Sherrie is a long-time Austinite, wife to her high school sweetheart, and mother to 3-year-old Amaya. She struggled to achieve her own ideals of motherhood after returning to work and quickly realized she wasn’t alone. Sherrie is now an activist for working parents, and she’s on a mission to abolish the idea of work-life balance.
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Ryan Collins is a Senior Technology Executive with over 15 years of experience in IT Leadership, Infrastructure, Architecture, and Systems Design with proven expertise in Financial Institution Systems and Business Operations. As the Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Ryan leads the vision for all aspects of technology at Open Lending. He is responsible
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John Gunter, Jr. is a prolific IT professional, humanitarian, husband, father, speaker, and writer. He is epitomized by creative thinking, brilliant intuition, insight, and encourages others to ‘Lift as they climb’. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from Illinois State University and a Master’s in Computer Information Systems from Georgia State
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Jessica Tremblay is a designer and front-end developer currently working for IBM in Austin, TX. She is a passionate community leader who is dedicated to helping teams work faster with bolder outcomes through the practices of Enterprise Design Thinking both internally at IBM and externally across the globe. After moving to Austin in 2002 to
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Estevan Aviles, a native Austinite and life-long gamer, served as the Game Industry track lead for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festivals. Responsible for curating industry-leading conversations and gaming content across the conference, Estevan leveraged his extensive experience in games alongside the explosive creativity of SXSW to create one of the most unique
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Melody Afkami is the CEO and founder of a mobile fitness brand, Melody DanceFit. MDF offers a new style of fitness, blending positive psychology with intense cardio in a club atmosphere. Before starting DanceFit, Melody was in the world of corporate technology, but quickly found herself unfulfilled and restless. After teaching Zumba and volunteering with
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CJ Finley is the founder of THRIVEONLIFE, a local media and consulting company that focuses on helping other mission based people, brands, and businesses scale the passions that they are ruthlessly working on. What fuels CJ’s passion? -Education reform, with a heavy emphasis on integrating principles of physical/mental/spiritual health from a young age. -Organizing virtual/in-person
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Emilia Edmonson, LMSW, is the founder of Beyond PBJ, a small business dedicated to guiding Austinites with special needs toward culinary independence. Beyond PBJ teaches people of all abilities how to prepare healthy, delicious food in the comfort of their own homes by focusing on cooking skills, meal planning, grocery shopping, and smart spending. She
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Gloria Chan Packer is a mental wellness expert and experienced corporate leader. Gloria is the Principal Advisor and Founder of Recalibrate, a workplace mental wellness provider with a mission to foster healthy minds at work through science-backed, empowering education and realistic tools with real impact. After an unexpected medical battle amidst a fulfilling career as
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April Owen, Psy.D. is a clinical psychologist and gender therapist who obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree from Auburn University and her Master of Arts and Doctor of Psychology degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Denver. After working for/with national, state, and county government agencies for many years, Dr. Owen (or
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