Meet the Keynote Speaker and Panelists

Since joining as Deputy Executive Director in 2017 she has pioneered an inquiry-driven approach to philanthropy, grounded in the scientific method, and centered on reframing big questions and learning alongside grant investments. She previously led Community Engagement at Two Sigma and held positions on Google’s Communications and Public Affairs teams, in addition to prior experience in nonprofit and real estate.

Growing up in New York City, Katy’s curiosity about the way things worked, from the subway to local government, bloomed into an interest in infrastructure, a key investment area for Siegel. Giving back to her community has always been paramount. In high school, Katy worked as a literacy tutor with READ Alliance, where she now sits on the Board. She also holds board seats at Center for an Urban Future, CSforALL, Pursuit, the Regional Plan Association, and Teaching Lab. Katy is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania and was recently recognized for her leadership in Crain’s Notable Black Leaders in 2022. She and her husband currently split their time between Brooklyn, NY and northeast Pennsylvania. 

Mansur has built her career at the intersection of advanced technology and real-world application, bringing over 20 years of leadership experience in the development and commercialization of AI and robotics in both the public and private sectors.  

Mansur previously held senior roles at Draper Laboratory, Motional, Torc Robotics, and Lockheed Martin.  

As head of corporate strategy at Draper Laboratory, Mansur spearheaded enterprise-wide investment and technology roadmap development across the bio, energy, defense, space, and transportation industries. Sabrina played a key role in developing and commercializing a wide range of AI-enabled sensing, navigation and robotics technologies, including robotic perception and localization systems, LIDAR and MEMS gyroscope products. She also served as the chief program manager for Draper’s contributions to NASA’s Artemis program. Earlier in her career, at Lockheed Martin, she worked on advanced radar programs and complex systems engineering initiatives for national defense applications.  

At Motional, she led the strategic roadmap for commercial driverless electric vehicles and the early technical program execution of machine learning-based driverless development. Most recently, she led strategic planning for Torc Robotics, an AI-based autonomous freight delivery company.    

Sabrina has a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and holds multiple U.S. patents related to AI and autonomy technologies, including innovations in sensor fusion, probabilistic classification and autonomous navigation. 

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Huntsman Program, she has led high-impact initiatives at PwC and A.T. Kearney, specializing in technology integration, sales strategy, and performance improvement. As Founding Chief Operating Officer at Pursuit, Caroline oversaw operations, training, sales operations, and people functions, guiding the organization through key phases of growth and transformation.

Kate founded Indy Commons, a coworking and community hub that supports local entrepreneurs through shared office space, a commissary kitchen, and collaborative programming. She also launched the nonprofit Indy Idea Hub to strengthen Polk County’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through education and mentorship. Through her consulting practice, Creo Solutions, she helps rural communities tackle leadership and livability challenges, from main street revitalization to parks, recreation, and natural resource management.

As mayor, Kate brings this experience full circle, championing transparent governance, resilient local economies, and thoughtful growth. Her work centers on building the ecosystems—physical, social, and economic—that empower people and communities to chart their own course forward.

He lives in North Adams, with his wife, two kids and golden retriever. Outside of his day job, Ben served four terms as a City Councilor in the City of North Adams, is a Trustee of MASS MoCA, is Board Chair for the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition, Clerk of the board of the North Adams Partnership, and is Co-founder of the NAMAzing Initiative; a community group committed to growing and sharing the lovability of North Adams through creative placemaking and grass roots economic development initiatives.

A 2007 graduate of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Ben holds dual bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Environmental Studies with a minor in Chemistry, a Masters Degree in College Student Services Administration from the College of Saint Rose and a PhD in Higher Education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His dissertation focused on how experiences during college influence recent graduates’ decisions to remain in the rural community they attend college in, post-graduation. With past work experience in ecotourism in Belize, wildland firefighting and historic landscape restoration in Virginia, salmon population research in Alaska, polymer resin adhesive research in Upstate New York, as a high school guidance counselor, as a downtown cafe owner in North Adams, and as a professional at a top tier private college for 8 years, Ben has a wide range of professional experiences and passions that he carries with him. His care, passion and duty to supporting a broad range of businesses, small and large, industries, and cross cutting economic issues across the 32 cities and towns he serves is the fuel he relies on to make a meaningful difference locally, regionally and afar.

