Sara Hart Weir, MS, is the President & CEO of the National Down Syndrome Society. A Kansas native, Weir’s passion of fighting for the human rights of all people with Down syndrome stems from her experience as a peer mentor and friend to a young woman with Down syndrome, Kasey, over two decades ago. As NDSS’ President, Weir oversees the organization’s mission, vision and administration, which is the largest nonprofit in the United States dedicated to advocating for people with Down syndrome and their families. Weir’s philosophy to effective advocacy is “to be at the table” and she works each day to ensure people with Down syndrome earn and are represented at every table where critical decisions are made – whether it’s the White House, the U.S. Congress, the United Nations or in state capitals across the country.

Under Weir’s leadership, NDSS led the bipartisan advocacy effort behind the passage of the landmark, historical Stephen Beck Jr. Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act in 2014, and the state advocacy effort to enact 48 state ABLE laws as well as played a significant role in working to launch over 20 state ABLE plans. The ABLE Act established tax-free savings accounts for people with Down syndrome and other disabilities and is hailed as the most significant legislation for the disability community since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Weir is also the co-founder of the ABLE Alliance for Financial Empowerment.

Weir spearheaded the launch of NDSS’ new #DSWORKS® Campaign, the first-of-its-kind campaign showing the world that people with Down syndrome are ready, willing and ABLE to work. She has also formed international partnerships with SAUT: The Voice of Down Syndrome in Saudi Arabia and Ukrainian Down Syndrome Organization. Weir also serves as a member of the National Task Group on Intellectual Disabilities and Dementia Practices, the National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability® and was appointed by former Governor Martin O’Malley to serve on the Maryland Commission for Effective Community Inclusion of Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Weir joined NDSS in 2012 as its Vice President of Advocacy & Affiliate Relations and established the NDSS DS-AMBASSADOR® program, the first-ever grassroots advocacy network for the Down syndrome community that encourages advocates of all kinds to speak up and speak out on issues of critical importance.

Weir has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Leadership from Westminster College and a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College. Weir has earned many honors including; Westminster College Senior of the Year, Winston Churchill Award for Leadership and Service, Coca-Cola Community All-American and was the recipient of the 2014 Westminster College Young Alumni Achievement Award. Weir also served on the Board of Trustees for her alma mater, Westminster College from 2012-2015, and is currently the President Emeritus of its Alumni Council. In 2014, Weir gave the 2014 Westminster Convocation Address highlighting her passion for NDSS and advocating for people with Down syndrome. Weir is an international expert and featured speaker on Down syndrome, advocacy, the ABLE Act and human rights for people with disabilities. Weir has been featured in USA Today, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Washington Post, CNN, Fox News, The Hill, Money Magazine, Al Jazeera and many others. In her spare time, you can find Weir deep into a new nonfiction book or at a SoulCycle or hot yoga class in Washington, D.C. or New York City.

Kayla McKeon is the Manager of Grassroots Advocacy for the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS) where she works to advance legislation beneficial to the Down syndrome community. Kayla gained experience working with Members of Congress as an intern for Congressman John Katko of New York. She was named NDSS Self-Advocate of the Year in 2016 and joined the NDSS staff the following year. As the first registered lobbyist with Down syndrome, Kayla is a spokesperson for NDSS and the Down syndrome community, participating in media and speaking publicly both nationally and internationally.  Kayla has an associate degree in general studies from Onondaga Community College.

Kayla resides in Syracuse, NY.  She is a Special Olympics athlete and former Special Olympics Athlete Congress member. In 2011, she competed in the Special Olympic World Games in Athens, Greece winning silver and bronze medals. In 2022, she competed in the Special Olympic USA Games in Orlando, Florida winning gold and bronze medals. Kayla is active in her church, is an avid reader, and loves swimming in her pool when the weather is warm.

Keiko Sakurai has expertise in team building, organizational development, executive coaching, management-skills training, and leadership development for multinational companies. She passionately supports individuals and teams to recognize their strengths and expand their abilities to the fullest extent possible. 

Ms. Sakurai holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business from the University of California, Berkeley, with a certificate in global management, as well as a BS in management from Hitotsubashi University in Japan. Ms. Sakurai has also completed coaching and leadership courses at the Coaches Training Institute in California. She maintains her CPA credentials and is Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® certified.

