Supported By
Tuesday
07.10.2025
4pm to 7.30pm BST
Inspired by Ada Lovelace, our mission is to find and fund the visionary founders of today. Founders who are reconstructing systems to win. Talented, underestimated and ambitious. Leaders who grab opportunities to change the world with both hands.
A Doctor from the Bayou with Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA
Join Michael Tefula for an intimate discussion with President Obama's former U.S. Surgeon General, First Round Capital's Healthcare Expert-in-Residence, and a member of the First Close Partners team.
Former U.S. Surgeon General - Regina Benjamin, MD, MBA
A family physician and the Founder and CEO of BayouClinic, Inc., Dr. Benjamin was the 18th United States Surgeon General (2009-2013), where, as Vice Admiral, she oversaw the operational command of 6,500 uniformed public health officers around the world. She released multiple Surgeon General's Reports including the first-ever National Prevention Strategy.
Dr. Benjamin is a First Round Capital's Healthcare Expert in Residence and a director on the boards of the Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan; Ascension; ConvaTec (Lon:CTEC); Computer Technology Systems Inc (CPSI); Doximity (DOX); Oak Street Health (OSH); Professional Disposables International; and the American Heart Association.
Dr. Benjamin is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is also part of the First Close Partners team.
She has been chosen as a Kellogg National Fellow and Rockefeller Next Generation Leader. In 1998 Dr. Benjamin was the United States recipient of the Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights. She received the 2000 National Caring Award, which was inspired by Mother Teresa and was recognised with the Papal honor Pro Ecclesia et Ponticifice from Pope Benedict XVI. In 2008, she was honoured with a MacArthur Genius Award Fellowship.
Dr. Benjamin holds a B.S. from Xavier University in New Orleans, an M.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, an MBA from Tulane University, and over 30 honorary degrees.
Plus: A live performance by Belinda Zhawi
Beinda Zhawi (b. Zimbabwe) is a literary & sound artist based in London (UK) & Marseille (FR), author of Small Inheritances (ignitionpress, 2018), & experiments with sound/text performance as MA.MOYO.
Her literary & sound works have been featured on various platforms including The White Review, Vogue, NTS, Boiler Room & BBC Radio. She has held residencies at Triangle-Asterides, France; Cove Park, Scotland; and the Serpentine Galleries and ICA, London.