Speakers
Founder & CEO, Guraride
Director, Michigan Department of Transportation
Chief Business Officer, Spin
Founding General Partner, Trucks Venture Capital
EV Infrastructure Business Development Manager, General Motors
Formula E Driver, Audi Sport
Chief Legal & Policy Officer, Nuro
Partner, Lux Capital
Managing Partner, Hemi Ventures
Director of Mobility Innovation, Elemental Excelerator
Co-founder & CEO, VOI Technology
Co-founder & Managing Partner, Construct Capital
CEO, TuSimple
CEO, Polestar
Director, Robotics Institute & Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University
Director of Product Management, Self-Driving Platform, Lyft
Director of Policy and Advocacy, May Mobility
Co-CEO, Waymo
Vice President, Battery Technology, Panasonic Energy of North America, Panasonic
Head of UX Research & Design, Waymo
Chief Mobility Officer, Michigan Office of Future Mobility and Electrification
VP, Global Government Relations, Cruise
President & CEO, ChargePoint
CTO and CEO, Lucid Motors
Partner, Maniv Mobility
Co-founder & CEO, Argo AI
VP, Partnerships, Wejo
Co-founder & President, Tortoise
Director Of Engineering & Head of Trucking, Waymo
Head of Policy & Government Affairs, Wing
Founder & CEO, Redwood Materials
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer, Ike
Director of Policy, Cities & Transportation, Uber
Corporate VP Operations Science & Advanced Technology, FedEx
Vice President, Strategy, & Policy, Superpedestrian
Tony is Founder & CEO of GuraRide , a Pennsylvania State University graduate with a degree in Industrial & Manufacturing Engineering.
Tony is a serial entrepreneur with vast knowledge in transit system solutions and Green E-Mobility Transport System with focus on Africa. With his knowledge as an Industrial Engineer which borders around system operations, simulations and integration, he decided to venture into green transport with focus on (E-Mobility). Tony remains committed to the sustainability of green transport in Africa in order to help cities reduce carbon emission, pollution, and make getting from point A to B more convenient and affordable for people.
Paul Ajegba
Director, Michigan Department of TransportationPaul C. Ajegba has 30 years of experience with the Michigan Department of Transportation, and was appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer as Director on Jan. 1, 2019. He previously served MDOT for three months as Metro Region Engineer, and before that as University Region Engineer. During his seven years in the University Region, Ajegba oversaw his team’s involvement in the planning, design and construction of several major projects, including the US-23 Flex Route – a project nominated for the America’s Transportation Award, landing among the top 12 national finalists. Other notable projects include the I-94 rehabilitation project in Ann Arbor/Jackson, the I-96/US-23 interchange, and the I-75 freeway project.
Ajegba holds a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from Prairie View A&M University and a Master’s Degree in construction engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Michigan.
Paul is a member of COMTO (Conference of Minority Transportation Officials), and serves on the following boards: AASHTO, ITS America, M-City, University of Michigan College of Engineering, the Engineering Society of Detroit, and the Mackinac Bridge Authority.
As Chief Business Officer, Ben is responsible for overseeing market expansion, public policy, business development, and public affairs at Spin. Prior to Spin, Ben was the founding VP Sales of Vungle, a mobile advertising company recently acquired by Blackstone. Ben began his career in Chicago, where he worked as a political consultant for the Strategy Group after graduating from nearby Northwestern University.
Reilly Brennan is a general partner at Trucks Venture Capital and a lecturer at Stanford.
Jordan Catrine
EV Infrastructure Business Development Manager, General MotorsThe automotive industry’s ever-changing nature has provided General Motors with opportunities to think about business strategies in completely different ways, especially when it comes to an all-electric future. As manager of the company’s Global Electric Vehicle Infrastructure team, Jordan Catrine is focused on ensuring that EV owners have a positive charging experience. That starts with ensuring customers have ample places to charge their vehicles.
