Top Speakers for Asian Pacific Heritage Month

Asian American Heritage Month

May is dedicated to Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, recognizing the achievements and accomplishments of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans. These speakers offer insights on achieving peak performance, harnessing mindful leadership, staying ahead of the latest trends in tech, and much more. Keep reading to learn more about the accomplishments of these inspiring Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

  • Lisa Sun, Founder & CEO, GRAVITAS, Former Associate Principal in McKinsey’s Global Fashion Practice
  • Romie Mushtaq, Neurologist & Chief Wellness Officer for Evolution Hospitality
  • Dr. Vin Gupta, Tech Innovation Leader; Health Policy Expert; Chief Medical Officer, Amazon Pharmacy
  • Harry Harris, Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired); Former Commander, U.S. Pacific Command; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea
  • Dex Hunter-Torricke, Former Head of Communications at SpaceX, Executive Communications Manager at Facebook, & Executive at Google
  • Deepa Purushothaman, Transcendent Leader; First-Ever Indian American Woman Partner at Deloitte
  • Michelle Cordeiro Grant, Entrepreneurial Disruptor; Founder of Lively
  • Steve Baskis, Inspirational Blind Veteran and Adventurer
  • Tim Hwang, Expert on AI, Machine Learning, & Technology Ethics
  • Andrea Jung, President and CEO of Grameen America and Former CEO of Avon Products
  • Alpana Singh, TV Host, Restaurateur, and Wine Expert
  • Suneel Gupta, Harvard University Visiting Scholar and Author of Backable
  • Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe & Chairman of the Tobaccowala Foundation
  • Dandapani, Expert on Focus; Hindu Priest, Entrepreneur, and Former Monk
  • Ram Charan, Best-Selling Author and Expert on Business Strategy
  • Jane Chen, Founder and CEO, Embrace
  • Lanhee Chen, Former Policy Director for the Romney-Ryan Presidential Campaign
  • Leroy Chiao, Astronaut, Performance Specialist, and Innovation/Technology Futurist
  • Gurpreet Dhaliwal, Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Expert on Decision-Making and How People Think
  • Erica Dhawan, Expert on Leading, Communicating and Selling a Modern Hybrid World; Bestselling Author; Named “Oprah of Management Thinkers;” and Ranked #1 of Top Women Keynote Speakers of 2020
  • Rayid Ghani, Chief Scientist, Obama for America
  • Vinh Giang, Award-Winning Entrepreneur and Magician
  • Vijay Govindarajan, Professor of International Business, and Director, William F. Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership, Tuck School of Business
  • Anil Gupta, Thinkers50 Thought Leader on Strategy and Globalization and Co-Author of Getting China and India Right
  • Jane Hyun, Co-Author of Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences
  • Ashish Jha, Dean of the School of Public Health, Brown University
  • Kevin Kajiwara, Co-President, Teneo Intelligence; Geopolitical Expert
  • Michio Kaku, World-Renowned Theoretical Physicist & Futurist
  • Avinash Kaushik, Author, Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google
  • Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva, Brand Ambassador at Mercedes-Benz, & Former Chief Evangelist at Apple
  • Anjali Kumar, Former Google Executive and Former Head of Social Innovation at Warby Parker
  • Edward Lee, Award-Winning Chef, Author, and Culinary Director of Succotash
  • William Li, Food, Health and Disease Expert; Founder of Angiogenesis Foundation
  • Jenn Lim, CEO & Chief Happiness Officer of Delivering Happiness, Culture Book Creator and Consultant at Zappos
  • Alain Nu, The Man Who Knows
  • Mona Patel, Business Innovation Strategist and Best-Selling Author
  • Navi Radjou, Innovation and Leadership Expert, Thinkers50 Award Winner
  • Manu Raju, CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent
  • Asha Rangappa, FBI Special Agent in Counterintelligence, Legal & National Security Analyst for CNN
  • Srikumar Rao, Best-Selling Author and Expert on Management
  • Clara Shih, Founder & Executive Chair of Hearsay Social, Author of The Facebook Era, Member of Starbucks Board of Directors
  • Indu Subaiya, President & Co-founder, Catalyst @ Health 2.0 | Senior Advisor, HIMSS
  • Marilyn Tam, Entrepreneur, Business Consultant, Author, and Former President of Reebok, CEO of Aveda, & Vice President of Nike
  • Thom Tran, Wounded Retired Combat Veteran and Stand-Up Comedian
  • Vivek Wadhwa,Futurist, Author, Emerging Technologies Expert; Carnegie Mellon University Distinguished Fellow and Professor
  • ​​​​​​Haiyan Wang, Expert on Global Strategy, Co-Author of Getting China and India Right and The Quest for Global Dominance
  • Helen Wang, Award-winning Author and Expert on China's Middle Class
  • Frances West, Former Chief Accessibility Officer of IBM, Founder of FrancesWestCo, & Author

