Fastest Growing Companies—
Fastest Growing Neighborhood
11:30AM - 12:30PM
From legacy leaders to dynamic new start-ups, LIC has nurtured innovative talent for generations. It
is also the fastest growing residential neighborhood in the country. At the same time, some of the
fastest growing companies are choosing to make or keep LIC their home. In this panel, we will talk to
their entrepreneurial leaders about why LIC works for them.
Dr. Fernando Gomez-Baquero (Moderator)
Cornell Tech
Dr. Gómez-Baquero is the Director of Runway and Spinouts at
the Jacobs Technion – Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, where
he is helping postdoctoral entrepreneurs build companies
out of digital technologies in diverse fields such as digital
health, telecommunications, education, cybersecurity, and
IoT. Dr. Fernando Gómez-Baquero holds a Ph.D. in Nanoscale
Science and Engineering from the University at Albany SUNY.
Pat Hayes
Altice USA
Pat Hayes serves as Senior Vice President for Government
Affairs at Altice USA. In this role, he directs all of Altice’s
advocacy efforts with elected leaders and works closely with
the company’s community partners. Previous to Altice, Pat
was Chief of Staff to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin of West
Virginia. Pat has also worked in senior staff roles for Senate
Democratic Leadership, including positions with former
Majority Leader Harry Reid, Amy Klobuchar, and Evan Bayh.
He is a graduate of Indiana University and was born in Fort
Wayne, Indiana. Pat lives in Brooklyn with his wife and three
children.
Chris Aidan
The Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.
Chris is an entrepreneurial global leader with a strong track record of innovation,
business enablement, technology modernization, strategy development and
execution. He has undergraduate degrees from The University of Iowa and a
Masters of Science from Iowa State University. His industry recognition includes
being part of the Security 500, Security 100, Frost and Sullivan’s IT Impact and
the recipient of several CIO 100 awards. Chris has over 20 years of experience
in retail, high tech manufacturing, government, education, and CPG with Fortune
500 companies.
Justin Ginsburgh
JetBlue
Justin Ginsburgh is Director of JFK Infrastructure Strategy
and Development at JetBlue, where he is leading the airline’s
effort to develop a $3B new world-class terminal at JFK
airport. Prior to JetBlue, Justin was also a co-founder of Citi
Bike and an associate at Goldman Sachs, Urban Investment
Group, where he worked on economic development and real
estate projects across the United States. Justin also previously
served as Chief of Staff at Empire State Development, New
York State’s economic development agency. Justin Ginsburgh
has an MBA from the Harvard Business School, where he
graduated with high distinction.
Nick Miaritis
VaynerMedia
Nick Miaritis is EVP at VaynerMedia, and is tasked with
accelerating growth and raising the creative bar. He is
a believer in the unreasonable power of creativity to
transform brands and has helped do so most recently with
ideas like the Budweiser’s “This Bud’s for 3” and Planter’s
“Crunch Time” Super Bowl campaign. Prior to joining
VaynerMedia, Nick spent 12 years at Saatchi & Saatchi,
where he worked around the globe with many of the agency’s
major client partners. Nick is passionate about technology
and finding new ways to tell stories on the platforms that
consumer attention is shifting towards. He is also a bit of a
trivia geek and is the co-founder of the popular trivia app,
FleetWit and payments platform, Prizeout.
Ken Romaniszyn
Lady M Confections
Ken Romaniszyn is the man behind the world famous Lady
M® Mille Crêpes, a signature confection composed from
layers upon layers of golden crêpes and cream. Having
grown up in the Japanese restaurant business, it was natural
that Ken’s career path lead to Lady M Confections, New
York City’s premier cake boutique. His passion for sweets
motivated him to study pastry creation at the International
Culinary Center (formerly French Culinary Institute). After
taking time to cultivate his business acumen at UCLA,
Kellogg School of Management, and the Harvard Business
School, Ken has led Lady M to achieve tremendous success.
Russell Greenberg
RUX Studios/Stickbulb
Russell Greenberg is the founder of interdisciplinary design
firm RUX Studios, and the creator of Stickbulb and Gradual.
His work ranges from award-winning mosque master plans to
water purification systems, porcelain statues, mobile devices,
jewelry, vending machines, and sustainable LED lighting.
After a decade of developing products and intellectual
property for the likes of Unilever, Samsung, Mozilla Firefox,
and Pernod Ricard, Russell transformed his studio’s business
model in 2017 into a platform to create and grow its own inhouse
brands.
#LICSummit 11