Myra Sack is the author of "Fifty-Seven Fridays: Losing Our Daughter Finding Our Way," and founder of E-Motion, Inc.,  a nonprofit organization created to support community, movement and ritual to enhance coping and resilience. Myra's life changed when her older daughter, Havi, was diagnose﻿d with a fatal neurodegenerative disease in December 2019. Havi died on January 20, 2021 of Tay-Sachs disease. E-Motion evolved out of a new way of living with the most difficult reality, blending Myra's lived experience and knowledge as a certified Compassionate Bereavement Care provider with her lifelong identity as an athlete and career in social impact. 

Myra holds an MBA in Social Impact from Boston University, and graduated with a B.A. cum laude from Dartmouth College, where she captained the women's soccer team and earned All-America honors. She has devoted over a dozen years to youth serving nonprofits, including serving as Chief Program and Strategy Officer at Squashbusters, Inc. and leading program development across Latin America for Soccer Without Borders. 

A writer, speaker, and activist, Myra serves on the Board of the Courageous Parents Network and lives in Boston, MA with her husband Matt, their second daughter, Kaia, and son Ezra. Her writing has appeared in numerous national outlets including the Boston Globe Spotlight, Today.com, and Upworthy.



This is a class about how to show up. It is about how to support, sustain, and connect with one another in a real and authentic way. Whether and how we choose to do this will determine the fate of our humanity. 

This is a facilitated conversation on how we can do better by grieving people as colleagues, neighbors, friends, family members, and fellow human beings. We will discuss the danger of the dominant narrative of avoiding, minimizing, or colonizing people’s emotions as it relates to traumatic loss, as well as the cognitive, emotional, physiological, and economic costs of this approach. Finally, there will be a series of recommendations for becoming a grief-literate, and grief-compassionate culture of beings, and the profound and lasting impact those practices can have on people who have suffered from loss.

This discussion will be led by a bereaved mother, Compassionate Care Bereavement Certified facilitator, and an experienced non-profit leader who has spent the last dozen years working alongside communities that experience a disproportionate amount of trauma. She leads the conversation by sharing the impact that grieving the loss of her daughter, Havi, has on her approach to showing up.

Community Leader + Certified Bereavement Facilitator 

How to Show Up for Humans who Need Support (PSA - It's Everyone)

Showing Up

Monica D. Livingston is a dynamic Performance Coach
with Limitless Minds, a global mindset company
founded by DJ Edison, the late Trevor Moawad, Harry
Wilson, and Super Bowl Champion Russell Wilson. A
leadership expert and Culture Coach, Monica partners
with organizations navigating change, disruption, and
high-pressure environments to strengthen mindset,
elevate communication, reset culture, and develop
leaders and sales teams who balance empathy with
execution to drive results for Electives.io
Beyond her core roles, Monica partners with respected
organizations including the Positive Coaching Alliance,
The Center for Teacher Effectiveness, Shapiro
Negotiation Institute, Google Sales Academy, and the
Maryland Business Roundtable for Education. Her
impact extends nationwide as a sought-after
motivational speaker and esteemed Professor at
American University in Washington, D.C.
A captivating storyteller on stage and on air, Monica
reaches global audiences through her internationally
broadcast podcast, where she brings humor, insight,
and authenticity as both host and guest—leaving every
audience entertained, informed, and inspired. 


Who is Family? What makes a Family? Join Monica as she shares her stories, struggles, and lessons learned from both creating family and becoming and being a parent to three very different kids (now mostly adults) in the context of an inter-racial, lesbian relationship. You will hear about her sensitive and creative cisgender, hetero son, her fabulously queer and brilliant trans child, and her loving, capable, and stubborn cisgender, bi daughter.

Society continually changes, and the concept of family changes with it. Monica will take you on a brief journey through the evolution and expansion of Family.
Based on the idea that all humans are hardwired for social connection--it is a biological need and our strongest desire--Monica will challenge you to think about your own family connections and invite a robust discussion around ways we can all expand and strengthen our family ties. As always, Monica's focus is on healthy relationships; in this case offering ways to enhance our capacities to respond to the ever-changing dynamics of human relationships.

Educator, Business Owner, Speaker & Athlete

What makes a Family!

The Modern Family

Sophie Riegel is a best-selling author, speaker, ICF Associate Certified Coach (ACC), and mental health advocate who collaborates with top organizations like Netflix and Target to improve intergenerational relationships and mental well-being. By 21, she had published three books and delivered a TED Talk. Now, as the Gen Z columnist for Psychology Today, she inspires audiences worldwide through her coaching, workshops, and keynotes, all while running a successful six-figure thrift reselling business.

Parenting can be both rewarding and challenging, especially when it comes to understanding and addressing anxiety in your children and teenagers. If you've ever felt uncertain, frustrated, or even lost while trying to have conversations about their mental well-being, this course is designed just for you. 

In "When Your Help Isn't Helping," you will learn how to navigate the complexities of discussing anxiety and mental health with your kids and teens. We will discuss why your current way of helping might actually be hurting, and what kind of help is truly effective. We will also talk about the difference between regular anxiety and a mental illness, and when to seek professional help. Whether you're intimately familiar with anxiety or just beginning to explore its nuances, this course offers practical strategies, relatable insights, and guidance to foster open and constructive communication.


Author + Youth Mental Health Advocate

How to Talk to Your Kids and Teens about Anxiety and Mental Health

When Your Help Isn't Helping

My first career spanned two decades working in a circus, where I learned how to engage an audience as a performer, a director, a producer, and an executive. During this time, I learned how to effectively lead an incredibly diverse team including lion tamers, acrobats, magicians, bartenders, and accountants in a high-pressure, 365-day operation that performed over 500 shows a year… with 65 horses.

Using the learning model applied in the circus, I began my current vocation with a three-year apprenticeship in consulting with the dynamic and insightful duo behind Alexander Carrillo Consulting. With their support and encouragement, I achieved award-winning participation in the Greater Tucson Leadership program, which inspired me to obtain a master’s degree in leadership and organizational development and start my own business supporting leaders.

My life’s mission is to help leaders step confidently into their unique place under the spotlight. So, I engage in collaborative work with big-thinking leaders who want to make an impact in their world. When facilitating groups, I employ my deep understanding of the fundamental needs of audiences to create experiences that are fun, engaging, memorable, and productive.

We all play various and competing roles, which can often leave us feeling overwhelmed and off-balance. In this Elective, you’ll learn to juggle the myriad “hats” you wear with skill and confidence by:
Naming your hats
Setting aside the ones that don’t serve you 
Focusing your energy on the hats that matter most
This Elective introduces the Ringmaster's Model for Successful Hat Juggling: a framework to evaluate the competing priorities in your life. Are you in the Zone of Productive Challenge? The Zone of Unsustainability? What do you need to do to avoid Burnout? What does it look like for you to visit the Zone of Recovery?

By identifying the various hats you wear, you'll develop awareness of which are most important and which cause the biggest headaches. From there we'll establish ways of managing the more difficult roles and centering the most important ones. At the end of this workshop, you'll have clear action steps that will give you a greater sense of control in your life and work.

Circus Performer + Leader, turned Leadership Coach

Overcommitted? Overwhelmed? Learn to identify and streamline your many commitments

Juggling Hats

Joanna Lohman is a force of nature in the world of women’s soccer and a subject-matter expert on impact leadership and performance. A 16-year professional athlete and one of only 270 women in history to have worn the coveted U.S. Women’s National Team jersey, Joanna has racked up 9 USWNT caps and led the U-21 USWNT to multiple international trophies as team captain. At Penn State, she made 101 appearances with 41 goals, garnered Big Ten Player of the Year honors, became a Herman Trophy finalist, and earned the distinction of Four-Time Academic All-American. Her professional club career saw her become the first player in Washington Spirit history to have her jersey retired, capturing fans’ hearts across 52 appearances and 6 goals.

Yet Joanna’s triumphs extend well beyond the pitch. Revered for her staunch advocacy of equal pay based on performance, she embodies the values of courage, fairness, and resilience—showing the world that true leadership demands both passion and principle. She now brings her hard-won insights to boardrooms, keynote stages, and classrooms alike, serving on the Yale School of Management’s Experience Leaders Initiative Advisory Board and empowering individuals to push boundaries, amplify their impact, build cohesive teams, and deliver elite results under pressure. From championing authenticity in sports to forging high-impact strategies for corporate team performance, Joanna Lohman exemplifies what it means to be a game-changer in every sense of the word.


