Danny Briere is CEO of The STEMIE Coalition and works on strategy, partnerships, and fundraising for the organization. He brings a long history of invention, entrepreneurship, and innovation to the organization. He has served in a leadership capacity in several statewide and national entrepreneurship and economic development organizations. He has been involved with the creation of more than 200 startups – including three Caribbean airlines – and founded Startup Connecticut under Obama’s Startup America Partnership; he also led the re-launch of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center program, and holds ten patents with several more pending. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Connecticut Invention Convention (CIC) for more than ten years. Danny is passionate about helping kids get real-life invention and entrepreneurship experience.  Danny has four kids – two sets of twins – who are active inventors and entrepreneurs in their own right, and wife, Holly, who is an acclaimed neuroscientist at the University of Connecticut.  Danny lives in Mansfield, CT in the northeast corner of Connecticut.