Delali Dzirasa
Founder & CEO, Fearless
Delali Dzirasa is the CEO and founder of Fearless, a full stack digital services firm in Baltimore, Maryland with a mission to create software with a soul - tools that empower communities and make a difference. For 10+ years, Delali has been the de facto leader of Fearless, first as our founder and now as CEO. In addition to shooting for the stars when it comes to ideas and living the Purple Cow principle, Delali sets the vision for Fearless. His passion and entrepreneurial spirit started as a kid when he used to knock on doors and offer to cut grass, mow lawns, wash cars or walk dogs.
Delali graduated with a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) and has over 15 years of experience leading agile software teams and programs. He strives to make a difference in technology and in his surrounding community. He chaired the inaugural DevOpsDays Baltimore and is a founding member of the governing board of the Digital Services Coalition. Delali is also the Chair of Hack Baltimore, a city-wide innovation movement that teams up technologists, civic leaders and city residents to design sustainable solutions for Baltimore’s biggest challenges. He is passionate about increasing the rate of city youth heading into STEM fields and works closely with city nonprofits to provide funding and mentorship programs in city schools, as well as other education initiatives. Last year Delali testified to the US Senate Small Business committee on behalf of the National HUBZone Council for the Small Business Reauthorization Act. He was also awarded the National HUBZone corporate citizen of the year in 2020.
Delali currently lives in Baltimore City with his wife Dr. Letitia Dzirasa (Baltimore City Health Commissioner) and two sons Dominic and Jaden. When he isn’t busy running Fearless, he enjoys working out and hanging out with friends and loved ones.
Joe Beal
Managing Director, Accenture Federal Services
Mr. Beal has more than 21 years of experience in the information technology domain, focusing on security administration, network security engineering, as well as, the establishment of full lifecycle Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) and Vulnerability Management Programs. Joe brings a wealth of knowledge and cyber expertise to his customer base where he has been charged with managing the protection of IT resources for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Transportation (DOT), Executive Office of the President (EOP) and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). He has demonstrated the ability to master tough, security-related challenges while being able to cultivate buy-in throughout large and complex organizations. In his current role, Mr. Beal is a Managing Director and Cybersecurity Subject Matter Expert (SME) at Accenture Federal Services. Mr. Beal has been quoted and interviewed by a number of technical magazines and participated in various conferences as a facilitator and panelist.
Hannibal S. Jackson
CEO, Y-Tech LLC.
Hannibal S. Jackson is the President and CEO of Y-Tech, an award-winning small business headquartered in Annapolis Junction, MD. Mr. Jackson oversees the day-to-day operations of the company, including providing vision, leadership, and guidance in establishing the company’s short and long-term growth strategy. In 2018, Y-Tech was ranked the fourth fastest growing business in the nation, led by an African-American CEO. Mr. Jackson was recognized as the 2019 George Mason University Distinguished Black Alumni. Mr. Jackson also sits on the George Mason University, School of Business, Center for Government Contracting Advisory Board. Mr. Jackson has an MS in Information Assurance from the University of Maryland University College, and a BA in Communication from George Mason University.
Marilyn Crouther
CEO & Principal, Crouther Consulting LLC
Marilyn Crouther has over thirty years of experience in the IT industry. She offers a unique blend of public and private sector experience coupled with strong industry expertise, exceptional analytical skills and critical business knowledge. She previously served as senior vice president and general manager, U.S. Public Sector, at DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services where she was responsible for the overall P&L, growth and operational success of the U.S. public sector business, including the go-to-market strategy and execution, and the commercialization of relevant offerings into the sector. She was instrumental in building strong client partnerships by delivering cost effective, innovative solutions helping clients to achieve their business, mission and policies outcomes while succeeding on the digital transformation journey. Mrs. Crouther has proudly served as keynote speaker, panelist and moderator for various programs and organizations and shared key insights and perspectives in numerous interviews, news and media publications.
Karoom Brown
Chief Growth Officer, OptumServe CEO, OptumServe Technology Services
Karoom Brown is the chief growth officer of OptumServe, the federal health services business of Optum and UnitedHealth Group. In this role, Karoom is responsible for the growth and strategic direction of the OptumServe business, which supports the health needs of federal agencies serving Military Service Members and their families, Veterans and Medicare recipients. He is also the chief executive officer of OptumServe Technology Services Inc. (formerly QSSI), the Health IT subsidiary of OptumServe.
OptumServe™ provides health services and proven expertise to help federal agencies tackle some of the biggest challenges in health care. We partner with the Departments of Defense, Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and other organizations to modernize the U.S. health system and improve the health and well-being of those they serve.
Prior to joining OptumServe, Karoom was the senior vice president of business development and strategy at Leidos Health, which included the 2016 merger with Lockheed Martin’s Information Systems & Global Solutions line of business. At Lockheed Martin, he was the director of business development of the Health and Life Sciences Division, where he implemented high-impact business strategies and marketing tactics that grew the division from $450 million to nearly $1 billion, making it the largest federal HIT division in the world. For his efforts, Karoom won the Nova Award for Exceptional Service, Lockheed Martin’s highest honor, which is given to less than 0.5% of all employees enterprise-wide.
