Speakers

Diane Sturgeon is the District Director for the US Small Business Administration’s Maine District Office.  She has held that position since April of 2021. She joined the SBA in April of 2012 as a Lender Relations Specialist and prior to becoming District Director, Diane was Deputy District Director of the Maine District Office for more than 8 years.  She began her career as a teacher and coach before moving into the banking world where she has more than 15 years’ experience with both national and regional community banks.

Diane was born and raised in Maine and graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in Secondary Education.  She also completed the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders Fundamentals Diploma Program and participated in the Northern New England School of Banking.  Diane lives in Midcoast Maine and in her spare time volunteers with PAWS Animal Adoption Center in Camden, ME.

Elek Miller is an attorney at Drummond Woodsum, specializing in privacy, security, technology, and intellectual property law. He advises a broad range of clients, including businesses, schools, municipalities, and non-profit organizations, on complex legal matters related to intellectual property, data privacy, cybersecurity, and technology agreements. Elek has extensive experience in registering and protecting trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property assets, and helps businesses ensure compliance with state and federal data privacy and security laws. He also guides the development of data security and privacy programs and negotiates complex privacy-related technology agreements. In addition to his technology and IP work, Elek regularly advises employers on employment law issues, including wage and hour matters, employee leave, and employment agreements. He represents clients in both state and federal courts, as well as before regulatory agencies. Elek is a frequent speaker at conferences and events on topics related to IP, privacy, and technology law.

Dr. Brien Walton is the CEO of Acadia Capital Management, L3C, a strategic advisory firm specializing in helping small businesses secure funding with a focus on driving economic growth in distressed communities. He is also the chair of the Board of Directors for the Maine Venture Fund, Maine's premier social impact venture capital fund, where he plays a pivotal role in advancing funding opportunities for startups and small businesses across the state. Additionally, Dr. Walton serves as the director of the Richard E. Dyke Center for Family Business at Husson University, where he has pioneered an innovation incubation ecosystem that connects academia, entrepreneurs, and diverse industries.

Dr. Walton’s professional experience spans multiple sectors, including as an executive coach, software engineer, corporate tax attorney, real estate developer, and commercial banker. He has developed and managed venture capital funds and technology incubators at prestigious universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, where he established an award-winning innovation hub in downtown Philadelphia.

With a strong track record of creating and nurturing growth opportunities for small businesses, Dr. Walton brings a wealth of experience in funding and strategic development. His commitment to supporting entrepreneurs is evident in his leadership at the Maine Venture Fund, where he helps guide the state’s most promising ventures.

Dr. Walton holds multiple graduate degrees, including a Doctor of Education in Organizational Learning Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, with a concentration in Leadership Development from the Wharton School of Business. He also earned a Juris Doctorate in Law from the University of D.C., a Master of Science in Education in Workforce Development from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Arts in Educational Technologies from Harvard University, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University.

Zach Newell came to Maine for a position as dean of Libraries and Learning at the University of Southern Maine in September 2022.  He has been in higher education for the past 20 years.  In that span he has worked as a full-time instructor of art history, as a humanities librarian, a department chair and more recently as both a director/dean. Zach was most recently working as the Dean of Library Services at Eastern Illinois from 2018 to 2022.  Zach has traveled extensively, having grown up in the Middle East before settling in Massachusetts. Zach spent time as a Fulbright scholar in 2012 working at the library of Alexandria, Egypt during the Arab Spring. Zach has degrees in philosophy, art history and library science. Zach recently completed a dissertation that explored the place of creative pedagogy in information literacy. It is through the lens of information literacy that Zach recently co-chaired an AI Task Force and has been involved in shaping policy around AI.

Jonathan Poole is the Director of Strategic Growth at the Finance Authority of Maine (FAME), focused on economic development finance and capital access strategies for Maine. Before joining FAME, Jonathan served as the Large Business Development Manager at the Department of Economic and Community Development. Prior to joining the economic development ecosystem, he served as a Naval Officer around the world. Jonathan lives in Brunswick with his wife, Sarah, and two young children.

