Since 2010, TER has presented the Imlay Leadership Award, named after one of Atlanta’s early technology pioneers John Imlay, to those who have shown exceptional leadership on behalf of Georgia‘s high-tech community. Eman is just the second woman to receive the award in its 15-year history.
“I truly could not be more honored or humbled to have been recognized this year as the John Imlay Leadership award winner from TER. John Imlay built the tech ecosystem in Atlanta and to even have my name mentioned with his is truly astounding,” Eman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email.
Previous recipients of the award include the leader of multiple successful tech startups Kelly Gay; Atlanta’s “godfather of angel investing” Sig Mosley; serial entrepreneur, investor and founder of the Atlanta Tech Village David Cummings; and founder of Internet Security Systems Chris Klaus.
Eman had never worked in the tech industry before building Venture Atlanta. She had most recently led marketing and communications for a mortgage company, helping it grow in about a decade from fewer than 10 employees when she joined to more than 800 people across 30 offices. Then in the early 2000s the housing bubble burst and the company went under.
“It was an awesome company, and then the banking crisis in 2007 really killed us,” she said in a 2024 interview. “I had no thought of running a venture capital tech conference, but I knew I wanted to do something outside of mortgages, because that was getting really boring.”
When Eman started at Venture Atlanta, the conference was just an idea, not yet reality. The inaugural event 18 years ago had just a few hundred attendees and 20 investment funds participate.
But it has grown exponentially since then. This year’s Venture Atlanta, which opened Wednesday, is expected to bring in more than 1,500 attendees and has the most investment sponsors in its history with more than 400 investors participating from across the country, Eman said, along with corporate and government procurement officials.
The opening keynote speaker this year is Garrett Langley, CEO and founder of Flock Safety, which years ago was a fledgling startup pitching on the Venture Atlanta stage. But now it’s grown to an established company that earlier this year raised $275 million, valuing it at more than $7.5 billion.
Eman has been the driving force in building what has become a marquee event of Atlanta’s tech ecosystem and beyond, according to John Yates, a partner at law firm Gunderson Dettmer and one of the founders of TER.
“She’s really created this very unique technology conference ecosystem and planted the flag as being the place you got to be if you want to be a part of that ecosystem,” Yates said.
“It was a little bit of a risk to take somebody on that didn’t have the background, but she had shown an ability to execute,” he added.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
For Eman, building Venture Atlanta over the last 18 years “has been an honor.”
“What an incredible transformation of the Atlanta ecosystem — seeing it really from humble beginnings with just a few venture capital funds and groups … to now having tons of venture funds and groups like the Atlanta Tech Village, the Atlanta Tech Park, Tech Alpharetta and the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs,” she said.
“Our ecosystem is growing and thriving and I love that Venture Atlanta has played a huge role in doing that!”
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