LISA SUN

Founder & CEO, GRAVITAS, Former Associate Principal in McKinsey’s Global Fashion Practice

What would happen if you let go of fear, got off the sidelines, and jumped boldly into the game of life? Lisa Sun, founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, electrifies audiences as she unpacks this vital question in her moving, motivating, and empowering talks. Catalyzing confidence and inspiring innovation, Sun seamlessly blends stories from her personal journey with data and experience-driven insights from her 11 years at McKinsey & Company to offer talks that encourage audiences to choose self-confidence, work to harness their “superpower,” and use gravitas to advance personally and professionally.

DR. VIN GUPTA

Tech Innovation Leader; Health Policy Expert; Chief Medical Officer, Amazon Pharmacy

Dr. Vin Gupta is a renowned physician and tech executive at Amazon who advises the world's leading companies on navigating the ever-evolving business environment and innovating for the future. His talks are designed to spark new ways for groups to approach their business challenges and inspire ingenuity as leaders and their teams work toward creating their organization's next big breakthrough. Dr. Gupta encourages audiences to think big and pool insights and input from all areas of the business in order to develop groundbreaking solutions. 

ROMIE MUSHTAQ

Neurologist & Chief Wellness Officer for Evolution Hospitality

Romila “Dr. Romie” Mushtaq, M.D., ABIHM, is a traditionally trained neurologist with additional board certification in integrative medicine. Dr. Romie brings together Western medicine and Eastern wisdom to help individuals and audiences learn to heal from stress-based illnesses, achieve peak performance, and harness the power of mindful leadership. All of Dr. Romie's programs are based in neuroscience, positive psychology, and mindfulness. Dr. Romie has also traveled the world learning various mindfulness and yoga techniques, and combines her unique skill set to discuss the neuroscience behind mindfulness. A highly sought after professional speaker for corporations and associations, Dr. Romie has a gift for translating complex medical and scientific principles into easy to comprehend information. Her wisdom is featured in her TEDx talk, The Powerful Secret of Your Breath.

HARRY HARRIS

Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired); Former Commander, U.S. Pacific Command; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

As the highest-ranking Asian American in the history of the U.S. Navy, Ambassador Harry B. Harris Jr. oversaw all military operations for more than half of the world’s geography as Commander, U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). Widely regarded for his leadership, Amb. Harris was selected to serve by two presidential administrations – first to lead in one of the military’s most challenging roles at a critical time when the U.S. confronted the rise of new world powers and nuclear threats, and later as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

DEX HUNTER-TORRICKE

Former Head of Communications at SpaceX, Executive Communications Manager at Facebook, & Executive at Google

With more than a decade working at the heart of the technology industry, Dex Torricke-Barton has managed communications for some of the most-influential and admired Silicon Valley leaders and corporations of our day. From 2012-2016, he led the executive communications team at Facebook and served as personal speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg. He then went on to join SpaceX as senior director of communications. He is currently head of communications for the Oversight Board, the independent body that will be making decisions on Facebook and Instagram’s most challenging content issues.

