Aaron Heiser is the first-ever Chief Executive Officer of Malbon Golf, the Santa Monica streetwear-meets-golf brand founded by Stephen and Erica Malbon. Appointed in October 2024, he runs day-to-day operations while the founders steer creative as co-Chief Creative Officers. Heiser arrived after roughly 18 years at Nike, where he ran retail across Western Europe and Greater China before serving as Global VP of Apparel, Accessories and Licensing. A Cornell graduate and former varsity wrestler, he has built a career relocating across Amsterdam, Shanghai and Oregon, and now leads Malbon as it pushes toward roughly $100 million in revenue and deeper international expansion.
Deven Hurt is the co-founder and CEO of PredictionStrike, a New York based platform he calls a stock market for sports fans, where users buy and sell virtual shares of NBA and NFL players whose prices move on real on-field performance. A Harvard College bioengineer turned Harvard Law graduate, he ran cybersecurity work touching Nike and the NBA before building the company with best friend Brad Chabra in 2018. He raised a $10M Series A led by Bullpen Capital, grew the platform past 200,000 users and $100M in transactions, and reached per-user profitability in late 2024.
Adrienne Lofton is the Global Vice President of Product & Integrated Consumer Marketing for Google's Platforms & Devices Division, where she leads end-to-end marketing for the Pixel ecosystem and drives activation across Android, Chromebook, Chrome Browser, Google Play, and Google Health & Home. A Howard University graduate and Kellogg MBA, she built her career on brand authenticity — from multicultural marketing at Target, to CMO of Dockers at Levi's, to Senior VP of Global Brand Marketing at Under Armour, to VP Head of North America Marketing at Nike. An Ad Age Brand Genius award winner, Adweek Most Powerful Women in Sports honoree, and board director at Alaska Air Group, Lofton is one of the most recognized voices at the intersection of sports, culture, and consumer marketing.
Jonathan Johnsongriffin is VP of Global Brand & Creative at Google, where he leads the Global Brand Studio's creative strategy. A veteran of Nike's most iconic campaigns - including 'You Can't Stop Us' and 'Just Do It Crazy Dreams' - he spent nearly five years shaping Nike's global brand narrative before joining Google in January 2023. Co-founder of the Serena Williams Design Crew program, jury member at Cannes Lions 2023 and 2024, and board trustee at Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Johnsongriffin blends industrial design roots with cultural storytelling at the intersection of sport, technology, and purpose.
Joe Vernachio is the CEO of Allbirds, the once high-flying wool-shoe brand he is now trying to put back on its feet. A 30-plus year outdoor and athletic industry veteran who started as a product manager at Chouinard Equipment and has since steered product at Patagonia, Nike, Roots, Spyder, The North Face and Mountain Hardwear, he took the top job at Allbirds in March 2024 after three years as COO. He is part product geek, part operator, and an Everest aspirant who once spent a month getting through the Khumbu Icefall.