🌈 Event Details
What: Unshackled Conference 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 & Welcome | — | Doors open! |
5:15 PM | ⬛ Conference Kickoff | Opening ceremony by the founders of Unshackled | |
5:30 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. |
5:50 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 |
9:00 AM | 🟩 Keynote: The Champion's Mindset | Vijay Amritraj (Tennis champion). Moderated by Swapnil Kothari. | Opening keynote on resilience and winning mindset by a worldwide Tennis champion |
9:25 AM | 🟩 Keynote: How to Have It All: Thriving Career, Happy Kids, Healthy Life | Kirthiga Reddy (Ex-Head of Facebook India) and Vidya Srinivasan (Sr. Director at Meta | Keynote on thriving at a corporate career, raising two kids, running marathons, and co-chairing Grace Hopper’s conference. |
9:50 AM | 🟩 Keynote: Immigrant’s Journey to Raising $50M | Tanay Kothari (Founder of Wispr AI) | Keynote on raising money, obtaining the O-1A, and selling your company on a student visa |
Time | Room No | Tracks | Session | Speakers | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10:30 AM | Studio 2/3 | Creator Track | 🟨 Panel: Becoming A Successful Immigrant Content Creator | Moderated by Tejaswini Kumar | |
10:30 AM | Studio 4 | Immigration Track | 🟨 Panel: Take Control of Your Immigration (O1/EB1/NIW Visas) | Xiao Wang (CEO of Boundless), Aizada Marat (CEO of Alma), Minn Kim (CEO of Lighthouse), Ahmed Mousa (Founder Lead @ Deel) | Moderated by Sagnik Basu |
10:30 AM | Studio 5 | Tech Track | 🟦 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. |
10:30 AM | Studio 6 | Immigration Track | 🟦 Workshop 1D: Acing U.S. Visa Interviews | Düden F (Former U.S. Consulate Officer) | Fundamentals of acing your visa interviews |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
11:30 AM | Studio 2/3 | Creator Track | 🟨 Panel: Growing As A Women Influencer in Tech | Moderated by Sharanya Iyer | |
11:30 AM | Studio 4 | Founder Track | 🟨 Panel: Going from Idea to Startup as an Immigrant Founder | Noémie Federico, Julian Weisser (Founders of OnDeck Fellowship), Bailey Plumfleet (CEO of Cal.com) | Moderated by Sagnik Basu. |
11:30 AM | Studio 5 | Tech Track | 🟦 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 |
11:30 AM | Studio 6 | Global Track | 🟦 Workshop: Relocating to India | Nupur Dave (NRI Expert & Author) | Why, when, and how can you relocate to India as an NRI |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
12:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | Founder Track | 🟦 Workshop: Bootstrap to $1M ARR | Siam Hossain (Founder of Algorizin) | How to build a $1M business without raising capital |
12:30 PM | Studio 4 | Immigration Track | 🟦 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 |
12:30 PM | Studio 5 | Global Track | 🟨 Panel: Smart Investing in India | Nishkaam Mehta (CEO of Abound), Hemant Gangolia (CEO of GoINRI) | How to invest & stay connected to India and your family. Moderated by Sharanya Iyer |
12:30 PM | Studio 6 | Immigration Track | 🟨 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 professionals on H-1B. Moderated by Naman Pandey. |
LUNCH BREAK | — | LUNCH BREAK | LUNCH BREAK | LUNCH BREAK | LUNCH BREAK |
2:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | Immigration Track | 🟨 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) | Insights into receiving funding and getting your EB-5 and Gold Card visa. Moderated by Naman Pandey. |
2:30 PM | Studio 4 | Immigration Track | 🟨 Panel: Alternatives to H-1B: Cap Exempt H-1B & Global EiR | Craig Montuori (Founder of Global EiR), Danielle Goldman (Founder of BUILD Fellowship), Jeff Goldman (Lawyer) | Moderated by Naman Pandey |
2:30 PM | Studio 5 | Tech Track | 🟦 Workshop: TBD | Nishkaam Mehta (CEO of Abound) | TBD |
2:30 PM | Studio 6 | Global Track | 🟦 🟨 Workshop/Panel?: Canada as Plan B | Veronica Sepehr (Immigration Lawyer) | Pathways, timelines, and strategies for startup immigration to Canada |
BREAK | — | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK | BREAK |
3:30 PM | Studio 2/3 | Creator Track | 🟨 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 | Founder Track | 🟨 Panel: Pitching to VCs as an Immigrant Founder | Eugene Malobrodsky (GP at One Way Ventures), Lakshmi Shankar (GP at Together Fund), Rohit Mittal (Ex-CEO of Stilt. Raised $350M debt) | How immigrant founders can stand out to VCs while pitching. Moderated by Sharanya Iyer. |
3:30 PM | Studio 5 | Immigration Track | 🟦 Workshop: How to Gather Funds for Your EB-5 | Nick Mastrianni (President of USIF) | How to gather funds and finance your way to an EB-5 investment visa |
3:30 PM | Studio 6 | Global Track | 🟦 Workshop: Scaling From Dubai | Sameer Sortur (Advisor to in5 Capital UAE) | Why and how to launch your company in UAE for global scale |
Time | Rooms | Session | Speakers | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
5:00 PM | Main | 🟩 Fireside Chat: Tweetstorm w/ Deedy Das | Debarghya (Deedy) Das (VC at Menlo Ventures & X Influencer) | Breaking down the most viral tweets of Deedy Das. Moderated by Soundarya Balasubramani & Nikin Tharan. |
5:30 PM | Main | 🟩 Fireside: Future of High-skilled Immigration & America | Xiao Wang (CEO @ Boundless), Ajay Bhutoria (Advisor to President Biden), Jeremy Neufeld (Policy Expert) | Moderated by Jacob Sapochnick (Immigration Lawyer) |
6:15 PM | Main | ⬛ Closing Remarks | Wrap-up, gifts, and next steps 🎁 | |
6:30 PM | 1. VIP → KC 2. Founder → Studio 2/3 3. Creator → Aspen 4. Extraordinary → Aspen 5. Dating → Maple | 🟨 All Lounges (Happening in Parallel) | Lounges: → Private Dinner with speakers & VIP attendees → Founder Lounge (hosted by Deel) → Creator Lounge (hosted by GoldenYug) → Extraordinary (O1/EB1) Lounge (hosted by Fakhouri) → Dating Lounge (hosted by DilMil) | Food & drinks while you connect 1:1 |
8:00 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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