\n President and Co-Founder of Blue Compass\, Drew Harden has grown and guided the company from a two-person start-up in 2007 to one of the Midwest'\;s leading digital marketing companies today. He'\;s a published author\, speaks at marketing conferences around the country\, has been cited by publications like USA Today\, and has led web projects for clients like Spalding Sports Equipment\, NAPA Autoparts\, and the NFL.
\n Eileen Wixted is a nationally recognized strategic communications and crisis management veteran with core competencies in the agribusiness\, financial services\, energy\, and health care industries. \;\n
Eileen is the principal of Wixted &\; Company and was named the Des Moines Business Record'\;s 2016 Woman Business Owner of the Year. She also served as interim senior vice president of communications &\; government affairs for Advocate Health Care\, the largest health care system in Illinois. \;Prior to Wixted &\; Company\, Eileen spent more than a decade as a broadcast journalist and received an Emmy Award for her work. Eileen is a graduate of Michigan State University with a degree in mass communications. She is a native of Brooklyn\, New York\, and the mother of four children.
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\n Gabriel Glynn is the CEO of MakuSafe and a serial entrepreneur. Gabriel'\;s startup journey began in 2007 and includes several technology and service-based companies. His passion for the industrial workforce began in his childhood\; watching his father navigate a career in industrial machining and safety.
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\n Gabriel'\;s leadership has been recognized in many ways including a Gubernatorial appointment to Iowa'\;s STEM Council in 2020\, being named one of SME'\;s 25 Leaders Transforming Manufacturing\, and one of the Top 10 Leaders in Insurtech by ACORD. In 2019 Gabriel was named one of 30 Innovators To Watch by Digital Insurance\, a list that includes powerhouse innovators like Elon Musk and his work with MakuSafe has been featured in more than a hundred publications across the globe. \;Gabriel and his wife of 15 years\, Amanda\, live in Ankeny with their two boys\, Caleb and Tucker. \;
\n Beth Shelton\, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa
\n Beth led her organization to record revenue and membership growth while simultaneously spearheading a cultural transformation that led to her organization being named on the selective Top Workplaces in Iowa\, and #1 in the nonprofit category. \; \;She has been highlighted on platforms such as 90 Ideas in 90 Minutes\, Women Lead Change Global\, Women of Vision\, the Groundbreakers Speaker Series\, and various podcasts. She was recently named one of the 15 People To Watch by the Des Moines Register and one of the Business Leaders to Know by the Business Record. \; Beth received the 2018 Alumni Achievement award from Simpson College. She serves as a guest lecturer in the Drake University MBA program (where she also earned her MBA) and received the 2019 Young Alumni of Achievement Award by Drake University. She recently completed the Artificial Intelligence certificate program at MIT.
Beth\, a life-long amputee\, also serves on the board for the Iowa Amputee Golf Association\, raising scholarships for families affected by the trauma and impact of limb loss. She has a lifelong love of sports\, having been a 3-time collegiate MVP\, and coaches youth teams in basketball and softball\, as well as leading her local Girl Scout troop.
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\n Nora Crosthwaite spent years in the software development world and excited to do something meaningful and make a positive impact on people around her. With no experience in sales\, marketing\, or real estate\, she became a residential REALTOR®\; in Des Moines\, Iowa\, helping people get to the right house for their story. \;Since then\, Nora has worked with many buyers and sellers in Des Moines. She focuses on education\, transparency\, and communication throughout the home buying and selling processes.
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\n After working in real estate\, Nora also realized there was a need for assisting sellers to prepare their homes for sale. She knows that when a home has been professionally staged\, the buyers'\; entire attitude changes (for the better). Nora searched for convenient online staging services and couldn'\;t find the right fit. So\, she created one: Stagerie. \;Outside of Home Sweet Des Moines and Stagerie\, Nora volunteers in the community for Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity and Pi515\, practices taekwondo on weekends\, and hangs out with her husband\, daughter\, and three cats.
