President | Hobby Lobby

Steve Green became President of Hobby Lobby in 2004 and has helped his family grow the business to more than 850 stores in 46 states with over 37,500 employees. He is a national speaker on both business and philanthropy interests, always focusing on how his faith intersects with his life endeavors.

Green is also chairman of the board for Museum of the Bible. In his role as chairman, Green has assembled a team of academics, designers, technology professionals and other experts to create the 430,000-square-foot Museum of the Bible, dedicated to a scholarly and engaging presentation of the Bible’s impact, history, and narrative. The Museum opened November 2017 in Washington D.C., three blocks from the U.S. Capitol.

Green has authored three books: Faith in America (2011), The Bible in America (2013) and This Dangerous Book (2017). His books can be found in Hobby Lobby stores across the nation, and online.

Green and his wife, Jackie, have been married for more than 30 years and reside in Oklahoma City, where Hobby Lobby is headquartered. Their family includes a son, five daughters, a daughter-in-law, three sons-in-law and four grandchildren. They are actively involved in their local church, as well as with many national and international Christian ministries and charities.

LINKS 

• Museum of the Bible

• An Inside Look at the Museum of the Bible

• Hobby Lobby

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

Co-founder of Manas

Sam Lam co-founded Manas in 2005 and is based in Washington, DC. Under his leadership, Manas has launched operations across 15+ emerging markets through early stage ventures and partnerships with leading US technology companies. Manas provides seed and growth capital to entrepreneurs, then supports them through on-going consulting and mentoring. 

Prior to Manas, Sam built a business in China and negotiated strategic partnerships for AOL. Sam is a graduate of Yale University and speaks five languages.

He is married to Jennifer and a father of two.

LINKS 

• Manas Development

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

former CTO | Bandwidth

Scott works with founders and investors in search fund and small to mid-market private equity to successfully acquire, transition and scale software product companies. He is a former venture partner at Sovereigns Capital, former CTO at Bandwidth, and advisor and fractional CTO to numerous technology startups.

Scott lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife Shelley, daughter Margaret and son Charlie. He writes somewhat regularly on building technology product companies and has a podcast where he interviews founders of the same.

LINKS 

• Twitter

• Check out Scott’s Podcast

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

co-founder and Director | Centre for Disruptive Technologies

Sharron McPherson is one of Africa’s leading experts on the impact of technology disruption for emerging market growth and development, future work and the disruption of education. Her passion is to help improve the lives of a billion people in the developing world by helping leaders in emerging markets to harness the power of disruptive technologies to transform the business investment landscape and to create new market opportunities. In addition to teaching Project Finance at UCT’s GSB, she is also a member of the Faculty of Singularity University (Silicon Valley).

Sharron is also co-founder and a Director of the Centre for Disruptive Technologies. A former Wall Street investment banker/attorney turned serial social impact investor, Sharron is an advocate for the disruption of corporate and traditional educational systems that are failing to equip people with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in the age of disruption. She is the creator of an AI-enabled personal learning platform, SuperSchool, as well as the “Launchpad” school enterprise development initiative.

Sharron is a noted advocate for gender smart investing and smart city development and was a founding board member of the Graça Machel Trust for Women in Finance. She also sits on the Brains Trust of UnitedSucces as well as the Katerva Council for Social Innovation.

LINKS 

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR

CEO | Akola

Sheeba serves as CEO for Akola. She has built a nearly 20 year career creating and growing purpose-driven brands in the CPG, retail, and nonprofit sectors. She spent ten years in executive roles leading multi-million dollar iconic businesses with full P&L responsibility for Mondelez International and Kraft Foods. During her tenure, she was the Global Director for the World’s #1 Cookie, Oreo, a $2 billion+ brand present in over 100 countries and helped drive double-digit growth in markets such as the US and China.

Sheeba was recently a member of the turnaround team to help revitalize one of America’s most well-known retailers, JCPenney. As the Vice President of Marketing Strategy & Communications, she led the modernization of JCPenney’s brand, making it more relevant to a millennial customer base.

Sheeba also served as the Vice President of Global Marketing Strategy & Communications for International Justice Mission (IJM), the largest anti-slavery organization in the world. During her tenure, she led IJM’s brand redesign and launch of The Locust Effect, written by Gary Haugen, IJM’s founder. The book was named a Washington Post Bestseller and featured at the World Economic Forum.

Sheeba serves as a mentor for Praxis and a board member for Redeemer City to City. She regularly speaks on topics such as the integration of faith & work, Christ-centered leadership, and being a Christian woman in business. She holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

LINKS 

• LinkedIn

• Akola

co-founder of various companies

Sheldon is passionate about creating communities that apply entrepreneurial principles to all aspects of business and civic life. He has played an important role in Chattanooga’s meteoric rise as an internationally recognized entrepreneurial community. He’s had the opportunity to write for the Wall Street Journal as a “Startup Guru” and his work has been featured in media outlets including New York Times, Washington Post, CBS News, PBS News Hour, CNBC, Forbes, FastCompany, TechCrunch, Inc, Fox Sports, and NBC Sports.

Sheldon co-founded several companies across multiple industries, including Very, Chattanooga Football Club, Blank Slate Ventures, ReadyCart, CO.LAB, and GIGTANK. He currently serves on the boards of Chattanooga Football Club, CO.LAB, Tennessee Aquarium, and Chattanooga Visitors Bureau.

If you hang around Sheldon long enough, you’ll likely hear him rattle off one of his entrepreneurial and motivational mantras: “If at first you don’t fail, you’re not trying hard enough” and/or “Why not Chattanooga?”

He and his wife, Kelly, have three kids: Naomi (9), Micah (6), and Jude (3). They are members at Northshore Fellowship in Chattanooga. He loves coaching soccer and exploring the mountains around Chattanooga with his family on foot and bike and sometimes even underground.

LINKS 

• LinkedIn

CONTRIBUTIONS TO FAITH DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR