Speakers

Community-driven collaboration is at the core of our work, and we focus on bringing employers, municipal leaders, and professionals together to expand opportunity. We partner closely with companies across the region to understand their workforce needs and build pathways that serve both businesses and the broader community. Veterans and Military Spouses bring strong, transferable skills that can directly support these businesses.  Casssandra will highlight how this approach can complement Andover’s economic growth efforts and support businesses of all sizes.

Although most widely known as a world Champion Archer who beat 2 countries in 12 languages, he is so much more than that. Sean is a modern day Robin Hood who uses his vast talents to help others whenever possible. A teacher of design and manufacturing for over 30 years, Sean has produced many of the products you see and use in the outdoors. When Sean witnessed an ice skating tragedy on a lake with multiple victims and first responders in peril, Sean immediately went to work on a solution.

Today, Sean will be discussing his patented Ice Rescue Tool for first responders. The ADK 3 in 1 Ice Rescue Tool is celebrated the worldover as the most effective and safe ice rescue tool ever built.

Sean is currently a Licensed Professional Outdoor Guide and the Hunting and Shooting Sports Specialist for Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife. He resides with his 3 boys in North Reading.

Samer Abouhamad is a Boston-based adventurer, long-distance cyclist, and motivational speaker. Between 2022 and 2025, he completed a 46,000-mile solo cycling journey across six continents, traveling fully self-supported through 61 countries. Now back home, he shares lessons on resilience, navigating uncertainty, and the power of human connection with companies, schools, and community groups. His talk, Pedaling Over Impossible, highlights stories from the road and the mindset shifts that helped him transform a dream into a reality.  

Enjoy Irish music, Irish eyes, Irish laughter, Irish history and maybe a leprechaun or two! 

Lazarus House Ministry has 50+ full and part-time staff, 5000+ volunteers, and 6500 donors working together to serve the most vulnerable people of Lawrence, MA – people struggling with material poverty, homelessness and food insecurity. We are a community.  Gail will bring her team to speak about opportunities for everyone to participate and ask questions about areas that are of interest to them.

Abigail (Abbe) Wertz is the Trauma Program Manager at MerrimackHealth in Lawrence, a role she has held since 2020 after more than two decades of service as an Emergency Room nurse. With 23 years of frontline ER experience and 13 years as a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Abbe’ career centers on trauma informed patient care and community safety.

In the role of Trauma Program Manager Abbe is active in the Merrimack Valley in injury prevention and education: teaching Stop the Bleed classes in schools and community groups to help the layperson identify and take steps to control severe bleeding while waiting for 911, organizing and supporting town Bike Rodeos to promote safe riding and helmet use, and sponsoring a biannual car seat safety check in Lawrence where Car Seat Patient Safety Technicians check the installation and appropriate size and condition of car seats.

A resident of Haverhill for the past 27 years, Abbe is active in the community primarily in the area of food insecurity. Abbe is also the mother of four adult sons and one granddaughter. She spends her free time happily working in her flower and veggie gardens and walking her dogs.

Aqueous Consultants is a Professional Engineering firm that specializes in providing our clients with irrigation, water resources, rainwater harvesting, alternative water design, and water feature design solutions. Founded by Michael Igo, PE in 2014 in Andover, and joined full-time by his spouse and partner Andrea Igo, PE in 2016, the firm’s passion and desire to provide efficient water systems for architects, engineers, and end-users has made Aqueous a trusted partner for our clients.

 

By engineering systems that promote water conservation and efficiency, we lessen the dependence on drinking water, preserve ecological balance, and watch the economic bottom line. We are fortunate to have worked on some of the most prominent institutional, commercial, and residential construction projects around the United States working for the most sought-after architects, developers, and engineers. Reaching as many as 8 employees in 2025, Aqueous always seeks continued growth and forecasts a bright future with a talented staff and expanding satisfied customer base for our engineering and consulting services.

 

Andrea and Mike have lived in Andover (Ballardvale) for 19 years and have two sons at Andover High School.

Dr. Lane A. Glenn is president of Northern Essex Community College (NECC), the first Hispanic Serving Institution in New England, which has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence, Massachusetts.

With more than three decades of experience in higher education, Dr. Glenn is passionate about helping all students achieve their educational goals and is a strong advocate for closing equity gaps, and for colleges and universities as engines of economic and workforce development, particularly in Gateway Cities.

As president of NECC, Dr. Glenn has led the significant expansion of the college’s Lawrence campus, including construction of the $27 million Ibrahim El Hefni Health and Technology Center, the creation of the Haffner Fournier Education Center, and the development of “The Hub” with university partnerships and the award-winning Revolving Test Kitchen.  He is also the founding board chair of the Lawrence Partnership, a private-public collaboration of business leaders, community leaders, and elected officials devoted to economic development and improving the quality of life for residents of Lawrence, Massachusetts.

A highly collaborative, energetic leader, Dr. Glenn encourages experimentation and organizational innovation.  Recently, NECC became the first college in the country to offer a competency-based associate degree in Early Childhood Education, and its police academy, one of the largest in the state, was the first to be accepted into the National Active Bystander for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Training Program, designed to prepare police officers to successfully intervene to prevent harm and to create a law enforcement culture that supports peer intervention, leading to safer communities.

Dr. Glenn has been described as an “optimistic thought leader” who actively promotes higher education in a number of publications, on social media, and through his blog, “Running the Campus.”  He has been nationally recognized for his advocacy with the Eduardo J. Padron Award for Presidential Leadership from Campus Compact; the Pacesetter of the Year Award from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations; and the SUCCESS Higher Education Leadership Award from the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration.

Dr. Glenn holds a PhD from Michigan State University, a master’s degree from Oklahoma State University and a bachelor’s from Northeastern State University—and he is proud to say that he started his education at Rose State College, a community college in Midwest City, Oklahoma.

Paul Materazzo, Andover's Director of Planning and Land Use, a seasoned and experienced urban planner will update attendees on upcoming town wide projects. 

Established in 2009, the Andover Robotics Club is a student-run organization in Andover, Massachusetts, that specializes in the construction of robots for FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC). The club has about 75 active members and is led by a student board of officers that keeps it running behind-the-scenes. The club has three co-ed teams, 5273 ARC Thunder, 24256 ARC Sandstorm and 4410 ARC Lightning, as well as one all-girls team, 10331 ARC Hailstorm. During the FTC season, members build, code, and CAD a robot and complete community outreach with the goal of making STEM more accessible in the community. 

Learn about their championship work and witness a live demonstration!