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Leah La Salla
Leah La Salla is the Technical Founder & CEO of award-winning Astral AR, a technology startup building drones that stop bullets and save lives. As an inventor, she is best known for “hacking NASA” with a toaster (a toaster-sized neuromechanical unmanned aerial vehicle, that is!). La Salla gained a decade of experience in software engineering while teaching herself to program in an additional 9 languages becoming a polyglot software architect.
Heidi Connal
Heidi Connal is a seasoned technology executive with over twenty years of experience building collaborative, compassionate, and high performing individuals and teams. Heidi is known for her strategic expertise in large global enterprises, most recently as an executive at Salesforce.
Amiah Sheppard
Amiah Sheppard is a perpetual learner who currently is the Director of Backstage Accelerator LA. In venture capital, she daily examines the myriad ways founders harness, strategize, and utilize their unique socio-cultural location to get to their desired outcome.
Rebecca Altamirano
Rebecca Altamirano has dedicated her professional life to working within underrepresented communities to open up access to the culture of power. Her professional path has given her deep hands-on experience on working with the underserved and underrepresented. Many of these experiences she has shared as a co-author of “Be The Change: Reinventing Schools for Student Success”
Mark Levy
Mark Levy was the pioneer of designing the Employee Experience at Airbnb. A seasoned globally minded Employee Experience Leader, he has chosen to work for big-hearted companies and focus on how he and his team can unleash the talents and passions of a company’s employees.
Max Lenderman
Max Lenderman is currently CEO/CCO of School, a purpose-led creative consultancy that specializes in human-centric media, articulating purpose in brands and creating the content and tools to show it to the world. He is one of the world’s most respected, cited, and followed leaders on experiential advertising, brand activation, and purpose-focused marketing trends.
Travis Stiles
Dr. Travis Stiles is the founder of Novoron Bioscience, which is developing therapeutics to reverse damage of the brain and spinal cord. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Dr. Stiles is a passionate advocate for diversity, equality, science and informed solutions to the world’s problems and speaks across the spectrum from innovators to policymakers to encourage the ideas and policies that will shape the future.
Antonio Altamirano
Antonio pioneered the adoption of early social media platforms at Fortune 500 companies and managed the integration of emerging technologies. Currently, he is co-founder of Tangelo Technologies, a Venture Studio and Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley where he believes that technology can and must contribute to society in positive, ethical, equitable, and scalable ways.
Andrea Barrica
Andrea Barrica is CEO and Co-founder of O.school, a judgment-free multimedia platform to learn about sexuality and pleasure. Previously, Andrea co-founded accounting and tax platform, inDinero.com, where she led sales and operations. She also served as a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at 500 Startups.
Aniyia Williams
Aniyia Williams is a creator, inventor, and tech changemaker. She serves as Executive Director of Black & Brown Founders, co-founder of Zebras Unite, and founded and led the fashion tech company, Tinsel. Aniyia addresses topics of diversity, equity and inclusion in tech, the economic future of creativity, self-awareness and mindfulness, alternatives to venture capital, fashion technology, hardware design, and parenting while building a startup.
Tye Caldwell
Dr. Tye Caldwell is the Cofounder & CEO of ShearShare. Recognized as a tech visionary and industry pioneer, Dr. Caldwell’s mission is to help beauty and barbering professionals around the world maximize their earnings potential. He has worked in beauty for 25 years as a master barber-stylist, educator, and small business coach, offering his 20+ years of industry knowledge as a proven roadmap.
Jessica Brown
Jessica Brown leads the digital design team as Director of UX at VICE Media, where she focuses on showcasing VICE’s distinct storytelling on mobile, web, and TV apps. Jessica speaks on executing redesigns at scale and common philosophies and practices guiding creative people of all disciplines. She has established design and research practices that brought users’ stories to the heart of the product.
Christie Pitts
Christie Pitts is an inventor and early-stage investor at Backstage Capital and co-founder of Backstage Studio, currently leading Backstage’s global Accelerator program. She identified a passion for working with early-stage companies while working as Venture Development Manager at Verizon.
Joseph Prabhakar
Joseph is a thought leader in business agility and uses that expertise to motivate his audience to think of breakthrough ideas in their industries. Integrating startups with legacy corporations, running technology operations for the world’s largest payment processor, building a nationwide franchise organization has given Joseph the breadth and depth required of any executive.
Andrew Dunn
Andrew Dunn is on a mission to elevate the human condition by intentionally shaping technology to serve as an agent of flourishing individuals, institutions, and societies. As CEO of Siempo, he helps people build healthier relationships with technology through the first smartphone interface designed to support mental health and wellbeing.
Jonas Koffler
Jonas Koffler is the New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling coauthor of HUSTLE: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum (Rodale, Penguin Random House Books), which Fortune called “a must-read.” It has been published in more than 10 countries. Having recovered from a stroke in his 20s, Jonas is a leading voice in enhancing human potential around how we work, live, learn, and play.
Dan Walters
Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years and has written about California and its politics for a number of publications, including the Sacramento Bee and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Walters frequently appears on CNN, Fox, and other networks, commenting about political developments in California.
Damian Pelliccione
Damian Pelliccione is the CEO and Co-Founder of Revry, the world’s first LGBTQ Global Content Streaming Network and is passionate about supporting the LGBTQ community in both authentic media representation and entrepreneurship.
Dawn Dickson
Dawn Dickson is a serial entrepreneur with over 16 years of experience in marketing and business development. She is currently the Founder & CEO of PopCom, an automated retail company that uses facial recognition, A.I, and blockchain technology to help retailers collect valuable customer insights.
Tara Matamoros Carter
Tara Carter is a highly driven COO/Partner at Tangelo and a Partner at Backstage Capital, providing full circle guidance to startups and larger. She has over 25 years of experience in mentoring, growing and advising startups, investor relations, omni-channel marketing, business strategy, deep technology, and product development, diversity and inclusion, predictive analytics, data visualization, business intelligence, and activism.
Cathy Hackl
Cathy Hackl is an Emmy-nominated communicator turned virtual reality & augmented reality global speaker, producer, and futurist. Hackl has been featured in media outlets like Mic, CNN, Silicon Beat, Entrepreneur, CMO.com, Forbes, VentureBeat, and Mashable. She is a global advisor for VR AR Association and a leading voice in the VR AR marketing space.
Courtney Caldwell
Courtney Caldwell is the Cofounder & COO of ShearShare, the first on-demand salon and barbershop space rental app. She is also an award-winning entrepreneur and tech founder and has spent two decades building winning teams in tech marketing.
Russell Ladson
Russell Ladson is a creative technologist whose work sits at the intersection of emerging technologies, purposeful design, and visual art. His work investigates the use of emerging technologies like AR/VR (XR) to heighten the human-to-human experience through experimental concepts around information discovery in a post-smartphone world.
