Past Speakers

Bastiaan Anthonie otf Baaij

Bastiaan otf Baaij is a keynote speaker, educator, and breathwork facilitator in human performance and well‑being. For over three decades, he has helped audiences and students reconnect with their human vocal and physical potential, bridging digital technology with the realities of human capability. With a background in IT leadership and digital platform environments, he has firsthand insight into the pressures faced by developers, engineers, and tech leaders in screen‑driven, deadline‑heavy systems. Through Breathing for Better Health, he trains breath, attention, and communication as skills that cannot be automated, emphasizing embodied practice and human agency in an AI‑accelerated world.

Keynote Speaker & Human Performance Facilitator

Gavriel Schneider

Dr Gavriel (Gav) Schneider is a global authority on risk, leadership, and building high-performance cultures in uncertain environments. As the creator of the Presilience® framework and author of Presilience: How to Navigate Risk, Embrace Opportunity, and Build Resilience, Dr Gav empowers leaders and practitioners to move beyond compliance and traditional resilience, building proactive, opportunity-centric risk cultures that drive sustainable high performance. With extensive experience running companies across the risk, security, safety and leadership sectors, and nearly a decade as head of ACU’s postgraduate program in the Psychology of Risk, Dr Gav brings practical, real-world insights to every engagement. His contributions to the field have been recognised with numerous awards including; RMIA’s Consultant of the Year (2019) and Risk Leader of the Year (2023), reflecting his commitment to helping organisations lead, adapt, and thrive in a complex world.

CEO & Principal Consultant of Risk 2 Solution Group, and Chair of ISRM ANZ

Jeffrey Williams

Jeffrey Williams has been a global speaker, trainer and a coach for the past 23 years. He has been speaking globally in many countries including Portugal, France, Italy, Asia-Pacific regions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia. He brings along with him years of speaking on stage, delivering speeches and influencing the audience. His target audience includes senior management, middle and junior management. He strongly advocates this: "Making a difference in the lives of people I meet, train and coach"

Corporate Trainer and Global Speaker

James Quinn

James R. Quinn II is a strategic execution consultant and infrastructure program leader specializing in AI-ready industrial and data center development. He directs initiatives across advanced manufacturing, telecommunications systems, and modular hyperscale infrastructure. With leadership experience spanning defense systems, telecom engineering, and early-stage 20–100+ MW data center development, James focuses on technical site readiness, utility interconnection strategy, and phased modular-to-permanent deployment. He emphasizes unlocking compute capacity without stranding capital while identifying schedule, power, water, and fiber risks early. He is Founder of The Quantum Edge, LLC and advises executive leadership on scalable AI infrastructure strategy, governance, and long-term capital discipline.

Founder and Strategic Execution Consultant, The Quantum Edge, LLC

Thiru Damodharan

Thiru Damodharan is an accomplished business leader and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience spanning engineering, business development, market intelligence, and digital transformation across the Asia-Pacific region. He has held leadership roles in industries including semiconductors, specialty chemicals, metals and mining, and consulting, where he successfully drove growth, operations excellence, and strategic partnerships. His expertise lies in bridging technology with business strategy to help organizations navigate change and innovate. Thiru holds two MBAs—from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Fudan University—and a Bachelor’s degree in Materials Engineering from Nanyang Technological University (NTU). His multicultural exposure, having lived and worked in Singapore, Shanghai, and Seoul, adds depth to his leadership and advisory approach. A passionate advocate for personal growth and resilience, Thiru integrates mindfulness practices into his work, inspiring individuals and organizations to thrive in dynamic environments. Outside of his professional endeavors, he is an avid marathon runner and traveler, continually seeking new challenges and perspectives.

