Amy Harder is executive editor of Cipher by Breakthrough Energy. Amy is one of the top national energy and climate change reporters in the country, having built up a reputation of being a uniquely balanced and influential journalist with respect across the spectrum. She joined Breakthrough Energy in early 2021 to help launch Cipher, a publication covering the opportunities and challenges of the energy transition.

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.

Ramez Naam is a former Microsoft executive, entrepreneur, inventor, and the Energy Co-Chair at Singularity University. Ramez spent 13 years at Microsoft, where he led teams working on artificial intelligence, big data, and internet search. His software has touched the lives of more than a billion people. He holds more than 20 patents—including several as co-inventor with Bill Gates. Dynamic and personable, Naam speaks around the world, captivating audiences as he illustrates “what disruption looks like” and shares the eight strategies incumbents should draw on to keep the pace of change.

Susan Ershler tours the world sharing with others her secrets for success, determination, and achieving seemingly impossible goals. Susan is the fourth American Woman to climb the Seven Summits and the twelfth American Woman to climb Mt. Everest. When she got to the top of Mount Everest on May 16, 2002, she and her husband Phil became the first couple in history to climb the Seven Summits. Susan illustrates how she utilized her experience as a sales leader as the foundation to her training for climbing mountains.

Mark Bathum was born with retinitis pigmentosa, the second leading cause of blindness and has been legally blind since his late 30s. Mark embraced this challenge in his late 40’s and is currently the top-ranked visually impaired ski racer in the world in the downhill event, is a three time Paralympic silver medalist in the 2010 and 2014 games, is the top-ranked adaptive alpine racer in the U.S., has won eight World Cup races despite attending only half the races each year, was nominated for an ESPY and was named the Paralympian Male Athlete of the Games at the inaugural U.S. Olympic and Paralympic “Best of U.S.” Awards ceremony broadcast by NBC in 2014.