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.

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.

Steve Robinson served as the Chief Marketing Officer of Chick-fil-A, the nation’s most profitable food chain, from 1981 to 2015. Responsible for overseeing all of the brand’s traditional marketing support, advertising, brand development innovation, menu innovation, and hospitality strategies, he was integrally involved in the company’s incredible growth trajectory. Robinson helped take the chicken chain from 184 stores and $100 million in annual revenue when he assumed his position, to more than 2,100 stores and $6.8 billion in annual sales upon his retirement. He is credited with identifying and rolling out the company’s “Eat Mor Chikin” branding and campaign, which is now recognized worldwide. He is also the author of the new book, Covert Cows and Chick-fil-A: How Faith, Cows, and Chicken Built an Iconic Brand, due out in Spring 2019. He offers insights on building brand loyalty, creating a unique brand culture that stands out in a crowded global marketplace, and why success and culture are often so tightly linked.

Steve Schmidt, a renowned political analyst and former Vice Chairman of Edelman, is one of America's most prominent communications, public affairs, and political strategists best known for strategic roles on Republican political campaigns including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and US Senator John McCain. Steve specializes in "political message development and strategy." He is one of the nation’s most plugged-in political operatives who offers a candid look at today’s headlines and breaks down what the latest political news means for stakeholders on Main Street, Wall Street, Capitol Hill, and beyond.

A globally recognized brand-building innovator and a champion both of creativity and challenging the status quo in the workplace, Marisa Thalberg is 1 of only 18 to be inducted into the Forbes CMO Hall of Fame. She is considered one of the most dynamic and versatile marketing executives in the field, displaying versatility and adaptability that has led to her being an exceedingly successful leader in a diverse portfolio of industries, ranging from luxury beauty (The Estée Lauder Companies) and fast food (Taco Bell) to big box retail (Lowe’s Home Improvement) and theme parks and entertainment (SeaWorld/Busch Gardens). Her passionate advocacy for women at work led her on the path to social entrepreneurship as the founder of Executive Moms, an organization created to connect and support accomplished women who are both professionals and moms. In this capacity, Thalberg became an early leading voice and supporter for women, and particularly mothers, in the workplace, appearing across a range of media outlets including The TODAY Show, FOX, CNN, NBC News, and many more.

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.

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."

A fellow with the London-based Royal Society of Arts, Boinodiris has focused on inclusion in technology since 1999. She currently leads IBM Consulting’s Trustworthy AI Practice, she is the AI ethics board focal for all of consulting, and leads IBM’s Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence. She is the co-author of the book ‘AI for the Rest of Us’. Boinodiris is a co-founder of the Future World Alliance, a 501c3 dedicated to curating K-12 education in AI ethics. In 2019, she won the United Nations Woman of Influence in STEM and Inclusivity Award and was recognized by Women in Games International as one of the Top 100 Women in the Games Industry as she began one of the first scholarship programs in the United States for women to pursue degrees in game design and development.

Jeremiah Grossman's career spans nearly 20 years and has lived a literal lifetime in computer security to become one of the industry's biggest names. He has received a number of industry awards, been publicly thanked by Microsoft, Mozilla, Google, Facebook, and many others for his security research. Jeremiah has written hundreds of articles and white papers. As an industry veteran, he has been featured in hundreds of media outlets around the world. Jeremiah has been a guest speaker on six continents at hundreds of events including and many top universities. All of this was after Jeremiah served as an information security officer at Yahoo!

From the youth to the corporate world, Thurl Bailey, a former NBA player for the Utah Jazz, inspires others to win whatever the odds or disappointments. A master storyteller and an accomplished speaker, he inspires companies and individuals to focus on what matters most: to persevere, build winning teams, encourage peak performance, develop leadership, and discover opportunity in change. He is also a gifted inspirational singer and songwriter who has had multiple successful and best-selling albums.

As a best-selling author, business change agent and marketing expert, Jeffrey Hayzlett led the turnaround of one of the most iconic brands in the world as the Chief Marketing Officer of Kodak with some of the most innovative approaches to marketing. Mr. Hayzlett is the author of the best-selling book “The Mirror Test”, named to Inc. Magazine’s 2010 Best Business Books list, and speaks frequently around the world on business growth, communications, and marketing.