Friday, June 20
8:30 am - 1:00 pm at IU Southeast
Free! Register Today
Registration is required.
Novaparke Innovation & Technology Campus, Indiana University Southeast School of Business and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation announce the dates and initial event schedule for Innovation Expo 2025. This two-week event showcases regional and national speakers and activities designed to inspire, enlighten, inform and intrigue startups, small business owners and anyone with an entrepreneurial spirit.
June 20 Expo Agenda
8:00 – 8:50 AM
Breakfast Speaker in Hoosier Room East
Jenna Ahlern – Guardian Owl
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Breakout Session 1
- Venture Capital vs. Commercial Loans – Bill White and Michael Fulkerson UC 127
- Securing Grants for Innovation – Kevin Gibson UC 122
10:00 – 10:45 AM
Innovator Showcase Panel in Hoosier Room West
- Theresa Reno-Webber – Good Maps
- Grant Chapman – Glassboard
- Donald Ridings – Fat of the Land
- Jack Manzella – SoFab Inks
- Facilitators: John Launius and Lisa Russell
11:00 – 11:45 AM
Breakout Session 2
- The Startup Legal Toolkit – Keith Pulliam UC 122
- Smart Marketing for Startups and Upstarts – Allen Howie, Ideology UC 127
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Luncheon
Terry Jones
The centerpiece of the two-week event takes place on Friday, June 20 at Indiana University Southeast. View the speakers and sessions below.
Breakfast Speaker: Leveraging AI
Jenna Ahern
Founder & CEO, Guardian Owl Digital; Host, GOAI podcast, The SEO Show podcast
Jenna Ahern is the driving force behind Guardian Owl Digital and its AI-focused division, GO AI. Under her leadership, the agency has collaborated with notable brands such as Angels Envy, GE, and the Kentucky Derby Museum. Their innovative campaigns have garnered recognition in Forbes, Business Insider, and Business First, including the Best Data-Driven Campaign at The Netty Awards.
Guardian Owl Digital offers a suite of services, including WordPress and Shopify website development, SEO, PPC, social media management, photography, and video production, all focused on helping companies drive quality leads from the internet. The agency is renowned for its “Honest SEO” approach, emphasizing ethical and effective strategies to enhance online visibility.
Before establishing Guardian Owl Digital, Jenna built her expertise inside three Google Premier Partner agencies and two of the world’s largest automotive platforms—Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. A former two-time Vice Captain of the Division I University of Louisville Field Hockey Team, she brings a competitive spirit and team-building prowess to her ventures. Beyond her professional endeavors, Jenna actively contributes to her community, serving on the boards of the University of Louisville Project on Positive Leadership and Blessings in a Backpack.
Breakout Sessions (choose one)
Venture Capital vs. Commercial Loan
Securing Grants for Innovation
Bootstrapping & Alternative Financing
Innovation Showcase Panel
Moderated by John Launius, Vice President, Director Of Economic Development, One Southern Indiana
Theresa Reno-Weber
CEO, Goodmaps
Theresa Reno-Weber is a mission-driven leader working at the nexus of technology, innovation, and social impact. A U.S. Coast Guard veteran and former McKinsey consultant with a master’s in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School, she brings a unique blend of operational excellence, public service, and entrepreneurial vision to every role.
Theresa currently serves as CEO of GoodMaps, a global startup using cutting-edge indoor positioning and AI-enabled navigation to make the built world more inclusive and accessible.
Her career spans leadership roles in government, philanthropy, and consulting—from launching Louisville’s internationally recognized LouieStat performance program as Chief of Performance & Technology, to driving multi-state data collaborations in health and human services as CEO of Metro United Way. Across every chapter, she has built high-performing teams, secured over $145 million in funding, and championed equity-focused innovation.
Theresa’s career has been filled with both bold leaps and hard-won lessons. She’s passionate about leaving every place better than she found it and is committed to authentically sharing the highs and lows of navigating the start-up world. She currently serves as Chair of the Drucker Institute’s international board and serves on several national and state-level boards advancing civic leadership, policy, and economic opportunity.
Grant Chapman
Founder & CEO, Glassboard
Grant Chapman is the CEO of Glassboard, a hardware product development firm based in Indianapolis. With a background in mechanical and electrical engineering from Purdue University, he began his career in energy storage systems before founding EVC Racing, an electric go-kart startup. In 2015, he co-founded Glassboard, leading its growth into a full-service product development company known for innovation and industry recognition, including the Mira Service Partner of the Year award in 2023. Grant is also a frequent speaker on technology and leadership, and is passionate about intuitive product design, team empowerment, and expanding access to STEM education.
Donald Ridings
Founder, Fat of the Land
Donald Ridings is the founder of Fat of the Land, a food company dedicated to getting vegetable and seed oils out of food and replacing them with fats that our ancestors used for millennia – animal fats. After spending the majority of his adult life working as a nurse, Donald decided to shake things up and start a food brand because his kids love snacks, but he hated what was in them. When Donald is not busy trying to get vegetable and seed oils out of food, still working as a nurse, or hanging out with his wife and kids, he enjoys hiking, learning languages (speaking Spanish and Russian at a conversational level), and martial arts.
Jack Manzella
COO, Sofab Inks Inc.
A technologist by trade and a resourceful entrepreneur at heart. In my current role, I manage business development and operations at SoFab Inks, a chemical manufacturing startup focused on accelerating the adoption of perovskite solar cells through collaborative material manufacturing. I also serve as an Entrepreneur-In-Residence for the University of Louisville’s College of Business where I teach entrepreneurship courses in the Innovation-MBA program and support student entrepreneurs across the University. Previously I supported the commercialization of innovative products at GE Appliance’s R&D lab, FirstBuild.
Breakout Sessions (choose one)
Patents, Trademarks & IP Strategy
The Startup Legal Toolkit
Smart Marketing 2025
Lunch / Keynote Speaker
Terry Jones
Founder, Travelocity; Co-Founder, Kayak
Best known for founding Travelocity.com and serving as founding Chairman of Kayak.com, Terry Jones has become a powerful voice in the world of entrepreneurship through his numerous speaking engagements and the publication of his book, ON Innovation. His career path has established him as a thought leader on innovation in our increasingly digital world.
A graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, Jones, began his career as a travel agent, spent 24 years at American Airlines in marketing and information technology, capping his career as Chief Information Officer of its SABRE division. While at SABRE he led a team of six working on a project that became Travelocity.com. Jones served as CEO of Travelocity for seven years transforming it to a public company with three billion dollars in travel sales.
He left Travelocity when the company was taken private and became part of the founding team at Kayak.com, a company that yet again revolutionized how travel was purchased. He served as Chairman of the company from its founding until it was sold to Priceline for $2.1 billion dollars in 2013.
Today he is the managing principal of ON Inc. a consultancy he founded to help companies in their transition to the digital economy. He serves on the boards of Crytica Security, Sonicwall The Camping and Education Foundation and is Chairman of Amgine.ai. Terry is the author of the best selling books, ON Innovation and Disruption OFF, and is the holder of several patents.
And there’s more! From June 16 through June 27, a whole host of additional events, including hands-on work-shops, talks and mixers, will be hosted at Novaparke in Georgetown, Indiana. More information to come on these!
Thanks to the event sponsors, there is no charge to attend, but registration is required.