🌈 Event Details
What: Open Atlas Summit 2025 is the largest and most influential event for skilled immigrants in the U.S. Come meet 1,000+ ambitious immigrants, tech leaders, founders, investors, and lawyers over 2 days.
When: August 15-16, 2025 (4:00 PM Friday - 9:00 PM Saturday)
Who: For every immigrant in America.
🌈 Color Coding
⬛ Housekeeping (Registration / Lunch / Snack)
🟩 All “you do not want to miss” sessions (Keynotes / Job fair / Comedy show / Networking mixer)
🟦 All “roll up your sleeves” sessions (Workshops by founders, O1/EB1 recipients, policy experts, etc)
🟨 All “follow your curiosity” sessions (Panels & Fireside chats with experts)
Time | Session | Speakers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
9:00 AM | 🟩 Job Fair | — | Job Fair for international students with 30-50 companies actively hiring & ready to sponsor visas |
4:00 PM | ⬛ Registration Opens | — | Doors open! |
5:30 PM | ⬛ Conference Kickoff Speech | Opening ceremony by the founders of Unshackled | |
5:45 PM | 🟩 Keynote: How to Make Every Conversation Count | Prof. Chuck Garcia (Columbia University; Best-selling author; Leadership coach) | Opening keynote by Columbia professor on how to make the most out the next 30 hours. |
6:05 PM | 🟩 Fireside Chat: How To Rise To The Top As An Immigrant w/ Co-founder of Lyft | Rajat Suri (Co-founder of Lyft, Presto & Lima) | How to rise to the top as an immigrant in tech by the co-founder of Lyft. Moderated by Prof. Chuck Garcia. |
6:30 PM | 🟨 Icebreaker Experience | Icebreaker experience to help loosen up hosted by the Masala Comedy Club of Bay Area. | |
7:00 PM | 🟩 Networking Mixer | — | Food & drinks while you connect 1:1 |
8:00 PM | 🟩 Kenny Sebastian Show (Live) | Stand-up comedy show by one of India’s beloved comedians! |
Time | Session | Speakers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
8:00 AM | ⬛ Registration & Breakfast | — | Check-in, coffee, light breakfast |
9:20 AM | 🟩 Keynote Fireside: The Superpower of Women, AI, and Having It All | Kirthiga Reddy (CEO of Verix; Ex-MD Facebook India; Ex-Partner SoftBank) and Vidya Srinivasan (Sr. Product Lead at Meta; Ex-Microsoft; Ex-General Chair of Grace Hoppers) | Power-packed conversation on why women need to lean into AI First, and yes, you can have it all: a thriving career, family, fitness, and a social life. |
10:00 AM | 🟩 Keynote: The Champion's Mindset | Vijay Amritraj (Tennis champion). | Opening keynote on resilience and winning mindset by a worldwide Tennis champion |
10:45 AM | 🟩 Keynote: Immigrant’s Journey to Raising $50M | Tanay Kothari (Founder of Wispr Flow) | Keynote on raising money, obtaining the O-1A, and selling your company on a student visa |
Time | Room No | Session | Speakers | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
11:30 AM | Aspen | 🟨 Panel: Take Control of Your Immigration (O1/EB1/NIW Visas) | Aizada Marat (CEO of Alma), Robby (CEO of Lighthouse), Ahmed Mousa (Founder Lead @ Deel), Inese Grate (Partner @ PassRight) | Moderated by Sagnik Basu. |
11:30 AM | Studio 2/3 | 🟨 Panel: An Alternative to the H-1B, The J-1 | Yasaman Soroori (CEO @ Consulta & Lawyer), Gennady Babankov (Business Development @ AIC) | The J-1 Early Career STEM Initiative and how it can be used as an alternative for H-1B. Moderated by Naman Pandey. |
11:30 AM | Studio 4 | 🟦 Workshop 1D: Acing U.S. Visa Interviews | Düden F (Former U.S. Consulate Officer) | Fundamentals of acing your visa interviews. |
11:30 AM | Studio 5/6 | 🟦 Workshop: Relocating to India | Nupur Dave (NRI Expert & Author) | How do you decide to move to India? An interactive workshop with anecdotes to equip NRIs with practical insights. |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
12:30 PM | Aspen | 🟨 Panel: Becoming A Successful Immigrant Content Creator | Moderated by Tejaswini Kumar. | |
12:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | 🟨 Panel: Going from Idea to Startup as an Immigrant Founder | Noémie Federico (Director of ODF), Julian Weisser (Founder of ODF), Nishkaam Mehta (CEO of Abound), Bailey Pumfleet (CEO of Cal.com) | Moderated by Samarth Jain. |
12:30 PM | Studio 4 | 🟦 Workshop: Canada as Plan B | Veronica Sepehr (PhD, Registered Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC)) | Pathways, timelines, and strategies for startup immigration to Canada |
12:30 PM | Studio 5/6 | 🟦 Workshop: Breaking into Big Tech & Venture Capital | Mala Ramakrishnan (VC at Progressive Ventures) | How to rise up the ladder as a women in tech and investing |
