Sheena Fowler could likely gain Hollywood actor Wesley Snipes’ endorsement as a leader.
At a Consumer Electronics Show years back, Fowler was at a Full Sail University event in full Orlando mode when she met Snipes.
Before long, Snipes called her the best hype woman he had ever met. Fowler wears that as a badge of honor.
“I get on a hype train about Orlando and I can’t stop,” she said. “That’s what I think the community needs.”
Fowler, who this year was installed as CEO of Innovate Orlando, will lead her first “all hands” meeting with Orlando’s tech and innovation community Wednesday morning.
The roughly two-hour meeting, which will take place both on Zoom and in person at 36 W. Pine St., starts at 10:30 a.m.
It will serve as one of Fowler’s first formal appearances as leader of the group after an informal meet-and-greet last month, during which she shared her vision and announced the meeting.
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“What the community needs is sustainability,” said Fowler, who has served with Women in Film and Television, Orlando Economic Partnership and the augmented reality firm Red 6. “This effort needs to last. It can’t be a flash in the pan. It needs to be something we can rally around for the next decade or so.”
That’s why the call for input at the “all hands” included a general invite to anyone in the community.
She plans to take ideas from all corners of Orlando’s tech ecosystem.
“To build something for the community, you have to catch up, get people one-on-one to understand what they are thinking and build from there,” she said.
Fowler said her work with Red 6, a defense industry contractor, taught her new skills when it comes to debrief meetings and getting into what she calls “the messy stuff.”
That is, the details that lead to action.
“Until we dig into that messy stuff, you can’t create something we can be proud of,” she said.
Fowler jumps in to lead the community at what can be considered an important time.
The tech landscape has advanced quickly in a number of industries that Orlando can say it’s prolific in.
That includes augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence and others, including gaming.
But while that breadth of knowledge and expertise can be a feather in a community’s cap, it can also be a burden if there is no organized way to channel it all in one direction.
Fowler says that’s what Innovate Orlando will try to do, whether it’s as a group or as a connector between parties.
“I have been fortunate to get to know and meet and learn from and work alongside so many extraordinary creatives and engineers in the community,” she said. “When you go out in the world, they don’t get it. There is often a bit of judgement and they think that nothing ambitious ever comes from here.”
While Fowler is quick to object, she says putting together a cohesive message across the community will help change minds quicker than anything she could have said in those moments.
Meanwhile, locally, the meeting next week will be a way to let others know that Innovate Orlando hopes to become a point of contact for anyone building tech here looking to meet regional leaders.
“You shouldn’t have to ask 12 people to get to the person you want to meet,” she said.
For her part, Fowler doesn’t necessarily expect the meeting to be one that’s all hype, no substance.
“I want them to come in raw,” she said. “I want them to share their frustrations and air their grievances. It’s from that where we can begin to see each other on a level playing field.”
For more than a decade, Fowler has been an advocate for Orlando, its tech community and the business ecosystem.
As she prepares for what could become a crucial test of her ability to lead the community, she said she hopes those who attend come away with a similar conclusion as Snipes did.
“He picked up on my energy,” she said.