John Austin is the P.D. Merrill Endowed Chair and Dean of the newly formed Honors College at University of New England. He also works with organizations around the world to improve the foresight skills of their leaders and future proof strategies and initiatives. Dr. Austin holds a BA in economics from The Johns Hopkins University and a PhD in management from Boston College. He is the author of Unquestioned Brilliance: Navigating a Fundamental Leadership Trap and Leading Effective Change: A Primer for the HR Professional published as part of the SHRM Foundation’s Effective Practice Guidelines Series. 

Randy Pennington helps leaders deliver positive results in a world of accelerating uncertainty and change. His clients include many of world’s best-managed companies, associations, government agencies, and universities. Additionally, Randy serves as an adjunct instructor in the Cox Business Leadership Center at Southern Methodist University.

Randy is author of three books: Make Change Work, Results Rule!; and On My Honor, I Will . His ideas have been featured in leading media outlets including CNN, PBS, Fox News, ABC Radio Network, the BBC, Fast Company, and The New York Times. He is a contributor to CIO.com and the Huffington Post.

Clint Swindall is the president and CEO of Verbalocity, Inc., a personal development company with a focus on leadership enhancement. These solutions include leadership development programs, training, speaking and general consulting.

As a professional speaker, Clint Swindall travels the world delivering high-content speeches and training in an entertaining and inspirational style to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and trade associations.

Clint enjoys the challenge of enhancing employee engagement for his clients by delivering programs based on his book entitled Engaged Leadership: Building a Culture to Overcome Employee Disengagement (John Wiley & Sons, 2007). He recognizes that a culture of employee engagement is a two-way road, and that true engagement comes when leaders and employees are both doing their part. In addition to working with leaders to build a culture to overcome employee disengagement, Clint addresses the employee’s role in his follow-up book entitled Living for the Weekday: What Every Employee and Boss Needs to Know about Enjoying Work and Life (John Wiley & Sons, 2010).

Follow Clint on Twitter @ClintSwindall.

Brad is the Founder and CEO of JB Training Solutions. An accomplished public speaker and executive coach, Brad has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and Dr. Phil, and has been quoted in: The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fortune, and USA Today. Brad is also the author of three business books including the critically acclaimed Manager 3.0: A Millennial’s Guide to Rewriting the Rules of Management, which you can read in Mandarin (assuming you can read Mandarin).

Prior to creating JB, Brad spent 15 years at advertising agency Leo Burnett in Chicago. Today, Brad presents for major organizations including Eli Lilly, Securitas, Top Tier Capital Partners, and Saint Laurent. When he’s not enjoying a robust buffet, you can find Brad playing racquetball or drafting the perfect fantasy football roster. Brad is left-handed.

Jason Barger is committed to engaging the minds and hearts of people. He is the globally celebrated author of Thermostat Cultures, Step Back from the Baggage Claim and ReMember as well as a coveted dynamic keynote speaker around the world. As founder of Step Back Leadership Consulting, he partners with organizations to strengthen leadership development, culture-shaping, and clarity of mission, vision and values. He has added value to global brands like Nationwide Insurance, Wendy’s, Ultimate Software, Deloitte, TEDx and across industries from corporate america to government to education to healthcare. Learn more at JasonVBarger.com @jasonvbarger

Avish Parashar is the world's only “Motivational Improviser.” He works with groups that want their people to be more flexible and with organizations who want to increase innovation. Avish uses his 20+ years of experience performing, teaching, and studying improv comedy to show organizations and individuals how to improvise, adapt and innovate in an ever-changing world. He specializes in helping professionals access and develop their creativity and apply those skills to think quickly and deal with change.

Avish grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, and now makes his home in Philadelphia, PA. Though he performed all through high-school, he decided to stop performing when he went to college to “focus on his studies.” That resolve lasted only a few months, as the first time he saw an improv comedy show he fell in love. One week later he auditioned for the campus improv group, got in, and the rest is history. After graduating, he started Polywumpus Improv Comedy, which did regular performances in and around Philadelphia for 7 years. Avish closed up Polywumpus to focus on the speaking and training side of the business – using improv comedy as a tool to teach valuable business skills such as creativity, innovation and adaptability. Avish is the author of “Improvise to Success!” and the Amazon best-selling, “Say 'Yes, And!'”

With his quick wit and master story-telling ability, Dave Davlin captures an audience like no one else. Quickly building rapport, he is able to touch not only the intellect of the audience, but their hearts and souls as well. He shares principles concerning true success in life and business and challenges the audience to reach high and dig deep to discover their own form of greatness. From public school students to CEOs, Dave’s message has made a difference in the lives of thousands, and his impact continues to grow each year as he shares his philosophy and wisdom through speaking and writing.

Amy Freeman is Assistant Dean of Engineering Diversity at Pennsylvania State Universitity. She oversees all aspects of the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) and Women in Engineering Program (WEP) including planning, developing programs and funding, recruiting new minority and women engineering students, and working actively with current undergraduate and graduate students.

At the age of 36, the Navy selected Abrashoff to become Commander of USS Benfold - at the time, the most junior commanding officer in the Pacific Fleet. The immediate challenges that faced him were staggering: Exceptionally low morale with unacceptably high turnover. Few thought that this ship could improve. The solution was to establish a system of management techniques that he calls “The Leadership Roadmap” – a practice that empowers every individual to share the responsibility of achieving excellence. "It's your ship," he was known to say. His former sailors to this day still remind him of it. Regarded as the finest ship in the Pacific Fleet, Benfold won the prestigious Spokane Trophy for having the highest degree of combat readiness.

Prior to commanding USS Benfold, Abrashoff served as the Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, the Honorable Dr. William J. Perry. He also helped draft the air defense plan for naval forces in the Persian Gulf in 1990, coinciding with Iraq's invasion of Kuwait; and served as the Executive Officer of the Cruiser Shiloh, where he deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq.

Patricia A. Wise is a labor and employment lawyer at Niehaus Wise & Kalas Ltd and is certified by the Ohio State Bar Association as a specialist in that area of practice.  Patty has received Martindale-Hubbell's AV-Preeminent rating for her  legal ability and high ethical standards.  She represents clients of all sizes in a variety of businesses, industries, and professions and focuses her practice on the areas of:

Employment and Labor Law
Business Litigation and Banking
Civil Rights

Patty is a former senior vice president and in-house counsel for a billion dollar bank holding company and continues to serve many financial institution clients.  She is a frequent speaker for state banking associations and serves on the faculty of the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In addition to her legal practice, Patty has been a Visiting Professor or Adjunct Professor at The University of Toledo College of Law since 1999, teaching employment law as well as civil and political rights.  Patty trains and speaks extensively on employment law issues. She recently completed the third edition of her book, Understanding and Preventing Workplace Retaliation, published by the Thompson Publishing Group, Inc. and her article "Harassment in the Workplace:  Sexual, Racial and Religious Complaints," was published in the Thompson Publishing Group, Inc. in 2012.