Arati Prabhakar, Ph.D., is Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. In this capacity, Prabhakar is the President’s Chief Advisor for Science and Technology, a member of the President’s Cabinet, and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

An engineer and applied physicist with broad management and leadership experience, Prabhakar has led two different federal R&D agencies and worked with startups, large companies, universities, government labs, and nonprofits across a wide variety of sectors to create new solutions for critical challenges. She served as director of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, from 2012 to 2017. In 1993, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), becoming the first woman to lead the agency. Between these federal leadership roles, Prabhakar spent 15 years in Silicon Valley as a company executive and as a venture capitalist. In 2019, she founded Actuate, a nonprofit organization to develop new approaches to innovation for society’s essential challenges.

Prabhakar’s family immigrated from India to the United States when she was three years old, moving first to Chicago and then Lubbock, Texas, where she went on to earn an electrical engineering degree from Texas Tech University. She also earned an M.S. in electrical engineering and a Ph.D. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology. She started her career in the legislative branch as a Congressional Fellow at the Office of Technology Assessment.

She is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University.

Congressman French Hill, a ninth generation Arkansan, has represented Arkansas's Second Congressional District since 2015. As the founder and former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Delta Trust & Banking Corp., Rep. Hill brings to Congress his considerable knowledge in the financial services industry and real world experience to apply to real world issues – both domestic and international. At the start of the 118th Congress, he was named Chairman of the newly formed Digital Assets Subcommittee and the Vice Chairman of the full House Financial Services Committee, and is a regular on Squawk Box, Bloomberg, and Fox News, among others. He is also a Co-Chair of the Committee’s AI Working Group and was appointed to the AI Task Force in the House by Speaker Johnson earlier this year. Rep. Hill also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where he is the Vice Chairman of the subcommittee that oversees U.S. involvement in international organizations such as the United Nations, and on the House Permanent Select Committee for Intelligence. A born public servant, his prior work in Washington, D.C., first as U.S. Senate staff to the late Sen. John Tower of Texas and later in the Treasury Department and the White House for President George H.W. Bush, informs his work on key issues from trade to entrepreneurial and corporate management to the defense of our borders and safety of our troops and allies abroad.

Dr. Laurie Locascio is currently the Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and the director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Locascio most recently served as vice president for research at the University of Maryland College Park and University of Maryland Baltimore.  She also served as a professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at the A. James Clark School of Engineering with a secondary appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine.

Before joining the University of Maryland, Locascio worked at NIST for 31 years, rising from a research biomedical engineer to eventually leading the agency’s Material Measurement Laboratory. She also served as the acting associate director for laboratory programs, the No. 2 position at NIST, providing direction and operational guidance for NIST’s lab research programs.

As a researcher, she has published 115 scientific papers and has received 12 patents in the fields of bioengineering and analytical chemistry. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.  Dr. Locascio was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

The Honorable Sethuraman Panchanathan is a computer scientist and engineer and the 15th director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). Panchanathan was nominated to this position by the President of the United States in 2019, and subsequently, unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 18, 2020. NSF is a $9.06 billion independent federal agency and the only government agency charged with advancing all fields of scientific discovery, technological innovation and STEM education.

Panchanathan is a leader in science, engineering and education with more than three decades of experience. He has a distinguished career in both higher education and government, where he has designed and built knowledge enterprises, which advance research innovation, strategic partnerships, entrepreneurship, global development and economic growth.

As director, Panchanathan maintains leadership roles on several key interagency councils and committees, including as co-chair of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is a member of the White House CHIPS Implementation Steering Council and the White House Gender Policy Council. He is also chair of the Interagency Arctic Research Policy Committee and co-vice chair of the Council for Inclusive Innovation.

Panchanathan previously served as the executive vice president of the Arizona State University (ASU) Knowledge Enterprise, where he was also chief research and innovation officer. He was also the founder and director of the Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing at ASU. Under his leadership, ASU increased research performance fivefold, earning recognition as the fastest growing and most innovative research university in the U.S.

Prior to joining NSF, Panchanathan was appointed by the President to serve on the National Science Board where he was a chair of the Committee on Strategy and a member of the External Engagement and National Science and Engineering Policy committees. Additionally, he was chair of the Council on Research of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and co-chair of the Extreme Innovation Taskforce of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils. Arizona's governor appointed Panchanathan as senior advisor for science and technology in 2018. He was the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Multimedia Magazine and editor and associate editor of several international journals.

Panchanathan's scientific contributions have advanced the areas of human-centered multimedia computing, haptic user interfaces and ubiquitous computing technologies for enhancing the quality of life for individuals with different abilities; machine learning for multimedia applications; and media processor designs. He has published close to 500 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings, and has mentored more than 150 graduate students, postdocs, research engineers and research scientists, many who now occupy leading positions in academia and industry.

For his scientific contributions, Panchanathan has received numerous awards, including Honorary Doctorates from prestigious universities, Distinguished Alumnus Awards, the Governor’s Innovator of the Year for Academia Award, the Washington Academy of Sciences Distinguished Career Award and the IEEE-USA Public Service Award.

Panchanathan is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, where he also served as vice president for strategic initiatives. He is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Canadian Academy of Engineering, the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Society of Optical Engineering.

Panchanathan is married to Sarada "Soumya" Panchanathan, an academic pediatrician and informatician, who has taught medical students, pediatric residents and informatics fellows. They have two adult children, Amritha and Roshan.     

