Events
This year, a group will travel to the beautiful and innovative city of Tampa, Florida Oct. 15-18, 2023. Over several days, we’ll learn best practices that will benefit the Cobb community for years to come.
Below are the speaker bios for each session.
Born and raised in Tampa, Mayor Jane Castor has spent a lifetime in service to the community, becoming the first female Chief of Police and Tampa’s 59th Mayor. Under her leadership, the City of Tampa has received several awards and recognitions including Best City in Florida, Best City for Veterans to Live in, one of the Most Fun Cities in America, and among the TIME Magazine 2023 World’s Greatest Places. Under her vision of Transforming Tampa’s Tomorrow, she is focused on addressing the city’s most pressing issues: transportation, workforce development, affordable housing, sustainability, resilience, and expanding parks and recreation services. Mayor Castor is a proud Seminole Heights resident where she lives with her longtime partner Ana Cruz, both Tampa natives who enjoy fishing, Lightning hockey games, and family time with their two sons Sergei and Seely.
Craig J. Richard is a certified economic developer with over two decades of economic development leadership experience in major markets such as Dallas, Houston and Atlanta. Career highlights include more than 308 successful projects representing more than 126,246 jobs and $9.3 billion in capital investment. Craig has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and currently serves on the boards of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, Film Tampa Bay, Visit Tampa Bay and the Downtown Tampa Partnership. He was recognized as one of Florida’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders by Florida Trend and one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers by Consultant Connect. Craig was also designated a “Fellow Member” by IEDC for his contributions to the economic development profession. Craig earned his Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree, with a concentration in economic development, from Virginia Commonwealth University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston. He is also a graduate of the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. Craig and his wife Verna have two boys. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, fishing and hunting.
Katie Lopez is the Vice President, Member Engagement at the Tampa Bay Chamber. In this role, she leads programs and initiatives that foster a diverse business community reflective of our community at large. Prior to joining the Tampa Bay Chamber, Lopez served as the Director of Military & Governmental Affairs at the Christian County Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as the 2017 Staff Member of the Year by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives.
An advocate for creating economic opportunity, Lopez is a past chair of the Hiring Our Heroes Tampa Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone and previously served as a board member of Mission United. In 2021, she was recognized by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executive’s as a 40 under 40 recipient.
Since joining the Tampa Bay Chamber in 2018, the community has been recognized nationally for their efforts to support military families to include: the Association of Defense Community’s Great American Defense Community Award, Hiring Our Heroes Three-Star Chamber of Valor Award, and the Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Community of the Year Award. Lopez led the efforts to recruit the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program and Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone to Tampa Bay.
A native of Florida, Katie holds a Master of Arts degree in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities from Western Kentucky University and a Post-Crisis Leadership Certificate from the University of South Florida. She will graduate from the Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in 2024.
JoLynn M. Lokey is Chief Operating Officer for Visit Tampa Bay, a destination marketing organization with a vision to inspire the world to love Tampa Bay and a mission to create vibrant economic development for the community by collaboratively increasing visitation to the destination. A graduate of Villanova where she earned an M.S. degree in Human Resource Development, Lokey brings more than 25 years of expertise in finance, human resources, and administration to Visit Tampa Bay where she oversees the organization’s operations.
After joining Visit Tampa Bay in 2005, Lokey played an integral role in bringing on the Tampa Bay Sports Commission and Film Tampa Bay as the organization’s affiliated partners and was also a pioneer in the administration of host committees for high-profile events such as Super Bowl XLIII, Super Bowl LV, the 2012 Republican National Convention, and 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship to name a few.
Lokey currently serves as a member of the Destinations International Advocacy Committee and served on the University of Tampa Board of Fellows and board of directors for Feeding Tampa Bay. Her passion for tourism marketing continues through her advocacy work by educating policymakers about the power of travel and working closely with Destinations Florida to create tourism day advocacy programs that are held in Tallahassee.