Ugwem Eneyo
Ugwem Eneyo is co-founder and CEO of Solstice Energy Solutions, specializing in the use of IoT for remote energy monitoring and control technologies. Ugwem’s Nigerian heritage created a strong passion for addressing the challenges and opportunities across the African continent and focusing her research on the nexus of energy, environment, and infrastructure in Nigeria.
Lolita Taub
Lolita Taub is a 2-time TEDx Speaker, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, an enterprise tech professional and an early-stage tech investor. She has a decade-long operator career in B2B Enterprise Tech, Startups, and Early-Stage Venture Capital. Lolita’s interests lie in the creation and commercialization of tech through venture capital.
Rachel Cook
Rachel Cook is the founder and CEO of Seeds, the easiest way to ask the blockchain for help and receive it as a monetary gift – no strings attached. Rachel wants to transcend the broken parts of capitalism, rendering the gatekeepers obsolete.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown, a pro-athlete turned self-taught coder, transitioned from tackling to tech and went on to be the founder and CEO of Win-Win, a platform powered by gaming and giving. Win-Win enables pro athletes and influencers to monetize their fanbase and help brands engage with end consumers.
Peg Fitzpatrick
Peg Fitzpatrick is social media strategist, popular blogger, and co-author of The Art Of Social Media with Guy Kawasaki. Peg has spearheaded successful social-media campaigns for Audi, Google, and Virgin as well as having been a brand ambassador for Kimpton Hotels, T.J.Maxx, and Adobe.
Morgen Bromell
Morgen Bromell is a founder and technologist working to make tech more accessible to people of color through justice-based initiatives and tech activism. Apart from being the founder of Thurst, a dating app for the LGBTQIA+ community, they are also deeply invested in community building and documenting queer histories, particularly how queer and trans people use digital resources and online platforms to navigate our world.
Melinda Briana Epler
Melinda Briana Epler has over 25 years of experience developing business innovation and inclusion strategies for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and global NGOs. As CEO of Change Catalyst, Melinda works with the tech industry to solve diversity and inclusion together. Using her background in storytelling and large-scale culture change, she is a strategic advisor for tech companies, tech hubs, and governments around the world.
Mandy Antoniacci
Mandy Antoniacci’s insatiable quest for transforming the way people see the world has made her a sought-after voice of social change for this generation. Her body of work — exploring the power in seeing the unseen — has earned her global attention and exclusive discussions with elite social leaders and sports figures around the world.
Andrea Guendelman
Andrea Guendelman is the founder and force behind BeVisible, the first career social media platform for Latinx. Andrea founded BeVisible after her own experiences as a Harvard-trained corporate lawyer and an entrepreneur. Andrea is considered a thought leader in the topics of Latinx career building and creating diverse workforces.
Emily Best
Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark, an online crowdfunding and subscription streaming platform for content that emphasizes diversity and inclusion. An advocate for diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry, Best regularly speaks at conferences and events about building equity and sustainability for everyone.
Victoria Labalme
With over 20 years in the Performing Arts – from Broadway to comedy clubs to high-profile television to commercials including a Super Bowl spot – Victoria Labalme helps people perform at their highest levels by awakening their hidden genius.
Matt Mayberry
Matt Mayberry, a former NFL linebacker for the Chicago Bears, is currently one of the most-read columnists for Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as an acclaimed keynote speaker, author, and peak-performance strategist. Using a real-world approach, He specializes in maximizing the performance of organizations, teams, and individuals all over the world.
Brad Montgomery
Brad Montgomery teaches people how to use happiness to boost productivity, creativity, innovation, and profits. He specializes in using humor, interactivity, music, and visuals to ignite audiences so that they can use happiness as a tool to improve their lives and their jobs.
Mike Evans
Mike has developed a unique perspective from 20+ years working alongside world-renowned thought leaders. He is a leading authority on unleashing personal and organizational accountability. Clients rely upon Mike’s solutions to accelerate change, shape their optimal culture, flawlessly execute key strategies, ignite leadership capacity at all Levels, amplify employee engagement, and cultivate peak performance.
Jason Jennings
With eight bestselling books, in 34 languages to his credit, Jason Jennings is one of the most successful and prolific business authors in the world.
David Goldsmith
David is the author of Paid to THINK: A Leader’s Toolkit for Redefining Your Future, a work for which he has earned comparisons to Peter Drucker, the father of modern-day management. Considered by some to be the “Thought Leaders’ Thought Leader”, he is known for replacing common leadership thinking with bold, proven, and sometimes counter-intuitive approaches to address leadership challenges and opportunities.
Janine Shepherd
Janine Shepherd is an inspirational speaker and writer whose books have become classics in the survivor genre. A champion cross-country skier in training for the 1988 winter Olympics, Janine’s life changed forever when she was hit by a truck during a bicycle training ride in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
Nicholas Webb
Nicholas Webb is one of the world’s top innovation strategists and futurists. As a professor, successful inventor, bestselling author and world-renowned innovation strategist, Nicholas brings the perfect pedigree and the best research to each and every one of his customized talks on the future, innovation, business, and healthcare.
Chris Baréz-Brown
Chris is a master of transformation. His unique energetic approach challenges businesses to embed a dynamic creative culture within their company ethos. Brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Unilever, Sony, and WPP come back time and again as his results produce tangible returns on investment.
Dave Kerpen
Dave is a serial entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and global keynote speaker. He is the Founder and CEO of Likeable Local, a social media software company serving thousands of small businesses, as well as the chairman and co-founder of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing agency for big brands.
Paul Armstrong
Paul Armstrong is an in-demand speaker on emerging technologies, social technologies and strategy, and regularly advises brands like Coca-Cola, Experian, Sony Music, P&G, PwC and several technology start-ups. He writes a column for Forbes and also advises the UK Government on digital strategy.
Yelitsa Jean-Charles
Yelitsa Jean-Charles founded Healthy Roots in 2015 after recognizing a need for more diverse toys and representation in children’s publishing. She has been recognized as Essence’s 50 Founders to watch and frequently speaks about entrepreneurship, social justice, and cultural competency.
Erin Sarofsky
Erin Sarofsky is the Founder and Executive Creative Director of Sarofsky, her own design-driven production studio. Her work with a Who’s Who list of top-level marketing and entertainment industry executives has her collaborating on main titles for the Marvel blockbusters, among others.
Vish Chatterji
Vish Chatterji is an accomplished business leader turned executive coach with a twenty-year business track record spanning multiple industries. In parallel, he has studied and practiced yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda (mind-body medicine). Vish coaches business leaders enabling more of their greatness to show up at work.
Scott Zimmer
Scott Zimmer has developed a uniquely personable style and uses insight, humor, and data to foster an environment where every generation feels valued and understood.
