David Higley is a Partner at Perella Weinberg. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Higley focuses on providing strategic advice to clients globally in the media, entertainment and technology sectors. Mr. Higley joined Perella Weinberg from Lazard, where he served as a Managing Director and the Global Head of the Interactive Media and Technologies Group, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, capital raising and strategic advisory. Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Higley was the Founder and Managing Partner of Bond Lane Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on digital media and interactive entertainment. Previously, Mr. Higley was a Managing Director and the Global Head of Digital Media at UBS Investment Bank. Mr. Higley earned a BBA from the University of Southern California and a JD from the University of Virginia.

Laura Martin, CFA & CMT, Senior Analyst. Needham & Company: Since 2009, Laura Martin has been the senior entertainment and internet analyst at Needham & Company, where she publishes research on the largest internet and media stocks in the US. Prior to Needham, Martin was the senior media analyst at Soleil Securities, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor magazine as “Best of the Independent Research Boutiques” for many years, and at Credit Suisse First Boston, where she was nationally ranked by Institutional Investor in 1999, 2000, and 2001 as one of the top cable and entertainment analysts in the US. Prior to CSFB, Martin worked at Capital Research & Management, where she provided analysis and managed a portfolio of media stocks. Laura Martin received her BA from Stanford, her MBA from Harvard Business School, and she holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) as well as a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation.

Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA): Paul is an experienced advocate, lawyer, and expert in technology policy, government affairs, regulatory design, privacy, and national security. He has advised senior leaders in business and government for two decades. Previously, Paul served in senior legal and policy positions with the U.S. government. He was the Deputy General Counsel (Legal Counsel) at the Department of Defense, with responsibilities for significant litigation, constitutional issues, privacy, congressional investigations, and certain counterterrorism and cybersecurity matters. He also served as General Counsel of the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Services and as director of research and analysis and senior advisor to National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI). With NSCAI, Paul led all work on foreign policy and developed recommendations that have served as a blueprint for Biden administration initiatives on critical and emerging technologies. His government service followed over a decade in private law practice in New York and Washington, DC, where he represented dozens of individual and institutional clients in litigation, sensitive investigations, and strategic counseling. Paul’s outside activities include membership in the following: Future of Privacy Forum Advisory Board; EdSAFE AI Alliance Advisory Counsel; G7 Task Force on Governance for a Digitized Society; and NIST Generative AI Public Working Group. He is an advisory on foreign policy and AI for the Special Competitive Studies Project and served as national security legal counsel to the Biden-Harris Transition Team in 2020-21. Paul received his A.B. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University.