OKEMP

Susan Moring is Director of the Oklahoma City office of OU’s Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth (I-CCEW), the largest innovation consultant in Oklahoma. At I-CCEW, Susan primarily manages 3 programs: 1) A healthcare innovation internship for OU grad students to launch new healthcare technologies, 2) OK Coders — the first coding bootcamp in the state of Oklahoma that has now trained 300+ new software developers, and 3) The Mine social innovation fellowship program for young professionals.

Susan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Oklahoma with a B.B.A in Entrepreneurship and Venture Management and minors in Marketing and Non-profit Organizational Studies. In her free time, she volunteers as an Organizer for the local 1 Million Cups entrepreneurial meetup, and she also serves as a Startup Weekend Facilitator, traveling around the U.S. to lead communities through the process of launching a business in a weekend.

PhD, MBA Co-founder & CEO
Moleculera Labs, Inc. CEO
BioSource Consulting Group

Dr. Shimasaki is co-founder and CEO of Moleculera labs, a neuroimmunology diagnostic laboratory focused on neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorders triggered by autoimmune response, based upon the research of Dr. Madeleine Cunningham at the University of Oklahoma. He has over 35 years of biotechnology industry experience, starting his career at Genentech. His research and development work included epitope mapping for an HIV vaccine, SNP-based genetic breast cancer risk prediction biomarkers, a rapid influenza diagnostic, and therapeutic and biologic products for infectious and neuropsychiatric diseases. He co-founded nine companies and led five clinical diagnostic tests through FDA 510(k) approval and is a co-inventor on several patents. He was involved in raising over $30 million for these companies and participated in taking five companies public in the U.S. and Canadian stock markets.

Dr. Shimasaki received his BS in Biochemistry from University of California at Davis, his PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Tulsa, and his MBA from Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business. He an Adjunct Professor at the University of Oklahoma, Price School of Business and teaches biotechnology entrepreneurship. Dr. Shimasaki has authored and edited two books “The Business of Bioscience: What Goes Into Making a Biotechnology Product” and “Biotechnology Entrepreneurship: Starting, Managing and Leading Biotech Companies.” His passion is to help translate scientific and medical discoveries into acutely needed products so that more patients can live healthier lives.

Senior Vice President, Operations
i2E, Inc.

As i2E’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Rex Smitherman is responsible for providing leadership in strategic business planning for the organization; management of company operations and administrative functions; managing relationships with funding sources; supervising underwriting function to support i2E investment funds; and, guidance for collection, communication and reporting of data to company funding sources and other interested parties.

Rex has more than 30 years’ experience in community and economic development, and has worked with state and local governments, the federal government, local and national non-profit organizations, economic development organizations, and some of the country’s largest corporations to grow Oklahoma’s economy.  Rex is a member of Leadership Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Academy.  He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Central Oklahoma College of Business, is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Venture Forum, has served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, and the Advisory Board for REI’s New Markets, LLC.

Rex holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A. from Oklahoma State University. He is recognized by the National Development Council as a Certified Housing Development Finance Professional and as a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.

Justin Hazzard engages with entrepreneurs and small businesses to help bring innovation to the market. He is the Director of the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, which provides business incubation and consulting services for early-stage, growth-oriented companies. Hazzard is an experienced entrepreneur with expertise in product validation, new market development, business planning and organizational strategy. Hazzard is also leading the Startup Stillwater initiative and is the lead organizer of 1 Million Cups, a program that brings together community and entrepreneurs. During his career he was a Foreign Trade Advisor for Oklahoma State University in the Center for International Trade and Development and also Director of International Sales for a consumer goods manufacturer. Hazzard received the Leading Edge Award in 2019 by the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce for his efforts in advancing Stillwater’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Justin earned his Masters of Business Administration from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business. 

Evan is a lifelong Oklahoman and is proud to live and work in the heart of Oklahoma City. Husband to Katie and dog dad to Duke, economic development project manager by day, armchair food critic and connoisseur of The Office (American version) by night. Passionate about unlocking human potential through the democratization of entrepreneurship. Serves on the board of directors for Loveworks Leadership, a nonprofit organization in Norman, OK that seeks to help teenagers discover their potential through tailored leadership training and entrepreneurial instruction. Member of the Governor’s Team for Economic Development & Marketing.

Douglas Sorocco, a native of northern Indiana/Chicago, followed a girl (Kristen—now, his wife) to Oklahoma in 1996 and the rest is, as they say, history.

Doug is an an owner of the creative rights law firm Dunlap Codding and helps creators, makers, artists & innovators protect and defend their art, inventions, and ideas. He loves ideas—the more outlandish and audacious, the better—and believes that supporting the development of new ideas from all corners of our society is the recipe for community advancement.

Doug is a member of the bar in Oklahoma and Illinois and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Doug’s peers and clients have ranked him in Band 1 (the top band) for intellectual property law by the highly regarded U.K.-based Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business . Doug is incredibly honored to have been named one of 15 Minority Rainmakers of the Year by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2006. With a gift of the gab, Doug is often quoted by regional, national, and international business, technical, and legal publications. He is a trusted advisor to clients small and large—from local one person startups to multinational companies such as Nestlè, Johnson & Johnson, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

Doug loves to teach and is an adjunct faculty member at the Oklahoma City University School of Law and has held an appointed in the Physiology Department at the University of Oklahoma’s Health Sciences Center.

Doug served as the national Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Spina Bifida Association of America (2004-07). He also served on the Board of Directors for both the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (a United Nations supported NGO based in Brussels) as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma City. Locally, Doug currently serves on the Board of Directors for Oklahoma City’s Film Row District, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC), Canterbury Voices, Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Creative Oklahoma, StarSpace46, and as the current Chairman of the Oklahoma City Girls Art School. Doug is a passionate advocate for “community inclsuiveness” and has been the driving force behind the firm’s free community and event space “DC on Film Row”.

Doug also attempts to keep up with his son Karl (12) and daughter Sophia (6). He wears the dark rings under his eyes with immense pride.