A school teacher turned actor, musician, two-time national poetry slam champion, entrepreneur, and award-winning poetic voice, any given day may now find Sekou keynoting at a leadership conference, helping a Fortune 500 company with brand messaging, or even performing pieces for Barack Obama in Oprah’s backyard. Sekou is the creator of Poetic Voice, a new, cutting-edge speaking category that seamlessly fuses inspirational speaking with spoken word poetry to make messages more moving and memorable. For over 15 years, Sekou Andrews has been helping the world’s largest organizations deliver relevant information with riveting inspiration through an innovative, unconventional category of speaking called “Poetic Voice.”

A powerhouse presence in the world’s most famous kitchens and as a mental health and wellness advocate, Andre Rush is a celebrity chef and decorated U.S. Army combat veteran with more than 20 years of service. Renowned as the White House Chef with 24-inch biceps, Chef Rush served through the administrations of Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump, gaining international attention for his unmistakable muscular physique when a picture of him preparing a meal on the White House lawn went viral and received more than one hundred million views. He uses his platform to advocate on behalf of our nation’s veterans, while also sharing important messages about wellness, individual and collective growth, and the moments that shape who we are.

John Ondrasik, better known by his stage name Five for Fighting, is a platinum-selling, Grammy nominated American singer-songwriter who has released six major albums and sold more than 2.5 million records and whose hits include “100 Years,” “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” “Chances,” “The Riddle,” “Freedom Never Cries,” and “What If.” Ondrasik offers audiences an intimate evening of storytelling, humor, and great music. He offers insights on the creative process and innovation while sharing stories and playing his most famous songs.

A first-generation American immigrant, turned American soldier, combat veteran, and now a professional touring stand-up comedian, Thom Tran turned a literal lifetime of war and tragedy into a successful comedy career. On 3 April 2003, his 4th day in Iraq, during a gunfight Thom was struck in the back of the head by a sniper’s bullet. On April 3, 2003, his 4th day in Iraq, during a gunfight Thom was struck in the back of the head by a sniper’s bullet. Since starting his comedy career, Thom created the GIs of Comedy tour, a group of combat veterans turned stand-up comedians.

As an internationally recognized graffiti artist, author and entrepreneur, Erik redefines the term “keynote speaker.” Pulling from his history as both a businessman and an artist, he has grown to become one of the most sought-after corporate speakers available today. Erik’s on-stage painting seamlessly becomes a visual metaphor to the core of his message, encouraging organizations toward profitability through innovations and superior levels of performance. His list of clients includes AT&T, Disney, London School of Business, Microsoft, FedEx, Exxon Mobil, Ernst & Young, and XPrize; Erik has even been featured as a TED presenter. The responses received have been nothing short of incredible, with standing ovations to prove it.

Marti Mongiello is a former White House Chef, Private Investigator, Security Expert, Executive Chef, and a GM of the Camp David Resort and Conference Center working with the past five Presidents for 25 years, from H.W. Bush through Trump. He is a disabled and injured military veteran with a 30-year US Navy retired certificate serving in wars across three continents. Marti served as a butler, housekeeper, military aide, and bartender carrying the proverbial, "chalice for his/her majesty to drink from," having been trained by the CIA, USMC, Navy, and Army in specialized courses for nuclear, chemical, and biological attack manning the underground bunker of Orange One as well as bribery and poisoning. When he first received his Top Secret, Yankee White, SCI clearance, he was in the nuclear submarine fleet and had been identified as a polyhistor and polymath. He has an MBA degree and a second Master's from Lenoir-Rhyne University as a Master Certified Food Executive (MCFE). He attained his Bachelor's from the Art Institute, Summa Cum Laude.

Tall and thin, with remarkable onscreen energy and ease, the actor possessed intense malleable features that he used to good effect in both dramatic and comedic roles. Despite this gift, he surprisingly began his career with off-screen pursuits. Jones worked as writer and story editor for NBC's college-set comedy "A Different World" from 1991 to 1992. In 2000, he took on a role in a sports-themed feature set in the recent past in "The Replacements" and in 2002, Jones portrayed a band director out to prove that he has the best band/drumline that the historical black colleges and universities have to offer in the drama "Drumline." Jones has appeared in numerous television series including "Rules of Engagement," "Necessary Roughness," "House M.D." and "Pushing Daisies."

Helder Guimarães is a World Champion of Card Magic and TED speaker. Armed with a deck of playing cards, award-winning sleight-of-hand, and a captivating personality, he is set to change the way you think about magic and decision-making through his unique performance that is equal parts humourous, informative, and jaw-dropping. Guimarães challenges the way analysis, decision-making, and communication are done, encourages audiences to question everything, and shares insights on being innovative like you’ve never seen before.

Tom Fishburne is the founder of Marketoonist, a marketing agency focused on the unique medium of cartoons. Since 2010, they’ve developed marketing campaigns for businesses such as Google, IBM, LinkedIn, Dell, and Kronos. Sitting at the intersection of entertainment and hard-hitting marketing insight, Tom delivers branded content for some of the world’s biggest players and creates campaigns and animations that often go viral. In speeches, he uses cartoons and case studies to tell visual stories about marketing and innovation, blending humor and insight to deliver important takeaways and new ways of thinking about marketing and business to engaged audiences worldwide.

Fun, engaging, and the creator of celebrity looks for the general public, Joe Katz is best known for his Oscar Red Carpet appearances. With many years of experience in the fashion industry, Katz is the stylist and personal shopper at the luxurious, five star Montage Beverly Hills Hotel. His fashion media contributions include Good Morning America, The Doctors, Yahoo, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Associated Press, CBS 2, NBC LA, as well as Life & Style, Real Simple, and Ok Magazines.

As a cognitive neuroscientist specializing in music perception and cognition, he is credited for fundamentally changing the way that scientists think about auditory memory, showing through the Levitin Effect, that long-term memory preserves many of the details of musical experience that previous theorists regarded as lost during the encoding process. He has consulted on audio sound source separation for the U.S. Navy, and worked for two years at Paul Allen’s Interval Research Corporation, a Silicon Valley computer firm where he worked on issues in Human-Computer Interaction, and Applications of Cognitive Psychology.