OPEN Washington DC’s 2019 Annual Event took place at Tyson’s Corner Marriott, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia. It was a terrific day of networking, insightful speakers, exchange of ideas and informative workshops. The event overall was a great success. In the post event feedback survey, 98% of respondents said they would recommend participating in the OPEN DC Annual Event to a friend or colleague.
Mona Siddiqui, MD
Chief Data Officer, Department of Health & Human Services , who spoke about key initiatives she is leading to bring disparate data sets together across DHHS agencies and departments, and the impact that will have on health management nationwide;
Mr. Haniel Lynn
CEO of Kastle Systems International , who reflected from his own journey as an executive across multiple industries on what it takes for an individual to develop into successive leadership roles and responsibilities on the path to making significant contributions as an executive & CEO of large organizations;
Mr. J.C. Connors
President & CEO of R&K Enterprise Solutions, who spoke about two models of leadership: authoritarian and servant leadership, and why he chose to implement the model of servant leadership in his capacity as a business leader;
Ms. Dilshad Vadsaria,
Karachi-born Hollywood Actor, Writer, Director & Producer, who shared views on being a story teller, building a career in the entertainment industry and the steps she is taking to start her own production company as she directs her first short film in Lahore, Pakistan;
Dr. Mehmood Khan,
CEO, Life Biosciences, who enlightened the group on the dynamic opportunities for life-changing value creation available through technology, and how he has charted his career to make contributions at the highest levels of impact globally focused on the intersection of industry, research and innovation;
Mr. Zafir Rashid,
CEO of Everest Group of Companies and Grand Medina Resorts Orlando, who talked about how his passion for real estate led him to take an interest in the fast growing halal tourism market and develop a first of its kind 5-star luxury hotel and resort concept being built on pristine waterfront property 5 miles from Walt Disney World.
In addition, this year’s program included, for the first time, four in-depth workshops led by accomplished experts in their field:
Rahul Jindal,
CEO of Fedsync, who described key steps, approaches and tools to utilize on how to win a federal contract;
Parvez Khan,
CEO, Sage Consulting Services,who discussed strategies to remove obstacles on the path to personal achievement;
Farooq Cheema,
Founder & Director of Mclean Intelligent Workforce,who outlined strategies to identify and acquire high quality small and medium sized businesses as a means to achieve profitable growth;
Umar Hameed,
CEO of No Limits Selling,who taught key insights into the mindset and techniques that enable great selling skills and capabilities.
The Annual Event culminated in a Start-Up Pitch Competition with four finalists and three judges: Shahed Amanullah, Managing Partner, Frost Capital, Amber Chaudhry, an Intrapreneur, CX Strategist & Diversity Advocate , andFaheem Noor Ali, Entrepreneur and Climate Finance Trade Commissioner. We congratulate Rahul Kulkarni, CEO and Co-Founder ofThe Sukhi Projecton winning the 2019 OPEN DC Annual Pitch Competition.
We thank the OPEN Washington DC Executive Committeewho organized a terrific event, and, as one participant commented, “made it all look so effortless.” We thank the staff at Tysons Corner Marriott for their terrific cooperation in hosting and supporting the Annual Event. We also thank our marketing partner,Caandor Labs and recruiting partners American Pakistan FoundationStartUps Ignite,Muppies DC, and CDRS And, we extend our tremendous appreciation to our Individual and Corporate Sponsors who provided the important financial support that enabled the experience on November 8th and 9th to be a positive and energizing one for all participants.
Wishing Wonderful a Happy Holidays and New Year. We look forward to seeing you at OPEN DC Events across 2020!
Gold Sponsors
Mr. Afzaal Akthar
Managing Director, Accenture
MAKPAR PROVIDES HIGH LEVEL STRATEGIC AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES BASED ON OVER 30 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN CUSTOMER FOCUSED, CUTTING EDGE TECHNOLOGY IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT, BIG DATA AND ANALYTICS.
