Friday, September 18, 2026

 

CorpGov is pleased to share the final agenda for the 2nd LA CorpGov Forum, to be held on Friday, Sept. 18, 2026 at The Huntington Library in San Marino, California. Registration will begin at 1:00pm and feature an afternoon of panels, firesides and networking, followed by a reception at 5:00pm with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres in the Garden Court.

This event will bring together members of the financial community from both LA and beyond to join panels focused on the finance of entertainment and media, sports, along with capital markets and shareholder activism.

Panel Lineup

 

Best Practices in Sports Investing

• Thomas W. Hulick, CEO, Managing Partner, Strategy Asset Managers ​
• Baird Fogel, Head of Global Sports Practice, Partner, Eversheds-Sutherland  
• Noah Francis, Banker, J.P. Morgan Private Bank ​
• David Carter, Principal, The Sports Business Group  ​

Entertainment in the AI Era: Music, Games and Film  ​

• ElizBeth Jones, Founder and CEO, Atomic Venus Media
• Willonius Hatcher,  Co-Founder, AI and the Culture
• Jason Alejandre, President, Founder and Creative Director, Game Mechanic Studios (GMS) 
• Steve Griffith, CEO, E8 Entertainment​​
• Evan Hainey, Partner, Untitled Entertainment
• Daphna Edwards Ziman, Co-Chairman, Project Rise Partners ​

Venture Capital and PE: A California Perspective on Governance

• Ryan Keating, Partner, Industry Leader, Venture Services, EisnerAmper   ​
• Brent Granado, Partner, Sweetwater Private Equity
• Thomas Courtney, Jr., President and CEO, The Courtney Group ​
• Jarrett Banks, Editor-at-Large, CorpGov (Moderator) ​

Capital Markets Assessment and IPO Readiness ​

• Nicole Brady, Managing Director, Protiviti ​​
• Joseph Fish, CEP, Managing Director, Stock Operations, Infinite Equity
• Justin Krystopher, Managing Director, Protiviti
• Ramey Layne, Partner, Capital Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions, Vinson & Elkins
• Josh Waldron, Interim CFO, Scale AI​​​

Shareholder Activism​: An Early Look Ahead to 2027

• Sagar Gupta, Portfolio Manager, Anson Funds ​
• Jon Feldman, Partner and Business Law Group Head, Goodmans LLP 
• Pete Michelsen, Leader, Activism and Shareholder Advisory Practice, Qatalyst​
• John Jannarone, Editor-in-Chief, CorpGov (Moderator)​

Keynote Fireside: Business and Governance in LA​

• Paul Haaga, Former Chairman, Capital Research and Management Company; Chair of the Board, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation; Board Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution​
• Dick Drobnick, Former USC Vice Provost for Globalization and IBEAR MBA Program Director, Asia Society Southern California Chairman Emeritus