Every organization leaves a legacy — whether intentional or accidental.

Legacy is not built through slogans or short-term wins. It is shaped by the standards we uphold, the inequities we address, and the systems we strengthen for those who follow.

Drawing from her experience as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team during the historic movement for equal pay and as the author of "Raising Tomorrow's Champions", Joanna Lohman examines how high-performing teams can drive structural change while sustaining excellence. This workshop explores how influence operates inside institutions, how culture evolves, and how leaders can balance performance demands with principled progress.

Participants will reflect on how to use their credibility and voice not only to advance personally, but to leave their environment stronger than they found it.

True legacy is measured by what improves because you were there.



US Women Soccer Athlete

Creating Enduring Impact Through Courageous Leadership

 Legacy That Lasts

Cindy Pierce is a parenting expert, sexuality educator, comic storyteller and author of three books, including Sexploitation: Helping Kids Develop Healthy Sexuality in a Porn-Driven World. Combining comic storytelling and 18 years of research, Cindy informs, educates and motivates people to reconsider their social habits online and off. Cindy and her husband, Bruce Lingelbach have three adult children and run Pierce’s Inn in Etna, NH. 

This course will inspire parents to step into conversation with their kids about time spent on devices and provide guidance on how to set boundaries that benefit the whole family. 

It won’t be long before young kids have access to the internet or have a friend who tells them all about what they found online. Through ongoing conversations, parents and other anchoring adults can help kids navigate the onslaught of cultural messaging online and develop discernment about what they consume. 

Most kids are surprisingly relieved to have clear boundaries and guidance on how to manage the relentless pressure to engage online. As soon as kids can read, there is pressure to know certain things or be watching certain shows or videos. When kids gain more access to devices, the pressure quickly ramps up for them to participate in banter, gaming, group chats, sexting, comment threads, social drama and constant availability.

Parenting Expert, Sexuality Educator, Comic Storyteller and Author

How Parents Can Guide Children (of All Ages) to Become Conscious Consumers

Parenting in the Digital Age

Tameka brings a unique perspective to youth entrepreneurship. In 2013, she was appointed by President Obama to lead the Office of Entrepreneurial Development at the U.S. Small Business Administration. In that capacity, she was responsible for an appropriated budget of more than $160M to advance entrepreneurship programs across the nation. 

In 2017, Tameka launched the podcast, Raising Entrepreneurs a Parent's Guide to Raising Kids with an Entrepreneurial Mindset.  She produced more than 80 episodes which featured parents, youth, and thought leaders sharing ideas about fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in young people.  In 2018 she founded the Montgomery County Children's Business Fair which is a one day event designed to expose young people to entrepreneurship.

Tameka is the founder and CEO of Core Strategy Partners, a stakeholder experience firm focused on helping leaders collect valuable insights to make smarter decision and engage more effectively with key stakeholders, customers, clients, and employees.

A mother to three boys, Tameka understands the important role parents play in helping kids develop an entrepeneurial mindset.  With her three boys, she has observed what happens when kids are given experiences in entrepreneurship. They discover and explore their interests and talents, become problem solvers, and learn to tackle problems that matter most to them.

Tameka is passionate about equipping families and communities with tools and resources to foster an entrepreneurial mindset within young people. She believes that while not every kid will choose to be an entrepreneur, every kid needs to learn how to think like one.


How do we raise self-reliant kids who have initiative, are resilient, and can be problem solvers? Kids who have the skills and the courage to step outside of their comfort zone and take advantage of what life has to offer? All skills that will not only help them live out their potential and lead fulfilling lives, but these are also skills that are necessary for our rapidly changing world. To prepare our kids, we must raise them to think and act entrepreneurially; encourage them to approach the world with entrepreneurial mindset.

I've interviewed dozens of parents, young entrepreneurs, thought leaders and experts. In this course I will share strategies that I have learned from them and from my own experience raising three very different boys. These are all strategies that I believe all parents should be doing.

During the course, you'll not only hear about my personal experience as a parent, but also from one of my sons as he shares his experience and thoughts about being challenged to think and act entrepreneurially.

Host of the Raising Entrepreneurs Podcast

How to Foster Entrepreneurial Mindset

Raising Entrepreneurs

Ashley Mitchell is a dynamic leader working at the intersection of wellness, culture, and social impact. With a unique ability to bridge corporate, nonprofit, and community spaces, she helps organizations and individuals foster a sense of belonging and well-being, creating lasting change.

A dedicated movement coach, Ashley understands the deep connection between mindset and motion. She is the co-founder of The Courage Campaign, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing high-quality wellness programming to K-12 students and educators in Title 1 schools. She also cohosts Conversations in Courage, a bi-monthly podcast that explores fear, transformation, and justice-driven change. 

As a mother, entrepreneur, and change-maker, she brings both lived experience and professional expertise to every space she enters. Her approach is bold, compassionate, and deeply rooted in action. She believes that true transformation happens not just in conversations but in the steps we take afterward, and she’s committed to walking that path with those ready to create meaningful impact.



This workshop reframes self-care as a capacity-building practice rather than a checklist, luxury, or personal failing. Designed for people navigating high demands, constant responsibility, and systemic pressure, it offers a realistic approach to caring for yourself without opting out of the world.

Instead of quick fixes or productivity-driven wellness, we explore how stress, boundaries, nervous system patterns, and cultural expectations shape how we care for ourselves, and why so many self-care strategies don’t stick. Participants will leave with practical tools, shared language, and a clearer understanding of what sustainable care actually looks like in real life.

This is self-care that supports resilience, clarity, and long-term well-being, personally and collectively.

Co-Founder of The Courage Campaign & Fitness Equity Advocate

What Self-Care Really Looks Like 

Filling Your Cup

Katharine Manning is the President of Blackbird DC, which provides training and coaching on empathy at work, particularly in challenging times when it matters most. She is the author of The Empathetic Workplace: Five Steps to a Compassionate, Calm, and Confident Response to Trauma on the Job. She has advised organizations on working with those in trauma for more than twenty-five years, including fifteen years at the Justice Department, where she advised on cases like Madoff, the Boston Marathon bombing, and the Pulse Nightclub shooting. Prior to her government service, she was an attorney in private practice representing Fortune 500 companies in class actions, insurance, and media cases. She teaches at American University and in the Masters in Trauma-Informed Leadership Program at Dominican University, and is a graduate of Smith College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

From the pandemic to racial violence to political upheaval and more, stress is the air we're breathing here in the 2020s. We are experiencing it ourselves, and are surrounded by others who are struggling, as well. In fact, 83% of U.S. workers report suffering from work-related stress, and a quarter say that work is the number one stressor in their lives. 

When we fail to manage our stress, it can affect our mental and physical health, our relationships, and our success at work. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to manage stress effectively. Burnout and compassion fatigue can creep in slowly and may not be easy to recognize. In this session, learn to identify the signs of burnout and ways to prevent it, including both daily commitments to self-care and greater life shifts for more balance and control.

Participants said they were grateful for the "concrete strategies that I can apply in my professional and personal life" and the "awareness that I am not alone in my stress." "We have heard from several of our teams how centering and inspiring they found [this training] during a very difficult season."

Trauma-Informed Leadership Professor, and former Justice Dept. Trauma Advisor

Supporting Yourself as You Support Others

Burnout and Resilience

Caroline Tanis is recognized for her innovative approach to financial planning, particularly in helping high-earning families chart pathways to their ideal lifestyles. By fostering a collaborative environment, she tailors financial strategies that are as unique as her clients' goals, paving a clear path from their present financial state to their aspirations. Caroline's expertise spans estate planning, retirement strategies, trusts, and investment planning.
 
Her comprehensive services ensure that each facet of her clients' financial health is meticulously managed, offering peace of mind and a clear strategy for the future. This holistic approach sets her apart in the financial planning field.

Beyond her practice, Caroline hosts "The Wealth Cafe" on YouTube and LinkedIn, where she shares her insights and enhances financial literacy. She also conducts workshops for companies, continually pursuing her passion for empowering others with financial knowledge. 

Caroline holds both an MBA and the Certified Divorce Financial Analyst® designation, underscoring her commitment to informed and thoughtful financial guidance. She is a 2x best-selling author and has been featured in USA Today, Yahoo Finance, Morningstar, NerdWallet, and more.