In January 2013, Angus King was sworn in as Maine’s first Independent United States Senator, filling the same seat once held by storied Maine leaders Edmund Muskie, George Mitchell, and Olympia Snowe.

A strong believer in the need for greater bipartisan dialogue and relationship building, Senator King is proud to join the long line of thoughtful, independent leaders from the State of Maine, and he works hard every day to bring Republicans and Democrats together to find common-sense solutions for Maine and America. He is a proven consensus-builder who “calls ‘em like he sees ‘em”, putting civility and respect ahead of political ideology.

Senator King is a member of the Armed Services Committee, the Select Committee on Intelligence, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. He has made it a priority not to miss Committee hearings, earning him praise from his colleagues and the reputation as a workhorse in the Senate. The late Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), who served as Armed Services Chairman, once called Senator King “one of the most serious and hard-working members” of the Committee.

In his time in the Senate, Senator King has worked to strengthen America’s national security, conducted critical oversight of the nation’s Intelligence Community, supported common-sense budget priorities that promote prosperity and reduce the national debt, fought the national opioid and heroin epidemic, coordinated efforts to revitalize Maine’s forest economy, advocated for policies that contribute to cleaner, cheaper energy and mitigate climate change, railed against the corrosive effect of unchecked money in politics, fought to improve access to health care, worked to strengthen the government’s support of veterans, and promoted increased access to critical community resources like rural broadband.

Senator King has achieved significant legislative victories since taking office. He led efforts to draft and pass the Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013, which averted drastic increases in student loan interest rates, saved students across the country more than $50 billion in interest payments, and set the program on a path to long-term financial stability. In 2018, Senator King successfully included a number of provisions in the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, legislation focused on improving the federal government’s response to the opioid epidemic. The legislation, which passed overwhelmingly, included language backed by Senator King to make medication-assisted treatment more readily available and adjust federal restrictions to allow residential treatment facilities to increase treatment capacity. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, he introduced the Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act to improve the Paycheck Protection Program and provide additional flexibility for business owners who’ve received PPP loans.

A leading voice on the importance of improving America’s cybersecurity, Senator King was selected by Congressional leadership to co-chair the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, a bipartisan effort established by Congress to review the threats facing America in cyberspace and develop a forward looking plan on how to defend ourselves against cyber threats. The commission, which consisted of bipartisan members of Congress, top Executive Branch officials, and nonpartisan industry leaders, laid out more than 75 recommendations to improve the cybersecurity of U.S. critical infrastructure and prepare the nation for future challenges in an increasingly digital world.

In fact, it is in small working groups like this that Senator King has focused much of his work. Senator King is committed to working across the aisle in small, bipartisan working groups that bridge partisan divides to address the challenges that face the nation. He co-founded the Former Governors Caucus, which brings together the Senate’s former Governors to chart pragmatic approaches to solutions, as well as the Senate Arctic Caucus, which hones in on Maine and America’s growing interest in the Arctic. Senator King also tries to informally bridge the partisan divide in Washington by frequently bringing his colleagues on both sides of the aisle to his home for barbeque dinners, where political talk is banned and the focus is getting to know one another. The bonds that are formed through these relationships often lay the foundation for successful legislation.

Prior to taking office, Senator King served as the 72nd Governor of Maine. During his two terms in the Blaine House, he focused on economic development and job creation.  Then-Governor King also achieved significant reforms in education, mental health services, land conservation, environmental protection, and the delivery of state services. He was re-elected in 1998 by one of the largest margins in Maine’s history.

Senator King is married to Mary Herman and has four sons, Angus III, Duncan, James, and Ben, one daughter, Molly, and seven grandchildren. He attended Dartmouth College and the University of Virginia Law School. In his free time, he enjoys exploring the Maine outdoors with his family in their camper.

