Jo Bass served in the U.S. Air Force for over 31 years. In August 2020, she was selected as the 19th Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force and the first woman to become the highest senior enlisted leader in any military service, making her a unique trailblazer and role model to hundreds of thousands of men and women. She retired from that position in March 2024 and continues to champion national security and policies that impact veterans and their families using her influence and platform.  

Jo has vast whole-of-society leadership experience from cutting-edge technology to our nation's most sensitive relationships. She has written and spoken extensively on leadership, national security, innovation, risk management, international affairs, workforce strategy, and the understanding of generational diversity.  

Jo is the founder and president of The Bass Group LLC, developing the leaders our nation needs and fostering a leadership style that breaks barriers, challenges convention, and ignites innovation. She is also an Honorary Board Co-Chair for the Women in Military Service for America Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors for the Robert Irvine Foundation, Adjunct Senior Fellow to Center for a New American Security (CNAS), and Strategic Advisor to the President of Columbia Southern University. 

Jo was raised as an Army dependent, living in several overseas and stateside locations, and calls Hawaii home. She graduated with honors from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and now splits her time between Texas and Washington, DC. 

Kat Cole is an investor and advisor to high-growth businesses, funds, and brands with a focus on food and beverage, wellness, franchises, SMB tech, and web3. 

Kat was recently named President and COO of Athletic Greens, the fastest growing wellness brand in the world. Athletic Greens is the direct-to-consumer subscription company behind the world’s most comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition product, AG1. Here, she will lead the company with a focus on driving organizational scale, accelerating business growth and global expansion, and innovation.  

In January of 2021, she wrapped up a 10 year career leading Focus Brands as COO and President (2016-2021) of the owner, franchisor and operator of global limited service food brands, with billions in product sales in over 50 countries. As COO, she led the company’s 8 brands: Cinnabon, Auntie Anne’s, Moe’s, Schlotzsky’s, McAllister’s, Carvel, Seattle’s Best Coffee International, and Jamba with over 7000 operations globally as well as the multi-brand licensing and CPG business with over $1Billion in annual sales. In other roles at Focus Brands, before becoming COO, she was president of Cinnabon (2010-2014) and Group President of the multi-channel licensing division at Focus (2014-2016). Prior to Focus Brands, Kat was Vice President at Hooters, starting as a waitress, becoming a corporate employee by 20, VP by 26, and leading the company’s global growth through franchising, training, and operations as a member of the global executive team culminating in the sale of the company into private equity in 2010. 

In Kat’s tenure at Focus Brands, she famously led the turnaround of Cinnabon out of the recession by strengthening the base franchise business, reinvigorating the brand, and launching what is now one of the largest restaurant brand CPG businesses in the world. She and her team doubled the EBITDA of that company in a few years, brought sustained growth to the franchisees, and led innovation in delivery, product development, licensing and partnerships that became core capabilities for the parent company that she would so move up to lead as President and COO. She is now investing and advising at the intersection of consumer, NFTs, web3 and the broader move to decentralization and the ownership economy. 

Kat also helped lead the acquisition and integration of brands, the restructuring of Focus Brands to prepare it for its next chapter as a growing house of global brands, and is known as a change agent for omni-channel brands, complex portfolio companies, and teams across private equity and venture backed ecosystems.  

Kat is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, a member of the Board of Directors of growth stage VC and PE backed companies Milk Bar and Slice as well as on the Board of HumanCo SPAC. Her investment and advisory portfolio includes over 60 early stage companies, with a focus on omni-channel consumer product businesses. Kat is a past member of the United Nations Global Entrepreneurs Council, was featured on CBS' "Undercover Boss”, and was named one of Fortune’s 40 under 40. She is a college dropout, yet has her MBA in International Business from Georgia State University and an Honorary Doctorate from Johnson and Wales University. She is past chair of the board of the Women’s Foodservice Forum, and has led women’s development initiatives in the US and Rwanda. 

Kat is an outspoken advocate for women’s issues and for the broader role of business in democratizing access to education and opportunity.