Lou is CFO and General Counsel of Two Bit Circus, a band of mad inventors and artists that build big games, tell stories with technology, and make liberal use of lasers, fire and robots. Here he is responsible for risk-managing accidental violations of physics and occasional eyebrow injuries. 

He is also a partner at Collective Studios (a profit and purpose venture studio), Cobble Hill Partners (a boutique venture firm) and is on the board or is officer to several other companies. Prior to these positions, Lou was COO/CFO of GOOD, a social impact media company and strategy consultancy. Prior to that, Lou was CEO of Mavent Inc, which was acquired by Ellie Mae, Inc. (NYSE: ELLI). Other previous positions include Greenwich Capital Markets, Nomura Securities, Goldman Sachs & Co. and Deloitte & Touche, LLP.

Lou is actively involved in a number of philanthropic and charitable organizations. He works with several musicians and other cultural influencers on their social impact activities.  He is a board member and acting Executive Director of Escuelita Cultural, whose mission is to create dual-language (Spanish and English) educational multimedia products and programs to inspire children and youth to achieve academic excellence.  He is on the advisory board of Plus 1, an organization founded by the band Arcade Fire. He has a particular interest in in organizations that provide education and vocational opportunities for "at risk" youth. For example,he is the founder and former chairman of Put It Up, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation that provides financial literacy training to “at risk” youth and that is allied with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Lou holds a bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley in English Literature; a master’s degree in business administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University; and a juris doctorate from New York University School of Law. He is a member of the California Bar Association.

Eric Fitzgerald Reed, Vice President – Entertainment and Tech Policy for Verizon Communications in San Francisco, CA, is responsible for analyzing entertainment industry trends, managing telecommunications developments and emerging high-tech matters as they relate to public policy. Mr. Reed leads Verizon’s outreach to an array of Silicon Valley and Hollywood-based stakeholders in content and entertainment, digital media, information technology, and major sports leagues with vested interests in telecommunications policy, regulatory and legislative matters. In this role, he advances the company’s positions and analyzes emerging technologies, consumer and industry trends and related telecommunications policy issues.

Simply put, I build ideas that build businesses. A variable Swiss army knife of high impact solutions and resources for internal and external success in the marketplace. 15 years experience leading teams and combining efforts across marketing, media, tech and product development. Guest speaker and curator at numerous conferences and educational institutions. Verticals include CPG, Social Innovation, Entertainment, Fashion, Arts, Electrics, Technology, and multiple hybrids therein. Former stand-up comic with a few jokes still left in the chamber.

Equally a scholar and performer, Mike Sonksen, aka, Mike the Poet, is a 3rd-generation L.A. native. Mike has an Interdisciplinary Master of Arts in English and History and his prose and poetry have been included in programs with the Mayor’s Office, the Los Angeles Public Library’s “Made in LA,” series, Grand Park, the Music Center and the Friends of the Los Angeles River. His most recent book, Poetics of Location was published by Writ Large Press. Mike has taught at Cal State L.A., Southwest College, Woodbury University, View Park Prep. And St. Bernard High School..

Latif was born in California USA thenmoved to England when he was just 8 years old. In England Latif grew up in Windsor Berkshire and studied Business& Financeat Windsor & Maidenhead College. Today Latif has over 20 years technology and business experience the last 10 of which have been focused in IOT and Smart Cities. Latifjoined Cisco in 2004 as Business Development Director for Public Sector in the UK and played a key role in the Smart City / IOT technology strategy for the 2012 London Olympics. After the Olympics Latif and his family moved to San Jose California to help lead the Smart City efforts for Cisco in the America’s. Latif is passionate about technology and its role in changing the way we work live play and learn in our communities, cities and globally.

Joel Arquillos is the Executive Director at 826LA, a non-profit writing and tutoring organization that serves youth ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and supports teachers by helping them get their students excited about writing. With locations in Echo Park, Mar Vista, and inside of Manual Arts Senior High School in South Los Angeles, 826LA has become the largest chapter in the 826 National network serving thousands of under-resourced youth throughout Los Angeles every year. 826LA is also the home of the Time Travel Marts--whimsical storefronts that financially support 826LA's free writing programs.

