AI for Human Progress Event

Jared Thurman serves as Vice President and General Manager of NA SB Sales for Dell Technologies’ North America Small Business customers and partners.

Jared has extensive experience in building, leading, and managing large organizations serving Medium Business, Mid-Market, Commercial, Public, Enterprise, and Global segments.

Since joining Dell in 1993, Jared has held a variety of leadership roles including, Vice President Data Center Solutions, Channel and Enterprise Infrastructure, Vice President U.S South Central Sales, Vice President U.S. Southeast Sales, Executive Director U.S. Mid-Market Sales, Executive Director U.S. Small and Medium Business Sales, Executive Director Global Mergers and Acquisition Integration, Area Vice President of Global Large Enterprise Sales, Executive Director of U.S. Corporate Accounts Inside Sales, Regional Inside Sales Manager, Regional Field Sales Manager, Inside Territory Sales Manager, Inside Transactional Sales Manager and Sales Operations Manager.

Jared served on the Dell Latino Connection Employee Resource Board from 2012-2016. Jared is currently an Executive Sponsor for the Remote Women in Action Employee Resource Group. Prior to Dell, Jared worked at Apple, Inc.

Shaista T. Keating is a Vice President at TechSoup and an expert in technology strategy. She has been a management consultant in the academic, public, private, and non-profit sectors. Shaista was an executive at Arcasun, a senior manager at Accenture, and a research fellow at the Institute for Strategic Change focused on information and communication technology innovation. Having worked with the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and taught at Georgetown University and the University of South Africa, Shaista has worked effectively in diverse environments around the world. She was selected as a Fulbright scholar and served on the American Embassy School Board in New Delhi, India. Shaista completed an undergraduate degree in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles, a Master of Science degree in international trade at Georgetown University, and a post graduate study in internet law at Harvard University.

Shaista enjoys volunteering for the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology Partnership Fund, Skidmore College President’s Council, and Williams College’s Parent Fund Committee. Shaista loves to scuba dive, sail, and sing. She cherishes spending time with family and friends. Shaista resides in the D.C. Metro area with her husband, Dominic, and daughters, Summer and Sophia.

Adam D. Powell serves as president and CEO of United Way of Tarrant County, a leading nonprofit for more than 100 years with a mission to improve the lives of those in Tarrant County and North Texas. Since joining UWTC in 2025, Adam has worked with internal and external stakeholders to design a strategic plan focused on innovation as a tool to accelerate problem-solving. This work has led to the launch of the United Way Institute powered by Dell Technologies, which focuses on producing high-quality research and data, spurring innovative solutions, and supporting non-profit capacity building efforts.

Prior to joining UWTC in 2025, Adam led Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region as its president and CEO, where he doubled the organizational impact over five years and nearly tripled its revenue. Prior to Communities In Schools, Adam served as vice president of site operations for College Possible, a national college access and success organization. In that role, he was responsible for fundraising, program delivery, staff management and development, and community relations at sites in seven different cities across the U.S. He has extensive experience in the education nonprofit space in North Texas, working previously in a variety of roles for Education is Freedom, including as its COO. Adam started his Texas-based nonprofit career as a resident assistant in Arlington’s Life Shelter in 2007, when he first arrived in the DFW area.

Along with his professional responsibilities, Adam has been an active member of several community organizations, including the Southern Dallas P-16 Council, the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee and the National College Access Network. He also is a member of the Rotary Club of Fort Worth and serves on the BoardBuild Board of Directors.

In 2026 and 2025, he was named to the 500 Most Influential List by Fort Worth, Inc. The year prior, he was inducted into the Forbes Nonprofit Council, an honor set aside for top nonprofit executives around the country. Adam was named a D Magazine/D CEO Leadership Excellence finalist in 2024 and 2023, honored as a Dallas Business Journal 40 under 40 recipient in 2021, and selected to Dallas Mayor Mike Rawling’s Star Council in 2015.

Adam holds a B.S. degree in mass communications from Jackson State University, an M.S. in social work from University of Texas in Arlington and is pursuing his Ed.D. in leadership and innovation from Purdue University. He currently resides in Fort Worth.

Thought leadership done well needs two main ingredients: meaningful, unique content and effective distribution. As the global thought leadership strategist for Dell Technologies, I oversee the multi-media creation and multi-channel distribution of novel stories and research insights around emerging technologies and their impact on our lives. From ideation to global research to editorial and distribution strategies and working with executives, customer visionaries and influential industry experts, I work with a cross-functional team to ensure these stories are being created continuously and syndicated into the marketplace across paid, owned and earned platforms.

