Satoshi Sugie is the Co-founder and CEO of WHILL, a San Mateo-based personal mobility company that has reimagined the electric wheelchair as a design-forward consumer product. Drawing on his automotive design background at Nissan, Sugie co-founded WHILL in 2012 with a mission to redefine how people perceive and use mobility devices. Under his leadership, WHILL has grown to 350 employees, expanded to 30+ countries, raised over $153 million in funding, and deployed nearly one million autonomous rides at airports worldwide including Tokyo's Haneda, Rome Fiumicino, and Narita. Named to Silicon Valley Business Journal's 40 Under 40 in 2017 and recognized by TIME Magazine's 50 Best Inventions, Sugie's approach treats mobility not as a medical necessity but as an aspirational lifestyle product.
Silvia Scandar Mahan is the President and CEO of Cristo Rey San José Jesuit High School, a Catholic college-preparatory institution in San Jose's East Side that integrates professional work experience into its curriculum for students from underserved communities. A Harvard economics graduate and Georgetown Law alumna, she came to education through a winding path that took her from Skadden Arps to e-commerce entrepreneurship to social impact filmmaking, before finding her calling advocating for educational equity. Named a 2022 Silicon Valley Business Journal 40 Under 40 honoree and Woman of Influence, she leads a school where 98% of students enroll in college and 100+ corporate partners — from Cisco to NVIDIA to Kaiser Permanente — employ students one day per week to fund up to 50% of their tuition.