DEEPA PURUSHOTHAMAN 

Transcendent Leader; First-Ever Indian American Woman Partner at Deloitte

Deepa Purushothaman is a barrier-breaking business leader who, while serving as a senior partner at Deloitte, led DEI-focused workplace transformation initiatives that evolved the global organization's culture into what we know it as today. She is open and honest about her experiences as a senior executive at a Big 4 firm as she shares "Deepa's Dos and Don'ts" – her valuable insights and actionable strategies for recruiting, retaining, and advancing top talent, and creating equitable workplaces for people of all backgrounds. 

MICHELLE CORDEIRO GRANT

Entrepreneurial Disruptor; Founder of Lively

Formerly a big-brand executive, entrepreneur Michelle Cordeiro Grant has since set out to create the fashion industry-disrupting brand Lively, which she grew to a $105 million acquisition in just three years. She draws from her own journey of building a big brand at lightning pace and through unconventional means to share sought-after insights for how to identify opportunities to disrupt markets, build game-changing companies on foundations of purpose, and position organizations for long-term innovation and growth. 

STEVE BASKIS

Inspirational Blind Veteran and Adventurer

Ever since he was a small child, Steve Baskis had wanted to serve in the military like his father and grandfather. He enlisted and was injured just eight months into his deployment. Now, his resultant blindness has instilled in him a drive to test his own potential and push the boundaries of what disabled people are perceived capable of doing. A testament to the human spirit, Baskis has become self-sufficient, fallen in love, gotten married, and summited three mountains – all after going blind.

TIM HWANG

Expert on AI, Machine Learning, & Technology Ethics

Tim Hwang is a machine learning expert, business leader, and entrepreneur whose career has focused on improving AI and understanding the impact of machine learning on society. Having worked previously with groups including Google and IBM, and dubbed “the busiest man on the Internet” by Forbes, he is a research fellow at the newly launched Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technology, where he is focused on artificial intelligence and national security issues.

ANDREA JUNG

President and CEO of Grameen America and Former CEO of Avon Products

Andrea Jung is the former chairman of the board and CEO of Avon. Throughout her career, she ranked consistently among the top leaders in world on lists including Fortune magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in Business,” Forbes magazine’s “Most Powerful Women in the World,” and Financial Times’ “Top Women in World Business.” A role model and trailblazer for women, she was Avon’s first female CEO, despite the company’s 126-year history, and the first female CEO at a cosmetics company who was not also its founder. At the time, she was also the longest-tenured female Fortune 500 CEO in history. Jung is currently the president and CEO of Grameen America, where she is working to scale the organization to solve economic issues for women and their families across the country through microloans, training, and support. She is also on the boards of directors at General Electric and Apple.

ALPANA SINGH

TV Host, Restaurateur, and Wine Expert

One of just 269 master sommeliers worldwide, and one of just 28 women to be given the distinction, Alpana Singh became the youngest American woman ever to pass the final level of the master sommelier exam at age 26. Born and raised in Monterey, California, Alpana Singh’s strong work ethic and ease with people of all ages stemmed from a youth spent working in her family’s ethnic grocery store. Later, while waiting tables in college, Singh fell in love with wine and discovered that it united her varied interests in traveling, history and food.

SUNEEL GUPTA

Harvard University Visiting Scholar and Author of Backable

Suneel Gupta teaches innovation at Harvard University, is the founder of RISE, and the author of the book, Backable – exploring how to get people to believe in your ideas. The book is rooted in Suneel’s journey from first-time entrepreneur to being named “The New Face of Innovation” by the New York Stock Exchange. Suneel’s ideas have been backed by firms like Greylock and Google Ventures, and he served as an Entrepreneur in Residence inside Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He has personally backed startups including Impossible Foods, AirBnB, 23&Me, Calm, and SpaceX. 

