Earvin “Magic” Johnson is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Magic Johnson Enterprises, an investment conglomerate that provides high-quality products and services that focus primarily on ethnically diverse and underserved urban communities. Having left the basketball court for the boardroom, Johnson parlayed the skills and tenacity he acquired on the court into a winning formula for his successful business ventures.
For the last two decades, Johnson has consistently turned heads with his unprecedented partnerships. In his early years as an entrepreneur, he forged an alliance with Sony Pictures to develop Magic JohnsonTheatres. In 1998, he teamed with Starbucks to become the only franchisee in the history of the company, acquiring and eventually selling 125 stores in a lucrative move which further solidified his position in the business world. Both ventures served as catalysts for redevelopment in urban communities, and are widely recognized as the corporate blueprint for engagement and success with urban consumers across America.
Still a commanding presence in the sports world, he made history in 2012 when he became co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a Major League Baseball franchise that was purchased for an astronomical $2billion dollars. It was the highest purchase price for any professional sports team at the time. He also coowns the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA, Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club, and eSports franchise Team Liquid.
Johnson continues to expand his influence through a number of other investments. He currently has controlling interests in EquiTrust, an $18 billion financial services company, ASPiRE, an African-American television network, and SodexoMAGIC, a food service, and facilities management company.
The Lansing native is constantly evolving and remaining relevant in a dynamic digital age by broadening his scope into infrastructure and technology. Through a newly formed fund, Johnson is investing millions of dollars on infrastructure improvement in the United States. Operating under the philosophy that true success is making others successful, he is one of the leading investors in a number of minority-owned tech companies that include Uncharted Power, a company that uses their renewable kinetic energy solutions to generate clean, consistent, and cost-efficient power for communities, facilities, and theInternet of Things; ShotTracker, a company that makes wearable technology for basketball players that helps track player and ball movement; Jopwell, a diversity and hiring recruiting platform; Walker & CoBrands, a company that develops health and beauty products for people of color; and MiTú, the Latinofueledmedia brand and digital network that connects thousands of Latin content creators with viewers around the world. He is deliberate in his investment strategy to bring positive impact to the community.
Howard Dean’s groundbreaking campaign for the U.S. Presidency and subsequent four years as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee have provided him with both an insider's view and a reformer's commitment to the economy, foreign trade policy and international relations. His 12 years as Governor of Vermont and his Chairmanship of the National Governor's Association have given him vast knowledge of domestic issues. His skillful stewardship of the party as Democratic National Committee chair began in 2005 and continued through the inauguration of President Barack Obama. As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Governor Dean made the Democratic Party competitive in every race, in every district, in every state and territory, while integrating national and state party operations and standing up for Democrats' core values.
Dean currently serves as a Senior Strategic Advisor and Independent Consultant for the Government Affairs practice at Dentons where he focuses on healthcare and energy issues. He is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.
Dean also serves on the Board of the National Democratic Institute, a democracy building organization chaired by former Secretary of State Madeline Albright. He has extensive experience in Southeastern Europe including in Ukraine, Moldova, and the Balkans. He has also has an extensive knowledge of Iraqi and Iranian affairs, and has spent time in China and Myanmar as a result of his NDI activities. He has been active in anti human trafficking efforts in Asia and in the United States. He lectures frequently in Europe, and is currently teaching a course on the Politics of American Foreign Policy at the Jackson Institute at Yale.
Drawing on his extensive experience in politics and healthcare, Governor Dean delivers a sharp, in-season speech to help groups and businesses plan for the future. His presentation brings the current debates into focus and offers a closer look at the impact the economy, budget deficit, healthcare, and the future of Social Security and Medicare are having on the country, and what to expect from the next four years.