She was recently recognized as the Top 100 Women Leaders of Tampa in 2022, a finalist for Tampa Bay Business & Wealth’s inaugural class of Apogee Award in 2021, and a finalist for Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Businesswoman of the Year Award.
In June of 2004, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission named Rob Higgins as its Executive Director. Higgins’ primary responsibility is to promote the development of the Tampa Bay area’s sports scene, as well as leading the Sports Commission as the principal organization that bids on and hosts sports and entertainment events in Tampa Bay.
In the nearly 19 years that Higgins has held his position, Tampa Bay has successfully hosted and/or been awarded the following events: 2007 ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament, 2008 NCAA Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds, 2008 NCAA Women’s Final Four, 2008 and 2009 ACC Football Championships, 2009 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, 2009 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Second and Third Rounds, 2012 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, 2015 NCAA Women’s Final Four, 2016 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, 2018 NHL All-Star Weekend, the 2019 NCAA Women’s Final Four, 2021 NFL Super Bowl LV, 2022 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, 2022 U.S. Gymnastics Championships, WrestleMania 37, 2023 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four, 2023 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, 2025 NCAA Women’s Final Four and 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball First and Second Rounds.
Higgins led the bid effort and served as the President/CEO of the Tampa Bay Super Bowl LV Host Committee in addition to serving on the bid and operations committee which successfully landed and hosted Super Bowl XLIII in 2009. Higgins has an impressive list of personal accolades including being named to Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 30 under 30 list and the Tampa Bay Times named Higgins as one of the top 10 difference makers in the Tampa Bay area.
Most recently, Higgins has been named to Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Power 100 for each of the last three years, while also being selected for the prestigious Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal “Forty Under 40”. He was recognized as one of the most influential sports figureheads in the history of Tampa Bay by CBS Radio, one of the top 10 most influential people in Tampa Bay by WTSP 10 News, and Huffington Post listed Higgins as one of the top 30 sports marketers in the world.
Higgins is a graduate of the University of South Florida, where he was inducted into their School of Advertising’s Hall of Fame. Rob is married to his wife Casey and they have two children, Laney and Landon.
Responsibilities
David Bevirt serves as Executive Vice President of Corporate Leasing & Strategy for Strategic Property Partners and the lead for all office leasing efforts. Encompassing up to 9M square feet of office, residential, hotel, retail, educational space and public realm, Water Street Tampa is backed by Cascade Investment and is one of the largest mixed-use developments in the country.
Experience
Mr. Bevirt is a 37-year veteran of the commercial real estate industry. Prior to joining SPP in 2018, Mr. Bevirt was Senior Vice President with Brookfield Properties where he was responsible for all leasing and marketing efforts for the portfolio’s 25 core and opportunity fund assets in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, totaling 8 million square feet.
Education
Purdue University
BA, Landscape Architecture ‘83
MS, Urban Planning ‘85
Boards and Professional Affiliations
Role| Mary-Kate or “MK” is the manager for the corporate office leasing team for SPP and acts as the lead leasing agent for Thousand & One and Sparkman Wharf.
About | Born and raised in Tampa, MK has a passion for economic development, the strategic growth of Tampa and facilitating human connection in relation to the surrounding built environment. She works closely with the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council and delivers presentations to recruit various companies to relocate to or expand within Tampa. She is passionate about holistic health, wellness and nutrition. In her spare time, MK enjoys outdoor exercise, running her dog, Lily, reading books and learning and practicing two languages: Norwegian and Spanish.
Education | Florida State University | College of Business | BS, Real Estate ‘18 | BS, Marketing ‘18
Professional Affiliations & Organizations
Waits is a Senior Vice President and leads Rapid7’s business development, corporate development and strategic alliance initiatives. He brings more than 30 years of experience in advising companies on rapid market expansion, building enterprise SaaS companies, cybersecurity initiatives, mergers and acquisitions. Waits collaborates with the Rapid7 leadership team in the opening and growth phases of the company’s new Tampa, Florida office.
