Our Team

Ocean Exchange Team

Jen Bonnett

Vice President, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA)

Before joining SEDA, Bonnett was most recently with the Georgia Institute of Technology where she served as the general manager of the Advanced Technology Development Center.

Based out of Atlanta, ATDC works with more than 2,000 technology startup entrepreneurs each year across Georgia.

Bonnett, who has more than 25 years of experience in the information technology field, is also the founder and Chief Chick for StartupChicks, a non-profit focused on helping female entrepreneurs launch and scale their businesses. She also served as CEO of Nexpense, a mobile technology company focused on eliminating expense reporting for small to mid-sized businesses through the use of mobile devices, business rules and automation. Nexpense was acquired in July 2012. She was also the Vice President of Technology for Seacoast Synergy and the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of eTour.com.

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Ocean Exchange invites you to learn more about Awards Program, our ecosystem and success of our award winners and participants. Together, we can chart a powerful course to help ensure the future of our oceans and the Blue Economy.

“Ocean Exchange has a platform to enable people with information that they need to know about the ocean and then to showcase new technologies that are on the forefront of really helping the ocean and the planet.”

“The quality of the content and the people who are involved with Ocean Exchange is all high end.”

“Besides funding, Ocean Exchange provides access to a wide area network of incredibly talented people in organizations that really do just want to help people.”

“Ocean Exchange is really about helping the little guys grow and in so doing, helping the big guys be better ocean citizens.”

“Ocean Exchange seems to be much more focused on bringing to light under-capitalized, wonderful new technology ideas. And it’s all about two-way access to this new technology and to the people who can help with the experience to grow that technology.”

“Ocean Exchange is a force multiplier to enable sustainable innovation.”

“Ocean Exchange is a global, novel innovation forum that has a greater ability to attract a broader range of impactful stakeholders than any other event that’s out there.”

“Unquestionably, one of Ocean Exchange’s primary strengths is how it brings together people from different paths. That makes its event a delegator experience as well as experience for an innovator or awards nominee.”

“Ocean Exchange is entirely different from any of the other organizations that I’m involved in. It is about sustainable innovation. I think it’s also very different in the extremely broad range of stakeholders that it involves.”

“There’s nothing better than going to an event or engaging with people so you walk away and say, ‘Wow!’”