Rear Admiral Mike Studeman is a decorated military leader and former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence who stands as one of the United States’ preeminent national security officials. His distinguished 35-year career has taken him to assignments around the globe and positioned him as one of the most influential voices on intelligence, foreign policy, and defense matters. He is an internationally recognized authority on Asian affairs with deep expertise on China. Studeman has led intelligence operations at every level — from the tactical to the strategic, through crises and war – and is an accomplished foreign policy practitioner with a track record of geostrategic impact.

From Navy SEALs to legislative and policy experts, the McChrystal Group brings a wealth of practical leadership experience in running multi-national, multi-agency, culturally diverse, and geographically dispersed organizations. From the battlefield to the boardroom, McChrystal Group has assembled the best leadership practices into a transformational leadership system called CrossLead

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.

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.

Robert Cardillo is the sixth Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). Mr. Cardillo leads and directs NGA under the authorities of the Secretary of Defense and Director of National Intelligence. He became NGA’s director on Oct. 3, 2014. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Cardillo served as the first Deputy Director for Intelligence Integration, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, from 2010 to 2014. In addition, he served as the Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Deputy Director for Analysis, DIA, from 2006 to 2010. In the summer of 2009, Mr. Cardillo served as the Acting J2, a first for a civilian, in support of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Before he moved to DIA, Mr. Cardillo led Analysis and Production as well as Source Operations and Management at NGA from 2002 to 2006. Mr. Cardillo’s leadership assignments at NGA also included Congressional Affairs, Public Affairs, and Corporate Relations. Mr. Cardillo began his career with DIA in 1983 as an imagery analyst, and he was selected to the Senior Executive Service in 2000. Mr. Cardillo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government from Cornell University in 1983 and a Master of Arts in National Security Studies from Georgetown University in 1988. Mr. Cardillo is the recipient of the Director of National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal, the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive, the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Meritorious Civilian Service Award. Mr. Cardillo resides in Northern Virginia with his wife. They have three children and five grandchildren.

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.