Governor Dean gained national prominence as a U.S. presidential candidate in 2004, and he served as the Governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003. During that time, he created a record that promoted equality and opportunity for his constituency employing a philosophy of fiscal responsibility advocating low taxes, reduced government spending and minimal government debt. His successes prompted Governing magazine to proclaim him "Public Official of the Year" in 2002. His leadership roles also include turns as chairman of the National Governors' Association, the Democratic Governors' Association, and the New England Governors' Conference
He led the Democratic Party to success as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. He is credited with pioneering an energetic 50-state strategy and the development of 21st century campaign tools that helped Democrats make historic gains in the 2006 and 2008 elections.
After achieving national prominence in his bid for the Democratic nomination for president, Governor Dean founded Democracy for America to build on the groundswell of support and the wave of new energy sweeping the Party, and continues to serve as a consultant to the organization. Since 2004, Democracy for America has been working with the grassroots to elect fiscally responsible and socially progressive candidates to all levels of government - local, state, and federal - all over the country.
A native of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, 2012, and became known as a voice for conservatives who didn’t feel their voice was being represented. His grassroots approach to campaigning – including visiting every one of Iowa’s 99 counties and his stunning victory in the Iowa caucuses – catapulted him to frontrunner status where he ultimately won 11 states and 3 million votes during the Republican primary process. Rick now reaches millions of viewers regularly as a Senior Political Commentator on CNN.
In June, 2012 Rick Santorum launched Patriot Voices, a grassroots and online community of Americans committed to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity. With a goal of recruiting one million members, Patriot Voices will transform the political landscape of our country.
Rick and his wife of 24 years, Karen, are the parents of seven wonderful children: Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter, Patrick and Isabella. And during his run for president, Rick spoke passionately about his belief that strong families help produce a strong economy. He shared his views that we must expand opportunities for all Americans by encouraging incentives for marriage, children, and free enterprise.
As an example of his commitment to improving our economy, Rick spoke often about his belief that we must renew America’s manufacturing sector to ensure that our nation isn’t just made of innovators but of those who can produce those innovations. Renewing our country’s manufacturing spirit will strengthen working families and help our struggling communities return to a path of prosperity during these tough economic times. Rick also believes we must support America’s domestic energy potential through pro-growth tax and regulatory reforms that will not only create jobs but strengthen our national security.
On the campaign trail, Rick was a voice for the voiceless. Voters across this country heard about Rick and Karen’s youngest daughter Isabella, who was born with a condition called Trisomy 18, and who wasn’t expected to survive her first birthday. Beating all the odds, Bella celebrated her 6th birthday in May of 2014 and is a joyful and loving little girl. Bella’s miraculous life has only strengthened Rick and Karen’s belief in the dignity of each of every life.
Furthermore, one of the key reasons that Rick chose to run for president in 2012 was because of the passage of Obamacare. He believes passionately that we must repeal Obamacare and replace it with a bottom up, patient -- not government -- driven system.
Prior to running for President, Rick served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995, and in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2007 where he was known as one of the most successful government reformers in our history. Rick took on Washington's powerful special interests from the moment he arrived in our nation's Capitol in 1991. Along with John Boehner and Jim Nussle, Rick was a member of the "Gang of Seven" that exposed the Congressional Banking and Congressional Post Office scandals. It was this record of reform that prompted a Washington Post reporter to write that "Santorum was a tea party kind of guy before there was a tea party."
Rick was also an author and floor manager of the landmark Welfare Reform Act which passed in 1996 that has empowered millions of Americans to leave the welfare rolls and enter the workforce.
He wrote and championed legislation that outlawed the heinous procedure known as Partial Birth Abortion as well as the "Born Alive Infants Protection Act," the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," and the "Combating Autism Act" because he believes each and every individual has value and the most vulnerable in our society need to be protected.
Rick fought to maintain fiscal sanity in Washington before it was in fashion, fighting for a balanced budget and a line item veto. He bravely proposed reforming entitlements, cutting spending and even developed a "spendometer" that added up the cost of Democrat amendments to spending bills. This record made him one of the most conservative senators in Pennsylvania's history.