Durga Malladi is Senior Vice President and General Manager, Technology Planning & Edge Solutions, at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. He joined as a Senior Engineer in 1998.

Since 2023, he has been responsible for technology product management and roadmap planning across all businesses in Qualcomm Technologies. This spans artificial intelligence (hardware, software, tools), connectivity (5G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, satellite communications, positioning), processors (CPU, GPU, NPU), multimedia (computer vision, audio, video, sensors), central software, developer ecosystem, and data management and analytics platforms. In addition, he is responsible for Qualcomm’s cellular infrastructure business.

In prior roles, Durga led wireless research in 5G and 4G LTE/LTE-Advanced, and drove the 5G Modem-RF technology roadmap and mobile broadband business in Qualcomm.

Durga is a senior member of IEEE and holds 581 U.S. patents. He is a recipient of Qualcomm’s IP Excellence Award, Qualcomm Distinguished Contributor Award for Project Leadership, Qualcomm Upendra Patel Achievement Awards for Outstanding Contributions, and Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He is a member of the AI Governance Alliance Steering Committee at the World Economic Forum.

Durga holds a B.Tech (’93) from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, M.S (’95) and Ph.D. (’98) from UCLA, and an AI Graduate Certificate from Stanford (’23). His Ph.D. dissertation is on adaptive estimation and filtering techniques, and his research interests include artificial intelligence, signal processing, communication theory, and quantum computing.

Michael Kennedy is Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Intuit, the global technology platform that helps individuals achieve financial confidence and powers prosperity with TurboTax, Credit Karma, Mint, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp. He joined Intuit in early 2023 and leads a global team focusing on public policy, government relations, public relations, and grassroots advocacy on issues around small business, financial technology, artificial intelligence, tax, data protection, and environmental and social justice.

Michael is also currently a member of the political science faculty at Howard University, teaching an undergraduate seminar on international corporate government affairs.

Previously, Mr. Kennedy served as Senior Vice President for Global Government Relations and Public Policy at VMware, the multi-cloud software company (2014-2023), focusing on issues including cybersecurity, cloud architecture, 5G, edge computing, privacy, tax and trade, sustainability, and social justice. Michael was a member of VMware’s Senior Leadership Team, comprising of VMware’s 40 most senior executives and engineers responsible for the strategic direction of the company.

Prior to VMware, Mr. Kennedy was Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah (2010-2014), Vice President for Federal and State Relations at Utah State University (2007- 2010), and as a multi-client lobbyist at Lee & Smith, PC (2001-2007). While at USU, he also founded the Institute of Government and Politics and taught an upper-level political science course on lobbying the state and federal government. Before coming to Washington, Mr. Kennedy served as Chief Operating Officer of Nutribution, Inc., a Los Angeles-based nutraceutical company (2000-2001), and as an Associate at the Boston Consulting Group (1999-2000).

Mr. Kennedy served on the Board of Directors of MicroPact, Inc., a platform software company providing licensed and SaaS case management and business process solutions for governments and enterprises (2017-2019); MicroPact was acquired by Tyler Technologies, Inc. in 2019. Mr. Kennedy currently serves as Chairman of the Finance Committee and on the Executive Committee of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) and is a member of the Economic Club of Washington, the Carlton Club, World 50, and the Business Government Relations Council (BGRC).

Mr. Kennedy is a graduate of Harvard University with an A.B. cum laude in Government and lives with his family in McLean, Virginia

Growing up, Shirley Boubert-Rumble was inspired by her father who was a bricklayer. He instilled in her a passion for the built environment, which led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering and a master’s degree in real estate development. While managing high-impact projects, she had the goal to one day create something of her own that would focus on broadening opportunities in disadvantaged communities. With Usource Construction, she did just that.

With over 25 years of experience in community development, Boubert-Rumble is the owner of Usource Construction–a mission-oriented, female and minority-owned, and CBE-certified construction company. Usource Construction operates with nearly 50 employees, promoting core values of transparency, integrity, and professionalism. The company prides itself on a people-first, full-service, and collaborative business model–providing its clients with real estate development consulting, project management, and design-build services.

As a small business, they’ve faced their fair share of challenges–from access to capital to establishing a strong workforce that fits their culture. They’ve taken these obstacles in stride and remain strong in their business and brand. Being a determined self-starter, Boubert-Rumble advises anyone considering starting their own business to “understand the unique aspects of the service you bring.” She continues by stating: “Be committed to optimizing the process, never stop learning, and take the nos’ as if they are yes’s.” This mindset has driven Boubert-Rumble and Usource Construction to continue providing value to their clients and the company as a whole, including supporting and investing in their employees.

Boubert-Rumble was inspired to join the DC Chamber of Commerce by the desire to make connections with like-minded people and their businesses. “We are committed to the task of building our brand,” explained Boubert-Rumble, “and raising the bar to ensure the quality of our services from conception to completion of the project is professional and mission-oriented.” She continued by adding, “The foundation that the DC Chamber of Commerce has built allows us to stand on it and benefit from it through real opportunities.”

Kate leads external affairs and governance, including internal governance and government relations and policy, for Google’s quantum computing team, Google Quantum AI. Previously, she led global public policy for emerging technologies at Google. Before Google, she was a AAAS Fellow and Division Chief in the US Department of State’s Bureau for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Cambridge where she was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Richmond.