Keynote | Web Con

Masha Trenhaile

Head of University Strategy and Outreach

Session: Unlocking Team Potential: How the Six Working Genius Types Drive Success
Time: April 10th, 8:30 – 9:30 am

Professional background: Masha Trenhaile serves as Head of University Strategy and Outreach for Bayer Crop Science, where she identifies strategic university partnerships, fosters relationships with faculty and administrators, and develops talent pipelines across leading research institutions. A licensed and certified Six Types of Working Genius facilitator, Masha brings over 15 years of experience bridging the worlds of business development, operations, and strategic relationship building. She earned her Master of Science in Advertising from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has built a distinguished career creating meaningful connections between industry and academia, including working on developing the Research Park at the University of Illinois. Masha’s current work includes orchestrating large-scale university engagement programs such as Bayer R&D Hackathon Series and the Bayer’s “Bring Them In” initiative as well as spearheading partnerships that advance agricultural research and innovation. An active community leader, she has served as a director for the Public Art League and board member for Sinfonia da Camera and has been a generous sponsor of the Krannert Center for Performing Arts. Originally from Ukraine, Masha is passionate about helping organizations unlock their team’s potential and applying the Six Types of Working Genius framework to enhance productivity, satisfaction, and collaboration in professional settings.

Personal background: I wasn’t supposed to move to the U.S. permanently. But a few days after my family arrived in Oklahoma where my mother would be a visiting professor, the Soviet Union collapsed, and my native Ukraine became an independent nation. I finished high school and college in Oklahoma but came to Champaign-Urbana to the University of Illinois to study for a master’s in advertising; during my first day of Graduate Student orientation, I saw the man (Brent) who eventually became my husband. I continue to live in Champaign – Urbana and have two kids, Misha and Leeza. If you have ever watched Masha and the bear, that cartoon is about me. 😊

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Chris Tidrick

CIO, Gies College of Business
ctidrick@illinois.edu

Session: Leading with Integrity from the Inside Out
Time: April 9th, 8:30 am – 9:30 am

Chris is a seasoned technology leader with over 30 years’ experience driving digital transformation in higher education. As the Chief Information Officer at Gies College of Business, he leads strategic initiatives to enhance data-driven decision-making, student success, and operational efficiency. He’s also helped facilitate the IT Leadership Workshop for the last 11 years. Before moving into management and leadership roles in 2012, he built websites and applications for University of Illinois Extension. He regularly shares his insights through podcasts, speaking engagements, and writing as @thinkfeellead on Substack.

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Patrice Buckner Jackson, Ed.D.

Professional Speaker, Author, Podcast Host
patricebucknerjackson.com

Keynote: Disrupting Burnout
Time: April 4, 8:30 am

Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson, known in her community as Dr. PBJ, is a transformational speaker, podcast host, and educator of almost twenty-five years. She holds a doctoral degree in education administration. Much of her work is specifically focused on equipping and refreshing educators. Compassionate work carries a high price tag: your mind, body, Spirit, and relationships may be in distress as you serve the needs of others. Dr. Jackson gives her community the strategies to accomplish purposeful work without burnout.

Dr. PBJ is the creator and host of the Disrupting Burnout podcast as well as the author of the Amazon best-seller Disrupting Burnout: The professional woman’s LIFELINE to finding purpose.

Jena Marble

Graphic Designer, Art Director, and Clinical Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
marblemade.co

Session: Amplify, Not Replace: Human Creativity Meets AI
Time: April 3, 8:30 am

Jena Marble is a graphic designer, art director, and clinical assistant professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She has extensive experience in industry—working with clients that include Kohl’s, Toyota, Vienna Beef, and American Express—as well as academia and government, collaborating with Arizona State University, Baylor, USAID, the US State Department, and the National Institutes of Health.

Jena’s research focuses on artificial intelligence and graphic design. She explores how AI can reshape creative processes and transform the future of the design industry. By staying at the forefront of AI technology trends, Jena contributes to the ongoing conversation on AI’s evolving impact on graphic design.

Terresa Moses

Creative Director
Blackbird Revolt
moses@umn.edu

Session: Closing Keynote: Racism Untaught: From Theory to Practice
Time: April 5, 8:30 am

Terresa Moses (she/her) is a proud Black queer woman dedicated to the liberation of Black and brown people through art and design. She is the Creative Director at Blackbird Revolt and an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and the Director of Design Justice at the University of Minnesota. As a community-engaged scholar, she created Project Naptural and co-created Racism Untaught. She is currently a PhD candidate in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto. She serves as a core team member of African American Graphic Designers and as a collaborator with the Black Liberation Lab.

Lisa Elzey Mercer

Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation
College of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA), at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
lemercer@illinois.edu ⁠

Session: Closing Keynote: Racism Untaught: From Theory to Practice
Time: April 5, 8:30 am

Lisa Elzey Mercer (she/her) is a designer, educator, and researcher. Her interests are in developing and executing design interventions that fuel and sustain responsible design for social impact. The developed frameworks and tools are intended to create a space for conversation and knowledge exchange where participants can collaborate in creating new ideas and solutions. This type of methodology is evident in her current projects Operation Compass and Racism Untaught. She is an Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois.

Jepson Taylor

A.I. Strategist & Innovator
Co-founder, stealth AI Company
Website: https://www.jepsontaylor.com/home

Session: Opening Keynote: AI, Startups, and the New World of Work: Preparing for the Unimaginable
Time: April 4, 8:30 am

Jepson has over 18 years of machine-learning experience. After studying chemical engineering Jepson worked for Intel/Micron in applied semiconductor building process control and fault models. After that, he worked as a quant at a hedge fund on a 600 GPU cluster. Taylor then joined a young Sequoia-backed HR startup called HireVue to run their data group where they delivered 14 patents. In 2017 Jepson co-founded Zeff.ai with David Gonzalez to pursue deep learning for image, audio, video, and text for the enterprise. Zeff was acquired by DataRobot in 2020 where Jepson worked as their Chief AI Evangelist until joining Dataiku as their Chief AI Strategist. Jepson is currently launching a new AI company focused on the next generation of AI which will be announced in 2024. Jepson is very active in the global startup communities.