnerships for Action, Voices for Empowerment), ProStart, Chef Chauhan is highly devoted to giving back to the community that has given her so much. Recently she has provided her culinary skills to cook at the prestigious Chef's Garden, Guggenheim Museum, Willie Mae Rock Camp and many more.
In 2014, she opened Chauhan Ale & Masala House in Nashville, Tenn. Her first cookbook, Flavors of My World, was released in 2013. She is currently developing a signature spice line and hard at work on another cookbook, and her ongoing research, trials, travels and zest for experimentation keep her at the forefront of cutting-edge cuisine. Her energy and creativity, combined with polished culinary skills and the courage to follow her passion, have proved to be the right ingredients for success.
Chef Chauhan currently resides in New York City with her husband and her daughter.
Sam Bousfield
Sam Bousfield has spent the last 13 years designing and prototyping a new flying sports car, now reaching test flight stage. Bousfield's creations have been featured in Scientific American, Smithsonian Magazine, and Robb Report, among many others. He is working with hybrid electric drive systems, fly-by-wire flight systems, and cutting edge materials science to pave the way for future transportation solutions.
Sam is the Founder and CEO of Samson Sky, located in Central Oregon.