Kory Bailey is a multiple-time entrepreneur, angel investor, former professional athlete, and founder of The CoLAB. In Fall 2026, The CoLAB will launch to build trust and relational infrastructure in Baltimore and beyond—inviting leaders across sectors and generations into spaces where they can connect, practice collaboration through play, find alignment and take on shared opportunities to shape the future of civic and economic growth together.

Over the past decade, his work has centered around bringing founders, investors, and emerging leaders into networks grounded in trust and coordinated action. Most recently as CEO of UpSurge Baltimore and Chief Ecosystem Officer for the Greater Baltimore Committee, Kory was named a 2025 Baltimore Business Journal CEO of the Year, Power 10 honoree for his role in strengthening one of the country's most closely watched regional innovation economies.

Kory brings a practitioner's lens to ecosystem building, grounded in an understanding that technology will continue to have a profound impact on our world, and that evolution and durable growth is innately human and ultimately relational—shaped by why people connect, and how they communicate, collaborate, and co-create—together.