Nashville Innovation Alliance Annual Forum
Join us for our signature annual gathering as business, civic, academic and community leaders come together to explore how leading cities are turning ambition into action and what Nashville can learn from their success.
At this year’s forum
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Hear a conversation with Sean Luther of InnovatePGH and Dr. Eloisa Klementich of Invest Atlanta, two national leaders influencing the future of regional innovation ecosystems.
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See how the Alliance’s creative campaign, Cowrite the Future, is building momentum and helping tell Nashville’s innovation story.
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Celebrate the inaugural Civic Tech Jam awardees, whose projects demonstrate how technology can help address real challenges facing our city.
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Connect with fellow leaders and innovators during a networking reception.
AGENDA
3:00 p.m.
Arrival
3:30 p.m.
Welcome
Bill Jeffries
The National Museum of African American Music
Innovation Alliance update
Sally Parker
Nashville Innovation Alliance
3:45 p.m.
Discussion
Dr. Eloisa Klementich
Invest Atlanta
Sean Luther
InnovatePGH
Kate Wittels (moderator)
HR&A Advisors
4:30 p.m.
Remarks
Susan Margulies
Vanderbilt University
4:40 p.m.
Civic Tech Jam awardees
Sally Parker
Nashville Innovation Alliance
4:50 p.m.
Remarks
Mayor Freddie O’Connell
Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County
5:00 p.m.
Reception
6:00 p.m.
Event concludes
SPEAKERS
Freddie O’Connell
Mayor
Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Freddie O’Connell is the tenth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. Mayor O’Connell’s administration is focused on two priorities: making the city more affordable and improving quality of life for everyone who lives in Nashville. In his first year, the O’Connell Administration secured overwhelming voter approval of dedicated funding for transportation for the first time in the history of Nashville and the State of Tennessee and delivered an East Bank developer agreement that achieved historic commitments to affordable housing. With a focus on affordability and quality of life, Mayor O’Connell has implemented improvements to key city services that Nashvillians rely on every day.
O’Connell served on the Metro Council from 2015 to 2023 where he worked to limit the impact of poverty, strengthen neighborhoods, and ensure everyone participates as Nashville’s economy grows.
Dr. Eloisa Klementich, CEcD
President & CEO
Invest Atlanta
As President and CEO of Invest Atlanta, Dr. Eloisa Klementich is transforming economic development in the city of Atlanta through strategic initiatives to increase equity and prosperity for all Atlantans. She leads a nationally recognized economic development agency accredited by the International Economic Development Council and has shaped the Invest Atlanta organization around equity to ensure all Invest Atlanta programs focus on this fundamental outcome.
Since being named CEO of Invest Atlanta in 2016, the agency has had many notable accomplishments under Eloisa’s leadership. She commissioned Atlanta’s first economic development strategy driven by e24bconomic mobility, fostered an internal culture at Invest Atlanta focused on equity, and led the integration of Atlanta’s workforce development agency and Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative programs into Invest Atlanta to create a more comprehensive economic development solution for the city.
Sean C. Luther, MRED
President & CEO
InnovatePGH Partnership
Sean Luther spent the past decade integrating advanced economic development, real estate fundamentals, sustainability, and entrepreneurship ecosystem development into urban place management. He currently serves as the founding President and CEO of the InnovatePGH Partnership – a public/private partnership advancing Pittsburgh’s position as a global innovation city. InnovatePGH works at a neighborhood scale, driving tech-based economic development outcomes focused in Pittsburgh’s naturally occurring innovation district in the Oakland neighborhood. It supports early-stage companies by creating the conditions they need to start, grow, and stay in the district. That work includes connecting founders to resources, coordinating local support systems, and improving the physical and operational environment companies rely on in their earliest stages.
Susan Margulies, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Research and Innovation
Vanderbilt University
Susan Margulies is Vanderbilt’s Vice Provost for Research and Innovation and a professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering. She leads efforts to define and drive growth in Vanderbilt’s research enterprise, champion sponsored research and strengthen the systems, partnerships and support structures that help faculty and research teams move ideas from concept to funding, implementation, commercialization and impact.
Margulies is known for pioneering research on the mechanisms underlying brain injuries in children and adolescents and lung injuries associated with mechanical ventilation, contributing to improved injury prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Her scholarly record includes more than $35 million in research funding, over 350 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 11 book chapters and mentorship of 50 graduate and postdoctoral trainees. She has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Inventors and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Sally Parker, Ph.D.
Interim Executive Director
Nashville Innovation Alliance
Sally Parker is the interim executive director for the Nashville Innovation Alliance. Sally connects partners from across the Nashville community to support the city’s intentional growth as a hub for tech innovation. She has been a driving force for the Alliance since its inception, championing the city’s innovation ecosystem and leading collaborative efforts among key partners.
Sally is also the associate vice chancellor for strategy and operations in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Government and Community Relations at Vanderbilt University. She oversees the division’s operations and manages strategic projects requiring cross-team collaboration. She serves as a member of the vice chancellor’s core leadership team and works closely with other members of the university leadership to provide meaningful synergy for external community activities.
Prior to joining the university, she worked in strategic communications, public affairs, and economic development in Nashville, Tennessee; Washington, D.C. and Tampa, Florida. She earned her Ph.D. in political science from Florida State University and her bachelor’s degree in political science and French from Belmont University.
Kate Wittels
Partner
HR&A Advisors
Kate Wittels is a Partner at HR&A Advisors, a real estate and economic development consulting firm, and Special Advisor to the Nashville Innovation Alliance. Kate works at the intersection of technology and urban development, helping clients build places that spark innovation, foster resilient workforces, and deliver infrastructure that positions today’s cities for tomorrow’s opportunities. She guides local governments, developers, and businesses in building tech ecosystems through strategic real estate development, workforce programs, and infrastructure investment — with work spanning Nashville, Pittsburgh, Houston, Providence, Cincinnati, and New York. Prior to HR&A, Kate served as Director of Corporate Real Estate at Sony, managing a 20-million-square-foot global portfolio. For nearly a decade, she has taught graduate students at Columbia University on tech public policy and urban disruption. She holds a master’s in real estate development from MIT and a bachelor’s in urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania.