Angie Bastian, entrepreneur, co-founder, and namesake of Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP, took a kernel of an idea and popped it into one of the fastest growing brands of natural popcorn. She and husband Dan founded their snack company in their Mankato, MN garage in 2001 as a means of creating a college fund for their children. Their gluten free, non-GMO, whole grain popcorn is proudly sold in natural food, grocery, club and mass retail outlets nationwide with a product presence in Canada, South Korea, Peru, Japan, the Caribbean and Mexico. The company is constantly innovating and is one of the fastest growing and most successful popcorn brands in the market today. Angie’s BOOMCHICKAPOP is loved by fans as an empowered, spirited brand that represents authentic, real food that delivers on the attributes of clean, transparent labeling and great taste experience.

In an illustrious career that reads like a chronicle of global impact, The Honorable Raj Panjabi has spearheaded groundbreaking policies and programs that have transcended borders on a quest to protect the health of people around the world. Recognized by TIME as one of its “100 Most Influential People in the World,” Dr. Panjabi is a renowned physician and entrepreneur who led President Joe Biden’s pandemic office at the White House National Security Council. Operating at the center of the Covid-19 pandemic response, he played a pivotal role in steering the ship of American health security back on course and helped orchestrate the largest global vaccination campaign in history. Dr. Panjabi’s transformative impact and ability to drive results serve as an effective blueprint for how leaders in any industry can work within their teams to develop solutions to the most pressing challenges they face in their organizations and industries.

Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen are two of the nation’s most influential journalists. For years, they worked together building the nationally renowned digital media company POLITICO, transforming it from a newcomer on Captiol Hill to the website and accompanying newsletter that all of Washington considered a “must-read.” Now, they are co-founders of disruptive media company Axios, delivering quick, punchy news and insights on politics, business, media, and technology to a smart and highly-engaged audience. The company has already proved a disruptive force in the digital media space, specializing in high-quality news and analysis easily shared across social platforms by the country’s influential readers.

Matt began his career in 1995 hacking into systems for the US Department of Defense and Intelligence Community and over the past twenty-five years has emerged as an established thought leader in the cyber and security domains. A successful entrepreneur, he has founded several companies including FusionX & the Terrorism Research Center, played a key leadership role in a handful of successful start-ups, and served as an advisor to DoD, a professor at Georgetown and Columbia Universities, and a member of the Black Hat review board. Matt’s unique approach to technology, business, and security issues is driven by a technique he calls “HACKthink” – applying a hacker mindset to analyze and dissect complex problems and develop innovative solutions.

Cy Wakeman is a dynamic international keynote speaker, drama researcher, New York Times best-selling author, and global thought leader and business consultant with over 25 years of unparalleled experience who is recognized for cultivating a counter-intuitive, reality-based approach to leadership. Grounded in reality, Wakeman’s philosophy has helped organizations and individuals all over the world learn to ditch the drama and turn excuses into results. Named one of the “Top 100 Leadership Experts to Follow” on Twitter for seven years in a row, Wakeman’s influence continues to build. She was also recognized as #23 on the Global Gurus 2019 list of the World’s Top 30 Leadership Professionals around the world for 2019. Her programs are consistently ranked by participants as the single most impactful training they have ever received.

Dr. Simone Bhan Ahuja leading authority on innovation and Intrapreneurship and global keynote speaker. She is the founder of Blood Orange, a Minneapolis-based global innovation and strategy firm, a best-selling author (Jugaad Innovation, and Disrupt-It-Yourself), and a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, Simone is an innovation advisor and consultant to organizations including 3M, UnitedHealth Group, Procter & Gamble, Target Corp, Stanley Black & Decker, and the World Economic Forum and a practitioner of improvisational comedy who loves to bring the energy and fun of improv to her live and virtual sessions.

Amanda Brinkman makes the Energizer Bunny look lethargic. Fueled by fountain Diet Coke and a meticulous daily water intake, she’s a revolutionary brand marketer, a passionate speaker and a respectable water skier. She believes all brands can build loyalty by doing good, and she’s constantly on the lookout for new opportunities to share her “Do Well By Doing Good” mantra with audiences large and small. In 2015, Amanda was recruited to transform Deluxe Corp.’s 100-year-old, $2 billion brand. She spearheaded the “Small Business Revolution,” first showcasing 100 businesses across America, then going on to award $500,000 transformations to inspiring small towns. She produced and stars alongside Trading Spaces and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s Ty Pennington in the acclaimed “Small Business Revolution – Main Street” series, which chronicles the program’s impact on communities and countless lives.