[RE]MIX Denison Entrepreneurship Summit

LaForce Baker '10, Founder & Executive Chef, Moon Meals, Inc.

LaForce Baker is the Founder & Executive Chef at Moon Meals. Inc., a manufacturer of tasty refrigerated plant-based meals and their ingredients (vegan meats, cheeses and sauces). Their products have been featured in the “grab & go” delis of Chicago-area major retailers like Whole Foods Market, Albertsons and Kroger. He manages day-to-day operations, new product development, sales, marketing and strategic partnerships.

Read LaForce Baker’s biography

Cynthia Booth ‘79, President, COBCO Enterprises

Cynthia Booth is President/CEO and Owner of COBCO Enterprises/McDonalds, a privately held company that owns six McDonald’s Franchises. Four of the six restaurants she constructed from the ground up, and she acquired the remaining two through acquisitions. Formerly with Firstar Bank (currently US Bank), Ms. Booth was one of the highest-ranking females at the executive level.

Read Cynthia Booth’s biography

Maddie Callander '09, Director of Operations, Boost VC

Maddie Callander runs operations for the pre-seed VR/AR & Blockchain accelerator, Boost VC, co-founded by Adam Draper and Brayton Williams. She loves working with the incredible founders in the Boost VC ecosystem, learning as much as she can everyday, and staying curious at all times. As a deep believer in the power of emerging technologies, Maddie is on a mission to get more women into leadership in early tech sectors.

Read Maddie Callander’s biography

James Clear '08, Author & Speaker

James Clear is an author and speaker on habits and decision making. His writing focuses on how to apply the science of habits and behavior change to everyday life. Over one million people read his articles each month on jamesclear.com and more than 400,000 people subscribe to his weekly email newsletter. His work has been featured by The New York Times, CBS This Morning, TIME, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and many other media outlets. His first book will be published by Penguin Random House later this fall.

Read James Clear’s biography

Alex Constantinople '91, CEO, The Outcast Agency

Alex Constantinople is the CEO of OutCast, where she partners with some of the world’s most well-known companies to help shape their businesses and share their stories. Prior to joining OutCast in 2010, Alex served in marketing and communications roles for GE, Condé Nast, NBC, and CNN.

Read Alex Constantinople’s biography

Rick Coplin '85, CEO, Rick Coplin International

Rick advises C-suite leaders, speaks internationally & consults with entrepreneurial companies and universities.

Rick’s background includes consulting with Fortune 500/100 companies in manufacturing, finance, marketing, and technology acquisition & deployment. Today, Rick advises executives in small (25-200 employees), rapidly growing companies as they transition from Founder to CEO.

Read Rick Coplin’s biography

Greta Dirsel '96, Creative Director, Landor

As Creative Director at Landor, Dirsel leads and inspires a multi-functional team of designers to achieve strategic, stunning and effective design work. Areas of expertise are packaging, visual ID systems and brand experience for the health, beauty, food & beverage categories. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Vitamix, KraftHeinz and Nestlé.

Read Greta Dirsel’s biography

Erik Farley '03, Dean of Student Leadership & Community Engagement, Denison University

Erik Farley is responsible for leading students, staff and faculty in efforts to imagine, build and sustain a strong, healthy and dynamic community on campus. He provides supervision and support to key offices that cultivate Denison’s legacy attributes of leadership, civic engagement and appreciation of diversity among our students. He contributes to and guides strategic and operational decision-making as a member of Student Development’s leadership team.

Read Erik Farley’s biography

Matt Gillin '89, CEO & Founder, Relay Network

Matt is the CEO and co-founder of Relay Network, an award-winning mobile engagement automation company helping service providers simplify and improve the customer experience. Matt is an active technology entrepreneur and has been widely recognized for turning innovative ideas into successful businesses. Prior to Relay, Matt was the CEO of Ecount, an electronic payment company that became a recognized leader in the prepaid card industry before being purchased by Citigroup in 2007.

Read Matt Gillin’s biography

Steven Hauck '91, Managing Director, AP Intego Insurance Group

Mr. Hauck is Managing Director of Prestwick Holdings and AP Intego Insurance Group, a leading commercial lines insurance broker. Prior to this role, he was co-founder and Co-CEO of Agencyport, a software firm focused on delivering innovative insurance solutions to over 100 insurance carriers globally. Prior to co-founding AgencyPort in 2001, Mr. Hauck spent nine years in financial services sales and marketing.

Read Steven Hauck’s biography

Courtney Herring '09, Digital Marketing Strategist & Copywriter

Courtney Herring ’09 is a digital marketing strategist and certified copywriter based in metro Atlanta. She has spent the last several years serving purpose-driven business leaders, billion-dollar corporations, nonprofit organizations, socially conscious start-ups, and faith-based organizations. Her passion for writing strategic sales messaging makes her the perfect fit for those companies and organizations looking for effective digital marketing strategies to communicate clearly and attract more customers and clients authentically – without compromising their own voice or values.
Read Courtney Herring’s biography

David Howitt ‘90, Founder and CEO, Meriwether Group, Author of Heed Your Call

David M. Howitt, founder & CEO of Meriwether Group, and author of Heed Your Call, is an inspiring thought leader and guiding mentor in the world of commerce. He is an accomplished entrepreneur and published author with over twenty years of experience providing business strategy and brand counsel to startups and Fortune 100 companies.

Read David M. Howitt’s biography

Simms Jenkins '96, Founder, EiQ and Founder & CEO, BrightWave

Simms Jenkins is Founder & CEO of BrightWave, the leading email, eCRM and cross-channel agency focused on revenue and relationships. He has led BrightWave in establishing a world-class client list including Aflac, CarMax, Chick-fil-A, Cox Media Group, Ferrari North America, Panera Bread, Synovus and more.

Read Simms Jenkins’ biography

Terry Jones '70, Founder of Travelocity and co-founder of Kayak

Terry Jones is an author, venture capitalist, innovator and keynote speaker. Best known for founding Travelocity.com and serving as founding Chairman of Kayak.com, Terry Jones has become a powerful voice in the world of entrepreneurship through his numerous speaking engagements and the publication of his book, ON Innovation.

Read Terry Jones’ biography

Lillian Lincoln Lambert, Entrepreneur & Author, The Road to Someplace Better: From the Segregated South to Harvard Business School and Beyond

When Lillian arrived at the Harvard Business School in September 1967, her first thought was “Why am I here!” She had been assured that Harvard was the top business school in the world for training managers and she was encouraged to go there. What she did not know was no African American woman had ever attended HBS. She would be the first.

Read Lillian Lincoln Lambert’s biography

Joe Maxwell '90, Managing Partner, FINTOP Capital

Joe Maxwell is the Managing Partner at FINTOP Capital. Joe was most recently at IPreo Inc. where he led the Private Capital Markets, acquiring Clear Momentum Inc. in December 2015 and ILevel Inc. in August 2015. Prior to its 2014 acquisition by Ipreo, Joe was Chairman and CEO of Shareholder InSite. He was also the founder and CEO of CapControls, Inc., and founder, CEO and Chairman of Investment Scorecard, Inc. Investment Scorecard sold to Informa PLC in April 2007.

Read Joe Maxwell’s biography

Emily Merrell '09, Founder, Six Degrees Society

Emily decided to study Spanish and Communications at Denison University. Upon graduating, she moved to Buenos Aires to master her Spanish and worked in various industries. Following her return to New York City, she landed in the Fashion world specializing in Events & Marketing working at Ralph Lauren, Club Monaco, Tory Burch, and INTERMIX. In 2014 she founded a women’s focused networking organization called Six Degrees Society. In 2016 she turned her side hustle into a full-time hustle and has expanded the reach to 10 chapters across the country.

Read Emily Merrell’s biography

Susan Peterson '67, Founder, The Communication Center

Susan Peterson is the Founder of The Communication Center. A talented and dynamic communicator, Susan draws from her media experiences to enhance the communication management skills of her clients around the world. Susan established TCC in 1983 after a decade as a network television correspondent for CBS and NBC News.

Read Susan Peterson’s biography

Heather Stouffer '96, Founder & CEO, Mom Made Foods

Eating healthy, well-balanced meals have always been an important part of Heather Stouffer’s life. She left Denison not sure what she wanted to do but she knew she wanted to work in a field related to children’s health. In 2006, as a new parent, she launched Mom Made Foods at a local farmer’s market to offer frozen organic meals for children. She has since expanded the company’s frozen food lines into thousands of grocery store freezers nationally.

Read Heather Stouffer’s biography

Jack Tankersley '72, Founder and Managing Director, Meritage Funds

Jack is a co-founder of Meritage Funds with 40 years of experience as a private equity investor, having raised, invested and managed more than $1.0 billion of capital during his career. Jack is responsible for a number of highly successful investments in companies such as Crown Castle and Brooks Fiber Properties.

Read Jack Tankersley’s biography

Jeff Walker '91, Senior Partner, VSA Partners

Jeff leads teams serving influential companies worldwide, with expertise in design-driven branding and integrated communications. Since joining VSA in 1995, he has led brand initiatives including brand strategy, brand identity, digital and interactive experiences, package design, film production, environmental and retail branding. In over two decades with VSA, Jeff has played a role in helping transform VSA from a regional design firm into an integrated creative agency, serving clients with international reputations for design excellence, and data-driven brand experiences.

Read Jeff Walker’s biography

Adam S. Weinberg, President, Denison Univeristy

Adam Weinberg is Denison University’s 20th president. He previously served as president and CEO of World Learning, one of the premier international education, exchange and development organizations.

Read Adam Weinberg’s biography

Dr. Thomas Witherspoon '05, Associate Dean of Students/Director of Multi-Cultural Student Affairs, Denison University

Dr. Thomas Witherspoon​ ​is responsible for supporting students and student groups in their co-curricular learning. This work takes the form of coaching around self-advocacy, intergroup dynamics, and conflict resolution. His work has a very distinctive focus on persistence, identity exploration, and graduation and emphasizes connecting university-wide in support of students from marginalized communities.
Read Thomas Witherspoon’s biography