October 21 – WEDNESDAY PLENARY SESSION
Aisha Bowe is a former NASA rocket scientist, award-winning Founder, and citizen astronaut who is redefining what it means to lead in science, education, and innovation. In 2025, she flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket as part of a historic all-female crew, conducting NASA-backed research and flight-qualified experiments in microgravity while carrying the Apollo 12 mission flag flown by astronaut Pete Conrad, a tribute to the legacy she now extends.
A serial founder who has built multiple successful companies at the intersection of technology and impact, Aisha is the founder of STEMBoard, an Inc. 5000-ranked tech company supporting U.S. national security programs, and the creator of LINGO, an edtech platform on a mission to equip one million students with hands-on STEM skills. Already used by more than 10,000 learners worldwide, LINGO delivers real-world tech education that’s accessible, inclusive, and future-ready. Aisha is also among the fewer than 2% of women founders to raise over $2 million in venture capital.
From discovering her love of math in community college to conducting NASA-backed research in microgravity, Aisha’s story has inspired millions. She’s been featured in ABC News, Entrepreneur, Essence, Elle, People, The Kelly Clarkson Show, and CBS Mornings. Additionally, Aisha is the subject of the documentary In Her Element, streaming on Amazon Prime, Google Play, and Apple TV and The Human Component by BBC Storyworks.
As a U.S. State Department Global Speaker, Aisha has represented the United States in more than a dozen countries, championing access to STEM, entrepreneurship, and space exploration. She holds degrees in Aerospace and Space Systems Engineering from the University of Michigan, and has earned honors including NASA’s Engineering Honor Award, Black Enterprise’s Luminary Award, and STEM for Her Woman of the Year.
Aisha represents people all around the world who aspire to reach for their dreams despite the obstacles. She is living proof that the word impossible is merely a suggestion. It is her own dream to inspire the next generation of innovators and explorers, thinkers, and creators, while serving as a testament to dreaming big, no matter what.
October 23 - FRIDAY PLENARY SESSION
Keynote Address: Resilience Through Change – The Impact of ATE
Jason Spyres is the CEO of Tap3d (Training All People). In 2003, Jason was given a 30-year sentence for nonviolent cannabis as a teenager. He quickly realized how distorted his notions of “success” were and decided to do everything possible to make amends to society. Unsure of how to begin, he thought improving his education would be a beneficial step. However, due to Illinois prison policies, his nonviolent cannabis offenses declared him legally “unrehabilitatable” and indirectly unable to take educational classes when he arrived in prison. During a call with his mother, Jason expressed his new hope and desire to improve his education, and she sent him a Khan academy transcript she found online. This began a journey that led Jason to being published in more than 100 newspapers on education and prison reforms. Upon his release, all the policies Jason argued for from a prison cell were implemented and Illinois’ recidivism rate dropped. In 2017, Jason used Khan Academy’s SAT prep and was accepted into Stanford University, where he met and was able to thank Sal personally for the impact he had on Jason. Jason is now the CEO of TAP, where he is working to use technology to give vocational and hands-on skills to others, because ALL PEOPLE are teachable, and all people, be them in a prison cell, a community college, or an ivy league school, deserve to share in the benefits that technology brings to education.