2024 Finalists
Hans Rempel |
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Dr. Chris Apfel |
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Noel Thomas |
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Bruce Hamilton and Scott Friesen |
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Vahid Behzadi |
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Lesley Mbogo |
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Dr. Joshua Kibera |
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Dr. Chris Silali |
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Jared Fulks and Collin Wenrich |
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Kirsten Hund Blair |
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Mike Glanz and Jenny Barber |
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2024 JudgesThis panel will look at the companies with two main factors in mind. First, they look at the traditional business and Return-On-Investment (ROI) perspective. Next, they look at the Kingdom ROI. Each judge brings their expertise, knowledge, wisdom, and experience to the stage. The judges panel also represents a diverse group and span of multiple generations. Most importantly, they bring their passion and drive to see God glorified in every business!
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Katherine Braynard
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Katherine Braynard serves as Director of Partnerships for Faith Driven Investor, where she focuses on Investor Relations. Katherine is passionate about using entrepreneurship and innovation to serve the Kingdom of God, especially as a means of sharing the hope of Jesus and in caring for the vulnerable and oppressed. Katherine received her B.A. in International Affairs and Public Policy at Princeton University, and completed additional studies in Old Testament theology at Oxford University and entrepreneurship at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She previously worked as a White House aide at the Office of Economic Initiatives and Entrepreneurship, and the Office of Management and Budget. Katherine lives in Seattle, WA with her husband Shelby.
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Christeen Rico
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Christeen Rico is a follower Jesus intent on building increasing tastes of Heaven on earth through venture. She was born in Angeles City (Philippines), raised in the San Francisco Bay Area (USA) and has spent the past decade in the Silicon Valley tech industry launching digital and physical experiences in new markets from strategy through execution, most recently with Apple. Today, she's stewarding all that Silicon Valley has taught her to dream bigger for the Philippines and beyond.
In July 2019, following the Lausanne Global Workplace Forum in Manila, Christeen partnered with Philippines-based and US-based leaders to host an entrepreneurship competition for Filipino youth: Dream Bigger Manila. The competition invited young people to identify a problem, imagine they had access to the Ultimate Venture Capitalist, dream big and pitch a for-profit venture that would radically transform Manila in their lifetime. Dream Bigger Ventures officially launched in 2021 in part due to the urgency brought on by the global pandemic. The investment group focused on a mission to empower Filipino Founders to grow as whole-life leaders who will have the character, community and competency to solve seemingly impossible problems in the Philippines with sustainable ventures that will transform culture and communities all around the globe. Dream Bigger Ventures officially launched in 2021 in part due to the urgency brought on by the global pandemic. The investment group focused on a mission to empower Filipino Founders to grow as whole-life leaders who will have the character, community and competency to solve seemingly impossible problems in the Philippines with sustainable ventures that will transform culture and communities all around the globe. |
Jonathan Harkless
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Jonathan is an experienced entrepreneur and business-builder, with over 20 years of executive leadership experience spanning several industries. He has founded and sold his own companies, led several restructures and turnarounds, and has functioned as an interim and fractional executive. He owns and leads The Banah Group, a strategic advisory firm that advises companies globally.
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Steve Helms
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Managing Partner of multiple entities across a diverse portfolio of investments in real estate, venture capital, and other holdings. I am responsible for ensuring the optimal performance and growth of assets, as well as providing guidance for wealth preservation, succession planning, governance, and philanthropy of the portfolio.
My Technology Sales career covers three decades of sales and alliance management at Dell Technologies, Anaplan, Workday, VCE, Oracle, Gartner, and Sun Microsystems. I have developed and executed strategies to drive revenue with emerging technologies such as cloud and converged infrastructure. I serve as President of the non-profit DFW Technology Prayer Breakfast, which aims to connect, inspire, and encourage the technology community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to live for Christ at work. I organize and host annual events that feature influential speakers who share their insights and experiences on how faith and technology can work together for positive impact. |
Kurt Knapton
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Kurt is an innovative business leader and “impact investor” passionate about his calling to help equip and encourage entrepreneurs to make a positive difference in the world. Kurt is the former CEO of Research Now. During his twelve years there, Kurt helped start-up and scale the world’s leading digital data-collection company serving the market research industry. Today, the company (rebranded Dynata) executes over 75,000 projects a year and generates over half-a-billion dollars of annual revenue. Early in his career Kurt spent a decade as a management consultant working for Booz Allen Hamilton and Accenture specializing in business strategy and improvement for Fortune 500 clients. Kurt earned his MBA from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck Graduate School of Business and was an Honors Program graduate at Baylor University where he holds a BBA in Management.
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Dorothée Kawama Ilunga
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My name is Dorothée Kawama Ilunga. I am a graduate student at Dallas Baptist University, pursuing my STEM MBA in Business Intelligence and Analytics. I currently work for the Graduate School of Business as a student worker, under the Master of Science in Information Technology and Management Program. I graduated cum laude with my BBA in Finance in 2022. I am a current member of the MSTIM Ambassador program, African Students Union at DBU, and Delta Mu Delta International Honors Society.
I am from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I came to the US in 2018 to continue with my education in Business Administration. I love reading and learning new and exciting ways to enrich my and other people's lives. |
Ben Huteson
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Ben Huteson is a Senior at Dallas Baptist University pursuing a BBA in hospitality management with a minor in entrepreneurship while also serving as the assistant to the Chancellor at DBU. Ben has also served as a senator for Student Government, Vice President for Omicron Delta Kappa, and is a member of DBU’s Presidential Fellows.
Ben will be graduating in May of 2024 and will continue at DBU with his MBA in Management. |