Rachel founded Ascend Employee Wellness to provide professional consultancy services which enhance businesses’ ability to attract and retain staff, and connect with diverse customers. Her vision is to inspire greater authenticity, vitality, and collaboration within business communities. Because of Rachel's unique educational and work history, she excels at delivering services and programs that inspire and enthuse employees to lead more productive, positive lifestyles.

Rachel is a Human Resources professional with over 10 years of experience in nonprofit, healthcare, and university settings. Her experience includes Human Resources program development, recruiting, staff education, and management consulting. She has a Master of Divinity degree from Marylhurst University where her studies focused on counseling and world religions.

Follow Rachel on Twitter @jayaradheshyam.

Scott Burrows is living proof your life can change in an instant. By the age of 19, he was playing college football at Florida State University as a wide receiver and a top-ranked kick-boxing champion, with his last fight broadcast by ESPN. On November 3, 1984, Scott’s life took a dramatic and irreversible turn. He was involved in a serious automobile accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down and diagnosed a quadriplegic.  

Despite his grim diagnosis, Scott refused to be sidelined. He made the decision to take action, to focus on the positives of the experience as opposed to dwelling on the obvious and overwhelming negatives. With the tremendous clarity provided by his singular focus, Scott resolved to thrive in his life by using three principles:  

• Vision helped him see complete success in his mind’s eye first.
• Using Mindset, he let go of the past and focused 100% on what he could control.

• With Grit, he determined to take action and persevere until he succeeded.  

Scott’s application of these innovative concepts boosted and enhanced his recovery, and he achieved results that astonished doctors, therapists, family and friends alike. After graduating from college, he qualified for the Million Dollar Round Table in the insurance and financial industry, a 100% commission-driven award achieved by fewer than 8% of agents worldwide. He also developed into a wheelchair athlete and became a best-selling author with his book, Vision Mindset Grit: How to Stand Up When Life Paralyzes You. Employing his paralysis as a visual metaphor, Scott encourages his audiences to stand up to their challenges—regardless of circumstances—using the dynamic principles of Vision, Mindset and Grit. His presentations are inspirational, focused and enthusiastically received. Scott has presented to hundreds of associations and corporations in the U.S. and around the globe. He has also shared the stage with iconic celebrities such as Rudolph Giuliani, Terry Bradshaw and Neil Armstrong. Speaking to more than 100,000 people a year, he influences the lives of millions as well through his keynote speeches, books, CDs and DVDs.

Dr. Marie Harper holds a master’s in instructional systems from Pennsylvania State University, and a doctorate of business from Capella University. She is the Program Director of the Management program at American Public University. Her experience is in the areas of human resources, instructional design, online learning, management, and more. Some of the organizations that she has been active and held leadership positions include: Society for Human Resource Management, Organizational Development Network, Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs, Students in Free Enterprise, and Delta Mu Delta.

Michelle Maldonado is a former corporate attorney turned business professional with 17 years of leadership experience in new business development, strategic planning, and operations across the e-learning, online media and entertainment, and legal industries. She is the creator and editor of The Authentic Leadership Series and serves as Associate Vice President of Corporate and Strategic Relationships for American Public University. Michelle is passionate about the topic of leadership authenticity and its convergence with emotional intelligence, mindfulness and other “conscious leadership” practices that help build successful and sustainable organizations. Michelle’s work has been featured in Chief Learning Officer, Human Capital Insights, Leadership Excellence, and Training magazines as well as through conference and client presentations around the country.