Mike Abrashoff
Mike Abrashoff was the most-junior officer in the Pacific Fleet when he took command of the near-worst performing ship. Twelve months later, the USS Benfold was the best ship in the entire Navy – using the same crew. The story of that stunning transformation has lessons for every organization: leadership matters – and culture is everything.
Bill Taylor
Bill Taylor shows business leaders a path to go from now to next in a world filled with nonstop disruption. As a young entrepreneur, Bill co-founded Fast Company, the bold business magazine that redefined the genre and chronicled the tech-fueled revolution that transformed business and work.
Dave Knox
As a brand marketer, venture investor, and startup advisor, Dave Knox bridges the worlds of the Fortune 500 and entrepreneurship and is widely recognized as an industry thought leader.
Eric Byres
Eric Byres is an awarding winning expert in the field of SCADA/ICS and IIoT security. Experienced in controls engineering, security research and corporate management, he offers a unique blend of deep technical knowledge and practical business experience.
Bill Reichert
Bill Reichert is co-founder and Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, a well-known seed and early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Bill travels around the world giving presentations and workshops on innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and technology trends.
David Meerman Scott
David Meerman Scott helps companies and organizations generate attention and grow business in a real-time world. He spotted the online content revolution in its infancy and wrote five books about it including The New Rules of Marketing & PR, the definitive book on the topic, translated into 29 languages. David’s ideas have captured the attention of respected firms and organizations all over the world – having spoken in over 40 countries and on all seven continents.
Chris Bertish
International Inspirational Speaker; Big Wave Surfing Mavericks Champion; Stand-Up Paddleboarding Guinness World Record Holder; Chris Bertish shifts boundaries, shatters perceptions and achieves what most people perceive impossible.
Denise Lee Yohn
Denise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand speaker and consultant, and an influential writer, authoring the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest.
Brian Banmiller
Brian Banmiller is a national business journalist and public speaker who has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports and speeches are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.
Jared Weiner
Jared is Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. His work is industry-agnostic, and covers trend activity in the realms of science & technology, economics, politics, demographics and environmental issues.
John Sitilides
John Sitilides, a Washington D.C. government affairs specialist and diplomacy consultant to the U.S. Department of State, shares his insights into the U.S. and global risk trends, international security flashpoints and geopolitical strategies. He explores the complex geopolitical decisions that impact markets in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, helping clients better understand and mitigate risk.
Thomas Koulopoulos
Tom Koulopoulos is acknowledged as one of the industry’s leading futurists. He is the author of ten books and founder of Delphi Group, a 25-year-old Boston-based think tank, which was named one of the fastest growing private companies in the US by Inc. Magazine.
Josh Linkner
Josh Linkner, who started his career as a jazz guitarist, has been the founder and CEO of five tech companies, which sold for a combined value of over $200 million. He is also a deeply experienced business leader, venture capitalist, top-rated keynote speaker, and author of four books which include the New York Times bestsellers: Disciplined Dreaming and The Road to Reinvention.
Ayinde Alakoye
Ayinde Alakoye is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of nēdl, his third live broadcast radio streaming venture. Ayinde was also the creator of the original iheartradio app served as a Speechwriter, Staffer, and Senior Message Advisor for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, during both elections.
Michael Tchong
A professional trend forecaster, speaker, and author, Michael speaks and writes about cracking the code of the future applying his unique framework of Ubertrends — massive waves that are reshaping global behavior.
Rodney Sampson
Rodney Sampson, of Opportunity Hub, is heralded as the leading inclusive startup ecosystem builder and is passionate about reducing poverty and wealth gap by advancing the cause of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and investment as a way of life for all, with an emphasis on socially disadvantaged and under-estimated and sponsored communities in America and beyond.
Jeff Butler
Jeff Butler is a speaker, author, and international consultant who helps organizations improve their relationships with millennial employees. Unlike other experts on millennials, Jeff has been in the trenches of what it means to be a millennial and what it takes to retain and keep them engaged. You may have seen him on Forbes, USA Weekly, or on the TED stage.
Shawn DuBravac
Acclaimed global futurist, trendcaster, and best-selling author Dr. Shawn DuBravac sits at the nexus between innovation and disruption. DuBravac delivers pragmatic and provocative insights into the trends, technologies, and paradigms transforming business and society along with actionable strategies organizations in every industry can apply.
Keith Ferrazzi
Keith Ferrazzi, founder and chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight, has spent over a decade addressing the behaviors that block global organizations from reaching strategic goals and transforming them into new habits that increase shareholder value.
Carrie Kerpen
Carrie Kerpen an author, columnist, host of the popular podcast “All the Social Ladies”, and the co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, a digital agency that was named Crain’s sixth Best Place to Work in NYC.
Aaron Grove
Aaron’s work is a melting pot of things he loves: creative thinking, strategy, inspiration, nutrition and exercise, mastery of mind, body and spirit as well as helping others with life coaching. The blend of these is the cement he works with when he helps companies and organizations shape their ideas into action.
Ted Ma
Ted Ma is a leadership development expert. As an entrepreneur, he built an international sales team of over 6,000 agents, had been featured in Success From Home magazine and helps organizations develop high-performance leaders and create a collaborative team culture.
Ranbir Puar
TEDx Speaker, writer, and life coach Ranbir Puar helps adults and children break free of their limiting beliefs by providing the tools to tap into their inner strength and silence their inner critics.
Linda Nazareth
Linda Nazareth is an economist, a futurist and a respected authority on the future of work. As a newspaper columnist and an author, she knows how to frame things in ways that both educate and entertain, and as the Senior Fellow for Economics and Population Change at think-tank the Macdonald Laurier Institute she knows what she is talking about.
Phil Gwoke
As an internationally recognized speaker, Phil has shared his wisdom and inspired audiences in 40 different states and four continents to over 100,000 people. He is a firm believer that with the proper motivation, training, and support system, members of any generation can become capable of remarkable accomplishments.
Pierre Khawand
Pierre Khawand has more than twenty years of experience in the software industry. He has helped leaders develop the awareness and behaviors needed to focus on results and develop people in the midst of the information overload.
Roderick Jefferson
For over twenty years, Roderick, has built award-winning sales enablement organizations within some of the world’s most successful Fortune 1,000 companies. Roderick has won numerous awards including being selected as the 2015 Sales On-boarding Program of the Year by SiriusDecisions.
Kati Schmidt
As an early former employee of Airbnb, Kati Schmidt worked on launching and scaling Airbnb’s operations in Europe, starting Airbnb’s public policy efforts globally and launching Airbnb Experiences. Kati is passionate about female entrepreneurship, immigration, and the transatlantic relationship.
