THE INNOVATION ENVIRONMENT
Where the systems and forces shaping what comes next come into focus.
Capital, technology, platforms, and policy reframed clearly—in the same room.
Wednesday, May 13
*Schedule subject to change
8:00 AM – Doors Open
Bold Brew and Books
Main Street Station
Bold Brew and Books is your space to recharge between sessions. Grab coffee, refreshments, and a moment to relax alongside fellow attendees. Featured speakers will have opportunities to sign books during select meet-and-greet sessions.
BDIS Health + Wellness Breakout Session | 8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Before the Diagnosis: Detecting and Reversing Cardiometabolic Risk Early
Leveraging Advanced Testing and Small Habit Shifts to Change Everything
Main Street Station
Panel Discussion
Most heart disease doesn't announce itself. It builds quietly, often missed by standard testing, invisible on routine bloodwork, and shaped daily by stress, sleep, and lifestyle choices we barely notice. Dr. Jennifer Chung and Dr. Matthew Chung break down the link between stress and cardiometabolic health, explain why conventional risk assessments leave dangerous gaps, and share the advanced imaging and advanced biomarkers that give a far more accurate picture. Learn three small, science-backed daily habits that create measurable change. Delivered with real solutions and time for questions and discussion.
Featured Guests:
Dr. Jennifer Chung, MD, Functional Medicine, Internal Medicine
Dr. Matthew Chung, MD, Interventional Cardiology
9:00 AM
Dominion Energy Welcome
Main Street Station
Featured Guest:
Molly Parker, VP Corporate Communications, Dominion Energy
9:05 AM - 9:35 AM
Innovators Showcase
Built for the Grid
Main Street Station
Founder Interviews
The Innovation Environment begins with the companies engineering it. Hardware is finding its market. Clean energy is moving from prototype to deployment. Founders connected to the Dominion Energy Innovation Center take the stage to share the idea, the problem, and the ask. This is how Day 2 opens, not with the utilities and capital backing the transition, but with the builders turning the path to a net-zero economy into companies the grid can run on.
Why This Room Matters:
Meet the founders building toward a net-zero carbon economy out of one of Virginia's leading clean energy incubator
Spot hardware and clean energy breakthroughs moving from prototype to deployment before the broader field catches on
Set the tone for a day focused on the systems, capital, and partnerships shaping how innovation scales
Moderator:
Adam Sledd, Executive Director, Dominion Energy Innovation Center
Featured Guest:
William D. Lehner, Chief Strategy Officer, Independence Hydrogen
Miles Braxton, CEO and Co-Founder, Okovate Sustainable Energy
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Enterprise Forward
Navigating Tech at Scale
Main Street Station
Panel Discussion
Modernizing the enterprise has never been more complex. Cloud, data, security, legacy systems, and AI are all competing for attention, talent, and budget at the same time. This session gets into how the pieces actually fit together inside large organizations, where the real bottlenecks are, and what it takes to turn investment into impact. You'll hear what's working, what isn't, and which decisions matter most right now.
Why This Room Matters:
Hear how leaders are setting priorities across cloud, data, security, and AI
See where the real bottlenecks are and how the best teams work through them
Walk away with a clearer read on what to focus on over the next 12 to 18 months
Moderator:
Sonali Shetty, Chief Technology Officer, Tactiq
Featured Guests:
John Russell, CTO, Dominion Energy
Lois Schonberger, Partner, Quantum Black, McKinsey & Company
Liz McBride, AI Change Acceleration Leader, CapTech Consulting
11:35 AM – 12:35 PM
The Compounding Effect
Patience, Longevity & Building What Lasts
Main Street Station
Fireside Chat
Most markets reward speed. The best outcomes usually come from something slower.
This session is about what it actually looks like to build over time, whether you’re growing a company or managing capital. Not just the idea of compounding, but the discipline it requires when everything around you pushes for quicker returns.
Why This Room Matters:
Hear how long-term value actually gets built across businesses and portfolios
Understand what separates sustained performance from short-term spikes
Walk away with a clearer way to make decisions that hold up over time
Moderator:
Brian P. Brown, Ph.D., Dean of the VCU School of Business
Featured Guest:
Thomas “Tom” Gayner, Chief Executive Officer, Markel Group
12:35 PM – 1:20 PM
Lunch + Networking
Main Street Station
SPECIAL CLE SESSION | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
CLE: AI – Risks, Responsibilities, and Regulation
Separate registration required here
Main Street Station
CLE: AI – Risks, Responsibilities, and Regulation
BDIS CLE offers Continuing Legal Education credit, anchored by a featured session on generative AI and how it is reshaping legal research, drafting, and client service alongside the evolving ethical and regulatory landscape. Attendees will gain practical insight into risk management, responsible AI use, and real-world legal workflows, with Virginia ethics credit pending approval. Fully integrated into the Summit program, BDIS CLE connects legal expertise with the broader conversation on technology and business innovation.
