The Inaugural #OMNI27

#Omni27

At Omni Public, I get to work with the brightest minds in the world. I am extremely grateful to work alongside brilliant people grinding on world-changing ideas. This year I decided to showcase some of the standouts in Tampa Bay with a list featuring Startups CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Politicians, and Media cementing the inaugural #Omni27. I believe the people and entities making this list will do sensational work in 2022. The list was inspired by former Tampa Bay Times Columnist Ernest Hopper’s annual list of the “25 Most Interesting People ''. I liked his approach; making a list of people he met with and covered throughout the year. It was a very unbiased and genuine way of acknowledging people that were doing good work in the community. So here's my list ( In no real order) of dope people I have met and have the pleasure of working with.?

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1) Daniel Badran, CEO of Minimise Global??

Daniel Badran is a force. He is a serial entrepreneur with over 30 years of Domestic and International experience as an elite-level executive. After successful engagements in biofuel, alternative energy, and energy conservation measures, Danny founded Minimise Global in 2011, where he serves as Chairman and the driving force behind the vision. Danny’s inspiring personality shines through his work as he continues to show people how to do things they never thought they could do, as well as the reverse, taking them out of dead-end endeavors and guiding them down the right path. If you ever met Danny you know he is special. I'm glad not just to be working with him, but to also call him my closest friend and mentor.?

He is a two-time cancer survivor who battled back from advanced stages of laryngeal cancer, Badran lost his voice for three years due to the removal of his voice box. While a mute he developed the Minimise Global model where he turns waste into currency.?

Check out his story on CNN and more about his work in the Oxford Strategy Review.? Oh, yea and his projects are backed by a UK-based bank for $400M.?

2) Ken Welch, Mayor-Elect of the City of St, Petersburg?

Ken Welch made history as the first Black Mayor of St.Petersburg, FL. When Welch is not in “project planning mode” working to keep the promise of inclusive progress, he is out-riding his Harley, “Nala”. I strongly feel he will lead St. Pete into a new era. I had the privilege of supporting the Mayor-Elect of The City of St. Pete and hosting him at Omni Public HQ this past year. He is solid and I'm excited, not just for St. Pete but for our region. He is already making strong strides having already visited the White House and held a series of community conversations as he prepares for his transition.

To keep up to date with his transition email: [email protected].

3) Selene San Felice is a big deal. Seriously google her. She is a champion of journalism and in my opinion one of the best writers in the country. She is a renowned reporter for Axios, where she is the co-author of the Tampa Bay newsletter, covering consequential news and developments in the region where many of her stories have been published across national Axios outlets and picked up on Yahoo News!, The Hustle and beyond. She is formerly a feature and enterprise reporter at The Capital Gazette in Annapolis.

Selene is also a Pulitzer Prize special citation recipient and a Time Magazine person of the year for 2018. She has a profound story as a survivor of the Capital Gazette shooting, if you do anything today read this latest coverage on her in? NPR. Subscribe to her newsletter here.

4) Ana Cruz, Political Titan?

Tampa’s First Lady Ana Cruz is a political powerhouse. She is one of the 100 most influential people in Florida Politics and one of the 500 most influential business leaders in Florida, she is nothing short of a savant when it comes to political strategy and government affairs and has redefined what it is to be a Latino and work in politics, government relations and consulting in Florida and in DC. She was the first Hispanic person to serve as executive director of the Florida Democratic Party and served as spokesperson for Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaigns in 2008 and 2016. For over twenty years, Cruz has advised high-profile candidates running for office to work inside the state and federal government.?

She is a role model in the industry not just for me but for generations to come.?

5) Dr. Robert H.Bishop? Dean of The College Engineering at USF and CEO of the Applied Institute of Engineering

Dr. Robert H. Bishop is the Dean of Engineering at the University of South Florida (USF). After a long and successful career at The University of Texas at Austin, and Marquette University in Milwaukee, Bishop noted the urban beauty and potential of the growing USF campus. He welcomed the challenge to create something new and transformative in the region for the academic institution. He is also the? CEO of the Institute of Applied Engineering (IAE) which provides agile, best-value engineering solutions to enhance the performance, effectiveness, and safety of its sponsors, including the Department of Defense; other federal, state, and local agencies; and industry. These engineering solutions include hardware-and-software-based applied research, advanced technology development, prototypes, and technical services. The institute is a part of transforming the USF area into “iCity” and advancing RITHM at uptown.?

Dr. Bishop is brilliant, check out his thoughts on casualty-less warfare on Axios. His work with the Institute in Forbes and his ideas on our current State of American Foreign Affairs in The Hill.

6) Dr. Patrica Lawman CEO and Founder of Morphogenesis?

