OKEMP

A startup enthusiast, Susan has spent the bulk of her career supporting entrepreneurs and contributing to the growth of Oklahoma’s startup ecosystem. Susan launched a social entrepreneurship fellowship program in Oklahoma City and grew the state’s first coding bootcamp. Susan is a steering committee member for Creative Oklahoma’s Entrepreneur Mentor Program (IKEMP), and she works nationally with Techstars.

Senior Vice President, Operations
i2E, Inc.

As i2E’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Rex Smitherman is responsible for providing leadership in strategic business planning for the organization; management of company operations and administrative functions; managing relationships with funding sources; supervising underwriting function to support i2E investment funds; and, guidance for collection, communication and reporting of data to company funding sources and other interested parties.

Rex has more than 30 years’ experience in community and economic development, and has worked with state and local governments, the federal government, local and national non-profit organizations, economic development organizations, and some of the country’s largest corporations to grow Oklahoma’s economy.  Rex is a member of Leadership Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Academy.  He currently serves on the Advisory Board of the University of Central Oklahoma College of Business, is a past member of the Board of Directors for the Oklahoma Venture Forum, has served on the Board of Directors of the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, and the Advisory Board for REI’s New Markets, LLC.

Rex holds a B.S. in Accounting and an M.B.A. from Oklahoma State University. He is recognized by the National Development Council as a Certified Housing Development Finance Professional and as a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.

Justin Hazzard engages with entrepreneurs and small businesses to help bring innovation to the market. He is the Director of the Meridian Technology Center for Business Development, which provides business incubation and consulting services for early-stage, growth-oriented companies. Hazzard is an experienced entrepreneur with expertise in product validation, new market development, business planning and organizational strategy. Hazzard is also leading the Startup Stillwater initiative and is the lead organizer of 1 Million Cups, a program that brings together community and entrepreneurs. During his career he was a Foreign Trade Advisor for Oklahoma State University in the Center for International Trade and Development and also Director of International Sales for a consumer goods manufacturer. Hazzard received the Leading Edge Award in 2019 by the Stillwater Chamber of Commerce for his efforts in advancing Stillwater’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Justin earned his Masters of Business Administration from the Grenoble Graduate School of Business. 

Douglas Sorocco, a native of northern Indiana/Chicago, followed a girl (Kristen—now, his wife) to Oklahoma in 1996 and the rest is, as they say, history.

Doug is an an owner of the creative rights law firm Dunlap Codding and helps creators, makers, artists & innovators protect and defend their art, inventions, and ideas. He loves ideas—the more outlandish and audacious, the better—and believes that supporting the development of new ideas from all corners of our society is the recipe for community advancement.

Doug is a member of the bar in Oklahoma and Illinois and is licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Doug’s peers and clients have ranked him in Band 1 (the top band) for intellectual property law by the highly regarded U.K.-based Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business . Doug is incredibly honored to have been named one of 15 Minority Rainmakers of the Year by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association and Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year” in 2006. With a gift of the gab, Doug is often quoted by regional, national, and international business, technical, and legal publications. He is a trusted advisor to clients small and large—from local one person startups to multinational companies such as Nestlè, Johnson & Johnson, and Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

Doug loves to teach and is an adjunct faculty member at the Oklahoma City University School of Law and has held an appointed in the Physiology Department at the University of Oklahoma’s Health Sciences Center.

Doug served as the national Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Spina Bifida Association of America (2004-07). He also served on the Board of Directors for both the International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (a United Nations supported NGO based in Brussels) as well as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma City. Locally, Doug currently serves on the Board of Directors for Oklahoma City’s Film Row District, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC), Canterbury Voices, Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Creative Oklahoma, StarSpace46, and as the current Chairman of the Oklahoma City Girls Art School. Doug is a passionate advocate for “community inclsuiveness” and has been the driving force behind the firm’s free community and event space “DC on Film Row”.

Doug also attempts to keep up with his son Karl (12) and daughter Sophia (6). He wears the dark rings under his eyes with immense pride.