Shaping CT's Future: Drive to ‘35

From groundbreaking vaccines to rare-disease therapies now used around the world, Connecticut has etched its place in biotech.

Now, the next wave of innovators is transforming that legacy into a launchpad. We’ll explore how startups, research institutions, and health systems are joining together to build a statewide biotech corridor where discovery doesn’t end in the lab. It scales. It employs. It heals.

Inquiry has always been the foundation of the creative process, and with the revolution in AI, our world has shifted from one in which answers were most important to one where our skill in asking questions will be needed to help us navigate technological change.

This panel will give young people the opportunity to ask us the hard questions, about school, jobs, the world they’re inheriting and the world they want to live in.

Once an organizational IT concern, cybersecurity has become Connecticut’s next competitive advantage. As digital transformation continues across sectors and proactive security is enabling ever-faster responses to cyber disruption, resilience becomes the foundation of industry and business growth.

This panel explores how public innovation, private enterprise, and financial systems are building digital trust into the core of Connecticut’s economy, unpacking what it means to lead on the new frontline. It’s no longer about defending data, but designing systems, partnerships, and policies that make Connecticut the safest digital space in which to innovate, invest, and build.

As AI reshapes the nature of work, it’s also redefining the purpose of learning. Connecticut is reimagining education not just as preparation for jobs, but as a lifelong engine for creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation.

This conversation explores how educators, investors, and civic leaders are building pathways that strengthen human capability in an age of automation, connecting classrooms, startups, and communities to create a more adaptable and inclusive economy.

In this dynamic discussion, led by Dr. Christina Lampe-Onnerud — famed Swedish inorganic chemist, battery-inventor, and entrepreneur and elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences — we will highlight challenges to Connecticut’s clean-energy future and the innovators tackling real barriers to progress. From grid modernization and energy storage to renewables and policy reform, this discussion explores how technology, infrastructure, and investment can align to accelerate decarbonization.

Our panelists will discuss every angle of the challenge, from storage breakthroughs and circular-economy design to financing, operations, and policy, and the ways in which Connecticut is uniquely positioned to prove how stability, commitment, and support for dismantling the barriers to homegrown innovation can make us a model for clean-energy leadership.

Connecticut’s nonprofit sector is the backbone of its economy and wellbeing. Together, these organizations employ tens of thousands and deliver essential services that touch nearly every life in the state. Yet, behind the impact lies a system built on scarcity: nonprofits compete for the same limited dollars, measuring worth in overhead percentages instead of outcomes, and forced to prove their value again and again.

This conversation brings together leaders who are ready to rewrite that story. They’ll explore what it takes to move from scarcity to solidarity; to rebuild trust, share resources, and form partnerships that reflect the true scale of their collective impact. The challenge ahead lies beyond funding; it’s about reimagining collaboration as the key to Connecticut’s next decade of growth.

As fintech reshapes how we bank, invest, and build wealth, trust is becoming the new currency. Connecticut’s financial leaders are redefining what stability looks like in a digital world, modernizing responsibly while maintaining the confidence that has long anchored the state’s competitive and economic strength.

This conversation explores how traditional institutions, venture investors, and data-driven innovators are collaborating to make finance more accessible, secure, and resilient, positioning Connecticut as a model for trusted financial infrastructure going forward.

Once considered fringe, blockchain and digital assets are now redefining how value, ownership, and finance operate. This conversation explores how Connecticut’s innovators, investors, and policymakers are navigating the next evolution of financial technology, moving from hype to application, and from crypto to credibility.

Our panelists represent every part of the equation: the builders designing decentralized systems, the investors shaping how digital capital flows, and the policymakers creating the guardrails that make innovation sustainable. Together, they’ll unpack how transparency, trust, and technology can power the next chapter of our state’s financial progress.

Following a decade of disruption, Connecticut’s healthcare leaders are now proactively rebuilding. Facing workforce shortages, shifting payment models, and rising patient expectations, they’re transforming crisis response into long-term resilience. This conversation explores how hospitals, payers, and public-health systems are collaborating to deliver care that’s coordinated, sustainable, and equitable.

From hospital CEOs and alliance leaders to financial innovators and community health advocates, our panelists are all singularly focused on what it takes to keep healthcare both human and viable in a new era of uncertainty.

Featuring leaders from ConnectiCare, Stamford Health, and M7 (Medical Mobility Transportation Company) — and moderated by Tiffany Morrissey, Executive Director of Connecticut Health Council — this high-level discussion will explore how Connecticut’s healthcare sector is driving innovation, workforce development, and equitable growth to meet the state’s Impact 2035 goal of generating $5B in new economic output by 2035.

This panel will address how healthcare organizations are training their workforce for the future, the role of innovation in creating new career pathways, how health investment is driving inclusive economic development, and the ways policy, education, and industry will align to meet future demands.

Connecticut’s manufacturing legacy has always been about making things that last. Now, that legacy is evolving again, moving toward smarter materials, cleaner production, and supply chains that keep value recirculating in-state.

This panel explores how today’s leaders are using innovation, design thinking, and data to extend product life, reduce waste, and strengthen community impact. In this case, “circular” goes beyond recycling to consider what we build, how we build it, and who benefits.

AI is no longer a future concept – it’s already shaping how Connecticut works, learns, governs, and builds. From state agencies to local startups, AI is quietly becoming part of the public infrastructure that keeps our communities running.

This panel brings together state and city leaders who are implementing AI inside government, along with founders building AI platforms here in Connecticut. Together, we’ll look at what’s actually happening on the ground – what’s working, what’s changing, and what it really takes to build responsible, human-centered AI systems at scale.

Connecticut’s workforce is evolving fast, shaped by advances in clean energy, technology, and digital innovation, as well as the urgent need for climate-smart skills. This discussion explores how employers can hire, train, and retain talent in this rapidly shifting landscape, balancing culture, compliance, and creativity to build high-performing teams.

Our panel will examine the workforce gaps and growth areas shaping Connecticut’s economy in 2025, anticipate emerging trends in critical sectors like energy storage, renewable technology, and advanced manufacturing, and explore strategies for preparing a skilled, future-ready workforce.

Connecticut’s next decade will be shaped by innovation driven by in-depth insight; highlighting our ability to understand, anticipate, and act on what data reveals. This panel explores how information — coupled with collaboration across research, creativity, and technology — can transform the way we make decisions.

From predicting community needs to shaping smarter economic strategies, these experts are turning analytics into action. Together, they’ll discuss how to turn data into a shared advantage that fuels trust, creativity, and measurable progress statewide.

Join the Conversation

We’re bringing the conversation to life with live podcast sessions at our event featuring founders, investors, and industry disruptors. These thought-provoking discussions will dive deep into the future of sports and entertainment in Connecticut—covering innovation, growth, and the impact on our communities. Plus — we’re on the lookout for some fresh voices! Stay tuned for more details on how to get involved.

The CEO Moves Podcast

The CEO Moves Podcast shares real stories and lessons from CEOs and founders navigating leadership, growth, and tough decisions. Hosted by Kurt Zelch, each episode offers practical insights to help business leaders level up.