Business Advisory Manager

Abhinandan Kulal

Dr. Abhinandan Kulal is a distinguished academician and researcher specializing in Personal Finance, Behavioral Finance, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Investment Management. He earned his Ph.D. in Commerce from Mangalore University, completing his thesis on “Savings and Investment Pattern of College Teachers in the Jurisdiction of Mangalore University.” Demonstrating exceptional academic excellence early in his career, he cleared both NET and KSET examinations during his first year of M.Com. Dr. Kulal was awarded the Gold Medal by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) for outstanding performance in Financial Accounting. He has published over 33 research papers in reputed SCOPUS-indexed journals, amassing more than 850 citations on Google Scholar. His publications include 3 papers in ABDC-A, 5 in ABDC-B, 15 in Q1, and 13 in Q2 journals, reflecting his significant scholarly impact in finance and AI research. His remarkable contributions have been recognized through multiple prestigious honors, including the AAOU Fellowship and the ICAI International Research Awards in the Accounting, Economics, and Finance categories for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Dr. Kulal serves as a reviewer for more than 25 SCOPUS-indexed journals, including leading publications from Elsevier, Emerald, Sage, and Springer. As a Resource Person, he has conducted numerous sessions in Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) and Research Methodology Workshops across India. Internationally, he represented India as a speaker for the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), Japan, delivering a session on “Public Sector Productivity in the Age of AI: Evidence from India.” He was also invited as a speaker at the Digital Marketing with AI Summit, organized by the Center for Sustainable Business Innovation and Research (SBIR Center) at Virscend University, Irvine, California. Through his pioneering research on AI integration in social science research, along with his academic leadership, reviewing, and teaching roles, Dr. Abhinandan Kulal continues to make a profound impact on the advancement of AI-driven and finance-based research in India and beyond.

Assistant Professor

Bettina Rodriguez-Aguilera, LLM

Bettina Rodriguez Aguilera, LLM, is a pioneering voice amplification coach who helps women in aerospace and space exploration develop unshakeable confidence and leadership presence using NLP and neuroplasticity techniques. With a unique methodology that rewires neural pathways for authentic expression, she empowers women to voice mission-critical insights in male-dominated space industry environments. Her transformational program has helped aerospace engineers, mission specialists, and space entrepreneurs amplify their unique perspectives, ensuring women's voices shape humanity's expansion beyond Earth. She believes that when women's voices are heard in space exploration, missions become safer, solutions more innovative, and our cosmic future more inclusive.

Education

Smuel Kleinman

25 years of experience in futuristic investments all good

Kavita Chhabria

Kavita Chhabria is a transformative leader at AWS, driving innovation at the intersection of technology and social good. As a Global Senior Account Executive and Experience Based Acceleration Lead, she champions AI/ML solutions that create meaningful impact for customers and communities. A recognized sustainability Subject Matter Expert and Champion, Kavita advocates for climate action, AI accessibility, education equity, and disaster response through her speaking engagements at premier forums including GHC 2025 and CStar Global Forum. In 2025, she impacted 600+ students across university programs and mentors emerging professionals through AWS She Builds Program. Kavita's leadership philosophy centers on leveraging technology as a catalyst for positive social and cultural change, building resilient futures through innovation and inclusive empowerment.

Senior Global Account Executive

Devon Fletcher

Maja Završnik

As an anthropologist at heart (and according to my Bachelor's degree), I've spent 10+ years helping SaaS startups stand out online using Organic & Growth Marketing strategies, with the last three years branching out into the world of AI. Today, I am a Co-founder and the CMO of SheAI - a platform on a mission to bridge the gender gap with accessible AI education.

CMO and Co-founder

Silvia Gioja

Silvia Gioja is a BIM Lead known for driving digital transformation across the infrastructure sector. She leads the integration of BIM and innovative digital methodologies in large‑scale mobility projects, shaping future‑ready delivery models and championing collaboration across multidisciplinary teams. Recognized with the WICE “Best Woman in Tunnelling” award and named ELLE’s “Technology Woman of the Year 2025,” she is also a committed advocate for women in STEM. Silvia is passionate about advancing transparent, resilient and human‑centered infrastructure systems, where technology empowers people and accelerates equitable, sustainable progress.

BIM Lead Mobility and Resilience

Gloria Sloan

Gloria Sloan is the Founder and CEO of Personal Dynamics, Inc., an acclaimed author, certified life coach, and host of The Gloria Show, a podcast focused on personal development. Gloria has emerged as a respected leader in personal growth and global motivational leadership. With over four decades of dedicated service in business management, workforce development, and hospitality procurement, she has empowered countless individuals to reach their full potential by applying essential life skills to advance their personal and professional growth. She educates individuals, helps them gain clarity, identify their strengths, and align their values with their career choices and relationships. Gloria coaches and mentors passionately, guiding individuals to effectively cultivate a vision of greatness.

