Speakers
Thank you to all of our 2014 speakers! We’ll begin accepting proposals for our 2015 event on February 1st. Please check this page on that date, where you’ll find a link to the proposal submission form.
Keynotes
Tamara Mellon
Tamara Mellon is the founder of TAMARA MELLON brand and former chief executive officer and chief creative officer of Jimmy Choo. Mellon cultiva... Read Full Bio
Diana Nyad
Diana Nyad successfully fulfilled her lifelong dream of completing the 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida on September 2, 2013. This feat marke... Read Full Bio
Soledad O’Brien
Soledad O'Brien is an award-winning journalist, documentarian, news anchor and producer. O’Brien was the originator of “Black in America”... Read Full Bio
Shiza Shahid
Shiza Shahid is the CEO and co-founder of the Malala Fund, the organization representing the young Pakistani activist who was shot by the Talib... Read Full Bio
Debbie Sterling
Debbie Sterling is the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox, an award-winning toy company on a mission to "disrupt the pink aisle" with interactive co... Read Full Bio
Sheryl WuDunn
Sheryl WuDunn was the first Asian-American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive, lecturer and best-selling author. With ... Read Full BioSpecial Guest Speakers
Sally Hernandez
Sally Hernandez anchors the Emmy-award winning morning show on KXAN. A proud Texan, Hernandez has called Austin home for more than a decade, wo... Read Full Bio
Johnita Jones
Johnita Jones is the Texas Conference for Women board president and the pipeline risk and integrity manager for ExxonMobil Pipeline Company. Sh... Read Full Bio
Gayle Morris
Gayle Morris, vice president at Cisco Systems, is responsible for running the largest and most profitable market segment for Americas Servic... Read Full Bio
Karen Quintos
Karen Quintos is senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Dell, where she leads marketing for the company worldwide. She is respon... Read Full Bio
Shannon Wolfson
Shannon Wolfson is an award-winning journalist whose passion is telling stories that positively impact and enrich people’s lives. Wolfson beg... Read Full BioBreakout Session Speakers
Cynthia Ackrill, M.D.
Cynthia Ackrill, M.D. is a leader in the field of leveraging stress for optimal productivity, health and happiness. She addresses the critical ... Read Full Bio
Katrina Alcorn
Katrina Alcorn is an author, consultant and expert on why women burn out at work. Her first book, “MAXED OUT: American Moms on the Brink,” ... Read Full Bio
Katherine Anderson
Katherine Anderson is part of a unique approach to patient care. As the director of Naturopathic Medicine at Cancer Treatment Centers of Americ... Read Full Bio
Patty Chang Anker
Patty Chang Anker is the author of the memoir “Some Nerve: Lessons Learned While Becoming Brave” (Riverhead Books), a Parents Magazine... Read Full Bio
Jessica Bacal
Jessica Bacal directs the Wurtele Center for Work & Life at Smith College, an independent women’s college in Massachusetts with students ... Read Full Bio
Kelly Ballard
Kelly Ballard is the executive director of Bazaarvoice Foundation, a 501(c)3 entity that works to catalyze the next generation of highly-educat... Read Full Bio
Jenny Bowen
Jenny Bowen is an advocate for the world’s forgotten children. She is the founder and CEO of Half the Sky, an international NGO founded in 19... Read Full Bio
Kathy Brabson
Kathy Brabson’s career is truly one of inspiration. From her first step into the cable industry as a customer service representative, she adv... Read Full Bio
Sunni Brown
Sunni Brown is “infodoodler-in-chief” of a creative consultancy that uses applied game and visual thinking to solve problems. She was named... Read Full Bio
Kimberly Bryant
Kimberly Bryant is the founder and executive director of Black Girls CODE, a non-profit organization dedicated to introducing girls of color (a... Read Full Bio
Sara Canaday
Sara Canaday is a leadership expert, branding strategist, speaker and author. Canaday has a unique gift for connecting and communicating with h... Read Full Bio
Brenda Dennis
Brenda Dennis is currently senior director of Worldwide sales strategy and transformation with Cisco Systems, where she is responsible for sale... Read Full Bio
Jane Gasdaska
Jane Gasdaska is general manager, U.S. product supply and distribution for Phillips 66 Commercial. She has 18 years of experience in the oil an... Read Full Bio
Mandy Ginsberg
