GCUC Mastermind

Cat Johnson is a content strategist focused on coworking and brand storytelling. Cat is the founder of Coworking Convos, a monthly video series to connect and empower workspace operators, and The Lab workspace marketing club. Learn more at catjohnson.co.

Karina Patel is CMO at Pacific Workplaces, Marketing Director at CloudVO, and Marketing Coach at Cat Johnson Co. Prior to joining Pacific Workplaces six years ago, Karina spent seven years in marketing for fashion, beauty, and hospitality brands. Based in Seattle, Karina mentors entrepreneurs in developing brand strategies, and co-founded a nonprofit organization two years ago to mentor young women. When not working, she loves to travel and turns to writing and cooking as a cathartic escape.

While working for SAP, a multi-billion dollar software company, nearly 20 years ago, Dave Will was advised to “walk faster and smile less, because perception is reality”. After Dave was fired from his job for his lack of urgency, he took this feedback to heart and started a business based on the antithesis of this advice. Building a culture around “Walking Slow and Smiling More”, he successfully sold his business and is growing his next software company, PropFuel, a Contextual Marketing platform for member-based organizations to better engage their constituents.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Amy is the Co-Founder of Good Coworking in Dallas, TX, the first coworking space in the world focused on inclusive sustainability, powered by solar.

As an evangelist for the triple bottom line, Amy champions entrepreneurs who are building profitable businesses that allow people and the planet to thrive. Her flagship space in Dallas is pursuing LEED and WELL building certification, as well as JUST. She plans to use these certifications to educate the entrepreneurial community on how to be successful in a global, purpose-focused economy.

Prior to her migration to Texas, she oversaw the incubation and leadership development of 80 USGBC chapters for the U.S.Green Building Council (USGBC), their green rebuilding support to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and a diversity and inclusion working group.

When she isn’t at work, you can find Amy volunteering to rescue dogs, or traveling the globe.

As a board-certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Aaron Ali has been in practice in the Austin area for over 16 years. After completing his undergraduate studies at Texas A&M University, he matriculated medical school in 2000 from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, TX and was then accepted into the anesthesiology residency program at Duke University. He has worked at all three hospital systems in Austin, TX (Seton, St. David’s and Baylor S&W) and has held many leadership positions.

As an entrepreneur, Dr. Ali is the Co-Founder and CEO of MedtoMarket, Inc., a state-of-the-art life sciences company with high-end coworking offices, event center, and medical wet lab/bioskills lab space. Their ~32,000 SF facility located in southeast Austin has created a healthcare ecosystem leading to collaboration between academia, hospital systems, entrepreneurs and the military. The unique healthcare co-working provided at MedtoMarket supports a wide variety of entrepreneurs creating a synergistic environment to succeed in. The advanced medical lab located next to the coworking area allows members direct access to healthcare professionals. Combined with a unique event center that can host greater than 300 people at once in their meeting spaces and pitch theater room, MedtoMarket fills a unique niche in the healthcare coworking space.

Dr. Ali served honorably in the United States Army Reserve with the 7th/6th Air Cavalry Apache Attack Helicopter Battalion for 6 years from 1990-96. He received multiple medals and awards during his enlisted service and was the Honor Graduate from Advanced Individual Training for OH-56 Scout Helicopter training in Ft. Rucker, AL in 1992.

As a father of three sons, Dr. Ali and his wife Dr. Genevieve Ali both reside in the Westlake area and are active community members and philanthropic supporters.

Sarah joined Workbar in late 2017 from IWG (Regus), a global provider of flexible workspace solutions, where she spent 15 years in a series of ascending roles focused on growing the company’s North American footprint. Sarah has the unique perspective of witnessing the industry’s explosive growth as both a seasoned veteran of the world’s largest shared office giant and as the CEO of Boston’s original coworking space.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Georgia oversees Hana’s client solutions team. She is focused on understanding and translating the unique needs of our enterprise clients to ensure maximum alignment with our product and investment strategies. In collaboration with Hana’s Investment Team, Georgia also works with owners to ensure Hana’s units fully integrate with their building management and tenant experience objectives.

Georgia has nearly 20 years of experience in workplace design and strategy, commercial real estate and urban planning. Immediately prior to joining Hana, Georgia led Host, CBRE’s tenant and workplace experience services platform. Georgia has also held numerous senior leadership roles across workplace design and planning including Executive Manager Director for CBRE’s Workplace consulting team and Manager Director for DEGW North America.

