SPEAKERS



Leading Innovation


Human beings are innately resistant to change. And yet we now find ourselves in one of the most transformative periods in history as a result of technology and demographics. With this talk, Eggers looks at how corporations can fight complacency, embrace rapid change, and drive innovation from the top down. Using historic examples, surprising stories, and anecdotes of companies who failed to adapt or leapfrogged the competition, Eggers paints a vivid picture for corporate survival in the 21st century.

Jeff Eggers
Organizational Performance Expert & Executive Director, McChrystal Group Leadership Institute

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Jeff Eggers is a senior policy advisor, security professional, executive coach, and leadership consultant with more than 20 years experience leading high-performing teams for the White House, Department of Defense, and U.S. Navy. A trusted advisor to senior U.S. government officials, Eggers served as President Obama’s Special Assistant for National Security Affairs, where he oversaw critical and sensitive aspects of U.S. foreign and national security policy. Eggers is a passionate advocate for evolving models of leadership that take into account 21st century dynamics including generational clashes, rapidly advancing technologies, and shifting geopolitical forces. He believes that employees need to be empowered to make decisions in real time, and that teams operating with a powerful sense of purpose and empowered execution are most successful. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Eggers explains why humble leadership is more important than heroic leadership, why leadership’s role is to cultivate rather than control, how a sense of “we” is the common thread amongst all high-performing teams—ranging from Forumla One Racing to the Tokyo String Quartet to Navy SEALS—and why the most significant risk factors to a corporation are internal.

Jeff Eggers served for four years as the National Security Council’s Senior Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He now leads the McChrystal Group’s Leadership Institute, where he helps Fortune 500 clients focused on improving performance to train more effective leaders and create a culture that enables peak performance. A behavioral science researcher, Eggers draws on cultural trends, current events, anecdotes from his time as a Navy SEAL leader and lessons about human nature itself to share impactful and actionable insights on decision-making, silo elimination, teamwork, and change management.

Prior to joining McChrystal Group, Jeff worked with a diverse mix of clients across industries, including an NBA franchise where he helped with leadership succession. He retired from the U.S. Navy following a successful 20 year career as a U.S. Navy SEAL. Operational tours included positions on several SEAL Teams, commander of the Special Operations Task Unit in western Iraq, and Operations Officer and Mission Commander for the U.S. Navy’s undersea special operations command. He served as a strategic advisor on national security matters, including the mid-2013 change of mission in Afghanistan, enabling an end to the U.S. combat mission and shifting emphasis to Afghan security forces. He shepherded the negotiation and signing of the U.S.-Afghanistan Strategy Partnership Agreements, and served as a Strategic Advisor to General Stanley McChrystal, Commander of NATO ISAF. He is credited with the mediation and resolution of the 2014 Afghan presidential electoral crisis, an effort that earned him the Samuel Nelson Drew Award, presented by President Obama for “Distinguished Contribution in Pursuit of Global Peace.”

Eggers is an Adjunct Senior Analyst for the RAND Corporation and has been published in Fortune, Foreign Policy, Politico, U.S. News and World Report, and more. He has taught courses in change management, leadership, and public policy for U.S. intelligence agencies, the Foreign Service Institute, and the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

He is a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, an advisor for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a member of the NationSwell Council, and a board member of the Special Operations Fund, a non-profit that cares for and assists the families of special operations veterans killed in action.

The Disruptor’s Playbook


In conjunction with Forbes and the Kellogg School of Management, Paul Earle recently spent a year profiling disruptive new consumer brands and companies on the frontier of change. Across many different verticals, a few commonalities emerged... some expected, but others, less so. Earle will walk the audience through what those findings are, and provide a playbook to help them become disruptors themselves on the path to innovation.

Paul Earle
Principal, Earle & Company

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Paul W. Earle, Jr. is a brand and innovation professional, entrepreneur, intrapreneur, and lecturer with significant experience in design, the development of new products and services, new venture formation, intellectual property licensing, marketing communications of all kinds, and traditional brand management and strategy.