Leroy Chiao
Dr. Chiao began his professional career as a chemical engineer, and his passion for space exploration led him to NASA. Following a stellar 15-year astronaut career, he moved on to leadership positions in entrepreneurial startups, applying his space experience to the business world.
Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis
Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis is the Managing Director for Backstage Los Angeles for the recently announced Backstage Accelerator. She is passionate about empowering others, creating genuine connections, and striving towards financial independence through entrepreneurship. She co-founded bosa, a wellness and productivity app that enables consultants to provide the highest level of service to their clients.
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a bestselling author, former chief evangelist of Apple, and a former trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. Today, he is the chief evangelist of Canva (an online graphic design tool), brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz, and is also an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley).
Amy Peck
Amy Peck is the founder & CEO of EndeavorVR, a leading global VR/AR (XR) strategy & consulting firm. Amy is a recognized thought-leader in the space and speaks globally on the future of XR.
Erica Orange
Erica Orange is Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. She evaluates emerging social, technological, economic, political, demographic and environmental trends – and identifies the strategic implications of those trends for several of the most influential Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and public sector clients.
Lawrence Cunningham
Lawrence Cunningham, a leading authority on corporate culture and governance, is well-known for his distinctive expertise about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. This dates to the 1996 publication of his worldwide best-selling book in collaboration with Mr. Buffett, The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, which has sold a half-million copies.
Mark DeVolder
Three-time Top 25 Speaker Award recipient, change-consultant for the NASA Space Shuttle Program and transition-advisor for $50 billion mergers and acquisitions, Mark DeVolder distinguishes himself as a change management specialist and is one of today’s original thinkers on transitions.
Scott McArthur
Scott offers an unusual mix of experience, having worked as a research scientist, HR director, business consultant, rock musical producer, writer, keynote and TEDx speaker. His delivery style, which he has developed across the sectors in over 20 years, is humorous, well-crafted, inspiring and direct.
Marilyn Sherman
Marilyn Sherman is dedicated to training people to let go of obstacles and live and work with courage, commitment, and confidence. For the last 22 years, she has motivated audiences all over the country, and internationally with topics about hope, inspiration, and practical tools to implement immediately.
Troy Hazard
The entrepreneurial genius, Troy Hazard, has founded and nurtured twelve businesses over two decades, has turned around businesses that were making enormous losses, and has consulted to countless successful companies including Goodyear, Baskin Robbins, Subway, Fisher & Paykel and many more.
Kwame Anku
Kwame Anku is the CEO and Chairman of the Black Star Fund, an early-stage innovation fund. Kwame has worked extensively in business development and media marketing for over two decades, entering into the tech industry after being personally recruited by the late legendary rock star Prince to develop his mobile app, overseeing business and development teams on Africa, Asia, and the US.
Geoff Colvin
As Fortune magazine’s senior editor-at-large, Geoff Colvin is now in his fourth decade at Fortune. He is one of business journalism’s sharpest and most respected commentators on leadership, management, globalization, government regulation, corporate governance, competition, the economy, the InfoTech revolution, human performance and related issues.
Bruce Himelstein
Bruce Himelstein is the Ritz-Carlton executive who transformed customer service for one of the world’s most recognizable luxury brands. He is credited with leading some of the travel and hospitality industry’s most prestigious domestic and global brands during a 30+ year illustrious career setting the global standards in hospitality, marketing, and C-level executive management.
Greg Schwem
Greg Schwem is more than just a business humor keynote speaker and sought after corporate emcee, Greg is also an author, nationally syndicated humor columnist for the Chicago Tribune, award-winning greeting card writer and creator of funnydadinc, voted one of the top Dad humor sites of 2016.
Katty Kay
Washington, D.C.-based British news anchor Katty Kay brings a fresh perspective to the reporting of American politics and global affairs. Katty’s insights reflect a global mindset that is a natural offshoot of having grown up in the Middle East and worked as a journalist in Europe, Africa, and Asia before coming to Washington in 1996.
Arlan Hamilton
Arlan Hamilton is a remarkable entrepreneur who built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a VC firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT.
Maral Kalajian
Maral, also known as, ‘Maral from Twitter’, ‘Powerhouse’, ‘energy pack’ or ‘Curly’ is one of the most familiar faces in the Nordic tech scene. Maral is the CMO at Watty, one of the hottest startups in Europe. She is also the co-founder of Peppy Pals, an active ambassador for diversity in tech. Former StartupGrind chapter director and SUP46 Femtech co-organizer.
Connie Merritt
Connie Merritt, BSN, RN, PHN, has more than 25 years experience of speaking nationally with leading companies, organizations, and associations in Business and Healthcare industries.
Chris Burry
Chris is a serial entrepreneur with global experience. Since 2010, he has focused on bringing the lessons of Silicon Valley to entrepreneurs around the world. He is the co-founder of the US Market Access Center and the A3 Global Collider. Through USMAC, Chris has trained and mentored more than 1,000 startups from 25+ countries.
Bob Woodward
No one else in political investigative journalism has the clout, respect, and reputation of Bob Woodward. He has a way of getting insiders to open up in ways that reveal an intimate yet sweeping portrayal of Washington and the political infighting, how we fight wars, the price of politics, how presidents lead, the homeland security efforts, and so much more.
Barry Posner
Barry Posner has received countless awards and has been ranked among the most recognized and influential Leadership Coaches, Most Influential HR thinkers, and among the top Leadership and Management Experts in the world.
Mark Coopersmith
Mark Coopersmith is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, and educator. Mark has mentored hundreds of startup teams which have launched groundbreaking new ventures in sectors as varied as web services, consumer electronics, medical devices, internet-of-things, education, cleantech, fintech, and fashion.
Kunbi Tinuoye
Kunbi Tinuoye is an award-winning British-born journalist and broadcaster based in the United States. She is the founder of UrbanGeekz, a groundbreaking video-centric African-American, Latinx, and multicultural digital news platform focused on technology, science, business, and startups.
Polly LaBarre
Polly LaBarre arms leaders with a Maverick Manual to hack the status quo and ramp up originality, invention and game-changing disruption. Co-author of Mavericks at Work and founding team member of Fast Company magazine, Polly is co-founder of Management Lab, the think-and-do tank where she consults with top global brands.
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Cathy Hackl
Cathy Hackl is an Emmy-nominated communicator turned virtual reality & augmented reality global speaker, producer, and futurist. Hackl has been featured in media outlets like Mic, CNN, Silicon Beat, Entrepreneur, CMO.com, Forbes, VentureBeat, and Mashable. She is a global advisor for VR AR Association and a leading voice in the VR AR marketing space.
Kimberly Lewis
Kimberly Lewis is the co-founder of CurlMix, a clean beauty brand for curly hair. Her innovative take on clean beauty hair products has won her praise from top industry publications. Kimberly now shares her journey into entrepreneurship, balancing motherhood, and how to scale your beauty brand.