In the "Raising Financially Savvy Kids" workshop, participants will gain practical tools and insights to guide children toward financial literacy. Designed for parents, grandparents, and caregivers, this interactive session explores how to explain money concepts to kids, teach them about budgeting and money management, and engage them in age-appropriate activities to practice earning. Each section is tailored to different age groups, ensuring the material is relevant and understandable. 

Participants will also discuss the importance of prioritizing their own financial education, creating a supportive environment for financial learning at home. This workshop places emphasis on understanding money as a tool, helping children develop skills for financial well-being and independence in the future. Attendees will leave with strategies to foster a household where talking about money is open and encouraged, laying a strong foundation for the next generation. Whether you're just starting out on this journey or looking to enhance your existing knowledge, this course offers valuable insights for anyone committed to raising financially savvy children.

Financial Planner for Everyone

Building a Strong Financial Foundation for Your Children’s Future

Raising Financially-Savvy Kids

National Caregivers Month

Jay is an award-winning speaker and consultant with over 25 years of experience in building high-performance organizations. Renowned for his dynamic storytelling and practical methodologies, Jay captivates audiences by sharing real-world experiences that inspire action and drive results.

Drawing from his background as a former US Army Intelligence Officer with global leadership roles and as a corporate executive, Jay brings deep expertise in behavioral science, team dynamics, and transformational leadership. He leverages his C.L.E.A.R.™ methodology to accelerate performance and maximize organizational impact by focusing on culture development, leadership empowerment, and employee engagement.

Jay’s insights and strategies are designed to equip leaders and teams with the tools they need to cultivate high-performing teams and achieve exceptional results in today’s competitive landscape.

From the battlefield to the boardroom, veterans bring more than experience. They bring purpose, grit, and a deep commitment to mission and team. This powerful session invites you to see the workplace through a new lens, recognizing how military service shapes extraordinary leadership, adaptability, and innovation. Whether you're a veteran navigating your next chapter or a team member seeking to champion your colleagues, you’ll walk away with a renewed appreciation for the value veterans bring and the role we all play in creating an inclusive, high-performance culture where every background is an asset.

Turn Around Leadership Expert

Empower Your Organization with the Strengths of Military Leadership

From the Battlefield to Boardroom

Jason's journey began with the discipline and precision of military service in the US Army, which transitioned into the structured thinking required in strategy consulting at McKinsey & Company. This unique combination of experiences has equipped him with a deep understanding of leadership dynamics and the importance of clear communication. Now, as a dedicated CEO coach, he focuses on guiding leaders to recognize their potential and communicate consciously within their teams.

His approach stems from a lifetime commitment to studying leadership and personal development, with the conviction that conscious leadership is the key to creating meaningful change. Jason's method is rooted in self-awareness and the ability to inspire trust and connection among team members.

Alongside his practical experience, Jason's formal qualifications and MBA from Yale University enhance his ability to support and uplift aspiring leaders. He stands ready to share his insights and strategies to help others build a foundation of effective and mindful leadership.

What makes the military one of the most effective organizations in the world? And what can today’s leaders learn from those lessons? In Frontline Leadership Lessons, Jason shares personal stories from his deployment to Afghanistan, where he witnessed firsthand how military teams achieve extraordinary cohesion, resilience, and clarity under pressure. He contrasts those experiences with his later years in consulting, where even top-performing firms struggled with the same challenges leaders everywhere face: aligning teams, creating accountability, and building lasting trust.

This session explores three structural differences that make frontline leadership so powerful. First, the military motivates through a shared purpose and unshakable clarity of mission. Second, accountability isn’t top-down but built into empowered ownership at every level. And third, trust is forged through relentless training, rituals, and shared adversity—creating teams that truly have each other’s backs.

In 60 minutes, participants will not just hear stories, but gain practical ways to adapt these principles to their own leadership. Expect candid insights, actionable tools, and the chance to reflect on what it means to lead with clarity, courage, and trust in any environment.

Executive coach

What military service teaches us about people leadership and high-performing teams

Frontline Leadership Lessons

Dan Cnossen was raised on a fifth-generation family farm in Topeka, Kansas. After successfully completing SEAL qualification training in 2003, he deployed numerous times in support of global special operations. As a SEAL platoon commander, he was severely injured in 2009 in Afghanistan, resulting in the amputation of both legs above the knees. Turning to sport for recovery, Cnossen began training full-time for the U.S. Paralympic ski team in 2011 as a cross-country skier and biathlete. He has since competed for Team USA in the 2014 and 2018 Winter Games and is the first male athlete to win a gold medal for the United States in biathlon, a sport that combines cross-country skiing with precision shooting. Cnossen holds a bachelor of science degree in English from the U.S. Naval Academy, a master’s in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a master’s in theological studies from the Harvard Divinity School.

In this moving and personal session, Former Navy SEAL Lieutenant Commander Dan Cnossen will tell the story of the midnight mission in Afghanistan that changed his life forever. Dan Cnossen is now a gold medal-winning Paralympian in cross country skiing and will provide an in-depth perspective of what it means to be a disabled veteran and elite athlete. Dan will share his truth of trying to access care, and tell the story about how he has to balance what is "provided" for him, and the gaps that exist in order to feel fulfilled in life and to thrive in his sport. In this session participants will learn some basics like the distinction between active duty and veteran status, but will also get insight into the complex experience of navigating work and life post service, and post traumatic injury.

Gold Medal Paralympian & Former  SEAL Platoon Commander

Challenges in Accessing Health Care

Taking Care of Our Veterans

Zoe is a retired Commander from the U.S. Navy and played a pivotal role in the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, helping to shape a more inclusive military environment. Specializing in workplace inclusion and interpersonal communication skills, Zoe brings practical experience from her leadership roles and dedicated advocacy.

Zoe has served on various influential boards, including the U.S. Air Force Academy Board of Visitors, the U.S. WWI Centennial Commission, and the California Veterans Board. She has also contributed her insights to organizations like Vets in Tech and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

With substantial experience as a facilitator and executive coach, Zoe is committed to fostering inclusive workplaces and enhancing communication strategies. Her background in military leadership and advocacy equips her with a unique perspective and practical knowledge to guide others effectively.


In this class, participants will gain insight into why veteran inclusion is a personal and significant topic. Recognize and appreciate the contributions of veterans and the families of service members in the audience.

Participants will also challenge assumptions about veterans by addressing common myths, discussing shared common values, and understanding demographic statistics. This class will also discuss best practices for making veterans feel included, along with things to avoid and explore the concept of intersectionality. Identify tangible actions you can take as a colleague, leader, and company to support veteran inclusion.


Join us for the Veteran Inclusion Workshop to build a more inclusive workplace and better support our veterans.


Veteran and Inclusion Expert

Welcoming Environments for Veterans

Veteran Inclusion Workshop

FORGE TRUST, SOLVE CHALLENGES, LEAD

Robin is a Best-Selling Author, Professional Speaker, Trainer, Executive Coach, Podcast Host, Marine Corps Officer, and retired FBI Special Agent / Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. Robin has taken his life's work of Recruiting Spies, Leading Marines, and Behavioral Assessment and created his unique Interpersonal Communication Strategies for Success.  Since 2010, Robin has been working with corporations, entrepreneurs, military, and law enforcement in their pursuit of Forging Trust, Solving Challenges, and Leading. Whether it is newly promoted leaders, executives, sales teams, or customer relations, Robin has crafted his People Formula for quick measurable results and maximum success.

The Military Leader 
Although Robin always aspired to become a great leader, he realized from his time at the United States Naval Academy and in the United States Marine Corps that leadership was much more than just telling people what to do: a great leader uses interpersonal skills to inspire action, rather than demand the compliance of others.

The Spy Catcher
Upon entering service as an FBI Special Agent in 1997, Robin began his journey as a counterintelligence specialist and behaviorist in the agency's efforts to thwart the efforts of our country's greatest adversaries. Serving in New York City, Norfolk VA, FBI Headquarters, Quantico VA, and Fredericksburg VA, Robin received advanced training and experience in the area of social psychology and the practical application of the science behind relationship development and trust, ultimately leading the FBI's elite Behavioral Analysis Program.

