Members of the Council for Inclusive Innovation

As Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Secretary Gina M. Raimondo focuses on a simple but vital mission—spur good-paying jobs, empower entrepreneurs to innovate and grow, and help American workers and businesses compete. Under her leadership, the Department of Commerce announced the largest investment to support minority and underserved businesses, including $40 billion in grants to connect every American to quality, affordable internet.

Secretary Raimondo was formerly the 75th Governor of Rhode Island and its first woman governor. During her time as Governor, Secretary Raimondo kick-started the state’s economy and made record investments in infrastructure, education, and job training.  

You can learn more about Secretary Gina M. Raimondo on her full bio page.

As the Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Acting Director Derrick Brent leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world, with more than 14,000 public servants and an annual budget of more than $4 billion. He is the principal IP advisor to the President and the Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce, and is focused on incentivizing and protecting U.S. innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. 

He leads an agency whose mission is to help American workers and businesses compete and collaborate, especially in ground-breaking technologies and across all demographics. As Acting Director of the USPTO, Brent is working to expand American innovation for and from all, and to bring more ideas to impact.

You can learn more about Acting Director Derrick Brent on his full bio page. 

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). From 2017 to 2022, Locascio 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 faculty appointment in the Department of Pharmacology in the School of Medicine. Before joining the university, she was at NIST for 31 years, rising from a research biomedical engineer to leading the agency’s Material Measurement Laboratory.

Locascio 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.

Appointed as Register of Copyrights in October 2020, Perlmutter advises Congress and executive branch agencies on copyright policy, and directs the administration of important provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act, leading a workforce of nearly 500 employees. Prior to her appointment, Perlmutter had served since 2012 as Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. She previously held senior positions at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry in London, and at Time Warner in New York. Perlmutter also worked at the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva as a consultant on copyright and electronic commerce. While on the faculty at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America from 1990-1995, she was the copyright consultant to the Clinton Administration’s Advisory Council on the National Information Infrastructure. 

Earlier in her career, she practiced law in New York City, specializing in copyright and trademark counseling and litigation. She is a co-author of a leading casebook on international intellectual property law and policy and has published numerous articles on copyright issues. She is also a research fellow at the Oxford Intellectual Property Research Centre at Oxford University. Perlmutter received an AB from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania.

You can learn more about Register Shira Perlmutter on her full bio page.

Dr. Wendy Wintersteen became the 16th President of Iowa State University on Nov. 20, 2017, after a nationwide search, followed by a unanimous vote of the Iowa Board of Regents. The first woman to hold the university’s highest office, Dr. Wintersteen has served Iowa State for more than 40 years in several capacities. The university’s brand platform, “Innovate at Iowa State,” captures Dr. Wintersteen’s vision of students and faculty using creativity and innovation to develop entrepreneurial approaches to solving problems and creating new business opportunities.

Iowa State has established global prominence in innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education – named the 2023 Entrepreneurial University of the Year for the Americas and ranked among the top 12 undergraduate entrepreneurship programs out of 300 public and private universities by the prestigious Princeton Review. A national research powerhouse, Iowa State is ranked in the top 3% for research out of nearly 500 universities without a human medical school and continues to set new records for external research funding. Iowa State consistently ranks in the Top 100 universities in the nation and worldwide for number of U.S. patents as ISU faculty and staff excel at transferring their research, technology, and innovation to the marketplace to address complex challenges and accelerate the state’s economic progress.

Rory A. Cooper is an American bioengineer who currently serves as FISA & Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) Distinguished Professor, Past Chair, in the Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology and professor of bioengineering, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and orthopedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also assistant vice chancellor for research for STEM and Health Sciences Collaboration. He holds an adjunct faculty position at the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. He is the founder and director of the Human Engineering Research Laboratories.

Dr. Rory Cooper is a U.S. Army veteran with a spinal cord injury and is a director of the Paralyzed Veterans of America Research Foundation. Cooper is widely recognized for his innovations in manual and electronic wheelchair technology. His advancements have proven to be breakthroughs for people with disabilities in finding independence in their daily lives and becoming more integrated into society. Dr. Cooper was the Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from 2016 through 2020. He is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal for Technology and Innovation.

Cristiano Amon is President and Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated and also serves on the Company’s board of directors. Amon assumed the role of CEO on June 30, 2021. Amon began his Qualcomm career in 1995 as an engineer, and during his tenure, has helped shape the strategic direction for the Company in several leadership roles. 

