Sara Hand is a visionary leader with a strong and diverse business development background spanning the innovation value chain from idea stage to exit. She is experienced across public and private sectors, industry verticals and early stage investment. Sara finds and leverages unique value propositions to create synergistic partnerships. She believes that people and businesses thrive in communities and has created a global network of thought leaders. Sara is widely recognized for fostering collaboration and driving action-focused agendas for business and community development. Motto: Think Bigger. Keep it Simple. Make it Happen.LEADERSHIP ACHIEVEMENTS: Speaker/Moderator 2023 TIE New York 25th Anniversary Gala "The Next 25 Years of Entrepreneurship"TiECon Tampa Bay Program Development, Chair 2019 – 2020, 2022, Board of Directors 2021 - 2023SOFWERX 2023 Small Business Bootcamp 2 & 3, Investor, Scaling, and Pitch content developmentKeynote Speaker & Panelist – 2018 CEED Global Conference in Tunis, Tunisia, North Africa: "Entrepreneurship as a Vehicle for Social and Sustainable Economies" “How to Succeed as a Woman Leader and Entrepreneur”Recipient Keiser University Inaugural Seahawk Community Ambassador Award 2019 Synapse Summit Tampa Co-located “Smart Cities” content with the launch of “Toward Smarter Communities” 2019Development of Smart Cities Accelerator Series and Program Offerings for The Innovators Forum, an initiative of The Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard 2017 - 2019Master of Ceremonies, TiECon Tampa Bay (2017 – 2019)Start Up India Rocks Grand Finale in Bangalore – Team Member 2017 Microsoft - Led Regional Director, Most Valuable Professional & Community Influencer Program Workshop 2018Knight Cities Challenge Finalists 2016 - Top 120 of over 5000 applicantsUS State Dept. Friends of Global Entrepreneurship Program 2016International Business Innovation Association – Leadership Retreat 2016Purdue Agile Strategy Lab collaboration case study – Leadership Retreat 2016Dell Women’s Entrepreneurship 2016 SymposiumSKILLS/EXPERTISE:Visionary Leader*Catalyst for Creation*Technology Influencer*Global Network*Team building*Self-motivated* Problem-solver*Systems Thinking*Eco-system & Community Development*Creative Growth Strategist*For-Profit & Not-For-Profit Entrepreneurship*Investor Relations*Multi-Industry Sector Expertise*Agile Strategies* Open Innovation Practices*Corporate Speaker*Collaboration*Partnership Development*Executive Sales Trainer* Yenta/Matchmaker