Rick served eight years on the Senate Armed Services Committee where he led the fight before the attacks of September 11th, 2001 to transform our military from a Cold War force to meet today's threats. He was a leader on US-Israeli relations, authoring both the "Syria Accountability Act" and the "Iran Freedom and Support Act" which he successfully fought to pass in spite of initial opposition by President Bush. Rick firmly believes that we cannot allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. An accomplished author, Rick Santorum penned the 2005 New York Times best seller It Takes a Family.
With more than 40 years in the fitness industry, Ellen Latham, M.S., has built a billion-dollar brand out of a lifelong passion.
Ellen’s no-nonsense approach whips devoted fans into shape, both in life and the fitness studio. Within the pages of her inaugural book, PUSH, Ellen shares three keys to living an ‘All Out’ life; her mantra is to “look at what you have, not at what you don’t have.”
Drawing inspiration from her father and mentor, Arthur Calandrelli, Ellen speaks passionately about overcoming life’s inevitable ups and downs. Her story begins as a single mother having little more than a fitness certification and an internal drive to succeed. An unexpected career setback motivates Ellen to open her first Pilates studio in South Florida. There, she created The Ultimate Workout, which quickly became a local phenomenon.
In 2010, Ellen co-founded Orangetheory Fitness, an international franchise licensed in 20 countries. Forbes named Orangetheory one of “The Fastest Growing Woman-Owned Businesses” in 2017, and it has been recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine, Inc., Bloomberg, and the New York Times for its disruptive science-backed exercise concept.
Ellen was born to a large Italian family in the small town of Niagara, NY. Her family, including her growing “Orange family” is still the driving force behind everything she does. Ellen lives in South Florida.
Rasu B. Shrestha, MD, MBA, is executive vice president and chief strategy officer for Atrium Health, one of the most comprehensive and highly integrated not-for-profit healthcare systems in the nation. As a member of the executive leadership team, Dr. Shrestha is responsible for Atrium Health’s enterprise strategy, including planning and tactical direction for the organization’s current strategic roadmap and beyond. In addition, he spearheads a renewed focus on innovation, launching
new healthcare inventions, discoveries and ideas to benefit our patients and the communities Atrium Health serves. He also provides executive leadership for corporate communications and marketing, showcasing Atrium Health as a meaningful, national brand.
With a wealth of experience and national expertise in healthcare innovation, analytics and patient-centered care design, Dr. Shrestha joined Atrium Health in February 2019. Previously, he served as Chief Innovation Officer for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where he was responsible for driving UPMC’s innovation strategy, serving as a catalyst in transforming the payer-provider organization into a more patient-focused and economically sustainable system. In addition to leading innovation at UPMC, Dr. Shrestha also served as Executive Vice President of UPMC Enterprises, pushing the needle in the pursuit of a unique blend of healthcare intelligence, technological expertise and entrepreneurial drive to develop inventive and commercially successful solutions to address complex healthcare challenges.
Dr. Shrestha is a respected thought leader and visionary in the field of healthcare information technology and was recently recognized as “Executive of the Year” by Healthcare Dive and was acknowledged as one of the “Top 20 Health IT Leaders Driving Change” and as a “Top Healthcare Innovator” by InformationWeek. In addition, he is on the Board of Directors of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and is the Chairman of the HIMSS Innovation Committee,
and Co-chair of Health Datapalooza.
Dr. Shrestha was the youngest student in his college in Malaysia and received his medical degree from CCS University in India. He went on to complete his training in radiology and his fellowship in informatics at the University of London. He also earned an MBA at USC’s Marshall School of Business.
