Speaker Bios

CEO
Eden Green

Badrina leads Eden Green, an agtech company which is changing the way we grow food and feed people. Badrina is driven by systems thinking and frameworks to grow and scale organizations. Previously, he was co-founder and president of BuzzShift, a digital strategy agency for mid-sized brands and organizations. Bedrina and his co-founder had the unique opportunity to sell BuzzShift in 2016, reacquire it, and sell it again in 2021. He has more than 20 years of experience in strategic planning, marketing and PR, including roles at the U.S. Department of State, executive leadership for a White House initiative, and director-level positions at two successful startups. Bedrina is a graduate of Texas A&M University and the Bush School for Government and Public Service.

Co-Founder
Santé Ventures

Cunningham co-founded Santé Ventures in 2006 and is nationally recognized for his expertise across healthcare delivery systems, physician associations and compensation models. Prior to founding Santé, he was a healthcare venture partner with Austin Ventures and vice chair of Ascension Health Ventures’ investment committee. He was also chief medical officer of Providence Health System and executive director of the Providence Health Alliance, both of which belong to the Ascension healthcare organization. Joe earned his MBA from Baylor University, his M.D. from Texas A&M University and his B.S. from Texas A&M University.  He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Senior Director, Higher Ed Consulting
Huron | GG+A Global Philanthropy

Golding is a globally recognized facilitator and consultant for philanthropic practices at leading academic and research institutions. As an experienced organizational leader, he has helped hundreds of institutions re-imagine the impact they can make through donor-centric philanthropy. Recent partners include Oregon State University, University of Cambridge, Michigan Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, University of Alberta, Harvard University, The Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel), University of Vermont, King’s College London, Southern Methodist University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

Interim Vice President for Grants and Assistant Vice President for Innovation and Integration
Episcopal Health Foundation

Through relationships with partners in philanthropic, public and private sector, policy, and research institutions, Hager identifies innovative practices and opportunities to further EHF’s commitment to improve community health. Her three-decade career has centered on the pursuit of equitable communities through policy and systems change that influence the social determinants of health. She has worked at the national, state and local level in roles that include equity advocate, lobbyist, policy analyst, researcher and coalition-builder. She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from Marquette University and a master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from Kansas State University.

Vice President of Economic Development
Greater Brazos Partnership

Khan leads initiatives to attract investment, drive business expansion and enhance the competitiveness of the Greater Brazos Region. He works closely with Texas A&M University, state partners, and private industry to strengthen the region’s role in advanced sectors such as semiconductors, aerospace, defense, and energy. Previously, Salman spent seven years at Toronto Global, where he supported major international business expansions that created over 1,300 jobs and $300 million in capital investment. His earlier career includes seven years at a Fortune 500 company and two years at an edtech startup, giving him valuable private-sector experience and business insight. Salman holds an MBA from Toronto Metropolitan University and an honors degree in computer science from York University.

President
The Welch Foundation

Before joining The Foundation, Dr. Kuspa served as a professor, chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, graduate school dean, chief commercialization officer and as senior vice president and dean of research at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Kuspa earned degrees in biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego (B.A.) and Stanford University (Ph.D.) and he served as an American Cancer Society (ACS) postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Diego. He joined BCM in 1993 as a Searle Scholar and an ACS assistant professor of Biochemistry. He also served as secondary faculty in Pharmacology, Molecular and Human Genetics, and the Human Genome Sequencing Center at BCM, and as adjunct faculty in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Rice University. Dr. Kuspa is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Principal
Huron | GG+A Global Philanthropy

Lasher brings more than 30 years of successful fundraising experience, including leadership of five separate billion-dollar capital campaigns at private and public institutions in the U.S. Lasher has expertise in fundraising performance management, principal gift strategy, campaign design and management, volunteer management, and fundraising training. Throughout his career, Lasher has specialized in driving fundraising performance by utilizing philanthropic analytics and performance metrics to achieve campaign goals. As part of that experience, Lasher has developed expertise in board and volunteer management, campaign operations, major and principal gift program management, performance analytics, fundraising coaching and training of development staff, and academic and volunteer leadership.

Programs & Strategy Officer
Greater Texas Foundation

Prior to joining Greater Texas Foundation, Dr. Robledo served as the Director of STEM HSI Success Programs at Angelo State University. She led student support services for the David L. Hirschfeld Department of Engineering and established a faculty development training program in culturally responsive pedagogy based on university values. Dr. Robledo also served as a graduate assistant for Lumina Foundation where she contributed to the Latino Student Success portfolio. Dr. Robledo holds a B.A. in Psychology from Texas A&M University, an M.A. in Applied Anthropology from University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Indiana University. 

Scientific Program Director
Rainwater Charitable Foundation

Dr. Rommel joined the Rainwater Charitable Foundation in 2018 to help guide the foundation’s medical research programs. She manages academic partnerships across the basic and clinical research portfolios including primary tauopathy programs within the Tau Consortium, field
enabling platforms like biobanks, registries and data platforms, biomarker programs, and clinical trials in tauopathies, glioblastoma, and tinnitus. Her academic career spanned 15 years. Dr. Rommel received her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Director of Research and Technology Programs
Lockheed Martin

Dr. Schuette is responsible for creating and utilizing a global network of technical relationships to enhance Lockheed Martin’s engagement in the worldwide science, technology and innovation ecosystems, and through a team of technology leaders transition advanced technology into the corporation, while accelerating customer technology adoption to create new and disruptive mission capabilities.  Dr. Schuette joined Lockheed Martin after 33 years of Federal Service in the Department of Defense and Health and Human Services, the last ten as a member of the Senior Executive Service. He earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and a doctorate in Electrical Engineering from The Catholic University of America and is a 2009 Seminar XXI Fellow from the MIT Center for International Studies.

Vice President / Chief Research Officer
Cook Children’s Medical Center

A pediatric intensivist and bioethicist, Dr. Stigall serves as an attending physician in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. He also served as physician advisor for the Utilization Review Department, and medical director of the Human Research Protection Program. In 2022, he assumed the role of Chief Research Officer following the retirement of the founding CRO, Dr. James Marshall. He attended the University of Texas at Austin where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Business Honors. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) in Dallas. Dr. Stigall also completed his residency in pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric critical care at UTSW serving as chief resident and chief fellow.