Cassandra “Cassi” Chandler is an innovator, strategist, investigator, and leader who has broken barriers, led diverse teams, and built cultures of motivational leadership and inclusivity at some of the world’s most important organizations, including Bank of America and the FBI. In a career that has included many “firsts” across the U.S. government and financial services industries, she served as the FBI’s first African American female special agent assistant director as well as the Bureau’s first female national spokesperson and director of public and community affairs. In addition to defining the tools motivational leaders need to mindfully build more high-performing cultures, Chandler provides actionable insights on how to move the needle while leading with empathy.

A NASA astronaut, Joan Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. Over the nearly 13-day mission, she joined the seven-member crew to continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), embarking on four space walks and operating the station’s robotic arm. Sharing captivating insights from her 20-year distinguished career with NASA, Higginbotham inspires audiences with her personal journey of breaking barriers into space and beyond. Taking groups aboard the International Space Station and sharing her lessons-learned along the way, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions – including preparation, perseverance, and never giving up – and how these tactics can be applied to any endeavor.

Acclaimed for her indomitable tenacity and daredevil skills, Olympic silver medalist MyKayla Skinner burst onto the American gymnastics scene when she won the junior individual all-around title at the 2011 American Classic. At 24, she became the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast since 2004 when she competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she brought the trademark resilience and competitive spirit that have earned her a reputation as a powerhouse performer and model teammate, vaulting her way to a silver medal on the global stage. Her optimism, fire, and flair can be felt throughout the room as she provides an Olympian’s perspective on performing at a championship-level in high-pressure situations, overcoming adversity, and charting your own path to achieving your goals.

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. A nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, she is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, writing on health policy and public health, and an on-air commentator for CNN as a medical analyst. The author of the critically-acclaimed book on patient advocacy, When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), she has a forthcoming memoir to be published July 27th, Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health (Metropolitan Books, 2021). Previously, she served as health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department to combat the opioid epidemic and improve maternal and child health. She has also worked as director of patient-centered care research in the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University; president of Planned Parenthood; global health fellow at the World Health Organization; consultant to the China Medical Board; and distinguished fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.