Prior to becoming CEO, Amon served as president of Qualcomm. In that role, he steered development of a leading and differentiated product roadmap, spearheaded Qualcomm’s 5G strategy – as well as its acceleration and global rollout – and drove the expansion and diversification of the business to serve multiple industries, including automotive, computing, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), networking, and industrial. Additionally, he has overseen the successful execution of mergers and acquisitions to augment Qualcomm’s capabilities in areas such as advanced driver assistance (ADAS), spatial computing, advanced CPU, and RF Front End. Amon holds a bachelor of science degree in Electrical Engineering and an honorary doctorate from UNICAMP – Universidade Estadual de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. He is a member of the President’s Export Council, vice chair of the US-China Business Council.

Mary Barra is Chair and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors. She was elected Chair of the GM Board of Directors in 2016 and has served as CEO of GM since 2014. Under Barra’s leadership, GM envisions a world with zero crashes, to save lives; zero emissions, so future generations can inherit a healthier planet; and zero congestion, so customers get back a precious commodity – time. She is focused on creating the best customer experience and strengthening GM’s core vehicle and services business, while also working to deliver transformative technologies such as electrification, autonomous driving and software.

Prior to becoming CEO, Barra served as GM Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, and as Senior Vice President, Global Product Development. In these roles, Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide. Previously, she served as Vice President, Global Human Resources; Vice President, Global Manufacturing Engineering; plant manager, Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly; and in several other executive engineering and staff positions. Barra began her career with GM in 1980 as a General Motors Institute (Kettering University) co-op student at the Pontiac Motor Division. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1985, followed by a Master of Business Administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business in 1990. Barra serves on the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Company, the Duke University Board of Trustees and the Detroit Economic Club.

Dr. Christopher Boerner is Board Chair and Chief Executive officer at Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to assuming his current role, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer designate from April to November 2023. He joined the company in February 2015.

From 2010 to 2015, Chris held leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Seattle Genetics, Inc. From 2002 to 2010, he served in marketing leadership roles at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, focused on strategy, development and commercialization across multiple oncology products and immunology. Earlier in his career, Chris worked for McKinsey & Company, serving global pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients. Chris received his PhD and MA in business administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds a BA in economics and history from Washington University in St. Louis.

You can learn more about Dr. Christopher Boerner on his full bio page.

Scott Frank is the President and CEO of AT&T Intellectual Property LLC. He is responsible for the identification, development, protection, management, marketing, licensing, and sale of all company-wide intellectual property for AT&T, one of the world’s largest communications companies and the owner of one of the world’s most valuable intellectual property portfolios. Frank was named President and CEO of AT&T Intellectual Property in March 2007, following the December 2006 merger of AT&T and BellSouth, where Frank had previously been the President of Intellectual Property. Frank joined BellSouth in 1998 and led the effort in forming the BellSouth Intellectual Property companies.

Dr. Jeffrey Welser is Chief Operating Officer for IBM Research and Vice President, Exploratory Science and University Collaborations. He oversees IBM Research Labs based in California, Brazil and Japan, as well as the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab in Cambridge. He oversees exploratory and applied research to advance data technology and analytics for Hybrid Cloud and AI systems and software, with a strong focus on advanced computing technologies for AI, neuromorphic devices and quantum computing.

After joining IBM Research in 1995, Dr. Welser worked on a broad range of technologies, including novel silicon devices, high-performance CMOS and SOI device design, and next generation system components. He has led teams in both development and research, as well as running industrial, academic and government consortiums, including the SRC Nanoelectronics Research Initiative.

Dave Ricks is Chairman and CEO of Lilly, a company turning science into medicine to make life better for people around the world. Under Ricks' leadership, Lilly has delivered record research and development output and innovative medicines that continue to reach more people around the world, positioning the company for sustained growth and an expanded role in the advancement of human health. During his 28 years at Lilly, Ricks has held executive positions across the company’s business functions, geographies, and therapeutic areas. He served as general manager of Lilly Canada, president and general manager of Lilly China, president of Lilly USA, and president of Lilly Bio-Medicines before becoming CEO and board chair in 2017.

Ricks holds a bachelor’s degree and an honorary doctorate degree from Purdue University and a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University. He serves on the boards of Adobe and Business Roundtable and is a board member and former chair of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Ricks is a member of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations’ CEO steering committee, The Business Council, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Council for Inclusive Innovation, and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. 

