Ann Carpenter is dedicated to building and fostering the global Blue Economy. She serves as an advisor to deep tech entrepreneurs in industries including ocean/maritime, transportation and goods movement, energy, and biotech. She brings more than 30 years of experience in strategic planning, marketing, business development, and community outreach in private industry, nonprofit organizations, and as an entrepreneur. As co-founder and CEO of Braid Theory, Ann is responsible for strategic partnership building with public entities such as ports and utility agencies, and private industry. entrepreneur ecosystem. Ann serves on the boards of Ocean Exchange and Smart Freight Centre to further initiatives addressing global challenges and a more sustainable future. Her civic appointments include Chief Innovation Officer of the City of Los Angeles, Council District 15; and Commissioner of the County of Los Angeles Small Business Commission. Braid Theory is a vertically integrated venture advisory which provides end-to-end services to support science and engineering-led companies. The firm incorporates a hybrid model of services to assist startups and scaleups based on proven methodology and rigor in evidence-based entrepreneurship, focused on three key aspects of commercialization: capability, capacity and intellectual capital (the three Cs). Braid Theory has created an extensive pipeline of companies in key industry sectors: ocean/maritime; transportation and goods movement; energy/water/cleantech; smart cities, construction and infrastructure; aerospace and advanced manufacturing; digital tech; agriculture/food tech; and biotech/life sciences. The company also produces the IGNITE22 tech showcase, industry outreach events and pitch competitions. Through podcasts, webinars, white papers and keynotes, Braid Theory is emerging as a thought leader in the Blue Economy sector.