Lunch will be available for registered attendees.
Start Here. Grow Here. Stay Here.: Cultivating a Local Entrepreneurial EcosystemSheffie Robinson, Director of Business Incubation, Georgia Southern University Business Innovation Group (BIG)Sheffie Robinson is the Director of Business Incubation at Georgia Southern University's Business Innovation Group (BIG), where she leads initiatives that expand business incubation and strengthen Georgia's economy through the Georgia Enterprise Network for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (GENIE). With 25 years of experience as a software engineer and expertise as a clinical sociologist specializing in workforce and economic development, she bridges technology, education, and business to create economic impact through ecosystem building and targeted programming. She also serves as a college professor of business and entrepreneurship, equipping students with applied skills for today's industry landscape. Sheffie is the CEO and CTO of Shamrck, a benefit corporation that uses artificial intelligence to prepare high school students in career, technical, and agriculture education pathways through project-based learning, internships, and apprenticeships. A serial founder, she has built social impact–driven organizations in FinTech, EdTech, HRTech, and AI/ML that have been funded by Google, Microsoft, and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Her ecosystem-building work spans organizations such as Founder Institute, The Farm, Norfolk State University, and 3 Day Startup, advancing entrepreneurship across collegiate and community spaces. Across every role, Sheffie's focus is the same: aligning education with opportunity so that people and communities can build lasting economic momentum.
Ande Noktes, CEO, Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship
Dr. Ande Noktes moved to the Georgia coast in March of 2022 as the founding CEO ofthe Lucas Center for Entrepreneurship. She is a social entrepreneur who, over the lasttwenty years, has started three schools and coached hundreds of founders in growingtheir impact. Her undergraduate studies were at Colorado State University, and she hasa master’s in philosophy from Assumption University in Thailand and an MBA fromEmory. Her doctorate is in public policy from Northeastern University where sheresearched women entrepreneurs’ access to capital.The Lucas Center serves over 350 entrepreneurs, founders, and nonprofit leaders eachyear, and the Center has awarded over $250,000 in grant funds to help founders start orgrow their businesses. Most recently, the Center has partnered with the Golden IslesDevelopment Authority to launch a $500,000 loan fund for pre-bankable entrepreneurs,closing the capital gap for many of the Center’s viable but not-yet-bankable businesses.In addition to her work at the Center, Ande’s consulting company has supported dozensof social enterprises, both for-profit and nonprofit, in strategic planning and growth,communications and change management, leadership planning and boarddevelopment, and building and implementing mission-oriented revenue strategies.Nick Palumbo, Executive Director, StartUp Savannah
Following a tour at Embassy Baghdad as a Special Agent, Nick came home and chose Savannah, fell in love with a neighborhood, started showing up to fix what needed fixing, and one thing led to the next: neighborhood association president, then City Council, then Chairman. He has served as Chairman of Savannah City Council since 2020 and led the 100% Clean Energy Pledge that made Savannah the largest municipal solar provider in Georgia, championed Tide to Town to connect 30 miles of trail across 62 neighborhoods, passed landmark animal welfare legislation, and led the adoption of Vision Zero to eliminate traffic deaths. He leads Startup Savannah, where he and his team built a landmark accelerator from scratch: with an original curriculum, more than 30 partners, and a community of entrepreneurs. Savannah now ranks among the top 20 most startup-friendly cities in America.
