TechBeach Retreat Jamaica is less than two months away and our lineup of speakers reads like a who's who in global tech. From serial entrepreneurs to seasoned executives to shrewd investors, we promise a compelling event filled with unprecedented knowledge-sharing and networking.

Keep reading to discover the movers and shakers who will be leading panel discussions and fireside chats at the Caribbean's premier event for innovation, entrepreneurship and investment in Montego Bay from December 8-10, 2022. 

This year's speakers include: 

Irene Walker

Irene Walker is a catalyst for creating programs that combine the power of equity, education, and technology. Her dedication to empowering and advocating for communities of color grew through her Economic studies at the University of California Berkeley. She gained expertise in digital marketing and social media through her leadership roles as senior director at Yahoo!, Pandora Media and other major Fortune 500 companies. 

In 2016, Irene joined Meta as the Head of Ads Education and in 2018, she built Elevate, a business development and community program to support the online growth of minority small business and creator communities in the US, Caribbean, and the UK. She leads this bold program and has touched over 2 million Black, LatinX + Hispanic entities worldwide. Born in the US Virgin Islands, Irene currently lives in Los Angeles, California with her family.

Hugh Molotsi

Hugh Molotsi is the founder and CEO of Ujama Inc, the makers of Soko, the farmers’ market app that makes it easy to discover farmers’ markets near you and connect with their sellers. Hugh is a seasoned product and technology leader with over 30 years of experience developing global solutions for small businesses and consumers. Hugh is an accomplished innovator and has helped
launch several disruptive products. He has expertise in leadership development and digital transformation and has led diversity and inclusion initiatives.

Hugh had a 22-year career at Intuit where his last position was Engineering Fellow and Vice President of Innovation. In 2011, Hugh became the first recipient of Intuit’s Founders Innovation Award for his contributions helping launch Intuit’s payments business.

Hugh serves on the boards of Barloworld (BAW:SJ) and the Mozilla Corporation.
Hugh is the co-author of The Intrapreneur’s Journey, a book on how to develop a culture of innovation at large companies. He is passionate about fostering grassroots innovation and giving voice to good ideas wherever those ideas may come from.

Lauren Razavi

Lauren Razavi is a writer, speaker and strategist working at the intersection of technology, business, policy, and human behavior. Lauren was an early adopter of remote work and has lived as a digital nomad since 2013. Currently, she is Executive Director of Plumia, the mission to build an internet country for digital nomads at SafetyWing, a Y Combinator company. She is also author of the book Global Natives and writes the Counterflows newsletter about borderless living. She tweets @LaurenRazavi.

SafetyWing is a fully remote team building a global social safety net. Their mission is to create a country on the internet, removing the barrier of geographical borders to create equal opportunities and freedom for everyone. SafetyWing was born in 2018 (YC W18), has raised over $50M, and has grown its community to 100k+ customers.

Harold Hughes

Harold Hughes is the founder & CEO of Bandwagon, a South Carolina-based live experience technology company. Under his leadership, Bandwagon has raised more than $3M in venture capital and successfully acquired IdealSeat, Inc. in 2020. As a first-generation American, Harold prioritized education,  receiving two Bachelors degrees (Economics and Political Science) from Clemson University. He later received his MBA from Clemson while he led business development at a Fortune 1000 company based in Greenville, South Carolina.

A man of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Harold is actively involved in his community and believes strongly in creating communities. He is a founding team member of Black@, a web3 community for Black founders, funders, creators, and collaborators. To that end, Harold is also an active angel investor, investing in women,  people of color, and Black founder-led companies. Most notably, he has invested in Partake Foods, the Jay-Z-backed CPG company making allergy-friendly snacks, and companies like Goodr, Chipper, Journey Foods, Republic, and Stix.

James Barrood

For 20+ years James Barrood has supported the NYC metro area's entrepreneurial, innovation, and tech ecosystem. As founder and CEO of Innovation+, he leads a global community of entrepreneurs and innovators, while advising startups, growth companies, and higher ed institutions as well as the Tech Council Venture Fund and Jumpstart Angels Network. James recently concluded 5 years as CEO of the tri-state trade association, TechUnited, one of the largest and most respected membership tech organizations nationwide. Previously, he led FDU's top-ranked entrepreneurship center for 10+ years. James is a global keynoter, two-time TEDx speaker, podcast host and author of Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Global Insights from 24 Leaders and Lessons from the Great Recession.