One Spark crowdfunding festival has signed up a big name speaker for their forthcoming event next in April. Jack Welch, former CEO of GE, management guru and author will be headlining the the speaker summit. Welch will be joined by his wife Suzy Welch, Editor of the Harvard Business Review, for an hour long conversation where they will also take questions from the audience. Welch is best known for re-engineering General Electric taking it from a relatively sleepy operation and changing it into a global conglomerate. During his tenure as CEO GE rose in value over 4000%. Welch is a frequent visitor / contributor on CNBC as well these days.
“We are looking forward to coming to Jacksonville to share stories and lessons learned with the next generation of creators and innovators at One Spark’s Speaker Summit,” said Jack and Suzy Welch. “In today’s world, there are those who strategize and there are those who act. One Spark is about action and bringing great ideas to life in a way that hasn’t been done before. We are proud to be a part of it.”
Elton Rivas, co-founder and CEO of One Spark said, “It’s an honor to have Jack Welch headline the One Spark Speaker Summit in Jacksonville. His experience and wisdom on business and innovation is beyond words and our creators and Speaker Summit attendees will be in for a treat,” said Rivas. “It’s great to have people in our community paying it forward and the fact that 105 UNF students will have the opportunity to learn from top-tier entrepreneurs and business leaders, thanks to a few generous donations, truly embodies the One Spark spirit.”
Other prominent speakers for this year’s One Spark Speaker Summit presented by Community First Credit Union include Jeff Hoffman, founder of Priceline.com and Tamara Mendelsohn, vice president of marketing, Eventbrite, among 11 total speakers. Welch took the place of Daymond John who had to cancel due to a “personal conflict”.
The One Spark event takes place in Jacksonville, Florida and has become a marquee event of the central Florida community. The event has grown each year in number of crowdfunders and attendees. This past year One Spark expanded its brand and organized its first event in Europe.