Innovate Orlando CEO David Adelson announced in late July he will step down from his position with the organization he founded, and now the board is looking for his replacement.
A leader in Central Florida’s tech scene, Adelson said he plans to retire but will stay on until his successor is found.
Innovate Orlando board member Daryl Holt — senior vice president and group general manager of Tiburon Studios & American Football at Electronic Arts — said, "David's been great. He's a force of nature and we’re sorry to see him go. At the same time, he's super supportive in terms of how we deal with the transition.”
Holt has been instrumental in shaping the 501(c)(3) organization since its inception, and caught up with Orlando Inno to talk about what Innovate Orlando is looking for in its next CEO.
With the search process officially underway, Holt hopes the nonprofit will find a new CEO within the next 30 days.
The new leader will be tasked with continuing the organization’s mission and unlocking the potential for greater collaboration and alignment within the local tech industry, building on the foundation Adelson laid to elevate the region as a global tech hub.
Now that you're one year in, what are your thoughts about Innovate Orlando’s future?
Strengthening the Orlando Tech Community has been a big part of the work that was done over the past year. We did a lot around placemaking with Metacenter Global Week. And now, as we face the future, driving innovation and really illuminating what we have in Orlando as a global tech hub is what we’re going to do next with the new CEO we bring on board.
Is there a possibility Innovate Orlando could become a membership organization?
We are a collaborative initiative between the city of Orlando, Orange County and the Orlando Economic Partnership. What we don’t want to do is be our own worst enemy. If we start to go beyond that and start to think about Innovate Orlando as a membership organization, then we’re competing with other membership organizations that are doing good work here.
What does advancing Orlando as a global tech hub look like to you?
We tend to work in micro clusters. The startup community is growing, but we don’t think and act in a unified way. Even though I know I can call someone, and someone can call me, and we are a very collaborative ecosystem — we’re not a very aligned ecosystem. That needs to change. Our next CEO will galvanize the tech and startup community here.
How do you envision the role of the new CEO?
In this position, we need someone with a strong voice who can pull those disparate voices and perspectives together, while also aiming and inspiring for the future on how we can do this better and how we can really amplify and exponentially grow technology here in Central Florida.
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