NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) has announced its first wave of keynote speakers for the 2026 Summit, laying the groundwork for what promises to be the most dynamic gathering yet. Featured speakers include business transformation leader and former Tesla President Jon McNeill, Louisiana Chief Innovation Officer Josh Fleig, and the record-breaking husband-and-wife team behind the Arctic Challenge 2025. Additional keynote speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.
The NOEW Summit takes place March 12-13 at Loyola University New Orleans and is the centerpiece of NOEW’s weeklong celebration of entrepreneurship running March 9-14. Registration is now open at www.noew.org. The event is free and open to the public.
Building the Next Generation: Jon McNeill on AI and Hypergrowth
Jon McNeill, CEO and Co-founder of DVx Ventures, will deliver a keynote titled “Building the Next Generation of Companies: New Rules for the AI Age.” McNeill brings a rare combination of startup founder experience and Fortune 500 operational mastery, having previously served as President at Tesla, where he helped grow revenue from $2B to $20B in just 30 months, and as COO at Lyft, where he doubled revenue and took the company public.
At DVx Ventures, McNeill and his team have launched 12 companies attacking major opportunities across industries. He currently serves on the boards of General Motors, Lululemon, Asurion, CrossFit, and Stash, and is a frequent guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, and Stanford GSB.
His upcoming keynote will explore how artificial intelligence is rewriting the rules of company building and what founders need to know to compete in this new era. McNeill’s forthcoming book, The Algorithm: The Hypergrowth Formula That Transformed Tesla, SpaceX, Lululemon, and General Motors, offers a behind-the-scenes look at how iconic companies have scaled.
Louisiana’s Innovation Vision: A Conversation with Josh Fleig
Josh Fleig, Chief Innovation Officer at LA.IO and the lead architect behind Louisiana’s technology industry growth over the last decade, will share the state’s bold vision for becoming a global innovation leader. Fleig’s session will reveal how Louisiana is leveraging its unique strengths—rich natural resources, strategic location, and culture of ingenuity—to support the creators who are building what’s next.
“NOEW represents an important convening point for Louisiana’s innovation ecosystem,” said Fleig.“Events like this don’t just showcase what we’re building across the state, they create the momentum and connections that help founders start here, scale here, and build lasting companies that continue to invest in Louisiana. We’re proud to power NOEW as a statewide platform that brings together entrepreneurs and partners from across Louisiana and shows the strength of our innovation economy.”
The Arctic Challenge: Lessons from the Edge of the World
John and Hannah Huppi will share their extraordinary journey completing The Arctic Challenge 2025, a record-breaking 1000-kilometer Arctic Ocean rowing expedition. The husband-and-wife team, alongside teammates Jimmy Graham and Andrew Tropp, rowed from Tromsø, Norway to Longyearbyen, Svalbard in just over 10 days, shattering the previous speed record by more than five days.
Their mixed-gender crossing achieved multiple world firsts while raising funds for New Orleans organizations including Covenant House and Laureus Sport for Good. Their NOEW session will explore the mindset, preparation, and resilience required to accomplish the impossible and feature lessons directly applicable to the entrepreneurial journey.
A New Standard for New Orleans
“Loyola is thrilled to bring this caliber of speakers to New Orleans and showcase that our city is ready for prime time,” said Bobby Savoie, Dean of Loyola University’s College of Business. “Having global business leaders like Jon McNeill and state visionaries like Josh Fleig choosing NOEW as their platform elevates the entire Gulf South ecosystem. Loyola is proud to be at the center of this moment as both host and producer of the 2026 NOEW Summit.”
NOEW 2026 runs March 9-14 throughout New Orleans, with the two-day NOEW Summit at Loyola University featuring globally recognized keynotes, hands-on workshops, founder stories, and interactive sessions designed for doing, not just listening. The week emphasizes three core themes:
- Start it Here, Scale it Anywhere
- Built Different: the Future of Business
- Community as Our Superpower.
Powered by the New Orleans Ecosystem
NOEW 2026 is a collaborative platform built by the ecosystem, for the ecosystem. Lead partners include GNO, Inc., Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans, Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, StartUP Northshore, The Beach at UNO, The Idea Village, Tulane Innovation Institute, and Xavier University. Working together, these leaders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem are creating NOEW programming that reflects the diversity and creativity of the Gulf South.
Additional keynote announcements, programming details, and special experiences, will be announced in the coming weeks.
About New Orleans Entrepreneur Week
New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) is the Gulf South’s premier celebration of entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth. Powered by LA.IO and produced in partnership with Loyola University New Orleans, along with support from the New Orleans Tourism and Cultural Fund, NOEW convenes thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, students, and community leaders across New Orleans. Learn more and register for free at www.noew.org.