Jordan led GM’s collaboration with industry-leading Charge Point Operators to improve the public charging experience and increase the number of chargers deployed in North America. He also is the primary contact for utility companies wanting to work with GM to ensure EV owners are charging at the lowest cost to both the consumer and environment.
Jordan began his career as investment banker advising large corporations across the automotive, utility and financial sectors. He joined General Motors as a Chevrolet business analyst in 2015 before transitioning to the Global Corporate Strategy Team. There he focused on building sound business strategies in urban mobility, connectivity, autonomous and electrification.
Jordan joined General Motors to be part of an industry experiencing constant disruption and change. He is inspired by the knowledge that his work in urban mobility and transit impacts the lives of real people — specifically, how they get from place to place. In his current EV role, that means getting there in an emissions-free way.
Jordan is a graduate of Michigan State University, where he earned his degree in finance. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan.
Lucas di Grassi is a founding member of Formula E, has competed in every race up until now and is the most successful driver on the grid in terms of podium positions. He was Champion in the 2016/2017 season and has never finished a season outside the top three of the drivers’ championship.
In addition to his role as Audi factory driver, Lucas di Grassi is an entrepreneur for innovation, sustainability and electric mobility: As an advisor of Roborace the Brazilian is developing autonomous driving. As co-founder of Zero Summit he is organizing the first ever technology and business meeting for a zero-carbon future in Latin America which is scheduled to debut this November. Since 2018, Lucas di Grassi is the official United Nations Ambassador for Clean Air. In this role he was holding several keynotes, for example during the 2019 UN Climate Week in New York. His most recent project: 2021 marks the start of a world championship for electric scooters.
Lucas di Grassi lives in Monaco together with his wife Bianca and his son Leonardo. When not fighting for trophies in his Audi race car, he enjoys bike rides in the mountains around Monaco, has some fun with an eFoil board on the Mediterranean Sea or takes his family on a trip in his all-new Audi e-tron Sportback.
David Estrada
Chief Legal & Policy Officer, NuroDavid Estrada is Chief Legal and Policy Officer at Nuro, where he oversees the company’s public policy, legal affairs, safety, and communications teams. David has spent his career helping Fortune 500 companies and rapidly growing ventures navigate legal and regulatory challenges while launching and scaling innovative products.
Before joining Nuro, he held executive positions at Bird, Kitty Hawk, and Lyft during their formative and growth stages. David began his journey in emerging transportation policy as the Legal Director for Google X, where he pioneered some of the first state laws and regulations governing autonomous vehicles.
David holds a BA in political science from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a JD from the University of California at Berkeley.
Shahin Farshchi is a partner at Lux Capital.
Melissa Froelich
Melissa Froelich leads federal government affairs for Aurora, the company delivering the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. Before Aurora, Melissa served as Chief Counsel for the Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce. Melissa began her career in Washington, D.C. at the National Retail Federation, and is an alum of the Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University and the University of Miami.
Amy Gu is the founder and managing partner of Hemi Ventures, a VC firm that invests in early-stage companies in emerging technology sectors like AI, biotech, and autonomous vehicles. Amy is a leader in diversifying the male-dominated world of tech entrepreneurship and financing. Prior to her experience as an investor, Gu honed her innovation skills as an executive and adviser at companies including Evernote, Robinhood and Udacity. Fast Company named Amy among its “Most Creative People of 2015”, “40 under 40 of 2018” by Silicon Valley Business Journal and “Rising Stars in VC” by National Venture Capital Association. She holds an MBA from Stanford.
Danielle Harris
Director of Mobility Innovation, Elemental ExceleratorDanielle J. Harris is the Director of Innovation for Mobility at Elemental Excelerator, where she works with portfolio companies, partners, and cities to catalyze collaboration and bring more sustainable, equitable mobility solutions to market. As a thought leader in new mobility with 10 years of experience in transit planning, street design and transportation policy, Danielle provides a systems approach to help both startups and incumbents strategize and thrive within the ever-evolving mobility revolution.
Prior to Elemental Excelerator, Danielle was the Innovation Strategist for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s (SFMTA) Office of Innovation, where she integrated her background in land use and transportation planning to create dynamic teams with both city departments and tech companies.
