Techstars Partner Summit 2020 Techstars Partner Summit 2020
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Startup Showcase: Future of Work Focused Startups

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Corporate Innovation Future of Work Proof of Concepts Startup Engagement
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Taylor McLemore
Techstars Workforce Accelerator, Managing Director

Taylor McLemore is Managing Director of the Techstars Workforce Accelerator. He is an entrepreneur, scale and growth executive, investor, venture advisor to family offices, and community builder. Taylor cofounded Codeable, a coding school, that is innovating on career transformation in Latin America and income share agreements for education financing. Taylor founded Patriot Boot Camp — a nonprofit established in partnership with Techstars and Governor Jared Polis that has built a community of 1,000+ Military Veteran and Military Spouse founders to support their entrepreneurial journeys through education and mentorship. He graduated from Davidson College and lives with his family in Denver, CO. 

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Harley Blakeman
HonestJobs, Founder & CEO

Harley Blakeman had a very tough young life. By the time he was 16 years old he was a homeless drug addict and high-school dropout. Shortly after turning 18, he was sentenced to a year in prison and nine years on parole for drug trafficking. Once he was released he focused all his energy on personal development, working a full-time job and going to community college. After one year in college he transferred to The Ohio State University and graduated honors with a business degree in 2017. 


His senior year Harley realized that no matter how many companies we impressed with his resume and interviews, everyone ran away because of his criminal history. He knew that most of the 626,000 people being released every year were not white males with good educations and support systems (like he was). Although he did find a job shortly after graduation, there was a fire inside of him that led him to leave that job a year and a half later to start Honest Jobs - the nation's largest fair-chance employment platform. 


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Hamoon Ekhtiari
FutureFit AI, CEO

A lover of all things blueberry and/or avocado, Hamoon Ekhtiari is the CEO of FutureFit AI, an AI-powered Career GPS used by companies and governments to support their reskilling, outskilling, and workforce transformation efforts in the new world of work. Previously, he was the Director of Strategy and Innovation for the Executive Vice President at a $30B telecom and technology company where he led the future of work strategy for the enterprise. Prior to that, Hamoon was the Founding Director of a leadership, skills, and innovation academy at one of the world's largest urban innovation hubs. He has also founded a social enterprise, helped build Deloitte's consulting business in the Caribbean, and taught as adjunct faculty. Hamoon is a member of the Governor General's Leadership Conference, an AdR Fellow at the University of Cambridge, a recipient of University of Waterloo's Alumni Achievement Medal, and a Canada Millennium Scholar. He is passionate about unlocking the potential of people, organizations, and societies to imagine and build more audacious futures.

During this session, Taylor McLemore, Managing Director of the Techstars Workforce Accelerator, will share insights gleaned about Future of Work, and introduce high-quality startups focused on Future of Work to provide their perspective about the opportunities they see in the space. After, Taylor will lead a discussion with the session attendees and presenting startups.

Startups include:

  • Hamoon Ekhtiari, Future Fit AI

  • Harley Blakeman, Honest Jobs

  • Chris Motley, Mentor Spaces

  • Jennifer Henderson, TiLT


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