Antonio Altamirano
Antonio pioneered the adoption of early social media platforms at Fortune 500 companies and managed the integration of emerging technologies. Currently, he is co-founder of Tangelo Technologies, a Venture Studio and Innovation Lab in Silicon Valley where he believes that technology can and must contribute to society in positive, ethical, equitable, and scalable ways.
Ugwem Eneyo
Ugwem Eneyo is co-founder and CEO of Solstice Energy Solutions, specializing in the use of IoT for remote energy monitoring and control technologies. Ugwem’s Nigerian heritage created a strong passion for addressing the challenges and opportunities across the African continent and focusing her research on the nexus of energy, environment, and infrastructure in Nigeria.
Rachel Cook
Rachel Cook is the founder and CEO of Seeds, the easiest way to ask the blockchain for help and receive it as a monetary gift – no strings attached. Rachel wants to transcend the broken parts of capitalism, rendering the gatekeepers obsolete.
Lolita Taub
Lolita Taub is a 2-time TEDx Speaker, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, an enterprise tech professional and an early-stage tech investor. She has a decade-long operator career in B2B Enterprise Tech, Startups, and Early-Stage Venture Capital. Lolita’s interests lie in the creation and commercialization of tech through venture capital.
Andrea Barrica
Andrea Barrica is CEO and Co-founder of O.school, a judgment-free multimedia platform to learn about sexuality and pleasure. Previously, Andrea co-founded accounting and tax platform, inDinero.com, where she led sales and operations. She also served as a venture partner and entrepreneur-in-residence at 500 Startups.
Rebecca Altamirano
Rebecca Altamirano has dedicated her professional life to working within underrepresented communities to open up access to the culture of power. Her professional path has given her deep hands-on experience on working with the underserved and underrepresented. Many of these experiences she has shared as a co-author of “Be The Change: Reinventing Schools for Student Success”
Emily Best
Emily Best is the founder and CEO of Seed&Spark, an online crowdfunding and subscription streaming platform for content that emphasizes diversity and inclusion. An advocate for diversity and inclusion in the entertainment industry, Best regularly speaks at conferences and events about building equity and sustainability for everyone.
Sky Kelley
Sky Kelley is the founder & CEO of Avisare, an enterprise software marketplace simplifying the government RFP process to foster an inclusive ecosystem for small businesses. Sky found a need to help non-technology companies use technology to innovate their products and services. Her focus is on making technology simple and user-friendly with the ability to grow the bottom line.
Dan Walters
Dan Walters has been a journalist for nearly 60 years and has written about California and its politics for a number of publications, including the Sacramento Bee and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Walters frequently appears on CNN, Fox, and other networks, commenting about political developments in California.
Travis Stiles
Dr. Travis Stiles is the founder of Novoron Bioscience, which is developing therapeutics to reverse damage of the brain and spinal cord. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Dr. Stiles is a passionate advocate for diversity, equality, science and informed solutions to the world’s problems and speaks across the spectrum from innovators to policymakers to encourage the ideas and policies that will shape the future.
Sheena Allen
Sheena Allen is the founder of Capway, a neobank for those who do not fit into the traditional banking system, and Sheena Allen Apps, a successful media tech company. Born in Terry, Mississippi, Sheena travels the world speaking on the importance of inclusion in tech and entrepreneurship. Sheena has been featured in various publications and most recently was part of the Forbes 30 under 30 for 2019.
Heidi Connal
Heidi Connal is a seasoned technology executive with over twenty years of experience building collaborative, compassionate, and high performing individuals and teams. Heidi is known for her strategic expertise in large global enterprises, most recently as an executive at Salesforce.
Jonas Koffler
Jonas Koffler is the New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling coauthor of HUSTLE: The Power to Charge Your Life with Money, Meaning, and Momentum (Rodale, Penguin Random House Books), which Fortune called “a must-read.” It has been published in more than 10 countries. Having recovered from a stroke in his 20s, Jonas is a leading voice in enhancing human potential around how we work, live, learn, and play.
Leah La Salla
Leah La Salla is the Technical Founder & CEO of award-winning Astral AR, a technology startup building drones that stop bullets and save lives. As an inventor, she is best known for “hacking NASA” with a toaster (a toaster-sized neuromechanical unmanned aerial vehicle, that is!). La Salla gained a decade of experience in software engineering while teaching herself to program in an additional 9 languages becoming a polyglot software architect.
Andrea Guendelman
Andrea Guendelman is the founder and force behind BeVisible, the first career social media platform for Latinx. Andrea founded BeVisible after her own experiences as a Harvard-trained corporate lawyer and an entrepreneur. Andrea is considered a thought leader in the topics of Latinx career building and creating diverse workforces.
Harold Hughes
Harold Hughes is the founder & CEO of Bandwagon – an analytics and identity management company that uses Blockchain technology to help teams & entertainers create more personalized fan experiences while eliminating ticket fraud. He has become a leader in the growing startup community in Greenville, South Carolina, speaking with entrepreneurs, youth, and his peers.
Mandy Antoniacci
Mandy Antoniacci’s insatiable quest for transforming the way people see the world has made her a sought-after voice of social change for this generation. Her body of work — exploring the power in seeing the unseen — has earned her global attention and exclusive discussions with elite social leaders and sports figures around the world.
Amiah Sheppard
Amiah Sheppard is a perpetual learner who currently is the Director of Backstage Accelerator LA. In venture capital, she daily examines the myriad ways founders harness, strategize, and utilize their unique socio-cultural location to get to their desired outcome.
Morgen Bromell
Morgen Bromell is a founder and technologist working to make tech more accessible to people of color through justice-based initiatives and tech activism. Apart from being the founder of Thurst, a dating app for the LGBTQIA+ community, they are also deeply invested in community building and documenting queer histories, particularly how queer and trans people use digital resources and online platforms to navigate our world.
Dawn Dickson
Dawn Dickson is a serial entrepreneur with over 16 years of experience in marketing and business development. She is currently the Founder & CEO of PopCom, an automated retail company that uses facial recognition, A.I, and blockchain technology to help retailers collect valuable customer insights.
Melinda Briana Epler
Melinda Briana Epler has over 25 years of experience developing business innovation and inclusion strategies for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and global NGOs. As CEO of Change Catalyst, Melinda works with the tech industry to solve diversity and inclusion together. Using her background in storytelling and large-scale culture change, she is a strategic advisor for tech companies, tech hubs, and governments around the world.
Tara Matamoros Carter
Tara Carter is a highly driven COO/Partner at Tangelo and a Partner at Backstage Capital, providing full circle guidance to startups and larger. She has over 25 years of experience in mentoring, growing and advising startups, investor relations, omni-channel marketing, business strategy, deep technology, and product development, diversity and inclusion, predictive analytics, data visualization, business intelligence, and activism.
