Concurrent Session

Emily Gregory’s gift is to create for her audience a moment of self-discovery that leads to change.

Clients praise Emily for her nuanced mix of vitality and credibility. Emily’s depth of experience, academic background, and rigorous intellectual reasoning that provides the solid foundation for her message.

For 15 years, Emily led Crucial Learning teams including Product Development, Training and Consulting, Delivery Operations, and Sales.

Emily is also the coauthor of the New York Times bestseller Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High and travels the world speaking and presenting on the crucial skills for improving results and relationships.

Amy joined Microsoft in 1996 having completed her Master’s Degree in Human Resources and Development / Organizational Psychology. For the first 9 years of her career, she held various HR leadership roles in compensation, performance and talent management. Amy has led various HR teams and has been accountable for the successful planning and delivery of HR Programs and processes across multiple markets and geographies, demonstrating success in managing HR Programs in a complex, matrix, and global business environment. Today, she is the HR leader for a portfolio of complex global businesses that span across over 80 countries and ~5,000 employees.

Valerie helps companies improve their bottom line by elevating employees from tactical thinkers to strategic leaders.

She served in senior leadership roles at RollsRoyce Aircraft before helping to found InterActiveCorp, parent company to Expedia, Home Shopping Network and TicketMaster. She then went to work for Oprah Winfrey, helping to found the Oxygen channel which was later sold to NBC Universal.

Valerie obtained her mechanical engineering degree from Kettering University and her MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Val’s book, Clash of the Generations: Managing the New Workplace Reality, helps leaders manage multiple generations in the office.

Heather Christie is a Certified Executive & Leadership Coach, Professional Speaker and "Recovering Attorney". She has consulted with hundreds of companies and addressed thousands of people in her talks and workshops over the last 12 years.  Prior to founding her Leadership Coaching firm, Evolve Global, Heather was Partner in a prominent Chicago law firm where she practiced as an international lobbyist. She co-authored the book “Bootstrap Business”. Heather has been recognized nationally and globally as a leader in the executive coaching industry. She is President-Elect of the National Speakers Association South Florida Chapter. You can find her at www.HeatherChristie.com.

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.

Suz works with executives pressured to implement strategic growth and innovation initiatives. She helps them identify the best solutions, mobilize employees, engage customers, implement technology, and improve business results. The executives she works with benefit from success on the initiative at hand, as well as, enhanced personal capability to lead future success.

Suz has an extensive background in leading strategic initiatives that transform business success. She helps leaders maximize their personal, team, and organizational success. She is a big proponent of programs that leverage analytics, technology, and employee engagement to drive customer experiences that optimize profitable corporate results. This is a win-win-win approach for employees, customers, and shareholders/owners.

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.

Karlyn Borysenko, PhD is the force behind Zen Workplace. An organizational psychologist and executive/performance coach, she is a leader in integrating mindfulness strategies at work to increase productivity and creativity, reduce stress, and create better work experiences. Her practice is based in the greater Boston area and serves clients all over the world. She holds an MBA and a PhD in Psychology, is an experienced trainer and facilitator, coach, and award-winning speaker. She is the author of Zen Your Work: Create your ideal work experience through mindful self-mastery.

Gerry Valentine inspires people to build resilience—to overcome setbacks, to look at challenges in new ways, and to understand that adversity can become a source of resilience. Gerry’s a public speaker, executive coach, and business advisor with more than 25 years of Fortune 100 leadership experience. As the founder of Vision Executive Coaching, he is a trusted advisor to corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and entire companies.

Gerry is a TEDx speaker, is a contributor to Forbes.com, and has taught executive leadership at Colorado State University. Gerry earned a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from New York University.

Michael Lyons is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, and an author, actor, and former business executive for 40+ years in the hospitality industry.

Mike delivers talks in the U.S. and abroad on numerous topics, with a focus on leadership development and personal branding. His book “Set Yourself Free: Daydream it… Believe it… Achieve it!” was released in 2017 to widespread acclaim. 

A professional actor since 1990, Mike has dozens of credits in major films, TV shows, and commercials including speaking parts in “The Sixth Sense”, “All My Children”, “Veep”, “What Would You Do”, “Outsiders” and “House of Cards”, among others.