Joseph Amato over thirty years experience as a business development consultant and a leading voice for business ownership and entrepreneurship within the commercial lending industry.
Mr. Amato has been employed as an SBDC executive director, CDC portfolio manager, and direct lender participating in various SBA lending and outreach programs over the past twenty-six years.
He has distinct knowledge of all SBA lending and other SBA support programs.
He is originally from the greater New York area and had spent the better part of the last two decades in the Washington D.C area primarily serving the Mid-Atlantic region as a business development consultant, direct lender and Chief Executive Officer for a major business-consulting firm.
In 2017 Mr. Amato moved to Las Vegas Nevada to take over the District Director position and oversee the SBA program and staff. His impact on the Nevada business community has been critically important in the past several years especially due to the effects of COVID-19 this most recent year.
Mr. Amato was awarded the 1997 Financial Services Advocate of the Year, the year before he sold his small business consulting company to American Express.
His extensive knowledge and experience have been used to stabilize and expand SBA and USDA program opportunities throughout the State of Nevada and beyond.
As a former business executive and lending industry consultant Mr. Amato has evidenced a consistently strong work ethic and knowledge base that has proven to be a valuable asset to the Small Business Administration, the nationwide lending community and hundreds of businesses across the United States.

Michael has more than 20 years of experience in the fields of process improvement, technology and innovation. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Director of Public Safety, Business Services & City Technology for the City of Irvine, California. Michael is extremely passionate about technology, and believes through innovation, workforce development and collaboration, we can create brighter and sustainable communities.

Michael received his B.S. in Management from Pepperdine University followed by an M.S. in Executive Management from the University of Southern California.

Brett E Trusko, PhD, MBA

Brett Trusko Is the Founder and President of the International Association of Innovation Professionals, a professor at several universities, and a co-founder of Property-Intel, a start-up that allows property- owners to track the important items in your property, rental unit, apartment building, or commercial building (CarFax for your home). Additionally, he is the Secretariat for ISO 279, the Innovation Management Systems standard being produced by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Brett will address the conference twice. One for the emerging ISO standards for innovation and another with his groundbreaking service for home and property owners

Brett has been a partner at a major consulting firm, a start-up founder (six times over), and a professor at several major universities. He has a doctorate in Business administration and Computer Science and teaches innovation and data science at the university level.

Nevada Innovation Center LLC (NIC) is a partnership between Co-Founders Michael A. Saltman and Nissim H. Ezekiel, who have extensive business activities and networks in both the U.S. and Israel. NIC has created the technology bridge between Israel and Nevada and is the primary intermediary for business initiatives linking Nevada’s economic development agencies, academic institutions, and private companies with counterparts in Israel. It works closely with the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) in facilitating the critical objective of diversifying Nevada’s economy. NIC’s strategic innovation has been to establish the State of Nevada as a major client for Israeli pilot projects and commercial deployment and as a showcase and entry point for the broader U.S. market. A complementary development has been the growing interest of major Nevada-based private companies in accessing Israeli technology and exploring opportunities to become part of Israel’s R&D ecosystem.

Nissim has over four decades of experience in business and economic development. He spent 25 years at the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group-Washington D.C.) from 1975 to 2000 and was Director of its newly created Corporate Planning Department.  He was appointed Executive Director of the UN Commission on the Private Sector & Development in 2003 and had primary responsibility for the development of the Commission’s Report, Unleashing Entrepreneurship-Making Business Work for the Poor.  Nissim then served as Chairman of the Advisory Board of Dalberg Global Development Advisors and functioned as Executive Director of the Dalberg Task Force on Capacity for Program Delivery, under the framework of the Clinton Global Initiative. Nissim’s consulting clients have included Darby Overseas Investments Ltd. (Franklin Templeton), whom he advised on issues relating to private investment in infrastructure in emerging markets.

Jason Frame oversees and directs all aspects of the Information Technology program at the Southern Nevada Health District. Jason has more than 10 years of management experience in the fields of information technology, process improvement and innovation. He has been with SNHD for over 11 years, with the last 6+ serving in this current role. Jason is passionate about innovation, automation and disruptive technologies. Under Jason’s guidance, the team was awarded a Government Technology Innovation Award in the Citizen’s category. He was recognized as the Top Tech Exec for Government by Vegas Inc. Magazine in 2020 and 2016 and the 2020 Government Technology Innovation Award for Leadership.

Jason received his B.S. in Computer Science followed by a M.B.A. with an emphasis on Information Technology and Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

CEO of IRC Advisory is a Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB*)  and strategy and management consultancy in FinTech and Payments.  IRC is a “for-profit-for-good” firm, for itself and clients to build for high returns –  financially and for a greater good.  Kirsten’s pro bono work is in anti-human trafficking, financial inclusion, and disaster financial prep and response.

Her career has focused on building and growing new markets and businesses – from start-ups to Fortune 500s. She has spent much time and testified on Capitol Hill, has delivered 200+ speeches, and serves on several Boards –  corporate and charity.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirsten-trusko,   https://ircadvisory.com EMCoalition.org, IAOIP.org

*IRC holds 3 government certifications: WOSB, WBE, HUB

Joseph Carver is the Chief Innovation Officer at The Meadows School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Formerly the Director of Technology at Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami, Fl, Joseph is an experienced educator with over twenty years spent in secondary and higher education. A thought leader in reforming the way that schools view technology, he has presented previously at ATLIS, FCIS, FETC and  the NDCA on topics ranging from capacity building for IT teams to technological solutions to educating in a pandemic.