Jessica Brown
Jessica Brown leads the digital design team as Director of UX at VICE Media, where she focuses on showcasing VICE’s distinct storytelling on mobile, web, and TV apps. Jessica speaks on executing redesigns at scale and common philosophies and practices guiding creative people of all disciplines. She has established design and research practices that brought users’ stories to the heart of the product.
Andrew Dunn
Andrew Dunn is on a mission to elevate the human condition by intentionally shaping technology to serve as an agent of flourishing individuals, institutions, and societies. As CEO of Siempo, he helps people build healthier relationships with technology through the first smartphone interface designed to support mental health and wellbeing.
Stephanie Cummings
Stephanie Cummings is the founder of Please Assist Me, an all-inclusive home management app. She is an experienced entrepreneur, business leader, and philanthropist, priding herself in being a minority tech founder promoting the importance of STEM education.
James Norman
James Norman is a serial entrepreneur who at the age of 16 built his first online company. While previously he may have been known as a visionary in automotive product planning, over the past 10 years in the media and entertainment industry, he has become a thought leader in over-the-top media and consumer video consumption behaviors.
Mike Brown
Mike Brown, a pro-athlete turned self-taught coder, transitioned from tackling to tech and went on to be the founder and CEO of Win-Win, a platform powered by gaming and giving. Win-Win enables pro athletes and influencers to monetize their fanbase and help brands engage with end consumers.
Peg Fitzpatrick
Peg Fitzpatrick is social media strategist, popular blogger, and co-author of The Art Of Social Media with Guy Kawasaki. Peg has spearheaded successful social-media campaigns for Audi, Google, and Virgin as well as having been a brand ambassador for Kimpton Hotels, T.J.Maxx, and Adobe.
Max Lenderman
Max Lenderman is currently CEO/CCO of School, a purpose-led creative consultancy that specializes in human-centric media, articulating purpose in brands and creating the content and tools to show it to the world. He is one of the world’s most respected, cited, and followed leaders on experiential advertising, brand activation, and purpose-focused marketing trends.
Joseph Prabhakar
Joseph is a thought leader in business agility and uses that expertise to motivate his audience to think of breakthrough ideas in their industries. Integrating startups with legacy corporations, running technology operations for the world’s largest payment processor, building a nationwide franchise organization has given Joseph the breadth and depth required of any executive.
Christie Pitts
Christie Pitts is an inventor and early-stage investor at Backstage Capital and co-founder of Backstage Studio, currently leading Backstage’s global Accelerator program. She identified a passion for working with early-stage companies while working as Venture Development Manager at Verizon.
Thomas Koulopoulos
Tom Koulopoulos is acknowledged as one of the industry’s leading futurists. He is the author of ten books and founder of Delphi Group, a 25-year-old Boston-based think tank, which was named one of the fastest growing private companies in the US by Inc. Magazine.
Ted Ma
Ted Ma is a leadership development expert. As an entrepreneur, he built an international sales team of over 6,000 agents, had been featured in Success From Home magazine and helps organizations develop high-performance leaders and create a collaborative team culture.
Connie Merritt
Connie Merritt, BSN, RN, PHN, has more than 25 years experience of speaking nationally with leading companies, organizations, and associations in Business and Healthcare industries.
Nicholas Webb
Nicholas Webb is one of the world’s top innovation strategists and futurists. As a professor, successful inventor, bestselling author and world-renowned innovation strategist, Nicholas brings the perfect pedigree and the best research to each and every one of his customized talks on the future, innovation, business, and healthcare.
Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis
Anastasia Tarpeh-Ellis is the Managing Director for Backstage Los Angeles for the recently announced Backstage Accelerator. She is passionate about empowering others, creating genuine connections, and striving towards financial independence through entrepreneurship. She co-founded bosa, a wellness and productivity app that enables consultants to provide the highest level of service to their clients.
Janine Shepherd
Janine Shepherd is an inspirational speaker and writer whose books have become classics in the survivor genre. A champion cross-country skier in training for the 1988 winter Olympics, Janine’s life changed forever when she was hit by a truck during a bicycle training ride in the Blue Mountains of Australia.
Katica Roy
Katica Roy is an ambassador for gender equity in the workplace and beyond. She is a gender economist and the CEO and founder of Denver-based Pipeline, an award-winning SaaS platform that leverages artificial intelligence to drive economic gains through closing the gender equity gap.
Barry Posner
Barry Posner has received countless awards and has been ranked among the most recognized and influential Leadership Coaches, Most Influential HR thinkers, and among the top Leadership and Management Experts in the world.
Bill Reichert
Bill Reichert is co-founder and Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, a well-known seed and early-stage venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Bill travels around the world giving presentations and workshops on innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital, and technology trends.
Chris Burry
Chris is a serial entrepreneur with global experience. Since 2010, he has focused on bringing the lessons of Silicon Valley to entrepreneurs around the world. He is the co-founder of the US Market Access Center and the A3 Global Collider. Through USMAC, Chris has trained and mentored more than 1,000 startups from 25+ countries.
Mike Evans
Mike has developed a unique perspective from 20+ years working alongside world-renowned thought leaders. He is a leading authority on unleashing personal and organizational accountability. Clients rely upon Mike’s solutions to accelerate change, shape their optimal culture, flawlessly execute key strategies, ignite leadership capacity at all Levels, amplify employee engagement, and cultivate peak performance.
Scott Zimmer
Scott Zimmer has developed a uniquely personable style and uses insight, humor, and data to foster an environment where every generation feels valued and understood.
Jared Weiner
Jared is Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. His work is industry-agnostic, and covers trend activity in the realms of science & technology, economics, politics, demographics and environmental issues.
Bob Woodward
No one else in political investigative journalism has the clout, respect, and reputation of Bob Woodward. He has a way of getting insiders to open up in ways that reveal an intimate yet sweeping portrayal of Washington and the political infighting, how we fight wars, the price of politics, how presidents lead, the homeland security efforts, and so much more.
Katty Kay
Washington, D.C.-based British news anchor Katty Kay brings a fresh perspective to the reporting of American politics and global affairs. Katty’s insights reflect a global mindset that is a natural offshoot of having grown up in the Middle East and worked as a journalist in Europe, Africa, and Asia before coming to Washington in 1996.
Erica Orange
Erica Orange is Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of The Future Hunters, one of the world’s leading futurist consulting firms. She evaluates emerging social, technological, economic, political, demographic and environmental trends – and identifies the strategic implications of those trends for several of the most influential Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, and public sector clients.
