RocGrowth Roc Growth Team

RocGrowth is pleased to presentA Candid In-Person event with Zoom Option Downtown Rochester at an Inflection Point 


Jenna Knauf, Roc Holiday Village
Galin Brooks, Partnership for Downtown Rochester
Suzanne Mayer, Hinge Neighbors

RocGrowth Candids features regional entrepreneurs and innovators who share their personal stories and describe their journey building successful organizations that have a meaningful impact upon our community.Downtown Rochester has been experiencing a renewed vitality. It is widely accepted that a prospering metropolitan region has a thriving urban core, with successful collaboration between the public and private sectors. We face a moment when major decisions might determine whether Rochester is able to rise above mediocrity and achieve recognition as being one of America's great mid-sized cities. That is why RocGrowth is featuring three innovators from the private sector who are pursuing superior outcomes in different ways.Join us on Thursday, March 28, 2024 to learn more about the entrepreneur behind Roc Holiday Village, the Partnership for Downtown Rochester and revitalization efforts downtown, and Hinge Neighbors and their role with the Inner Loop North.

RocGrowth Candids is pleased to present 


Andrea Westerlund, Founder, Flower Power Magazine
Renee Long, Board Member, Clarissa Street Legacy
Quajay Donnell, Co-Curator, Behind the Glass Gallery

Innovative Community Building in Rochester RocGrowth Candids features regional entrepreneurs and innovators who share their personal stories and describe their journey building successful organizations that have a meaningful impact upon our community.Community building fosters a sense of belonging and social cohesion among residents. When people feel connected to their neighbors and the larger community, they are more likely to work together, support each other, and participate in community activities. This is aligned with RocGrowth's mission. Join us  to learn more about Clarissa Street Legacy, Flower Power Magazine  and Behind the Glass Gallery. Their leaders will discuss their initiatives, personal motivations and experiences building their organizations.

RocGrowth Candids is pleased to presentSteve Dubnik - President and CEOThe Strong Museum of Play and ItsImpact Upon RochesterIn recognition of relaxed pandemic protocols RocGrowth Candids is joyfully resuming its in-person event, providing a virtual participation option. We feature regional entrepreneurs and innovators who share their personal stories and describe their journey building successful organizations that have had lasting impact upon our community’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The Strong National Museum of Play, is a beloved Rochester institution that is undergoing a major expansion visible to all who pass by a neighborhood undergoing radical transformation. On Wednesday, March 22, 2023, we feature Steve Dubnik, President and CEO, who has guided the institution through this ambitious phase. We will learn how the museum has acquired an international reputation, the breadth of its work, and dedication to our city.

Join us for a discussion with Mike Colyer, CEO of Foundry.  Foundry was created to meet the institutional demand for better capital access, efficiency and transparency in the digital asset mining and staking industry. Headquartered in Rochester, NY, Foundry leverages its institutional expertise, capital and market intelligence to empower participants within the crypto ecosystem by providing the tools they need to build tomorrow's decentralized infrastructure.

Adrian Hale, Director, Economic & Community Development, will join us to discuss Foundry's commitment to positively impact our region and seizing the blockchain's transformative potential to improve society.

Please join us for a discussion with Peter Jemison, Seneca Nation ( Heron Clan),  founder of the Seneca Art & Cultural Center and former site manager of Ganondagan, and Erica Mock,  Executive Director of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiative (FDFI).

The Finger Lakes was home to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy centuries before the arrival of Europeans. Peter is the visionary behind the Ganondagan State Historic Site in Victor and is nationally recognized for this work.

Frederick Douglass and his family resided in Rochester for 25 years, at the height of his abolitionist struggle and the critical years following the Civil War. Erica will discuss the ways FDFI is bringing attention to Douglass' message and his connection to our region.

We hope to inform you about how our remarkable history is a regional asset and differentiator. The New Rochester can embrace its past and blaze a better future.

RocGrowth Community

Please join us for a discussion with historian, Laura Warren Hill, and business leader, Tom Mitchell. Dr. Hill recently published Strike the Hammer: The Black Freedom Struggle in Rochester, New York, 1940-1970 and Mr. Mitchell is the former-CEO of Bergmann Associates and co-founder of Exploring Racism Groups (ERG).

Dr. Hill spent 12 years researching three pivotal decades of Rochester's history, revealing much about the origins of our present condition. Since 2015, Mr. Mitchell has been dedicated to educating community leaders about racism and how it impacts their organization's performance and potential.

Rochester is in the midst of significant change, experiencing an economic transformation, generational transition and revitalizing downtown. We hope this discussion will inform and educate RocGrowth's community so we can be more effective contributors.

RocGrowth has adjusted to the restrictions placed on social interaction by adopting Zoom in lieu of our typical convocation. We will moderate a 30 minute interview, followed by Q&A using the chat feature. It will be recorded and posted as a video and podcast the following day.