At present, Paul is Principal of Earle & Company, an innovation, branding, and design collective that helps progressive companies create the future. He also writes a monthly column for Forbes, where he covers innovation in the consumer products sector. Finally, he is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, where he co-teaches the popular “Corporate Innovation & New Ventures” class, a lab immersion that pairs student teams with top corporate partners such as McDonald’s, Visa, Procter & Gamble, United Airlines, Beam Suntory, Hyatt, E&J Gallo, and many others.

Prior to launching his latest enterprise, Paul was Executive Director of Farmhouse, the innovation and new venture center of the global creative agency Leo Burnett. Founded by Paul in partnership with Leo Burnett management in 2011 and operating successfully through 2016, Farmhouse developed new brands, new product and service concepts, and other new kinds of designed experiences for premier clients such as Procter & Gamble, McDonald’s, Kellogg’s, Allstate, E&J Gallo, and others. While at Burnett, Paul also co-authored the strategy that led to “Publicis90,” a global open innovation platform—the first of its kind in the big agency world. On his own, prior to joining Burnett, amongst other adventures, Paul was part of the founding team that created and launched ANGEL’S ENVY, a whiskey brand that achieved near instant success and would ultimately be acquired by Bacardi in 2015.

From 2001 to 2009, Paul served as founder and President of River West Brands LLC, a dormant brand acquisition and redevelopment company that later became part of Omnicom Group. River West acquired and relaunched well known but distressed brand properties such as COLECO toys, BRIM coffee, EAGLE snacks, NUPRIN analgesics, SALON SELECTIVES hair care, and a number of other icons. Paul and his work earned feature-length profiles in the New York Times, NBC’s Today Show, NPR, BBC, and other prominent media.

Earlier, Paul worked in brand management at Kraft Foods, Inc., principally on Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. He previously worked at Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising in New York, where he served the British Airways, General Mills, and Johnson & Johnson clients.

Paul holds a BA from Hamilton College and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He lives in the Chicago area with his wife and two sons.

Managing in an Uncertain Economy


The session will provide ITR's views of what to expect from the economy for the remainder of 2019 and beyond, covering such topics as industry trends, business to business activity, trade, inflation, interest rates and more. Using leading indicators, the audience will learn how to identify where they are in the business cycle and which inputs should guide their business strategy to help them make the right decisions at the right time. Attendees will leave this session with clear, practical, and actionable business advice based on the current economic environment; an understanding of the impact of government policy on the economy; and inflation and interest rate expectations.

Alex Chausovsky
Director of Speaking Services, ITR Economics

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Alex Chausovsky is a highly experienced market researcher and analyst with more than a decade of expertise across subjects including macroeconomics, industrial manufacturing, energy efficiency, automation, and advanced technology trends. For the last 15 years, he has consulted and advised companies throughout the US, Europe, Brazil, China, and Japan. Alex is currently responsible for providing reliable industry and company forecasts, presentations, webinars, and economic consulting services for small businesses, trade associations, and Fortune 500 companies across a spectrum of industries.

In his prior role, Alex led a group of analysts covering the industrial manufacturing domain. He was also the lead analyst for 3D printing at a major international firm. Alex regularly delivers keynote addresses at leading industry conferences and trade association events.

Supply Chain 4.0 – What Does Our Future Hold?


The pace of change in the world of supply chain is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. Today’s new normal is all about global urbanization, the infinite shelf, the tyranny of now and the ever increasing demand for speed and convenience. This presentation provides a truly fascinating look at why new competitive pressures are changing the retail grocery landscape and how this is having a massive domino-effect on all supply chains within the food industry.

Marc Wulfraat
President, MWPVL International Inc.

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Marc Wulfraat is the president and founder of MWPVL International, a global supply chain and logistics consulting firm specialized in helping with companies with supply chain strategy, facility design, and supply chain technology. Marc is a recognized authority and speaker in the industry.