LUNCH BREAK | — | LUNCH BREAK | LUNCH BREAK | LUNCH BREAK |
2:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | 🟨 Panel: Master Your Finances | Hemant Gangolia (CEO of GoINRI), Rohit Mittal (Ex-CEO of Stilt. Raised $350M debt) | How to build credit, file taxes, and invest in India. Moderated by Samarth Jain. |
2:30 PM | Studio 4 | 🟦 Workshop: Bootstrap to $1M ARR | Siam Hossain (Founder of Algorizin) | How to build a $1M business without raising capital |
2:30 PM | Studio 5/6 | 🟦 Workshop: Surviving Layoffs & Acing Your LinkedIn Profile | Nikita Gupta (Cofounder of Careerflow.ai) | How to ace your LinkedIn profile & survive layoffs in the job market. |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
2:30 PM | Aspen | 🟨 Panel: Growing As An Influencer in Tech and Career | Moderated by Sharanya Iyer. | |
3:30 PM | Aspen | 🟨 Panel: Pitching to VCs as an Immigrant Founder | Eugene Malobrodsky (GP at One Way Ventures), Lakshmi Shankar (GP at Together Fund), Sohrab Haghighat (Serial Founder; Raised >$10M), Mihailo Bozic (CEO of MigrateMate), Vinit Bhansali (VC, 3x Founder, 2x Exits) | How immigrant founders can stand out to VCs while pitching. Moderated by Nitin Bajaj. |
3:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | 🟨 Fireside Chat: You Are the MOAT: How to Build a Personal Brand | Andrew Yeung (The “Gatsby” of Silicon Valley; O-1 Recipient) | How to build your personal moat & stand out amongst the crowd online. Moderated by Sagnik Basu. |
3:30 PM | Studio 4 | 🟦 Workshop: How to Sue USCIS on Delays | Brad Banias (former litigator for USCIS) | Understand the 101 of Mandamus: suing USCIS for delays in your visa applications |
3:30 PM | Studio 5/6 | 🟨 Panel: Investing Your Way to A Green Card (EB-5 & Gold Card) | Mary Kennedy (Immigration lawyer), Mathew Kizhakkadathu (Cofounder of NewRootsEB5), Bisi Obateru (CEO, JustGuide), Kripa Upadhyay (Of Counsel at Buchalter Law) | Insights into receiving funding and getting your EB-5 and Gold Card visa. Moderated by Naman Pandey. |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
4:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | 🟨 Fireside Chat: Neither Here Nor There — How To Fit In Without Fading Out | Kripa Upadhyay (Of Counsel at Buchalter Law Firm; First-Gen Immigrant) | What does it mean to build a new family thousands of miles away without forgetting your old one? Moderated by Naman Pandey. |
4:30 PM | Aspen | 🟨 Panel: Alternatives to H-1B: Cap Exempt H-1B & Global EiR | Craig Montuori (Founder of Global EiR), Danielle Goldman (Founder of BUILD Fellowship), Odet Ford (Manager of Immigrant Integration Initiatives at California Governor’s Office) | Moderated by Sagnik Basu. |
4:30 PM | Studio 5/6 | 🟦 Workshop: Building for the Indian Diaspora | Nishkaam Mehta (CEO of Abound) | How to go from idea to building an MVP and more from the founder of Abound. |
4:30 PM | Studio 4 | 🟨 Panel: Financing Your EB-5: Loans, HELOCs, Gifts, and More | Ignacio Donoso (EB-5 Immigration Attorney) | How can you finance your EB-5 investment green card through loans, HELOCs, gifts and more. Moderated by Nikin Tharan. |
Time | Rooms | Session | Speakers | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
6:00 PM | Main | 🟩 Keynote: "Am I There Yet?”: A Lawyer’s Look at Case Strength for Extraordinary Ability Visas | Nicole Gunara (Principal Immigration Attorney @ Manifest Law) | — |
6:20 PM | Main | 🟩 Fireside: Future of High-skilled Immigration & America | Xiao Wang (CEO @ Boundless), Ajay Bhutoria (Advisor to President Biden), Jeremy Neufeld (Policy Expert), Daniel Mishin (CEO of Manifest Law) | Where are we heading to next? Moderated by Soundarya Balasubramani & Nikin Tharan. |
6:45 PM | Main | ⬛ Closing Remarks | Soundarya Balasubramani, Nikin Tharan, RK and entire conference team of 30+ :) | Wrap-up, gifts, and next steps 🎁 |
7:00 PM | 1. Founder → Studio 2/3 Hall 2. Creator → Aspen Hall 3. Extraordinary → KC Hall 4. Dating → Maple Hall | 🟨 All Lounges (Happening in Parallel) | Lounges: → Founder Lounge (hosted by Deel) → Creator Lounge (hosted by Unshackled) → Extraordinary (O1/EB1) Lounge (hosted by Fakhoury) → Dating Lounge (hosted by DilMil) | Food & drinks while you connect 1:1 |
8:30 PM - 9:30 PM | Main | 💃 DJ Dance Night | Let loose and close the event with an hour of dancing 🕺 |
🌈 In summary, you’ll meet:
→ 500+ tech leaders
→ 100+ founders
→ 50+ O1/EB1/NIW recipients
→ 50+ immigrant influencers
→ 50+ visa-sponsoring companies
→ 10+ lawyers attending the event
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