Bill Carr is a strategic business leader who has spent his career at the forefront of tech innovation. He is a former top-level executive at Amazon, where he worked for more than 15 years – much of it in the early aughts during the company’s period of unmatched innovation – launching and managing Amazon’s global digital music and video businesses, including Amazon Music, Prime Video, and Amazon Studios. Under his leadership, Amazon's digital media business grew into a global operation exceeding $1 billion in revenue as the company pushed to compete with Apple, Netflix, and Hulu. Carr is the co-author of Working Backwards, along with former Amazon executive Colin Bryar, which provides an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership, and best practices. Taking audiences inside the room, Carr demonstrates how the principles and practices key to “Being Amazonian” can be scaled and applied to any organization.

Mike Allen is one of Washington’s most influential and well-connected journalists. He is the co-founder and executive editor of Axios, a disruptive media company delivering news and insights on politics, business, media, and tech. The company, whose name means “worthy” in Greek, specializes in high-quality news and analysis easily shared among the country’s influential readers and across social platforms. Axios has been recognized for its forward-thinking approach to the way people consume news in the 21st century. The approach is chronicled in Allen’s book Smart Brevity: Saying More with Less, which he co-authored alongside Axios co-founder, Jim VandeHei. In addition to starting Axios, Allen was a co-founder at POLITICO, the digital media company that upended and revolutionized political and policy journalism in Washington, New York, and Europe. He not only reported on but also drove the day’s conversations in and around the Beltway. His sharp journalistic experience and coveted insider status make him an ideal choice to discuss the latest political happenings. In presentations, he offers his nonpartisan, energetic and up-to-the-minute insider perspective on the political issues of the day, the current administration, Congress, and building a business in an unsteady economy.

Described by the media as everything from “Superwoman undercover” to “The Pied Piper of potential,” Sarah Robb O’Hagan is an executive, activist, entrepreneur, and founder of Extreme Living — a content platform designed to help individuals, teams, and organizations play to their highest potential. Currently, she is the CEO of EXOS, the leading performance coaching company that gets people ready for the moments that matter most in their work, sport, and daily lives. EXOS clients range from NFL players and Olympians to corporate executives, military personnel, and every day people looking to manage stressors and thrive in the new normal of fast-paced modern-day life. Drawing on her decades experience at some of the world's most influential brands, she shares practical takeaways including how to make failure your fuel, discover your most competitive playing field, get out of line rather than always following conventional wisdom, and bring out the “extreme" in others.

Jim VandeHei is a media entrepreneur and expert on American politics. He is the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Axios, a new media company delivering news and insights on politics, business, media and tech. The company, whose name means “worthy” in Greek, specializes in high-quality news and analysis easily shared among the country's most influential readers and across social platforms.

Leonard Brody has been called “a controversial leader of the new world order” and was recently named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. He is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best- selling author and a 2 time Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date. In 2004, Leonard co-founded, and was CEO of, NowPublic.com which is a pioneer in the field of citizen journalism. Leonard also acts as an advisor to venture capital funds in the US, Europe and Asia.

A forward-thinking expert on the digital future and the possibilities new technology presents to reshape society and the ways businesses operate, Melanie Subin is a leading futurist who provides strategic foresight, insights development, corporate innovation and transformation strategies, and strategic management and design processes that help to position organizations in every industry for sustainable success. Subin currently serves as the managing director for the Future Today Institute, a foresight and strategy firm founded by world-renowned futurist Amy Webb that leverages research, signals, and trends to help businesses reduce uncertainty and prepare for plausible futures. Throughout her career, she has assessed the impact of major external forces, such as climate change, increased technological sophistication, changing consumer and business preferences, and rising connectivity on the risks and opportunities facing small, medium, and large businesses across the globe.

When the world’s top companies want to understand what’s next for their businesses and how they can create the next big breakthrough in their industries, they turn to world-renowned futurist Sheryl Connelly. Connelly is a global trends and consumer expert whose mastery at identifying what’s coming around the corner and the potential influences on customer attitudes and behavioral patterns that directly impact business strategy is unparalleled. From 1996-2023, she was a cornerstone presence on Ford Motor Company’s global trends and futuring team, working her way up the ranks at the automotive juggernaut and becoming the company’s chief futurist. Connelly draws upon her business foresight expertise and experiences at Ford to help organizations in any industry identify and analyze global consumer trends in order to lay the groundwork for long-term, future-focused planning and strategy across the entire company, and anticipate the ever-evolving needs and desires of the people they serve.

Doug Rauch, a legendary former president of Trader Joe’s, was instrumental in leading the company’s transformation from a 7/11 knockoff to what Fortune magazine called the “hottest retailer in the U.S.” In eye-opening presentations, he shares insights on building a great business based on culture, innovation, leadership, and teamwork. He shows leaders how to push for new and better ways to perform, and audiences walk away with knowledge of how to create a self-sustaining culture of innovation, build a brand in a competitive marketplace, and lead with a purpose.

Hailed as "Chief Troublemaker" by some of the world's largest corporations, Dustin Garis is a master of blending innovation and marketing together. His disruptive ideas have been put into play with companies all across the globe, including P&G, Coca-Cola, and many others. With his unique background and larger-than-life personality, Garis helps businesses across industries to deliver new and exciting products and services to consumers.

Jim Donald – the current co-chairman and former CEO of Albertsons, and the former CEO of Starbucks, Haggen Food & Pharmacy, and Extended Stay Hotels – focuses on innovation, quality, and service. He started his career as a grocer; he was handpicked by Sam Walton to build a supermarket presence for Wal-Mart. He helped Starbucks enjoy record growth and performance and increase its social responsibility commitment. At Extended Stay Hotels, Donald utilizing his reputation for turning around ailing companies. Named one of the “Top 25 CEOs in the World,” he addresses leadership, management, the power of one customer.

Lisa Sun, founder and CEO of GRAVITAS, seamlessly blends stories from her data-driven insights from 11 years at McKinsey & Company and from her experience as an entrepreneur launching an innovative retail brand to offer talks that encourage audiences to choose self-confidence, work to harness their “superpower,” and use gravitas to advance personally and professionally. Sun explores why it’s vital to push past your potential, how to transform an idea into a movement, and why you’ve got to bet on yourself every single day. Sun has always had a passion for style, for inclusivity, and for helping people look and feel their best and was named one of Washingtonian Magazine's Best Dressed Women.

As the first female president of a professional sports franchise, Susan O’Malley, the former president of Washington Sports and Entertainment, is a pioneer in sports and business. Under her guidance, her company improved its bottom line, as well as its winning percentage, and the Washington Wizards experienced the largest ticket revenue increase and the highest renewal rate in the history of an NBA franchise to date. O’Malley’s illustrious career also included the creation of the MCI Center, which helped revitalize downtown DC. She addresses management, leadership, and marketing.