Explaining, measuring, and showing the value of innovation within a large organization is a daunting task, both in early stages as well as when a program matures. What tactics are useful to demonstrate value internally across all stages of program maturation?
Register today for our Evolve: Webinar on Showing the Value of Innovation Teams with John Featherston from Chick-fil-A New Ventures in conversation with Meaghan Kennedy from Orange Sparkle Ball. They will be discussing strategies that can be used to demonstrate the value of innovation across different stages of program maturation.
Friday November 13, 12:00-1:30 EST
Panelist
John Featherston
Sr. Director New Ventures - Chick-fil-A
John Featherston founded US-based fast-food chain operator Chick-fil-A’s corporate venturing arm called New Ventures in 2015. His role involves identifying startups that develop technologies complementing Chick-fil-A’s business strategically. In addition, Featherston is responsible for engaging the VC ecosystem on behalf of the corporate, foreseeing disruptions, and identifying startups for product development and commercialization opportunities.
In May 2017, Chick-fil-A participated as a founding partner together with a consortium of nine other US-based corporates to launch Engage Ventures, a $15m early-stage venture fund run by Tech Square Ventures. Featherston sits on the board of directors at Engage Ventures. Having joined Chick-fil-A in 1993 as a senior director of real estate, where he spent 22 years overseeing the company’s urban efforts through real estate deals in the US cities of Chicago and New York, Featherston also chaired growth strategy team for 16 years from 1998 and later new market entry team for three years from 2012.
His leadership positions in new market entry and growth strategy teams helped form the company’s disruptive mindset and entry into market gaps, leading a number of innovative schemes such as targeting evolving demographics and streamlining resource allocation. Featherston, who holds a degree in economics cum laude from Duke University and has a decade of real estate finance experience with financial services firms Bank of America and Wells Fargo, regularly speaks about growth strategy at universities. He sits on the advisory board of the Erwin Center for Brand Communications at Clemson University and is also a Culinary Institute of America fellow. He is also involved in philanthropic organizations including Care for Aids, Music to Light the World and Redeemer City to City.
Facilitators
Meaghan Kennedy
Founder, Orange Sparkle Ball
Meaghan founded Orange Sparkle Ball after graduating from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and conducting HIV research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Orange Sparkle Ball is an innovation and impact consultancy that accelerates initiatives in the private and public sector, as well as works with startups. Meaghan has taught at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has been a guest reviewer at Georgia Tech since 2007, a judge for the Global Social Venture Competition and Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), a mentor for social entrepreneurs and is a frequently invited to sit on innovation and entrepreneurial panels.