The Behavioral Analysis Expert
Robin has built his highly effective tools for all aspects and stages of interpersonal communication and relationship development. Robin has combined all these tools and techniques and created a one-of-a-kind formula for success with people. Today, Robin is a recognized expert, author, and gifted lecturer in the art of interpersonal communication, relationship building and Trust. These skills are used every day in leadership, sales, human resources, and all aspects of life, both business and personal.

Marine Corps Boot Camp is a life changing event for the veterans who persevered through the challenge. The ability to Build Teams, Inspire Commitment, and Lead Organizations to Innovative Solutions are achievable when you put Service above Self --- as we do in the Marines.

Join Robin, a Naval Academy Graduate, Veteran Marine Corps Officer of Parris Island, and retired Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program for this interactive Elective. Together, we will unlock the Soft-Skills of USMC Boot Camp that were forged in a Crucible of Hard Truths.

Topics Covered: 
- The Dichotomy of Self vs Others 
- What the Marine Corps teaches us about Inclusion and a diverse workforce
- What it means to put Mission First, People Always

Retired FBI Special Agent & Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program

Lessons Learned from Marine Corps Boot Camp, Parris Island

Service Above Self

Dr. Brian H. Williams is an Air Force veteran, trauma surgeon, and nationally recognized expert in gun violence prevention, health equity, health policy, and racial justice. A graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, he earned his medical degree from the University of South Florida, did his surgery residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and trauma/critical fellowship at Grady Memorial Hospital. Dr. Williams is a former professor of surgery who has served on the faculty at UT Southwestern and the University of Chicago. 

On July 7, 2016, Dr. Williams led the Parkland Hospital team that treated seven ambushed Dallas police officers. His impassioned response to the tragedy thrust him into the national spotlight, sparking his political advocacy. He was subsequently appointed Chair of the Dallas Citizens Police Review Board, and served as Special Advisor for Health Equity for Dallas County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Williams served as Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health policy fellow at the National Academy of Medicine where he worked with congressional leaders to help craft the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022–the most significant gun safety legislation in a generation. One year later, he launched his campaign to become the first trauma surgeon elected to Congress. Leading gun safety organizations Brady PAC and GIFFORDS endorsed Dr. Williams, and he received the inaugural GIFFORDS Champion Award in recognition of his career working to end the epidemic of gun violence. His first campaign ad, "Relentless," was featured on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Deadline White House, and The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell.

Dr. Williams lives in East Dallas with his wife and daughter where he continues to advocate for safe and healthy communities free of gun violence and systemic inequity. When not caring for patients, he maintains an active schedule as an author, speaker, lecturer, opinion writer, and commentator for national news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC. His bestselling memoir, "The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches from a Black Trauma Surgeon on Racism, Violence," and How We Heal, is available anywhere books are sold.

On July 7, 2016, a sniper ambushed 14 police officers at a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas. Seven officers were rushed to Parkland Hospital for lifesaving treatment, where Dr. Brian H. Williams was on duty. Despite the best efforts of Dr. Williams and his team could not save three of the officers. The tragedy spurred him to seek solutions to violence and promote healing beyond the walls of the hospital.

"Transformational Leadership: Lessons From The Bodies Keep Coming" is an inspiring lecture by Dr. Brian H. Williams, who brings a wealth of experience as a trauma surgeon, Air Force veteran, former congressional candidate, and bestselling author of The Bodies Keep Coming: Dispatches From A Black Trauma Surgeon On Racism, Violence, And How We Heal. Dr. Williams offers a unique perspective on leadership, drawing from his time in the military, the intense world of trauma surgery, and his foray into politics.

This lecture is perfect for leaders looking to enhance their leadership style and cultivate a more engaged and productive team. Dr. Williams will explore the core principles of transformational leadership, providing real-world examples and practical insights. You'll leave equipped with the tools to foster success within your organization. By attending, you'll feel empowered to reach their full potential and contribute to a collective vision, enabling you to transform yourself and the world around you.

Trauma Surgeon, Author and former US Air Force Officer 

Lessons From 'The Bodies Keep Coming'

Transformational Leadership 

Nay is the Head of Strategic Planning and North America Retail Strategy at Manulife Wealth and Asset Management.  He leveraged the tenacity he developed growing up as a first-generation immigrant and the values instilled in him in the US military to build a successful career. 

Though he didn't learn to speak English until his teen years, Nay worked with nuclear missiles, managed a defense satellite launch, and integrated operations for John Hanock Vitality (the most innovative life insurance product in decades). Nay holds a Master of Business Administration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is certified in Business Analytics. 

Experience Summary

Twelve Years in Financial Services
Business and Corporate Strategy
Internal Management Consulting
Business Transformation
Project and Program Management
M&A and Post-Merger Integration
Six years in the US Air Force
Managed DMSP-19 Satellite Launch Integrations
Nuclear Missile Crew Commander
ICBM Instructor

We all have shortcomings and disadvantages. Learn how one refugee’s determination allowed him to overcome the odds. Though he didn’t speak English until his teenage years, he led US Military’s nuclear operations and managed US Air Force satellite launch integrations.

Later in life, he decided to pivot away from the military career. Again, he faced challenges associated with starting over and having no corporate experience. His determination allowed him to land gainful employment. The values he developed while he served in the military helped him excel regularly and secure a senior leadership role well ahead of his peers.

Business professionals and leaders at all levels could benefit from this Elective. You will learn both challenges faced by first-generation immigrants as well as those leaving the service to join the civilian workforce. Further, you will better understand what drives your veteran and immigrant colleagues. You may also see job candidates with military experience in a new light. And lastly, you may also find ways to turn your disadvantages to fuel your success!

Note: This could be an Elective focused on the immigration experience/lens, first generation Asian American experience for AAPI month, or focused on the military experience depending on the audience and goals of the team/company.

US Air Force Veteran, First Generation Immigrant, + Strategy + Business Expert

How a refugee from Burma led US nuclear operations and became a strategy executive

Disadvantage as Fuel for Success

In this course, Paralympic gold medalist Dan Cnossen tells two stories where he was pushed to the limit of what he thought he could endure. The first story comes from one episode in the infamous Hell Week training to become a Navy SEAL. How do you persevere through an onslaught of self-doubt? The second story involves his combat injury, the subsequent amputation of both legs, and some of the lessons learned going through this difficult episode. The purpose of this class is to provide the audience with methods for approaching demanding situations in life that push us to our breaking point. 

Principles of mental toughness and perseverance

Resilience

Veterans Day is November 11 

Darlene is an expert at the intersection of lifestyle, wellness, and wellbeing.  With a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and certifications in  personal trainer, wellness coach, nutrition coach, yoga instructor, sleep coach, and meditation teacher.  Her workshops have impacted thousands through corporate partners including Blackrock, Reddit, Spotify, Capital One, Oscar, Raymond James, and more.

Darlene has spoken at some of the world's biggest fitness and positive psychology conferences and contributed to some of the most impactful certifications in wellness.  Now she helps individuals and groups build lifestyles of sustained wellbeing.  In 2021 Darlene was named America's Favorite Trainer by BurnAlong.com and she hosts the Better Than Fine podcast on the NASM Podcasting Network.  

**Savoring the Holidays**

The holiday season often brings a whirlwind of parties, gifts, and indulgence, but it can also stir up obligations, challenging emotions, and concerns for loved ones. If the "most wonderful time of the year" feels more overwhelming than joyful, this 50-minute virtual workshop offers a fresh perspective. Participants will explore ways to shift holiday stress into a season filled with peace, love, connection, and gratitude.

In "Savoring the Holidays," attendees will discover how to use personal storytelling to reframe their holiday experiences. They'll learn techniques for savoring positive moments while giving less power to the difficult ones. The workshop also emphasizes the importance of setting and maintaining healthy boundaries during holiday interactions. Through engaging discussions and reflective exercises, participants will gain practical tools to redefine their holiday narrative, fostering a more fulfilling and balanced festive season.

Join this workshop to equip yourself with strategies that help transform holiday stress into opportunities for deeper connection and appreciation.

