A decorated veteran of the sea, air, land, and outer space, Captain Chris Cassidy is among the leaders of an exclusive and distinguished group of accomplished military astronauts who have made an impact on and beyond this world. Recognized for his leadership and achievements as a United States Navy SEAL and a NASA astronaut, CAPT Cassidy’s various military deployments and spaceflight missions provided the catalysts for an action-packed career where he made the most of every opportunity presented to him, even in challenging and high-stakes environments.

Former Marine Platoon Commander Jake Harriman is the founder and former CEO of Nuru International, a U.S.-based social venture that empowers poor individuals in remote, rural areas to end extreme poverty in their communities. Inspired to act by the poverty and tragedy he witnessed during four operational deployments throughout Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, Bronze Star winner Harriman retired from active duty and enrolled at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business before founding Nuru in 2008 and then living in 3rd world countries to put systems and models in place that save innocent families in war torn regions by teaching and building structure for leadership, agriculture, education, and survival. Harriman has now turned his attention to helping protect the American Democratic experiment. In 2020, he founded More Perfect Union to disrupt and reform the current political system, heal our divided nation, and give the government back to the American people.

Most widely recognized for her service on September 11, Heather “Lucky” Penney is a renowned speaker on topics ranging from personal courage; decision-making under stress; leadership; organizational transformation; inclusivity; high performance teams; national defense issues; and aviation. She grew up around aviation and warbirds, but women couldn’t be fighter pilots when she went to college; congressional statute excluded women from combat. Pursuing her love of aviation, she stood up the first collegiate team to race in the Air Race Classic at Purdue University, where she earned her B.A. and M.A. She was in graduate school when she learned that Congress had opened combat aviation to women.