Vantage Ventures Entrepreneurship Series

Description

The Digital Era: Creating Impact & Technology for Success

About this event
Join Vantage Ventures as celebrate National Entrepreneurship with an interactive panel featuring our Vantage Entrepreneurs and Community.

Our panel, The Digital Era: Creating Impact & Technology for Success, will be hosted by Harry Bell, Chief Creative Strategist and Chief Operating Officer of Almost Heaven Media, LLC.

Come hear how our Vantage Entrepreneurs are making an impact with their vision, determination, persistence and creativity. Our roundtable discussion will follow a specific format, covering the relevant topics and allow space for questions and networking.

OUR GUEST PANELISTS:
 
Chris DeFazio
Founder and CEO of Brewnet.com
A lifelong West Virginia resident, West Virginia University alumnus, and co-owner and brewer at Morgantown Brewing Company, Vantage Entrepreneur Christopher DeFazio saw a crucial need in the West Virginian craft beer supply chain from recipe conception to production, brewing, bottling and delivery to the consumer.
An entrepreneur with over eight years of experience building craft beer brands, Chris is combining his passion for both brewing and software engineering to build next-generation brewery management software with Brewnet.com.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Science from West Virginia University.
 
Crystal Good
Founder of Black By God
Vantage Entrepreneur Crystal Good is the founder of Black By God The West Virginian, a news and storytelling organization centering Black voices in, from, and to West Virginia. She is the author of two poetry collections Valley Girl (2010) and her forthcoming, Marking My Territory.
Crystal works as an advocate for environment, education, and economic actions. She has spoken and read her poetry in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, at the West Virginia section of the Women’s March on Washington, for the 2013 TEDx conference in Lewisburg, West Virginia, for the LouderARTS Project, for the Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and for students and scholars at several universities and colleges.
Crystal is an Irene McKinney Scholar and West Virginia University Reed College NewStart Fellow. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from West Virginia State University, a Masters in Creative Writing / Poetry from West Virginia Wesleyan, and a Masters in Journalism from West Virginia University.
 
Justin Whitman
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of UMuseUs
Vantage Entrepreneur, Justin Whitman is a serial entrepreneur and known by those closest to him as a maverick renaissance man. In 2017, he founded his current tech startup UMuseUs, a robust social media platform that empowers everyone from musicians to music lovers to share, discover, interact, create, and more.
Justin has over 20 years of professional experience as a private consultant within a wide spectrum of the technology field, telecommunications/wireless sectors, marketing/branding agencies, operational management teams, corporate/residential real estate development groups, the entertainment/music industry and extensive specialized experience as an executive private consultant for Fortune 50/100/500 companies.
 
Grant Wiley
Co-founder and Chief of Culture at VEEPIO
Vantage Entrepreneur Grant Wiley serves as Co-founder and Chief of Culture at VEEPIO. The VEEPIO integrated ecommerce platform uses technology to change how athletes can earn money from their names, images, and likenesses (NIL).
A native from Trappe, PA, Grant earned a football scholarship to play for the Mountaineers, later to be inducted into the 2016 WVU Sports Hall of Fame. He's one of only 11 consensus first team All-Americans in Mountaineer football history and was named an inaugural member of WVU’s Mountaineer Legends Society in 2016.
Grant holds a Regents Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Communication Emphasis from West Virginia University.
 
PANEL HOST:
Harry F. Bell , Jr.
CEO & Chief Creative Strategist of Almost Heaven Media, LLC
After decades as a successful lawyer Harry F. Bell, Jr. created Almost Heaven Media, LLC, a digital advertising company dedicated to helping clients successfully navigate the world of digital and social media advertising.
Harry is a mentor with Vantage Ventures Community, The Founder Institute of Palo Alto, CA, and also serves on the board of a sports technology company along with various non-profit boards. After three decades of working with persuasion in jury trials and connecting with clients and jurors, he has leveraged his interest in advanced technologies to advance awareness and action for businesses utilizing digital media.
In April 2019 Harry received In Place Impact's certification for the state of West Virginia. Harry uses Impact's blueprint to build Impact Circular Economies in communities throughout the state of West Virginia. The goal is to help communities in West Virginia become socially, economically and environmentally sustainable for all of their residents.
Harry received his Bachelor of Science Degree Cum laude in Economics from West Virginia University and his J.D. degree from the West Virginia University College of Law.

To learn more about Vantage Ventures, visit us at vantageventures.io