One of the most captivating American heroes of our time, Captain 'Sully' Sullenberger’s preparation and leadership enabled him to safely guide US Airways Flight 1549 to an emergency landing in New York City’s frigid Hudson River—an inspirational and iconic moment in modern history. His incredible personal story is captured in Sully, a major motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Tom Hanks as Captain Sullenberger. In his speeches, Captain Sullenberger shares timeless management principles—including his credo of “leadership by personal example”—and the lessons from his life which prepared him to handle the unprecedented crisis presented by the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Stephen M. R. Covey is the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything, which has been translated into over 20 languages worldwide. He is co-author of the #1 Amazon bestseller Smart Trust: The Defining Skill that Transforms Managers into Leaders. Stephen brings to his writings the perspective of a practitioner, as he is the former President & CEO of Covey Leadership Center, which under his direction became the largest leadership development company in the world. A Harvard MBA, Stephen co-founded and leads FranklinCovey’s Global Speed of Trust Practice. He is a highly sought after international speaker, who has taught trust and leadership in over 50 countries to leaders and organizations from across the globe.

Starla Sampaco joins us again this year to serve as SHRM24's Main Stage host! She is a Filipino-American columnist, host, and international speaker with a background in TV news for Seattle's PBS Channel. She is a contributor to Forbes and Harvard Business Review, where she focuses on teaching women and people of color how to advocate for themselves in the workplace. She also leads keynotes for clients like Microsoft and AT&T. As an extension of this work, Starla taught graduate students as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington Communication Leadership Master's Program, where she developed a course on executive presence, public speaking, and communication strategy. Prior to anchoring for PBS, she covered Washington state politics as a legislative reporter and hosted a technology news show.