StraightTalk 2026

Renée Cummings (Session I keynote) is an artificial intelligence (AI), data, and tech ethicist, and the first Data Activist-in-Residence at the University of Virginia’s School of Data Science, where she was named professor of practice in data science. Dr. Cummings examines the ethical implications of data on society, exploring the impact of AI on duty of care and due process, expanding our understanding of the ethical risks of AI and how to build ethically resilient, rewarding, responsible, sustainable, justice-oriented, and trauma-informed AI for the benefit of all.

Andrew Predmore serves as the executive director of The Shi Institute for Sustainable Communities at Furman University. Dr. Predmore brings extensive expertise in sustainability to Furman, having worked in both private industry and higher education. He most recently served as sustainability manager for Milliken & Company. Prior to Milliken, Dr. Predmore was the University Director of Sustainability at Indiana University, where he was responsible for improving sustainability education and operations across seven campuses, serving more than 90,000 students.

Sneha Revanur is the founder and president of Encode, an advocacy organization fighting to make AI work for the American people, which she launched in July 2020 while in high school. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, she was the youngest person named to TIME’s inaugural list of the 100 most influential voices in AI. Revanur previously studied Symbolic Systems at Stanford University.

Mary Sturgill (series moderator) joined the Furman family in 2019. She is a former news anchor and reporter who spent more than 13 years giving people the information of the day. She has lived all over the country, telling people’s stories in Arizona, Idaho, and Texas before moving back to the East Coast. Most recently, Sturgill helped tell the stories of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, the flood of the century in 2015, the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse, and the Charlotte Riots in 2016.

Jaime Harrison is a nationally recognized political strategist and public affairs leader who served as Chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2021–2025 and of the South Carolina Democratic Party from 2013-2017. He has advised national political leaders, led major party-building efforts nationwide, and gained national acclaim for his expertise in politics, government, strategic communications, and organizational management. As founding partner of Vision Blue Strategies, Harrison continues to campaigns, organizations, and leaders on strategies to navigate the political landscape.

Matt Moore is an award-winning political strategist with extensive experience at the highest levels of party leadership, campaigns, and public affairs. He served as chair of the South Carolina Republican Party from 2013 to 2017, and subsequently the American Association of Political Consultants named him one of the nation’s “40 Under 40” top campaign professionals.  Over the course of his career, including currently as managing partner of First Tuesday Strategies, Moore has advised and guided hundreds of political and public affairs campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels.

Mary Sturgill (series moderator) joined the Furman family in 2019. She is a former news anchor and reporter who spent more than 13 years giving people the information of the day. She has lived all over the country, telling people’s stories in Arizona, Idaho, and Texas before moving back to the East Coast. Most recently, Sturgill helped tell the stories of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, the flood of the century in 2015, the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse, and the Charlotte Riots in 2016.

Jim VandeHei (Session III keynote) is the co-founder, CEO and chairman of Axios, a media company focused on breaking news and invaluable insights across business, politics, technology and the world. Axios helps readers and viewers get smarter, faster across the consequential topics reshaping our country and lives. As CEO, VandeHei has steered Axios into becoming one of the most celebrated digital media success stories of the past decade. VandeHei is also an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning docu-news series, “Axios on HBO.” Before Axios, VandeHei co-founded and was CEO of Politico, the media company that upended and revolutionized political and policy journalism in Washington, New York, and Europe.

Carlos Phillips serves as president and chief executive officer of the Greenville Chamber of Commerce. Known for his strategic vision and commitment to fostering inclusive economic growth, Phillips has built a career defined by measurable impact and community-focused leadership. Phillips led the statewide expansion of the Minority Business Accelerator, guided the development of a Diversity and Economic Inclusion Strategic Plan, and championed legislation advancing second-chance employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Beth Pontari serves as vice president for academic affairs and provost. While serving as interim provost, she co-led the campus-wide university strategic planning efforts. She also re-envisioned how certain units in Academic Affairs interact with one another to increase their impact. Prior to this role, Pontari served as associate provost for engaged learning from 2017-2022. In that role, she helped to launch The Furman Advantage and was responsible for promoting Furman’s academic vision to internal and external audiences and for tracking and assessing its progress, including by facilitating Furman’s partnership with Gallup.

Mary Sturgill (series moderator) joined the Furman family in 2019. She is a former news anchor and reporter who spent more than 13 years giving people the information of the day. She has lived all over the country, telling people’s stories in Arizona, Idaho, and Texas before moving back to the East Coast. Most recently, Sturgill helped tell the stories of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, the flood of the century in 2015, the removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse, and the Charlotte Riots in 2016.