by Tom Tom Staff
The 7th annual Tom Tom Founders Festival is pleased to announce the return of Virginia Commonwealth Senator Mark Warner. The Senator will be participating in one of our most anticipated programming events at The Summits: our Founding Stories Keynotes, held from 9am-4pm on April 13, at The Paramount Theater. Governor Warner was elected to the United States Senate in 2008, where he serves on the Senate Finance, Banking, Budget, and Rules Committees as well as the Select Committee on Intelligence, where he is the Vice Chairman. The first in his family to graduate from college, Mark Warner spent 20 years as a successful technology entrepreneur and business leader in Virginia before he was elected Governor in 2001. When he left the Governor’s Office in 2006, Virginia was ranked as the best state for business, the best managed state, and the best state in which to receive a public education. In 2017, Senator Warner weighed in on the current state of democracy in America in the program “Innovations in Democracy: The First 100 Days of Trump” along with acclaimed journalists, educators, and directors.
“Tom Tom is a fitting celebration of the innovative legacy of Thomas Jefferson. Bringing together entrepreneurs, academics, policymakers, and artists in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Tom Tom Festival has an energy and excitement rivaling Austin’s SXSW festival,” commented U.S. Senator Mark Warner. “Tom Tom shows that creativity and entrepreneurship are just as vibrant in smaller communities as they are in big cities like New York and San Francisco.”
This year, Senator Warner will contribute his voice to the Founding Stories panel GRIT: Overcoming Adversity; joining moderators Natalia Brzezinski, CEO of Brilliant Minds Foundation and Symposium Stockholm, and Mark Brzeznski, former Ambassador and current director of Makena Capital, along with speakers Leland Melvin, NASA astronaut and former Dallas Cowboy, and the Manning Brothers, co-owners of Two Blind Brothers.
GRIT looks at incredible individuals finding power within themselves to endure setbacks and transform misfortune into strength, ultimately becoming a superpower in sports, business, and social impact.
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