Every year, the festival partners with the Plano City Council’s advisory board, the Multicultural Outreach Roundtable (MCOR), to explore the impact of diversity on Plano’s business community and how it helps shape and foster economic growth and opportunity. This free event features networking with local business, education and government leaders plus a panel discussion.
This year’s event: Why is Plano Attractive to Businesses?
Wednesday, August 23, 2023, 6pm – 8pm
Center for American and International Law
5201 Democracy Drive, Plano 75024
Moderated by Ms. LaShon Ross, Deputy City Manager, City of Plano
Opening remarks by City of Plano Mayor John Muns
Panelists are:
• Sydney A. Blocher Jr., Vice President Program Management Boeing Global Services, Boeing
• Chris Mooney, Director of Manufacturing Operations, Shutterfly
• Seung June (SJ) Oh, President, SK Signet America Inc.
See below for speaker bios.
The event schedule includes:
• Networking Reception with hors d’oeuvres sponsored by Central Market
• MCOR and Plano International Festival presentations.
• Panel Discussion
• Q&A with the Panel
Meet our Distinguished Speakers
Michael Lawson, Senior Manager, Boeing Global Engagement
Michael Lawson is Senior Manager of Boeing Global Engagement (BGE), managing Boeing’s corporate giving and charitable donation programs for Texas and Louisiana. He also supports employee giving and non-profit engagement at the Boeing Global Services Headquarters located in Plano, TX.
Lawson has been with The Boeing Company since 2004. Prior to joining BGE, Michael held the title of Senior Manager of Contracts for Government Satellite Systems located in El Segundo, CA. He also held numerous roles in other areas of the business including Commercial Satellites, New Technology, and People Development. While in CA, Michael served on the board of Boeing’s Employee Community Fund of Southern California, an employee-owned and managed fund benefitting local non-profits.
Lawson serves on numerous community organizations and boards. He is the Vice Chairman of the Plano Chamber of Commerce. He also serves on the Legacy Transportation Management Board.
Chris Mooney Jr., Director, Manufacturing Operations at Shutterfly Inc.
Chris Mooney has been in the print/mail operations field for about 30 years, with almost half of that time being at Shutterfly. He began his career on the manufacturing floor and has held multiple leadership positions throughout his career. He has led groups with differing responsibilities including safety, logistics, manufacturing, and operations. He relocated to the DFW area in 2019 to oversee the buildout of the Plano facility and he currently has responsibility for the daily operations of the facility, as a whole as the Director of Manufacturing Operations.
Seung June (SJ) Oh, President, SK Signet America Inc.
SJ is an experienced executive leader with a successful history in new global business
development. He has extensive experience in building cutting edge telecommunication
networks, mobile application development, e-Commerce, corporate ventures and growth capital investments.
In January 2022, SJ was appointed President of SK Signet America. He is based in McLean, VA and responsible for promoting and developing SK Signet’s EV fast charger market share in the United States.
SJ previously served as the Managing Director of Corporate Development of SK USA
based in New York where he focused on investments in the clean technology and
advanced e-mobility transportation sector.
SJ is an early owner of an electric vehicle (EV) and continues to learn more about
clean tech start-ups in transportation, and energy driven by a focus on evangelizing EV adoption and combating the negative effects of carbon emissions. He is passionate
about advancing clean and sustainable technologies and has lived in six countries on
four different continents.
SJ previously worked at Fine Digital (a start-up), the Samsung Corporation, SK
Telecom, HELIO (Los Angeles, CA), SK Telecom Americas (Venture Capital), SK
Planet and SK Inc.
SJ’s passion for driving sustainable transportation led to his participation in a White
House meeting with President Joe Biden on July 26, 2022, where he affirmed SK
Signet’s commitment and substantial investments in sustainable innovations and the
EV infrastructure industry in the U.S.
SJ was also recognized by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in March 2023 for SK Signet’s
creation of high-skilled jobs and economic development in the state by building an EV
charging manufacturing facility in Texas.
SJ received his B.S. in Managerial Economics from the Carnegie Mellon University.
Every year, the festival partners with the Plano City Council’s advisory board, the Multicultural Outreach Roundtable (MCOR), to explore the impact of diversity on Plano’s business community and how it helps shape and foster economic growth and
opportunity. This free event features networking with local business, education and government leaders plus a panel discussion.
Learn about our previous Business Leadership topic, Next Generation Leadership.