Marc has worked with hundreds of companies in North America and the rest of the world to optimize their distribution operations and supply chains. He has 32 years of experience in the strategies and tactics of the most effective logistics and distribution companies.

Marc has been a speaker at over 110 supply chain industry events and has been published in over 120 magazines and newspapers including the Wall Street Journal and the Economist. Marc has a B.Sc. Mathematics and M.B.A. from McGill University/Manchester Business School, UK.

Predict and Prepare for Tomorrow’s Threats


Technological change and investment continue at a breakneck pace, yet cyber threats keep up. Tried and true methods - phishing, denial of service, credential compromise - remain successful in many attacks, but new ones emerge routinely. Michael’s team produces thousands of intelligence reports for clients each year, looking at the world through many lenses, from their tactical, technical experience to their big-picture geopolitical understanding, allowing them to anticipate the black swans, the game changers, and the “next big thing.” Drawing on this expertise, Michael will share key insights into future cyber trends and threats in 2019 and how to protect against the evolving security landscape.

Michael Sechrist
Chief Technologist, Booz Allen Hamilton

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Michael Sechrist is a Chief Technologist at Booz Allen Hamilton, managing the Managed Threat Services Intelligence team. Previously, Michael led cyber threat intelligence, cyber incident response and co-led vulnerability management, respectively, at State Street Corporation, a globally systemically important financial institution. Prior to that, he managed a government-funded cyberspace project at Harvard University, and worked in several roles within the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of State and White House, respectively. Michael holds a B.S. from Northeastern University and an M.P.P. from Harvard University, where he was a Department of Homeland Security Fellow.

Blockchain: Traceability, Transparency & Trust for Supply Chain Effectiveness


Blockchain has the potential to completely transform the food ecosystem. The digitization of transactions and data provides a more efficient way of working across the supply chain, including growers, processors, distributors, retailers, and consumers, ultimately providing complete supply network visibility and transparency. The complete history and current location of any individual food item, as well as accompanying information such as certifications, test data and temperature data, are readily available in seconds once uploaded onto the platform. With capabilities for safer food, longer shelf lives, reduced waste, faster traceability, and better access to shared information, ingredient suppliers have the ability to differentiate their products in the eyes of not only their customers but their end consumers.

Laura Loughran
Senior Product Manager, IBM Food Trust

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Laura Loughran is a Product Manager at IBM Food Trust, a Blockchain ecosystem building transparency and traceability in the food ecosystem. Previously, Laura worked as an offering manager in AI, building predictive analytics tools.

Laura has deep industry knowledge in supply chain, specifically in the food supply chain. Her technical expertise lies in cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain and AI.

All In: How the Best Leaders Create a Culture of Belief and Drive Big Results


In this interactive and engaging session based on the New York Times bestselling business book All In, which includes research from more than 300,000 people in high-performance organizations, Chester Elton will teach leaders how to Engage, Enable and Energize their workforces.

The formula of E+E+E outlines how high-performance organizations deliver extraordinary results by creating a vibrant, productive culture where people believe that what they do matters and that they can make a difference. In this presentation, Chester will relate stories of leaders in action that vividly depict just how these powerful methods can be implemented.

Chester Elton
Author & Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement and Teamwork Expert

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One of today’s most influential voices in workplace trends, Chester Elton has spent two decades helping clients engage their employees to execute on strategy, vision, and values.

He has been called the “apostle of appreciation” by Canada’s Globe and Mail, “creative and refreshing‚” by the New York Times, and a “must read for modern managers” by CNN. Elton is co-author of the multiple award-winning New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling leadership book, All In, The Carrot Principle, and The Best Team Wins. His books have been translated in more than 30 languages and have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Elton is often quoted in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Fast Company and the New York Times. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, CNN, ABC, MSNBC, National Public Radio and CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Elton serves as a leadership consultant to firms such as American Express, AT&T, Avis Budget Group and Procter & Gamble.