Events

Louis leads content at Firstbase, an NYC-based, global software platform that helps founders launch, manage, and scale their businesses. Previously, he served as Head of Marketing at Farel, a YC-backed software company for regional airlines with offices in San Francisco, Turkey, and Kazakhstan. Louis served as a Princeton in Asia Fellow in Kazakhstan and then spent 5 years…

Katie Appold, Executive Director Katie’s professional experience includes over fifteen years of marketing and leadership in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. She has earned a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Grand Valley State University and later completed a Master’s of Public Administration with an emphasis in Nonprofit Leadership. Under Katie’s leadership, nonprofit organizations have developed new…

Mayor Rosalynn Bliss became the City of Grand Rapids’ first female Mayor when she took office on January 1, 2016. She was re-elected for a second term in November 2019.  She previously served as a Second Ward City Commissioner for 10 years. Mayor Bliss also is serving as the Frederik Meijer Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship…

Deirdre Jimenez BIFMA President + CEO  Deirdre Jimenez AIA, NCDIQ joined BIFMA, the North American Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association, in July 2020 as its first President and CEO with a mission to elevate the work BIFMA and its members contribute to the industry, expand outreach and collaboration to industry stakeholders, and create a…

Rick Mattoon is vice president and regional executive, Detroit branch, in the economic research department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Mattoon's primary research focuses on issues that face the Midwest regional economy. Mattoon began his career at the Chicago Fed in 1990. In 1997, he left the bank to serve as a policy…