HEATHER ROGERS

Co-Founder, Speaker, Corporate Magician

Heather has performed at venues ranging from Barack Obama’s inaugural ball in D.C. to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She has been named a 2022 recipient of the prestigious Eugene Burger Legacy Award by the Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas, and has performed alongside legendary artists such as Joan Baez and Rita Moreno, and appeared with Hillary Clinton at San Francisco’s “Innovation Hangar”. 

Heather ran away with the Pickle Family Circus when she was young, and it was there she discovered her love of performing and honed her magic and juggling skills. She has the distinction of being the one and only female, comedy magician in the Bay Area and has performed for corporate clients such as Google, Intuit, Hewlett Packard, Oracle and has spoken at TEDx.

Heather is an active member of MPI-NCC. She served on the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee in 2020 and currently volunteers on the Education & Programs Committee.

Learn more about Heather’s illustrious career in this brief video.

VELIA AMARASINGHAM

Co-Founder, Producer, Performer

Velia is an award-winning, meeting and events industry leader. She served on the ILEA-NCC Board of Directors from 2018-2021 and was the recipient of four Heart and Soul awards during her tenure. Additionally, Velia has been an active committee member of PCMA NCC since 2020, earning her a Bay Area Meeting Industry Excellence (BAMIE) award in the Member of the Year category, and a total of four nominations. She joined the board of PCMA NCC in 2022 and served as the chapter’s Director of Social Media that year.

In her hometown of Sydney, Australia, Velia received vocal training from Australian superstar, Marcia Hines and studied drama with the prestigious Australian Theatre for Young People.

After relocating to the San Francisco Bay Area during the dot-com boom, she founded the critically acclaimed musical theatre troupe, Her Rebel Highness. Career highlights include opening for Australian Top 40 artist, Margaret Urlich, performing live on ABC7 News and appearing as Cher, in San Francisco’s longest running show, Beach Blanket Babylon.

SIMON AMARASINGHAM

Composer, Sound Designer, Arranger

Simon is a professional composer, sound designer, keyboardist and producer. Originally from New Zealand, he moved to Australia in the 1980s, where he performed in rock bands and composed music for everything from film, to cellular phones, to console games. 

During the dot-com boom, Simon immigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area where he went on to form the award-winning audio production company, dSonic, with his brother, Kemal Amarasingham. Their corporate clients include Microsoft Games Studio, EA and Zynga. Simon serves as Curated Enterainment’s composer, vocal arranger and music producer and his articles on composition and creativity have been published in EQ Magazine, Game Developer Magazine and Create Online.

DENISE BARNHART

Production & Creative Consultant, Photographer

Denise is a triple threat: Photographer. Designer. Writer. She’s the founder of Photosounds, which combines her stunning nature photos with songs, to give scenes a whole new story. Denise has vast experience in the events industry including holding positions as Creative Services Manager and Experience Designer at Key Events and Event Manager at streamlinevents. You can learn more about Denise’s event production experience here.

MAGGIE PANONTIN-YOUNG

Business Development Consultant

Maggie is an experienced event producer who has worked in both the media and event production industries. She is a marketing, brand building and sales expert and is the current General Manager at The Lighthouse Glen Cove Marina. Maggie’s previous role was Event/Venue Manager at the San Francisco Film Centre and earned an MBA in Management from University of Phoenix.

 ROBERT LEYVA
Account Executive, MC&A

Robert is a versatile and innovative event professional skilled at seeing the “big picture” while still also focusing on the details. He has expertise in project and client management, employee relations and streamlining processes and systems.
Prior to joining MC&A, Robert was Director of Business Development at Cappa & Graham Terramar and Account Executive for Events & Tradeshows at AFR Furniture Rentals. Robert is an award-winning leader in the meeting and events industry, and has served on the boards of both MPI-NCC and PCMA-NCC.