Waits recently led Cyber Solutions and Public Sector for Devo, spearheading a $9.5MM award for the company to act as the global SIEM technology provider for the United States Air Force. As an active industry leader and mentor, his professional roles include Chairman of Cyversity, formerly the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP) and Board Director to Lynx Technology Partners. Waits is passionate about building diverse and inclusive teams to tackle the greatest cybersecurity challenges.
Tampa Bay native, Linda Olson, is the CEO & founder of Tampa Bay Wave, Florida’s #1 Accelerator that has supported 500 startups since 2013 with world-class programs, world-class startups, and world-class results. Collectively, these startups have raised $800+ million and created 4,700+ jobs. To date, Linda has raised $15 million from sponsors, donors, foundations, and various grants to fund the nonprofit mission.
Linda began her career consulting for Fortune 500 companies on technology projects and has worked with tech startups and venture capital since 1999. She has Masters and BS degrees from Florida State University, and an MBA from Columbia University.
Linda was a finalist for TBBJ’s Business Woman of the Year in 2018, TBBW’s Business Woman of the Year in 2023, and in 2022 she was awarded TBBJ’s Angie Joseph Excellence in Mentorship honor. She was also awarded Tampa Bay Tech’s Community Leadership & Dedication honor in 2019.
Linda is a proud alum of Leadership Tampa (’18) and Leadership Florida (’22). She is also an original member of Startup America Partnership and is currently an active member of Startup Champions Network. Linda also serves as an Honorary Commander at MacDill Air Force Base and serves on various boards including USF CAMLS, USF Research Foundation, Synapse Florida, Tampa Bay Tech, Tampa Downtown Partnership Foundation, and Visit Tampa Bay. Linda was selected to the U.S. delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Bahrain in 2019 and Riyadh in 2022.
A native of St. Pete Beach, Linda enjoys spending time with her family, including her two daughters whom she is raising to be future female entrepreneurs in Tampa Bay.
Saxon Baum is a Partner at Florida Funders focused on working with the best investors and entrepreneurs in the country. His career has been focused on entrepreneurship and investing, starting his first business at 12 and selling items on eBay. Saxon graduated from Miami University with a degree in Political Science and a minor in entrepreneurship, starting his first venture-backed business there, a corporate culture software called WeVue. Following six years of running WeVue as the Co-Founder leading the sales and marketing departments, Saxon started his career in venture capital at Florida Funders. While at Florida Funders, Saxon has overseen the growth of assets under management, reaching $150M in 2022. Saxon is also an avid Angel/VC investor focusing on technology in the public and private markets. He has over 20+ private investments in his portfolio and holds a Series 65 FINRA license. He and his wife, Stephanie have a beautiful baby girl Bari Baum!
As Chief Operating Officer, Michelle Bauer provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the EDC. She leads the investor relations and award-winning marketing and research teams. Bauer is responsible for spearheading key projects, including the “Make it Tampa Bay” talent attraction campaign in partnership with Hillsborough County and Visit Tampa Bay, the Tampa Bay Economic Prosperity Foundation, and the EDC’s Competitiveness and Talent Retention & Development initiatives. She is currently serving as the 2023 Chair Elect for the Florida Economic Development Council, the statewide association for economic development organizations.
Prior to joining the Tampa EDC in 2014, Michelle served as the president of Common Language, a strategic communications firm in St. Petersburg, Florida. Bauer also served as the first Executive Director of the Tampa Bay Technology Forum, Co-Founder of CreativeTampaBay, and co-creator of several groundbreaking national and international conferences.
She holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from the University of South Florida and is a proud supporter of her alma mater.
Dr. Byron C. Clayton joined the CareerSource Tampa Bay in July 2021, bringing well over twenty years of C-suite leadership experience.