Lifestyle + Wellbeing Expert 

Finding connection at the most wonderful time of the year

Savoring the Holidays

Dan Chan bills himself as “The Millionaires’ Mentalist.” Business Insider called him the magician to billionaires.’ He’s been featured in the Hustle, BuzzFeed, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC x2, and Business Insider x5 and during COVID elevated his show with a pivot to Zoom. He’s performed an estimated 7,000 live shows and 530 virtual shows. His pivot to performing over Zoom now allows him to wake up at 5 a.m. to perform shows for clients in Dubai and South Africa from the comfort of his home.  He’s performed for companies from A-Z: Airbnb, Amazon, and Apple to Zillow, Zynga, and the Zuckerberg Chan Initiative; Google alone has hired him over 65 times, and most recently, he performed for Elon Musk!

Magic of the Mind is an interactive, fast-paced virtual show interweaving suggestion, influence, and mind control. Using a combination of misdirection, theatrical trickery, and keen observation, Dan creates the illusion of telepathy and mind reading. Dan can reveal your innermost thoughts and other secrets no one else could know, like the name you are considering for your unborn child or your birthday. He will even perform a signature effect that reveals a prediction not only on your cell phone but on every phone in the audience. Dan’s goal is to provide a sophisticated and thought-provoking show that captivates even the most skeptical audience. Magic of the Mind includes Dan’s signature finale, “The Ultimate Prediction, “where an envelope hung in plain view or a time-stamped email sent before the start of the show details every decision that happened throughout the session.

Magician + known as the "Millionare's Mentalist"

A virtual magic and mindreading show, perfect for team building events

 Magic of the Mind

Kat McDowell is an award winning, chart topping singer songwriter who creates ocean pop music in a blend of Japanese and English. 2020 meant a lot of changes and pivoting for many people and that has been especially true for musicians.  All of Kat's tours were tragically cancelled, but Kat’s long time passion for Origami opened doors she could have never imagined.

Kat released her song “1000 Paper Cranes” as a tribute to her Japanese grandmother just as the pandemic hit and it sparked the idea to start zoom Origami workshops for her supporters as a way to connect and bring some comfort and therapy. The family friendly live music / origami zoom workshops have been a hit and have been picked up by corporate social events, colleges, summer camps and schools all over the US.

Does your team need an activity that will give your mind and eyes a rest from staring at screens all day?

Learn to fold 3-5 Origami figures with your team in a one hour interactive elective with Kat as she uses an overhead Camera to walk everybody through at YOUR pace, step by step. (This can also be done as a 30 minute or 45 minute workshop).

Origami paper can be easily made using copy paper if participants do not have origami paper handy.

Singer Songwriter + Origami Expert

Connect with yourself and others through art

Origami

Wine expert, educator, and entrepreneur Tanisha Townsend has cultivated an international community of wine enthusiasts through an unyielding enthusiasm for oenology. As Chief Wine Officer of her own lifestyle agency Girl Meets Glass, Tanisha leads wine appreciation classes and hosts virtual wine tours in Paris and the regions beyond.

Tanisha offers an enriching curriculum that gives students unique, multisensory experiences unrivaled in the field. Her mission is to empower individuals with an advanced knowledge of wine & spirits in order to build confidence in their tastes and make choices as a better informed consumer. To meet that end, Tanisha ensures that each student completes a course equipped with valuable information, while also holding fond and long-lasting memories of their experience.

Tanisha has further expanded the reach of Girl Meets Glass to include training programs designed for wine & spirits retailers, bartenders, and other professionals in the hospitality industry. Both Tanisha and Girl Meets Glass programs have been featured at high-profile events such as AFROPUNK, and are routinely featured in a variety of media including lifestyle, travel, and food & beverage publications such as Meiningers Wine Business International, The Coveteur, Financial Times, Paris Wine Cup, Black & Abroad and The New Paris Podcast.

Let's take a walk through a fun and engaging history of wine, providing stories and insights into each of the world's most beautiful wine regions! We'll explore the most important grape varieties and their basic characteristics from the places famous for making them. We will teach you the techniques that wine professionals use to distinguish these varieties from one another and help to identify the wines you prefer. 

By the end, you will feel well-armed when going to a wine shop or any restaurant and confidently choose a bottle of wine that you will enjoy. 

Wine Expert and Educator

Building Skill and Confidence by your Palate

Wine Around the World

Alejandro Jimenez has woven his life into poetry that transcends borders, earning him a distinct spot among contemporary Mexican culture-shapers as featured in TIME Magazine. From Colima, Mexico to global recognition, Alejandro's narrative and craft are showcased in a PBS series documentary, "American Masters: In The Making," spotlighting upcoming cultural figures. His prowess with words brought him to the cusp of global acclaim, securing second place at the 2023 World Poetry Slam Championships.

Alejandro's upcoming work promises to delve into the nuances of identity and experience. His first poetry collection, "There Will Be Days, Brown Boy," eagerly awaited by readers, is soon to be released by MouthFeel Press.

His deep-rooted connection to his heritage, combined with his wide-reaching impact on the arts, anchors his professional journey. Alejandro's formal credentials in literature and his acclaimed contributions to the poetic world make him a memorable presence in the realm of literary arts.

Poetry As The Means We Need, means our words, our stories; and the way we tell those stories, can lead to transformational change - collective and/or individually. It can also lead to a sense of power, a sense of belonging, and being enough, and that who we are, where we come from are not things that should confine us but rather can propel us forward. That is the intent of this class: to explore, examine, and elevate the power of our story through poetry.

In this Electives class, internationally recognized spoken-word poet, Alejandro, will share his personal immigration story to the United States through compelling poetry-storytelling filled with humor, power, and resilience. Participants will not merely be listeners but will also engage in writing their own story through carefully guided poetry prompts and exercises led by Alejandro. Participants will walk out with a “new” sense of their own story and the power of their own journey.

Mexican National Poetry Slam Champion

Storytelling As Power

Poetry As The Means We Need

Cliff Goldmacher is a GRAMMY-recognized, #1 hit songwriter, music producer and author. His book, "The Reason For The Rhymes: Mastering The Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs," encapsulates the principles of his corporate workshops where Cliff helps business teams develop their creative confidence and enhance their innovative skill sets by teaching them to write songs.

After graduating from Stanford with a degree in political science, Cliff, instead of heading to law school, chose to pursue a career in music. Fast forward thirty years and Cliff has written well over a thousand songs including chart toppers recorded by GRAMMY-winning and platinum-selling artists in genres ranging from Americana, country, pop, blues, jazz and classical crossover. Cliff has also given multiple TEDx presentations on songwriting. Cliff’s clients include Deloitte, Bank of America, IDEO and Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management.

This is a 90-minute workshop using songwriting to improve innovation skills, enhance creativity and problem-solve. Participants are guided through the process of writing the lyrics to a song based on a specific objective. At the workshop’s high point, Cliff composes the music to the completed lyric on the spot which, without exception, makes the workshop and its subject matter unforgettable.

By breaking down the process of songwriting into easily understood and manageable pieces, Cliff shows his workshop participants how to employ storytelling and emotion-rich language in service of a profound exploration of their chosen issue or objective.

In order to think differently and explore new ideas, it’s critical for high performing teams to develop their creativity and diversify their problem-solving and innovative approaches. Songwriting provides a unique and powerful new way to think about complicated issues and achieve improved solutions.

GRAMMY-recognized, #1 hit songwriter, music producer + author

Mastering The Seven Essential Skills of Innovation by Learning to Write Songs

Improved Innovation via Songwriting

Chef Bruno was born and raised in the eastern French town of Besançon. At the age of sixteen, he entered an apprenticeship to become a Chef. Two years later Bruno graduated first of his region and after fulfilling his military obligations in the French Navy, he worked in Burgundy and London (Trader’s Vic’s) before returning to France to work at the world-famous Paul Bocuse Restaurant in Lyon, as a pastry chef.

After an externship at Gaston Lenôtre Patisserie in Paris, Chef Bruno did a summer season with Alain Ducasse on the French Riviera before heading to Orlando, Florida where he spend the next 23 years as a chef at acclaimed French restaurants such as Paul Bocuse's in Epcot Center, Le Coq Au Vin, Le Provence, opened his own bakery & café, Bruno’s Gourmet Kitchen, which he ran for 9 years before moving to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bruno was hired to teach culinary and pastry at the International Culinary Center in Campbell, a cooking school for professionals. This taught him how to rethink his craft and how to make it accessible to novices. He now works as a private Chef for a high income family in Atherton CA, teaches classes at various locations and caters small dinners and parties.

