Dedicated to creating the conscious workplace for tomorrow, Virginia “Ginny” Clarke is a seasoned executive recruiter who has advised at the highest levels of corporate America for decades. A proven expert in driving diverse leadership, she is the former director of executive recruiting at Google, where she led the company’s diversity, non-tech recruiting, and leadership internal mobility teams – finding and hiring senior leaders across the company. She also built a scaled internal mobility program for Google’s senior leaders and designed much of the infrastructure that supports their executive recruiting function today. In speeches, Clarke draws on her unparalleled experience assessing thousands of executives inside corporate C-Suites and boardrooms to bring a unique, holistic five-dimensional approach to true leadership that is essential now more than ever. She delivers “no-holds-barred” discussions on the root causes that lead to a lack of diversity in organizations, and provides the integrated solutions that anyone can use to affect change.

An adventurer, record-setter, and boundary-breaker, Darcy Gaechter is best known as the first woman - and member of the first team - to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea. The journey required her crew to paddle over 4,000 miles across the widest part of South America, a voyage that took 148 days to complete. She is also the author of The Kayaker’s Guide to Ecuador and Amazon Woman, an adventure memoir detailing her Amazon River expedition and the life challenges she faced to get there – the rights of which have been purchased to turn her story into a movie. Gaechter inspires audiences with her personal journey of overcoming obstacles and making the impossible possible – sharing useful tactics to take on even the most daunting of challenges and demonstrating how a strong belief in yourself and in your goal are key ingredients to any success.

A 21-year veteran of the United States Air Force, Colonel Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) wanted to fly military jets from the moment she saw them at her first air show when she was five years old. She achieved that goal – and then some. A leader, a combat veteran, the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron, an instructor, a White House Fellow, and an inductee into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, Nicole’s Air Force career exceeded her wildest dreams.

A highly respected political journalist, Jonathan Martin provides sought-after coverage and regularly drives the news by delivering the inside story from the White House and Capitol Hill to the campaign trail well beyond the beltway. As bureau chief and senior political columnist for POLITICO, Martin is among the most trusted reporters in the country with deep connections to the political leaders, power players, and movers and shakers in Washington, D.C. — and across the country. With vast array of sources in both parties and his keen analytical mind, he reveals what’s really happening at the highest levels of American politics.

As one of the most sought-after and most-quoted economists in the world, Diane Swonk has more than 30 years of experience in financial services. She is the Founder and CEO of DS Economics and, for 11 years, the senior managing director and chief economist for Mesirow Financial. She has sat on advisory committees to high-level governmental banking authorities, and has also earned many awards over her career, including being listed as one of the “Top Forecasters in the Country” by The Wall Street Journal. She addresses trade issues, regulation, taxes, policy and the markets, and many other issues affecting business and the economy.

From town hall meetings on the campaign trail in Iowa to private meetings in the Oval Office, Josh Earnest spent a decade advising and advocating for President Obama. Today, he takes audiences behind the scenes and offers his engaging and honest analysis of the current (and future) political landscape.

Widely respected as an innovator in unlocking high performance in teams and individuals, Dr. Wendy Borlabi possesses expert-level understanding of the mental aspects of peak performance and works alongside the world’s top athletes to help them reframe their mindsets to reach their full potential. She is the director of performance and mental health for the Chicago Bulls where her mindset-centered philosophy to mastering your field is embedded in the team’s success and prevalent at all levels of the organization and its culture. A leading sports psychologists and performance coach, Dr. Borlabi is also an independent consultant with the NBA and is the founder of performance psychology firm Borlabi Consulting, through which she advises organizations in any industry on teamwork, elevating mental toughness, and inspiring unwavering confidence in their teams. Previously, she served as senior sports psychologist for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), preparing the country’s top athletes for dominant performances at two Winter Olympics and one Summer Olympics.

Tom Bevan is the co-founder and executive editor of RealClearPolitics. A political junkie, he writes regular features for the site and other top-tier publications and is frequently featured as a political analyst on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, the BBC, and is the co-author of The RealClearPolitics Political Download: Election 2012. In his presentations, he addresses politics and elections and offers the historical context of today’s political events.

For almost 50 years, The Second City has been the training ground for a host of famous alumni including John Belushi, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and countless stars of stage and screen. Second City Communications works with corporate groups to create a fun, interactive and unconventional approach to training and entertainment.

Dr. Larry Sabato is an election analyst, the author of 24 books, a professor, and the founder and head of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, where his ‘Crystal Ball’ electoral analysis expertly navigates the shifting sands of politics. A former Rhodes Scholar and Danforth Fellow, Sabato has received every major teaching award at UVA and has appeared on myriad news channels. Named the most accurate prognosticator by FOX News, MSNBC, CNBC, and Pew’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, Sabato addresses politics, the constitution, PACs, and election forecasting.

Ever since 2002, as chairman and CEO of Johnson Publishing Company — where she became the first African American woman CEO among the top five of the Black Enterprise 100s largest black-owned companies — Linda Johnson Rice has shone a ray of positivity on the black community with her strong and resilient leadership.

Combat veteran Michelle “MACE” Curran led an impressive career as an F-16 fighter pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Flying under the callsign “MACE,” she was the second woman ever to fly in the lead solo position for the Thunderbirds since the team’s founding in 1953. Before joining the Thunderbirds, Curran completed high-impact combat missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, where the challenges were tough, but the rewards were greater. Always a thrill seeker at heart, she has a passion for pushing her limits and changing lives.