Columbia Entrepreneurship

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Design Your Future
2017-10-30 17:00 UTC
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
The future can feel uncertain, so we’ve created Design Your Future. It’s a three-session program where students learn to apply human-centered design methods to their careers and to life after graduation. The goal of this program to help you to better navigate your career and life choices in the face of this uncertainty. Space is limited. Apply Today
Dates and Times:
October 30th, 5pm: Applications Due Apply Here!
First Session: November 7th, 11:30am-1:30pm
Second Session: November 14th, 11:30am-1:30pm
Third Session: November 28th, 11:30am-1:30pm

CBS Eats - #CBSstartups Week
2017-10-30 12:30 - 13:30
OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS
Uris Hall Lobby
Meet and mingle with food and beverage entrepreneurs and try free samples!

DEADLINE: Submit Draft Fast Pitch Videos
2017-10-30 00:00 - 23:49
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIA STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WHO HAVE GRADUATED IN THE PAST 5 YEARS
In preparation for the Fast Pitch Competition on Nov 14, teams can submit draft videos.
This is optional, however, teams who submit videos are given feedback and priority to live pitch event

Future Labs AI Summit
2017-10-30 - 2017-10-31
OPEN TO ALL
RSVP HERE
Two days of trainings, talks, and panel discussions with leading experts, investors, academics, and entrepreneurs in artificial intelligence (AI).
From deep dives into the subjects animating AI conversations today — ethics and governance, how to see through the hype and discover the best investments — to introductory courses in machine learning and game theory for AI, the Future Labs AI Summit features offerings for scholars, practitioners, and investors alike.

Fast Pitch Competition Prep Session
2017-10-27 13:00 - 15:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIA STUDENTS AND ALUMNI WHO HAVE GRADUATED IN THE PAST 5 YEARS
In this Fast Pitch prep session we will guide you in creating a persuasive and compelling elevator pitch that you can use to ignite interest in your company.
At this event, you’ll also learn the where, how, and why of videotaping your pitch as well as how to upload your pitch to our judging system to get feedback before the live Fast Pitch competition on 11/14. You will have the opportunity to meet people with different backgrounds, including business and engineering – find your co-founder!

Entrepreneurship Research Showcase (Event)
2017-10-27 08:30 - 10:00
OPEN TO ALL
RSVP
When: Friday, October 27, 2017, 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Where: Uris Hall 326, Columbia Business School
Join us on Friday, October 27, 2017 for a showcase dedicated to exploring new ideas around entrepreneurship. The event will be hosted by Lang Center Faculty Director Olivier Toubia. Professors Modupe Akinola, Wei Jiang, and Damon Philips will give “lightning talks” on their latest research. Presentations will be followed by discussion and networking.
Agenda
8:30-8:45 a.m. – Welcome and continental breakfast
8:45-9:30 a.m. – Presentations by professors Modupe Akinola, Wie Jiang, and Damon Philips
9:30-10:00 a.m. – Networking and discussion

Synergy Global Forum
2017-10-27 - 2017-10-28
OPEN TO ALL
The conference is an opportunity to learn from and network with thought leaders such as Sir Richard Branson, Jack Welch, Steve Forbes, Malcolm Gladwell, Ariana Huffington and many others all under the same roof.
Learn more: http://synergyglobal.com/

Hacking for Energy Matchup Meeting
2017-10-26 15:30 - 17:00
OPEN TO COLUMBIA GRADUATE STUDENTS
Need help finding team members? Come to our matching meetup on October 26th to meet other students interested in taking the class! Sign up here to attend.
Hacking for Energy challenges students to develop and test solutions to critical problems facing the energy industry using the Lean Startup methodology. Students apply to the class after independently forming interdisciplinary teams of 4, proposing a solution to a problem submitted by the energy industry. If accepted, the student teams will use the course to test and build their solution by getting out of the classroom, talking to customers, and interacting with industry professionals. Students must apply by November 13th to participate in the Spring 2018 semester.