Chef Bruno won a total of 12 medals in American Culinary Federation sanctioned cooking competitions: 3 gold, 7 silver, 2 bronze. When he is not working, Chef Bruno enjoys gardening, playing guitar, tennis, or the famed French card game “ tarot".

Do you ever find yourself 'in over your head' in the kitchen? Do you easily get overwhelmed if you need to do more than one thing at once? Are you wasting money on gadgets that don't work? Are you cutting with dull knives? 

In this Elective, you will learn how to de-clutter your kitchen, set up for cooking properly, establish a routine that you will always use, and use correct techniques when cutting, heating, cleaning, and mixing. You will not only learn simple everyday strategies, but also eye opening tips that are interesting and enlightening! 

Award Winning French Chef + Culinary Teacher

Streamline the way you cook 

Efficiency in the kitchen

Sophia Koehler-Berkley (she/her) is a former educator & slam poetry coach turned Master Facilitator & Educational Consultant. She curates the conditions for Zoom-Rooms to be 'a whole vibe,' while remaining psychologically safe, to create inclusive & authentic engagement for all team members and their diverse backgrounds.

As a consultant, Sophia is passionate about positively impacting workplace communities and their internal cultures to become more inclusive & supportive for all. She brings her warmth, vibrant energy, and skill of creating high-levels of engagement to every room where she facilitates.

Sophia is a proud New York City transplant who is also Midwest Certified “Indiana-Nice.” She meditates (every-damn-day), drinks her whiskey neat (always), and is humbled by how her stubbornness is no match for that of her toddler son (most days).

Go beyond surface-level team building in this interactive, deeply engaging Elective.  Choose a team building experience that will create authentic connections between your team members and offer a warm, inviting environment where they can deepen co-working relationships, on their terms. 

Have your teams undergone a lot of recent changes? Perhaps you have been impacted by layoffs, or you are onboarding several new team members; and everyone needs a reset, recharge moment. Maybe your teams work in hybrid or remote environments and you are struggling to find meaningful team building opportunities.

In this Elective your teams will: be provided a psychologically safe space to share things big or small, have meaningful conversations that allow them to meet one another at the human level, experience team-building activities that are SELF-directed, and lean into the experience so deeply, they forget they are in a zoom-room, whether or not, they choose to turn their camera on.

Educational Consultant, and Social-Emotional Skills Expert

Inclusive & Authentic Team Building

Courageous Connections

Dani Klein Modisett is the comedian and author of the book L.A. Magazine picked as one of 7 must read books, “Take My Spouse, Please.” (Shambhala Press, 2015). Her first book, “Afterbirth…stories you won’t read in Parents magazine,” (St. Martin’s Press, 2009), was based on a live show she created by the same name. Dani taught Stand-Up at UCLA for 10 years and privately for 10 more. She has coached keynote speakers, business leaders, and Congressional candidates to use more humor in their interactions. Her writing has appeared in AARP, NY Times, LA Times, Parents Magazine and many websites. In 2018, after her mother became depressed facing Alzheimer's, Modisett had the idea to hire a comedian to work one-on-one with her to make her laugh. It worked and changed the quality of her end of life care. Modisett launched Laughter On Call (www.laughteroncall.com) to bring shared laughter to those who need it most. Since COVID, LOC has taken their programs virtually, now running workshops globally for Fortune 500 companies and healthcare staffs in need of comic relief and connection. She has teaches comedian's tools for creating connection and bringing vulnerability and humanity to the workplace at business schools including HBS, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Duke and UCLA. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and sons. Modisett is a graduate of Dartmouth College. She was recently added to Forbes 50 over 50 list!

Have you always wanted to do stand-up but never had the courage or the time…or the courage to try? Have you ever experienced the specific adrenaline rush of making a table full of people laugh at a point of view you had that you assumed everyone else did too? Have people told you throughout your life you’re funny and you thought, well...maybe, but so what? In a world where inclusion and connection are a top priority for companies, helping people laugh together has never been more valuable. 

This class is a unique opportunity to study with a seasoned professional comedian who spent 10 years teaching stand up at UCLA. Being able to bring comic relief to stressful moments, to lend perspective to a seemingly hopeless situation and to deliver the magic of shared laughter to people is, in fact, a business super-power.

In this session, Modisett distills her 12-week course down to the essentials to give you plenty of opportunity to share your funniest jokes and stories and leave with a visceral understanding of where and when it is appropriate to deliver them. You will be exposed to comedian’s tools like escalation, the rule of three’s and misdirection to keep people wanting more – of you, your authenticity, and whatever you are selling.

Comedian, Author, and Founder

Stand-Up Workshop for people serious about showing vulnerability & a sense of humor!

YOU… only funnier.  

Matt is the Head Coach for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. He began working with the team in 2006, and has coached it through four Olympics, where in 2018, Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall won a gold medal. The team hadn't won a medal at the Olympics since 1976. The team picked up another two medals at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, when Jessie captured a bronze and a silver. 

While coaching cross country ski racers is about maximizing fitness, Matt attributes his team's focus on positive group dynamics as a key to its success. This method can be applied to any person and team in any line of work. If you're looking for new ways to strengthen your team, check out his classes. Matt is a graduate of Middlebury College, where he competed as a racer himself, and currently lives in East Burke, Vermont. 

The Winter and Summer Olympics hit America's mainstream media just once every four years. In a flash, they disappear from sight. It is in this out-of-sight world, when nobody is watching, where the winning teams are built and the champions are made.

In this motivating Elective about the power of a connected team, Matt discusses leadership methods on the U.S. Olympic Ski Team, and shares practices that are sure to stimiluate ideas for growth within the business world. The success of anything, he argues, relies on humans connecting. If you're looking to take your business and team to the next level, you'll need to look at yourself, first. Matt teaches simple concepts used by athletes and coaches on his teams as they strive to become a connected team. 

Gold Medal Winning Olympic US Cross Country Ski Coach

Lifting Physical and Emotional Limits through Positive Team Culture 

The Connected Team

Joyful Team Connections

As a former professional rugby player, Marc understands the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) with regards to both individual performance and building team culture, but more recently, Marc has come to realize just how essential EQ education and practice is when it comes to playing and succeeding at the game of life.

When a career ending injury forced him into retirement from top level sport, he was faced with the challenge of transitioning into the next phase without suffering the repercussions that so many athletes succumb to. This is when Marc's self development and EQ education journey really began.  After two decades of playing elite level sport, commentating, and extensive study in Leadership Mastery, Marc now educates and inspires people to better know themselves and achieve excellence in all aspects of life. 

Are you already preparing to make next year your "best year ever"? Are you subscribing to the 2027 version of "new year, new you" by setting new year's resolutions? Did you also know studies show that around 91% of us won't achieve them? This means that you will fall short of your goals, and your transformational mindset will likely fade quickly... unless you have the right game plan. 

In this Electives class, you will tap into the mindset and methodology of a professional athlete for effective goal setting, while being provided the framework to ensure continued success, in living your life with intention and balance.

The framework could also be applied to teams within the workplace to achieve performance goals.

Former Professional Rugby Player

The Goal Setting Game Plan That Sticks

Setting Up a Winning 2027

In 2018, I made Olympic history at the Winter Games, becoming the first African and Black woman to compete in Olympic skeleton. When I discovered that no African woman had ever competed in the Olympic skeleton, I saw an opportunity to take action.

I'm currently training for the next Winter Olympic Games and I also inspire audiences around the world. I've appeared in leading media outlets such as CNN, NBC, ESPN, USA Today, Essence, Forbes, and Sports Illustrated and the New York Times has hailed me as “a role model for Africa and beyond.”

Audiences have described my live experiences as being “captivating” and “highly actionable” with a "contagious energy and passion.” And now, I'm bringing my transformational tips directly to you with this online class through Electives!

Personal growth, business evolution and executing big ideas takes laser-sharp focus and tenacity. In this interactive virtual experience, barrier-breaking Olympian Simidele Adeagbo shares her best practices on building a 100-day road map to success. Through this interactive experience, Simidele leads a discussion with your team centered around five transformative leadership principles (Focus, Imagination, Risk-Taking, Start Now, Trust Your Instincts) to help you move toward new or improved goals and imagine limitless possibilities. Your team will leave the experience with practical guidance, inspiring personal stories and actionable takeaways to achieve big outcomes, accelerate your impact and jumpstart your next 100 days and beyond!

