By Invitation Only – Introduction to South Florida’s Tech Ecosystem

In December 2023, Prime Minister of Belgium Alexander de Croo is leading an “inspirational mission” to Atlanta and Miami titled: The Future of Digital: Unlocking the Web3 route from Atlanta to Miami. The mission is organized by AGORIA, the Tech Federation of Belgium, and will be in Miami on December 13-15.

As part of the Miami program, EACC Florida is organizing a panel discussion as an introduction to South Florida’s tech ecosystem. Our invited panelists each have played essential roles in the development of the Miami tech ecosystem, which in recent years has been the fastest growing technology hub in the United States.

We are honored that His Excellency Michel Gerebtzoff, Consul General of Belgium, will be in attendance and offer a few words at the start of the program. 

This program is restricted to the Belgian delegates, EACC Florida Members and other invited guests.

PANELISTS

• Leigh-Ann Buchanan, President – Miami Dade Innovation Authority
• Jaret Davis, Senior Vice-President & Co-Managing Shareholder – Greenberg Traurig
• Melissa Medina, CEO & President – eMerge Americas
• Ivan Rapin-Smith, Managing Director – Watsco Ventures
• Alan Sutin, Chair Technology, Media & Telecommunications Practice and Senior Chair Global Intellectual Property & Technology Practice – Greenberg Traurig, and President – EACC Florida [Moderator]

SPEAKER BIOS

Leigh-Ann A. Buchanan, Esq. is a founder, investor, and strategic advisor. Her body of work leverages over 15 years of experience as an attorney and social impact executive to explore how equity intersects with tech, innovation and social investment to transform communities. Through a diverse portfolio of initiatives, including Nyah Project, Tech Equity Miami, Opportunity Connect and Venture Cafe Miami, Leigh-Ann has helped unlock over $75 million in philanthropic investment to bridge opportunity and access gaps for underrepresented communities.

She currently serves as the President & CEO of the Miami-Dade Innovation Authority, which accelerates the discovery and commercialization of technologies that solve critical public challenges by investing in startup companies and facilitating collaboration between private innovators and the public sector.

Leigh-Ann previously served as Chair of the American Bar Association Coalition on Racial & Ethnic Justice. She holds executive certificates from Harvard Business School, INSEAD and Columbia Business School as well as a J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law and a B.A from Bethune-Cookman University. Leigh-Ann was born and raised in Vancouver (Canada) and has been living in Miami since 2006.

Jaret L. Davis is Co-Managing Shareholder of the Miami office of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., a member of the firm’s global Executive Committee and oversees approximately 180 attorneys and 200 business staff based in the firm’s founding office in Miami. He focuses his corporate and securities practice on domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and complex secured financings. The vast majority of Jaret’s clients are technology players, ranging from information technology, to life sciences/biotech, to renewable energy sources.

For over a decade, Jaret has played a key role in the firm’s global efforts to be a dominant player in the technology industry. Under his leadership, the Miami office has been a thought leader in representing angel investors, venture capital firms, growth equity funds, as well as various technology companies along all intervals of the life cycle, from startup to multi-billion dollar publicly-traded companies. He routinely provides representation to publicly traded clients having an aggregate market capitalization of over $75 billion.

In addition to his practice, Jaret serves as a co-founder and General Counsel of the eMerge Americas global technology conference.  He previously served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and as Chair of the Miami-Dade Beacon Council, the Official Economic Development Partnership for Miami-Dade County. In that capacity, he led Miami’s bid to obtain Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters in which Miami was among the short-listed cities.

Jaret also serves on the Board of Directors of the Adrienne Arsht Performing Arts Center, the National Board of Directors of Venture for America and on the Board of City National Bank of Florida.

Melissa Medina is the CEO & Co-founder of eMerge Americas, a venture-backed platform that has led the transformation of Miami into a global technology hub. eMerge, launched in 2014, is a premier global tech conference and startup accelerator held annually in Miami and attracting more than 25,000+ attendees from over 50 countries and over 5,000 companies. Prior to eMerge Americas, Melissa was a Financial Manager at Terremark Worldwide, a leading operator of integrated network access points, the critical infrastructure that connects the internet around the World.

Melissa is also the President of the Medina Family Foundation (MFF) which dedicates her family’s resources towards supporting initiatives that focus on climate research, homelessness, mentoring children, and empowering families by enhancing the education system and quality of life. As a mother of 5, Melissa is extremely passionate about empowering the next generation.

A frequent honoree, Melissa was recently honored with the 2023 annual “Woman of Distinction” award by Florida International University’s Dr. Lillian Kopenhaver Center. Melissa graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BS in Business Administration & an MA in International Business from the University of Florida and ESADE in Barcelona.

Ivan Rapin-Smith is the founding Managing Director of Watsco Ventures, the startup incubator and venture investment arm of Watsco, Inc. Prior to joining the Miami-based Fortune 500 company, Ivan was the inaugural Managing Director of Venture Hive, a startup accelerator spun out of the University of Miami. Raised and educated in Belgium, Ivan earned a Master of Science in Electromechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven, and began his career in management consulting before co-founding two Belgian startups and Belgium’s first startup accelerator. He moved to Miami in 2011, where he quickly became a key figure in the burgeoning local tech sector, dedicating his expertise to guiding startups towards sustainable, innovative growth and technological progress.

Alan Sutin is a Principal Shareholder of Greenberg Traurig and Senior Chair of the firm’s Global Intellectual Property & Technology Practice. Alan is an experienced business lawyer with a principal focus on commercial transactions with intellectual property and technology issues and privacy and cybersecurity matters. Alan also represents a wide variety of companies in connection with IT and business process outsourcing arrangements, strategic alliance agreements, commercial joint ventures and licensing matters. He has particular experience in Internet and electronic commerce issues and has been involved in many of the major policy issues surrounding the commercial development of the Internet. Alan has advised foreign governments and multinational corporations in connection with these issues and is a frequent speaker at major industry conferences and events around the world. Alan is involved in several professional and legal national and international organizations. He was an active Member of EACCNY and is EACC Florida’s first President.

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