Dr. Jennifer Golbeck is a computer scientist, Director of the Social Intelligence Lab, and a professor in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Her research focuses on analyzing and computing with social media and creating usable privacy and security systems. She writes for Slate and The Atlantic and frequently appears on NPR, including as a regular guest host for The Kojo Nnamdi Show. Her TED talk was named one of the most powerful talks of 2014. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science at the University of Chicago, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Stephen A. Morgan, MD, spent six years in private practice before joining Carilion in 1996. He served as a regional medical director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine from 1996 to 2010. In 1999, Dr. Morgan began working with Information Technology as a physician champion, believing that technology had the potential to not only improve physician efficiency but also directly affect and improve the delivery of quality patient care. In 2010, Dr. Morgan transitioned from a full-time family medicine practice to work in informatica and information technology. In health care, informatics represents the intersection of information science, computer science, and patient care. It is the arena for managing the acquisition, storage, retrieval and use of information for health care purposes. Dr. Morgan was appointed chief medical information officer in 2010 and was promoted to senior vice president in 2012.
Dr. Robert Pearl is Executive Director and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and President and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. Together these organizations are comprised of over 9,000 physicians and 34,000 staff members. Dr. Pearl is responsible for the health care that is delivered to approximately 4 million Kaiser Permanente members in the states of California, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Board certified in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Dr. Pearl received his Medical Degree from Yale University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Stanford University and currently serves on the faculty as a Clinical Professor of Plastic Surgery. He is also on the faculty of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where he teaches courses on strategy and leadership, as well as lectures on the subject of health care technology.
Selected by Modern Healthcare as one of the most powerful physician leaders in the nation, Dr. Pearl has published more than 100 articles in various medical journals and has been a contributor to many books. He has made over 100 presentations at national meetings in the areas of both clinical medicine and medical economics. In the past several years, he has been a visiting professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Haas School of Business and Harvard School of Public Health. Recently, Dr. Pearl was a featured speaker at both the Commonwealth Club and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s National Quality Forum event. In addition, he participated in the Bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Delivery System Reform and Health IT. Most recently, he became the Chairman of the National Council of Accountable Physician Practices (which includes the largest medical groups from across the country such as the Mayo Clinic, Geisenger and Intermountain Healthcare).
Dr. Pearl is a frequent lecturer on the opportunities to use 21st Century tools and technology to improve both the quality and cost of health care, while simultaneously making care more convenient and personalized. As a regular contributor to Forbes.com, Dr. Pearl publishes a weekly blog on the nexus of health care and business and provides frequent updates through Twitter. He is an advocate for the power of integrated, prepaid and technologically enabled health care delivery systems. He is also a strong believer that organizations like Kaiser Permanente in which physicians collaborate rather than compete, and in which a multi-specialty medical group works in partnership with a not-for-profit health plan and hospital system, are able to provide superior quality of care over fragmented insurance-based systems.
Jhaymee Tynan, FACHE, MBA, PfMP, PMP, serves as Assistant Vice President, Integration at Atrium Health.
Patrice Weiss, MD, serves as Chief Medical Officer at Carilion Clinic.
Viraj Patwardhan serves as the Vice President, Digital Design and Consumer Experience for Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health.
Neil Gomes is a digital transformation leader, strategist, and catalyst. Neil brings digital to life by focusing on finding and delivering value to consumers and organizations. Neil’s success at delivery is rooted in a design, inspiration, and execution ethos.
As Chief Digital Officer and SVP for Technology Innovation and Consumer Experience at $5.2 billion Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health System, Neil leads the organization and informs associated industries to transform digitally by designing, developing, and implementing consumer-oriented, value-driven digital and real-world solutions that precipitate growth, develop competitive advantage, and define the future.
Neil leads large, multi-faceted teams and manages sizable budgets and wide organizational and industry initiatives. Neil’s DICE (Digital Innovation and Consumer Experience) Group at Jefferson returns revenue to the organization via licensing, grants, consultancy, philanthropy, and industry collaborations. Neil is a CIO100, Ventana Business Leadership, Business Transformation 150, Top of the KLASS, and Davey Award Winner. He is also a member of the IBM Watson IoT, Adobe, and EMS advisory boards, and part of Google Next’s Leader’s Circle.
Neil believes that we can digitally transform healthcare, education, and research and change the world in one lifetime.