Karith Foster

About Karith Foster

For nearly a decade Karith Foster has taken her passion for entertaining and critical thinking nationwide: from the airwaves to organizations; from universities to corporations creating a seismic shift in mindsets when addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. The former co-host of controversial radio personality Don Imus and former Fortune 500 human resources executive administrator brings the perfect blend of knowledge and experience when conveying the ever-present need to address diversity. Karith leaves her audience feeling inspired and encouraged to commit to the journey of mutual respect, acceptance and a greater sense of belonging.

Keynote: Stereotyped 101

Stereotyped 101 is a three-part program and workshop designed to educate and cultivate a sincere comprehension of the intersection of modern day diversity. Karith uses the perfect blend of humor, interactive audience participation and heartfelt personal stories to engage her audience and shed light on taboo subjects that include, but are not limited to, racism, homophobia, class-ism, even size-ism. This high-energy lecture prompts people to not only think about how we view the world and ourselves, but also how to actively promote change

Calvin Stovall

About Calvin Stovall

Armed with more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality and non-profit services industries, Calvin’s audiences learn real-life, hands-on practical customer experience and leadership principles which can be easily applied to business challenges today. Calvin designed a practical and systematic technique called The ICONIC Framework™ to help organizations achieve and maintain iconic status in the eyes of their customers. The ICONIC Framework was built based on nearly two decades of practical branding and leadership experience, and countless hours of readings from secondary research of iconic brands over the years.

Keynote: Creating Raving Fans as Servant Leaders

What is it about a great song that makes you want to hear it over and over again? Why do we crave a hook that loops within the same song? And how does a song end up getting stuck in your head? Research shows that more than 90 percent of the time spent listening to music people are actually hearing tracks they’ve listened to before. Repetition is an astounding prevalent feature of music, and it’s the same for business. Purchase repetition and sharing experiences is prevalent to the success of any iconic brand. How does your brand hit all the right notes and get stuck in the minds of customers so that they want to buy from you repeatedly and share their experience with others? During this session, attendees will learn how iconic brands like Disney, The Rolling Stones and Amoeba Music, the iconic Hollywood record store have mastered the power of repetition and hooks by continually delivering a consistent customer experience to drive repetitious purchase behavior amongst its fan base for decades.

Joe Nayquonabe

About Joe Nayquonabe

Joe Nayquonabe, Jr. is an American Indian business professional that has spent his career reimagining and reinventing how American Indian tribal economies grow and prosper.

He spent over a decade as a marketing executive growing the Grand Casino brand before ascending to CEO of the Mille Lacs Band’s Corporate Commission where he created several companies including Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, which manages the entire business portfolio of the Mille Lacs Band; 2020 Casino Solutions; Maadaadizi Holdings; and Wewinabi Inc.. He has kept Grand Casino at the forefront as one of the most valuable brands in Indian Gaming.

Nayquonabe has received numerous awards and accolades for his leadership over the past 13 years including the 2009 Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal “Forty Under 40” honoree, St. Cloud State University’s “Graduate of the Decade,” was named one of “the next generation of Minnesota Titans” by Minnesota Business magazine, the 2013 “Native American 40 Under 40” honoree by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development, a Diversity in Business award winner from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, an “Outstanding Alumni” award winner from Central Lakes College, the 2015 “Executive of the Year” from the Native American Finance Officers Association (NAFOA) and the 2015 “Community Builder Award,” from the Northern Star Council.

In addition to his work, Nayquonabe serves on the National Diversity Advisory Board for the University of Minnesota, the American Indian Advisory Board for St. Cloud State University, the American Red Cross Minneapolis Region, Friends of Como Zoo and the Initiative Foundation.

Nayquonabe has a bachelor’s degree in marketing from St. Cloud State University, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and a master of tribal administration and governance degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

He and his wife, Christina, live in Onamia with their daughters, Bella, Phoenix-Rose, and Xiana. In his spare time, Joe enjoys running marathons, studying the Ojibwe language, and reading.

Keynote: Conference Opening

Joe will welcome all our attendees to the conference, and give a leadership address.

AmyK

About AmyK

A former executive of a billion-dollar global consumer products company and awarded the Vistage UK, International Speaker of the Year, AmyK is a dynamic, energetic catalyst for helping servant leaders master The Power of Profitable Conversations. AmyK travels the globe helping executives, influencers and go-getters confidently & competently navigate their toughest conversations without saying something they regret, giving their power away or damaging their relationships.