Founder and CEO

Sha-Sonja

Sha-Sonja Alexandra Arcia is the Founder and CEO of LEXVVR AI™, Inc., a legal intelligence startup building transparent, explainable AI to support collaborative decision-making in law firms. She leads a cross-functional team of six and brings a multidisciplinary background spanning psychology, data science, and machine learning. Before transitioning into technology, Sha-Sonja earned a professional photography certification from the New York Institute of Photography and worked as a press, commercial, international documentary, and sports photographer, including projects with Showtime and HBO. That work informs her human-centered, context-aware approach to designing responsible legal AI systems.

Founder & CEO

David Ko

Dr David Ko ran hedge funds for thirty years. Since Covid, he has been working with grassroots communities. Before that he led advanced physics research. He has guided spiritual development for teenagers and adults over many decades. His first book The Unsustainable Truth explains how our pensions and savings are destroying the planet. His second book Thriving at Nature's Pace reconciles this—bringing humility to economics, investments, and innovations. He is currently working on implementing this, creating an investment company that returns oil, gas, and coal to Nature.

Hedge Fund Manager

Anna K

Anna K is a resiliency expert, transformational author, speaker, and creator of The Inner Peace Blueprint™, a practical framework designed to help you reclaim emotional clarity, inner strength, and authentic self-leadership. With more than 15 years in education, Anna brings a unique ability to translate complex emotional and behavioral patterns into simple, actionable tools you can apply in everyday life. Through her work with Supreme Health Solutions, she guides individuals navigating life’s transitions to move beyond emotional overwhelm and develop resilience, self-trust, and lasting inner stability. Her approach integrates emotional intelligence, mindfulness, breathwork, and spiritual grounding to help you regulate your internal world so you can respond with clarity rather than react to stress or pressure. Anna’s work is rooted in a powerful belief: true empowerment begins within. When you learn to regulate your emotions, trust your inner voice, and align with your authentic values, you lead yourself differently, communicate more clearly, and move through life with greater calm and confidence. Through her writing, speaking, and programs, Anna inspires people around the world to discover that the most powerful foundation for transformation is the peace they create within themselves.

resiliency expert, transformational author, speaker, and creator of The Inner Peace Blueprint™

Julie B

Cybersecurity professional with over 13 years of experience in red and purple teaming, DLP, threat intelligence, malware and Ransomware protection

Cybersecurity expert

Katrin Rost

As a Change Management Expert, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, and Business Coach, I help organizations and leaders successfully manage transformation processes. My work focuses on leadership effectiveness, mindset shifts, and practical implementation As a Change Management Expert, Keynote Speaker, Trainer, and Business Coach, I help organizations and leaders navigate complex transformation processes successfully. I focus on enhancing leadership effectiveness, fostering mindset shifts, and guiding practical implementation to ensure sustainable results. By combining strategic insights with hands-on approaches, I empower teams to embrace change, overcome resistance, and achieve measurable impact. My work bridges the gap between vision and execution, supporting leaders in creating lasting cultural and organizational improvements while driving performance and growth. to achieve lasting results.

Change & Leadership Consultant | Trainer & Business Coach

Marco Geuna

Marco Geuna is a gender-based violence and protection specialist with nearly two decades of experience in international cooperation and humanitarian response. He developed a strong focus on women’s empowerment and gender-based violence, working in some of the most complex contexts such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Ethiopia, and Cameroon. He is currently based in Paris, where he works as a head of projetcs coordinating solar energy initiatives across Africa, with a strong focus on promoting gender equity in access to energy.