Fredrik Hjelm co-founded Voi Technology in 2018 with a vision of improving the way people move around congested urban centres by offering fleets of electric scooters as a cleaner, affordable and exhilarating alternative to cars. Prior to Voi, Fredrik founded Guestit, the Nordics’ most successful Airbnb management company, and worked in business development for Avito.ru, Russia’s leading – and the world’s third largest – classified advertising site.
Fredrik’s entrepreneurial career began at 12 years of age when he ran a number of commercial projects including forestry work (he grew up in rural Sweden), events and website sales.
After graduating from high school, he attended the Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, within the intelligence branch of Sweden’s special forces, where he studied Russian and linguistics. He served a total of four years in Moscow in the Defence Attache Office, where he worked as an interpreter and analyst, covering Russia as well as Kazakhstan and Belarus. He went on to study business and economics at the Stockholm School of Economics.
Rachel Holt
Co-founder & Managing Partner, Construct CapitalRachel Holt is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Construct Capital, an early stage focused venture firm that invests in extraordinary founders who are transforming the most foundational industries of our economy. Sectors such as manufacturing and supply chain to logistics and transportation drive half our economy’s GDP yet lack advanced technology and are failing to meet customer expectations.
Before Construct, Rachel spent nearly 8.5 years at Uber and was a long time member of the company’s Executive Leadership Team. Rachel began as one of the company’s first 30 employees, and her role quickly expanded to running the US & Canada Rides business in addition to Global Marketing and Brand, and Customer Support, which represented nearly half of Uber’s bookings, and just under half of the team. Most recently, Rachel led the company’s New Mobility organization, which includes the eBike and eScooter businesses as well as running Uber’s Incubator which funds and develops new products and services on Uber platform.
Rachel began her career at Bain & Company, advising companies in the private equity, financial services and healthcare industries. She graduated magna cum laude from Amherst College and earned her MBA from Stanford University, where she was an Arjay Miller Scholar. She was ranked #9 on Fortune’s 40 under 40 and was named by Fast Company as One of the Most Creative People in Business.
Dr. Xiaodi Hou co-founded TuSimple in San Diego, California in 2015 after earning a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology. Xiaodi serves as the CEO of TuSimple and is a world-renowned expert in AI and machine learning and holds more than 30 patents in the field of autonomous vehicles. In the field of computer vision, Xiaodi has developed leading theories in computational models for visual saliency. Xiaodi also serves as a member of the Forbes technology council and as the reviewer of more than ten major computer vision journals and conferences.
Thomas Ingenlath
CEO, PolestarSince the completion of design studies at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim and the Royal College of Art in London, Thomas has had more than 20 years of experience in the automotive industry. He has worked in top design positions at Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda. In 2006, he was appointed as the Director for Design at the Volkswagen Design Centre in Potsdam, designing for all brands of the Volkswagen Group. Thomas joined Volvo Car Corporation on July 1, 2012 as Senior Vice President of Design and led the turnaround of the brand and product portfolio. Thomas Ingenlath was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Polestar on June 17, 2017; he also holds the dual-role of Chief Design Officer for the Volvo Car Group.
Matthew Johnson-Roberson
Director, Robotics Institute & Professor, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon UniversityMatthew Johnson-Roberson is the director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute and a professor in the School of Computer Science. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney in 2010. He has held prior postdoctoral appointments with the Centre for Autonomous Systems (CAS) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm and the Australian Centre for Field Robotics at the University of Sydney. He co-founded Refraction AI, a last-mile autonomous vehicle delivery company. He has worked in robotic perception since the first DARPA grand challenges in the early 2000s, and his group focuses on enabling robots to better see and understand their environment.
Ali Kashani, Ph.D.
Ali Kashani is an engineer, tinkerer and serial entrepreneur. He explores the intersection of design and AI to create everyday solutions for everyday problems.