Zaheen Nanji is a resilience champion and a business owner in Alberta, Canada.  Embracing change and fear is Zaheen’s trademark because she overcame her speech impediment in her twenties, learned to live in a new country, at the age of 15, without her parents and is a recent breast cancer survivor. Her book, The Resilience Reflex - 8 Keys to Transforming Barriers into Success in Life and Business, became an International Best-Seller on Amazon Kindle. Zaheen teaches people how to make resilience their first reflex using her 3-step system: Release, Re-program and Resolve.

As an HR Visionary, Samm has spent the last decade passionately pursuing the missing elements for employee engagement within organizations. 

This path led her to studies in Classical Oriental Medicine, and now as a certified Medical Qigong Therapist (pronounced “chee-gong”), Samm brings both Western and Eastern perspectives on wellness into workplaces to heal burnout.  She’s discovered that energetic health is key to building thriving workplaces. 

Samm founded a workplace wellness center called the HRart Center (pronounced “heart”). Also the author of four books, her most recent book Workplace Healers dives into her latest work.

LaFern Batie, MBA works with leaders to help them maximize their potential through effective leadership, developing compelling strategies, excellent execution and creating the exceptional experience. As CEO of The Batie Group, a boutique management consulting firm, LaFern is committed to creating practical, high-impact organizational solutions.

With a strong corporate and civic leadership track record, the value LaFern provides to leaders – including small business, nonprofit and Fortune 500 executives – helps them deliver what they promise to their customers through people, processes, products and services. Clients value the results her business strategy, leadership consulting, corporate training and professional speaking competencies help them achieve. With accounting, operations and human resources experience, she is a visionary leader with high business acumen and a commitment to excellence.

In addition to extensive professional coach training, LaFern is a published author and professional speaker. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Salisbury University, Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Maryland and a leadership certificate from Harvard University. She holds the SHRM-Senior Certified Professional (SCP) and Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) designations.

Janine Driver is the CEO of the Body Language Institute, the NY Times Best-Selling author of YOU SAY MORE THAN YOU THINK and top business-seller YOU CAN’T LIE TO ME, an international trainer, an award-winning keynote speaker, and a retired ATF Investigator.

Janine spent over 16 years as a federal law enforcement officer within the Department of Justice and now shares her cunning people-reading skills with thousands who work in the field of executive leadership, law enforcement , finance, law, human resources and sales; as well as the ATF, FBI, CIA, and  DIA.

Janine attained rank #1 in the “Inspiration” category in the World’s Top 30 Body Language Professionals for 2017. In 2015, Janine was named one of the top twenty educational trendsetters in the meetings industry by Meetings Today magazine. Janine is a popular media guest on NBC’s TODAY Show, Harry Connick Jr’s show called HARRY, Steve Harvey Show, CNN Morning Show, and more. She has been quoted in publications, such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, Cosmopolitan and Psychology Today.

Janine’s corporate clients include companies such as Proctor & Gamble, Salesforce, ABA, Lockheed Martin, ADP, KRONOS, Charles Schwab, Prudential, Remax, and YPO.

FUN FACT: In the mid 90s while Janine worked as a Public Information Officer for ATF in NYC, in the World Trade Center, she did stand up comedy at night. She even opened for Robin Williams, Chris Rock, and Ray Romano at Stand Up New York Comedy Club.

As Owner of Evolve Global, she works primarily with Senior Leaders, High Potentials and Teams on: Leadership Development & Team Building. Heather is a Professional Member of the National Speakers Association and serves
on the Board of Directors as President-Elect for the Florida Speakers Association.

Using her expertise in behavioral analysis and executive alignment, Heather helps leaders grow their influence by developing others. As a professional speaker, she has mastered a practical and entertaining delivery methodology –
all of her program material is designed to inspire and motivate change. She gives each audience practical and actionable steps to apply each concept that she shares.

Heather’s guiding principle is to increase employee engagement and bottom line results through leadership development. She works with her clients to build their self-leadership; anticipate and embrace change; and to understand and adapt their behavioral style to improve communications and influence others to increase results.

Heather is also a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). The CSP designation is the highest earned specification that can be achieved by a member of the National Speakers Association or Global Speakers Federation Member
Associations.