Dr. Bill Bogner is the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs and an Associate Professor in the Department of Managerial Sciences at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His research primarily focuses on the dynamics of industry competition and in particular seeks to explain the past and current competitive postures of firms, groups of firms, and whole industries. Increasingly Dr. Bogner’s research has focused on global industries and the technological trajectories that drive industry evolution. He has published in leading journals including Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management Studies, International Management, Journal of Business Venturing, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Long Range Planning and Advances in Strategic Management. In addition, he has made numerous presentations at the annual meetings of the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business, and the Strategic Management Society, as well as at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management in Brussels. Several of his articles have appeared as book chapters and in proceedings publications. He has published two books on the pharmaceutical industry. At Georgia State University Dr. Bogner teaches courses on Strategic management in the MBA, PMBA, EMBA and PhD programs. He has also taught on the Masters level in International Business. In addition to service as the Assistant Dean for of the J. Mack Robinson College’s over 6000 Undergraduate degree students, he currently is very active on the University level in assessment, accreditation and continual improvement of programs on the graduate and undergraduate level. He has served on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Management Studies, and the Journal of Management, as Treasurer of the Business Policy and Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, and as the Chief Investment Officer and Treasurer of the Strategy Research Foundation. Dr. Bogner is also an attorney and is licensed to practice law by the state of Illinois.
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Melody Paris is the Associate Director of the EMBA Program at Georgia State University. Connect with Melody on LinkedIn.
Taz Lake’s passion is making websites better. When his career began over two decades ago, he relied on a passion for web technologies to tear him away from medicine and science. Today, through Brightmill, he provides comprehensive health checks to measure and improve on-site web experience, leading to better outcomes from website investments. His company has provided website analysis and improvement solutions in multiple industries to companies of all sizes. Mr. Lake has also served in various technical and leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, digital agencies and consultancies. He is a past Adjunct Professor at two Atlanta universities, serves on multiple professional association boards, and has been published in the Huffington Post, Advertising Week, CMS Wire, and more. His undergraduate degree is from Duke University and he holds an MA from Wheaton College and an MBA from Georgia State University.
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Nathaniel Smith serves as Founder and Chief Equity Officer (CEqO)/CEO of the Partnership for Southern Equity. Empowered by the unified vision and voices realized through its regional engagement efforts, PSE pushes for policies and actions that promote balanced growth and inclusive prosperity in metropolitan Atlanta and beyond. Among PSEs notable accomplishments where the creation the American Souths first equity mapping and framing tool the Metro Atlanta Equity Atlas (MAEA); The Atlanta Regional Commissions Equitable Target Areas (ETA) mapping index to promote and measure equitable land-use planning efforts; supporting the creation of the nations first Equitable Development Plan for a large scale neighborhood transformation project The Atlanta Beltline; convening the inaugural Equity Atlanta Forum on the equitable utilization of Federal Stimulus Funding in metro Atlanta as well as its supporting document, co-written by PolicyLink, Recovering Stronger: Building an Inclusive Metro Atlanta Economy. Mr. Smith is also the co-author of PSEs report, Moving to Opportunity: The Case for Transportation Equity in Metropolitan Atlanta and PSEs 2016 report Growing the Future: The Case for Economic Inclusion in Metropolitan Atlanta. In 2014 Partnership for Southern Equity led a coalition of diverse stakeholders and organizations to support the initiation and passage of a $13 million transit referendum that expands Atlantas metropolitan transit system (MARTA) into a new County (Clayton) for the first time in 45 years. Among his many acknowledgments, Nathaniel was selected for the National Congress for Community Economic Development (NCCED) 2000 Emerging Leaders Program; the Outstanding Young Person of Atlanta Award in 2003; Georgia Trend Magazines 40 under 40 list in 2006 (cover); The Atlanta Business Chronicles Up and Comers List in 2006; the 2007 Atlanta Housing Association of Neighborhood Based Developers (AHAND) 2007 Affordable Housing Champion Award; the 2014 designation in the Whos Who in Black Atlanta publication as a Champion of Diversity and Inclusion and honored in 2014 by the Atlanta Business League as a Man of Influence. Nathaniel was designated a Notable Georgian by Georgia Trend Magazine in 2016 and 2017. Nathaniel has served as an advisor to several local and national organizations and policymakers among them: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, PolicyLink, and the South Eastern Council of Foundations and Kellogg Foundation to name a few. Nathaniel serves on the Board of Directors for the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership. Nathaniel was recently selected to engage in a delegations of international thought leaders convened to support the efforts of the German Marshall Fund, Bertelsmann Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Open Society Foundations to engage the Cities of Boston Massachusetts and Athens Greece in creating a economic resiliency strategy for their respective justifications. Nathaniel resides in the Summer Hill Community of Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Alyshia, an educator and their daughter Alexia.
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Tris Sicignano is a New Orleans native,who began her career in television at the age of 16 working for the local PBS station. Tris has worked for several major cable networks during her career. She has worked both behind the scenes and in front of the camera in the film and entertainment industry. After taking a break from the industry to pursue other career goals, Tris has returned to her original career choice to co-found Surge Television.