Jody Kelman
Director of Product Management, Self-Driving Platform, LyftJody Kelman leads the self-driving platform team at Lyft, where she runs products for self-driving vehicle integration and deployment. Prior to Lyft, Jody worked at McKinsey & Company, focusing on public-private partnerships and technology-driven infrastructure investments. In 2008, she served on President Obama’s Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform transition team.
Jody graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and holds a master’s degree from the University of Sydney, where she was a Fulbright Scholar. Jody currently serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and is a mentor at Comet Transportation Labs.
Tara Lanigan
Director of Policy and Advocacy, May MobilityTara Lanigan is the Director of Policy and Advocacy at May Mobility, a Michigan-based startup that is transforming cities using self-driving shuttles. May Mobility uses its industry-leading technology to create transportation systems that have launched in four cities, helping to create a safer, greener, and more accessible world. Tara began her tenure at May on the Customer Success team, helping lead AV shuttle launches in Ohio, Michigan, and Rhode Island. She then built a pipeline for growth and strong public-private partnerships as Director of Business Development. Tara is passionate about equitable mobility, accessibility, and exploring Michigan. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan.
Tekedra Mawakana
Co-CEO, WaymoTekedra N. Mawakana is the co-CEO of Waymo, an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they’re going. As co-CEO, Tekedra is responsible for overall company strategy, with her primary focus on ensuring Waymo’s transformational technology — the Waymo Driver — is commercialized and widely adopted. Tekedra has more than two decades of experience advising consumer technology companies on how to advance their business interests around the world and is an expert in navigating complex high-profile issues. She began her career working with regulated technology and telecom industries, and leading global technology transactions. She has served as a trusted advisor to CEOs managing growth and risk-mitigation strategies. Tekedra previously served as COO of Waymo. Prior to Waymo, Tekedra led global teams across five continents at eBay, Yahoo, AOL and Startec. She started her career at the DC-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP. Tekedra currently serves on the Board of Directors for Intuit, and on the Advisory Council for Boom Technology. She is a social impact-focused angel investor, and an Advisor and LP with the Operator Collective. She has been recognized by Automotive News in 2020 as among the 100 Leading Women in the North American Auto Industry, “Top 20 in 2020 Influential Women in Mobility” by Vulog, and as one of the most influential black leaders in corporate America by Savoy magazine in 2020 and 2019. She was named a Visionary Leader by ALM and InsideCounsel in 2016, and a Tech Titan by Washingtonian magazine in 2015. Tekedra received her JD from Columbia Law School and her BA with honors from Trinity College.
Celina Mikolajczak
Vice President, Battery Technology, Panasonic Energy of North America, PanasonicCelina Mikolajczak is the vice president of battery technology for Panasonic Energy of North America. In this role, Celina leads a team of more than 200 passionate engineers, analysts and other technical staff who work to continuously improve lithium-ion cell manufacturing and to bring the latest cell technologies to mass production for Tesla Motors, Inc. at the Gigafactory facility in Sparks, Nevada.
Prior to joining Panasonic in 2019, she served as director of engineering focused on battery development for rideshare vehicles at Uber Technologies. There, she worked to develop battery packs for bicycles, scooters and aircraft. Before that, Celina worked at Tesla Motors as the senior manager for cell quality and materials engineering, helping to develop the battery cells and packs for Tesla’s Model S, Model X, Model 3, and Roadster Refresh. From 1999 to 2012 Celina developed a technical consulting practice at Exponent focusing on lithium-ion cell and battery safety and quality. She helped develop many safety and quality concepts that were initially applicable to consumer electronics battery packs but are now standard considerations for electric vehicle battery packs. Celina continues to be an active participant in development of fire codes and standards related to EVs, ESS, and battery production facilities.
With more than 20 years of experience, Celina is a recognized leader in the lithium-ion industry. Her technological expertise, engineering background and leadership skills have been instrumental in ushering in milestones in battery technology production and efficiency. Celina is a member of the National Fire Protection Association and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Detlev von Platen
Detlev von Platen was born in France in 1964 and grew up in Orléans near Paris. Following his Baccalauréat, he studied Business Administration and Business Management at the universities of Tours and Poitiers. After graduating, he joined BMW France in 1988 as Marketing Manager for the motorcycle division before moving to BMW AG in Munich in 1991, where he held various leading positions in sales and marketing.