First Nigerian Winter Olympian. Advocate and Speaker. 

How to Achieve Big Outcomes through Personal Reinvention

Accelerate Your Impact

Sharon is the founder of Control Chaos and author of Super-Productive: 120 Strategies to Do More and Stress Less.

She helps clients improve their productivity, performance, and well-being through corporate training, executive, and group coaching. Her work focuses on empowering individuals to make small changes that have a big positive impact on their work performance and quality of life.

Sharon is an Assistant Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania and has guest lectured for many years at Columbia University’s Executive MBA program. She is a certified professional coach and holds the PCC (Professional Certified Coach) designation from the International Coach Federation. 

One of Sharon's top strengths is "love of learning." She is a Fearless Organization certified practitioner, a Trust at Work certified practitioner, and a Designing Your Life coach. She has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)  designation and a certificate from the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation in Leadership and Negotiation.

She received her bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a master’s degree in real estate finance from New York University, and a master’s degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. 

Sharon raised her 4 kids in Northern NJ and now lives with her husband, Neil in South FL. She is an avid swimmer, loves reading fiction, and has recently discovered a love of snorkeling.

 In "Crushing Your Goals," participants will learn practical strategies for setting and reaching meaningful objectives, both personally and professionally. The course explores a variety of approaches, including building goal hierarchies, applying design thinking, and using established frameworks like SMART goals and the WOOP model. Attendees will also practice the skill of re-goaling—adapting plans when circumstances change.

This session is interactive and activity-based. Everyone will need post-it notes or blank index cards and a workspace such as a wall, large table, or open floor area. Through guided exercises, participants will break down larger ambitions into manageable steps, align daily actions to big-picture priorities, and create systems for revisiting and refining goals regularly. The course also covers ways to foster accountability within any framework, such as OKRs, for teams or individuals.

By the end, participants can expect to walk away with tools to create actionable goals, remain adaptable in the face of change, and support ongoing progress in any area they choose to focus on.

Lecturer at Columbia + University of Pennsylvania

A Systematic Approach to Great Achievement

Crushing Your Goals

In this course, Paralympic gold medalist Dan Cnossen shares some of the methods he uses to deliberately set goals to achieve personal success over the long run. Using an action plan as a template, the class will identify ways to subdivide aspects of job performance, each of which can be analyzed in terms of relative strengths and weaknesses, in order to set short, middle and long-term goals for the individual and the team. An important tool for both leaders and individuals looking to orient and structure performance, the purpose of this class is to highlight the inherent tension between long-term goals and the demands of the moment, recognizing the importance of being able to fluidly navigate between the two extremes. 

A structured approach to achieving your dreams

Goal Setting

A wife, mother, speaker, facilitator, business owner, and real estate investor.

Amanda brings an energetic approach to providing an upbeat, comprehensive service to corporate and consumer clients. Her expertise includes time management and sales training.

She founded and ran a digital platform from 2015-2021 called She Did It Her Way. The She Did It Her Way podcast grossed over 3 million downloads from across the globe.

She has been recognized by Forbes, Huffington Post, and Entrepreneur.com.

Clients she has worked with include; JP Morgan, Weight Watchers, att, HP Inc, Pimco, Google for Startups, Google, Bank Tech Ventures, IBM, KUMC, and Cisco.

There are so many goal setting resources out there that teach you the same thing over and over... set 10 different goals for each different category, check in on progress each week or month and voila, you've achieved your goal. Right?

Not quite. This class is completely different than other goal setting approaches.

Here is why... first you're not going to set multiple goals, you're going to set ONE. 

Second, Amanda is going to teach you a 7 step process on how to *actually* achieve that one extraordinary goal. Amanda's unique delivery style and contagious energy will lead you through a wealth of learnings, fun and emotions that will make you laugh, think and be engaged.

So are you ready?

Time Management + Sales Expert

The Steps to Actually Achieve Any Goal

Extraordinary Goals

Every self-help coach will tell you that goal setting is important for well-being and success.  

But do you or your team ever feel like you don’t know what goals to set? 
Like you’re not sure how, what, or  why to even try striving for something? 
You see others around you setting goals and reaching for them, and you want in on that? 
Or maybe you can feel that your own goal setting has gone flat the last few years.  

The "Setting Goals and Intentions" Elective focuses on a more holistic view of goal and intention setting.  Intention setting can be a powerful complementary practice that provides those who feel stuck a useful tool, and those with goals to attach more deeply to internal motivation.

Striving for aligned and integrated accomplishment

Setting Goals and Intentions

Cindy is known for racing around the world with her husband, Ernie, and taking first place on Season 19 of CBS’s “The Amazing Race.” Their journey through 9 countries and the experience of competing in high-pressure environments shaped her perspective on teamwork, resilience, and finding belonging in any setting.

At Google, Cindy works with digital media sellers, supporting them as they build confidence and overcome challenges. She draws on over a decade leading high-revenue growth sales teams and 11 years in corporate roles with large organizations. Her contributions have been recognized with industry awards, including AdWeek’s Media Plan of the Year.

Cindy holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and a BS from the University of Cincinnati, where she graduated at the top of her class. At home in Chicagoland, she and her husband enjoy exploring new cultures with their three young sons.

In "Goal Setting Strategies for Winning," participants will learn how to define clear, achievable career goals and set objectives using a practical goal-setting framework inspired by the OKR method. Facilitator Cindy draws on her experience winning the Amazing Race, offering concrete examples of how she and her partner planned, adapted, and persevered through each stage of the competition. The class will examine how strategic planning and flexibility play a central role in reaching personal and professional milestones.

Cindy will guide the group through exercises designed to help participants identify their own goals and map out actionable objectives. Through stories from her time on the race, Cindy illustrates how careful preparation and a willingness to adjust strategies made a difference in high-pressure moments. Attendees will leave with a structured approach to goal setting and insights into cultivating adaptability—two skills that support progress in any career path. This class provides a direct, practical toolkit for anyone looking to clarify their aims and take concrete steps toward achieving them.


Winner of the Amazing Race, and Googler

Achieving Goals from winning the Amazing Race to achieving an Amazing Career

Goal Setting Strategies for Winning

In today’s fast-paced world, having a clear personal vision can help individuals stay focused, motivated, and fulfilled in both their personal and professional lives. This interactive workshop will guide participants through a structured process to identify their core values, visualize their ideal future, and craft a personal vision statement.

Managers will also gain insights into supporting their teams in aligning work with personal values, fostering engagement and motivation. Through reflection, guided visualization, and collaborative discussions, participants will leave with practical tools to enhance personal growth and workplace meaning.

Finding Meaning in Work and Life

Creating a Personal Vision

Kyle Shaffer is a dynamic educator who brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to leadership development. He is passionate about supporting leaders to create an empowering and inclusive culture so that all stakeholders are engaged and working toward their mission and vision. By focusing on the intersection of adaptive and emotional leadership skills with technical ones, leaders will develop tangible strategies to enhance the effectiveness and inclusiveness of their teams. 

Kyle leads workshops, leadership development cohorts, and individual coaching clients with numerous organizations and companies across the country. Previously, he served as the Vice President of Schools for KIPP St. Louis Public Schools, where he coached and managed the principals of six schools and 3,000 students, as well as provided leadership training for aspiring leaders across the district.  Prior to that, Kyle worked alongside community members in Redwood City, California to found a PreK-8th grade school for over 700 families in the North Fair Oaks community, which was one of the highest performing schools for low income students in the Bay Area. Kyle received his Masters of Education in Leadership through National Louis University.  Outside of work, Kyle spends his time with his wife, two daughters, and one-year old son, is an avid reader, loves music, and enjoys anything active and sports related.

Everyone knows goal setting matters. We set goals in our personal lives, our classrooms, and our teams. But let’s be honest—goal setting is often broken. We write goals that sound good, but don’t guide action. We set them and forget them. Or we try to hold people accountable to goals that were never truly theirs to begin with. Instead of driving clarity and motivation, goal setting can sometimes lead to frustration and disengagement.

In this class, we’ll unpack the true purpose of goal setting and what it takes to do it well. Together, we’ll examine common pitfalls and explore a framework for designing goals that actually drive ownership, clarity, and momentum. You’ll learn how to launch goal-setting processes that align your team’s focus, build investment, and create a clear path to follow-up and reflection.