Georgia holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Design of Environment from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from Harvard University.

An enterprise SaaS marketing leader, Meyer helps accelerate growth, boost marketing capabilities, and scale the business. He is responsible for developing the essensys brand, communications strategy and increasing customer demand across all markets. Meyer brings with him a wealth of experience leading the marketing functions of industry-focused software businesses, most recently as marketing leader at Fourth, as well as the global tech research and advisory firm Gartner.

Richard’s work examines how people handle the complexity and ambiguity of modern organisational life and how creative and critical thought emerges in fast-changing, highly uncertain, often toxic environments via antifragile coping methods, such as irony and black humour. He designed the leadership module for Macquarie Business School’s Global MBA (#6 worldwide | CEO Magazine). He is the CEO of roundPegz, an interdisciplinary community of disruptive thinkers, and Chief Cognitive Officer of eqLab, an Extended Intelligence Laboratory exploring future-readiness in leadership, organisation, strategy and transformation.

Becky Andree is the CEO of Vertical Leadership Consulting. As an international talent management visionary, leadership development expert and connections architect, Becky’s 20+ years of experience with Fortune 100 companies allows her to understand first-hand the pressures and stress within organizations today. Her disruptive and visionary approach to talent management and leadership development have resulted in millions of dollars to an organization’s bottom line. Her passion is evidence-based solutions to navigate the complexity of work – developing complex thinking and high-quality connections.

Recognized as a Top 50 Visionary by Radical Business Magazine, Becky is finalizing her PhD research on the effect of adult development on a leader’s experience of high-quality connections. She is currently piloting a program with several organizations in building high-quality connections to increase overall wellness, resiliency, community, and outcomes.

I’m Oscar, a serial problem solver. I tackle the toughest problems using the imagination of creativity, the process of design, and the implementation of innovation. After the Royal College of Arts (RCA) in London I held leadership roles at Nike, Adidas, and Tag Heuer. My Masters Degree in Design Management was a comparative research about the impact of creativity between designers in London and Hong Kong. I’m the CEO of EQ Lab, a global community of Extended Intelligence boosting mental fitness through social connectivity and the power of dialogue, revealing new insights in a matter of hours, not months.

In addition, I’m an investor and co-founder of theDesk, a successful collaborative workspace in Asia where for which I developed its strategic value proposition and have won the esteemed Red Dot in the Red Dot Design Award for brand and communication 2020. For General Assembly I have designed and produced over 100 Digital Marketing and UXDesign workshops across Asia.

Fun fact: I am a certified PADI Rescue Diver and an accredited Heineken Beer Pourer.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Jon Haveman is a Principal at Marin Economic Consulting, an economic research and consulting firm specializing in entrepreneurship and local economic development issues. Dr. Haveman is an expert on regional economies and local economic development and on the Bay Area Economy in particular. He is also widely considered to be one of California’s leading experts on the economics of seaports, goods movement, and international trade policy.

Prior to founding Marin Economic Consulting, Dr. Haveman was the Chief Economist at the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, a founding principal at Beacon Economics, and the Director of the Economy Program at the Public Policy Institute of California. He has been a Senior Economist with the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, an Economist with the Federal Trade Commission, and held a faculty position in the Business School at Purdue University.

A prolific author, Dr. Haveman has published extensively on local economic development policy, transportation and security issues at California’s seaports, business outsourcing, and trade in technology products. He also has a lengthy record of publishing articles in the areas of labor and international economics and a work history related to private asset accumulation. A well‐known media commentator, Dr. Haveman has been quoted in The Economist, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, and San Jose Mercury News, among many other publications. His radio and television appearances include regular interviews on CBS Channel 5 in San Francisco, and interviews on KCBS AM, KGO AM, and KQED public radio. Dr. Haveman speaks regularly at events across California and has testified at numerous federal and state government hearings on issues related to seaport activity and security, technology trade, and local economic development.

Dr. Haveman holds a Ph.D. and Master of Science in Economics from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Jenny Poon is a serial entrepreneur and founder of CO+HOOTS. Ranked No. 4 coworking space in the U.S. by Inc.com, CO+HOOTS currently houses 280+ scaling entrepreneurs and small businesses and has been an integral role in creating hundreds of jobs locally. She has led CO+HOOTS from its inception in 2010 to being recently ranked the No. 1 most innovative coworking space in the world. Through her background in business, design-thinking and marketing, she built a place where she could connect with like-minded professionals who believe business growth comes from collaboration between different industries. She speaks regularly on leadership, the importance of nurturing innovation in the workspace and works tirelessly to bring visibility to coworking as a new economic development tool for building vibrant and equitable cities.