Mandy Ginsberg is the CEO of The Princeton Review and Tutor.com, two leading education companies which help millions of students get i... Read Full Bio
Dr. Lawana Gladney
Dr. Lawana Gladney is an emotional wellness expert, speaker, trainer, author and CEO of Emotional Wellness. She has presented speeches and trai... Read Full Bio
Cindy G. Goldsberry
Cindy G. Goldsberry has 30 years of business experience, specifically in developing and implementing business strategies for revenue generation... Read Full Bio
Megan Grassell
Megan Grassell is founder of of YellowBerry. As a high school student at the age of 17, she founded her company, which she now runs full time. ... Read Full Bio
John Gray
John Gray is the leading relationship expert in the world and best-selling author of “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus.” Gray’s bo... Read Full Bio
Amy Heirman
Amy Heirman is the managing director of talent management for United Airlines. In that role she is responsible for succession management, perfo... Read Full Bio
Jane Hyun
Jane Hyun is an internationally renowned executive coach and global leadership adviser to Fortune 500 companies. She is co-au... Read Full Bio
Lila Igram
Lila Igram put together a bootstrapping, volunteer team that together donated over $50K of in-kind services to launch Connecther.org, a global ... Read Full Bio
Debbie Jones
Debbie Jones is the owner and creative force behind French Laundry Home. She based an entire business on an old grain sack found at a flea mark... Read Full Bio
Alexis Jones
Alexis Jones is an internationally recognized speaker, media personality, activist and author. She is also a thought leader for the 21st centur... Read Full Bio
Cathy Kangas
Cathy Kangas is a legendary beauty expert and fiercely passionate entrepreneur, and has dedicated her life to making the world more beautiful! ... Read Full Bio
Lori Knowlton
Lori Knowlton holds the position of chief people officer with HomeAway, Inc. She enjoys the unique human resources challenges that naturally ac... Read Full Bio
Danielle LaPorte
Danielle LaPorte is the creator of The Desire Map: A Guide To Creating Goals With Soul, author of the bestseller, “The Fire Starter Sessions... Read Full Bio
Pam LeBlanc
Pam LeBlanc writes about fitness in her weekly “Fit City” column in the Austin American-Statesman. She grew up in Austin and atten... Read Full Bio
Tiffanie McDonald
Tiffanie McDonald serves as AVP of diversity management at USAA. The diversity management team is responsible for enterprise diversity and incl... Read Full Bio
Renee Mitchell
Renee Mitchell is vice president, global distribution sales for Freescale Semiconductor, a leader in embedded processing solutions for the auto... Read Full Bio
Tara Sophia Mohr
Tara Sophia Mohr is the founder of the global Playing Big leadership program for women and author of the forthcoming book, “Playing Big: Find... Read Full BioGayle Morris
Gayle Morris, vice president at Cisco Systems, is responsible for running the largest and most profitable market segment for Americas Servic... Read Full Bio
Karen Rapp
Karen Rapp is vice president and chief information officer at Freescale Semiconductor. She is responsible for Freescale worldwide IT strategy, ... Read Full Bio
Cindy Ratzlaff
Cindy Ratzlaff was named to the Forbes’ “20 Best Branded Women on Twitter” list and Forbes Woman called her on... Read Full Bio
Leslie Rhode
Leslie Rhode is an award winning television journalist with 23 years of experience. She was an anchor and reporter at the ABC affiliate in W... Read Full Bio
Cynthia Rubio
Cynthia Rubio is co-founder and president of Radiant RFID, an Inc. 5000 technology company that enables large customers with complex o... Read Full Bio
Michele Ruiz
Michele Ruiz is a bi-lingual entrepreneur and public speaker whose passions are entrepreneurship, empowerment and technology. Her motto is: “... Read Full Bio
Sheila Scarborough
Sheila Scarborough is a writer and speaker specializing in tourism, travel and social media. Along with Leslie McLellan and Becky McCray, she's... Read Full BioShiza Shahid
Shiza Shahid is the CEO and co-founder of the Malala Fund, the organization representing the young Pakistani activist who was shot by the Talib... Read Full Bio
Ritu Sharma
Ritu Sharma is co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, and a leading voice on women’s issues in U.S. foreign policy. For 20 years... Read Full Bio
Gail Sheehy
Gail Sheehy is the author of 16 books, including the classic New York Times best-seller “Passages,” named by the Library of Congre... Read Full Bio
Vandana Singh