In 1997, von Platen came to Porsche AG. He first took over management of the Porsche brand in France; from 1999 as President and CEO of Porsche France. In April 2008, he was appointed President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America in the USA, where his achievements included opening “One Porsche Drive,” the combined North America headquarters and Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta. Since October 2015, Detlev von Platen has been Member of the Executive Board of Porsche AG for Sales and Marketing in Stuttgart.
Ryan Powell is the Head of UX Research & Design at Waymo, a self-driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around.
At Waymo, Ryan oversees a talented group of researchers and designers taking a human-centered approach to designing the world’s first self-driving ride-hailing service. He is an accomplished design leader with deep experience in consumer products, and his passion for people, design, and the belief that technology can improve everyday life has been the driving force of his career.
Ryan established Waymo’s UX design principles (transparency, freedom, and consistency), which guide the work his team does to build trust with riders through various visual and sound elements throughout their journey in a Waymo self-driving car. Prior to Waymo, Ryan led teams at Google, Samsung, Xbox, and Motorola. He is especially adept at helping organizations figure out how to create simple, delightful and differentiated experiences that appeal to consumers across a variety of global markets. Ryan earned a Master of Design from the IIT Institute of Design and a BS in Product Marketing from The Ohio State University.
Trevor Pawl
Chief Mobility Officer, Michigan Office of Future Mobility and ElectrificationTrevor Pawl is the Chief Mobility Officer for the State of Michigan, and leads the Michigan’s Office of Future Mobility and Electrification. In this position, Pawl is responsible for working across state government, academia and private industry to grow Michigan’s mobility ecosystem through strategic policy recommendations and new support services for companies focused on the future of transportation. Prior to this position, Pawl served as the Senior Vice President of Business Innovation at the MEDC, where he led the official state programs for mobility (PlanetM), supply chain assistance (Pure Michigan Business Connect), export assistance (Michigan International Trade program) and entrepreneurial assistance (Michigan Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program). Before joining the MEDC, Pawl brought with him experience in supply chain matchmaking, having led the creation of the economic development program, Connection Point, at the Detroit Regional Chamber, which later became Pure Michigan Business Connect. Trevor has been named Crain’s Detroit Business’s “40 Under 40” and “50 Names to Know in Government”. He’s also been named Development Counsellors International’s “40 Under 40 Rising Stars of Economic Development” and the Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s “Government Advocate of the Year”. Pawl holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Marketing from Grand Valley State University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Detroit Mercy.
Prashanthi Raman has nearly 15 years of experience navigating challenging, highly charged, and complex political environments. As the Vice President of Global Government affairs for Cruise, an all-electric, autonomous vehicle company, she oversees public policy and regulatory issues for the company worldwide. Prior to Cruise, Prashanthi served as Head of State and Local Government Relations at Lyft, where she played a pivotal role in creating and expanding the ridesharing industry across North America. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Chicago-Kent College of Law and received her Masters in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Pasquale Romano
President & CEO, ChargePointPasquale Romano is President and Chief Executive Officer of ChargePoint and a member of the company’s board of directors. He currently sits on the board of the YMCA of Silicon Valley. Pasquale joined ChargePoint in February of 2011, bringing more than 30 years of technology industry leadership and executive management experience to the company. He co-founded 2Wire which was acquired by Pace plc for $475M in 2010.
Previously, Pasquale held multiple positions in marketing and engineering at Polycom. In 1989, he co-founded Fluent, Inc., a digital video networking company and served as Chief Architect until it was sold to Novell Corporation in 1993. Pasquale holds an undergraduate degree in computer science from Harvard University and received his M.S. from MIT.
