Conquering grave challenges to become a successful entrepreneur, Chris Gardner is an avid motivational and inspirational speaker, addressing the keys to overcoming obstacles and breaking cycles. He is great for groups looking for a speaker who has “walked the walk” and accomplished things that no one else thought they would be able to do. He is also a passionate philanthropist whose work has been recognized by many esteemed organizations and discusses commitment and fatherhood.

Retired Marine Sergeant and Paralympic Bronze Medalist, Rob Jones’ life is synonymous with fearless perseverance. In 2010, he was struck and injured by a land mine, resulting in a double above-the-knee leg amputation. Despite the injury, Rob’s incredible spirit remained intact. He went on to win bronze in the 2012 Paralympics, place fourth in the 2013 World Rowing Championships, and bike across the country for charity in 2015. In the fall of 2017, Rob completed a month long, back-to-back marathon challenge, running 31 marathons in 31 days in 31 different major cities. The incredible undertaking raised awareness and funds for wounded veteran charities.

Deepa Purushothaman (per-shot-a-man) is a corporate truth teller and inclusion visionary who, throughout her illustrious career, challenged and redefined the status quo of leadership, success, and power on her incredible journey of breaking glass ceilings and advancing the workplace for all people. For more than two decades, Deepa held various high-level executive leadership roles at Deloitte, eventually becoming the first Indian American woman and one of the youngest people ever to make partner at the internationally renowned global services firm, and breaking new ground for subsequent generations to follow in her footsteps.

General Stanley McChrystal is a four-star general, the former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan and the former leader of Joint Special Operations Command, which oversees the most sensitive counter-terrorism units. He is widely praised for revolutionizing warfare by fusing intelligence and operations and is credited with the capture of Saddam Hussein and the location and killing al-Qaeda’s leader in Iraq. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called McChrystal “one of America’s greatest warriors.” McChrystal addresses leadership, teambuilding, and geopolitics.

Michael (Mike) Steep is the founder and former executive director of Stanford Engineering School's Center for Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities and the former senior vice president of global business operations at innovation mega-hub, PARC Xerox. He draws on first-hand experience and anecdotes from time spent with the biggest names in Silicon Valley to instruct audiences on how to get ahead of disruptive innovation. Viewing new technology as opportunity, Mike highlights the importance of allowing innovation to trump company culture and legacies—and not the other way around.

Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE is a former Specialist Military Unit Colonel in the British Armed Forces and a former Partner at McChrystal Group - an elite advisory services firm that builds agile teams and enables clients to adapt to their complex operating environments. Ash was a Partner in McChrystal Group's London, England office, where he focused on expanding the firm’s offerings and developing relationships with European clients. With a focus on leader development, talent management, and team-building solutions, Ash draws upon lessons learned from over 22 years of experience leading and managing diverse multinational military, civilian government and other elite teams.

A pioneer in medicine and leadership, Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall has been on the frontlines of healthcare for more than four decades as a clinician, researcher, and leader in the biopharmaceuticals and life sciences industries. Dr. Lewis-Hall is an incredible storyteller with a flair for well-timed humor who shares with audiences her powerful story and inspiring path to becoming a leader in the healthcare industry. Her talks motivate audience members to embrace pressure and determine their own destinations, just as she did on her path to being the first in her family to attend college, becoming a physician and, subsequently, a biopharmaceutical executive. Dr. Lewis-Hall’s message of perseverance, tenacity, equity, inclusion, and transparency is one that resonates with all audiences and diverse backgrounds.

A globally recognized technology entrepreneur and renowned futurist, Salim Ismail is a sought-after exponential strategist who advises organizations of all sizes and across industries, as well as heads of state, on how they can turn cutting-edge ideas into viable business opportunities and apply inventive thinking to drive innovation and achieve their desired futures sooner. He is the Founder and Chair of OpenExO, a team of innovation experts who create customized solutions for corporations and organizations seeking to emulate the world’s fastest growing organizations.

The first African-American woman to hold the top policing job in Seattle, Washington, Carmen Best served with the Seattle Police Department for 28 years. In 2018, Best was promoted to Chief of Police, a job she called “a dream of a lifetime.” Best quickly began efforts to diversify the police force, which had long been less diverse than the city, recruiting more than 40 new officers of color. Chief Best speaks on diversity, inclusion, and leadership lessons-learned guiding a police department during times of crisis.

Peter Sheahan is the former CEO of Karrikins Group – a global growth-oriented consulting firm focused on elevating their clients to be the obvious choice in the hearts and minds of their customers, communities, and employees. Peter is known internationally for his innovative business thinking and thought leadership. With staff in more than 23 cities across 7 countries, he knows firsthand the challenges of growing a business in these rapidly-changing times. Peter has advised leaders from companies as diverse as Apple, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Hyundai, IBM, Pfizer, Wells Fargo, and Cardinal Health.

Early on in my career, when my company was in the aftermath of a $5B acquisition, I almost quit. Fueled by frustration and stress, I found myself on the precipice of walking out of the office and never coming back. Had I done so, I would have become another statistic. Yet another African-American female departed from a STEM-driven industry. Top talent voluntarily resigning during a time of significant organizational shift. Another change victim. But I didn’t. Instead, I woke up one day and decided to view those feelings as a signal that I was sitting in a moment of opportunity. An opportunity to transform that chemistry, that feeling into something better. To choose every day to do something, say something, behave in some way that would move the needle of my work experience towards a better feeling. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was cultivating a teachable strategy to inspire anyone to become enthusiastic about change, to find their unique power of resilience during turbulent times. Today, I help organizations disrupt ‘change as usual’. Through a practical and repeatable framework, I show them how they can transform their culture from surviving change to growing through change.

As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel Gupta helped thousands of people build better habits for life and work. Now as a bestselling author and Harvard Medical School visiting scholar, Suneel has taken his mission one step further – helping organizations reach sustainable peak performance by bolstering their people’s emotional resilience. He asks the question, “How can an organization excel on the outside if its people are exhausted on the inside?” Suneel challenges our reliance on grit and hustle, which are also scientifically associated with exhaustion. Instead, he offers leaders and teams new, science-based ideas for the changing world of work – habits for beating burnout and boosting long-term creativity, innovation, and productivity.