Alex Banayan is an entrepreneur and author of The Third Door, which chronicles his five-year quest tracking down Bill Gates, Lady Gaga, Warren Buffett, Maya Angelou, Steven Spielberg, Jane Goodall, Steve Wozniak, Jessica Alba, Larry King, and dozens more of the world’s most successful people. An acclaimed keynote speaker, Banayan has presented the Third Door framework to business conferences and corporate leadership teams around the world, including Apple, Google, Nike, IBM, Snapchat, Salesforce, and Disney. Banayan’s keynotes have had far-reaching effects, acting as the catalyst for a new way of thinking. The Third Door framework has helped individuals discover unconventional routes to achieve their biggest dreams and has aided Fortune 500 companies to take new approaches to sales, marketing, and exponential growth.

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.

Jane Chen is the co-founder and CEO of Embrace, a social enterprise that aims to help the 15 million premature and low birth-weight babies born every year, through a low-cost infant warmer. The Embrace infant warmer costs about 1% of a traditional incubator and is estimated to have helped over 250,000 babies to date. Most recently, Embrace Innovations launched a new line of baby products for the US market called Little Lotus Baby, which uses NASA inspired technology to keep babies at the perfect temperature so they can sleep better. They are using buy-one, give-one model: for every product sold, a baby is helped in a developing country by the Embrace infant warmer.

A heavy-hitter in the dugout and on the baseball diamond during his playing career, Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has been a cornerstone presence of Major League Baseball across seven decades and is among the league’s most storied leaders as both a manager and a player. In 2022, Baker led the Astros on a historic run all the way to winning the World Series — becoming part of an elite club of people who have won the World Series as both a player and a manager, and cementing his legacy as a serial winner and team builder who excels when the game is on the line.

Patricia Wilson is the Former CEO of Make-A-Wish, Greater Bay Area. As one of the nation’s largest Make-A-Wish chapters, it grants more than 400 wishes per year for children with life-threatening medical conditions in northern California. She is best-known as the mastermind behind the incredible effort to turn San Francisco into Gotham City so that cancer patient Miles could become Batkid for a day. A popular TED speaker, Wilson is sought-after for her inspirational insights on leadership, philanthropy, social media, and public relations.

Kevin Hines, who survived a suicide attempt by jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, inspires and educates others about living mentally healthy in the hopes of preventing more suicides.

When Bonner Paddock Rinn falls down, he gets back up in a big way. He has spent his life shaking off skinned knees, broken bones and doctors’ warnings. And at 33, he became the first person diagnosed with cerebral palsy to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro unassisted. In his new book One More Step, Bonner shares a gripping story of human perseverance and adventure that demonstrates we all have a choice: either define our lives by limitations, or discover just how much we can achieve when we push beyond them.

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.

Klyn was born with the life threatening genetic disease, Cystic Fibrosis. Over the years, she has battled the disease as well as big pharma to lower the price of a life saving drug. She reminds us all to live authentically, love deeply, and to recognize adversity as an advantage. After all, “Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments we create, that take our breath away.”

Basketball legend Bill Walton is one of sports’ most recognizable and beloved figures. His success on the court is well-documented; the nation’s top college basketball star at UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden, he then played for two NBA Championship teams – the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics. But Bill’s nightmarish challenges off the court are less known. He stuttered so badly he couldn’t say a simple “thank you” until he was 28 years old. And a foot disorder led to 38 surgeries on his feet, legs, and back – keeping him sidelined over half of his NBA career. Armed with grit and a positive outlook, Bill improbably overcame it all. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame and named to the “50 Greatest NBA Players of All-Time” list. After his playing career, Bill pursued broadcasting; he is currently covering Pac-12 games on ESPN. Bill Walton has led a life of humility in service of inspiring others. His autobiography, Back from the Dead, was a New York Times bestseller and he is perhaps the best-known Deadhead, having seen over 1,000 shows.

Dr. Lior Zoref is a researcher, advisor, TED speaker, and author of the best-selling book, Mindsharing – the art of crowd sourcing everything about the power of collective intelligence. His book was translated to many languages and was listed by Inc. magazine as one of the best books for entrepreneurs along with books by Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Tony Hsieh. Dr. Zoref has been invited to speak at some of the world’s most innovative organizations, including Google, MIT Media Lab, Columbia University, The White House, Nike, Microsoft, and LinkedIn.

A passionate, humorous, and tireless motivator and speaker, Guber has dedicated himself to coaching current and future leaders about the importance of telling purposeful stories to propel their business success. Peter Guber is among the most successful executives and entrepreneurs in the entertainment and communications industries. Peter Guber is Chairman and CEO of the multimedia Mandalay Entertainment Group. Prior to Mandalay, Guber was Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, Chairman and CEO of Polygram Entertainment, Co-Founder of Casablanca Record & Filmworks and President of Columbia Pictures. Guber produced or executive produced (personally or through his companies) films that garnered five Best Picture Academy Award nominations (winning for Rain Man) and box office hits that include The Color Purple, Midnight Express, Batman, Flashdance, and The Kids Are All Right.