A leading expert in robot ethics, Dr. Kate Darling is a research specialist at the MIT Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. Forever interested in how technology intersects with society, Kate has a background in law & economics and intellectual property, she explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Dr. Darling’s work has been featured in international media, and she has authored multiple academic publications and contributed to industry publications from Vogue to Die Zeit to the BBC, and in 2017, the American Bar Association honored her legal work with the Mark T. Banner Award in Intellectual Property.

Angie Bastian, entrepreneur, co-founder and namesake of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, took a kernel of an idea and popped it into one of the fastest growing brands of natural popcorn. She and husband Dan founded their snack company in their Mankato, MN garage in 2001 as a means of creating a college fund for their children. Their gluten free, non-GMO, whole grain popcorn is proudly sold in natural food, grocery, club and mass retail outlets nationwide with a product presence in Canada, South Korea, Peru, Japan, the Caribbean and Mexico. The company is constantly innovating and is one of the fastest growing and most successful popcorn brands in the market today. Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP is loved by fans as an empowered, spirited brand that represents authentic, real food that delivers on the attributes of clean, transparent labeling and great taste experience. The company has twice won Star Tribune’s Top workplace honors. Angie’s Boomchickapop is the 2015 ACG BOLD Award for corporate growth. She and Dan share Connect Business Magazine’s 2012 Person of the Year. Girl Scouts honored her as a Pioneering Trailblazer and she is a 2015 Inductee to the Minnesota Women’s Business Owner’s Hall of Fame. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, quoted in Forbes Magazine and appeared on the Martha Stewart Show. Her products have been recognized and awarded by numerous national publications and media. The business attracted significant

Whether interviewing presidents, first ladies, heads of state or members of Congress, Norah O’Donnell has earned a reputation as a keen interviewer of today’s newsmakers. In her presentations, she takes the audience behind today’s headlines for an in-depth look at the issues, the players and the politics at work. One of America’s most prominent journalists, O’Donnell is the recipient of the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage and Washingtonian Magazine has named her one of Washington’s 100 most powerful women.