Michael Roman is Executive Chairman of 3M’s Board of Directors. Roman became Chairman of the board in May 2019. He served as CEO of 3M, a science and manufacturing company that improves lives around the world, from 2018 to 2024. He previously served as 3M’s Chief Operating Officer, led 3M’s largest business group, and was Chief Strategist. Throughout Roman’s career, he lived and led businesses around the world, including the United States, Europe, and Asia. He joined 3M in 1988 as a senior design engineer.

Roman holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. He serves on the board of Abbott Laboratories and on the University of Minnesota Foundation Board of Trustees.

Hervé Hoppenot joined Incyte in 2014 as President and Chief Executive Officer and was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors in 2015. During Hoppenot’s tenure, the company has tripled the number of clinical candidates in its portfolio, expanding beyond Oncology to include research and development in Inflammation & Autoimmunity. Under his leadership, revenue has increased by nearly 600%, which includes the addition of five new sources of potential revenue. With a goal to deliver medicines to patients worldwide, Incyte has expanded geographically and has operations in North America, Europe and Asia.

Prior to joining Incyte, Hoppenot was the President of Novartis Oncology. He began his career at Novartis in 2003 as Chief Commercial Officer and later became President in 2010. Hoppenot started his career in 1983 with Rhone Poulenc, later known as Aventis, where he served in several senior roles of increasing responsibility, including Vice President of Oncology and Head of the U.S. Oncology business unit. Hoppenot holds a diploma from ESSEC Business School.

Liren Chen has been President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of InterDigital, Inc., a global research and development company focused primarily on wireless, video, artificial intelligence, and related technologies. InterDigital’s foundational technologies are widely adopted by all the smartphones, digital TVs, billions of IoT devices and many cloud-based services. Chen is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce China Advisory Committee, and a board member of Arrow Electronics, a Fortune 500 company. Chen is also an inventor and holds 28 granted patents in the U.S. and over 120 granted patents worldwide.

Prior to joining InterDigital, Chen served in roles of increasing responsibility at Qualcomm Incorporated for almost 25 years, culminating in his appointment as Senior Vice President, Global Head of IP, Legal Counsel. In that role, Chen oversaw Qualcomm’s world-wide intellectual property portfolio and led technology, business strategy, product management, and global eco-system development for Qualcomm Technology Licensing.

Carmine Denisco is a successful Entrepreneur, Inventor, Author, Podcaster, Investor, Patent and Trademark Holder. He has designed, developed and manufactured many products sold in retail stores, TV shopping channels, online and infomercials some have gone on to be licensed by major chain stores. Denisco is dedicated to helping inventors correctly navigate the invention and manufacturing process, giving each inventor their best shot at success.

Brennon Marcano is the CEO of The National GEM Consortium. He has over 25 years of experience in the private and nonprofit sectors. His leadership experience spans multiple industries, primarily financial services, technology, and media and entertainment. 

Prior to joining GEM, he was the Executive Director of the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP), a nonprofit whose vision is to seek parity at the highest levels of business and civic engagement. During his two-year stint at CUP, the organization grew its corporate partnerships by 50%, had its most financially successful gala, placed a record number of diverse individuals on boards, and had a promotion rate of over 40% within one year for program participants. Prior to CUP, he was the Executive Director of Workforce Opportunity Services, an innovative nonprofit. Under his leadership over a nine-year period, the organization grew to an entity with a budget of over $10 million and began operating in nine states (19 cities) and internationally in France (under the name SociaLift)

Sudip S. Parikh, Ph.D., became the 19th Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of the Science family of journals in January 2020. Dr. Parikh has spent two decades at the nexus of science, policy, and business. Immediately prior to joining AAAS, Dr. Parikh was senior vice president and managing director at DIA Global, a neutral, multidisciplinary organization for healthcare product development. At DIA, Dr. Parikh led strategy in the Americas and oversaw DIA programs that catalyzed progress globally toward novel regulatory frameworks for advanced therapies.

Prior to DIA, Dr. Parikh was a vice president at Battelle, a multibillion-dollar research and development organization, where he led two business units with over 500 scientific, technical, and computing experts performing basic and applied research, developing medicines and healthcare devices, developing agricultural products, and creating advanced analytics and artificial intelligence applications to improve human health.

You can learn more about Dr. Sudip Parikh on his full bio page.