Previously, Dr. Clayton served as the CEO of Tampa Bay Works, the CEO of Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM), and Presaident & CEO of Research Park Corporation (RPC). He also led the organization and growth of Ohio-based industry clusters in printed electronics, advanced energy, and water technologies. His award-winning Cluster Acceleration Model resulted in over 1,000 new jobs, $59 million in new payroll, and $144 million in new capital in its first four years of operation for Northeast Ohio’s printed electronics sector.
In addition, he has over 25 years of experience developing, commercializing and implementing advanced manufacturing systems and software for various industries. During that time, he facilitated the market entry of over 40 high-tech products and systems, receiving patents for manufacturing optimization software used by numerous production plants across North America.
Dr. Clayton and his wife Yvette relocated to the Tampa Bay area in October 2019. They are parents of four, grandparents of six, and great-grandparents of two.
Debbie Green is the global ecosystem lead for the resources industry group. Green is responsible for the overall ecosystem strategy across the industry as well as nurturing and growing key partnerships to help our clients solve complex problems. Green has over 21 years of experience delivering complex solutions for utility clients. She has served in various roles across large programs and is deeply skilled in all phases of project and program delivery. Her passion is helping people reach their full potential.
Shannon Pastizzo is currently the Program Director at the University of South Florida CONNECT, the entrepreneurial incubator. She oversees innovation initiatives at USF including the Tampa Bay Technology Incubator and the Student Innovation Incubator. USF CONNECT provides support for companies including technology and life science start-ups by facilitating access to top-tier research, programming, faculty, students, supporting organizations and funding sources. Her career spans more than 20 years in non-profit experience leading major economic development, innovation and partnership projects. Prior to joining USF CONNECT, she was the Director of Business Development for Synapse, a community helping each other succeed by sharing resources, opportunities and ideas to promote innovation. She was instrumental in creating Synapse events, including the yearly Tampa Bay Synapse Summit
Leigh West, MS, provides client-facing, specialized program support for the University of South Florida’s CONNECT Technology Incubator, under the umbrella of USF Research & Innovation division. USF CONNECT is the only technology incubator program in the Tampa Bay region with lab space. Presently, >60 companies are enrolled in our program, of which ~25 companies are using laboratory space.
Leigh’s background includes over 30 years of biomedical research and teaching experience in several areas: Microbiology, cancer biology, immunology, drug discovery, orthopedics, biomedical engineering and biotechnology. He oversees USF CONNECT’s laboratory facilities which include instrumentation valued at >$1M. He provides training and support related to our companies’ research efforts, product development and other operations critical to small business development. This includes providing connections for faculty consultation/collaboration, lab technical services and scientific instrumentation available at USF and other regional campuses, companies and institutes. Leigh also meets with prospective companies to assess their laboratory needs inquiries, technologies and their suitability for entrance into our program.
Yianni Lagos is the CEO of Soilcea, which has developed CRISPR-edited citrus trees that are resistant to the citrus industry’s deadliest diseases. Yianni began his legal career at Angie’s List during the company’s IPO. Thereafter, Yianni began working at an industry-funded think tank, the Future of Privacy Forum, where he published an article describing de-identification in the Stanford Law Review. He then co-founded the investment firm, Spartan Brothers Capital, which primarily invests in real estate, farm enterprises, and tech start-ups. Yianni, a CFA Charterholder, earned his J.D., Magna Cum Laude, and his M.B.A. from Ohio State University, and he earned his B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Vanderbilt University.
Brad Miller is the CEO of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority.
Heather Sobush is the Chief Planning and Sustainability Officer at the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) which is based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Including the six years she has been at PSTA, Heather has more than 20 years of transportation and transit planning experience.
At PSTA, Heather leads a team of planners and schedulers in the development of service plans, long and short-range plans, innovative projects, amenity partnerships, premium transit studies, and the agency’s first strategic plan focused on all aspects of sustainability.
Brandon Corsentino is a Business Development Manager with Beep, Inc. Brandon has been with Beep for two years. His role includes identifying innovative mobility solutions with municipalities, transit authorities, universities, and developers. This includes leading Beep’s first partnerships in North Carolina and California, and has had the pleasure to work with one of his favorite partners, the Cumberland Community Improvement District.