Keynote: The Power of Profitable Conversations

In this compelling and energetic program, leaders will be inspired and equipped to create raving fans - one profitable conversation at a time. Through humor, insight and experience, AmyK provides real-world, straightforward communication & leadership tools that have immediate practical applications for raising the performance, productivity and collaboration levels of your teams. Do you and your teams have the right leadership skills to take on tomorrow? Does your culture possess the best behaviors for fostering innovation, diversity, critical thinking and raving fans inside and outside of the organization? AmyK shares with leaders how to ignite their own brilliance & harness the collective intelligence in their teams to create unprecedented competitive advantages to drive businesses forward faster.

Chris Heeter

About Chris Heeter

Chris Heeter was selected as a Top Ten Speaker of 2014 by MeetingsNet, and was the highest rated speaker of Meeting Professional International's 2014 World Education Congress. She is out to create a Wild revolution in the workplace. A wilderness guide since 1984 and professional speaker since 2001, Chris has led and worked with a diverse array of teams, both canine and human! Featured on The Discovery Channel's “National Geographic Today,” she brings decades of leadership experience indoors, to conferences and offices, working with teams and leaders, helping us recognize that leadership and teamwork doesn't have to be so complicated.

Combining business expertise with hilarious stories from her sled dog team and from guiding whitewater trips, Chris challenges and inspires organizations and individuals toward Wild leadership, compassionate presence, and daring authenticity.

Keynote: Having the courage to bring the gift of all of who are to all of what you do

From diva dogs to do-overs: a dog musher’s perspective on personalities, servant leadership, and unleashing the Wild side of your organization
Wild (adj.): Having the courage to bring the gift of all of who you are to all of what you do.
Picture a musher driving a dogsled. His/Her team is in front of him, there are no reins to steer the dogs, no whip to make them go. She must lead the team from behind, training them, harnessing and guiding their energy, the only means of communication from the sled being voice commands (to another species). Trail conditions change frequently, dogs on the team sometimes disagree. Sound strangely familiar? Join leadership speaker, wilderness guide, and poet Chris Heeter for an exploration into how to create a Wild work culture through servant leadership. This program offers a fresh and relevant perspective on the Wild world of teams, leadership, and diversity, with concrete strategies for bringing out the best in your people and yourself.

Top Take-aways:
*Draw out the gifts and unique skills of each member of your team
*Create connection, engagement, and excitement so your teams gel
*Move from managing people to leading and inspiring them
*Become the Wild leader you are capable of being

Jon Stetson

About Jon Stetson

Jon Stetson is the one Entertainer/Speaker who understands the importance of capturing the Mind share and the Heart share of his audiences.

The Stetson Experience

The Stetson Experience is intelligent, interactive, sophisticated fun.  Along with hundreds of corporate appearances, Jon has performed for three U.S. Presidents, The King of Sweden, The Royal Family of Monaco, and has appeared on several major Television Networks.

Interjecting uproarious comedy into each program, Jon creates a hilarious and unique presentation that never fails to blow the audience away. Stetson blends the art of Mystery with the study of Psychology, the predictability of human nature and the power of intuition, with a disarming sense of humor. The result is slack jawed amazement, where the most skeptical of audience members begin to feel a renewed sense of wonder as impossibilities become realities.

Jon Stetson’s engaging programs are packed with audience participation. Imaginations are wowed, stretched and captured, as thoughts are revealed and minds are being read, with Jon’s intriguing  games of mind to mind contact.

Thought Reading has never been this much fun!

Chad Weinstein

About Chad Weinstein

Charles A. “Chad” Weinstein is president of Ethical Leaders in Action, LLC., and author of Thinking Aloud: Reflections on Ethical Leadership.   Ethical Leaders in Action (ELA) provides leadership development, education, and strategic consulting services to public safety, health care, and business organizations.   Weinstein is a frequent presenter at conferences, seminars, and events.  He is community faculty member of the Metropolitan State University School of Criminal Justice and Law Enforcement.  Weinstein also serves on Mixed Blood Theatre’s Board of Directors, and has served as an adjunct faculty member of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.

Weinstein’s formal education is in ethics, but his experience – and orientation – is as a business practitioner.  He recognized early on that while most of business ethics is concerned with constraining bad behavior, its failures in that respect continue to make headlines.    He believes that our ethical traditions are much broader, teaching and urging us to work and live in ways that are both meaningful and productive.   Ethical leadership is the critical factor.  Weinstein’s work is primarily oriented toward helping leaders foster that broader sense of ethics and effectiveness in their work, in pursuit of ELA’s mission: Empower ethical leaders to achieve extraordinary results.  

Weinstein has been a consultant and manager for over 25 years.  Prior to forming Ethical Leaders in Action, Weinstein co-founded and led the Hill Center for Ethical Business Leadership, a division of the James J. Hill Reference Library.  In that capacity, Weinstein developed and implemented contemporary approaches to leadership development, using classical concepts drawn from multiple ethical traditions.   Earlier in his career, Weinstein led business units and teams providing strategic consulting and research services to clients in many industries, including:

• Public Safety (law enforcement, fire, and EMS agencies)

• Health care, including sub-acute, long-term, and home-based care

• Financial and professional services

• Medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products

• Automotive and heavy equipment manufacturing

• Mining, energy, and mineral extraction

Weinstein holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in ethics (philosophy) from the University of Minnesota, and a B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin.

