RICK NUCCI
Fox IT Innovator Award
CHRIS WINK
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD
Christopher Wink is a journalist and entrepreneur who is cofounder and CEO of Technical.ly, the news organization with a community of technologists and entrepreneurs. He specializes in local economic development, including entrepreneurship and tech workforce trends, journalism strategy and building trust online. He was previously publisher of Generocity.org, which reports on the nonprofit sector, and a former media director for a homeless advocacy nonprofit.
He is lead organizer of Philly Tech Week, cofounder of Baltimore Innovation Week and is behind other events that bring together smart people. In 2022, Wink was named one of Pennsylvania’s most influential impact leaders, and in 2017 Folio magazine listed him as one of the 100 most innovative media leaders in the country.
The 2008 Temple University alumnus is a bicycle commuter of Philadelphia. Wink reads a lot of books, makes a lot of charts, drinks a lot of whiskey and harbors fantasies of being a fiction writer worth reading.
TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL IT AWARDS
DR. BARBARA “BOBBI” KURSHAN
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD
Dr. Barbara (Bobbi) Kurshan, the co-author of InnovateHERs – Why Purpose-Driven Entrepreneurial Women Rise to the Top, has honed her vision of “what can be” using technology while supporting education companies and developing innovative products. She currently serves as a Senior Innovation Advisor at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania where she builds and advises education innovation ecosystems and co-directs the global certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
As the President of ECC, she provides strategic consulting in the areas of investment, digital transformation, entrepreneurship, and innovation. As the past Executive Director of Curriki, Bobbi helped to build one of the most innovative global open-source education communities. Dr. Kurshan has previously served as the Co-CEO of Core Learning, an education investment fund, and the Chief Academic Officer of bigchalk, one of the first online digital libraries with K-12 educational content.
As an investor she has invested in numerous edtech startups including Fablevision, Mindprint Learning, SoWork, Mindstone, BoxMedia and The Qgroup, a language learning company that she took from startup to IPO. She currently serves on the corporate board of American Public Education Inc.; and advises several edtech companies including Thinkster, Educonnective, RobotLabs, and TeachMe TV. She is the author of several books, articles and regularly blogs for Forbes.com. Her new book InnovateHERs is now available on Amazon.
TWENTY-FIRST ANNUAL IT AWARDS
JOHN K. COLLIER
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD
John Collier is a value-driven digital innovation leader and entrepreneur with extensive cross-industry technology design and development experience. He started as a designer and that perspective continues to guide his career in leading technology design and architecture at Fortune 500 companies.
Currently, Mr. Collier is Vice President, Chief Information Officer at Wawa, Inc. He is responsible for establishing the strategic direction for Wawa’s expanding technology and business services. John leads technology strategy, development, implementation and ongoing operations for Wawa, Inc.
Previously, Mr. Collier was Executive Vice President, Chief Information Officer for TracFone Wireless, Inc., America Movil, S.A.B. de C.V. John was responsible for all aspects of technology, including identifying new business models, a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler (MVNE) commerce hosting product, and an industry leading ubiquitous multi-carrier platform featuring an unprecedented consumer mobile experience.
As Corporate Vice President – Global Chief Architect for Walmart, John led technology architecture strategy across 28 countries and was charged to establish the Intellectual Property Management and Monetization organization. He designed such public facing strategies as “Clicks and Bricks”, Pick-Up Today, Price Match Guarantee, Savings Catcher and Disc to Digital.
He is credited with several patents including an industry altering Flexible Store Fulfillment patent. John holds a Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts from Ball State University.
NINETEENTH ANNUAL IT AWARDS
JAMES RHEE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INNOVATOR AWARD
James Rhee, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Ashley Stewart, is an impact-focused entrepreneur, investor, operator and educator. As both CEO and investment firm founder, Mr. Rhee has generated market-leading returns by creating bespoke capital and operational solutions through the contemporaneous application of algorithmic, technological and cultural change. He has a uniquely diverse network and knowledge base spanning the private equity, retail/consumer, venture and media/technology communities. At Ashley Stewart, as Chairman and CEO, Mr. Rhee has authored and executed upon an innovative complement of CRM, digital and organizational changes that have transformed a twice bankrupt, unprofitable brick-and-mortar retailer with decades of operating losses into an industry leader founded upon a values-based, social commerce paradigm. FirePine Group, the investment firm he founded in 2009, has invested the capital of some of the world’s most sophisticated investors and their family offices to successfully fuel transformative and impactful change in multiple enterprises, including Ashley Stewart.
Prior to this, Mr. Rhee was a senior investment professional at two leading, Boston-based investment firms, one specializing in growth and the other focused on distress. Mr. Rhee has played a leadership role in multiple platforms, including the carve-out of the Meow Mix brand from Ralston Purina, the purchase and then turnaround of Murray’s Discount Auto Stores from a bank group, the growth catalyst investment in Mattress Firm and the turnaround of Ultra Diamonds.
Mr. Rhee is a visiting lecturer at Duke Law School and teaches his proprietary valuation and happiness class at leading educational institutions and professional organizations across the country. He is a regional winner of the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the recipient of one of five 2016 Power Player Awards granted by the National Retail Federation, and the 2017 recipient of the Black Retail Action Group Business Achievement Award. He is a member of the board of the National Retail Federation.
Mr. Rhee received his AB with honors from Harvard College and his JD with honors from Harvard Law School, where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He lives outside Boston with his wife and three daughters. He is a former high school teacher.
