#WEWednesday – Women's Entrepreneurship Series: Educating the next generation of innovators

Kathi Vidal serves as the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) – America’s Innovation Agency. 

As the chief executive of the USPTO, she leads one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world, with more than 13,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $4 billion. She is the principal IP advisor to the President and the Administration, through the Secretary of Commerce, and is focused on incentivizing and protecting U.S. innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. She leads an agency whose mission is to help American workers and businesses compete and collaborate, especially in ground-breaking technologies and across all demographics. As Director of the USPTO, Vidal is working to expand American innovation for and from all, and to bring more ideas to impact, including serving as the Vice Chair of the Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2), alongside Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo and the Council members.   

Director Vidal grew up in a career military family and spent her childhood on military bases in the United States, Panama, Germany, and the Azorean Islands (Portugal). She learned the value of hard work, financial security, and education from her parents, who often held multiple jobs and attended classes at night and on weekends to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. 

Her interest in science led her to attend Binghamton University at the age of 16, where she received her bachelor’s in electrical engineering. Before graduating, she started her career at General Electric (GE) Aerospace (later Lockheed Martin). She was selected into the Edison Engineering Program and pursued her master’s in electrical engineering in Syracuse University’s night program. During her time at GE, she designed one of the first artificial intelligence systems for aircraft, as well as aircraft and engine-control systems that continue to keep our military safe today.  

Recognizing the value of innovation, Director Vidal pursued a career in IP. She put herself through law school and obtained a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. After clerking for Judge Alvin Anthony Schall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Director Vidal joined Fish & Richardson P.C., where she became a recognized expert on IP law, led a litigation group of 270 attorneys in 11 global offices, and served on the firm’s Management Committee. She later joined Winston & Strawn LLP, where she served on the firm’s Executive Committee and was Managing Partner of its Silicon Valley office. Throughout her career, Director Vidal has represented new innovators and startup companies with limited resources. She has also represented many of our country’s most successful and well-known companies.  

Director Vidal has spent her career championing the importance of mentoring and expanding opportunities to include more individuals from underserved communities. She has played an active role on the advisory board of Chiefs in Intellectual Property (ChIPs), a network of women leaders in technology, law, and policy, and on other boards and committees focused on diversity and inclusion, and has mentored diverse women across the globe as part of the Fortune-U.S. Department of State Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership program. She builds on that work today. 

Director Vidal’s full bio is available on the USPTO website. 

LaKisha Greenwade is an award-winning Innovator, Tech Ecosystem Founder, and Harvard University Guest Lecturer.

She is the Founder and CEO of Wearable Tech Ventures, a global ecosystem dedicated to the development and promotion of wearable technology with a focus on nontraditional founders.  In addition, she is the Senior Coach at Lucki Fit coaching for startup founders and leaders and host of the WearableTakeover podcast.

She leads the charge to support 100 wearable startups by 2030 led by underrepresented founders and has grown the Baltimore based organization to representation in 4 continents.

Her accolades include Innovator of the Year, Start Up Mentor of the Year, Maryland Leading Women honoree, NIH Director's Award, 3x SXSW Speaker, 2x 40 under 40 Leader, and 3x author and more information about her can be found on www.lakishagreenwade.com

Sherrill Mosee, inventor and designer of MinkeeBlue set out to solve a problem she calls, the ‘overload bag syndrome’. Like many women, Sherrill carried two or three bags while commuting to work.  She wanted to create an organizational fashion bag for busy women whose role changed throughout the day—from mom to executive.  MinkeeBlue bags are organizational travel and work bags that eliminate the need to carry multiple bags while traveling from place to place.

Sherrill, an electrical engineer by profession, received her undergraduate degree in engineering from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in engineering from Drexel University. She worked at Lockheed Martin for a number of years before taking a detour to start a nonprofit organization. She founded, Family Care Solutions to promote higher education among low-income student-parents in college. The organization awarded over $3 million in childcare scholarships to help women with children stay in school and earn a college degree. While working with the moms, Sherrill noticed many struggling to carry their diaper bag and book bag. Sherrill realized she too, was carrying two and three bags while taking the train into the city for work. Shortly after launching her MinkeeBlue, she was accepted into the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, a 12-month residency program which teaches the business of fashion.

Sherrill designed the inconspicuous compartmented bag with a patented folding shelf in the middle of the bag to separate shoes, lunch, a change of clothes, laptop and purse essentials. She has since received two utility patents for her design.

MinkeeBlue has been featured on the Today Show, The Katie Couric Show, in Buzz Feed, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine and sold on QVC. She won the premier show, America’s Big Deal on the USA Network and secured $100K to launch her bags in Macys.

At a young age, Amira Idris Radovic’ knew she wanted to become an engineer like her father. Although her father was a civil engineer, she pursued a degree in biomedical engineering due to inspiration from science fiction movies like Robocop. She was fascinated with the idea of using technology to enhance the human ability.

In 2014, her junior year at the University of Delaware, she got the opportunity to work in a prosthetic clinic. Through interactions with the patients at the clinic, she was exposed to the mental and physical pain that came with limb loss. Specifically, she was exposed to the issue of phantom limb pain, an incurable condition that affects 80% of the amputee community.

She founded TheraV in 2016 with a mission to transform amputation therapy and rehabilitation by creating drug-free solutions that improve the quality of life of amputees.

Jill MacKenzie became the Executive Director of Hagley in May 2020. She began her career at Hagley in 1982 as head of public relations. Over the years she headed marketing, fundraising, and eventually became museum director in 2016. Ms. MacKenzie hold a BA and MA in Communication from the University of Delaware and completed studies in Museum Management at the Getty Leadership Institute. She was named a Delaware Women in Business honoree in 2020.