This Elective is designed for anyone who leads others and wants to make goal setting more meaningful and effective. It’s a dynamic and interactive session blending research-based content, discussion, and practice. You’ll leave ready to guide your team through a process that not only sets goals—but sustains them.

Educator, Leader, and Connector 

How to Do It Effectively with Those You Lead

In this interactive class, Joanna Lohman uses lessons from 16 years on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team and her run on *The Amazing Race* to explore how people adapt when plans fail, cut through noise, and connect with the right people under pressure.

Rather than just hearing stories from the field, participants work through the same skills behind them. They look at what to do when a plan falls apart, using real examples from their own work. They practice identifying the one priority that matters most and letting go of the rest when time is short. They also map the kinds of partnerships that help teams move faster, with one person leading on instinct and another on strategy.

By the end of the class, participants leave with a practical reset for setbacks, a method for simplifying fast-moving decisions, and a clearer sense of who to rely on when the stakes are high.

How Elite Performers Adapt, Subtract, and Connect to Win

The Amazing (Human) Race

Start the Year with a Plan

Sol has built AI and automation systems in real customer environments as a forward deployed engineer, starting by observing how work actually gets done and then shaping the workflow around it. They design pipelines, test them on live cases, and hand them off so teams can run them inside their own systems.

His background combines client-facing consulting with AI delivery work across multiple industry verticals. Sol helps consultants, operators, and businesses figure out where AI can create real value, how to implement it, and how to measure results. He also works with AI coding tools, agent development, and RAG, and has experience explaining technical ideas to both technical and non-technical audiences.

Sol is a two-time AI hackathon winner at MindStudio and a two-time hackathon winner at ShapesXR and 8thWall.
In his free time, he enjoys working out, playing golf, and building with AI.


Most professionals use Claude Cowork incorrectly: open a chat, write a prompt, start over tomorrow. No memory. No workstation. No framework. Claude Cowork gives you a structured environment where we can build hierarchical workstations. Less prompt management, less token usage, and better outcomes. This session is all about getting you started with a workstation in Claude Cowork.

AI Instructor and coach

Create A Personal AI Workstation With Claude Cowork To Get Work Done Faster

Learn To Set Up Your AI Workstation

Chang Liu is an Inclusive Design and DEI leader with 15+ years of experience helping organizations build more equitable products, cultures, and teams.
She has held key roles at Google and Meta, where she led strategies that shaped both organizational culture and product direction. Currently, she serves as Senior Program Director at an ed tech company, where she continues to bring an equity lens to how technology is built and experienced.
Chang also teaches Inclusive Design and Product Equity at the University of Washington, where her work centers on responsible innovation, accessibility, and building with — not just for — the people most often left out of the design process.
Beyond her professional work, she serves on nonprofit boards including Lighthouse for the Blind, putting her commitment to accessibility and inclusion into practice in the community.
She believes that when we design with the most vulnerable in mind, we create better experiences for everyone.

We are all tired of AI slop – it doesn't resonate. And yet most of us are producing it every day without realizing it.

This session isn't for developers or power users. It's for anyone who uses AI at work and wants to do it more thoughtfully. We'll name what AI slop actually is and why it's so easy to produce. We'll explore the dual nature of AI – its ability to elevate our work or flatten it, depending on how we use it. And we'll examine what it takes to move from passive AI user to intentional collaborator: someone who knows where AI adds value through speed, scale, and pattern recognition, and where human judgment, context, empathy, and taste must take the lead.

Participants will leave with a practical framework for deciding the right role for AI in their work and clearer criteria for what can be handed off versus what should remain deeply human. Because the real advantage in this era is not teaching machines to think like us. It is knowing when not to.

Expect honest conversation, real examples, and a framework you can put to use immediately – no technical background required.

Inclusive Product Advocate

Know when to leverage AI, and when to lead with human capabilities 

Beyond the Slop: AI With Intention

Irma has carved a niche in digital marketing by helping global companies navigate the complexities of the modern digital landscape. Her journey is marked by a commitment to simplifying digital marketing strategies, making them accessible and actionable for businesses and marketing teams.

With a rich background in crafting and executing digital marketing strategies, Irma collaborates with prominent global agencies to develop tailored marketing approaches. She is dedicated to enhancing the skills of marketing teams through quality training, ensuring they are well-equipped for the challenges of the AI-driven market.

Her passion lies in empowering businesses with the necessary tools and strategies to thrive in digital marketing. Irma holds advanced credentials in digital marketing, underscoring her extensive experience and expertise in the field.

AI-generated work can be polished, persuasive and professionally presented while still containing unsupported claims, incorrect assumptions, outdated information, missing context or flawed logic.

As employees use AI for increasingly important work, they need more than prompting skills. They need a practical method for deciding when an AI output is reliable enough to use, when it needs further investigation and when it should be rejected entirely.

In this interactive class, participants learn how to match the level of verification to the risk and potential impact of the task. They will apply source, evidence, logic, calculation, completeness, bias and context checks to realistic AI-generated work.

Participants will examine a professional-looking AI output containing several subtle problems. They will identify what is wrong, determine the potential consequences and decide what evidence or human expertise is required before the work can be approved.

They leave with a reusable Human-in-the-Loop Verification Checklist that can be applied to reports, research, analysis, recommendations, communications and other AI-supported work.

Platform, licensing and audience fit: This is a tool-agnostic class and applies to ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Gemini and other generative AI platforms. No specific enterprise licence is required. Participants can work from a provided AI-generated example, although access to an organisation-approved AI tool is useful for additional practice. The class is designed primarily for intermediate and advanced AI users, managers, analysts, knowledge workers and employees in finance, HR, legal, compliance, marketing, operations and professional services. It can be adapted for earlier-stage groups by introducing a simplified verification framework. No confidential organisational data is required.

Marketing and Business Leader

Verify, challenge and approve AI-generated work with confidence

AI Quality Control

Prapti Jha is a strategist and researcher at the Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health. In her current role, she leverages behavioral design to catalyze human-centered and systemic solutions to advance the health and well-being of people at the grassroots level. She specializes in driving interdisciplinary teams to develop experiences and strategic solutions backed by research and accelerated by design methods and tools.

Prapti has nine years of experience in working with organizations across multiple industries. Her experience includes working as an Innovation Catalyst at Ford Motor Company, where she helped multidisciplinary teams across departments to re-imagine the mobility space. She also worked as a Senior Design Strategist at Cisco Systems, where she focused on humanizing and democratizing the cybersecurity space.

Prapti has co-founded an initiative We Speak Innovation, through which she has spoken to people globally in multiple industries about design-led innovation. She believes that at the heart of it all is the focus on people - our behavior, motivations, and all the little quirks that make us human. 

Today's leaders shouldn't be choosing between human judgment and AI capabilities; rather, they should be learning to combine both effectively. This session is designed for leaders who want to harness AI without sacrificing the trust, transparency, and human alignment that drive great decisions.

You’ll discover that AI’s greatest value isn’t in making decisions for you, but in helping you and your team make better decisions together. Through real-world scenarios and hands-on exercises, you’ll learn to use AI as a thinking amplifier to surface assumptions, explore alternatives, stress-test decisions, and uncover perspectives you may not have considered.

We’ll explore practical frameworks for maintaining decision transparency, knowing when to bring AI into the decision-making process, and recognizing when human judgment should guide the conversation. You’ll practice “decision archaeology,” a method for learning from your AI-augmented choices and continuously improving your approach.

Whether you’re leading strategic planning sessions, navigating complex business decisions, or fostering innovation within your organization, this session provides the tools to evolve your decision-making practice for the AI era while keeping human wisdom at its core.

Class fit:

+ Tools & access: This session is tool-agnostic and can be delivered using the AI platform your organization already uses, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, or other enterprise-approved tools. No specific enterprise license is required.

+ Audience fit: Best suited for managers, leaders, and professionals involved in strategic or complex decision-making. Participants should have some basic familiarity with generative AI, but advanced AI experience is not required. The session can flex across different levels of AI fluency, with the focus on combining AI capabilities with human judgment rather than mastering a specific tool.

The EPOCH Capabilities

Human Leadership in the Age of AI

Being a Day-to-Day Visionary

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Creating a Personal Vision

Showing Up

Activating Creative Collaboration

Embracing Innovation & New Thinking

Mastering Strategic Thinking

Unleashing Creativity

Positive Psychology

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