Michael Wray, M.Ed, MS

Michael brings unique life experiences to his work as a School Counselor taking a solutions focused therapeutic approach in conjunction with mindfulness-based techniques believing that students are not truly able to reach their highest potential if we do not adequately address the challenges they face from a socioemotional perspective (especially as it pertains to coping and resilience).

Don Brightful

Nexus-Dragon founder, veteran of the United States Air Force, a business owner, and a Cybersecurity Defense Analyst (aka Threat Hunter) with the federal government. He will share his career journey and offer the myriad of options available to people considering cybersecurity careers.

Event is hosted by Teshley Solutions LLC

Joe Hofstee, P.E.

AECOM Vice President & Principal Engineer provided a detailed, interactive presentation of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) plans leading a strategic conversation on sustainability, resiliency, equity, as well as potential business opportunities within the future of electric mobility and transportation.

More >>

SUMMER PROGRAM LAUNCHES JULY 20!!

5-wk virtual training w/ Coach Todd

Plan & host your own tournaments as TOs

Get Your Money Right w/ Truist Bank VP Matthew Winston for an early start on your financial future

Immersive technologies—virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality–have the ability to reshape storytelling and reporting. So excited to welcome Eric Brown, Jr. to help our student leadership council think through how we can integrate Mixed Realty (MR) into our Young Entrepreneurs Academy to solve future business challenges and just for fun!

Eric is a technologist, mentor, and coach whose specialty lies at the intersection of emerging technology, education, and entrepreneurship. A proud graduate of Delaware State University and current Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology graduate student at Harvard, his mission is to use Innovation for Equity - creating opportunities for historically underrepresented populations to empower the next generation of leaders, doers and dreamers.

We welcomed Teunis de Raat as the featured guest at our Future Founders Conversations. He made time in his extremely busy schedule to meet directly with our Student Leadership Council who have been working hard behind the scenes developing the strategy for our 2022 Summer/Fall Young Entrepreneurs Academy!

A media industry veteran with 25+ years in high-end animated television and live action VFX feature films, he’s now leading the way at Black Sands Studios charged with producing the highest quality animated content based on the best selling comics of the Black Sands Entertainment library.

He shared serious advice about the industry, his journey, being prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise, and the team’s bold approach to landing their latest game-changing deal!

Demille Hunt is an enthusiast of all things technology! Computer graphics, 3D character animation, motion capture and virtual reality – specifically on the roles each play in video games and film. After graduating from The Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a degree in Animation and Visual Effects, he focused on mastery of Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Motion Builder, Unreal Engine 5 and more.

In addition to leading a training session for our Young Entrepreneurs Academy, he graciously agreed to mentor an outstanding student who we realized (almost on a whim) has tremendous promise in illustration and design -- with her own unique spin on diverse characterization. Although seriously preparing for his own career next steps, he still arranged his schedule for recurring one-on-one sessions answering every single question, walking through demos, encouraging, and helping her find her way.

More about DeMille and recent work>> www.dmillestudios.com.

Extremely thankful for Digital Media Designer & Content Creator Don Terrell who made time between taping episodes of his popular live show to pour into students in Beyond Expectations Young Entrepreneurs Academy with his extensive knowledge of 3D motion graphics design and video animation.

The youngest of 10 kids, he always had a passion for art, design, animation, cartoons and loved creating. After receiving his degree in Visual Communications from The Art Institute of Houston, he spent more than 30 years in advertising and marketing.

His love of learning still continues today. As host of The Color of Motion, he highlights people of color and diverse backgrounds in the motion graphics, animation, VFX, cartoon and comics industry.

With all that Don has achieved throughout his professional career, so grateful that he has chosen to bless others by sharing his gifts and extensive knowledge to inspire others.   

More >> www.youtube.com/c/DonTerrell/videos

Several students have been asking for this one!

So excited to welcome back Emily Zbyszynski --this time as the featured guest at Beyond Expectations Future Founders Conversations.

She participated as a panelist during our Fall Student Summit and is returning by popular demand to run an entire stand-alone session: "Building Your Professional Presence: An Intro to Everything" dedicated to young aspiring gamers looking to take things to the next level. Creatively telling their own stories while developing their brand.

Emily currently serves as Program Manager for Futures First Gaming, where she manages esports events and designs esports and STEM-aligned curriculum. She has designed and taught courses for The College of New Jersey and Post University, and specializes in Interactive Fiction and building personalized brands.

Southwest Airlines is focused on a sustainable future with a creative workforce and dedicated innovation team where employees test products, new ideas then develop solutions that lead to a great customer experience.

Excited to welcome Amber Lager as the featured guest for our next Young Entrepreneurs Academy Future Founders Conversations. A graduate of Missouri State University, she began her career with Southwest nearly 10 years ago.

Today, Amber loves working as a Talent Acquisition Program Specialist. She's on deck to share insight high school internships and brainstorm ideas for a potential workplace challenge where our students can put their innovative talents and skills into real practice.

Special thanks to Sarah Steinmann, K-12 Program Lead for opening the door and leading the way.