Meet Our Speakers
Steve wozniak
Special Guest Presentation
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026
A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for more than thirty years, Steve Wozniak has helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple’s first line of products, the Apple I and II. He also influenced the popular Macintosh. In 1976, Wozniak and Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer Inc. with Wozniak’s Apple I personal computer. The following year, he introduced his Apple II personal computer, featuring a central processing unit, a keyboard, color graphics, and a floppy disk drive. The Apple II was integral in launching the personal computer industry.
In 1981, he went back to UC Berkeley and finished his degree in electrical engineering/computer science. For his achievements at Apple, Wozniak was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the president of the United States in 1985, the highest honor bestowed on America’s leading innovators.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, the Economy and Employment for single-handedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers.
Through the years, Wozniak has been involved in various business and philanthropic ventures, focusing primarily on computer capabilities in schools and stressing hands-on learning and encouraging creativity for students. Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, he adopted the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. He founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet, and Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose. In 2014, he was awarded the Hoover Medal, a prestigious honor given for “outstanding extra-career services by engineers to humanity,” and was inducted into the IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame.
Wozniak is a published author with the release of his New York Times best-selling autobiography, iWoz: From Computer Geek to Cult Icon by Norton Publishing. His television appearances include: ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and The Big Bang Theory, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Conan, and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In October 2017, Steve co-founded Woz U.
Presentation Sponsor:
Verne Harnish
Keynote Presentation
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Verne Harnish is founder of the world-renowned Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), with more than 18,000 members worldwide, and founded and chaired for 15 years EO’s premier CEO program held at MIT, a program in which he still teaches today.
Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, a global executive education and coaching company with over 290 partners on six continents, Harnish has spent the past four decades helping companies scale up.
He is the author of Mastering the Rockefeller Habits; authored The Greatest Business Decisions of All Times, for which Jim Collins wrote the foreword. He is also the co-author of Scaling Up Compensation and wrote Scaling Up (Rockefeller Habits 2.0) which has been translated into 26 languages and has won eight major international book awards, including the International Book Award for Best General Business book. His latest book is Start to Scale.
Harnish serves on several boards, including as vice chair of The Riordan Clinic, co-founder and chair of Geoversit, and board member of the social venture Million Dollar Women. A private investor in many scale-ups, Harnish enjoys piano, tennis, and magic as a card-carrying member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.
Presentation Sponsor:
Jameel Burkett
State of the Industry
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Jameel Burkett is president and CEO of Burkett Restaurant Equipment & Supplies, where he leads the company’s strategic vision, growth, and culture of innovation. With more than 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry, Burkett has built a reputation for championing customer-focused solutions, operational excellence, and forward-thinking leadership. Under his direction, the company has emphasized technology adoption, team development, and a service-driven approach that strengthens relationships across the supply chain.
Burkett holds a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Toledo and has been recognized with multiple industry honors, including Foodservice Equipment Reports’ Management Excellence Award and a 20 Under 40 Leadership Award from the Toledo Business Journal. He is an active leader within the industry, serving on the FEDA board of directors and participating in the FEDA Future of Distribution Council.
Aaron Brown
State of the Industry
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Aaron Brown is the CEO of Refrigerated Solutions Group (RSG), where he leads a portfolio of leading commercial refrigeration brands focused on innovation, operational excellence, and customer success. Since joining RSG in 2020, Brown has played a key role in driving growth and strengthening the company’s market position.
With a background spanning global service operations, finance, and commercial strategy, Brown brings a well-rounded leadership perspective to the industry.
J Schneider
Distributor Focus
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
J Schneider is a global strategist, author and keynote speaker who helps industrial manufacturers and distributors unlock growth, accelerate transformation and reimagine what’s possible. With more than 25 years of experience leading initiatives worldwide, he has guided market leaders in industrial, automotive, aerospace, construction, and high-tech industries through complex business transformations.
Known for aligning leadership teams and driving change, Schneider blends deep operational expertise with data-driven insights to help companies reduce inefficiencies, strengthen go-to-market execution and capture market share faster. His approach is rooted in real-world field experience and a customer-back perspective — ensuring strategies deliver measurable impact.
As a trusted advisor, Schneider focuses on building scalable strategies, enabling cross-functional alignment and improving the end-to-end customer experience — empowering industrial firms to innovate with confidence and lead in competitive markets.
Jason Boomer
Distributor Focus
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Jason Boomer serves as the vice president of technology and is a member of the executive team at Burkett Restaurant Equipment & Supplies. With more than 20 years of experience in IT spanning the manufacturing, healthcare, and foodservice industries, Boomer focuses on leveraging technology to drive scalable growth and operational efficiency.
His approach to leadership comes from his background as a journeyman carpenter and mason prior to getting into technology. That experience created a foundation that instilled a “build-it-right” mentality. He still applies that focus to complex system integrations and digital transformation today. At Burkett, Boomer oversees the strategic evolution of the company’s tech stack, ensuring that back-end innovation directly supports the distributor’s mission to lead the industry in profit share and service excellence.
Rory Clarke
Distributor Focus
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Since 2005, Rory Clarke has played an integral role in Avanti Restaurant Solutions’ growth and reputation as a leader in foodservice design, equipment, installation, and project management. With a deep understanding of the industry’s nuances and a talent for building strong, lasting relationships, Clarke brings strategic vision and a people-first approach to leadership. He is known for cultivating high-performing teams and fostering a culture rooted in integrity and collaboration.
ROBIN ASHTON
Facilitator for the Industry Roundtable Discussions
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026
Robin Ashton is principal at Ashton Foodservice Consulting and the publisher/editor of The Ashton Report and The Ashton Report Insider. As the co-founder and former publisher of Foodservice Equipment Reports and the former chief editor and publisher of Foodservice Equipment and Supplies, Ashton has more than 40 years of experience researching the foodservice equipment and supplies markets in the United States and worldwide. He has forecasted the growth of the foodservice equipment and supplies market since the early 1980s and helped create many of the essential data used by manufacturers, distributors, consultants and others in the industry. You can find him at theashtonreport.com.