Prior to relocating to Los Angeles, Joel worked alongside Dave Eggers and Ninive Calegari as Director of National Programs for 826 National. In that role, he oversaw the opening of 826 Boston, developed the evaluative tools being used at all 826 chapters, and, as a result of Dave Eggers’s 2008 Ted Prize wish, he helped create OnceUponaSchool.org, a website that documents and pays tribute to collaborations between individuals and public schools. From 1998 to 2006, Joel taught social studies in the San Francisco Unified School District at Galileo High School, where he coordinated the Advancement Via Individual Determination program and the Academy of Information Technology. Through a collaboration with the Bay Area Writing Project and the National Writing Project, Joel helped pioneer and implement curriculum using blogging and social media for learning in urban classroom settings.

Mark Stefanos is IBM's Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs Manager covering Southern California, Hawaii and Nevada. In this role, he provides local federal government outreach and works to advance IBM’s philanthropic agenda, directed at bolstering STEM education, workforce development and veteran support. Mark is a Southern California native and graduate of UCLA and the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs.

Kasha Stewart is a Director of Product Management for Beachbody On Demand, a pioneer in the fitness streaming platform. In this role, she leads product development projects while focusing on a world class user experience for web and mobile platforms. Kasha has an extensive background in product, content distribution, CMS development, and UX with over a decade of leadership experience.
 
Prior to joining Beachbody On Demand, Kasha provided strategic guidance for FOX and ABC TV networks, specializing in cross-platform development and sponsorship campaigns. During her time at FOX, she successfully delivered multiple product cycles for network show sites and three major redesigns on FOX.com.
 
Originally from South Florida, Kasha has lived in New York, Washington D.C., and London before making Los Angeles her residence.
Kasha earned a BFA in photography and video film production from Howard University where she was an early adapter to the digital arts movement.

Mike Palank is VP of Business Development and Digital at Macro, a new disruptive media company launched by Charles King in January 2015 that is focused on the multicultural market.  At Macro, Mike works on the development and execution of the company's digital strategy as well as the analysis and development of new business opportunities.

Mike has twelve years of diversified experience in finance and media. He began his career as an equity analyst for the $1B Chicago-based hedge fund Coghill Capital Management. Mike then joined the famed William Morris Agency in 2004. At the agency, Mikel worked on the teams representing Oscar winners Forest Whitaker and Jennifer Hudson, multi-hyphenate Tyler Perry and music icon Prince. In 2010, Mike joined Overbrook Entertainment, the production company founded by Will Smith. At Overbrook, he worked on the creation of new business ventures in areas such as film and television, social media, digital technology and consumer products. Since Overbrook, Palank has been a deeply-rooted member of LA’s startup ecosystem, consulting for tech and ecommerce companies like Amplify, Topfloor, Science Media, MemBrain Ventures, BeautyCon and Made With Elastic.

I'm a music-obsessed cultural omnivore who's been working in the advertising and marketing world for over 19 years. The first three years of my professional life were spent lost in the woods as an attorney. I then leveraged a bit of serendipity to re-boot myself as an entry-level Account Planner at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, and have never looked back.

Between then and now, I've held senior and head of department strategic roles at TBWA/Chiat/Day, 180 Amsterdam and Weiden+Kennedy and 72andSunny, working on brands like Nike, Google, Samsung Mobile, adidas, Activision, and Target. I also worked for a number of years client-side at Nike, where I was the Global Brand Manager for the Athletic Training Category, and later the Marketing Director of Nike Mexico.

I'm currently the Managing Director of HUSTLE, an R/GA shop purpose built to service our Beats by Dre and Apple relationships.

My personal drive to learn, grow and make has landed me in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Amsterdam, Portland, Guadalajara and back to LA again.

I'm a voracious reader, slightly annoying football (soccer) fan, and I'm deeply in love with my wife and son, with whom I try to travel as much as possible.

Louis A. Wharton is a Partner of the Firm and Director of the Preccelerator Program. Louis’ practice focuses on advising startup, emerging growth and middle market companies across a spectrum of industries in securities compliance, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.

He counsels clients in the technology, internet/e-commerce, pharmaceutical, apparel and entertainment industries, among others.

Louis serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA), and previously served on the San Fernando Valley Bar Association Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of ProVisors’ Technology Group.

