October 19-20, 2023
Keynote Speaker
Otis W. McGregor III, CPD, CPC
LTC, Special Forces, US Army, Retired Otis McGregor leads Tribe and Purpose with his son Camden as the principal leadership and success coach. With over 40 years of experience as a leader, coach, and team member, Otis embodies the values and principles of Tribes and Purposes. Otis is driven both by these values and the idea that better leaders and tribes create better organizations, building better communities leading to a better world. Through the decades, Otis has empowered hundreds of businesses and individuals to find their clarity for purpose and their tribes for connection. Otis leverages the unique blend of heart, passion, and experience as one of the elite commanders of Green Berets. Trusted with some of the highest missions of our great nation, Otis knows how to think from both the 10,000-foot view as well as amid battle to ensure he and his tribe not only achieve the mission but do it in the most risk-mitigating ways possible. Brought to the civilian world after retirement, Otis walks the walk and talks the talk. Spend five minutes with him, and he will inspire your heart and mind.
Zero to One: Founders Roundtable
Tim Spalla, 2021 Tillman Scholar
Following completion of a Clinical Mental Health Graduate Degree from Regis University in Fall 2022, Tim began a Ph.D. program in Humanistic Clinical Psychology at Saybrook University where he planned to study the clinical implications of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for Veterans suffering with combat-related moral injuries. Recently, Tim’s Ph.D. studies have been put on hold as he focuses on the work of establishing and growing The Wounded Healer Project, a Denver-based 501c3 he founded with a mission to provide Veteran-led mental health counseling support for Justice-involved Veterans battling addiction, PTSD, moral injury and other psychosocial challenges.
In the Spring of 2023, Tim launched Agile Wellness Group, a licensed therapy private practice in Denver offering mental health counseling, High Performance Neurofeedback, wellness coaching, and Psychospiritual preparation, harm reduction and integration support.
Adam Swartzbaugh, 2019 Tillman Scholar
Adam Swartzbaugh is on a mission to provide equitable access to financial services globally. Leveraging recent advancements in digital technology, he founded Almond FinTech, an MIT-incubated company transforming cross-border money transfer and credit evaluation processes. The company is now headquartered in Boston and Singapore, has grown to 35 employees in 14 countries, and recently raised $7mm in a Series A venture capital round.
After commissioning from ROTC into the Infantry, Adam was stationed in Europe and the Middle East. A few years later, he joined the Special Forces as a Green Beret and was stationed in the Pacific. Following his time in the military and other industries, Adam realized the importance of individual financial stability and economic mobility in overcoming many systemic challenges impacting quality of life. Looking for the best possible ecosystem in which to build a technology that helps achieve this, he returned to school and launched Almond. Adam holds advanced degrees from MIT, Harvard and Brown University.
Dr. Trillitye Paullin, 2014 Tillman Scholar
Trillitye (Dr. Trill) Paullin, PhD earned a doctorate in Cellular and Molecular Biology, is an Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran, is currently serving her 18th year in the Army National Guard, and is the CEO and co-founder of Free to Feed. After her daughters suffered through food reactions to proteins transferred from her diet to breast milk, Dr. Trill wanted to create a place for parents to find answers and empower them to reach their feeding goals. Free to Feed was born to provide the research, resources, and support she wished they had early on. Dr. Trill invented the first at-home test kit to detect allergens in human milk which is in manufacturing phases and supported by Free to Feed’s educational support package, tracking app, personal consultations, and more.
Pitch Competition Judges
Michael Shieh
Matt Shieh, CEO and Co-Founder of Canopy Aerospace, is a former U.S. Air Force Captain and B-52H Weapons Officer with a wealth of strategic expertise. His commitment to collaboration and operational excellence drives Canopy Aerospace’s mission, which aims to address critical supply chain issues in the space & defense industry. Founded in late 2021, Canopy is on a mission to revolutionize manufacturing processes to support humanity’s exploration of space, particularly in high-temperature materials required for extreme environments such as space launch, re-entry, and hypersonics. The company builds technology leveraging additive manufacturing, materials development, and software to reduce lead time and costs over conventional manufacturing methods. Matt is a native of Kentucky, attended the University of Kentucky, and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Jeff Nelson
Jeff has over 24 years of experience in the infrastructure industry with a focus in water for the past 11 years. He has been raising capital through Private Equity and other investment vehicles since starting his first water infrastructure company in 2012, since that time his teams have closed over $700MM M&A and Greenfield water infra deals. He is currently the Founder and CEO of PERENfra, which focuses on acquiring and developing infrastructure assets in North America to efficiently manage the water life cycle in a sustainable way. PERENfra has closed $145MM in water infra deals over the past 3 years.
Prior to PERENfra, Jeff worked for Bechtel and most recently he was the President of Unregulated Assets at Tallgrass Energy.
Coral Laski
Coral oversees all aspects related to Programming at Exponential Impact (XI), including curriculum development and scheduling, networking and developing relationships among community members and participants, coordinating guest speakers, organizing small and large events, along with designing and distributing surveys to collect feedback and data about the success of each program.
Coral’s background is mostly in higher education where she has been a college instructor with UCCS since earning her master’s degree in communication studies in 2011. She has also held a variety of administrative and program development positions within the University before embarking on her own entrepreneurial journey starting a consulting business, which ultimately led her to find Exponential Impact. Coral’s knowledge and experience with programming, curriculum development, and Public Speaking, combined with her passion and enthusiasm for the entrepreneurial and small business community assists XI in scaling our offerings and creating exponential impact in our community!
Hark Herold
Hark brings 30+ years of experience in business and as a military leader and strategist to his role facilitating EOS. Having served overseas and at the Pentagon, he has a unique perspective on what it takes to bring a team together to execute in high-pressure situations. Initially laser-focused on working with military veterans and military spouse entrepreneurs, Hark leveraged his background in the Air Force to help these business owners grow from seed to scale—working with companies in a broad range of industries. After seeing how organizations (military units or businesses) excel with an aligned vision, great people, and a framework for execution, he became passionate about providing that for all business owners as an EOS Implementer.
Hark knows from experience how to bring teams together to achieve a shared vision. As an EOS facilitator, he’s singularly equipped to help businesses tackle the long-standing structural issues that prevent them from flourishing, so they can move forward with purpose and confidence. It’s not easy, but the things that are worthwhile never are.