Awards Presentation & Fireside Chat

Dustin is an award-winning business journalist, bestselling author, and the chief content officer of Smart Business. Over the past 30 years, he has interviewed thousands of business and civic leaders, and helped more than 50 CEOs and entrepreneurs transform their ideas into books. A trained investigative politics reporter and former digital media entrepreneur, Dustin joined Smart Business in 1997 after serving as an editor at several daily newspapers.

Following nearly 19 years as CEO of Assurex Global, Jim Hackbarth serves as an independent board director, angel investor, strategic advisor, and mentor to boards, management teams, and investors across private equity, venture capital, insurance, insurtech, and technology. His career began in high-tech, where he spent 18 years progressing from sales to president, followed by founding an executive recruiting firm focused on technology and venture capital-backed companies. An angel investor for more than 25 years, Jim advises management teams on strategy, governance, M&A, and value creation.