At Tom Tom’s 2026 Innovation Summit , you’ll hear from visionaries like Lara Merriken , the founder of LÄRABAR, who turned a kitchen experiment into a nationally recognized brand. What began as a homemade snack, helped spark the clean-label movement and reshaped how millions think about food. Driven by a desire to create food aligned with her own health and values, Lara built a company rooted in simplicity, transparency, and purpose. As LÄRABAR grew rapidly and was ultimately

Wednesday, April 22 | 7:00 PM The Paramount Theater Join bestselling author John Grisham and Deirdre Enright, founder of the UVA Innocence Project, at the historic Paramount Theater for a powerful conversation on justice, wrongful conviction, and the moral courage required to confront systemic failure.  This headlining conversation will launch the 14th Annual Tom Tom Festival, whose theme is COURAGE, and will explore the human cost of mass incarceration, the realities behind

Join us at the Innovation Summit  in Charlottesville, Virginia on Thursday, April 23rd and Friday, April 24th for a showcase of Virginia innovation on a national stage. You’ll find cutting edge insights into industry trends, meet innovative companies at showcases and competitions, and join policy discussions on ecosystem building. The Summit will also feature a specially curated investor track for angel networks, family offices, institutional investors, accelerators and ESO‘s