As Dr. Lawman’s story in Axios writes “While trying to raise the funds to get Morphogenesis off the ground, Lawman and her husband and co-founder, Michael, lived on a Key Largo alligator farm, transporting the animals and serving gator bites in the snack shack”. From working on a gator farm to working on a cancer vaccine, Dr. Lawman is the most talented executive I have ever worked with. She is truly in a league on her own and one of the most brilliant leaders I have come in contact with. What she has done with Morphogenesis is remarkable and I urge you to check her story out on TBT, Forbes, and her full interview with Entrepreneur.

7) Lauren Coffey, Reporter with Tampa Bay Business Journal and Tampa Bay Inno?

Lauren is pivotal to the Tampa Bay Tech Ecosystem. She is ‘“THE” Tech Reporter for our ecosystem. Her reporting is crucial, so crucial that everyone at Omni Public reads her column daily. If you don't know who she is, she is one of Tampa Bay Business Journal's lead journalists, where she covers technology, entrepreneurs, innovation, and education in the area. She is also the author of Tampa Bay Inno, an online website and twice-weekly newsletter which covers all things startups and innovation.

Lauren is an advocate and excellent resource for the Tampa Bay entrepreneurial ecosystem. Follow her on Twitter @lauren_coffey

8) Linda Olson CEO of the Tampa Bay Wave?

Linda Olson is the OG of Tampa's tech scene. She is the CEO & founder of the Tampa Bay Wave, a 501c3 nonprofit that has supported over 300 tech startups since 2013 with an accelerator program, coworking, and other services. She has been a founder or management team member of several tech startups since 1999. Prior to that, Linda began her career running ERP implementation projects for Fortune 500 companies. The Tampa Bay Wave has been on fire. Launching various diverse cohorts such as Tech Woman Rising, Tech Diversity, Cyber Tech | X, and Fintech | X. One of the latest founders of the Tech Woman Rising cohort is the 13-year-old CEO of Rareguru, Claire Barrow check out the story on FOX.

9) Dr. Richard Munassi MBA, MD Serial Entrepreneur and Accelerator Managing Director at the Tampa Bay Wave

I first sat down with Dr. Munassi 4 yrs ago at the Blind Tiger Cafe in Ybor City.? We clicked immediately and I'm glad to call him my friend, Dr. Richard Munassi is a serial entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Blackfin Technology Partners and Blackfin Venture Partners, co-founder of Medzoomer, and Accelerator Managing Director at the Tampa Bay Wave. Dr. Munassi sits on the Advisory Board for SXSW Pitch, is an Executive in Residence at the University of Florida's UF Innovate Program, and is part of the NASA iTech team. He is an advisor for multiple national and regional entrepreneurship programs.?

He is a tremendous asset to the Tampa Bay Entrepreneurial ecosystem. Check out his piece on Forbes.?

10) Pam Miniati and Rakefet Phillips Co-Executive Directors of FIBA?

The team that is bringing the Startup Nation to the Sunshine State is Pam Miniati and Rakefet Phillips the two Co-Executive Directors of the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator, a technology accelerator designed to establish and grow successful, high-growth tech ventures in the Tampa Bay area. Launched in 2016, FIBA was created with 2 main goals: First, to foster economic growth and stimulate innovation within the expanding business ecosystem in Florida. Second, to engage various communities around Florida with the organization and with Israeli tech startups.

Here is a deeper dive on ABC and their full interview on Entreprenuer.com with the legend Phillip Lanos.

11) Veronica Brezina, Reporter with the St. Pete Catalyst?

Veronica has the best instincts in journalism in the region. She was the first to cover some of our biggest startups and entrepreneurs in Tampa Bay that have become national stories. Veronica Brezina is currently a reporter at the St. Pete Catalyst where she covers real estate and business in the Tampa Bay region. Veronica has extensive reporting experience as she has previously worked for the Tampa Bay Business Journal and the Orlando Business Journal.?

Nobody has a better handle on what is happening in St. Pete than Veronica. Read her column here.

12) Stan Liberatore CEO of Vsummits?

The cage fighter CEO Stan Liberatore is a stud.? He is a passionate entrepreneur in the emerging technologies and business development scope. Stan is the CEO and Founder of VSummits, a virtual platform for webinars, conferences, summits, and more, as well as, the President of No Limit Technology. Yet, his passion comes out the most through his non-profit,? Disrupt the Bay, where he and his wife Holly bring together top medical field professionals for a health conference and charity event to raise funds for pediatric cancer research. In my opinion, VSummits is the future virtual event and the most unsigned hype in the state of Florida. Check out his story on Forbes.

13) Johnny Crowder, CEO of Cope Notes?

I love me some Johnny Crowder. Once you meet him you will know why,? just check out his TED Talk with over 1M views. Johnny is the founder of Cope Notes,? a text-based mental health platform that provides daily support to users in over 100 countries around the world. Johnny’s mission is to rebrand the global mental health conversation and advocate for those all over the world. He is a? speaker, touring musician, and mental health advocate. Johnny’s mission is to rebrand the global mental health conversation. He has been featured in Forbes, INC, Entrepreneur, Axios and you must check out his story in CNN he is one of this year's Startup of the Year Finalists. In my opinion, he? is the most talented founder in Tampa Bay. Watch out for Johnny. I am proud to call him a friend.?

14) Erik Maltais, CEO of Immertec?

I first met Erik Maltais, CEO of Immertec when it was just him and his co-founder John Clegg working in a studio in Westshore. I? worked on his first story in The Catalyst (back in 2018), when they first broke the news about the upstart in Tampa Bay.? They have since been covered by everyone. Immertec is an award-winning MedTech company that enables surgeons to observe, communicate, and collaborate in real-time through virtual reality. I strongly feel they will be one of Florida's next breakout Unicorns. Erik is relentless and if you meet him you will see why. It's impressive what he and John have accomplished these past couple of years and they will set the standard for what it is to be a Startup in Tampa Bay.?

15) Aaron White, Serial Entrepreneur?

I had the chance to get to know Aaron this past year over cigars at Grand Cathedral. Aaron built an amazing company in Script which was recently acquired by LINQ. He has previously served as IT director of a charter network, and his current focus as LINQ’s Senior Director of Product is helping schools go paperless and cashless with Script. Whatever is next from Aaron it will be a big deal so keep your eye on him.?

16) Chris Vasilakis, CEO of Guided Virtual Tours?

Another kid from Brooklyn, a former marine, Forbes #Next1000 Honoree, and member of MENSA, Chris Vasilakis is one of my favorite humans I met this year. He flies planes, boxes and is the CEO of Guided Virtual Tours, a digital property touring company catering to residential real estate firms and apartment complexes. When not working as a digital leasing expert, Chris is passionate about helping children. He founded a 501c3 called The Virtual Recess Foundation to provide virtual adventures seen through VR Viewers for ailing children who are confined to lengthy hospital admissions. Not only is he a certified genius he has a heart of gold.?

17) Mariah Hayden, Executive Director at New Life Village

Mariah Hayden is doing God’s work. She has worked for over twenty years in government, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors in the areas of government contracting, community relations, training and development, college instruction, diversity programs management, event management, and educational programming. She currently serves as the Executive Director at New Life Village,? an intergenerational community designed to support families raising foster to permanency and kinship children who have survived abuse, neglect, and trauma. Their mission is to offer these children and families program-rich, below-market housing and onsite wrap-around services.? At Omni Public, we aided in the advocacy for a state appropriation, and thanks to State Representative Jackie Toledo who championed the effort, we were able to secure a $1M appropriation for housing for foster youth.

18) Ernest Coney, CEO, and President of the CDC of Tampa?

Ernest Coney and the Coney family are crucial to Tampa Bay. He is a Dartmouth College graduate who also holds a master's degree in public health from the University of South Florida, and is the CEO and President of the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa. Founded in 1992, the CDC of Tampa has built a proven track record of reducing disparities for people and communities throughout Tampa, Hillsborough County, and beyond. They have helped thousands of families through their programming and are a hallmark of our community.?

19) Kimberly Overman, Hillsborough County Commissioner?

I first met Commissioner Overman, when she was a community activist in Seminole Heights and I was a Legislative Aide at The City of Tampa. It has been amazing to see her transformation into a public official. She, a 36-year resident of the Tampa Bay area, was elected to the Hillsborough County Commission in 2018. A long-time advocate of smart planning, economic growth, strong families, sustainable communities, and the importance of education, Commissioner Overman has a long history of public service volunteerism and community involvement. When she is not leading Hillsborough County as the Chair of the County Commission she is being an awesome grandparent to her grandson. Hillsborough County is in good hands under her leadership.?

20) Maya Brown?

Maya Brown has come a long way from being an intern at City Hall to a formidable political consultant powerhouse. She has spent almost 10 years electing progressive democrats to offices and running issue-based campaigns up and down the ballot in Florida. Her political experience is matched by her fundraising and public speaking skills. A known consensus-builder, she has collaborated with politicians, nonprofit leaders, and community advocates to help solve and effectively communicate some of our state’s most pressing issues and help nonprofit organizations grow. Her legislative and public affairs experience in both Florida’s Capitol and local government helped shape historic quality of life and criminal justice policy reforms not just in Tampa Bay but across the state of Florida.