Columbia Design Challenge - Addressing the Opioid Crisis
2017-10-26 - 2017-10-27

Health Tech Assembly and Healthcare Industry Association Social
2017-10-25 18:00 - 20:00
OPEN TO ALL
What: In collaboration with HCIA, HTA will be hosting a fun social event in a relaxing atmosphere to facilitate networking across Columbia for those interested in health technology innovation and entrepreneurship.
Event: HTA and HCIA social
Date: October 25
Time: 6PM-8PM
Location: Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor Morningside Heights, 1135 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
RSVP: http://bit.ly/hta_social

Building Your Prototype (Workshop)
2017-10-25 14:00 - 17:00 | Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 490 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10027, United States
A good idea deserves to be shown off. Join us for this Design Sprint to learn about how to turn your early ideas into something tangible and test-worthy. Prototyping is a way of learning more about your customer or community by having them interact with an early version of a solution. Once you have built a prototype of your product or solution, you can use it to learn more about how your customer responds to it. Testing your idea provides immediate and valuable insights that can help you rapidly improve your product or solution. Be prepared for a highly interactive day!
Teams and individuals are welcome. Feel free to come with your own idea to prototype, or we can help you brainstorm one on the spot.

Application Deadline: WeWork Creator Awards
2017-10-24
OPEN TO ALL
Applying for a Creator Award only takes a few minutes—and with more than $20 million up for grabs, what do you have to lose? Categories are designed to reward entrepreneurs, artists, startups, and nonprofits at every stage. To apply, pick the category that fits where your idea or business is today.
Find out more and apply here.

Innovative Medicine (iMED) Conference
2017-10-23 14:00 - 18:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
2 PM – 2:50 PM Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic “Engineering human tissues for regenerative medicine and modeling of diseases”
World-wide leader in tissue bioengineering, University professor, Mikati foundation professor, member of the National Academy of Engineering, and co-founder of the innovative tissue engineering start-ups EpiBone, TARA biosystems and MatriTek. You can learn about her research in NYT, Eurekalert, Youtube, but more importantly, at our conference!

3 PM – 3:45 PM Ting Shih “Future of Healthcare: Humans & Machines”
CEO and founder of ClickMedix, a healthcare low-cost medical device company, developing mobile softwares for medical diagnostics (e.g. EKGs and OBGYN screenings on phones). Their work brings medical care to remote underserved regions in developing countries, including Botswana, Ghana, India. For her innovative approach Ting was awarded the Toyota price mother of inventions and the Cartier’s women initiative award.

3:45 PM – 4 PM Coffee break

4 PM – 4:50 PM Dr. Jedd Wolchok, “Immunologic Checkpoint Blockade: Exploring Combinations and Mechanism”
Chair in Clinical Investigation, Chief of the Melanoma and Immunotherapeutics Services at Memorial Sloan Kettering. He has helped establish MSK as a leader in the discovery and treatment of cancers with novel immunotherapies. His work has been covered by NYT, come and learn more about his recent findings at his talk!

5 PM – 5:50 PM Dr. Laxmi Parida “The Here and Now of Genomic Medicine”
Head of the Precision Medicine Genomics Group at IBM Watson, a visiting professor at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, NYU. Her group focuses on personalized cancer medicine, topology, pattern analysis, and population genomics of plants. You can watch her Ted talk here.
The conference is followed by a reception. If you want to attend, please RSVP.
If you want to find out more about current and upcoming events hosted by the Innovative Medicine Interest Group (iMED) or get involved, check out our website https://www.innovatemed.org/ or follow our Facebook group Innovative Medicine at CUMC for new updates!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: ELabNYC
2017-10-23
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS

Speaker:

Mary Howard, Andrea Westervelt, Andrew Kruegel

The Columbia Design Studio
Room 430 Riverside Church
490 Riverside Drive
New York, NY

