The VCU School of Business will continue its Expert Insights speaker series this spring, beginning March 4 with a technology-focused discussion featuring Rohana Meade, president and CEO of Synergy Technology, LLC.

Sponsored by Universal Corporation, Expert Insights is a speaker series that brings business leaders and other experts into conversation with students, faculty, staff and members of the broader Richmond community. The series launched this past fall with Paul C. Harris, executive vice president and chief sustainability and compliance officer for Huntington Ingalls Industries, and continues this spring with sessions focused on technology and corporate culture.

Meade’s talk, “The Future of Technology and Business,” will focus on how technology is influencing how organizations think, make decisions and create value—and what those changes mean for educators, students and community leaders.

“Attendees get to learn first-hand from amazing leaders who are practicing leading edge approaches in their discipline that can sustain an organization,” said Robert Clarkson, Ed.D., associate director of corporate engagement for the School of Business and series organizer. “An added bonus is the networking beforehand with the business community.”

Meade has more than 30 years of experience leading growth, transformation and innovation across enterprise IT and cloud services. She founded Synergy Technical as a one-person startup and has grown it into a global technology consulting firm serving customers in all 50 states and more than 70 countries.

Organizers say her experience brings a practical perspective on how technology decisions are represented in operations, risk and long-term strategy.

“Rohana is active in the business community and at the School of Business as a member of the Department of Information Systems advisory board,” said Clarkson. “She has her finger on the pulse of business as the founder and CEO of a marquee technology consulting business. She’s in a position to talk about what’s changing right now and what leaders are wrestling with.”

The March 4 event will be moderated by Mark Wensell, Ph.D., director of the Master of Decision Analytics Weekend Program and term faculty member in the Department of Information Systems.

The series’ final event, scheduled for April 15, will focus on corporate culture and feature William J. Groves II, president and CEO of New Horizon Bank. His session, “How to Create a Growth Mindset Culture as a New CEO,” centers on leading change early in a tenure and the work of building buy-in, setting expectations and creating accountability inside an organization.

Each Expert Insights event begins with breakfast and networking at 7:30 a.m., followed by an 8 a.m. presentation and a faculty-moderated discussion. Admission is free, but registration is required.