Kathy Varol is an expert at driving profit with purpose. Kathy created the Global Purpose (corporate social responsibility) strategy for adidas, a 22 billion dollar global company. Now Kathy helps her clients use purpose to stand out in a competitive environment, attract the best talent, gain consumer loyalty, and fully harness the innovative brainpower of their employees (innovation that keeps them miles ahead of the competition). She shares her deep knowledge and “how-to” with clients, so they can skip the hard lessons and go straight to strategies that work. Kathy has 20 years of experience across brand marketing, strategy, and impact, working at established brands like adidas, MillerCoors, and Microsoft. Through her experience, Kathy has developed a repeatable 4-step process to become a purpose-led brand: The Brand Purpose Model. When businesses embed purpose into the heart of their strategy, they don’t just disrupt their industry. They also bring humanity into the workplace, shape the future, and impact the world.

Cultural and commercial diplomacy are the hallmarks of Lauri Fitz-Pegado’s career. She has worked at the Voice of America and the U.S. Information Agency, Lauri served as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. Appointed by President Clinton, she was Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service at the Department of Commerce led by Secretary Ronald H. Brown. In the private sector she advised countries, corporations, individuals, and non-profits as a senior executive at Hill and Knowlton and Gray and Company, and as a partner at The Livingston Group. Lauri also was an executive at Iridium, the global mobile satellite communications company. With a history of ballet training and performing with the Capitol Ballet, Vassar Dance Theatre, and Ballet Santo Domingo, she now has returned to her passions by teaching ballet and mentoring. She applies her communications and public relations skills to promoting artists, and her business and leadership experience to advising dance institutions sharing her commitment to social change, empowerment, and inclusion. Her memoir, Dancing in the Dash: My Story of Empowerment, Diplomacy, and Resilience, was released in the fall of 2021.

Dr. Leana Wen is an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. A nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, she is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, writing on health policy and public health, and an on-air commentator for CNN as a medical analyst. The author of the critically-acclaimed book on patient advocacy, When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests (St. Martin’s Press, 2013), she has a forthcoming memoir to be published July 27th, Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health (Metropolitan Books, 2021). Previously, she served as health commissioner for the city of Baltimore, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department to combat the opioid epidemic and improve maternal and child health. She has also worked as director of patient-centered care research in the department of emergency medicine at George Washington University; president of Planned Parenthood; global health fellow at the World Health Organization; consultant to the China Medical Board; and distinguished fellow at the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity.

Hitendra Wadhwa is an entrepreneurial visionary who is a sought-after advisor to top brands and entrepreneurs seeking new paths to innovation and success rooted in purpose. He is the founder of the Mentora Institute, a leadership training program dedicated to fostering industry-leading individuals, teams, and organizations by activating and expressing their highest potential in all they do. The Institute’s teachings build upon the principles of the Wadhwa’s “inner mastery” as a foundation for “outer impact” — a concept that has received widespread attention and acclaim in the business world.

After an acting career including a role on The Sopranos (HBO), Chris decided to follow his real passion- using media to bridge intercultural gaps worldwide- so he traveled to East Africa. He now traverses the globe from Tanzania to Abu Dhabi as Host of Bridge the Gap, a new series featured on National PBS television, where he discovers what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes for one day. He is a United Nations Moderator, an International Speaker (TEDx), a Writer for award-winning publications like Lonely Planet, an Eagle Scout and a National Geographic Young Explorers grantee. 1 : Actor/Activist from Brooklyn whose TV career spans MTV to The Sopranos 2 : traveled from Tanzania to Thailand hosting the internationally recognized TV Series Bridge the Gap, broadcast into 45M homes in 80 markets 3 : Published Writer for Huffington Post and Lonely Planet 4 : celebrated Emcee and Guest Speaker for TedX and the United Nations, at Jane Goodall’s National Leadership Retreat, and at events in Qatar, Rio de Janeiro, and Abu Dhabi.

Ozan Varol is a rocket scientist turned award-winning professor and #1 bestselling author. He is one of the world’s foremost experts in creativity, innovation, and critical thinking. Ozan has been called a “true original” by Adam Grant and dubbed a “superhero” by Dan Pink. His work has been described as “must read” by Susan Cain and featured in the Wall Street Journal, Time, BBC, CNN, Washington Post, and more.

Sika Henry is a Corporate Analyst for Ferguson Enterprises and a Professional Triathlete and Ultramarathoner based in Newport News, VA. As a collegiate high jumper and sprinter, Sika became an NCAA All-American in Track and Field while earning her degree in Economics from Tufts University. After recovering from a traumatic bike accident that left Sika with significant injuries in 2019, she made history when she became the first African American Woman to qualify for her pro card in triathlon in 2021. Sika was named Athlete of the Year as part of the 2020 Outspoken Women in Triathlon Awards for her work to advocate for and make positive change in the sport of triathlon. In 2022, Sika broke the Virginia State 100K Road Record (the 10th fasted time by an American woman that year) and was inducted into the National Black Distance Running Hall of Fame.