Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Founder Khan Academy
Sal Khan is the founder of Khan Academy, a nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone anywhere. Khan Academy's content and mastery learning platform has more than 100 million registered users from all over the world and has been localized into more than 40 languages.
Sal holds three degrees from MIT and an MBA from Harvard. He has been profiled by 60 Minutes, was the only nonprofit leader ever profiled on the cover of Forbes and was recognized as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential People in the World.
President & CEO West Coast University
Sandra Pham is the president and CEO at West Coast University, offering both online and on-campus
healthcare programs in nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistants and
nurse practioners. Ms. Pham has oversight for strategic growth, market benchmarking, legal, compliance,
and data analytics. Ms. Pham oversees the admissions and enrollment processes as well as campus
operations, both online and for the school’s main locations in California, Texas, and Florida.
Sandra has more than two decades in the healthcare world working in hospitals and medical offices around
the world, including Africa and the Middle East. Previously, Sandra held a variety of leadership roles at
Kaiser Permanente, including CFO for Finance Operations and Vice President of Finance for the real estate
portfolio, where she had financial oversight of the organization’s multi-billion-dollar annual capital program.
A respected leader in her field, Ms. Pham has been a guest lecturer at Oxford University, a participant for the
Robert Half Women in Leadership panel and Ernst & Young Diversity Leadership panels. Ms. Pham has
been honored as a finalist for the Orange County Business Journal 2018 Woman Leader of the Year.
Sandra received a Master of Public Health from Yale University and a Master of Business Administration
from Keenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She attended college at
the University of Minnesota and graduated with a BS in biology and a BA in psychology.
In addition, she has several other certifications including: Certified Executive Coach (CPCC certification),
Co-Active Training Institute and Certified Management Accountant, Institute of Management Accountants.
Ms. Pham is a visiting scholar in the Yale Healthcare Leaders program and serves on several boards
including:
• The Harvard Business Review Advisory Council
• Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles
• The Executive Advisory Board for the Yale Healthcare Conference
Sandra enjoys spending her spare time with her two children and being a Girl Scout Mom — especially
during girl scout cookie season.
Founder Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program
Esther Wojcicki is a internationally known journalism teacher and the founder of the Palo Alto High School Media Arts Program, a program that focuses on empowering students through the use of media (newspaper, magazine, yearbook, websites, video production, photography, radio, & television). The program started in 1984 with an already established (1918) 6 -8 page newspaper and 19 students; it has grown to become one of the most distinguished and the largest scholastic media program in the nation today (2016) with 600+ students, five additional teachers, nine publications, and a new 25,000 sq. ft Media Arts Center (2014).
Esther is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at MediaX at Stanford, a 2009 MacArthur Foundation Research Fellow, ; the 2002 California Teacher of the Year by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing; the 2011 Charles O’Malley Award recipient from Columbia Scholastic Press. In 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from Palo Alto University, and in 2016 an honorary doctorate from Rhode Island School of Design. In November, 2016 she was awarded the MyHero AAward for her work in global education.
Senior Producer CNN
Christina Zdanowicz is a Senior Producer at CNN. Her expertise lies in online storytelling, breaking news, user-generated content and finding great stories. She is a leader at CNN Digital and manages the hectic evening shift for the Social Discovery Team, the network's hub for social media newsgathering. Assigning, writing and editing stories, verifying user-generated content and making tough editorial decisions are all part of what she does. Her role involves identifying trending topics and social conversations around CNN's top news priorities, as well as curating content for a social and digital audience. The highlight of her day is mentoring interns, whom she recruits, hires and supervises. They've gone on to full-time jobs at CNN, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, NPR and The Wall Street Journal.
Her leadership skills were recognized in 2018 when she was chosen to be part of Poynter's Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media. Over the last 11 years, she has held various roles at CNN. Before that, she worked for the Chicago Tribune, CBS 2 Chicago and COSMOS, an Australian science magazine.
Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
VC South Central Ventures
Pedja Predin brings 9+ years of experience in VC investing, corporate strategy, business development and global expansion. Prior to joining SC Ventures, he served in various management roles at Norwegian growth stage company Gelato (www.gelato.com), including Head of Global Expansion, China Country Manager and Head of Logistics, and as Business Manager at Microsoft CEE (based out of Germany). Pedja also plays an active role in the startup community in Serbia through mentoring and coaching. He obtained his MBA from INSEAD (France), and BS in Finance from St. Francis College (New York, US).
Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Senior Producer CNN
Christina Zdanowicz is a Senior Producer at CNN. Her expertise lies in online storytelling, breaking news, user-generated content and finding great stories. She is a leader at CNN Digital and manages the hectic evening shift for the Social Discovery Team, the network's hub for social media newsgathering. Assigning, writing and editing stories, verifying user-generated content and making tough editorial decisions are all part of what she does. Her role involves identifying trending topics and social conversations around CNN's top news priorities, as well as curating content for a social and digital audience. The highlight of her day is mentoring interns, whom she recruits, hires and supervises. They've gone on to full-time jobs at CNN, The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, NPR and The Wall Street Journal.
Her leadership skills were recognized in 2018 when she was chosen to be part of Poynter's Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media. Over the last 11 years, she has held various roles at CNN. Before that, she worked for the Chicago Tribune, CBS 2 Chicago and COSMOS, an Australian science magazine.
Columnist Fast Company & The Globe and Mail
Jared Lindzon is a journalist and public speaker based in Toronto. Beyond his regular columns in Fast Company, The Guardian and The Globe & Mail Lindzon has also been published in The New York Times, POLITICO, the BBC, Rolling Stone, OZY, Fortune Magazine, TIME Magazine and many more.
Lindzon regularly shares the insights he's learned through years of reporting on the future of work in keynote presentations at events around the world, and has shared the stage with experts from a range of disciplines as a moderator and interviewer.
Reporter/Producer CGTN America
Connie Lee is a Reporter/Producer for CGTN America based in Washington D.C. She's been covering global headlines throughout her career. She previously lived in South Korea as a journalist, and has produced documentaries in Seoul and in Jordan. At CGTN America, Connie launched an original profile series ‘Asian & American’, and has covered latest digital and social trends across the globe. She started her career in journalism working at the ABC News affiliate based in the Washington region. Connie is fluent in Korean, conversational in Spanish, and is currently working on her Mandarin.
Senior Technology Reporter BuzzFeed News
Alex Kantrowitz is a Senior Technology Reporter at BuzzFeed News. He is the author of “Always Day One”. He covers how Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Snapchat are shaping the way we share information and interact. He has published in-depth stories on Facebook's artificial intelligence research division, Twitter's business struggles and comeback, Tinder's date-matching algorithm, and the spread of fake news. His work has been cited by publications ranging from The New York Times to Sports Illustrated. He has made multiple appearances on CNBC, CNN, and BBC Radio, and has plenty of moderated panels. In 2019, He won a Mirror Award as part of a BuzzFeed team recognized for reporting on 'Social Media in the Crosshairs.'
Webit Virtual | The Thought Leadership Virtual Platform is celebrating forward thinkers with values and big hearts, stewardship and professional and business connections.
Webit Virtual is a daily 1 hour online program. Each daily show is focused on specific theme, including:
Each Webit Virtual Program consists of a though leadership keynote, a fireside chat, discussion panel and a StartUp PITCH Session with 3 selected startups, upcoming global leaders in the specific industry vertical and Q&A with Investors Judging panel.
Webit Virtual | The Thought Leadership Network is a logical continuation of Webit's 12 years of success, building one of the world's biggest impact communities and producing the world's biggest and premier tech and innovation festival - Webit.Festival.
Webit mission is Improving the state of Today and Creating the Desirable Future Tomorrow.
Our mission is shared by the entire Global Impact Commitee, governing Webit Impact program, which includes Webit Virtual.
Plamen Russev, Ph.D
Executive Chairman, Webit.Foundation
Webit reaches out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers - Prime Ministers, Presidents; global forward thinkers, business and academia leaders, investors and media from all over the world.
The Webit community reaches out to over 800,000 digerati, among them world's forward thinkers – innovators, global business and academia leaders, investors, Presidents, Prime Ministers, EU Commissioners, regulators, members of parliaments - all of them debating on the most pressing challenges which the humankind faces today.
as per the data from 6,743 registered
and watching over Webit Virtual Platform
