What's Working in Washington - Ep 155 Connecting with Lawmakers - Ximena Hartsock

Hank Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Strategic Cyber Ventures, discusses his accidental journey into venture capital as well as the importance of the growing cybersecurity product industry.

Kieran McQuilkin, new market editor at D.C.'s American Inno, discusses the D.C. tech community and some of the hottest new and rising trends for innovation in the region.

Vanessa Gill, creator of social venture Social Cipher, discusses her life on the autism spectrum and her efforts to encourage empathy and understanding through the lens of gamification.

Caitlin McKenna, Senior Director of Customer Experience and Innovation at Hilton; and Brinda Sen Gupta, Deputy Director of the Booz Allen Hamilton Innovation Center, discuss the ways their positions at their companies help them teach others to innovate, shaping even large companies to work better.

Jeremy Lichtenstein, agent with RE/MAX Realty, discusses Kids in Need Distributors (KIND), the not-for-profit he founded to help children in need get food outside of their reduced meal plans at school.

Jack McDougle, CEO and president of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, discusses some of the ways the entrepreneurial community and the government can work together to spur innovation and economic growth, for the entire D.C. region and beyond.

Diana Hage, CEO of RFID Business Solution, discusses the difficulties in changing the trajectory of a small business, as well as the specific advantages women have when it comes to owning and leading small businesses.

With the recent announcement that Amazon's HQ2 will reside partly in northern Virginia, we gather together an emergency EXTRA episode with some of the most influential minds in the region: Ángel Cabrera, president of George Mason University; Tien Wong, serial entrepreneur and CEO of Opus8; and Jason Miller, CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership; to understand how Amazon's move is a huge opportunity for the area.

On this EXTRA episode, Stanley McChrystal, retired US Army General and co-author of Leaders: Myth and Reality, discusses what leadership actually means -- it isn't a magic power doled out by a rare great man.

This week, we spoke with Tom Gardner, co-founder of investment and consultation company Motley Fool, to understand the company's history, and the way markets are flowing in light of recent economic developments.