Acutec is at the forefront of Industry 4.0, supplementing machining and post-processing innovation with in-house process engineering, software development, and automation integration, and in 2018 successfully spun off Lojic, a data analytics and visualization company. Acutec was named a Top 10 CNC Manufacturing Company in 2021 by Aerospace & Defense Review and has been recognized by Aviation Week for both Professional Development and Valuing the Individual. In 2022, Acutec established an Employee Stock Ownership Plan for employees to benefit from the post-pandemic rebound of the Aerospace industry. 

Before joining Acutec in 2013, Elisabeth was a consultant for the Aerospace and Defense practice of Charles River Associates (now Renaissance Strategic Advisors) and in the Operations Leadership Program (OLP) with United Technologies Corporation, holding positions at Pratt & Whitney, Hamilton-Sundstrand, and Sikorsky Helicopter.

She has a B.A. in Mathematical Economics from Haverford College, and an MBA in Manufacturing Operations from the Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan. She has also completed Defense Policy Analysis coursework at George Washington University and the General Course at the London School of Economics.

Elisabeth serves on the Aerospace Industries Association Executive Committee, Board of Governors, Supply Chain Management Council and is active in several working groups. She was a STEP Ahead award honoree in 2016 for Women in Manufacturing by the Manufacturing Institute. Locally, she is on the board of The Meadville Medical Center and French Creek Development Corporation, and the board of corporators for the Economic Progress Association of Crawford County. She also happily carves out time to coach youth soccer.  Elisabeth resides in Meadville with her wife Mariana, and their two young daughters.

Formerly an associate professor of economics at The University of Akron, Amanda advised various groups including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel. Her work has been featured in various media outlets including MarketWatch, Forbes, Reuters, Business Insider, The Hill, TIME, NBC News, and Fox News. Before starting her Ph.D., she was a senior business analyst at BearingPoint and a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force.

Amanda holds a bachelor’s in mathematics from the United States Air Force Academy, a master’s in operations research from the Air Force Institute of Technology, and a doctorate in agricultural, environmental, and development economics from The Ohio State University, where she worked as the graduate research assistant for the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy. She lives in Hudson, Ohio, with her husband and kids.

Muro’s recent work has focused on the embrace by the U.S. federal government of what Muro calls “place-based industrial strategy,” including through the government’s Regional Tech Hubs initiative. This work has drawn on Muro’s work on regional “growth centers,” a strategy by which the nation seeks to unlock innovation and growth in new places across America. Muro’s work on these issues looks closely at the interplay of federal strategy and state and regional delivery.

In addition to his national work, Muro’s work with states most recently entailed a reform agenda for Pennsylvania innovation policy.

More broadly, Muro’s research has revolved around the geography of the digital economy, including as it involves the diverging fortunes of “superstar” cities and “places left behind.”

Current work from Muro explores the geography of the AI economy and inclusive tech, building on earlier reports such as: “What jobs are affected by AI?,” “Automation and Artificial Intelligence: How machines are affecting people and places,” and “Digitalization and the American workforce.”

Jay began his career advising on mergers and acquisitions at Gleacher & Co. and Allen & Company. Subsequently, Jay spent a decade at NBCUniversal, which culminated in his running strategy and development for the Entertainment and Digital Networks division.

After NBCU, Jay joined Emigrant Bank where he served as Executive Advisor to the Chairman and led investments in several small growth businesses.

Jay has a BA from Princeton University’s School of Public Policy and International Affairs as well as certificate degrees in East Asian Studies and Japanese Language.

Chris spent the first half of his career as an entrepreneur in West Coast B2C and B2B e-commerce start-ups. He then turned to larger companies, leading projects for Bain & Company and managing a business unit at Yankee Candle. He has a BA from Harvard, an MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, and teaches in the UMass MBA program. Chris lives in Amherst, MA with his wife and two sons.

With a background in engineering and over a decade of experience launching technologies through Filabot and Massive Dimension, Tyler has led innovations in polymer, metal, and composite printing that enable scalable, lights-out production. His work centers on merging robotics, automation, and additive manufacturing to create fully connected, flexible production systems that redefine how products are designed, made, and delivered.