Moderator & Speaker Bios
Stephen Jaye | Podcast Host, Action’s Antidotes
Stephen Jaye is the host of Action’s Antidotes. He is a lifelong learner, weather enthusiast who loves the outdoors and is committed to helping humanity reach a new healthier era. Through Actions’ Antidotes, he helps encourage people to follow their passions and bring their lives into alignment with their true selves. Through his full-time job at Midigator he helps people who have already pursued their passions keep their dreams alive through payment protection and chargeback mitigation for merchants. In his new endeavor, Reclaim Your Time, he helps people achieve focus and find time for their passions through overcoming addictive technology from social media to smartphones and television.
He was born on Long Island, just outside of New York City, spent a lot of time in the Midwest and now lives in Denver, Colorado. He has a lifelong interest in weather as well as social sciences such as philosophy and sociology. In his spare time he loves activities like cycling and skiing, and tries to find opportunities to connect with others and share ideas and experiences as much as possible.
Drew Lyon | Founder, Focused Energy
In 2013, Drew founded Focused Energy to help businesses succeed by providing direct, honest, and thoughtful financial and operational support. This includes above all the execution of the tactics and strategies, not just talking about them.
For SMB’s and lower middle-market companies struggling to scale and who are ready to solve long-standing issues holding them back from transformative growth, Focused Energy is a multi-disciplinary fractional extension of executive teams that offers trustworthy insights with actionable directives. Focused Energy has built a framework of unparalleled financial and operational acumen that addresses root-cause issues so founders can stop guessing at the numbers and putting out endless fires.
Drew is an advocate and supporter of the community and believes that small business owners mastering their financial future is an investment in the well-being of the community and families. We focus on serving small businesses in communities that are under-served. Drew has already donated 2,000+ hours of consulting work to these efforts, and is dedicated to a brighter future.
Maria Putnam | Co-Founder and CEO, DEI Leadership Institute
Maria Putnam has achieved business success through deep connection with people and cultures. She has more than 20 years of experience supporting effective Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs and initiatives.
Maria holds a master’s degree in Community Education and a Principal license from the Colorado Department of Education. She has developed and led inclusive practices for hiring committees, organized global leadership conferences and guided major corporate clients (Comcast, Cisco, Ericsson, Coors, Starz Entertainment) with DEI marketing strategies and campaign execution in reaching target markets in Hispanic, Black, and Asian communities. Maria has developed leaders through global international studies programs and supported the career growth of minority candidates in teaching, social services, and administrative leadership for Denver Public Schools in partnership with the International School Network and the Asian Education Advisory Council.
She has built a strong network in the business community and partnerships with not for profit and social service organizations. She is fully bilingual and multicultural. Maria is a frequent conference speaker and has served on multiple boards including the Global Chamber where she has been a global advisor since 2015. She also serves as the DEI advisor to the City of Denver Global Landing Pad, a business acceleration program that seeks to assist foreign companies to validate their fit with the U.S. market and explore opportunities in Denver.
Maria’s work has been recognized and published by the national and international media. In 2019 she was the recipient of the Champion Award for leadership in the Global Chamber and her activities associated with immigrant businesswomen in Denver were the subject of a feature article in the Denver Business Journal.
The DEI Leadership Institute was designed by Maria and her team — including her husband and co-founder, John Putnam — to develop and support leaders who have the skills, knowledge, and heart to be effective agents of change for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
Jason Tuzinkewich | COO, Blue Sky Business Resources
Jason has more than 25 years of professional experience in business operations and development. Having spent his entire career as an entrepreneur and business transformation consultant, he is well-positioned to guide other business owners through the meaningful inflection points at every point of the business lifecycle while coordinating all efforts to help ensure a successful outcome for each and every one of his clients.
As the Chief Operating Officer Jason focused on continuously improving processes, ensuring quality and consistency within the advisory team, and supporting our national growth strategy.
Jason serves as a volunteer within his community as Director of the Colorado Springs SDA Community Services Program. He is also a Crisis counselor registered with the ICISF and FEMA.
AND HE COOKS TOO!
Jason literally works 24/7 because he is that passionate about his job. However, when he actually does take a break he is usually found in the kitchen. Jason is a trained Chef thru Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. He is always concocting some delicious culinary delight. Jason also recently wrote a book!
Creating the best outcome for a client is what Jason strives for every day. You can’t ask for more personal service than what you receive from Jason.
Peyton N Jackson | Business Development Advisory, ECO Integrated Technologies, Inc.
Thirty five-year veteran of the financial services and sales industry with experience and expertise in multiple facets of the industry including and not limited to brokerage, investment banking, marketing, sales management and training, corporate structure and regulatory compliance, internal organization, management hierarchy, public relations, investor relations, HR advisory, AdTech and Martech consulting and management, sales force recruitment.
Professional affiliations with AG Edwards & Sons, Morgan Stanley, and various small boutiques and family offices, AdTech agencies with Small Medium Business focus as well as global large cap firms such as Stihl, Bosch, Johnson & Johnson, and others. Experience in sales team creation and management, reorganization, and product shift. Association networking and advisory. Business development lead generation. C-level and BOD level recruitment and vetting.
Significant work assignments and clients in The Mining and mineral exploration sector in Appalachia Coal operations: Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia. Hard rock gold in Northern California and extensive consulting for Colorado, Nevado, Arizona and Idaho mining operations in gold, silver, and rare earths, (lanthanides). Specialty focus on geo survey, NT 43-101, SK 1300, core drilling, and regulatory oversite, audit review and validation. MSHA regulatory advisory and compliance. Significant expertise and experience in Smart Mining IP Development, efficient water management, extraction circuits and metallurgical processing including ownership in several process patents.
Specialization in Mining and strategic metals due diligence team building. Sourcing of Contract mining entities, third party evaluators: NT 43-101, SK 1300 reporting. Site assessment, regulatory evaluation. High degree of specialty in expert recruiting for specialized mine project needs including engineers, geologists, miners, chemists, and C level executives. Sophisticated understanding of executive requirements for Publicly traded entities and private to public transitions.
David Jitendranath | Founder & CTO, modestack
David Jitendranath – is an Innovation Technologist. He helps forward thinking companies craft strategies and digital roadmaps that create new intellectual property, digital assets and revenue streams. He is also working on some innovation in the Human performance space. He holds a Master’s in Computer Science and professional certifications in AI and Cloud technology.