Chris James is the President and CEO of the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (NCAIED), the largest business development and technical assistance training organization in the country for American Indian and Alaska Native-owned businesses. A former Associate Administrator at the U.S. Small Business Administration and U.S. Treasury official, James has doubled the National Center’s revenue during his tenure, expanding procurement and training programs throughout the country while boosting attendance to the annual Reservation Economic Summit by nearly 30% in the last five years.

James also leads the National Center’s advocacy work, coordinating with allies and tribal governments to hold local, state, and federal government officials accountable and constructively promoting policy changes that support access to capital and resources for small business incubation and growth. Under his leadership, the National Center has launched a Native Edge Community Development Financial Institution, and the National Center now boasts over $4 billion in procurement it has helped National Center clients secure.

You can learn more about Chris James on his full bio page.

Grant Warner is the Bank of America Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship and the Director of the Center for Black Entrepreneurship (CBE). A collaboration among the Black Economic Alliance Foundation, Spelman College, and Morehouse College, the CBE aims to grow the pipeline of Black entrepreneurs and connect them to investment opportunities. By increasing investment in Black-founded companies, the CBE will ultimately contribute to closing the investment gap. 

Prior to joining the CBE, Dr. Warner served as the Director of Innovation for the College of Engineering and Architecture and the Office of Research at Howard University. He was the Howard University PI for the Mid-Atlantic NSF I-Corps Hub which is a $15MM effort to catalyze the lab-to-market ecosystem across Mid-Atlantic region. Dr. Warner is also co-PI for the Pathways to Commercialization effort which is exploring the commercialization capacity at HBCUs across the country. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University, a Master of Science degree from Penn State University, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, all in Mechanical Engineering.

You can learn more about Dr. Grant Warner on his full bio page.

Wendy Lea is the founder of TechHubNow!, Lea catalyzes innovation and entrepreneurship through advanced technologies that deliver economic and national security. Lea serves on several boards including the Center for American Entrepreneurship advisory board and the National Advisory Council for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, helping develop strategies to strengthen America’s role as a global leader in emerging technologies. In Colorado, Lea serves on the board of Elevate Quantum, working to accelerate quantum technology with funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Regional Innovation Hub (Tech Hub) program, and as co-founder and board chair of Energize Colorado, fostering a thriving small business ecosystem that promotes resilience and inclusivity for underserved entrepreneurs across the state.

As a leader-practitioner and forward-thinking maximalist with over 30 years of experience advising Fortune 500 businesses, and entrepreneurial ventures in technology, digital transformation, talent strategy, and alliances and partnerships, Lea remains committed to mobilizing resources and relief for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits. In 2024, she was named one of the Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. F. Javier Diez got his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science from Saint Louis University and his Doctorate in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan. He is a Full Professor at Rutgers University in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering with a graduate faculty appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Dr. Diez is the head of the Applied Fluids Laboratory, where over 100 students have done research.

His expertise includes UAV/UUV, aerodynamics and propulsion, aviation, and sensors. He has been funded by NSF, ONR, DIU, AFOSR, FAA, and DARPA, among others. He is the recipient of the 2019 Outstanding Engineering Faculty Award. Dr. Diez has given over 25 invited lectures and authored over 100 journal articles, conference papers, and technical publications. He is the founder, with his graduated Ph.D. students, of two Rutgers startups, SubUAS LLC and XTT LLC. Dr. Diez is the CEO and President of SubUAS LLC, which is commercializing the Naviator, the first unmanned vehicle that can fly, float, swim, dive, and transition between air and water in less than a second. He is also CTO of XTT LLC, which is commercializing aerodynamic flow deflectors for enhancing wind turbine performance.

Dr. Mae Jemison is the Principal for the 100 Year Starship Project. Her leadership and vision provides guidance and direction for the foundation and in fulfilling its goal of ensuring all the capabilities for a successful human journey to another star will exist by 2112.

Dr. Jemison, physician, engineer, educator and entrepreneur, was the first woman of color in the world to go into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and was a NASA astronaut for six years. Dr. Jemison earned her Bachelor's of Science Chemical Engineering and fulfilled requirements for A.B., African and Afro-American Studies from Stanford University and received her M.D. from Cornell University.

You can learn more about Dr. Mae Jemison on her full bio page.

Megan Smith is an award-winning entrepreneur, engineer, and tech evangelist. She served as the third U.S. chief technology officer from 2014-2017 after spending 11 years as vice president at Google leading new business development, and later at Google[x]. Smith is also PlanetOut CEO, General Magic and co-founder of the Malala Fund. She serves as board member of MIT, Vital Voices and is a member of National Academy of Engineering.