Sue M. Gordon is the former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) – the country’s number two ranking intelligence official. As the fifth PDDNI, she co-led the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and oversaw the entire Intelligence Community, comprised of over a dozen agencies that collect information on threats against the United States. In particular, Gordon’s transformative leadership focused on integrating intelligence across the organization, expanding outreach and partnerships, driving innovation, and advancing diversity and inclusion throughout the Community. With nearly four decades of legendary and dedicated service, Gordon has led at every level of the Intelligence Community with roles spanning numerous organizations and disciplines – drawing on this experience to inspire audiences to challenge the status quo, adapt to changing environments, and apply innovation to their business.

A presidential-level communicator with more than three decades experience as a national security official, Beth Sanner is among the most influential voices at the highest levels of American intelligence. As the senior-most analyst for the entire Intelligence Community (IC), she was a trusted adviser to the President of the United States on our nation’s most important intelligence matters – first as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s director of the President’s Daily Brief and later as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration. Having served in several leadership, staff, policy, and analytic positions in the IC, Sanner has briefed four Presidents and also advised vice presidents, congressional and cabinet officials, and foreign partners; her acumen is highly sought after by our nation’s decisionmakers and organizations across various industries.

Dr. Evelyn Farkas is one of the nation’s premier voices on American foreign policy and geopolitics, and one of the most-trusted experts on US-Russia relations. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, she was the Department of Defense’s top Russia expert under President Barack Obama. Farkas advised three US Secretaries of Defense during her tenure at the Pentagon and was responsible for policy toward Russia and the surrounding region. She is an outspoken voice on how America ought to respond to adversaries and manage aggressors, ranging from Russia to North Korea to Iran. Expertly positioned to discuss the at times tenuous intersection of foreign objectives and domestic priorities, she appears regularly as an NBC/MSNBC national security contributor to discuss hot-button geopolitical issues, and has penned research papers and op-eds featured in most leading publications. In her keynote talks, she discusses how America’s position abroad is shifting under the Trump administration, the global gamut of US foreign and defense policy, and current national security challenges including Russia’s role in the 2016 election.

For 28 years, comedian Kathleen Madigan has been touring 250 nights on the road and squeezing in hour-long filmed specials and performances on every late night show ever made. From 25 appearances on "The Tonight Show" and multiple appearances on Letterman and Conan to recently riding around with Jerry Seinfeld in his internet series "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee," Madigan is still having a blast and selling out theaters across the country. She's won the American Comedy Award for "Best Female Comedian" and the Phyllis Diller award for "Best Female Comedian." She has written and produced for Lewis Black's "Root of All Evil" on Comedy Central and done multiple USO tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Tracy Walder shares her incredible true story of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA where, as a covert operative for CIA’s Counterterrorism Center, she assumed aliases, thwarted terrorist attacks, and debriefed terrorists at black sites. After the CIA, she went on to become one of the few women to work both at the CIA and FBI, serving as a Special Agent at the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office and specializing in Chinese counterintelligence operations. Walder details her riveting journey with audiences, offering her unique perspective of a woman in the male-dominated field of special operations. A TED speaker, Walder expertly discusses a range of topics including national security, foreign policy, education, and the role of women in law enforcement and intelligence and shares her impactful message: don't try to change who you are to fit what you think the job wants you to be.

For almost 50 years, The Second City has been the training ground for a host of famous alumni including John Belushi, Mike Myers, Gilda Radner, Tina Fey, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, and countless stars of stage and screen. Second City Communications works with corporate groups to create a fun, interactive and unconventional approach to training and entertainment.

Having served at the highest levels in national security and intelligence organizations, the Honorable Andrea Thompson brings over three decades of experience in public service and the United States military. From combat zones to the White House Situation Room, Thompson has led diverse teams in crisis situations and advised our Nation’s most senior government and military leaders, from the President and Vice President of the United States to four-star generals in combat. Most recently, Thompson led U.S. diplomatic global policy work for cyber security, space, and emerging technologies as the State Department’s Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security. Overseeing all foreign weapon sales, she implemented policies to enhance economic and national security and led U.S. nuclear and arms control strategic security talks – working closely with allies as well as her Chinese and Russian counterparts. Thompson draws on decades of international security experience to candidly deliver talks on the importance of transparency and open dialogue in getting things done. As a woman in leadership, she inspires audiences to invest in the next generation and embrace emerging technologies to face new challenges in cyber and international security.

Asha Rangappa is a Senior Lecturer at the Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a former Associate Dean at Yale Law School. Asha served as a Special Agent in the New York Division of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. Her work involved assessing threats to national security, conducting classified investigations on suspected foreign agents, and performing undercover work. Asha has published op-eds in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post, among others, and has appeared on NPR, BBC, and several major television networks. She is an editor for Just Security and is currently a legal and national security analyst for CNN.

Shayla Rivera is an aerospace engineer and former NASA rocket scientist turned salesperson, corporate trainer, and now international keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, radio host, emcee/host, comedian, actor, writer, producer, seminar facilitator, panel moderator and, as of 2017, director of the ENGR[x] program and Professor of Practice with the College of Engineering at Texas A&M University. However, none of these labels tells you much about her. She best describes herself as a spiritually irreverent mystic and awareness expert. What many would call a Renaissance Woman.

Leslie Ireland served as the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis. In this role, Ireland lead the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, which is responsible for the receipt, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence related to the Department's mission to safeguard the international financial system from abuse and to combat threats to U.S. national security. Ireland was a career intelligence officer for 25 years and has held a variety of positions in the analytical, collection, interagency and policy communities. Most recently she was intelligence briefer to President Obama.

Conceived by one of the creators of the long-running New York hit Tony and Tina's Wedding, The Water Coolers employ original songs, musical parodies and comic sketches to gently poke fun at the rituals and routines of our daily grind so we can all work together "happily ever laughter."

Cultural and commercial diplomacy are the hallmarks of Lauri Fitz-Pegado’s career. She has worked at the Voice of America and the U.S. Information Agency, Lauri served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Appointed by President Clinton, she was Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the Department of Commerce led by Secretary Ronald H. Brown. In the private sector she advised countries, corporations, individuals, and non-profits as a senior executive at Hill and Knowlton and Gray and Company, and as a partner at The Livingston Group. Lauri also was an executive at Iridium, the global mobile satellite communications company. With a history of ballet training and performing with the Capitol Ballet, Vassar Dance Theatre, and Ballet Santo Domingo, she now has returned to her passions by teaching ballet and mentoring. She applies her communications and public relations skills to promoting artists, and her business and leadership experience to advising dance institutions sharing her commitment to social change, empowerment, and inclusion. Her memoir, Dancing in the Dash: My Story of Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Resilience, was released in the fall of 2021.