Kunbi Tinuoye
Kunbi Tinuoye is an award-winning British-born journalist and broadcaster based in the United States. She is the founder of UrbanGeekz, a groundbreaking video-centric African-American, Latinx, and multicultural digital news platform focused on technology, science, business, and startups.
Aaron Grove
Aaron’s work is a melting pot of things he loves: creative thinking, strategy, inspiration, nutrition and exercise, mastery of mind, body and spirit as well as helping others with life coaching. The blend of these is the cement he works with when he helps companies and organizations shape their ideas into action.
Maral Kalajian
Maral, also known as, ‘Maral from Twitter’, ‘Powerhouse’, ‘energy pack’ or ‘Curly’ is one of the most familiar faces in the Nordic tech scene. Maral is the CMO at Watty, one of the hottest startups in Europe. She is also the co-founder of Peppy Pals, an active ambassador for diversity in tech. Former StartupGrind chapter director and SUP46 Femtech co-organizer.
Guy Kawasaki
Guy Kawasaki is a bestselling author, former chief evangelist of Apple, and a former trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. Today, he is the chief evangelist of Canva (an online graphic design tool), brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz, and is also an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley).
Phil Gwoke
As an internationally recognized speaker, Phil has shared his wisdom and inspired audiences in 40 different states and four continents to over 100,000 people. He is a firm believer that with the proper motivation, training, and support system, members of any generation can become capable of remarkable accomplishments.
Victoria Labalme
With over 20 years in the Performing Arts – from Broadway to comedy clubs to high-profile television to commercials including a Super Bowl spot – Victoria Labalme helps people perform at their highest levels by awakening their hidden genius.
Keith Ferrazzi
Keith Ferrazzi, founder and chairman of Ferrazzi Greenlight, has spent over a decade addressing the behaviors that block global organizations from reaching strategic goals and transforming them into new habits that increase shareholder value.
Pierre Khawand
Pierre Khawand has more than twenty years of experience in the software industry. He has helped leaders develop the awareness and behaviors needed to focus on results and develop people in the midst of the information overload.
Roger Haskett
Roger Haskett helps to make meetings, organizations, and individuals be more engaging. In his award winning career as a speaker, actor, emcee and entrepreneur, Roger developed a unique formula for maximizing audience engagement and influencing employees, members, participants, and everyone he meets to be more engaged and authentic individuals.
Kimberly Seals Allers
Kimberly Seals Allers is an award-winning journalist, author of five books, international speaker, strategist, and advocate for maternal and infant health. A former senior editor at Essence and writer at Fortune magazine, Kimberly is a leading commentator on birth, breastfeeding and motherhood and the intersection of race, policy, and culture.
Denise Lee Yohn
Denise Lee Yohn is the go-to expert on brand leadership for national media outlets, an in-demand speaker and consultant, and an influential writer, authoring the bestselling book What Great Brands Do: The Seven Brand-Building Principles that Separate the Best from the Rest.
Chris Baréz-Brown
Chris is a master of transformation. His unique energetic approach challenges businesses to embed a dynamic creative culture within their company ethos. Brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Unilever, Sony, and WPP come back time and again as his results produce tangible returns on investment.
Jim Harris
Jim Harris is one of North America’s foremost thought leaders, management consultants, and authors on disruptive innovation. With 20 years experience as a professional speaker and consultant, Jim Harris speaks internationally at more than 40 conferences a year on and is ranked as one of the nation’s top ten speakers by Association magazine.
Geoff Colvin
As Fortune magazine’s senior editor-at-large, Geoff Colvin is now in his fourth decade at Fortune. He is one of business journalism’s sharpest and most respected commentators on leadership, management, globalization, government regulation, corporate governance, competition, the economy, the InfoTech revolution, human performance and related issues.
Vish Chatterji
Vish Chatterji is an accomplished business leader turned executive coach with a twenty-year business track record spanning multiple industries. In parallel, he has studied and practiced yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda (mind-body medicine). Vish coaches business leaders enabling more of their greatness to show up at work.
Yelitsa Jean-Charles
Yelitsa Jean-Charles founded Healthy Roots in 2015 after recognizing a need for more diverse toys and representation in children’s publishing. She has been recognized as Essence’s 50 Founders to watch and frequently speaks about entrepreneurship, social justice, and cultural competency.
Ranbir Puar
TEDx Speaker, writer, and life coach Ranbir Puar helps adults and children break free of their limiting beliefs by providing the tools to tap into their inner strength and silence their inner critics.
Linda Nazareth
Linda Nazareth is an economist, a futurist and a respected authority on the future of work. As a newspaper columnist and an author, she knows how to frame things in ways that both educate and entertain, and as the Senior Fellow for Economics and Population Change at think-tank the Macdonald Laurier Institute she knows what she is talking about.
Dave Knox
As a brand marketer, venture investor, and startup advisor, Dave Knox bridges the worlds of the Fortune 500 and entrepreneurship and is widely recognized as an industry thought leader.
Mark DeVolder
Three-time Top 25 Speaker Award recipient, change-consultant for the NASA Space Shuttle Program and transition-advisor for $50 billion mergers and acquisitions, Mark DeVolder distinguishes himself as a change management specialist and is one of today’s original thinkers on transitions.
Ayinde Alakoye
Ayinde Alakoye is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of nēdl, his third live broadcast radio streaming venture. Ayinde was also the creator of the original iheartradio app served as a Speechwriter, Staffer, and Senior Message Advisor for Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, during both elections.
Scott McArthur
Scott offers an unusual mix of experience, having worked as a research scientist, HR director, business consultant, rock musical producer, writer, keynote and TEDx speaker. His delivery style, which he has developed across the sectors in over 20 years, is humorous, well-crafted, inspiring and direct.
Erin Sarofsky
Erin Sarofsky is the Founder and Executive Creative Director of Sarofsky, her own design-driven production studio. Her work with a Who’s Who list of top-level marketing and entertainment industry executives has her collaborating on main titles for the Marvel blockbusters, among others.
Kwame Anku
Kwame Anku is the CEO and Chairman of the Black Star Fund, an early-stage innovation fund. Kwame has worked extensively in business development and media marketing for over two decades, entering into the tech industry after being personally recruited by the late legendary rock star Prince to develop his mobile app, overseeing business and development teams on Africa, Asia, and the US.
Lawrence Cunningham
Lawrence Cunningham, a leading authority on corporate culture and governance, is well-known for his distinctive expertise about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. This dates to the 1996 publication of his worldwide best-selling book in collaboration with Mr. Buffett, The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, which has sold a half-million copies.
Bruce Himelstein
Bruce Himelstein is the Ritz-Carlton executive who transformed customer service for one of the world’s most recognizable luxury brands. He is credited with leading some of the travel and hospitality industry’s most prestigious domestic and global brands during a 30+ year illustrious career setting the global standards in hospitality, marketing, and C-level executive management.
