Venus Quates

President & CEO | LaunchTech, LLC

Venus Quates is a proud Air Force Veteran with a strong heart for service and an affinity for space and flight She is also the President & CEO of LaunchTech, a minority, woman, and service-disabled veteran-owned company that provides cradle-to-grave innovative and emerging technology and engineering solutions to enterprise customers in the public and private sectors

In addition to her visionary leadership, Quates is an accomplished technologist and consultant with over 26 years of domestic and international experience working with major Fortune 100/500 companies, global banking giants, and leaders in the Aerospace and Defense industries and leading portfolios and projects ranging from $1M to $5B

Quates has traveled the world, educating the masses on utilizing technology for community and economic growth

As service is in her DNA, Quates faithfully serves on the National Board of the Girl Scouts of the USA and various Technology, STEM, and Veteran-focused boards

Wesley Rakestraw

Vice President of Academic Affairs | Calhoun Community College

Mr Wesley Rakestraw has 29 years of experience in the field of higher education He currently serves as the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Calhoun Community College, where his focus is instructional relevance, digital literacy, and curriculum development He started his career at Wallace State Community College as an instructor in the Natural Sciences, later becoming Division Chair Mr Rakestraw then became the Director of WSCC’s Oneonta Campus where he became involved with workforce development in the Central Six Region After two years in that role, he advanced to Dean of Applied Technologies at Wallace State He has extensive experience working with North Alabama Works and Central Six Workforce Councils His wife of 30 years, Donnette, is a pharmacist in Cullman They have two children and are natives of North Alabama

Kimberly Robinson

CEO & Executive Director | U S Space and Rocket Center

Dr Robinson is the CEO and Executive Director of the U S Space & Rocket Center, Alabama’s leading tourist attraction and home to the world-renowned Space Camp Prior to becoming CEO in February 2021, Dr Robinson worked at NASA as the Utilization Manager for Advanced Exploration Systems at NASA HQ for the Artemis Program Previously she served at NASA’s Payload Mission Manager for Artemis 1, as well as Strategic Communications Manager and Deputy Program Integration Manager for NASA’s new SLS rocket

Dr Robinson also served as the Deputy Project Manager for the Ares I-X test flight, which was named Time magazine’s science invention of the year in 2009, and as a Crew Trainer preparing NASA astronauts for science missions aboard the Space Shuttle She is the recipient of numerous awards, including Yellow Hammer’s Women of Impact, NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal, and a Silver Snoopy Award

Allison Ross

Owner | Yellowhammer Multimedia, LLC

Allison Ross is the owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia, LLC, an Alabama-based media company delivering news and information across a variety of platforms including Yellowhammer News, YHN Radio News Network, SoulGrown and 265 Today

Prior to entrepreneurship, Allison was in the economic development industry for over 11 years After working as the Vice President of Morgan County Economic Development Association, she joined the team at international site selection and consulting firm Hickey and Associates There she led capital investment projects spanning the United States, with specific expertise in incentive negotiation and project financing

She is a graduate of the University of Alabama, a member of the Shepherd’s Cove Hospice board of directors, the Huntsville Committee of 100 and Christ Redeemer Church Along with her husband and twin children, Allison lives in Guntersville

Chief Data Scientist | Sigmatech Incorporated

Romeil Sandhu is currently the Chief Data Scientist at Sigmatech Incorporated assisting the DoD in varied domains Romeil is born and raised in Huntsville, AL and a proud graduate of Huntsville High, Huntsville Middle and Jones Valley Elementary School He first received his B S , M S , and then PhD degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Electrical Engineering Following this, he had been a Professor at Stony Brook University with nation-wide recognitions on three separate occasions prior to his return to Huntsville In this time as a faculty member, his passion was focused on veteran affairs and in particular, assisting veterans and their dependents in higher level education in technical areas of machine learning to data science - much of which he continually hopes to pursue Outside of work, his favorite past time is spending quality time with my family and his first love, his dog June

Julie Savage

Program Manager/Business Developer | ExoAnalytic Solutions

Ms Savage has 18 years of experience in the missile defense industry including 3 years as a government civilian serving as the lead for Cybersecurity, M&S Accreditation, and RADAR for the MDS Operational Test Agency Ms Savage was awarded 2 Civilian Commendation Medals and the 2020 Army Modeling and Simulation Award She lived on Kwajalein, RMI for 15 years and was the lead ALTAIR systems engineer and flight test director While on Kwaj, Ms Savage also taught dance to 100 kids each year, sang in a rock band, and operated a thriving photography business Now, living in Madison, she is an avid Trash Panda fan, AL council woman for the Prof Photographers of America, 2022 Gold Photographer of the year, an international juror for photography/art portfolio reviews, and a PTA member for Horizon Elementary Ms Savage is currently working as a program manager and in business development for ExoAnalytic Solutions

Jared Sharp

Partner | Warren Averett

Jared resides in Madison with his wife, son and three daughters He is a member of Warren Averett in the tax division of the Huntsville Office He has been practicing public accounting since 2005 Jared has experience serving clients in industries such as technology, biotechnology, government contracting, manufacturing and distribution He focuses his practice on tax planning, research and development tax credits and tax structure for mergers and acquisitions He is a volunteer board member for BioAlabama and the Heart of the Valley YMCA

Gwen Shelton

Regional Director | Senator Tuberville

Gwen is the North Alabama Regional Director for Senator Tuberville She dove into politics headfirst serving as chairman of the Republican Party during the Bush/Qualyle campaign She continued has a working member on the campaigns of Senator Thompson and Congressman Hilleary Those experiences sparked her desire to step into public service She served 18 years elected office Her first elected office was to City School Board and continued as Vice Mayor, eventually serving as the first female Mayor Gwen's focus is on positive growth for her community She holds both a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Middle Tennessee State University She is married to Scott and they have two sons She always starts her day with a morning run