RISHAD TOBACCOWALA

Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe & Chairman of the Tobaccowala Foundation

A consultant to some of the most successful companies in the world, Rishad Tobaccowala is helping organizations think about growth by focusing on the intersection of people, technology, and data. Currently, the Chief Growth Officer of the Publicis Groupe, an 80,000-employee firm comprising companies like Epsilon, Sapient, DigitasLBi, Leo Burnett, Saatchi and Saatchi, Starcom, and Zenith, Tobaccowala is transforming the way businesses are communicating with customers and doing business in today’s ever-changing marketplace.

DANDAPANI

Expert on Focus; Hindu Priest, Entrepreneur, and Former Monk

Dandapani is a Hindu priest, entrepreneur and a former monk of 10 years. After graduating university with a degree in Electrical Engineering he left it all behind to become a Hindu monk under the guidance of one of Hinduism’s foremost spiritual leaders of our time, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. For 10 years he lived a life of serious personal discipline and training at his guru’s cloistered monastery in Hawaii.

RAM CHARAN

Best-Selling Author and Expert on Business Strategy

Ram Charan is a world-renowned business advisor, author, and speaker who has spent the past 35 years working with top companies, CEOs, and boards. In his work with companies including GE, MeadWestvaco, Bank of America, DuPont, Novartis, EMC, 3M, Verizon, Aditya Birla Group, Tata Group, GMR, Max Group, Yildiz Holdings, and Grupo RBS, he is known for cutting through the complexity of running a business in today’s fast-changing environment to uncover the core business problem. His real-world solutions, shared with millions through his books and articles in top business publications, have been praised for being practical, relevant, and highly actionable.

JANE CHEN

Founder and CEO, Embrace

Jane Marie Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a social enterprise that aims to help the 15 million premature and low birth-weight babies born every year, through a low-cost infant warmer. The Embrace infant warmer costs about 1% of a traditional incubator and is estimated to have helped over 250,000 babies to date. Most recently, Embrace Innovations launched a new line of baby products for the US market called Little Lotus Baby, which uses NASA inspired technology to keep babies at the perfect temperature so they can sleep better. They are using buy-one, give-one model: for every product sold, a baby is helped in a developing country by the Embrace infant warmer.

LANHEE CHEN

Former Policy Director for the Romney-Ryan Presidential Campaign

Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and teaches in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University. His current research focuses on campaigns and elections, health policy, economic policy, and California policy and politics. Chen, a veteran of several high-profile political campaigns, has also served in government, the private sector, and academia.

LEROY CHIAO

Astronaut, Performance Specialist, and Innovation/Technology Futurist

Dr. Leroy Chiao is a renowned American astronaut and international space station commander. He speaks from experience on important business topics such as leadership, how to combat complacency, and essentials to bring your business to the next level. A pioneer in the commercial space sector, his accomplished track record in space, in the lab, and in the business world offers audiences an unparalleled perspective into space exploration and how lessons learned apply to businesses worldwide. His broad technical expertise allows him to offer compelling insights on future technology trends, the fascinating biomedical effects of spaceflight, and how businesses must pay attention to technology and innovation to stay on top.

GURPREET DHALIWAL

Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Expert on Decision-Making and How People Think

Gurpreet Dhaliwal M.D. is a clinician-educator and Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. He sees patients and teaches medical students and residents in the emergency department, inpatient wards, and outpatient clinic at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, where he directs the internal medicine clerkship.

ERICA DHAWAN

Expert on Leading, Communicating and Selling a Modern Hybrid World; Bestselling Author; Named “Oprah of Management Thinkers;” and Ranked #1 of Top Women Keynote Speakers of 2020

When leaders want to break team silos, drive exponential growth and innovate through teamwork, they call Erica Dhawan. Erica Dhawan is an internationally recognized leading authority, speaker, and advisor on 21st century teamwork, collaboration, and innovation. Named by Thinkers50 as the “Oprah of Management Thinkers”, she is the author of two books Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence and Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance.

