Melinda Garvey is a serial entrepreneur.  She founded Austin Woman magazine in September 2002 and the magazine is well-known and recognized for its in-depth profiles and stories on the influential, female change-makers in Austin.

In early 2016, Garvey showed her media moxie again by launching On The Dot, with the mission to give women the world over a voice and provide inspiration for thousands. And to expand her mission further, in 2019 Garvey developed and launched On The Dot Diversity, a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion software platform to help all women and diverse employees connect and advance within medium and large organizations.

Garvey also recently launched InHer Circle, a Peer Advisory for women where she will facilitate and advise a small group of female business owners who are scaling to and beyond the $1M mark. In addition, she serves as the facilitator for the Austin cohort of TWU’s AccelerateHer program and is also an adviser with TWU.

Prior to her entrepreneurial journey, Garvey spent her career in the media/marketing/advertising field. She began her career at a large advertising agency where she worked on the US Airways account and then at a daily newspaper group, where she served as VP of Sales and Marketing.

Garvey is married to Kip Garvey, and together they have an 18-year-old son, Beck who is heading off to flight school this fall. When not with her boys or working, you will find her surrounded by inspired women drinking wine!

Shana Burg has always been driven by the same four things: teaching, writing, technology, and an insatiable curiosity about what comes next. This curiosity led her to publish two award-winning books for young readers with Random House, lead content and training at tech companies—and when AI showed up and started doing everyone’s job faster and cheaper—roll up her sleeves and get certified. Rather than spiral into an existential crisis (publicly, anyway), she wrote a memoir about the experience. It’s called Poof! The Disappearance of a Writer in the Age of AI. (Spoiler: she did not go poof.)

Today Shana draws on her communications and tech background to train teams on Microsoft Copilot, helping HR directors and learning and development professionals give their organizations the tools and confidence to thrive in the age of AI. She also founded Neurobright, a company dedicated to helping educators and families of neurodivergent kids harness AI to make their daily lives easier and more manageable. Apparently one career pivot wasn’t enough.

Shana deeply believes creativity is our greatest competitive advantage in the age of algorithms.

Jacqueline Sinex is Managing Director at WEBii, a digital agency that specializes in custom web design and development. Her background includes fine arts, creative design, web development, user experience, e-learning, agency leadership, and leadership in non-profit organizations.

Born an “art nerd” she spent a decade as a fine arts student in various programs and earned her BFA at The University of Texas at Austin. However, while busy in print-making and painting labs, she was also fascinated by the emerging Internet and the power that digital media could bring to arts, communication, and business. That journey led her into web development and eventually to managing a team of designers, developers, and marketers. Her career in the web agency spans over 25 years.

Jackie has been honored to serve in several committee and board positions in organizations like The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Friends of Texas Public Schools, Rotary Club of Austin, and Women Communicators of Austin. She is a locally recognized public speaker and event organizer.

Jackie is also passionate about connecting people and enriching their lives and businesses through collaborative relationships. She is co-founder of local agency collaboration community events like Agency Connections, co-founder / co-host of The Agency Owners Meetup at SXSW, and founder of Women of Agency.