Vandana Singh is the executive director for the global customer experience and programs at Dell. To this role, she brings her experience in bus... Read Full BioDebbie Sterling
Debbie Sterling is the founder and CEO of GoldieBlox, an award-winning toy company on a mission to "disrupt the pink aisle" with interactive co... Read Full Bio
Carla Piñeyro Sublett
Carla Piñeyro Sublett is a sales and marketing executive at Dell with a passion for making an impact in the community. She is currently the ex... Read Full Bio
Abigail Trafford
Abigail Trafford is an author, journalist and public speaker whose work focuses on the new stage of life that comes after middle age but before... Read Full Bio
Louis van Amstel
Louis van Amstel is a “Dancing with the Stars” choreographer and three-time World Dance Champion. He started dancing at the age of 10, foll... Read Full Bio
Leticia Watts
Leticia Watts is Americas region LSC finance manager, lubricants at Shell. She is responsible for the overall finance management and leadership... Read Full Bio
Kate White
Kate White is an internationally known expert on leadership and success and a New York Times best-selling author of several influentia... Read Full Bio
Heather White
Heather White is part of the “Bama, Rob, and Heather” morning show on 98.1 KVET. She is a radio morning show host, a lawyer and mom to two ... Read Full Bio
Joan C. Williams
Joan C. Williams has played a central role in reshaping the debates over women’s advancement for the past quarter-century. Described as havin... Read Full BioSheryl WuDunn
Sheryl WuDunn was the first Asian-American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize, is a business executive, lecturer and best-selling author. With ... Read Full Bio
Norine Yukon
Norine Yukon is the former CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, which serves beneficiaries in Medicaid, CHIP, Long Term Care and D... Read Full Bio
Kerri Zane
Kerri Zane is a single mom lifestyle expert, co-parenting authority, speaker, Emmy award winning television executive and Amazon best-selling a... Read Full Bio
Stacy Zoern
Stacy Zoern has Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which is a form of Muscular Dystrophy. She has never walked. At the age of 20, Zoern wrote her first... Read Full BioExpert Exchange
Deborah Carter
Deborah Carter possesses a personal and professional drive to help others succeed and drive transformational change in organizations. In the ... Read Full BioBrenda Dennis
Brenda Dennis is currently senior director of Worldwide sales strategy and transformation with Cisco Systems, where she is responsible for sale... Read Full Bio
Hope M. Galley
Hope M. Galley is a sales and emerging partner executive at Cisco Systems, motivational speaker and cancer patient advocate. She is currently... Read Full Bio
Kay Jones
Kay Jones is senior manager of infrastructure services with Rackspace. Prior to joining Rackspace, she was an operations manager for MGIC/Unio... Read Full Bio
Kathy Kinney
Kathy Kinney is best known for her iconic role as “Mimi” on the ABC hit TV series “The Drew Carey Show.” She has appeared in many movie... Read Full Bio
Heather Lawley
Heather Lawley is a senior strategist, global inclusion and diversity, with an emphasis on gender for Cisco. Lawley develops and leads Cisco... Read Full Bio
Lisa McLin
Lisa McLin is the senior director of sales strategy at Rackspace Hosting, the #1 managed cloud company. In her career, she has climbed the ladd... Read Full BioGayle Morris
Gayle Morris, vice president at Cisco Systems, is responsible for running the largest and most profitable market segment for Americas Servic... Read Full BioCindy Ratzlaff
Cindy Ratzlaff was named to the Forbes’ “20 Best Branded Women on Twitter” list and Forbes Woman called her on... Read Full Bio
Kim Tryce
Kim Tryce is manager of operations for the Product Integration Engineering team at Rackspace Hosting where she works directly with Linux system... Read Full BioKate White
Kate White is an internationally known expert on leadership and success and a New York Times best-selling author of several influentia... Read Full Bio
Steve Yager
Steve Yager is vice president, Americas region in technical services for Cisco. He is responsible for Cisco technical services business in the ... Read Full BioHealth and Wellness Pavilion
Rebecca Canby
Rebecca Canby is very passionate about using food as fuel to keep a positive mind set, maintain high energy levels, and feel her best. For hers... Read Full Bio
Randall Wright, M.D.
