ARE YOU READY TO #PITCHTEXAS?

Since 2015, Gregory Fenves and his administration have worked to expand access to the university for talented students across the state of Texas. He has prioritized diversity and inclusion, invested heavily in faculty and their research, expanded experiential learning opportunities for students, and has overseen strategic efforts that have led to the highest four-year graduation rates in the university’s history. As provost and president, he launched the Dell Medical School at UT Austin, which is dedicated to transforming health and health care locally and globally.

Heather Brunner is chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine. In that role she has steered the company to hyper-growth and global expansion, with offices in Austin, San Antonio, San Francisco, London, Limerick and Brisbane, serving 90,000 customers in more than 135 countries. A 27-year technology veteran, Heather helped create billions in value-driven customer success, and led business strategy for both privately funded new ventures and Fortune 500 companies.

She received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Central Texas award for technology. This year, Fortune has given WP Engine three awards for Best Place to Work for Millennials, as a top mid-sized business and as a top workplace in technology. Heather serves on the boards of directors of Camden Property Trust and The Entrepreneurs Foundation.

Rod Favaron moved to Austin 20 years ago to build successful technology companies. He is a serial “startup” guy with three very successful B2B software startups over the past 20 years. Rod has served as chairman and CEO of Spredfast for the past seven years. His company’s enterprise social software connects the world’s largest brands to their customers. Spredfast grew from a startup to nearly $100 million in revenue in eight years. Spredfast was acquired by Vista Private Equity in October 2018. Prior to Spredfast, Rod was chairman and CEO of Lombardi Software from an early startup into a global leader in business process management software. Lombardi was acquired by IBM in 2010. Rod also served as CEO of Mediaprise, Inc., a brand asset management software company; SVP Sales & Marketing for pcOrder, a pioneer in e-commerce software and internet content services; and as general manager at Mentor Graphics Corporation. He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Louisiana State University and an MBA from the University of Dallas Graduate School of Management. Rod currently serves on the boards of directors for Upland Software, and Bypass Mobile, and is a mentor to many technology entrepreneurs.