RAYID GHANI

Chief Scientist, Obama for America

Did you vote in 2012? If so, Rayid Ghani may have lent a hand. He was the chief scientist at Obama for America in 2012 and played a groundbreaking role in the campaign. Focusing on analytics, technology, and data, he used online tools like email and social networking to motivate people’s offline actions, from fundraising and volunteering to voting.

VINH GIANG

Award-Winning Entrepreneur and Magician

With only six months to graduate, Vinh Giang left his degree in commerce and law to become an online magic teacher ultimately building a hugely successful online business, 52kards, which now serves over 800,000 students all around the world. This earned him the award of Top Young Entrepreneur in Australia.

VIJAY GOVINDARAJAN

Professor of International Business, and Director, William F. Achtmeyer Center for Global Leadership, Tuck School of Business

Vijay (Vee-jay) Govindarajan (go-vin-da-RAH-jin), known as VG, is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy and innovation. He is the Earl C. Daum 1924 Professor of International Business at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and was named the first Named first Coxe distinguished professorship of management, which is the highest distinction in academics. He was also the first professor in residence and chief innovation consultant at General Electric (GE) and in the latest global ranking of management thinkers, Govindarajan came in third place, ahead of Jim Collins and Michael Porter.

ANIL GUPTA

Thinkers50 Thought Leader on Strategy and Globalization and Co-Author of Getting China and India Right

Dr. Anil K. Gupta is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading experts on strategy, globalization and entrepreneurship. Ranked by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s “most influential living management thinkers,” he has been named by The Economist as one of the world's "superstars" in a cover story on "Innovation in Emerging Economies."

JANE HYUN

Co-Author of Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences

Jane Hyun is an internationally-renowned executive coach and global leadership strategist to Fortune 500 companies, top MBA programs, and non-profit organizations. The co-author of the book, Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences, she advises senior management teams and diversity councils on building effective multicultural teams and the critical role of the global talent pipeline. She looks at why leaders need to adjust their leadership style for inclusion purposes, how to best manage diverse groups of people, and the problems that arise if you don’t manage diversity.

ASHISH JHA

Dean of the School of Public Health, Brown University​​​​​​​

A practicing physician, Ashish K. Jha, M.D., M.P.H., is recognized globally as an expert on pandemic preparedness and response as well as on health policy research and practice. He has led groundbreaking research around Ebola and is now on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response, leading national and international analysis of key issues and advising state and federal policy makers.

KEVIN KAJIWARA

Co-President, Teneo Intelligence; Geopolitical Expert

Kevin Kajiwara advises Fortune 100 CEOs and significant institutional investors with insights on geopolitical and policy risks, and their investment and corporate strategy implications. He plays an active role in promoting the firm’s research agenda and developing its macro views, as well as integrating Teneo’s geopolitical advisory services across the platform. Prior to joining Teneo, Kevin was the director of Strategic Clients at Eurasia Group and a member of the firm’s Operating Committee. Previously, he was in international institutional equity sales with the Spanish bank BBVA, and earlier, with Bear, Stearns & Co.

MICHIO KAKU

World-Renowned Theoretical Physicist & Futurist

Dr. Michio Kaku is one of the most widely-recognized figures in science in the world today. He is an internationally recognized authority in two areas. The first is Einstein’s unified field theory, which Dr. Kaku is attempting to complete. The other is to predict trends affecting business, medicine, finance, and our way of life, based on the latest research in science.

AVINASH KAUSHIK

Author, Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google

Avinash helps executive teams, marketers and data analysts leverage innovative digital strategies and emerging technologies to outsmart their competitors. He’s the Digital Marketing Evangelist for Google, and a passionate teacher who shares his perspective frequently via multiple channels: a weekly newsletter (The Marketing Analytics Intersect), a bi-monthly blog (Occam’s Razor) and two best-selling books that have been translated into over a dozen languages (Web Analytics: An Hour A Day and Web Analytics 2.0).

