Listen Now

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. — a longtime resident of southeast Michigan — was the founder and 54-year owner of the Buffalo Bills. His namesake foundation, established in 2015 with CEO and president David O. Egner at the helm, carries on his generosity by investing in projects that will provide immediate and meaningful impact on communities.

Edwin Olson is founder and CEO of May Mobility, a company that builds and deploys fleets of driverless shuttles in structured environments. Olson is also an associate professor at the University of the Michigan and director of the APRIL Robotics Laboratory. He is the winner of the 2010 MAGIC robotics competition, the 2013 DARPA Young Faculty Award, and was named one of Popular Science’s “Brilliant Ten” in 2012.  

Len Gauger, is CEO of ConnectSpace, formerly known as Message Blocks. Message Blocks started as a basic agenda building tool and has evolved to become a full-fledged suite of tools that helps organizations create meaningful connections between event attendees.

Aaron Rajda is IT Director at the new Ann Arbor-based Ford Labs, a unit of Ford Motor Company focused on software development and implementation. FordLabs is a result of the company’s investment in California-based Pivotal Software. Rajda advocated for FordLabs to be located nearby, but outside of Ford’s existing facilities in order to create a distinct culture of innovation and chose Ann Arbor for its deep talent pool.

Cultivate Coffee and Tap House is playing a role in the resurgence of Ypsilanti’s Depot Town. Owner Bekah Wallace created Cultivate to be an inclusive destination where “everyone belongs.”  

Rich Perlberg is chair of the Economic Development Council of Livingston County (EDCLC), a key economic development partner of Ann Arbor SPARK. Perlberg was instrumental in creating the partnership, and also championed the creation of the Greater Ann Arbor Region, a multi-county partnership designed to encourage economic growth more broadly across southeast Michigan.

Jeff Mason is CEO and founder of Groundspeed Analytics, Inc. Groundspeed uses machine learning to help commercial P&C brokers and insurance carriers unlock insights from static document files like loss runs, policy forms, and exposure schedules.

Kim Gamez, the CEO and founder of Mi Padrino, saw a need in her own Hispanic community for a simple alternative to traditional methods of organizing, planning, and funding events. MiPadrino allows family members to accomplish those tasks and donate to Quinceañeras, weddings, and baby showers.

Steve Hopkins is president of Curo Technologies, a Melbourne, Australia-based healthtech company. Curo’s in-home sensors monitor elderly adults and relays that data to families, caregivers, and insurance companies.