Keynote

Spurs CEO RC Buford

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  R.C. Buford

  Currently in his 35th season with Spurs Sports & Entertainment (SS&E), RC Buford was named CEO in 2019. In this role, he provides day-to-day alignment and long-term strategic vision for the 500-plus full- time and 1,000-plus part-time staff who make up SS&E. The organization owns and operates the San Antonio Spurs, Austin Spurs (NBA G League) and San Antonio FC (USL Soccer), as well as manages the day-to-day operations of the Frost Bank Center, The Rock at La Cantera, Toyota Field and STAR Complex. The two-time NBA Executive of the Year leads the organization toward success and purpose. His shared vision with Dr. Andy Walshe in 2015 inspired The Rock at La Cantera, a multi-phase $500 million legacy project that will have a transformative impact on the community and beyond. The complex opened in October 2023 and features a 22-acre park, the Victory Capital Performance Center and Frost Plaza. The second phase of the project will feature a human performance research center and space for medical, hospitality and office use. Prior to being named CEO, RC was president of SS&E sports franchises from 2008-19, where he served as general manager of the Spurs while overseeing sports administration for the other teams in the SS&E family. RC started his professional career as an assistant coach at the University of Kansas in 1984 after spending one season as a graduate assistant. During each of his five seasons at Kansas, the Jayhawks competed in the NCAA Tournament. Buford was on the coaching staff for the team that won the 1988 NCAA Championship. He made the move to the NBA in 1988 when he joined the Spurs as an assistant coach on Larry Brown’s staff, which also included assistant coaches Gregg Popovich, Alvin Gentry and Ed Manning. He spent four seasons as an assistant with the Spurs, helping win back-to-back Midwest Division Titles in 1990 and 1991. RC then joined the Los Angeles Clippers for the 1992-93 campaign, as the first assistant for Coach Brown, before serving as an assistant coach with Lon Kruger at the University of Florida for their 1993-94 Final Four season. Hired by Gregg Popovich, RC returned to San Antonio as the team’s head scout in 1994. Three years later, he was elevated to the Spurs director of scouting and was eventually promoted to vice president/assistant general manager in the summer of 1999. He was named general manager of the Spurs in 2002. RC played basketball at Texas A&M University and Oklahoma State before receiving his degree from Friends University. He is actively involved in continuing education at Stanford, Harvard and Duke business schools. An activate participant in Basketball Without Borders Africa, RC is an advisory board member for Fuqua/Coach K Center on Leadership & Ethics (COLE) at Duke University. In addition, he has served on the board of directors of PeacePlayers International. RC’s wife, Beth, is a former golfer on the LPGA Tour. Both are active with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Their son, Chase, is a member of the Kansas Jayhawks basketball staff, and their daughter, C.C., is currently coaching women’s golf at UNC Charlotte. RC and his wife adopted two children, Alexis Wangmene from Cameroon in 2004, and Samer Jasser from Israel in 2007. The Bufords met Alexis through a Basketball Without Borders program in Johannesburg and Samer through PeacePlayers International.

  Spurs Sports & Entertainment

  CEO

  Keynote

  R.C. Buford

  CEO

  Spurs Sports & Entertainment

A Market Checkup

Taking the Temperature on Development, Finance, and more across San Antonio Healthcare And Life Sciences

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  Jared Stein

  Director

  BioMedSA

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  Ashley Gossen

  Ashley Gossen is the Executive Vice President of Global Corporate Recruitment at greater:SATX Regional Economic Partnership. She leads a high-performing team responsible for driving the organization’s business development pipeline, from strategic outreach and project management to landing transformative, job- creating investments across the Greater San Antonio region. Ashley brings deep experience in economic development, having held roles at Deloitte, Team Texas/Texas Economic Development Council, the Austin Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater San Marcos Partnership. Her work reflects a career-long commitment to growing Texas communities through strategic business attraction. She holds a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin and an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Ashley is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council and serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Economic Development Council. Ashley’s leadership has earned national recognition, including being named to the San Antonio Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 2025, Development Counsellors International’s 40 Under 40 in 2021 and Consultant Connect’s Top 50 Economic Developers in North America in 2022. She lives in the San Antonio region with her family.

  EVP

  greater:SATX

  Ashley Gossen

  greater:SATX

  EVP

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  Lee McKenna

  Managing Director

  JLL

• Moderator

  Chris Corso

  VP

  Joeris

Building, Developing, and Designing The Healthcare Continuum

The Anatomy of Modern Patient Care, and How We're Creating Pathways to Deliver It.

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  Walter Allen Fink

  System Chief Medical Officer

  UT Health San Antonio

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  Dr. Larry Schlesinger

  Dr. Schlesinger has led the Texas Biomedical Research Institute (Texas Biomed) in San Antonio, Texas, since 2017. Under Dr. Schlesinger’s leadership Texas Biomed has grown from 360 to 420 professionals and funding has more than tripled to nearly $100+ million a year in multi-year research grants and government and industry contracts. An internationally recognized authority in infectious diseases, Dr. Schlesinger has authored more than 230 peer-reviewed articles and reviews and served on the faculty of the University of Iowa and The Ohio State University among others. Since his arrival at Texas Biomed, the Institute has invested over $200M in campus improvements, faculty and staff recruitment and new programs.

  Texas Biomedical Research Institute

  Professor, President and CEO

  Dr. Larry Schlesinger

  Professor, President and CEO

  Texas Biomedical Research Institute

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  Ed Banos

  CEO

  University Health

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  Bob Hutchens

  Bob is a retired Partner of Booz & Company in New York. Booz & Company is a billion dollar management consulting firm with over 70 offices worldwide. Prior to Booz & Company Bob was a partner with the Management consulting firm of A.T. Kearney in New York. Bob has over 20 years of experience in management consulting. Most of his work has been with clients in the Life Sciences industry. His clients also included a number of major pharmaceutical companies as well as a range of medical device and supply companies. Bob also worked extensively with Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta to redesign the supply chain and financial processes for the agency’s $4 billion Vaccine For Children (VFC) program. Additionally, Bob worked with the President’s Emergency Program For Aids Relief (PEPFAR) as well as with the Global Fund. Bob’s work with his clients addressed a range of topics including defining corporate strategies, developing market entry and launch strategies as well as working with these clients to improve the overall effectiveness of their organizations and operations. Bob holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the Ross School of Business at The University of Michigan and he holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

  StemBioSys

  President

  Bob Hutchens

  President

  StemBioSys

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  Samantha Whitney

  Principal and Director of Urban Design at TBG Partners, Samantha is an architect and urban designer whose work has taken her around the globe. Committed to building consensus through collaborative partnerships, community engagement, and connections to place, her empathy and high degree of conscientiousness pervade all areas of her work. Samantha’s project experience includes mixed-use development, downtown revitalization, campus master plans, and urban streetscapes.

  TBG Partners

  Principal and Director of Urban Design

  Samantha Whitney

  Principal and Director of Urban Design

  TBG Partners

• Moderator

  Joel Benavides

  Director

  Joeris