GUY KAWASAKI

Chief Evangelist at Canva, Brand Ambassador at Mercedes-Benz, & Former Chief Evangelist at Apple

Guy Kawasaki was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1954. His family lived in a tough part of Honolulu called Kalihi Valley. They weren’t rich, but he never felt poor because his parents made many sacrifices. His mother was a housewife, and his father was a fireman, real estate broker, state senator, and government official during his long, distinguished career.

ANJALI KUMAR

Former Google Executive and Former Head of Social Innovation at Warby Parker

Anjali Kumar is a Brooklyn born, first generation Indian American author, advisor, attorney, and “idea acupuncturist”. During her career as an attorney, she was the Founding General Counsel and Head of Social Innovation at Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand offering designer eyewear at affordable prices while leading the way for socially-conscious businesses. Prior to joining Warby Parker, Anjali was senior counsel at Google where she was a commercial and product attorney on areas ranging from Google X to YouTube. Anjali curated and hosted the @Google Speaker Series on campus in New York City, bringing Googlers from around the globe face-to-face with today’s most prominent and innovative thought leaders including Anthony Bourdain, Marcus Samuelsson, Garance Doré, Questlove, and Jacques Pépin. From this speaker series, Anjali hosted a YouTube interview series “Lunchtime at Google”.

​​​​​​​EDWARD LEE

Award-Winning Chef, Author, and Culinary Director of Succotash

Chef Edward Lee is a Korean-American who grew up in Brooklyn, trained in NYC kitchens, and has spent the better part of a decade honing his vision to become a progressive chef, award-winning author, and owner of four restaurants around the country. Chef Lee is the chef/owner of 610 Magnolia, MilkWood, and Whiskey Dry in Louisville, KY and the Culinary Director for Succotash in National Harbor, Maryland, and Penn Quarter, DC. Chef Lee was the recipient of the 2019 James Beard Foundation Award for Writing for his book Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting Pot Cuisine. Lee has also been a six-time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast. Among many accolades, Food & Wine Magazine named 610 Magnolia one of the country’s most important restaurants of the past 40 years and Succotash was awarded a Bib Gourmand by The Michelin Guide DC. He also partnered with Trey Zoller to create a luxury small batch bourbon called Chef’s Collaboration Blend with Jefferson's Reserve, sold wherever fine whiskey is sold.

WILLIAM LI

Food, Health and Disease Expert; Founder of Angiogenesis Foundation

Dr. William W. Li is a world-renowned speaker, physician, scientist, and New York Times best-selling author of the Amazon #1 best-seller, Eat to Beat Disease. An international expert on health and disease fighting based on diet, lifestyle, and treatments that keep the body’s blood vessels in balance, he is CEO and President of the global nonprofit Angiogenesis Foundation. Dr. Li’s work has impacted more than 50 million people worldwide and has led to the effective prevention, novel treatment, and even reversal of diseases spanning cancer, chronic wounds, obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and vision loss. Known for his ability to predict medical breakthroughs often years before they become realized, he is also the creator of the Eat to Defeat Cancer program, a healthy eating campaign which now has spread to more than 40 countries.

JENN LIM

CEO & Chief Happiness Officer of Delivering Happiness, Culture Book Creator and Consultant at Zappos

Jenn Lim is the CEO and Chief Happiness Officer of Delivering Happiness, a company she and Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos.com) co-founded to inspire science-based happiness, passion and purpose at work, home, and everyday life. Jenn has been a consultant at Zappos from its start-up days in 2003 to the $2B business it is today. Since 2009, Zappos has been on Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list and has been bought by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing. One of her creations, The Zappos Culture Book, has become a global symbol of how companies can use happiness as a business model to increase productivity and profitability.