12:00pm

Register here

ELabNMBIYC is a six-month entrepreneurship training and business networking program for scientists and engineers to launch high potential biotech and health tech ventures from NYC research institutions.
Scientists and engineers, MDs and MBAs working with high potential technology based innovations can find themselves seeking business skills and custom business networks to help navigate the challenges of company formation and start up growth. ELabNYC teaches business skills and networks participants to start up resources. In teaching, we prepare our program participants for the startup world to confidently persevere through the on going challenges they will face. In networking, ELabNYC introduces participants to experts nationwide to navigate business issues in the technical and complex world of life science business.
Launched by New York City Economic Development Corporation, ELabNYC is supported by corporations committed to engage with and support NYC’s emerging life science community including: Lilly, Pfizer, Kaneka, Roche, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Microsoft, Goodwin Procter, EisnerAmper, Moses & Singer, Pryor Cashman, White and Williams, Cittone & Chinta and Target Health. The ELabNYC program is led by an experienced team of entrepreneur educators and coaches.
ELabNYC is starting its sixth application cycle, with a deadline of October 23, 2017. Program Manager, Mary Howard, will introduce the program and join ELabNYC alums and PI’s, Andrew Kruegel (ELabNYC 2016) and Andrea Westervelt (ELabNYC 2017), who will share their ELab experience and answer questions from the audience.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Annual Fall Venture Fair
2017-10-22
OPEN TO COLUMBIA BUSINESS STUDENTS
The Annual Fall Venture Fair provides students with the opportunity to present their ideas and receive critical feedback from successful entrepreneurs and other knowledgeable practitioners from our entrepreneurial community in a fun and energized forum. Each student participant has their own booth at the event.
APPLY
Important Dates
Application Deadline: Sunday, October 22, 2017, 11:59 p.m. EST
Fall Venture Fair: Wednesday, November 1, 2017, 6:15-8:00 p.m.

Eligibility
Columbia Business School students with ventures at any stage of development are encouraged to participate.

Third Thursdays (Featured Speakers and Networking)
2017-10-19 17:30 - 18:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
Third Thursday is a recurring open forum networking and info session for the Columbia University entrepreneurship community. It provides students, faculty, staff, and alumni the opportunity to hear ideas from across campus, form teams, and explore career options. You’ll hear from Columbia alumni and other experts on their experiences working in the field, how they’ve applied their Columbia experience in their careers, and more.
RSVP HERE.

Hacking for Energy Info Session
2017-10-19 15:30 - 17:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIA GRADUATE STUDENTS
RSVP HERE
Hacking for Energy is an Interdisciplinary class for graduate students at Columbia to develop and test solutions to critical problems facing the energy industry using the Lean Startup methodology. In groups of 4, students will get an accelerated education in the energy, the environment, and entrepreneurship. Simultaneously, they will get out of the classroom, interact with the energy industry, and build an innovative solution that meet’s the industry’s needs.
Hacking for Energy will be taught at Columbia in Spring 2018. Attend an info session today to learn about this class and learn about match meetups to form teams.

New Frontiers in Robotics: Bringing Imagination to Market
2017-10-19 08:00 - 13:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
A new showcase of Columbia’s groundbreaking advancements in the field of robotics! This half-day event will feature Columbia’s leading researchers in the robotics field, presenting their cutting-edge technologies relating to health, industrial automation, and artificial intelligence.

Entrepreneur and Author Eric Ries in Conversation with Beth Comstock
2017-10-18 19:00 - 20:00
OPEN TO ALL
7:00 PM
Eric Ries in conversation with Beth Comstock
The Strand Bookstore
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
Link: http://www.strandbooks.com/event/eric-ries-startup-way
–
In 2011, Eric Ries launched a worldwide movement with the publication of the New York Times best-selling title The Lean Startup, in which he laid out the practices of successful startups. Now the entrepreneur is back with his highly anticipated follow-up, The Startup Way.
Having turned his attention to reinventing the modern company, Ries has now written the new framework based on five key principles used in successful startups. Drawing from his extensive work history with multinational companies such as GE, Amazon, Facebook, Airbnb, Toyota, and more, Eric creates the essential roadmap to help organizations find long-term growth through continuous transformation.
Join the Strand in the Rare Book Room as Ries shares these essential business tools and more with vice chair of General Electric Beth Comstock!

Studio Hours at the Design Studio (Open Collaboration Time)
2017-10-18 15:00 - 16:30 | Columbia Entrepreneurship Design Studio, 490 Riverside Dr., New York, NY, 10027, United States
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
Do you have an idea and want to get personal design thinking feedback from the Design Studio? During Studio Hours, teams or individuals are invited to discuss their projects or ideas one-on-one with human-centered designers in the Studio. Teams of Columbia affiliates are also welcome to use the studio space for working independently on their entrepreneurial projects.

Giving Day 2017 (Fundraising)
2017-10-18
Thank You to All Who Supported #ColumbiaGivingDay 2017!

AUTHORS @ GCT: ERIC RIES
2017-10-17 12:00 - 13:30
OPEN TO ALL
RSVP HERE
WHAT?

An intimate author’s series and book talk featuring some of Penguin Random House’s most influential writers. Come to engage with some of the world’s leading storytellers, change-agents, and big picture thinkers as they discuss their latest work and lead insightful and provocative conversations. Together, we want to empower our local community to gather around topics and issues that matter.
Ticket price includes catered lunch.