Instructor:
Thomas Dunlap, Partner, Dunlap, Bennett, & Ludwig
1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
The New Playbook
Platform, Performance & Building Beyond the Game
Main Street Station
Fireside Chat
The most interesting careers are not the ones with a clear finish line. They are the ones that compound across arenas, where the platform built in one place becomes the launchpad for the next.
This conversation looks at what that actually requires. The decisions were made early. The discipline carried across. And how operators who have been at the top of one discipline think about building the next thing while the current one is still running.
Two careers. Very different next chapters. One playbook the rest of the room can learn from.
Why This Room Matters:
See how top performers think about leverage, platform, and the next arena
Understand what transfers across disciplines and what gets rebuilt from scratch
Walk away with a clearer sense of how to build what comes next while the current thing is still running
Featured Guests:
Dan Orlovsky, NFL Analyst, ESPN
Dhani Jones, Chairman, Qey Capital Partners
BDIS Health + Wellness Breakout Session | 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
The Full Circle: Designing a Life That Fulfills You
A Values-Based Framework for Living with Greater Intention
Main Street Station
Interactive Session
You've arrived. All the hard work, sacrifice, and ambition have paid off, and here you are. But once the initial relief fades, the days start to blur. The to-do lists get checked, the milestones keep coming, and somewhere in the background a quieter question emerges. Is this it? Is this the life I meant to build? You can be successful by every external measure and still feel like something is off. In this interactive session, Dr. Liz Sonntag invites attendees to pause and take a more honest look at their life: not just what's working, but what may be missing. Using a values-based framework, she guides a full-circle view across health, relationships, career, personal growth, play, and more. This is not about optimizing or achieving more. It is about stepping off autopilot, moving beyond external expectations and the "supposed to's," and reconnecting with what actually matters. Attendees leave with greater clarity, a deeper sense of intention, and a renewed awareness that they have more agency than they may be using.
Featured Guest:
Dr. Liz Sonntag, MD, Critical Care Physician; Founder, Say More Coaching
BDIS Health + Wellness Breakout Session | 2:30 PM - 2:50 PM
Energy Reset: Restored and Full Before What's Next
A Mid-Summit Reset
Main Street Station
Restorative Practice
Midway through the Summit, the mind is full. The body has been in motion. The schedule has been demanding. Before heading into the evening and the final day ahead, this session creates space to integrate what the Summit has stirred up so far. Ashley Williams Hillman leads a restorative practice that draws on therapeutic, somatic, and mindfulness-based techniques to quiet the nervous system, restore energy, and reconnect mind, body, heart, and community. The session is designed to send attendees back out differently than they arrived, with greater self-awareness, inner steadiness, and a clearer sense of what to carry into Day 3.
Featured Guest:
Ashley Williams Hillman, Founder and CEO, The Well Collective
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM
Real Angels Invest 2.0
Women in Venture, Capital & the New Investment Landscape
Main Street Station
Panel Discussion
Last year started the conversation. This year is about what’s happening since.
Across venture and private markets, more women are leading deals, building funds, and backing companies on their own terms – changing how capital moves in the process.
Why This Room Matters:
Hear from investors actively putting capital to work
Understand how new paths into venture are being built, and by whom
Walk away with perspective and connections you won’t get from headlines alone
Featured Guests:
Noelle James, Startup Virginia
Melissa Pegus, UpVentures Capital
Kelli Saulny, Corridor Ventures
Tracy Deforge, Founder, The Players Impact (TPI)
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
From the Mirror to the Boardroom
Creative Ownership & the Business of Self
Main Street Station
Fireside Chat
What does it take to build something of your own in an industry that wasn’t designed for you?
This session looks at the shift from visibility to ownership – how creators move from being the talent to building the platform, the IP, and the business behind it.
We’ll get into what that actually requires: the decisions, the leverage, and the moments where walking away is the only way to build something bigger.
Why This Room Matters:
Hear how creators turn attention into ownership and long-term value
Understand how IP, distribution, and control translate into real leverage
Walk away with a clearer sense of how to build beyond the platform
Moderator:
Taylor Shaw, Head of Film, Kickstarter
Featured Guest:
Issa Rae, CEO of HOORAE, Producer, Actress, and Writer
EXTENDED PLAY
5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
The Garden Social at Agecroft Hall
Featuring Sounds Funny Band with DJ Marc J.
Summit credential or separate ticket required.
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
After The Summit
The Library at The Hof + Rooftop | Free to Attend
Presented with RVA Magazine and Harry's at The Hof.
Manifesto Hour guided wine tasting, live music from Theocles on the rooftop, and DJ sets from Elliott and Aimeé Lauren in The Library.
7 PM – 11 PM
Get Tight Takeover at Get Tight Lounge
A continuous-set evening blending house, acid jazz, alternative rock, and soul.
See the full schedule