ALAIN NU

The Man Who Knows

Alain Nu’s lifelong passion for mysterious and unknown realms was formed in his early childhood. Growing up in San Francisco in the 1970’s, Alain was exposed at an early age to the world of fortunetellers, street performers and other practitioners of the “mystery arts.” Like many children his mind was agile and creative. He was fascinated by paleontology and became an avid and knowledgeable young rock collector. Largely shunned by his peers for somehow being “different,” he turned his natural desire to connect with others inwards. With two hard-working parents and little outside community, he befriended neighborhood animals and regularly “walked” with a pack of free-running dogs that seemed to flock to his magnetic energy. This experience of friendship beyond species had a definite impact on his belief that a “force” of sorts connects all living things in the universe.

MONA PATEL

Business Innovation Strategist and Best-Selling Author

Mona Patel is a dynamic and engaging entrepreneur with 17 years of experience assisting the world’s top brands in reimagining their creative ideation process to ultimately optimize customer experience. She is the Founder and CEO of Motivate Design, a user experience (UX), research design, and staffing agency that specializes in helping major corporations in establishing a company vision and ensuring that resources are effectively allocated to execute it.

NAVI RADJOU

Innovation and Leadership Expert, Thinkers50 Award Winner​​​​​​​

Navi Radjou is an innovation and leadership thinker based in Silicon Valley. Drawing on his Indian upbringing, he was the first (with his co-authors) to capture the phenomenon of jugaad—a Hindi word for improvised solutions born out of ingenuity in resource constrained settings. His first book, a global best-seller of the same name, Jugaad Innovation, shows how companies and entrepreneurs can unleash and harness the grassroots ingenuity of employees, customers, and partners to co-create simple but effective solutions that deliver greater value at a lower cost.

MANU RAJU

CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent

Manu Raju is a senior congressional correspondent at CNN, covering Capitol Hill and campaign politics. Raju is a veteran reporter in Washington, having previously served as a top Capitol Hill correspondent at Politico for seven years. Prior to his time at Politico, Raju reported for The Hill newspaper, Congressional Quarterly and Inside Washington Publishers. He has long been a frequent guest on political talk shows on TV and radio.

ASHA RANGAPPA

FBI Special Agent in Counterintelligence, Legal & National Security Analyst for CNN​​​​​​​

Asha Rangappa is a former Special Agent of the FBI who worked in the New York Office and specialized in counterintelligence investigations. Her work involved monitoring foreign agents working on behalf of other countries and neutralizing their activities. As a part of this effort, Asha conducted behavioral assessments on targets to determine their suitability and vulnerability to be recruited to work as double agents for the United States.

SRIKUMAR RAO

Best-Selling Author and Expert on Management

When you wake up in the morning is your heart singing about who you are and what you do? Dr. Srikumar Rao believes that having this kind of life is achievable. He has helped thousands of executives all over the world discover deep meaning and his methods have enabled them to achieve quantum leaps in effectiveness. Graduates of Dr. Rao’s workshops have become more creative and more inspiring leaders. Above all they have developed an inner serenity, that comes from the confidence a that they will be able to appropriately handle whatever comes their way—be it a small wave or a tsunami. His students become resilient and bounce back nonchalantly from reverses that would floor most peers.

CLARA SHIH

Founder & Executive Chair of Hearsay Social, Author of The Facebook Era, Member of Starbucks Board of Directors​​​​​​​

Clara Shih, a pioneer in the social media industry, is the Founder and Executive Chair of Hearsay Social, a leading software company which develops social CRM applications to empower the world’s largest companies to build stronger customer relationships, grow revenue, and bolster their brands across social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, among other social media sites.

