2025 SPEAKERS & EXPERT MENTORS
JOE ALESSI · Director of the Congressional App Challenge
SIRISHA BANDLA · VP, Government Affairs & Research Operations, Virgin Galactic
CARA BARNES · Senior Program Officer, VentureWell
KRIS BEISEL · Director of Training & Educational Alliances, Destination Imagination
ANANDA BHATIA · Product Manager, House Digital Service
SHRUTI BHATNAGAR · Vice President for Conservation, Sierra Club
KARA BRANCH · Founder & CEO, Black Girls Do Engineer Corporation
CHEYENNE SKYE BRANSCUM · PK–12 Program Officer, AISES
JENNIFER BUSHMAN · Co-Founder & CEO, FED BY BLUE
CAPTAIN AARON CLARK · Captain, United Airlines
HILLARY COE · Design Leader & Emmy Award-Winning Creative
MICHAEL CURTAIN · CEO, DC Central Kitchen
AMA DEBRAH · Government Affairs Analyst, Qualcomm Thinkabit Lab
KEVIN J. DEBRUIN · Science Communicator & Former NASA Rocket Scientist
JOANNA DENG · 2025 National STEM Champion
COLE DONOVAN · International Relations Specialist, Office of Space Commerce
DR. OWAIS DURRANI · Emergency Medicine Physician & Medical Analyst
STEVE DWYER · Senior Director for Innovation, U.S. House of Representatives
KARLA EIDEM, PMP, PMO-CP · Regional Managing Director, North America, PMI
JASON ELLIOT · Corporate Affairs (Technology & Business Leadership), Nokia
ALEX ERICKSON · Manager, Youth & Family Learning Engagement, The Henry Ford
TRACY FANARA, DR. · Coastal Modeling Portfolio Manager, NOAA; Creator, “Inspector Planet”
BOBAK FERDOWSI · Flight Engineer, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
JAY FLORES · Global STEM Ambassador & Founder, Invent The Change
GARY FLOWERS · CIO, Transformation & Technology Services, Year Up
MOLLY FOGARTY · Head of Corporate Affairs, Nestlé U.S.
ANDREW FRIENDLY · VP, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Autodesk
SOPHIA FU · 2025 National STEM Champion
PAULA GOLDEN · President, Broadcom Foundation
MARY BETH HALIBURDA · Program Manager, Detroit Programs & Field Trips, The Henry Ford
ERIC HAROLD · Vice President, Carollo Engineers
DR. ROBERT HARRISON · Founding Director, Institute for Advanced Computational Science, Stony Brook University
JIM HEMGEN · Talent Development Director, Booz Allen
C.J. JACKSON · Head of Communications, aiEDU
CHARLES JACKSON III · Electrical Department Lead, CMTA, Inc.
JINNYN JACOB · Global Philanthropic Partnerships Lead, Booz Allen Hamilton
DR. ALISHA JORDAN · Director of Education, National Cryptologic Foundation
NANCY KAMEI · Chief Public Engagement Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
CHEMICAL KIM · Chemistry Professor & Science Education Influencer
KEI KOIZUMI · Science Policy Leader; former Principal Deputy Director, White House OSTP
CLAIR KOROMA · Digital Services Expert, U.S. Digital Service & DoD
DR. EMILY KUEHN · Deputy Director, DoD STEM, OUSD(R&E) Basic Research Office
DR. CORI LATHAN · Neuroscientist & Tech Entrepreneur
SARA LEIKIN, ED.D. · Senior Director, National & International STEAM Partnerships, COSI
LOUIE R. LOPEZ · Director, DoD STEM
ALY MOORE · Science Communicator & Insect Agriculture Advocate
JAN MORRISON · Founder & CEO, TIES—Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM
DR. CHRISTIE MURRAY · Director, Center of Transformation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington
PETER S. NZABANITA · Executive Director, Engineers Without Borders
MAYNARD OKEREKE · “Hip Hop M.D.” — Science Communicator
DR. OFELIA OLIVERO · Biologist & Research Leader
SRITEJ PADMANABHAN · Founder & CEO, YRI
CATHERINE “CASSIE” PAGE · Mayoral Representative, Commission on Information Technology, City of Alexandria
RUDRA PATEL · 2025 National STEM Champion
MICHAEL PERL · Inventor & Founder, Naquatic
MELUR K. “RAM” RAMASUBRAMANIAN · Executive Vice Chancellor & Provost; President, SUNY Research Foundation
TERYSA RIDGEWAY · Technical Program Manager, Google; Best-selling STEM Author
DR. JERLINDA ROSS · Gynecologic Oncologist & Health Equity Advocate
JEREMY SHORR · Education Consultant & Futurist
PAULA SORRELL · Associate VP, Innovation & Economic Development, George Mason University
DR. ROHINI SRIHARI · Professor, Computer Science & Engineering, University at Buffalo (SUNY)
NATALIE TAITANO · Senior Manager, Corporate Responsibility & Government Affairs, Qualcomm
JUSTIN TREPTOW-MILLER · Deputy Program Executive, NASA Small Spacecraft Technology & Flight Opportunities
JUAN VALENTIN · Education Program Advisor, USPTO (Students & Learners Division)
FORREST VALKAI · Biologist & Science Communicator
ZIBRAN VASTAN · Engineer, Booz Allen Hamilton
KEN WARD · Senior Director, House Digital Service
DR. GREGORY WASHINGTON · President, George Mason University
BARTEL WELCH · Executive Director & Founder, CODE313
JOHNNY WELLS · Director of Education, Destination Imagination
LLOYD WHITMAN · Senior Advisor & Fellow, Science & Technology Policy, Atlantic Council
ANDREW WHITMIRE · Manager, PMIEF – Project Management Institute Educational Foundation
DR. MEGAN WILKERSON · Chief Scientist, Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
JACOB WYCOFF · Meteorologist, WBZ-TV
JOANNA YARBOROUGH · R&D Innovation Lead, Nestlé Food & Beverage