Christen is an attorney who focuses her practice on intellectual property and health law matters. She has over 15 years of experience representing clients as outside general counsel and subject matter counsel in connection with their individual and business needs. She regularly serves clients who participate in, or interact with, the healthcare industry, as well as clients who have legal needs involving intellectual property.
Christen is consistently recognized for her skills and accomplishments as an attorney, including as a member of the Legal Elite by Virginia Business Magazine and a Rising Star by Super Lawyer. Virginia Lawyers Weekly named Christen as one of 2021’s Influential Women of Law and a “Go To Lawyer” in Business Law in 2022.
Shannon Dominguez serves as a nonprofit consultant at Building Beloved Communities. She is dedicated to assisting nonprofits in optimizing their operations to increase revenue and minimize stress, which is a key reason for her belief in the crucial role of AI.
Shannon is a recipient of The ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award®, fluent in Spanish, and a co-founder and board member of Latinas Network.
In her free time, Shannon is writing a memoir called "Cult Life: A Memoir of Growing Up as a Jehovah’s Witness.
North America Regional Operations Manager,
Project Management Institute
Karla Eidem is a long-time project management practitioner, a PMP and a former chapter leader for PMI Sioux Empire, South Dakota. She is currently the North America Regional Operations Manager at PMI. In this highly collaborative role, Karla is part of the team responsible for developing and executing key strategic initiatives to grow PMI’s reach and deepen its impact to the practitioner and chapter community across the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Karla previously worked at Sanford Health where she was an enterprise senior project manager and worked with Sanford’s executive leadership team to manage the rollout and implementation of the COVID-19 vaccine in the region. Her project manager journey started in financial services with HSBC (Hongkong Shanghai Banking Corporation) where she worked in service delivery and global resourcing divisions in Asia and Latin America. She is originally from Manila, Philippines and speaks English, Filipino, Spanish and Ilonggo (which is one of over 170 dialects in the Philippines). Karla resides in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with her husband, 2 stepsons and her American Eskimo dog. She loves spending time with her family and friends, enjoys traveling, brush lettering, and ice fishing.
Senior Leadership Coach and Consultant,
Carilion Clinic
Sara Kagarise, M.A., P.M.P., PCC is a Senior Leadership Coach and Consultant with Carilion Clinic, and is the co-founder of Strategic Talent Results, LLC. With over a decade of experience in the training and organizational development space, she collaborates with leaders to grow and develop themselves and their talent to meet current and predict future workforce needs. Sara holds certifications as a Professional Certified Coach, Project Management Professional, and ROI Professional. As an Industrial and Organizational Psychology Practitioner, Sara’s goal is to improve the work environment for an organization’s most valuable asset, its human capital. She loves helping others leverage their most authentic and effective self.
Sara holds an A.A.S. degree in Radiologic Sciences from Virginia Western Community College, a B.S in Health Science and Health Administration from Old Dominion University, and a M.A. degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Adler University.
Randy is the Founder and Managing Director of LakeTurn Automation, a Virginia-based professional services firm providing Intelligent Automation Solutions to the SME/SMB market segment. Before starting LakeTurn Automation, Randy spent over 25 years in leadership roles across a diverse range
of industries, including consulting, manufacturing, construction, distribution, and retail. In addition to starting and running multiple small businesses, he has led corporate teams responsible for IT, HR, payroll, purchasing, supply chain, and risk management.
Randy holds a BS in Accounting Information Systems from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He earned a certification from PMI as a Project Management Professional and is Certified in Production and Inventory Management with APICS, and has been awarded the Certified ScrumMaster designation by the Scrum Alliance. Since completing his first “Hello World” program on a TRS-80 in elementary school, Randy has been
captivated by computers. (And if you know what a TRS-80 is, then welcome to the world of endless AARP mail solicitations). He continues to leverage his passion for technology by helping individuals and organizations reach their full potential through the immense power of AI and digital transformation. Randy lives in Southside VA with his wife April. When not partnering with clients on intelligent automation projects, Randy enjoys spending time outdoors and is an avid backpacker, mountain biker, and fly
fisherman.
Doug is a senior associate at GR8PM, Inc. and a senior solutions architect for Carilion Clinic. At Carilion, Doug has lead enterprise-level projects for over ten years that span between technical, administrative, and clinical systems implementations. Doug works as a freelance writer and agile coach in his spare time.
Doug is a former board member of the PMI Southwest Virginia Chapter. He is certified by PMI as a Project Management Professional (PMP®) and an Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP®). He also holds Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Professional (CSP-SM) designations from the Scrum Alliance. Mr. Martin graduated from American Graduate University with a Masters Degree in Project Management.
Christopher J. Sullivan is an intellectual property and business law attorney with Ritter Law PLLC, a transactional law firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Chris strives to provide comprehensive legal counsel to businesses and entrepreneurs to help them protect and capitalize on their ideas and ingenuity. He attended the University of Richmond School of Law, where he graduated with the highest honors, including the Faculty Award for Excellence in Intellectual Property. Recently, Chris has dedicated himself to specializing in the use and legal implications of Artificial Intelligence (“AI”). He has advised others in various industries on how AI can be used to optimize workflows and processes while cautioning against the various legal and practical pitfalls involved, including veracity and bias issues, intellectual property misappropriation, data privacy, and identity theft. Beginning January 2024, Chris will also be an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond School of Law teaching an “Artificial Intelligence in Legal Practice” course instructing law students on how to use AI tools effectively and responsibly.
Shelley Teer
Business Analyst,
More Better Technology, LLC
Shelley Teer is a Business Analyst with More Better Technology, LLC, performing operational process analysis for clients daily. Shelley highly regards analytical skills to be a fundamental part of solutioning the success of any business but are also the building blocks of critical thinking in a fast paced and every changing technological society. Shelley holds an Associate of Applied Science degree in Database and Program Developer specialization from Virginia Western Community College along with her Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification, Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification, and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification. When she isn’t using her analytical skills, you can find her in the great outdoors biking or hiking, with her nose in a book, or at the gym training. If you find yourself next to her, make sure to say hello, if she hasn’t already. She loves meeting new people and getting to know them.
Cybersecurity thought leader, researcher, author, and strategist, Joel Yonts is a seasoned security executive with more than 30 years of technology, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence experience. His credentials include active certifications in digital forensics, incident response, malware reverse engineering, application penetration, security leadership, ethical hacking, and artificial intelligence engineering. Yonts has more than 15 years of experience building and leading multi-national Fortune 500 cyber programs as an executive CISO. His contributions to the research community include fundamental research in protecting emerging platforms and mapping future attack strategies of cyber adversaries. His
newly published book, Secure Intelligent Machines: Protecting AI from Cyberattack, expands the boundaries of traditional cyber programs by merging leading AI risk mitigation insights with decades of practical cybersecurity experience.