Over the past decade, I had the joy and privilege to work in various digital, brand, content, field, campaign and thought leadership marketing and communication roles across country, regional and global levels. From launching brand campaigns across the globe to building responsive digital platforms, pioneering corporate social strategy, leveraging company's most important assets, its employees, to be the voice of the company, building meaningful, strategic partnerships to advance entrepreneurship, all the way to overseeing a global industry thought leadership program with nearly a dozen of studies on digital transformation progress and emerging technologies - I've been truly blessed to follow my passions and turn them into business value with lasting impact.

My greatest strength is in combining my creative mindset with agile execution. When I see strategic gaps, I turn them into opportunities with lasting impact. Over the past decade, I’ve set the vision, strategy and operational direction for many programs across local, regional and global teams. The breadth of these roles exposed me to a wide range of diverse stakeholder groups. This, in turn, taught me how to navigate the complexities of matrixed organizations and how to translate needs between groups. Over time, I gathered deep expertise in social media, influencer relations, multi-channel marketing and thought leadership. And today, I am an industry speaker and guest lecturer on these topics and been named as one of Top 20 Influencer Marketing Experts to Follow in 2020 and 2023 by TopRank Marketing.

In my free time, I appreciate the outdoors, my Peloton, interior design and spending time with family and friends. I also love to travel and explore different cultures and ways of living. So far, I have lived in six countries – and I’m not done. Currently, I'm enjoying Austin, Texas.

Elaine Mays Lofton is a seasoned technology executive, leadership strategist, and community  advocate with more than 35 years of experience spanning information technology, public service,  emergency management, organizational leadership, and nonprofit service.

Throughout her career, Elaine has held senior technology and executive leadership roles, 
including Chief Information Officer for the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, and technology leadership positions with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Following her retirement from state government, she served as Chief of Staff with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), supporting national emergency response operations and managing complex, multimillion-dollar initiatives.

Today, Elaine serves as Chief Program Officer for the African American Youth Harvest 
Foundation (AAYHF), where she helps lead programs that connect technology, education, 
workforce development, mentorship, and community services to opportunity. Her work includes expanding access to STEM education and industry-recognized technology training, including pathways in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, IT support, digital media, and emerging technologies.

Elaine is particularly passionate about ensuring that advances in artificial intelligence translate 
into meaningful human progress. She believes technology should not simply transform how 
organizations operate, it should expand opportunity, strengthen communities, prepare the next generation for the future of work, and ensure that individuals and communities who have historically had less access to emerging technologies are equipped to participate in and help shape that future.

Elaine holds a Master of Science in Management/Information Technology from Colorado Technical University and is a Certified John Maxwell Trainer, Speaker, and Coach. Her 
leadership and community service extend across numerous civic and nonprofit organizations, reflecting her lifelong commitment to bridging technology, leadership, and community impact.

Her guiding philosophy is simple: innovation has its greatest value when it improves people's lives.

I'm CEO and cofounder of Board.Dev, building the leadership infrastructure nonprofits need to make AI work. 1.8 million nonprofits are making consequential AI decisions without the board-level fluency to lead them. Board.Dev closes that gap.

We place tech-fluent leaders on nonprofit boards across every function—technology, finance, legal, HR, operations, marketing—run AI leadership cohorts and decision labs for nonprofits, and convene the Nonprofit Tech Governance Congress. Corporate partners include Okta, Dell, Morgan Stanley, and CDW. Congress members include leaders from Schmidt Sciences, MacArthur Foundation, Mozilla, LinkedIn, and Google.

Before Board.Dev, I spent 15+ years building cross-sector partnerships that scale impact: launching the world's largest online pro bono marketplace and delivering hundreds of millions of dollars in pro bono services at the Taproot Foundation; running operations for God's Love We Deliver (2M+ meals/year); and designing strategic initiatives for corporate social impact leaders at companies like Google, Okta, and Splunk.

I advise on tech philanthropy and cross-sector partnerships, and I'm a founding member of P150.

I am a passionate builder and impact leader. I thrive in chaos and transformation and am driven to improve communities and prepare them for the future. I love building and working with teams of talented humans and using the collective abilities to solve real social problems together. The harder the puzzle, the messier the issue, the more fun the path to build.

As Senior Director of Giving and Community at Dell Technologies, my team is responsible for global philanthropy for the company. We also lead public / private partnerships, employee engagement and impact programs that advance our public sector customers’ missions and enable the future workforce. We are also responsible for marketing for our impact work.

Previously I have led corporate relations team, thought leadership, public affairs, corporate activism, crisis communications, security/privacy, ESG / social impact communications, digital and reputation management for Dell Technologies, US marketing for STA Travel and purchasing/marketing for a Texas based start-up retailer.

Work has been recognized as a FastCompany World’s Most Innovative Companies, Dell Innovation Olympics Winner, Dell Gamechanger (x3), Best of CES People's Choice Award Winner, PR News Platinum and CSR Award Winner, Fortune's Change The World List and Project of the Year by Environmental Leader.

I am a boy mom, a gardener in training, an aspiring Yogi, a cheese enthusiast and a passionate traveler.