WHERE?

GRAND CENTRAL TECH

335 MADISON AVE
NEW YORK, NY

The Transparency Series: Series 2, Mapping & Cartography (Workshop)
2017-10-15 10:00 - 17:00
OPEN TO COLUMBIA JOURNALISM STUDENTS
A unique set of seminars and hands-on workshops that bring new technology and design ideas to the Columbia Journalism community. The goal is simple — help students learn new ways to find and tell stories, new ways to inform and entertain. Each topic will commence with a Friday evening panel discussion and will follow with a Saturday hands-on workshop centered around building.
Students attending three of the seminar-workshops over the course of the year will receive a graduation award indicating the extra breadth they sought out during their time at the J-School.
MORE INFO
***
f your story prompts questions like “What caused this to happen where it did?” or “Does this happen the same way in other places?”, a map can probably help illuminate things for your readers. Once the exclusive domain of specialized practitioners, new tools make it easier and easier to analyze spatial data and publish maps online. Derek Watkins, a Graphics Editor at The New York Times, will give a day-long crash course in dealing with geographic data, designing elegant maps, and putting them on the internet. The overarching goal will be learning practical ways that maps can be used as a tool for journalists to tell more compelling stories.

Application Deadline: Accelerate Your Startup with Techstars
2017-10-15
It’s all about the network. Whether you’re fundraising, expanding to a new region, or looking for new bizdev opportunities, the Techstars Worldwide Network of founders, mentors, investors, and industry leaders is there to support you. Techstars applications are open through October 15th for programs worldwide. Pick your city and program – apply today!

The Transparency Series - Series 2, Mapping and Cartography (Keynote)
2017-10-14 17:00
OPEN TO ALL COLUMBIANS
A unique set of seminars and hands-on workshops that bring new technology and design ideas to the Columbia Journalism community. The goal is simple — help students learn new ways to find and tell stories, new ways to inform and entertain. Each topic will commence with a Friday evening panel discussion and will follow with a Saturday hands-on workshop centered around building.
Students attending three of the seminar-workshops over the course of the year will receive a graduation award indicating the extra breadth they sought out during their time at the J-School.
MORE INFO
***
The world has always been a connected system, and it’s only becoming more so. As a form of journalism, maps contextualize the world by visually linking events to each other and to their geographic surroundings. Join the Brown Institute as we welcome Al Shaw, developer at ProPublica and Michal Migurski, VP of Product at Mapzen to talk about mapping in the context of journalism.
More information HERE.

#REBNYTech Hackathon 2017 (Competition)
2017-10-13 - 2017-10-15
OPEN TO ALL

Apply HERE.

The Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) invite you to participate in the #REBNYTech Hackathon 2017 to be held at the Urban Tech Hub at Grand Central Tech (335 Madison Avenue, 10017).
Over these three days during NYC Real Estate Tech Week, the #REBNYTech Hackathon will bring together 200 of the brightest minds in the property and technology industries to hack cutting edge solutions to real-world challenges faced by the world’s leading real estate companies.
Teams will work across six challenge categories to compete for a total of $50,000 in cash and prizes! In addition, the event will feature speakers from across PropTech and real estate, and will attract high profile corporate sponsors and organizational partners.

Freedom from Cancer Startup Challenge Information and Networking Session
2017-10-11 19:30 - 21:00
Wednesday, October 11
7:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m.
Columbia University
Warren Hall, Room 416
New York, NY 10027
RSVP
*Refreshments with RSVP
Want to join a bold initiative to launch 100 startups focused on improving the lives of millions of cancer patients? The Center for Advancing Innovation has launched the Freedom from Cancer Startup Challenge (FCSC) in partnership with MedImmune/AstraZeneca with an audacious goal to launch, create, and mentor 100 cancer-focused startups. Come to this information session to network with other like-minded individuals and learn more about this challenge.
FCSC is currently open for entry and is seeking teams and individuals to participate from Columbia! Participate as a team member or create your own team to start a new career in entrepreneurship and learn from our accelerator program.
Participants and teams in this challenge will have the opportunity to:

Expand your industry network
Receive expert training and dedicated mentorship
Win prize money and funding
Cure and/or prevent cancer
Launch a new career

Competition applications to participate are now being accepted through December. The first phase of the challenge will start on October 18th. Funding is provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation and MedImmune/AstraZeneca.
For more information, visit: http://www.freedomfromcancerchallenge.org/. Form a team and enter now! If you are interested or have questions, please contact Jonathan@thecenterforadvancinginnovation.org.
This Information Session is organized and supported by the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, Health Tech Assembly, the Lang Center, HITLAB, the Columbia Biomedical Accelerator, and the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program.

