One of the true legends of baseball, "Iron Man" Cal Ripken, Jr. broke several professional records during his 21 seasons, but none is as sacred as his consecutive-games-played record. Shattering Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,131 games by more than 500, Ripken displayed perseverance, endurance, and an everyday work ethic that endeared him to fans, transformed him into a national icon, and some argue, even saved baseball at its darkest moment. An inspirational speaker, philanthropist, businessman, and best-selling author, Cal Ripken, Jr. is the personification of leadership, commitment, and excellence. In warm and witty presentations filled with stories from his illustrious career, he shares how his keys to success apply to both the business world as well as the baseball field.

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.

Conquering grave challenges to become a successful entrepreneur, Chris Gardner is an avid motivational and inspirational speaker, addressing the keys to overcoming obstacles and breaking cycles. He is great for groups looking for a speaker who has “walked the walk” and accomplished things that no one else thought they would be able to do. He is also a passionate philanthropist whose work has been recognized by many esteemed organizations and discusses commitment and fatherhood.

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.

Stephanie is Owner & CEO of Asutra, where we're passionate about helping people take care of themselves on purpose so they can get the most out of life – what we call active self-care. Asutra offers magnesium-powered remedies for pain relief, sleep and mood, so you can care for yourself well. At Asutra, we’re proud to provide good jobs with career pathways at a living wage with benefits. Asutra is women-owned and women-led; 60% of our team are people of color; and 100% of our staff would recommend Asutra as a great place to work. Stephanie is an enthusiastic board member of Hope Chicago, which sends students and their parents to college debt-free; Very Asian Foundation, which amplifies AANHPI stories; and Naturally Chicago, which creates an ecosystem for natural products companies to thrive. Stephanie was honored to be named to Inc.’s Female Founders 200 list in 2023 and Beacon Award Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021. In her spare time, she’s an avid urban gardener who grows everything from tomatoes to lilacs.

Born and raised in Monterey, California, it was only natural that Alpana Singh would develop a deep-rooted interest in wine. At 26, she passed the final level of the Master Sommelier exam—a feat achieved by only 269 people in the world. She's the first Indian woman and the youngest female ever to do so. She went on to serve as a Sommelier for highly-acclaimed restaurants in Chicago before opening three of her own. In lively, fun, and informative talks, Alpana shares her inspiring story of rising from the daughter of Fijian immigrants to becoming a successful entrepreneur and TV personality all while navigating a male-dominated profession. She give audiences a glimpse into the life as a Sommelier as she teaches them how to taste wines “blind,” purchase bottles like a professional, and pair with meals for any occasion.

After a debilitating car crash sent Brian Boyle to the ICU, his future looked bleak. This athlete beat the odds and had one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. His message will inspire and amaze any audience.

Rayid Ghani is a Distinguished Career Professor in the Machine Learning Department and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Rayid is a reformed computer scientist and wanna-be social scientist, but mostly just wants to increase the use of large-scale AI/Machine Learning/Data Science in solving large public policy and social challenges in a fair and equitable manner. Among other areas, Rayid works with governments and non-profits in policy areas such as health, criminal justice, education, public safety, economic development, and urban infrastructure. Rayid is also passionate about teaching practical data science and started the Data Science for Social Good Fellowship that trains computer scientists, statisticians, and social scientists from around the world to work on data science problems with social impact.

Female Factor springs from the extensive research of CEO Bridget Brennan, a pioneer in marketing and selling to women. She is the author of the acclaimed book Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers (Crown Business, 2009), and one of the world’s most popular speakers on this subject. Her book was called “essential reading” by The Wall Street Journal, “required reading for anyone burdened with a Y chromosome” by Fortune Small Business, and named a "Top 10 Marketing Book of 2009" by MediaTrust. A recipient of numerous industry awards, Brennan was named U.S. Public Relations Agency Practitioner of the Year by PR NEWS for her work in applying gender psychology to communications.

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. A nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, she is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, writing on health policy and public health, and an on-air commentator for CNN as a medical analyst. The author of the critically-acclaimed book on patient advocacy, When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), she has a forthcoming memoir to be published July 27th, Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health (Metropolitan Books, 2021). Previously, she served as health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department to combat the opioid epidemic and improve maternal and child health. She has also worked as director of patient-centered care research in the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University; president of Planned Parenthood; global health fellow at the World Health Organization; consultant to the China Medical Board; and distinguished fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.