Purposeful Empowerment

Lena Scullard

About Lena Scullard

Lena Scullard began LMS Productions with one goal in mind, to empower people to improve their confidence and sense of capability throughout their personal and professional lives. As a professional speaker, facilitator, program designer, and consultant, Lena brings creative and engaging development opportunities to organizations across the country.  Lena’s programs have lasting impact, because they create memorable and emotional connections and leave people excited about applying new ideas in innovative ways.

Her programs encourage insight to help identify obstacles so that people can discover the best version of themselves. They are created to focus on unlocking the motivations, ideas, and feelings of others and inspire people to reach toward goals of excellence. Lena’s expertise includes Personal and Interpersonal Skills Development, which she believes are the foundations of both personal and professional effectiveness. She has facilitated programs from Franklin Covey, The Pacific Institute, Achieve Forum, and DiSC, and has been designing and delivering training programs for nearly a decade. In addition to several facilitation certifications, Lena holds degrees in Theater and English Literature.

Lena grew up in rural Minnesota, surrounded by a supportive family (despite her crazy dreams and pursuits) and a tremendously close community. At the age of 8, Lena was diagnosed with Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes, which brought her strength and steadiness, despite hardships and tough life lessons that she often shares with her audience. She remains active in Community Theater and loves adventure and getting involved in planning events. She lives in Minnesota with her husband and spunky dog, Moxie.

Level Up Leadership

Vicki Clark

About Vicki Clark

Vicki Floyd Clark has devoted the past 30 years of her life to building capacity in organizations and inspiring community and business leaders. A noted speaker, facilitator, consultant and trainer, she has extensive experience in the nonprofit, government and private sectors. Her work includes numerous specialty areas; board development, inclusion and diversity, leadership development, strategic planning, project planning, membership engagement, volunteer resource development, and effective communication. 

Each year she speaks to thousands of community and business leaders and has made presentations in 49 of the 50 United States. Her international experience includes engagements in England, Russia, Canada and Venezuela. 

She works with a variety of companies and organizations including Dun & Bradstreet, Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, National Association of Women Business Owners, Centers for Disease Control, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, Servant Leadership Institute, Pilot International, Planned Parenthood, American Bar Association, National Center for Family Literacy, Delta Leadership Institute, Ronald McDonald House Charities, Indiana Community Action Agencies, HIPPY-Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters, United Way and the Association of Junior Leagues International.

Clark was trained by Dr. Peter F. Drucker and Frances Hesselbein and was a member of Dr. Drucker’s training and consultation team. She is a Senior Governance Consultant for BoardSource. For 12 years she was a Vice President at the Points of Light Foundation, Washington, DC.  She has been a guest lecturer at Auburn University, University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texarkana College, University of South Carolina, University of Houston, Texas A & M and the Memphis Theological Seminary.

Clark serves proudly as a member of the boards of the National Diaper Bank Network and the Youth Volunteer Corps. She attended the University of Missouri and lives in Memphis, TN. 

Grounded Servant Leader

John Graci

About John Graci

John Graci is a leadership speaker, author and trainer with more than 20 years of management experience in production, office, union and non-union environments. Graci’s straightforward and tell-it-like-it-is approach comes across as refreshing and riveting, and will have leaders on all levels of business grimacing in guilt knowing they might be practicing management without a license. 

John is a frequent keynote speaker on change, motivation and communication for Fortune 500 companies, national conventions and SHRM chapters across the Midwest. He has been recognized by VIP’s for teaching management skills that instantly improve the work environment. 

John’s debut book, The Buck Stops with You exposes today’s leaders who are quick to blame employees for having bad attitudes as opposed to looking in the mirror and asking what they could have done to cause the situation. Graci’s second book, doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to offering solutions to the question: Why Don’t Employees Perform as Expected?  John’s third book, Leaders Are MADE, Not Born! was released in summer of 2018. Graci’s tell-it-like-it-is approach shines light on what your employees always wanted to tell you, but never do! 

As seen on CNN, John’s sense of humor, charisma and passion blend nicely with his pragmatic style. Practical and entertaining, John’s time-tested techniques provides nuggets of wisdom and in-the-trenches solutions for employees of all generations.

Good Boss, Bad Boss…How To Be The Best …And Learn From The Worst…

James Anderson

About James Anderson

James W. Anderson, an enrolled member of the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Ojibwe, is one of the nation’s leading authorities on peak performance and personal development. His early career got started in his Dad’s highly successful restaurant empire… Famous Dave’s of America… where James worked side by side with his dad… Famous Dave Anderson, learning the skills of entrepreneurship and leadership.

