Ken Kocienda is author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book “Creative Selection: Inside Apple’s Design Process During the Golden Age of Steve Jobs”. Prior to writing books, Kocienda was a software engineer and designer at Apple. Kocienda graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in History. From there, he took small jobs like working in the editorial... read full bio
Kara Goldin is an American businesswoman and founder and CEO of Hint Water, a flavored water brand. She graduated from Arizona State University where she majored in communications and minored in finance. After graduating she moved to New York City and took her first job at Time Inc. where she started out as an executive assistant and worked her way... read full bio
Steve Robinson is the Former Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Chick-fil-A. He graduated from Auburn University with a B.S. in Marketing and went on to earn his Masters in Journalism and Advertising from Northwestern University. Robinson started his career working as a Marketing Communications Manager at Texas Instruments and was then a Director of Marketing at Six... read full bio
Angie Bastian is the co-founder of Angie’s Boomchickapop. Angie alongside her husband Dan, started their popcorn company after deciding they wanted to feed their children a snack they felt good about feeding them. They began Angie’s Boomchickapop with their bright bags that radiate all the love and fun that goes into them. Their company is committed to bringing positive energy... read full bio
Judy Woodruff is an award-winning journalist who is an anchor and managing editor at PBS NewsHour. She has covered every presidential election and convention since the win of U.S. President Jimmy Carter and has interviewed several heads of state and moderated U.S. Presidential debates. Woodruff studied at Meredith College and transferred to Duke University where she graduated with a bachelor’s... read full bio
Fran Tirado is a writer and speaker who is openly gay. He is the deputy editor of Out, co-creator of Food 4 Thot, co-host of Queerly Beloved, and former executive editor of Hello Mr. As a writer, Tirado’s work has been featured or mentioned in outlets such as, VICE, The New Yorker, Vulture, Out, NPR, UnHappy Hour with Matt Bellassai,... read full bio
Brad Katsuyama is a Canadian business executive and CEO and co-founder of the IEX, the Investors Exchange. He graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University where he attended Lazaridis School of Business and Economics. He went on to start his carrer working for Royal Bank of Canada where he was formerly the Global Head of Electronic Sales and Trading. While working at... read full bio
Nonie Darwish is an Egyptian-American human rights activist, speaker, and author. She is known as the founder of the organization Arabs for Israel and director of Former Muslims United. Nonie is passionate about social issues such as women’s and minority rights, and she has authored books entitled “The Devil We Don’t Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle... read full bio
Dr. Kirke Borne is an astrophysicist and Principal Data Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton. Previously, he was a Professor of Astrophysics and Computational Science at George Mason University for twelve years. Prior to that, he supported NASA projects in a variety of roles, such as program manager in NASA’s Space Science Data Operations Office and Data Archive Project Scientist for... read full bio
Ian Crosby is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bench, a design focused technology business that is spearheading the movement toward automating the bookkeeping process, while operating as North America’s largest bookkeeping service for small businesses. Bench provides a combination of custom-built software and professional online bookkeepers to organize the financials of small businesses. Ian has been named at the top... read full bio
SC Moatti is a technology visionary, venture capital investor and best-selling author of the book “Mobilized”. She is currently the managing partner of Mighty Capital, an early-growth Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Moatti graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business with an MBA and also earned her MS in Computer Engineering & Management Science from CentraleSupelec. From there, she... read full bio
Nicholas Thompson is an American technology journalist who is currently the editor in chief of Wired and has formerly been the editor of the NewYorker.com. He is also a contributor for CBS News and has appeared on CBS This Morning and CBSN. Thompson graduated from Stanford University Phi Beta Kappa and with honors. He earned a double major and earth... read full bio
Chris Urmson is an engineering who is best known for his work pioneering self-driving car technology. He has previously worked with Alphabet, and is CEO of their start-up company Aurora Innovation. Urmson graduated from the University of Manitoba with a BEng in Computer Engineering. He then went on to earn his Ph.D. in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. Upon graduting,... read full bio
A well-known British-Canadian designer, businesswoman, television host, and former actress, Hilary Elizabeth Farr, also known as Hilary Labow, was born in Canada. She is best recognized for being David Visentin's co-host on the hit HGTV and W Network series Love It or List It. Hilary Farr, who was born in Toronto, spent her formative years in London, where she first followed... read full bio
Nonny de la Pena is an American journalist, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. She is founder and CEO of Emblematic Group and has been known for helping to create the genre of immersive journalism. Nonny graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Sociology and Visual and Environmental Studies. She went on to earn her MA in Online Communities from the Annenberg... read full bio
Rosa “Rosie” Gumataotao Rios is best known for being the 43rd Treasurer of the United States under the Presidency of Barack Obama. She is currently a visiting scholar at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. Rios was raised by a single mother with nine kids. She worked full-time throughout her years in high school at the Alameda... read full bio
Freeman Hrabowski, also known as Freeman A. Hrabowski III is a mathematician, educator, and advocate. He is also co-author of several books. His research, leadership, expertise and vision are integral in universities, schools, and community groups in the country. He has been President of the University of Maryland for nearly 30 years and has transformed the commuter college into an... read full bio
Robert Greene is an American international best-selling author who is best known for his work such as ‘The 48 Laws of Power’, ‘The Art of Seduction’, and ‘The 33 Strategies of War’. Greene grew up in Los Angeles, California, and he studied at the University of California, Berkeley before going on to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a... read full bio
James Redfield is an American author, lecturer, screenwriter and film producer who is best known for his New York Times Best-Selling novel ‘The Celestine Prophecy’. His novel has been one of the most successful self-published books of all time and the novel has also been made into a film. Redfield was born in Birmingham, Alabama and he majored in sociology... read full bio
Tom Gruber is an American inventor, author, entrepreneur and American computer scientist who is best known for co-founding Siri Inc. Gruber studied both psychology and computer science at Loyola University New Orleans where he earned a double major B.S. and graduated summa cum laude. He later went on to earn his M.S. in computer and information science from the University... read full bio
