Anna Welker, Bar Manager at the Hotel Revival and the Creator of the "Zero Proof, Zero Judgement" beverage program for Hyatt.

Steve Wilson has found success by using his passion and intuition as a guide in preservation, investing, collecting contemporary art and farming. A native Kentuckian, Wilson actively pursues community development projects aimed at revitalizing urban, cultural and architectural landscapes, and offering alternatives to suburban sprawl. Wilson and his wife Laura Lee Brown are the founders and creative force behind 21c Museum Hotels, the award-winning boutique hotel and restaurant group. With the goals of engaging the public with contemporary art in a new way, and contributing to the revitalization of Louisville’s cultural center, they opened 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville in 2006. They converted five vacant buildings into a contemporary art museum accessible to the public free of charge, 365 days a year, and combined it with Louisville’s first boutique hotel. 21c would create both an economic driver for the community and an oasis where art challenges, amuses, stimulates conversation, and provokes new ideas. Much more than just a place to spend the night, 21c is an inventive union of genuine hospitality, careful design and culinary creativity — all anchored by a contemporary art museum with thought-provoking exhibitions, interactive site specific art installations and a full roster of cultural programming.

Dr. Chris Vitelli serves as the Superintendent/President for the Merced Community College District with more than 18 years’ experience in management and administration, including senior administration-level experience serving in various capacities, including Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Student Services Officer (CSSO), Chief Instructional Officer (CIO), and Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO). Vitelli’s value of education is derived from a broad perspective of its benefits, as well as from personal experience. As a first-generation college graduate, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Communication at the University of Florida, a Master of Education in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University, and Doctor of Education at Arizona State University.

Adam Schlegel is the owner of Chook Charcoal Chicken, in addition to CEO of Cumulus Etc, a consulting company focused on food, beverage, agriculture and sustainability. Initiatives include Chook, Denver Public Market and Snooze an AM Eatery. Adam’s experience spreads across multiple sectors and disciplines in entrepreneurship, management and socially conscious business practices. In 2006, Adam and his brother Jon founded Snooze AM Eatery, a consortium of breakfast and lunch restaurants throughout the Western US. Adam currently sits on the Snooze Board of Directors focusing on community and sustainability programs across this growing restaurant group. From 2013-15, he served as the Executive Director for EatDenver, a Denver based nonprofit focused on locally owned, independent restaurants, developing the organizations mission of education, community and advocacy. In 2018 Adam hatched Chook, partnering with James Beard Award winning chef Alex Seidel, to create a casual, healthy, affordable and delicious rotisserie chicken shop. Chook continues a mission that business can be a force for good. Adam sits on the board of Visit Denver and The Colorado Health Foundation, in addition to community and sustainability initiatives that include Colorado Restaurant Response and Colorado Net Zero.

Dave Runyon is the founder and executive director of CityUnite, a role in which he acts as a consultant to faith, business, and government leaders to help them unite around common causes and make a positive impact in their communities. Dave is passionate about following the biblical commandment to love our neighbors and inspiring others to do the same. To that end, he started a neighboring movement in 2010 that has now spread to over 3,000 churches around the nation, an experience which prompted him to co-author a book with Jay Pathak titled The Art of Neighboring. Prior to founding CityUnite, Dave served as a pastor for 10 years at Foothills Community Church and The Next Level Church. He and his wife, Lauren, have four children.

Rebecca Parekh is the CoFounder and CEO of THE WELL — your one-stop shop for wellness. Prior to founding THE WELL, Rebecca was the COO for Deepak Chopra Radical Well-Being and a Director at Deutsche Bank Securities where she held various positions including Head of Cross Product Sales and Head of the US Private Institutional Client Group. She is on the Board of Directors for Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation and an Advisor to the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Entrepreneurship Program. She is also a certified yoga instructor and serves on the board of several non-profit foundations including Breakout Foundation and LIFE Camp, Inc.

Zachary T. Neumeyer is a businessman and civic leader. He is the Chairman of Sage Hospitality Group and is the Vice Chair of Mobile Accord. He is or has been an investor and board member of companies in the technology, communications, manufacturing, senior housing, banking and service industries. He also works on K-12 education reform in Colorado and nationally.

Zack’s civic focus is ensuring that every child in America can fulfill their potential. He works through many organizations focused on making our education system work. These include Board Chair of America Succeeds, Board Member of Colorado Succeeds and Teach For America Colorado. He believes that developing superb leadership is essential to improving our cities, states and country.

Jessi Kalambayi is the interim Program manager for the Ready for American Hospitality Program, and case aide for public benefits at the ECDC African Community Center. Jessi graduated with a Bachelor’s of Sciences in Pschology and a minor in Africana studies at the Metropolitan State University of Denver and has worked within the non-profit sector with organizations like the United Nations Association of Boulder county as a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion intern and through ACC as an Economic Empowerment intern. Born in DR Congo, and raised in South Africa her experience as an immigrant has allowed her to better work with the refugee and asylee seeker population that are often hired into the hospitality industry.