Peter Rawlinson
CTO and CEO, Lucid MotorsPeter Rawlinson is the Chief Technology Officer and VP of Lucid. He leads the outstanding team developing Lucid’s premium electric vehicle. Peter has over 30 years of vehicle engineering experience and is best known for developing the Tesla Model S.
Formerly Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla and Chief Engineer of the Model S, Peter led the engineering of the Model S from clean-sheet to production readiness while simultaneously building a world class engineering team. Peter conceived of and implemented an innovative product development methodology enabling this process to occur in just three years. As a hands-on engineer, he also holds a significant proportion of the Model S vehicle patents.
Prior to Tesla, Peter was Head of Vehicle Engineering at Corus Automotive, Chief Engineer at Lotus Cars, and Principal Engineer at Jaguar Cars. In these roles, Peter developed key innovations for Alcoa, Aston Martin, BMW, Daimler, Ford, GM, Audi, Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lockheed Martin, and Prodrive.
Peter holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London.
Olaf Sakkers
Partner, Maniv MobilityOlaf is a founding partner at Maniv Mobility, a global fund investing in the leading mobility startups.
Bryan Salesky
Co-founder & CEO, Argo AIBryan is passionate about incorporating promising robotics technology into products and systems that will improve safety and productivity while enhancing people’s lives. While at Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), Bryan managed a portfolio of the center’s largest commercial programs, including autonomous mining trucks for Caterpillar. In 2007, Bryan led software engineering for Tartan Racing, Carnegie Mellon’s winning entry in the DARPA Urban Challenge.
Bryan departed NREC and joined the Google self-driving car team in 2011 to continue the push toward making self-driving cars a reality. While at Google, Bryan was responsible for the development and manufacture of their hardware portfolio, which included self-driving sensors, computers and several vehicle development programs. Bryan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in 2002.
Bret Scott
VP, Partnerships, WejoBret uses more than three decades of knowledge in the automotive industry to bring partnerships between Wejo and OEM’s to life. With technical and commercial experience from GM, VW and FCA, he is equally comfortable discussing trends in the mobility sector as he is in uncovering the mutual benefits of working together on a project. Born and raised in Pontiac Michigan, Bret is the product of several generations of car enthusiasts and can often be found under one of his classic cars. His knowledge of municipal operations has come from his service as City Commissioner in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan, where he now lives. Bret holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and an MBA specializing in Globalization from Lawrence Technological University.
Dmitry Shevelenko is Co-Founder & President of Tortoise, an automated vehicle repositioning service for micromobility operators. Before starting Tortoise Dmitry was an adviser to leading mobility and future of work startups — Skip, SpotHero,Cargo, Superpedestrian, Remix, Payfare, and Codi.
Prior to his advisory work, he took a 4-year ride at Uber as Director of Business Development. At Uber he initiated the company’s expansion into new mobility, including leadingthe JUMP partnership/ acquisition and Uber Transit.
Dmitry spent time atFacebook, LinkedIn, and Pulse News earlier in his career. He is a graduate of Columbia University and lives in San Francisco with wife and 2 daughters.
Boris Sofman is an Engineering Director leading trucking at Waymo, a self-driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around. Boris leads a team that builds on Waymo’s technical foundations and experience to pursue the tremendous opportunities in long-haul trucking.
Prior to Waymo, Boris was the co-founder and CEO of Anki where he and the team sought to bring technologies from robotics and AI into mass-market consumer products. Anki developed various entertainment products and shipped over 3.5 million robots and devices around the world. Previously, he also worked on off-road autonomous vehicles and ways to leverage machine learning approach to improve navigational capabilities in real-time.
Boris holds a B.S. in Computer Science and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University.
Margaret Stewart Nagle
Head of Policy & Government Affairs, WingMargaret is the Head of Policy, Regulatory and Community Affairs at Wing where she leverages extensive private sector and government experience to pioneer new aviation use cases and improve opportunities for communities around the world.
Prior to her time at Wing, Margaret was the Head of Americas Government Affairs at X: the Moonshot Factory and Yahoo! where she set public policy priorities and worked to advance and protect their business interests with governments.
