Few people have had the immense impact that Meghan O’Sullivan has had at the highest levels of geopolitics. She is a globally respected geopolitical expert who has advised the nation’s highest-ranking leaders — from President George W. Bush to Secretary of State Antony Blinken — on some of the most-complex challenges in international affairs. Currently, Dr. O’Sullivan is the Director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and the Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School. There, she leads 300 scholars, practitioners, and staff as they advance the boundaries of international relations, security, technology, science, energy, and the environment. The Belfer Center has consistently been ranked as the world’s top academic think tank.

Jeff Skiles, the co-pilot of US Airways Flight 1549 (otherwise known as “The Miracle on the Hudson”), is no stranger to intense training, re-training, preparation, and organization. Before the fateful collision with the Canadian geese that caused the plane’s engine failure, Skiles had logged over 20,000 hours in the sky and had worked more than 23 years as a U.S. Airways pilot and first officer. Skiles recounts how he reacted to the crisis and the events that led to the Hudson River landing and addresses leadership, teamwork, adaptability, and the need for training and preparation.

Bert Jacobs is the co-founder and Chief Executive Optimist of The Life is good Company. A $100 million privately held business based in Boston, MA, Life is good® spreads positive vibes with its colorful collection of apparel and accessories. Jake, Life is good’s iconic hero with the contagious smile, teaches men, women and children that optimism is fun, healthy, and empowering. Bert has appeared on CNN’s Tips from the Top, CNBC’s Business Nation, and The Donny Deutch Show. Life is good has been featured in the New York Times, on the cover of Inc Magazine, and on NBC’s The Today Show.

As a young man, Dr. Rolle hopes to be an inspirer of dreams, an educator of purpose, a patient centered healer and a leader for many. Sports enthusiasts and intellectuals alike know Dr. Myron Laurent Rolle as a gifted athlete, scholar and philanthropist. As a graduate medical student at the FSU College of Medicine and neurosurgery resident at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital, Dr. Rolle is achieving his dream of becoming a doctor and hoping to inspire others as well.

Joel Brenner is the former national counterintelligence executive and mission manager for counterintelligence at the Office of the National Counterintelligence (CI) Executive, which directs national, interagency CI for the government. He is the author of America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime and Warfare. Brenner is a cyber security expert and provides business strategies on this complex issue. He also addresses global risk management, privacy, and data security.

As a motivational keynote speaker, author, and entrepreneur, Laura Gassner Otting helps innovators, idealists, and iconoclasts get “unstuck”, increase confidence, and achieve extraordinary results. Laura inspires change agents, entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, and donors to push past the doubt and indecision that keeps great ideas in limbo. She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and catalytic perspective informed by decades of navigating change across the start-up, non-profit, political, and philanthropic landscapes. Laura dares listeners to find their voice, and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges, and ultimately leads them to seek new ways of leading, managing, and mentoring others. Excited by the audacity of The Big Idea and the larger-than-life goal you just can’t seem to shake, she's an instigator, a motivator, and a provocateur, and she’s never met a revolution she didn’t like.

With a career devoted to understanding how humans make risk decisions, Andy Ellis is a seasoned technology executive with deep expertise in security. An advisor to several cyber security startups, including Orca, Vulcan, and Uptycs, he currently serves as an advisor at cyber security venture capital firm, YL Ventures. Ellis formerly served as the chief security officer of web and internet security company Akamai. In his 20 years with Akamai, he helped to design and bring to market several of the company’s core technologies behind its security solutions. Combining more than 20 years of security experience with insider anecdotes from his time serving as CSO, he explores how and why humans make risk choices and decisions – and their impact on security.

Benjamin Zander is the conductor of The Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a guest conductor around the world. Zander was nominated for 2010 Grammy and recieved outstanding positive acclaim. Along with this Zander is a sought after speaker. He gave the opening Keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where on another occasion he was awarded the Crystal award for "outstanding contributions in the Arts and international relations. Using music as a metaphor and a medium, Benjamin Zander relates his position as a symphony orchestra conductor to the role of business leaders and challenges them to look at transformation and change in a new way.

Daniel Linskey is a Managing Director in Kroll’s Investigations and Disputes practice, and is head of the Boston office. As the former Superintendent-in-Chief of the Boston Police Department (BPD) and a 27-year veteran of the force, Dan provided strong leadership through some of the most tragic and contentious events in the city’s history, including the Boston Marathon bombings and the Occupy Movement.

Dara is a record-breaking Olympic swimmer who encourages all athletes to strive for their dreams at any age. She has been an inspiration to many people around the world.

Mike Eruzione served as the captain that led the 1980 United States Olympic Hockey Team to its Gold Medal victory at Lake Placid. The highlight of the games for Mike was his winning goal against the Soviet Union in the game that stunned the world. A native of Massachusetts, Mike Eruzione was well-known as a local sports talent, being on all-scholastic teams in baseball, football and hockey.

Bonnie Blair is a retired American speedskater. She is one of the top skaters of her time, and one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history. Blair competed for the United States in four Olympics, and in her Olympic career won five gold medals and one bronze medal.