Renowned psychology expert and Stanford University professor Michele Gelfand is one of the leading researchers and writers on culture and the impact of culture on behavior. Gelfand uses field, experimental, computational and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture and its multilevel consequences for human groups. Her work has been cited over 50,000 times and has been featured in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, National Public Radio, Voice of America, Fox News, NBC News, ABC News, and The Economist, among other outlets. Most recently, she is the author of "Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World."

Paul Ryan served ten terms in the U.S. House of Representative and as Speaker of the House from 2015 to 2019. Known for his meteoric rise in politics and often praised for his seriousness and honesty, Ryan is a committed conservative and public servant who has spent his life advocating for real solutions that expand opportunity for Americans. Before serving as Speaker of the House, he was Chair of the House Budget Committee, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, and a U.S. Vice Presidential candidate. He is exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau.

Jon Wellinghoff is the Chief Regulatory Officer of Voltus, the world’s leading platform for Distributed Energy Resources (DER). An internationally-recognized energy expert, he known for his forward-thinking approach to energy policy and his track record of moving the needle on the clean energy revolution. Jon draws on his decades experience in energy, policy, and business to discuss future opportunities in the fields of wind power, solar power, electric cars, and the development of smart cities, as well as implementing innovative business strategies and corporate cultures.

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.

Regarded as the “CEO-Maker,” “DEI Professor,” and the “Cubicle to Corner Office Empress,” Dethra Giles is a workplace and career optimizer who advises organizations and individuals on how to chart their unique paths to success. She is a four-time TEDx speaker who has been named a “Top 100 HR Influencer” by Engagedly, and was selected by HR Gazette’s “HRchat” podcast as one of the “Top 22 Most Influential Figures in HR.” With clients including Kaiser Permanente, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The Army Corp of Engineers, Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the Salvation Army, Giles shares a unique blend of advanced education and industry experience that has been described as “university-tested and industry-approved,” and can be implemented by organizations of any size, and across industries.

In a public service career that spans more than three decades and includes service in two presidential administrations, as well as two terms in the United States Senate (R-Ohio, 2011-2023) and six terms in the United States House of Representatives, Rob Portman has been among the most influential presences in American politics and policy. He has held various high-ranking government roles through the course of his career. In addition to the aforementioned roles, Portman was the 14th U.S. Trade Representative (2005-2006), as well as the director of the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. Portman is known for his civility, successful bipartisan policymaking, work ethic, and extensive expertise of a broad range of complex issues. With more than 220 of his bills signed into law by Presidents Biden, Trump, and Obama during his tenure in the Senate, it is impossible to overstate his impact on American politics.

What makes Mark Bryan one of the world’s leading futurists is his proven mastery advising organizations on the trends and tech that will disrupt their industries, and his inventive approaches for adapting to an ever-evolving business environment. He is the senior foresight manager at the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm founded by world renowned futurist Amy Webb. In his role, he supports leaders and their organizations in developing and implementing customized, forward-looking strategies that position them years ahead of their competitors and expedite their journeys to their desired futures. Bryan’s expertise spans across industries — having worked alongside national retail brands, higher education institutions, nonprofits, multi-family developers, and large corporate clients to evolve them from market leaders to market innovators.  

Marci Rossell is a world-renowned economist and financial expert known for her ability to take complex economic issues, often dull in the button-down press, and make them relevant to people’s lives, families, and careers. Her animated style was honed when she served as the popular and lively Chief Economist for CNBC and Co-Host of Squawk Box, where she became a household name and a must-watch source of financial news. An expert on investing, globalization, and trade, she uses her media and courtroom experience coupled with her expertise in business and government to address the current state of our economy, including economic recovery, restructuring, and revitalization.

Jessica O. Matthews is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted, an award-winning energy and data technology company that develops infrastructure solutions for communities, facilities, and Internet of Things. The company was founded by Jessica when she was only 22 years old. Jessica’s research and career centers around the intersection of disruptive technology, renewable energy, human behavior, and the psychology of self-actualization. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is listed on over 10 patents and patents pending—including her first invention of the SOCCKET, an energy generating soccer ball, at the age of 19.

A passionate advocate for a more human way of working, Melissa Swift is a seasoned HR thought leader and consultant who serves as VP of workforce and organizational change acceleration at Capgemini Invent. Her work helping clients power their workforces for more innovative, higher-performing futures spans across industries and geographies and tackles issues ranging from attracting and retaining top talent to reshaping organizations for greater nimbleness and building futuristic capabilities among today’s employees. She leverages thoughtful data analytics, a humanist view, and a healthy dose of pragmatism to create extraordinary outcomes for organizations. She is the author of the book Work Here Now: Think Like a Human and Build a Powerhouse Workplace, which explores practical strategies to get to a more human future of work. Her research has been published in Harvard Business Review and The Wall Street Journal, and her insights have been quoted in Newsweek, The Washington Post, The Economist, Axios, and more. She has been featured as one of Twitter’s “20 Digital Transformation Leaders to Follow” and named a “Top Influencer on the Future of Work” by Onalytica.

With more than a decade working at the heart of the technology industry, Dex Hunter-Torricke has managed communications for some of the most-influential and admired Silicon Valley leaders and corporations of our day. In his daily work, Dex plays a critical role in writing the next chapter on science, tech, the economy, and society across the globe, and spearheads efforts to bring the stories of how the world is being moved forward to light. From 2012-2016, he led the executive communications team at Facebook and served as personal speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg. He then went on to join SpaceX as senior director of communications. He later served as the VP Global Communications & Public Engagement for the Oversight Board for Meta, the independent body that makes decisions on Facebook and Instagram’s most challenging content issues. Dex takes audiences into Facebook’s boardroom, Musk’s open-concept cubicle, the famed Googleplex, and finally to the UN itself to share lessons on what it takes in today’s environment to build highly effective internal teams, how to use storytelling in modern communications, and what to make of the steady transition from local to global that’s unfolded over the past decade.

As one of the most sought-after and most-quoted economists in the world, Diane Swonk has more than 30 years of experience in financial services. She is the Founder and CEO of DS Economics and, for 11 years, the senior managing director and chief economist for Mesirow Financial. She has sat on advisory committees to high-level governmental banking authorities, and has also earned many awards over her career, including being listed as one of the “Top Forecasters in the Country” by The Wall Street Journal. She addresses trade issues, regulation, taxes, policy and the markets, and many other issues affecting business and the economy.