Margaret also served as the Assistant to the Vice President for Legislative Affairs where she was the Vice President’s top liaison to Congress and as the Director of Legislative Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget, where she led the Administration’s legislative efforts on budget and appropriation bills.
Prior to founding Redwood, JB Co-founded Tesla and spent fifteen years as Chief Technology Officer where he built one of the best engineering teams in the world and, among many topics, led cell design, supply chain and the first Gigafactory concept through the production ramp of the Model 3. JB had a direct role in both R&D, team building and operational expansion from prototype cars through to mass production and GWh-scale.
Nancy Sun
Co-Founder & Chief Engineer, IkeNancy Sun is the Co-Founder and Chief Engineer of Ike, an automated trucking startup building cutting-edge automation technology to help improve the trucking industry in the safest way possible.
Prior to founding Ike, Nancy was the Engineering Lead for the self-driving truck program at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, which she joined via the Otto acquisition in 2016. Nancy’s deep expertise in systems engineering and transportation extends beyond Uber to Apple, where she was an Engineering Manager for their Special Projects Group, and electric motorcycle startup Mission Motors, where she was the VP of Advanced Development.
Nancy has bachelors and masters degrees in Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and it was during her years at MIT that she first developed a love of robotics.
Shin-pei Tsay is Director of Policy for Cities and Transportation in Uber’s Central Policy team. Shin-pei comes from a diverse background, with a focus on transforming the built environment so that it is more accessible, equitable, and sustainable around the globe. In her current role at Uber, she leads a team of issues experts that contribute to creating a sustainable, multi-modal urban future.
Prior to joining Uber’s team, she founded Make Public, a social impact analysis firm that specializes in the public realm. Shin-pei was also the deputy executive director of TransitCenter, a national foundation focused on improving urban transportation. As the second person hired, she contributed to growing the organization, led initiatives in strategy, research, and program development, managed transportation and technology program activities, and provided program, operational, and staff oversight.
Shin-pei founded and directed the Cities and Transportation Program under the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where she explored demand-side policies to mitigate climate change and led a project with Senator Bill Bradley and Secretary Tom Ridge to reform and fund the federal transportation program.
For the last four years, Shin-pei served as a Commissioner for the City of New York Public Design Commission. She is on the Board of the national non-profit In Our Backyard. She received a BA with distinction from Cornell University and an MSc in City, Space, and Society from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Rebecca Yeung
Corporate VP Operations Science & Advanced Technology, FedExRebecca Yeung leads the Operations Science and Advanced Technology (OSAT) department at FedEx Corporation. Her primary responsibilities are to scale up robotics and automation, establish a robust autonomous vehicle portfolio, and create business values in safety, efficiency, service, and sustainability. She is passionate about technology and has spent more than a decade fully absorbing the latest and greatest knowledge to build deep expertise in robotics, AV, EV, and digital platform economy. She is fully invested in transportation and logistics and has spent more than two decades learning everyaspect of FedEx business and network operations. These rare hybrid skills are a powerful combination, enabling her to be well-versed both in technology, andhow technology translates into business impact. Rebecca holds an MBA from the University of Maryland–College Park and has a bachelor’s degree from Fudan University in China. She started her career at FedEx as an MBA Intern in 1998. Today, Rebecca is a seasoned executive and a member of the FedEx Strategic Management Committee, a select group of the company’s top leadership, which sets the strategic direction for the enterprise.
Avra van der Zee is an innovation-minded leader, change agent, and sustainability advocate who advises social impact companies across all stages of growth. She was Chief Strategy Officer and GC of JUMP, leading the mobility company’s growth from seed stage to strategic acquisition by Uber. Following the sale, she ran global market entry for Uber’s New Mobility division, successfully launching electric bikes and scooters in dozens of markets. Avra recently joined Superpedestrian as the VP of Strategy and Policy where she’ll oversee expansion and partnerships, bringing the company’s sustainable and intelligent electric vehicles to city streets across the globe.
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