Dare to Disrupt

Doug Leech is the Founder and CEO of Ascension Recovery Services. ). Through his own struggles with addiction and subsequent recovery, Doug developed a passion for helping those suffering from the disease of addiction and set out to increase access to substance use disorder (SUD) treatment across the country. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Garry Gilliam is the Founder and CEO of The Bridge Eco-Village, a sustainable, mixed-use community ecosystem in Harrisburg, PA. The Bridge Eco-Village will feature solutions to many of the problems facing underserved communities. Prior to founding The Bridge, Garry played in the NFL for five seasons for the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Zander Isaacson is the CEO and Co-Founder of Xeal, a technology-first electric vehicle (EV) charging company operating at the intersection of real estate, mobility, clean energy, and IoT. The company secured $40M in Series B funding in November 2022 after closing an $11M series in 2021 by leading proptech and climate tech VC funds, and has already partnered with 70+ of the largest real estate companies including Lincoln Property Company, Camden, Greystar, Related, UBS, and Brookfield. Zander graduated from Penn State's Smeal College of Business.  The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

We are taking a break this December, but we’ll be back in late January with an episode featuring Zander Isaacson, the co-founder of Xeal, a company that is disrupting the electric vehicle charging industry. Listen to this episode for a quick preview of the interview. Happy holidays! The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Rob Schutz is the Chief Growth Officer and Co-founder of Ro, a direct-to-patient healthcare company providing high-quality, affordable healthcare without the need for insurance. Rob guides Ro's growth, marketing and communications functions to tell Ro’s story of putting patients in control of their health. He applies his extensive experience in consumer marketing to ensure Ro is resonating with patients by directly addressing their healthcare concerns. Under Rob’s leadership, these functions have helped propel Ro into one of the fastest growing companies in the country, achieving unicorn status in 2020. Rob earned his B.S. in Management Information Systems from Penn State University. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Susan Robinson is a speaker, consultant and leader making an impact on the world in a truly unique way. Through her corporate and conference keynote, commencement addresses, workshops, client initiatives and writing, she masterfully blends over 25 years of multi-sector leadership with her experiences being legally blind to shift thinking, elevate potential and inspire action. She has worked with global firms and Fortune 500 companies, top not-for-profit organizations, leading universities and the United Nations. She presented a TED Talk in 2017 entitled “How I Fail at Being Disabled,” which has over 1.5M views. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

David Rosenberg is the former Executive Vice President and Principal at Environmental Compliance Services (ECS). David and his two partners grew ECS from a small 12 person, $5 million in annual written premium agency to a 500 person, $200 million in annual written premium agency and a leader in the environmental insurance business.  ECS was sold to XL Capital Inc., a publicly held company in 1999. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Robert is a serial technology and media entrepreneur with 25 years of experience in digital media and marketing. Robert received his bachelor's degree in communications and business from Penn State.  The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

Swatee Surve is the founder of Litesprite. She received her MSME in Control Systems and Biomechanics from Penn State. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.

In this episode of Dare to Disrupt, we speak with Sean Black, the Co-founder & CEO of Knock.com, and part of the founding team for the online real estate marketplace site Trulia. The Dare to Disrupt podcast is made possible by the generous support of the Penn State Smeal College of Business.