INDU SUBAIYA

President & Co-founder, Catalyst @ Health 2.0 | Senior Advisor, HIMSS

Indu Subaiya is a visionary healthcare leader whose work builds community, creates dialogue, and inspires us to radically rethink how health shapes our lives. Indu is co-founder and President of Catalyst @ Health 2.0, the industry leader in digital health strategic partnering, innovation competitions, and programs for piloting and commercializing novel healthcare technologies. In 2007, Indu co-founded and served as CEO of Health 2.0, a global conference platform and community for the showcase and advancement of new technologies in healthcare. Health 2.0's conference business was acquired by HIMSS in 2017 and in the two years post acquisition, Indu headed the organization as Executive Vice President.

MARILYN TAM

Entrepreneur, Business Consultant, Author, and Former President of Reebok, CEO of Aveda, & Vice President of Nike

Marilyn Tam, Ph.D. is a keynote speaker, author, consultant, board certified executive/corporate coach, CEO of Marilyn Tam & Co. and founder and executive director of Us Foundation. She was formerly the CEO of Aveda Corp., President of Reebok Apparel and Retail Group, Vice President of Nike Inc., and also a successful entrepreneur who has built four companies.

THOM TRAN

Wounded Retired Combat Veteran and Stand-Up Comedian

A first-generation American immigrant turned American soldier, combat veteran, and professional stand-up comedian, Thom Tran turned a literal lifetime of war and tragedy into a successful career as a stand-up comic after a combat injury ended his career as a soldier. In 1980, Thom’s family escaped from Communist Vietnam and fled to the United States. Thom’s father, a South Vietnamese Air Force pilot was a Prisoner of War (POW) in Vietnam after Saigon fell in 1976. The elder Tran escaped, and took his family of four, soon to be five, to a refugee camp in Thailand, and later to the United States.

VIVEK WADHWA

Futurist, Author, Emerging Technologies Expert; Carnegie Mellon University Distinguished Fellow and Professor

Called “Silicon Valley’s most provocative voice” for his ideas on technology trends, globalization, US competitiveness, and the future, Vivek Wadhwa’s work puts him at the heart of innovation. From tech entrepreneur and business owner to accomplished academic and widely published author, he served as a Stanford University research fellow and the Director of Research at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering, where he taught courses on the impact of technology. Vivek Wadhwa now serves as a Distinguished Fellow and professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s engineering school in the heart of Silicon Valley. Formerly, he led research at Singularity University, an institution that educates a select group of leaders about the exponentially growing technologies that are soon going to change our world.

HAIYAN WANG

Expert on Global Strategy, Co-Author of Getting China and India Right and The Quest for Global Dominance

Haiyan Wang is managing partner of China India Institute, a research and advisory organization with a focus on the transformational rise of emerging markets, foremost China and India, and implications for key stakeholders. Noted the world over for her vast expertise, she is ranked at #28 by Thinkers50 as one of “the world’s most influential management thinkers.” Earlier, she was listed by Thinkers50 in “On the Guru Radar” and short-listed for the “2013 Global Solutions Award” and “2011 Global Village Award.” She has also been named a “New Guru” by The Economic Times.

HELEN WANG

Award-winning Author and Expert on China's Middle Class

Helen H. Wang is an award-winning author and expert on China’s middle class. She is the founder of The Helen Wang Group, an organization that provides innovative programs and strategic consulting for companies doing business in China. Originally from China, Wang has lived in the U. S. for over twenty years. After finishing her masters degree at Stanford University, she joined at a prestigious think tank, Institute for the Future, in Menlo Park, California, and consulted for Fortune 500 companies including Apple Computer, Oracle, and Bank of America.

FRANCES WEST

Former Chief Accessibility Officer of IBM, Founder of FrancesWestCo, & Author​​​​​​​

Frances West is an internationally-recognized thought leader, author, inspirational speaker, strategy advisor, and a woman in technology trailblazer known for her work in innovation, technology, and business transformation. She is the founder of FrancesWestCo, a global strategy advisory company focused on working with organizations to operationalize digital inclusion as a business and technology imperative.

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