Keep killing it, Maya.?

21) Bruce Lucas?

Bruce Lucas is the man behind the $100M? raise at Slide. It has been an absolute pleasure working with him as we prepared to run the communications for his historic raise in his industry. He is extremely humble, knowledgeable, and approachable. It’s inspiring being around him and working with him and his brilliant team. He is already setting a new standard for the type of startups that are emerging out of Tampa Bay.? I am grateful to him and his? team to have the confidence in us to be their agency of choice to?

22) Justine Griffin?

Justine Griffin is the? Assistant Business editor at the Tampa Bay Times. Prior to becoming an editor, Griffin covered health, medicine, and business news at the Tampa Bay Times. Before joining the paper in 2015, she worked for the St. Augustine Record, the Sentinel, and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where she gained national attention for her coverage. She has a phenomenal handle on Tampa Bay and superior instincts on how to cover the business community for the times. I’m extremely excited for the business beat for the Times in 2022.?

23) Tim Moore + Jon Da Vila?

I first met Tim Moore and Jon Da Vila when we ran against each other for Student Body President at USF. Although I won! We have remained friends and they have inspired me ever since. Tim and Jon have worked together for over 10 years at their Tampa company, Diamond View Studios. Tim Moore, CEO of DiamondView, is a three-time Emmy award-winning director and has worked on thousands of videos over the years. Jon is the President of Diamond View, which is currently serving Tampa, Miami, and Atlanta with big plans to expand in the near future. Most recently they raised a $10M seed round for their next company The Vu which is the future of virtual production.?

24) Roberto Torres?

Roberto Torres is the man. I first launched Omni Public at his co-working space in The Blind Tiger Cafe in Ybor in 2017. He is an accountant-turned-entrepreneur force of nature who spends his days toggling between being a dad to his two amazing sons, running his businesses, and promoting Tampa Bay’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Roberto is the co-Founder and Managing Partner of Black & Denim Apparel Company and The Blind Tiger Coffee Roasters. He is an entrepreneur specializing in the areas of accounting, audit, operations, logistics, and financial services segments. He brings his expertise in retail and operations, both as a consultant and an executive, to assist start-ups and early companies with strategic, operational, and expansion plans. Roberto is hungry and it's been amazing to see his continued growth as he expands his coffee empire.?

25) Sheridan Sundstrom?

One of the biggest decisions that a founder can make is finding the right EA. Earlier this year I needed an Executive Assistant who would be able to come in and help me manage the growth of Omni Public and deal with my random ideas and help me put them together. I reached out to Joelle Paban for help and she found the perfect person for me, Sheridan Sundstrom. She has been pivotal for the growth of this company and I am grateful to have her by my side. She is a University of Tampa Alum, where her focus was on public relations, as well as a minor in Philosophy.?

Sheridan is from Ashby, Massachusetts, moving to Tampa five years ago to pursue her career. She has worked in multiple industries and positions including sales, financial advising, and management. Now, she works as the Executive Assistant at Omni Public, where she supports the executive team and manages operations and public relations for the company itself.

Thank you, Sheridan

26) Dave Jordan?

Dave Jordan is a journalist who came to the darkside and joined consulting. When I met Dave he was an investigative reporter at Spectrum and we clicked instantly as we are both from a small town in NY called Brooklyn. He now runs our Public Affairs division and helps to manage our accounts across the country.? Before joining us, Dave spent 25 years as a print and broadcast journalist and has worked with Bloomberg, The New York Times and covered a multitude of stories across the country. His work helped lead to the arrest of businessmen and violent criminals leading to multiple convictions, changed both state policy and state law.

I am grateful to have Dave on our team.?

27) Brain Kornfeld?

Brian starts every day thinking about how to make Tampa Bay and Florida the world’s next great innovation community. He is the leader of Synapse Florida and a member of the Forbes #Next1000. I first met Brian in 2017 when he hired Omni Public to run the communications for what is now the Superbowl of Tech for Tampa Bay, The Synapse Summit. Through Synapse I was able to deeply connect with the Startup community and begin my work on consulting for some amazing companies. I value Bryan as a friend and I am grateful he took a shoot on us to be his agency of choice. Follow him on Twitter at @therocketmanbk

Das it. That's my list.?

Next Monday I'm dropping the "27 ways Omni Public is Shaping The Future" where you will get a snapshot of the work we are doing on a larger scale with companies like HyperloopTT, Bird Rides, Benicomp, etc.?

should be legit.?

Shout out to the Omni Public Marketing, Community Affairs, and Research team for helping pull this together. Joy Peterson, Gabrielle Pacate, Caroline McCabe, Gabriella Iannacone and Allison Distasi.