International development practitioner

Aida Rivas

Aida Rivas is an Executive, Life, and Career Coach, transformational speaker, and seasoned Program Management leader with over 25 years of experience guiding global teams through change in technology, finance, oil, and enterprise software. As a first-generation Latina and proud daughter of Honduran immigrants, Aida brings both deep expertise and lived experience to her talks on belonging, navigating transitions, and inclusive leadership. She has delivered keynote talks and workshops at a range of universities—including conferences for engineering diversity—and at leading technology companies, inspiring both first-generation students and professionals. Her presentations blend engaging storytelling, cultural empathy, and actionable strategies that resonate across diverse audiences. Whether coaching one-on-one or speaking to large groups, Aida’s mission is to help individuals and organizations not just adapt to change, but grow through it—with clarity, resilience, and purpose.

Executive, Life, and Career Coach, transformational speaker, and seasoned Program Management leader

Rita Brewer

Rita Brewer is a Physician Associate, passionate educator, and advocate for lifestyle-driven healthcare. With over 34 years of experience spanning Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obesity, and Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine, she has dedicated her career to transforming lives through the power of preventive care and holistic healing. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the State University of New York at Geneseo and completed her clinical training at Weill Cornell Surgical Physician Associate Program in New York City. Rita is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Associates, a Certified Diplomate of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and a trained Functional Medicine Practitioner. Over the years, Rita has practiced in hospitals, outpatient clinics, and private practices, caring for thousands of patients living with the devastating effects of uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes. Through this work, she discovered her true mission: to educate and empower people with the truth that diabetes and many other chronic illnesses are not only preventable—but reversible. She went on to create the Diabetes Reversal Formula, a comprehensive coaching program designed to help clients reduce medications, normalize blood sugars, lose weight, and reclaim vibrant health. Rita is also the founder of the Healthy Lifestyles Ministry at Raleigh North Christian Center, where she merges her clinical expertise with her deep passion for faith and community. Through this ministry, she inspires and equips individuals to take ownership of their health—body, mind, and spirit. Her greatest joy comes from walking alongside patients and clients as they experience transformation—not just in how they look and feel, but in their ability to overcome illness, reduce or eliminate medications, and lead fuller, longer lives. Website: www.RitaBrewer.com Email: rita@ritabrewer.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-brewer-consulting/ Instagram: @ritabrewerconsulting www.facebook.com/ritabrewerconsulting. Rita Brewer PA-C, DipACLM, DFAAPA Diabetes Reversal Coach Board Certified Physician Associate Diplomate American College of Lifestyle Medicine Distinguished Fellow American Academy of Physician Associates Functional Medicine Practitioner

Diabetes Reversal Coach/PA-C

Tina Lampe

Tina Lampe is an Award-Winning Strategic Technology Partner, and the Assistant Vice President as well as SheLeadsTech liaison of the St. Louis, Missouri ISACA board. Tina has a passion for thought leadership and is an experienced presenter of content in relation to Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, Technology, and Innovation.

Director - IT Software Engineering

Aroma Rodrigues

Aroma R. is a software engineer, technologist, and interdisciplinary researcher whose work spans natural language processing, machine learning, and hardware innovation. They have presented internationally at conferences including PyCon (US, Estonia, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Sweden, India, ZA), Conf42, LWT Summit, and AI in Software Development Summit, covering topics from bias in AI and fake news detection to creative applications of LLMs and open-source hardware solutions. Aroma’s work explores how technology shapes human perception and society, blending hands-on engineering with conceptual inquiry. Projects range from developing algorithms to process massive datasets to designing assistive hardware, and they are passionate about translating complex technical ideas into accessible, engaging narratives for diverse audiences.

Software Engineer

Matthew Kilbane

As a seasoned AI strategist and executive leader, I bring over two decades of experience spanning federal law enforcement, emergency management, military operations, logistics, and enterprise transformation. I specialize in architecting ethical, scalable AI solutions and governance frameworks that align with global standards; from the EU AI Act to U.S. federal modernization mandates. Through Athena’s Zephyr Consulting and other ventures, I lead international teams developing bespoke LLM solutions, while advising on policy, compliance, and operational excellence across sectors. My career is defined by a fusion of technical rigor and strategic foresight; whether modernizing IT ecosystems, shaping generative AI adoption, or driving innovation through international collaboration. I thrive on reframing complexity into actionable systems, and I’m deeply committed to advancing human-aligned AI that serves both public and private missions.

AI strategist and Executive Leader