Jenny serves as an advisor for numerous startups, Board Chair of CO+HOOTS Foundation (a 501c3 nonprofit) and as a mentor for several young entrepreneurs.

Jenny was named Phoenix Business Journal’s 2016 Phoenix Businessperson of the Year. The first minority and the first woman to receive the honor.

Giuseppe Salamone is a Co-Founder of Varo Team, a fast-growing accounting, bookkeeping and CFO startup headquartered in Miami, Florida. At age 24 Giuseppe became a Finance Supervisor for JP Morgan Chase, responsible for various multi-million dollar reconciliation projects. He later worked as a Financial Controller for a $65 million dollar healthcare company before beginning his entrepreneurial journey in 2017 when he founded VaroTeam. Initially serving just two clients as a solo practitioner, he quickly scaled his business to serve hundreds of clients nationwide within 18 months. Giuseppe’s experience and entrepreneurial mindset qualifies him as an insightful source on leadership in the world of finance.

Nick is an experienced commercial real estate professional with a demonstrated history of working with multiple asset classes. Currently, he manages performance of the IWG USA portfolio, consisting of over 1,000 flex office locations.

He has a proven track record in asset management, budgeting, FP&A, and corporate strategy. He holds his MBA from Southern Methodist University (SMU) with a focus in real estate.

Prior to IWG, Nick worked in commercial real estate, private equity and international finance. His analysis has been published in multiple peer reviewed journals, The Washington Times, and U.S. News & World Report.

A leader of the global coworking movement, Liz Elam blends a spirit of collaboration and innovation with an unwavering commitment to excellence and pushing boundaries.

Founder of the largest coworking conference in the world, Elam has grown the Global Coworking Unconference Community (GCUC) from inception to a cross-cultural go-to for the workspace industry in the U.S., South America, China, Canada, the UK, Australia and beyond.

Elam unapologetically pushes the coworking movement to adopt sound business practices and think bigger about the vision and impact individual operators and workspace brands can make. Her work to dismantle the loneliness epidemic through coworking and community-building resonates with space operators and members, alike.

Maher is a serial entrepreneur. He has started a few businesses over the last 3 decades. He has been a real estate investor since 2008.

Some of the businesses he built failed, and some others succeeded.

Coworkly is his latest venture. He launched it to help remote workers and freelancers work and network, all in an inspiring and productive coworking space.

Prior to launching his own businesses, he worked for a few tech startups in Canada and the US.

It is fair to say he is a tech junkie.

Derreck Martin is the Co-Founder & President of East Room. Prior to founding East Room, Derreck worked in the Art & Design trade in Toronto and New York, specializing in 20th / 21st century. His experience informs his decision making in the design and development of East Room Spaces and its programming – all of which he oversees. He is passionate about building a socially and politically engaged community, one that can make real impact within and outside walls of East Room.

Kevin is a marketing consultant helping coworking spaces build systems and strategies to attract and retain members. He writes frequently on all things marketing at Everspaces.com, where you’ll find over 100 published articles on just this topic, as well as an active community, marketing resources, and much more.

Nancy Fornasiero is the Founder & Community Director of ACE Coworking, a suburban flex office with an urban vibe in Oakville, Ontario. Prior to launching into the coworking biz, Nancy worked for 20+ years as a book editor, publishing consultant and content writer – mostly as a WFH freelancer. So she understands first-hand how transformative a vibrant coworking community can be for solopreneurs and remote workers. Her talents as DIY interior designer and communications expert helped support the launch and growth of ACE Coworking, and she’s excited to share some of her tips with you.

After 20 years working with multinational ad agencies, blue chip clients and the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Christine found her true passion in 2013 when research led her to coworking. Recognizing the future of work she opened Acme Works, one of Toronto’s most prominent coworking spaces.

Christine is also a Partner in Deco Group, one of the world’s leading coworking consultancies and Executive Vice President, Founding Partner of Co.RE the Coworking Real Estate Opportunity Fund. Media, asset owners and real estate developers seek Christine out for her coworking expertise, reputation as a branding expert and one of Canada’s coworking movement thought leaders.