Syracuse Keynote & Office Hours with UNY50 ft. Craig Weatherup, former CEO of Pepsi North America
Global leader for top fortune 100 companies, and Syracuse's own Craig Weatherup will be sharing lessons on community and leadership with founders, investors, and community builders for an energizing afternoon in Syracuse.
Hosted at INSPYRE, this event will center on mentorship, leadership, and ecosystem growth drawn from Craig’s decades of experience as the former CEO at Pepsi North America and board member of Macy's and Starbucks. The program will also include opportunities for founders to engage directly with Craig and other experienced mentors through curated one-on-one conversations.
Join us for a keynote and discussion designed to be practical, candid, and highly relevant to founders and tech employees.
Founders will have the option to apply for 1:1 office hour slots with Craig Weatherup and select investors to receive tailored feedback and strategic insight on their companies. Priority for office hour scheduling will be given to founders who are registered members of Upstate Venture Connect.
Agenda:
12:30 pm - 1:20 pm: Lunch and networking
1:20 pm - 1:30 pm: Opening remarks by Olivia Goldstein, CEO of UVC, followed by Kara Jones, Director of GENIUS NY
1:30 pm - 2:30pm: Keynote chat with Craig Weatherup, moderated by Seth Mulligan COO at Griffiss Institute
2:30 pm - 4:00 pm: 1-1 Office Hour slots with mentors
You must sign up and be approved for the office hours ticket to be eligible. UVC will assign your schedule after you sign up.
Confirmed mentors:
Craig Weatherup, former CEO of PepsiCo North America
Chuck Stormon, General Partner of StartFast Ventures
Nasir Ali, CEO of UpVentures
Mike Gursha, CEO of Point Curve
Brad Banikowski, Investment Manager at INSPYRE
Somak Chattopadhyay, Managing Partner, Armory Square Ventures
Seth Mulligan, COO at Griffiss Institute
Heather Sandford, food/agtech EIR
Zack Pecenak, Director at NY Ventures
Christa Downey, Chloe Capital
Joel Redmond, Keybank
Peter Dean, exited entrepreneur
Sarah Matt, MD, MBA, founder, physician, and professor
Elizabeth Ruscitto, 2122 Coaching
Speaker Bio
Craig Weatherup, former CEO of PepsiCo North America
Craig began his career at PepsiCo in 1974, running Pepsi's business in Japan. He then ran much of Pepsi's international business over the next ten years, before spending 15 years as CEO of Pepsi's North American business and the Worldwide beverage business. He finished his PepsiCo career as the founding Chairman and CEO of the Pepsi Bottling Group, the fifth largest IPO in history, at that time. He is a Trustee of Adirondack Foundation, Arizona State University, and the Adirondack Explorer and sits on the Advisory Council of Saint Vincent de Paul. He previously served as a director of Macy's, Starbucks, PepsiCo., Tuskegee University, and Carnegie Hall.