Nnadagi Isa is the CEO of The Lor Company, a sustainability lifestyle firm whose mission is to welcome more Black communities into a healthy, sustainable lifestyle through household essentials. The Lor Company has in-house brands such as; Lor Tush, Geekin' Blend Coffee, and more. Nnadagi is a multi-hyphen creator, musician, designer, and marketer, receiving RIAA Certified 2x Platinum plaque from Warner Records.

LAURA LOUISE GREEN, LPC is a licensed psychotherapist, organizational consultant, and founder of Healthy Pour. After working in the hospitality and drinks industry for two decades, Laura utilizes her knowledge and skills as a trained mental health professional to facilitate training, growth, and healing within the hospitality industry and other creative sectors. After receiving her license to practice as a psychotherapist, Laura turned her sights on the hospitality industry, providing free psychoeducation to the community at large. This psychoeducation eventually transformed and evolved into Healthy Pour, a consultancy that helps organizations and professional communities address issues of well-being in the workplace. A self-described pracademic (a term used to describe a practitioner who utilizes and engages with rigorous research and academia), Laura's work is rooted in employing evidence-based interventions and theory through a critical lens. Her research interests are socio-emotional stress at work and trauma's influence on career decisions in precarious, creative industries. She studied at DePaul University, earning a Master of Education in Community Counseling, and is currently studying Organizational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London in the School of Business, Economics, and Informatics with plans to continue her "pracademic" career in occupational health and well-being. Laura still provides free weekly seminars for the community.

Heather Ciszczon, VP of Development and Design, joined NuovoRE having worked with the team in her previous roles at Two Roads Hospitality and Hyatt. In her twenty-year-plus career, Heather has vigorously led collaborative teams for numerous national award winning hotel, golf club, spa, restaurant, and resort residential projects across the country. Heather’s hospitality career got its start while still in high school as project assistant on the Phoenix Royal Palms Hotel Resort Residential project. After obtaining an architectural design degree, she landed a position at Troon Golf where she was responsible for the design and development of private and public golf clubs and spas across the United States. Having collaborated with Oz Architects while at Troon, Heather was asked to lead their interior design division and project manage several challenging hotel projects including Mountain Shadows Resort, the renovation at Royal Palms, the historic Hermosa Inn, and the Kukui’ula Resort for DMB Associates.

The recession of 2008 shut down the hospitality industry and provided Heather the time to pursue a graduate degree in Construction Management with a focus on collaboration methodologies. She also had the opportunity to work for two leading construction companies in Phoenix and managed several major healthcare projects. With improvement in the economy, Heather returned to hospitality as interior design director and project manager of several Park City resort residential projects, including one at the Stein Erikson Residences, as well as Tommy Bahama retail and restaurant projects in Scottsdale and Waikiki. Following her passion for hotel projects, Heather took a position with Two Roads Hospitality Denver, which led to her current role at NuovoRE.

Molly Casey is the NINE dot ARTS Chief Curator and Co-founder, Molly leads, mentors, and supervises interdisciplinary creative teams through the research, curation, acquisition, and installation of a range of national art experiences. Her leadership and consulting expertise includes working directly with private and public sector clients on everything from curated corporate art collections to robust community art plans. Molly’s innovative approach to art consulting includes building a global community of artists and providing education, advocacy, and career-building opportunities. She and Co-founder Martha Weidmann formed NINE dot ARTS in 2009 with the vision of building a forward-thinking art consulting company that both curates incredible art experiences and advocates for art and artists. Since then, the firm has completed over 900 projects in real estate development across 36 states and five countries, generating more than $40 million in revenue for the creative economy. Currently, their artist application, Dotfolio, features over 10,000 artists from around the world.

Jon Buerge is the Chief Development Officer at Urban Villages, responsible for new company acquisitions, corporate growth, and strategic positioning of all real estate assets. Previously, Jon oversaw real estate and expansion activities for national restaurant chains as Director of Development and Real Estate for CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries. Jon earned a JD and MBA from the University of Colorado, where he served as both student body president and chair of the CU Honor Council. He received his bachelor’s degree in economics and business finance from CU as well. Currently, he’s a voting member of Denver’s Climate Action Task Force. He also serves as Chair of the ULI Building Healthy Places Committee, and is a board member of the Denver Park Trust, the Denver Business Improvement District, the Downtown Denver Partnership, the LoDo District, and the High Performance Buildings Committee, guiding building policies for the City of Denver

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a humanitarian, adventurous mountaineer, explorer, social entrepreneur, and the author of the critically acclaimed Memoir, "In The Shadow of the Mountain." In 2016, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado became the first Peruvian woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest in Nepal. By 2018, she completed climbing the 7 Summits (otherwise known as the tallest mountain on each continent), becoming the first openly gay woman to do so. Silvia founded Courageous Girls, an organization to help survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking with opportunities to find their strength, courage and cultivate their voice.Silvia is a fierce advocate for LGTBQ+ equality, women's rights, and sexual abuse survivors. As a technologist, Silvia has been recognized for her leadership and insights. She developed Centers of Excellence in India, focusing on being one of the first corporate teams to hire women. In 2015, CNET recognized Silvia as one of the most influential Latinos; and Fortune Magazine named Silvia as one of the Corporate Heroes of all Fortune 500 companies.