James Lima has been actively engaged in complex matters of real estate, economic development, and public policy since 1986, with extensive private and public sector experience in the planning and revitalization of urban places at a variety of scales.

James founded JLP+D in 2011 after leading redevelopment strategies for numerous large-scale sites as a partner at a major national economic and real estate advisory firm. Previously, he was Senior Director of Development in the New York office of residential REIT AvalonBay Communities, Inc. Additionally, James was appointed by NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg as founding President of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, overseeing the redevelopment of a 172-acre former military facility in New York Harbor. James also served as Senior Vice President for Special Projects at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, where he managed initiatives focused on growth of the city’s central business districts, including Downtown Brooklyn, and increasing public access to the city’s waterfront. His prior work as Assistant Commissioner at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and at Forest City Ratner Companies centered on new construction of affordable housing and retail development throughout NYC.

James has served as Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Columbia University Master of Science in Real Estate Development Program (MSRED), where he has led a course entitled Public-Private Partnerships in Real Estate Development. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College with a major in architecture and urban studies, and stayed on at Columbia to complete the MSRED Program. At the Harvard Kennedy School, James participated in the Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a Fannie Mae Fellow. He is a frequent speaker at Urban Land Institute and other conferences, has served on advisory panels throughout North America, and has lectured on urban redevelopment at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Columbia, Penn, and Syracuse, as well as in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and Sao Paulo.

James serves as a Trustee on the National Trust for Historic Preservation Board of Trustees. Previously, James served on the Economic Development Committee of the Fourth Regional Plan for the Regional Plan Association in New York. He is a longstanding member of the Sustainable Development Council of the Urban Land Institute, a member of the Design Trust for Public Space’s Design Trust Council, and serves on the board of the American LGBTQ+ Museum.

John E. Tyler is FDOT District Five Secretary and CEO for SunRail commuter rail. A civil engineering graduate of Florida State University, John has played key roles in transformational projects enhancing Central Florida’s transportation network, including SunRail, Wekiva Parkway, and the I-4 Ultimate – the largest project in FDOT history. He moves the needle on transportation through his roles on the LYNX Board of Directors and FDOT’s Statewide Executive Team. John’s District in Central Florida has 4.6 million residents and includes three interstates, 21 aviation facilities, four major rail lines, a deep-water port, and the premier spaceport on the planet.

Sheena Fowler has rejoined the Orlando Economic Partnership as the Vice President of Innovation.

Sheena most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Innovate Orlando and brings more than 15 years of leadership across Orlando’s technology and innovation ecosystem. She previously served as Orlando Film Commissioner at the OEP and held leadership roles in economic development and tech and innovation.

In her new role, Sheena leads the regional innovation initiatives, strengthens partnerships with industry and community stakeholders, supports entrepreneurs and high‑growth companies, and aligns innovation activity with the region’s broader economic development priorities.

Dr. Carolina Cruz-Neira, a University of Central Florida faculty and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, is a pioneer in the areas of virtual reality (VR), interactive visualization, and digital twins. Her innovations have been instrumental in facilitating data analysis, decision-making, design reviews, and training and education. Her work evolved into standard tools used in industry, government, and academia.

She is known worldwide for being the creator of the CAVE VR system, for transferring research into practice by spearheading Open-Source initiatives, and for supporting entrepreneurial initiatives to commercialize research. She is recognized for founding successful applied research centers: the Virtual Reality Applications Center at Iowa State University, the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise, and the Emerging Analytics Center at the University of Arkansas.  Her research leadership has received recognition from major companies for increasing product safety and improving design and production processes that have saved time, lives, and millions of dollars.

She enjoys intersecting her research with the arts and the humanities through dance performances and museum installations. She has been named among the top innovators in virtual reality and one of the top three greatest women visionaries in VR. She is the first person inducted to the National Academy of Engineering for immersive technologies and virtual reality; she has been inducted to the US Congressional Record, she is a member of the IEEE VR Academy, an IEEE Fellow, an ACM Computer Pioneer, an AWE XR Hall of Fame member, and a Modeling and Simulation Hall of Fame. She received the IEEE VR Achievement Award and the International Digital Media & Arts Society Distinguished Career Award, among many national and international recognitions. She serves on national and international technology boards as well as government technology advisory committees.

Her life’s work addressing large problems through interdisciplinary teams has become a key to innovation and is considered standard practice in driving American competitiveness in the global economy.

Karl Melo is an innovation consultant at KPMG, based in Orlando. He works with business leaders to explore how human-centered, technology-enabled innovation could be used to create value and long‑term competitiveness.

With a background in advanced analytics and business strategy, Karl helps organizations shape their vision and turn it into concrete transformation.

He is actively engaged in Orlando’s innovation ecosystem and supports initiatives aligned with the region’s long‑term growth vision.

Karl holds an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a Masters in Finance from the University of Leicester in the UK.