James is the co-creator and founder of the LifeSkills Center for Leadership, one of the nation’s top personal development training companies that was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has been named one of the 40 Outstanding Native Americans in Business under age 40 by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.  James is the author of Yesterday’s Wisdom, Today’s Success; co-author of Recipes for Success; and the soon to be released book… Famous Hospitality!

An Internationally recognized speaker and trainer, James has given over 500 presentations to businesses, organizations, colleges, and universities…who have enjoyed James’ high energy, humor, and captivating messages. During his 16year speaking and training career, James has trained thousands of people in America and Canada including many top-level executives of the Hilton Hotels, Baker Tilly Financial Services, Health Care Express, and Famous Dave’s of America. James shares an inspiring message of personal and professional achievement that will have your organization and team FIRED UP! READY TO MAKE IT FAMOUS and SMOKE THE COMPITITION!

Today, James is a proud husband and father and as a successful business leader… James believes that when you combine inspiration with the right tools, tips and strategies we can overcome our obstacles and achieve our dreams!

Energy Is Everything

Dr. Jermaine Davis

About Dr. Jermaine Davis

Before receiving the prestigious College Instructor of the Year Award, Dr. Jermaine Davis worked in corporate America for IBM, Keebler Cookies, and Frito-Lay in the areas of sales and management. Now, he’s an award-winning Professor of Communication Studies at Century College and Organizational Leadership at St. Catherine’s University. Dr. Jermaine has authored10 books including, Get Up Off Your Butt & Do It NOW, Leading with Greatness, and Be Diversity Competent. 

Dr. Jermaine was raised in a drug- and gang- infested area on the West-Side of Chicago in a single-parent home.  After the tragic loss of six family members to violent deaths, he enrolled in college to change the direction of his life. He holds a BA and an MA in Speech Communications, and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership. Dr. Jermaine specializes in helping teams and organizations develop healthy work climates so EVERYONE can thrive and succeed.

Dr. Jermaine is a leadership coach and an international speaker that engages audiences with his unique style of speaking known as – EDUTAINMENT – a fun combination of education and entertainment. Prestigious organizations like 3M, Best Buy, West Point Military Academy, Prudential, Sam’s Club, Wells Fargo, John Deere, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car regularly seek out  Dr. Jermaine’s expertise in the areas of employee engagement, teamwork, communication strategies, and diversity and inclusion.

Leading with Greatness

Laura Boyd

About Laura Boyd

Laura Boyd has over 25 years of experience working with organizations and leaders to help them develop sustainable growth as organizations and the people within. She has been a leader herself on executive teams for large companies, emerging companies and non-profits, as well as, a business owner. Laura has her Masters in Organizational Leadership and certification in change management. She believes Leadership is the ultimate Delta for change, strategy and growth in an organization. She is now taking her years of experience, education and background to help organizations and leaders become high performance.

Along with her years of communications and sales success, she is perfectly suited to help any organization assess, strategize, and develop both leaders and teams for growth.

When Laura is not working with her clients, she enjoys spending time with her busy family, teaching at Crown College, working out at the gym and walking her dog. One day, she will master (well, maybe not master) the piano. 

Creating a Culture of Trust

Ian Leonard

About Ian Leonard

Ian has been Chief Meteorologist at FOX 9 since 2006. His science is the great outdoors and his passion is forecasting the weather. His passion has taken him from Alberta, Canada to Mississippi, Iowa and finally Minnesota. For over 20 years he has used the phrase 'stay sky aware' to help viewers stay ahead of the storm. It now is a regular "hashtag" in Ian's social media updates during severe weather season to his 35 thousand Facebook and Twitter followers. He calls his work at FOX 9 a dream job because of the 4 incredibly diverse and always entertaining seasons of the Upper Midwest. Ian graduated from the Broadcast Meteorology Program at Mississippi State University and is a member of the American Meteorological Society, The National Weather Association and The Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society. He lives in the southwest Metro with his two daughters and wife, Christy. Christy's family has deep roots in Minneapolis dating back to the 1850s when they arrived from Bavaria and settled in Golden Valley. Ian is an extremely active supporter of persons with intellectual disabilities. He is on the road every month supporting the incredible athletes of Special Olympics Minnesota. You can find him "freezin' for a reason" on most late winter weekends taking the Polar Plunge into lakes across Minnesota. In the past 8 years he has plunged 103 times and helped raise over 15 million dollars. Ian can easily sum up his life in one sentence.

I love my life... I love my wife, I love my daughters, I love my dog and I kinda like the cat.

Master of Ceremonies