​For our final keynote of 2026 Raleigh-Durham Startup Week, we turn to the people closest to what’s next: college-age founders actively building companies today.

​Growing up in a digital-first, AI-accelerated world, these young entrepreneurs bring a distinct perspective on innovation, opportunity, and the future of work.

​Moderated by Dan Gonzalez, GM of Teamship at College Board (formerly founder & CEO of District C), this session explores how the next generation is thinking and building.

​Speakers

​Ashley Weil

​Ashley Weil is a first-year student at UNC Chapel Hill pursuing a major in Business Administration with a minor in Entrepreneurship. She brings hands-on work experience from startup companies in three different industries: mental health, restaurant, and fitness. She is excited to start her own business one day.

​Nandini Kanthi

​Nandini Kanthi is the CEO and co-founder of Sensible, a women’s health startup reimagining menstrual blood as a life-saving diagnostic wearable. A Morehead-Cain Scholar and competitive dancer at UNC-Chapel Hill, she is currently taking a gap year to build Sensible full-time. Nandini’s work sits at the intersection of women’s health innovation, reproductive justice, and health equity. She serves as Youth Advisory Council Chair at PERIOD. and Head of Policy for UNC’s Reproductive Health Task Force. Her work has been recognized by Harvard Business School, the ACC InVenture Prize, the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, USA Today, many others.

​Siddharth Manne

​Siddharth Manne is a 16-year-old researcher and entrepreneur conducting work at MIT CSAIL, where he focuses on AI and educational technology, and UC Berkeley, where he works on NLP and language systems. He was one of the only high schoolers selected as a Perplexity AI Business Fellow, has deployed software across multiple countries, and serves as a venture scout at Carolina Angel Network at UNC Chapel Hill. Sidd is currently a junior at Green Level High School in Cary.

​Moderated by Dan Gonzalez

​Dan Gonzalez is General Manager of Teamship at College Board, where he supports the growth of a reimagined internship model connecting students with real-world work. He co-founded District C in 2017 and served as CEO through its acquisition by College Board in January 2026, helping the organization reach more than 10,000 students in partnership with over 700 businesses, including IBM, Deloitte, and Epic Games. Previously, Dan was President of Manhattan Prep, a company acquired by Kaplan, where he oversaw test preparation programs serving students across the U.S.

​Location

​Raleigh Founded North Street

​509 W North St, Suite 224, Raleigh, NC 27603

​Questions?

​​This session is part of Raleigh-Durham Startup Week. Click here to learn more about the event, plus get answers to your FAQs.

​​TRACK SUPPORTER

​​​Thank you to Smith Anderson for supporting the Keynotes Track at #RDSW26!