Invited Speaker

Manning currently serves as the Chief of Commercial Strategy for DARPA (the Defense Advance Research Project Agency), a DOD Agency, with an annual +$4.3B budget for high risk, future high value R&D technology research investments.

Manning is a co-founder of 1920 Group, a women-led firm and Element3, a critical material extraction company. Prior, Manning was a technology investment executive at two leading US public energy companies, Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) and Cimarex (NYSE: CTRA), that advanced the US as a “global energy powerhouse”. Manning was co-founder of investment firm Malibu IQ, (NASDAQ: NVTS). Manning was Managing Director of Nanoholdings, a clean-tech venture fund, backed by Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB); and two term Texas Governor Rick Perry appointee to Texas’ $480M+ Emerging Tech Fund.

Manning started her career as an entrepreneur with several successful nanotechnology startup exits, including Zyvex, Authentix (acquired by the Carlyle Group), and former New York new media telecom corporation Winstar (NYSE: IDT), that commercialized DOD wireless communications technology. Manning was voted as one of the “Top 25 Women in Technology” in Texas.