Karoom has also held executive-level business development positions at L-3 Communications, Unisys Federal Systems, Verizon, winning numerous business development and sales awards in every position.
Karoom has a master’s degree in Information Systems Management from New York University Tandem School of Engineering (class valedictorian) and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Johnson and Wales University, where he was awarded the Distinguished Alumni of the Decade Award and was recognized as a motivational speaker. He also completed the Harvard Business School program for strategic planning and strategic marketing.
An avid volunteer, Karoom serves on the Leadership Committee of Paralyzed Veterans of America and volunteers at the Wounded Warrior Project and the Children’s Inn at the National Institutes of Health. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees for the Orland Science Center as well as a member of the Orlando Opioid Task Force.
Manish Malhotra
CEO, Unissant, Inc
Dynamic senior executive and public speaker with over 25 years of technical and management experience. An entrepreneur with extensive experience in leading large-scale business transformations using information-driven solutions enabled with technologies that span mobile, digital, analytics and domain-specific applications. Over the course of his career Manish has led numerous efforts to provide analytical and intelligent decision support to senior officials across the private and public sector.
Business & Technology Skills:
Corporate Strategy, Corporate Finance, Government Contracting, Human Capital Management, Entrepreneurship & Innovation.
Emerging Technologies, Blockchain & Distributed Networks, Cloud Computing, Enterprise Architecture, Business Intelligence Solutions, Program & Portfolio Management, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence
Mahavir Pratap Sharma
Chairman, TiE Global Board of Trustees
Mahavir Sharma, a serial entrepreneur is part of umpteen businesses and social organizations, and exudes passion in angel investing, leadership and mentoring.
After schooling at Xavier and Science graduation in Jaipur, he went to the US and worked in the international trading market for 6 years from 1988-1994. He currently holds these key positions:
1) Chairman of TiE Global Board of Trustees (www.tie.org) for the year 2020, past Vice Chair of the year 2019, and Trustee for the past 7 years (2011-14, 2017-2020)
2) RAIN- Co-founder and Chairman of Rajasthan Angel Innovator Network, an integral part of an angel investor network of Rajasthan (www.rainjaipur.co.in). Also a lead mentor and director on many startups globally.
3) Chairman of the recently announced TiE India Angels (TIA), an initiative of TiE Global.
4) Founder and owner at Oscar Expo Design LLP- Manufacturing and exports of Carpets and Silver Jewellery (www.oscarexpo.com) for the last 27 yrs.
5) Founder and owner at Swishin Events LLP- An Event Management, Marketing and PR firm (www.swishin.in) which creates events par excellence and is part of the founding team of many flagship events in Jaipur.
6) Co-founder and Director at Jaipur jewellery Show (www.jaipurjewelleryshow.org), an exhibition company to promote shows in the field of Jewellery.
6) Co-Founder and Managing Director at Jaipur Kaleen park Ltd (JKPL)- A group of carpet manufactures, developing an Industrial park, which is a first ever Eco-friendly and non-polluting carpet and textile park near Jaipur.
7) Co-Founder and Director at Hari Om Decor-aka S. Raja (www.sraja.in) started with 2 fellow exporters, a chain of retail floor coverings store across India.
8) Director at Art Summit India P Ltd. (www.jaipurartsummit.in)
In the past he has also been:-
-Chairman, Carpet Export Promotion Council, the apex body of Handmade carpet industry in India under the aegis of The Textile Ministry, GOI. From 2017-19.
-Jaipur Virasat Foundation (www.jaipurvirasatfoundation.org) in various roles
-President, Rajasthan Carpet Manufacturers and Exporters Association
Specialties: Ideas n Early stage Angel Investing, Mentoring for start ups.
Strategic Marketing n Branding.
Global Trade partnerships, alliances and negotiations.
Events planning and management.
Handmade crafts manufacturing and trade and connoisseur of traditional visual and performing arts and crafts.
Sumeet Shrivastava
CEO and President at Array Information Technology, Inc.
Sumeet Shrivastava is an accomplished executive and proven business leader with more than two decades of experience in the government IT industry. As President and CEO of ARRAY, he provides overall corporate leadership for the company’s growth strategy, which has included a successful graduation from the 8(a) program and recently lead a management buyout of ARRAY.
Prior to ARRAY, Sumeet was SVP for Public Sector at Keane (now NTT Data) and also spent time as the SVP for North American Commercial Sales and Marketing. As EVP and COO of ANSTEC, a Government IT contractor, he architected the company’s sale to Keane. Sumeet’s experience has traversed the full range of early-stage small business to a competitive, mid-tier contractor, including on both sides of M&A transactions. Sumeet has been committed to his alma mater, George Mason University (MBA ’94), and the regional community throughout his career. He serves on the GMU Foundation Board of Trustees, is the President of Mason’s Alumni Association, and sits on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Business School. Sumeet also sits on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Science Center.