Application Deadline: 2017 HITLAB Innovators Summit
2017-10-11
Calling All Digital Health Entrepreneurs.
APPLY
For those living with diabetes at any stage, voice-activated technologies are the way forward in managing the condition and other essential life tasks. Novo Nordisk has teamed up with HITLAB to launch the 2017 HITLAB World Cup of Voice-Activated Technology in Diabetes, our first World Cup focusing on a single disease.
Last year, 74 teams from 14 countries presented technology innovations that ranged from a tech-enabled dynamic scoliosis brace to a tool that uses 3D imaging and data analytics to better diagnose ear infections. This year, we’re expecting our greatest turnout and concepts yet, with prizes totaling $75,000! Finalists will make pitches at the HITLAB Innovators Summit held in NYC on November 29th.
Concept Parameters:
Concepts can focus on enhancing patient outcomes, making the management of patients more efficient, improving health and quality of life, or lowering healthcare costs without compromising quality. Winning entries will demonstrate an ability to effectively address the unmet needs of the type-2 diabetes community. Projects must show how the voice-activated technology solution differs from current practice, technology, or services available to consumers, and they must provide a sustainable business model.

MIPIM PropTech Summit
2017-10-11
OPEN TO ALL

What is MIPIM PropTech Summit?

MIPIM and MetaProp NYC have partnered to organize MIPIM PropTech Summit, the world’s leading real estate technology event.
MIPIM PropTech Summit unites key real estate decision makers from all sectors to connect with the most innovative startups and technology companies to take their business to the next level, building the future of Real Estate.

Check out the agenda HERE

Democratizing Education: The Future of Global EdTech
2017-10-10 17:00 - 20:30 | Casa Italiana, 1161 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY, 10027, United States
Join Our Panel of EdTech Founders From Around the World
Learn International Perspectives on the
Challenges and Opportunities of Educating the Planet
Democratizing Education:
The Future of Global EdTech
Tuesday, October 10
5:00 – 8:30pm
Casa Italiana
on the Campus of Columbia University
Panel and Keynote Discussion
Cocktail Reception to Follow

Register Today
There is no greater social equalizer or pathway to upward mobility than education but for so many children in our global society, a meaningful education is out of reach. Technology has always held the promise to change that but progress is seen only in isolated pockets.
Join the discussion at “Democratizing Education: The Future of Global EdTech” and learn how innovative ideas, motivated entrepreneurs, and progressive policymakers are disrupting antiquated school systems across the globe.
Featured Keynote:
Yin Lu, Vice President of International at Khan Academy

EdTech Founders Panel
Denis Mizne, Director, Fundação Lemann (Moderator)
Kago Kagichiri, CEO & Co-Founder, Eneza Education in Kenya
César Wedemann, CEO, QEdu in Brazil
Pranav Kothari, Co-Founder, Mindspark in India
Miriam Altman, CEO & Co-Founder, Kinvolved in US

Sponsored by Fundação Lemann and the Nasdaq Educational Foundation.
Hosted by the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs,
their Center for Development Economics and Policy,
and Columbia Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Design.

4:30pm Doors Open
5:00 – 6:15pm Panel Discussion
6:15 – 7:15pm Keynote
5:00 – 6:15pm Cocktail Reception

ABOUT KAHN ACADEMY
Khan Academy is a case study for how technology can successfully smash traditional barriers and democratize education. Khan Academy provides a free, world-class education in 40 languages to 40 million students and 2 million teachers a month. To date, Khan Academy has delivered 1 billion lessons, and looks to fulfill its credo that: You can learn anything. For free. For everyone. Forever.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS AND FOUNDERS