Claire Sullivan, Ph.D., is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Innovation in Digital Badges and Micro-Credentials for the University of Maine System. She leads the System’s Micro-credential Initiative and chairs the Micro-credential Steering Committee, implementing a systemwide approach to micro-credential development. Claire co-led a Lumina Foundation-supported “All Learning Counts” grant to develop a statewide micro-credential model and collaborated with the Education Design Lab to offer 21st-century skills badges. She is a participant in the UPCEA Credential Innovation Consortium and has presented at national conferences on digital badging and micro-credential development in higher education.

Scott Kleiman is Policy Director, Economy and Workforce, for the Governor's Office of Policy Innovation and the Future. He provides interagency leadership for Governor Mills on workforce development, innovation and entrepreneurship, and Maine’s long-term economic prosperity. In this role, he works on issues related to emerging technologies, economic development, workforce, and infrastructure, and directs a policy team supporting implementation of Maine’s flagship $1 billion economic recovery initiative. He also serves on the board of the Maine Technology Institute and coordinates Maine’s Forest Bioproducts Advanced Manufacturing Tech Hub.

Prior to joining Governor Mills’ administration, Scott was Managing Director at the Harvard Kennedy School Government Performance Lab, where he helped state health and human service agencies design, implement, and sustain critical reforms. His work has helped communities strengthen protections for children, improve access to behavioral health treatment, and revamp supports for jobseekers. Scott has trained hundreds of government officials on data-driven management techniques and authored numerous publications on performance improvement strategies for public sector leaders.

Scott previously led strategic projects in the CEO's office at Ceres, a national nonprofit organization partnering with investors to strengthen corporate sustainability practices, and analyzed municipal infrastructure investments at Bain & Company. He was appointed a Senior Fellow with Casey Family Programs and served on the Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence advisory committee for Results for America. Scott earned an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and graduated from Middlebury College with a BA in Political Science.

Robert Zakon is a consultant and entrepreneur who enjoys innovating and applying emerging technologies across the intelligence, defense, healthcare, and scientific sectors. Born in Brazil and educated in the U.S. since high school, he is a graduate of The Peddie School and Case Western Reserve University where he earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Computer Engineering and Science with concentrations in Philosophy and Psychology. Robert is a founding partner of Zakon Group LLC, a technology consulting and development practice, and OpenConf, a startup helping organize, manage, and open access to technical and scientific knowledge. He formerly served as: White House Presidential Innovation Fellow bridging two administrations; Co-Founder and CTO of SoftZoo, an early cloud computing company; and Principal Engineer and Internet Evangelist at MITRE Corporation. With dozens of technical papers and presentations, Zakon has been recognized for his work through numerous commendations, and election as an IEEE Senior Member and ACSA Cybersecurity Senior Fellow. Among his other activities, Zakon has volunteered as a business mentor with SCORE, coached an award-winning robotics competition team of public school students, served as an adviser to an angel investment group providing start-up and growth capital to high-tech businesses, and authored Hobbes' Internet Timeline - the definitive history of the Net. Robert resides in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire with his lovely wife and two wondrous sons.

Jim Isaak is retired from six years in Academia and thirty in the computer industry with companies like IBM, Intel and Digital. Jim is currently on the IEEE AI Coalition, and IEEE USA AI and Communications Policy Committees and presenting courses with the UNH OLLI program.

Jim is President Emeritus of the IEEE Computer Society, a past IEEE Director, 2015 Vice President of the Society on Social Implications of Technology, Jim chaired the POSIX/UNIX/Linux Standards effort for IEEE and ISO for 15 years and also the Web Site Engineering Best Practices standard.

Jim is the 1994 Recipient of the IEEE Computer Society "Hans Karlsson Award" for "Outstanding Leadership and achievement though cooperation"

Jim has published a number of articles and has a patent on digital object authentication More information on Jim can be found at https://www.jimisaak.com/