Roderick Jefferson
For over twenty years, Roderick, has built award-winning sales enablement organizations within some of the world’s most successful Fortune 1,000 companies. Roderick has won numerous awards including being selected as the 2015 Sales On-boarding Program of the Year by SiriusDecisions.
Sarita Maybin
Sarita Maybin is an international communication expert, keynote, and motivational speaker whose audiences have fun learning how to stay positive, constructively confront tough communication situations, and work together better.
Greg Schwem
Greg Schwem is more than just a business humor keynote speaker and sought after corporate emcee, Greg is also an author, nationally syndicated humor columnist for the Chicago Tribune, award-winning greeting card writer and creator of funnydadinc, voted one of the top Dad humor sites of 2016.
Mara Liasson
As the national political correspondent for NPR, Mara Liasson’s voice is unmistakable and her words memorable. Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR’s award-winning newsmagazines All Things Considered and Morning Edition.
Polly LaBarre
Polly LaBarre arms leaders with a Maverick Manual to hack the status quo and ramp up originality, invention and game-changing disruption. Co-author of Mavericks at Work and founding team member of Fast Company magazine, Polly is co-founder of Management Lab, the think-and-do tank where she consults with top global brands.
Rodney Sampson
Rodney Sampson, of Opportunity Hub, is heralded as the leading inclusive startup ecosystem builder and is passionate about reducing poverty and wealth gap by advancing the cause of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and investment as a way of life for all, with an emphasis on socially disadvantaged and under-estimated and sponsored communities in America and beyond.
Leroy Chiao
Dr. Chiao began his professional career as a chemical engineer, and his passion for space exploration led him to NASA. Following a stellar 15-year astronaut career, he moved on to leadership positions in entrepreneurial startups, applying his space experience to the business world.
Carmen Gentile
Carmen Gentile is a veteran journalist who has covered the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and numerous bouts of unrest throughout the world. He was seriously injured while reporting in Afghanistan, an experience he chronicles in his book “Blindsided by the Taliban.”
Carrie Kerpen
Carrie Kerpen an author, columnist, host of the popular podcast “All the Social Ladies”, and the co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, a digital agency that was named Crain’s sixth Best Place to Work in NYC.
Paul Armstrong
Paul Armstrong is an in-demand speaker on emerging technologies, social technologies and strategy, and regularly advises brands like Coca-Cola, Experian, Sony Music, P&G, PwC and several technology start-ups. He writes a column for Forbes and also advises the UK Government on digital strategy.
Matt Mayberry
Matt Mayberry, a former NFL linebacker for the Chicago Bears, is currently one of the most-read columnists for Entrepreneur Magazine, as well as an acclaimed keynote speaker, author, and peak-performance strategist. Using a real-world approach, He specializes in maximizing the performance of organizations, teams, and individuals all over the world.
Bill Taylor
Bill Taylor shows business leaders a path to go from now to next in a world filled with nonstop disruption. As a young entrepreneur, Bill co-founded Fast Company, the bold business magazine that redefined the genre and chronicled the tech-fueled revolution that transformed business and work.
David Meerman Scott
David Meerman Scott helps companies and organizations generate attention and grow business in a real-time world. He spotted the online content revolution in its infancy and wrote five books about it including The New Rules of Marketing & PR, the definitive book on the topic, translated into 29 languages. David’s ideas have captured the attention of respected firms and organizations all over the world – having spoken in over 40 countries and on all seven continents.
Jeff Butler
Jeff Butler is a speaker, author, and international consultant who helps organizations improve their relationships with millennial employees. Unlike other experts on millennials, Jeff has been in the trenches of what it means to be a millennial and what it takes to retain and keep them engaged. You may have seen him on Forbes, USA Weekly, or on the TED stage.
Chris Bertish
International Inspirational Speaker; Big Wave Surfing Mavericks Champion; Stand-Up Paddleboarding Guinness World Record Holder; Chris Bertish shifts boundaries, shatters perceptions and achieves what most people perceive impossible.
Jones Loflin
Jones Loflin equips individuals and organizations with real tools to conquer today’s tsunami of work and life challenges. Jones’ innovative solutions on leadership, change, and time management have attracted the attention of organizations around the world.
Mark Coopersmith
Mark Coopersmith is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, Fortune 500 executive, and educator. Mark has mentored hundreds of startup teams which have launched groundbreaking new ventures in sectors as varied as web services, consumer electronics, medical devices, internet-of-things, education, cleantech, fintech, and fashion.
Kati Schmidt
As an early former employee of Airbnb, Kati Schmidt worked on launching and scaling Airbnb’s operations in Europe, starting Airbnb’s public policy efforts globally and launching Airbnb Experiences. Kati is passionate about female entrepreneurship, immigration, and the transatlantic relationship.
Shawn DuBravac
Acclaimed global futurist, trendcaster, and best-selling author Dr. Shawn DuBravac sits at the nexus between innovation and disruption. DuBravac delivers pragmatic and provocative insights into the trends, technologies, and paradigms transforming business and society along with actionable strategies organizations in every industry can apply.
Brad Montgomery
Brad Montgomery teaches people how to use happiness to boost productivity, creativity, innovation, and profits. He specializes in using humor, interactivity, music, and visuals to ignite audiences so that they can use happiness as a tool to improve their lives and their jobs.
Arlan Hamilton
Arlan Hamilton is a remarkable entrepreneur who built a venture capital fund from the ground up, while homeless. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Backstage Capital, a VC firm dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women, and/or LGBT.
John Sitilides
John Sitilides, a Washington D.C. government affairs specialist and diplomacy consultant to the U.S. Department of State, shares his insights into the U.S. and global risk trends, international security flashpoints and geopolitical strategies. He explores the complex geopolitical decisions that impact markets in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, helping clients better understand and mitigate risk.
Dave Kerpen
Dave is a serial entrepreneur, New York Times bestselling author, and global keynote speaker. He is the Founder and CEO of Likeable Local, a social media software company serving thousands of small businesses, as well as the chairman and co-founder of Likeable Media, an award-winning social media and word-of-mouth marketing agency for big brands.
Col. Nicole Malachowski
Col. Nicole Malachowski (USAF, Ret.) defies stereotypes. She was a jet fighter pilot, a combat veteran, and the first woman pilot on the Thunderbirds Air Demonstration Squadron. But her distinguished 21-year Air Force career came to an end when a devastating tick-borne illness left her unable to speak or walk for ten months leaving Nicole’s indomitable spirit to fight back against overwhelming odds and prevail.
Marilyn Sherman
Marilyn Sherman is dedicated to training people to let go of obstacles and live and work with courage, commitment, and confidence. For the last 22 years, she has motivated audiences all over the country, and internationally with topics about hope, inspiration, and practical tools to implement immediately.