Louis received his A.B., cum laude, from Harvard University and his J.D. from Stanford Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the State of California.

Brandon Barney is an American broadcast journalist and entrepreneur. He is co-host of LA's longest running public radio program covering the digital revolution: Digital Village. His segment, co-produced and hosted with Brittney Gallagher, DigitalCulture.LA, focuses on the history and future of science and technology. Brandon started young at age nine in digital entrepreneurship rotating through a series of apprenticeships: first for an electrical engineer, then as a computer technician at a computer retailer and finally as network administrator at the Barney Law Firm. Mr. Barney is a serial entrepreneur with experience starting, failing and growing brick and mortar and digital businesses. He teaches entrepreneurship and application development in after school and summer school programs with adults of all ages and backgrounds in Venice Beach and throughout California.

David Shadpour, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Native, has diverse experience in all aspects of digital. Shadpour entered the digital ecosystem when he built GroopBuy, an overseas digital agency, from concept and signed 450+ accounts within the first six months. Upon moving to the U.S., Shadpour became the first executive to join TripleLift, pioneering sales efforts during the venture's infancy. TripleLift uses proprietary technology to leverage brands' visual assets to dynamically populate native ad units. Shadpour is an advisor for Channel Factory, an online video distribution and data company and Klickly, a mobile technology that facilitates transactions within social platforms, as well the co-founder of AmplifyBuzz, an emerging media agency.

Oscar Menjivar is a social entrepreneur leading and developing new programs for low-income communities in Los Angeles. Oscar is a dedicated individual and devotes much of this time to bettering his community. Oscar founded URBAN Teens eXploring Technology (URBAN TxT), a nonprofit organization that provides a program to help inner-city youth develop leadership, coding and entrepreneurial skills through the use of technology. URBAN Teens eXploring Technology, a program that is revolutionizing the way teens use and learn technology in the Inner City.
Oscar received his Master’s degree from Pepperdine in Leaning technology and his Bachelor’s in Science in Computer Information Systems.
Oscar’s professional background includes Educational Technology Consultant for The Riordan Foundation (TRF). At TRF he advises school executives on how to implement technology in the classroom. Developing technology curriculum for Greendot, Animo Pat Brown High School. He served as a multimedia arts and leadership consultant for the USC Upward Bound Math/Science Program. During his tenure at USC, he successfully implemented a leadership and digital arts course for youth in Los Angeles. The digital arts course has produced winners for international and national website competitions. Oscar has run a successful consulting business for over four years. He worked as a technology consultant for Small Businesses in the Los Angeles County. As a small business consultant, Oscar guided over 100 small business owners with business planning and budgeting. In 2004, Oscar joined the Long Beach YMCA Youth Institute as Multimedia Technology Program Coordinator. Oscar learned how to start and run a successful social enterprise at the Youth Institute.
Oscar was intrigued by computers and decided to attend a magnet high school for its technology program. However, to his surprise, in 1996 not much technology existed on campus, and the most effective organizations in recruiting young men were gangs. Oscar saw one of his best friends fall victim to gangs and pledged that he would help create a program that can influence youngsters become leaders who would impact their communities in a positive way.

Jay Tucker is a marketer, educator, and technology leader with over 20 years of experience in the technology, academic and entertainment sectors. In his current role, Jay represents the Institute for Communication Technology Management (CTM) – one of the Centers of Excellence at USC's Marshall School of Business – where he is responsible for communicating the Institute's thought leadership and major initiatives to CTM's consortium members and the larger community. Jay also heads CTM's executive education programs and forums.

As a seasoned technology leader, Jay is passionate about helping executives and entrepreneurs embrace disruption, drive innovation, and build powerful solutions. Jay advises a number of start-ups on business strategy, business development, marketing and operations. He speaks at academic and industry events, covering digital technologies and media, technology start-ups and other topics. He has also taught courses on technology management, digital media, and media literacy to professionals at corporations and non-profit organizations.

Jay holds an MBA in Marketing & Media Management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, an MA in Instructional and Learning Technologies from Columbia University, and a dual Bachelors degree from Stanford University in Political Science and African & Afro-American Studies. He resides in Santa Monica, CA.