Miriam Altman, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Kinvolved
A former NYC Department of Education high school history teacher, Miriam is CEO and Co-founder of Kinvolved, a social enterprise that has launched a movement to elevate student attendance by including families in education. Kinvolved’s mobile and web app, KiNVO, enables K-12 school staff to access informative attendance data and to engage families through real-time, translated, text messaging.
Under Miriam’s leadership, Kinvolved has grown to exceed 115,000 users, while revenues have grown 250% in FY 2017 to date. In the 2015-2016 school year, attendance among Kinvolved partner high schools increased 13 times that of their peer schools.
Kinvolved has been featured in press including the New York Times, and has won awards from The Robin Hood Foundation, Teach For America, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and more. Miriam and her co-founder are winners of the Gratitude Award, Forbes 30 Under 30, and the Jo Ivey Boufford Award for Innovative Solutions to Public Service Challenges, by New York University.
Miriam is co-leader of the preK-12 Collective Action Network for South Bronx Rising Together. She is also a mentor for the Social Innovation Initiative and Women’s LaunchPad at Brown University, from which she graduated with a BA with Honors. She also holds an MPA from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, and an MA, Ed., from Lehman College.

Kago Kagichiri is Co-founder and CEO of Eneza Education Limited (ranked by Fast Company’s top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Africa). Eneza Education offers educational courses for mobile users across Africa. Through individualized and interactive courses and mobile chat classrooms, Eneza aims to make over 50 million students across Africa smarter. Eneza offers a virtual tutor and teacher’s assistant for students and teachers to access courses and assessments while interacting with live instructors through a mobile phone. The company sells subscription for its courses to individual parents, students, or teachers. Prior to Eneza, Mr. Kagichiri founded MiliQi Networks. Prior to MiliQi he co-founded and served as CTO of M-Prep Inc. Kago was one of Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneurs of 2015.

Pranav Kothari is the Domain Architect of Mindspark and Vice President of the Large Scale Education Programs at Educational Initiatives (EI). He was a member of the development team of the Mindspark product, which is a technology-based, personalized and adaptive learning tool for Mathematics and Language. He led the operations of the Mindspark Centres in urban slums of Delhi and Mindspark’s subsequent deployment in government schools of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. At EI, Pranav has also overseen various large scale student assessments and capacity building workshops in various states and was a member of the Joint Review Mission. Pranav is interested in student assessments, educational technology, and the critical need for a Science of Learning as a pre-requisite to ensure students learn with understanding. Prior to EI, Pranav studied Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and finished an MBA at the Harvard Business School

Yin Lu has been VP of International at Khan Academy for over 2 years. Prior to joining KA, she was Head of Global Initiatives and Head of Marketing Communications at Coursera. Yin also has experience at Google and Microsoft and graduated from UCLA with a BA in Economics, Urban Studies and a Masters in Counseling. Yin works on international market development at Khan. She lives for radical ideas that change the world through technology, goodwill and education at colossal scale. Prior to Khan Academy, Yin spent time at Coursera, Google and Microsoft. She loves high elevation (which means skiing, mountain biking, hiking) and high notes (which means singing).

Denis Mizne, Director, Fundação Lemann
Denis heads Fundação Lemann, a private foundation established by global entrepreneur Jorge Paulo Lemann to increase the quality of public education in Brazil. He is also chairman of the board of Instituto Sou da Paz and serves on other boards in the areas of education, human rights and public safety. Before joining the Foundation, Denis was founder and Executive Director of Instituto Sou da Paz, a leading Brazilian NGOs focused on violence prevention. He has contributed to the approval of the “Disarmament Statute,” one of the most modern pieces of legislation to control the use of guns. After being enacted, the law helped reduce homicides for the first time in decades in the country – thousands of lives have been saved. By developing several crime prevention projects with young people in the most violent places in Sao Paulo, and working to improve the work of the police and criminal justice systems, Sou da Paz has helped more than a million people. Its work has been recognized as one of the reasons why the city of Sao Paulo was able to reduce by 80% its homicide rate in the last decade.

César Wedemann Chief Executive Officer, QEdu
César Wedemann has been leading QEdu – an EdTech startup invested by Lemann Foundation – towards the mission of transforming the public education in Brazil through technology and data analysis. QEdu is currently the country’s largest educational data platform, focused especially on serving governments and educational departments.
César started his entrepreneurial career at the age of 13 and since then he has lived in four countries and three continents. Prior to QEdu, César has also served the management consulting firm Booz&Co. and worked at Easy Taxi, a mobile e-hailing app where he managed the operations of 30+ countries and led the largest startup merger in Latin America (with Tappsi, in Colombia).