Randall Wright, M.D. is first and foremost a family man, committed to his wife and two children and the larger community that revolves around h... Read Full BioLocal Leader
Becky Arreaga
Becky Arreaga is agency president of Mercury Mambo. Along with her business partners Liz Arreaga (also her sister) and Lynn Currie, Arreaga for... Read Full BioKelly Ballard
Kelly Ballard is the executive director of Bazaarvoice Foundation, a 501(c)3 entity that works to catalyze the next generation of highly-educat... Read Full Bio
Leslie Beasley
Leslie Beasley is the co-founder of Open Arms, a social enterprise committed to empowerment through employment for refugee women war survivors ... Read Full BioLila Igram
Lila Igram put together a bootstrapping, volunteer team that together donated over $50K of in-kind services to launch Connecther.org, a global ... Read Full Bio
Carol McGarah
Carol McGarah has worked as a governmental affairs consultant in Austin, Texas since 2001. She represents several Fortune 500 companies and is ... Read Full Bio
Gayle Reaume
Gayle Reaume is founder and CEO of Moolah U. An innovative and energetic leader, Reaume is an accomplished business professional who is a passi... Read Full Bio
Patti Rogers
Patti Rogers is founder and CEO of Rallyhood. An Austin, Texas native, Rogers founded Rallyhood in the spring of 2012, following a successful b... Read Full BioCynthia Rubio
Cynthia Rubio is co-founder and president of Radiant RFID, an Inc. 5000 technology company that enables large customers with complex o... Read Full BioSocial Media Roundtable
Becky Arreaga
Becky Arreaga is agency president of Mercury Mambo. Along with her business partners Liz Arreaga (also her sister) and Lynn Currie, Arreaga for... Read Full Bio
Emily Bell
Emily Bell is founder and president of After Interactive. With over 15 years of experience in multiple industries ranging from healthcare to re... Read Full Bio
Cathy Benavides
Cathy Benavides is a native Austinite, and writes a plus size style blog called “Austin Slave to Fashion.” She also runs a social media man... Read Full Bio
Sandra Fernandez
Sandra Fernandez is a communications professional with more than 15 years of experience with higher education, government and... Read Full Bio
Elizabeth Jurewicz
Elizabeth Jurewicz joined Rackspace hosting in November of 2011 as an enterprise account manager, and immediately saw the parallel between her ... Read Full Bio
Christina Linnell
Christina Linnell is the founder and chief idea officer of Linnell Media. She serves as social media cracker jack for small business owners all... Read Full Bio
Veronica Morales
Veronica Morales is the founder and CEO of The Social Being: Meetings & Media Firm, a digital marketing and event management firm. An advoc... Read Full Bio
Amanda Quraishi
Amanda Quraishi is a blogger, interfaith activist and technology professional living in Austin, Texas. She works full time for Charit... Read Full Bio
Jen Smith
Jen Smith is the go-to source for smart Facebook marketing. Equal parts tech geek and social media maven, she brings over 15 years of online ma... Read Full Bio
Jennifer Stafford
Jennifer Stafford is the social media manager at HomeAway.com and a speaker specializing in social media in the vacation rental and travel indu... Read Full Bio
Carly Uson
Carly Uson has combined her natural love of lifestyle, fashion and beauty with a stellar list of media contacts to create Carly Co. Public Rela... Read Full Bio
Karen Walrond
Karen Walrond is a speaker, author and photographer. Her bestselling book,” The Beauty of Different,” is a chronicle of imagery and portr... Read Full Bio
Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D.
Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D. is a social media professor and Internet researcher at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas where she teaches c... Read Full Bio
Virginia Woodruff
Virginia Woodruff founded the witty website Great Moments in Parenting. Since launching in late 2012, Great Moments in Parenting has grown to a... Read Full Bio
Nazli Yuzak
Nazli Yuzak is a results-producing digital marketing leader with over 10 years of digital marketing experience including online marketing, soci... Read Full BioSmall Business Roundtable
Fayruz Benyousef
Fayruz Benyousef is a philanthropy expert and nonprofit management advisor. Her professional background includes serving as the CEO of an inter... Read Full Bio
Michelle Breyer
Michelle Breyer is a co-founder and president of TextureMedia Inc., a 16-year-old Austin-based social media network platform for people with cu... Read Full Bio
Alison Brushaber
Alison Brushaber is the chief product officer and one of the founding partners of Hail Merry, a manufacture of healthy snacks that are gluten-f... Read Full Bio
Jeanne Corrigan
Jeanne Corrigan is a strategist, focused on the women’s market. She is part researcher, part marketer and all curiosity. After 20 years of co... Read Full BioCindy G. Goldsberry
Cindy G. Goldsberry has 30 years of business experience, specifically in developing and implementing business strategies for revenue generation... Read Full Bio
Holly Hanna
Holly Reisem Hanna is a publisher, social media manager and work at home mom. Her award-winning website, The Work at Home Woman, advocates tele... Read Full Bio
Laura LeMond
Laura LeMond is the founder of Mosaic Weighted Blankets. She was born prematurely with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). LeMond was a college... Read Full Bio