Prior to Beep, Brandon spent 6 years with the American Diabetes Association, bringing a focus on providing equitable service for all. Brandon holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree from the University of Florida.
Tom Whalen is a Transportation Planning Coordinator with the City of St. Petersburg and has worked for the City for 26 years. He works on multimodal transportation projects, participates in the metropolitan transportation planning process, and reviews land development projects. Tom was the project manager for the Downtown St. Petersburg East-West Transit System Study, which identified the Central Avenue corridor for premium transit service and Bus Rapid Transit as the preferred technology. He assisted PSTA during the planning, design, and construction phases for the SunRunner project and now its ongoing operations and maintenance.
Tom has a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and a Master of Regional Planning degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tom is a Certified Transportation Planner and an Envision Sustainability Professional.
Abhishek Dayal, AICP is the director of project management office for Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) in the St Petersburg-Clearwater area. He has had more than 15 years of experience in project development and is responsible for managing a diverse portfolio of PSTA’s capital and technology projects from original conception through final implementation including the SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit and the bus on shoulder projects. Prior to his current role, he worked on several light rail transit and Streetcar projects in the Phoenix region.
Abhishek holds a Master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology. He is a graduate of Leadership APTA’s 2018 class and is recognized as a certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Jacob Labutka is a Planning Manager for PSTA. He leads a variety of transit planning projects such as the PSTA Community Bus Plan. He also oversees innovative transit programs such as PSTA’s electric bus deployment plan, integrated app development, and AV demonstration program. Jacob led the deployment of Olli and Navya autonomous shuttles to demonstrate the technology to the community on public roads in Pinellas County.
Katie Lopez is the Vice President, Member Engagement at the Tampa Bay Chamber. In this role, she leads programs and initiatives that foster a diverse business community reflective of our community at large. Prior to joining the Tampa Bay Chamber, Lopez served as the Director of Military & Governmental Affairs at the Christian County Chamber of Commerce and was recognized as the 2017 Staff Member of the Year by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Executives.
An advocate for creating economic opportunity, Lopez is a past chair of the Hiring Our Heroes Tampa Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone and previously served as a board member of Mission United. In 2021, she was recognized by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executive’s as a 40 under 40 recipient.
Since joining the Tampa Bay Chamber in 2018, the community has been recognized nationally for their efforts to support military families to include: the Association of Defense Community’s Great American Defense Community Award, Hiring Our Heroes Three-Star Chamber of Valor Award, and the Hiring Our Heroes Military Spouse Community of the Year Award. Lopez led the efforts to recruit the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Program and Military Spouse Economic Empowerment Zone to Tampa Bay.
A native of Florida, Katie holds a Master of Arts degree in Social Responsibility and Sustainable Communities from Western Kentucky University and a Post-Crisis Leadership Certificate from the University of South Florida. She will graduate from the Institute for Organization Management, the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in 2024.
Aleksandra Johnston is the Regional Manager (East US) for the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship Programs, and the Program Manager of the Tampa/Florida Corporate Fellowship Program. In her role, she works with transitioning service members within 180 days of their last day of active duty and supports their pursuit of a meaningful post-military career. Aleksandra helped launch the Tampa Fellowship programs in October 2019 with the support of the Tampa Bay business community and continues to work closely with employers from a broad spectrum of industries looking to hire and engage with transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses.
Michael Fieldson has more than 19 years of experience working with Special Operations Forces (SOF) as a mechanical engineer, technology developer, and program manager. At US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), he led numerous science and technology (S&T) developments including biometrics, imaging, nanotechnology, power and energy, and communication networks. He also led all unmanned aerial systems (UAS) efforts and the production of the latest AC-130J gunship. From 2007 to 2017, he held numerous government positions culminating in his role as the director for Airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (AISR).
© 2025 Cobb Chamber of Commerce. All Rights Reserved.
