Speakers

Lori oversees all product marketing activities for Clarizen, a leading collaborative work management solution. She has more than 20 years of high-tech marketing experience at Apple, Turn, mBlox and other companies.

Roy A. Maizel recently retired after a nearly 38-year career at NASA. Since 2008 he served as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Management in the Science Mission Directorate, where he was responsible for the formulation and execution of the Directorate’s $6+ billion annual budget, as well as the guidance and oversight of all strategic planning and policy development activities. He was also responsible for the provision of administrative support to the Directorate’s approximately 200-person Headquarters organization. Mr. Maizel holds a B.A. in Political Science (1979) and an M.S. in Public Policy Analysis (1981) from the University of Rochester. He joined NASA in 1981 as a Presidential Management Intern, and acquired extensive experience as a Program Analyst on both the Space Shuttle and Space Station programs. Beginning in 1988 he held a series of progressively responsible management positions in the Space Shuttle, Space Station, Earth Science and Space Science programs. When the Space Science and Earth Science programs merged in 2004 to become the Science Mission Directorate, Mr. Maizel became Director of the Business Management Division. In 2005, he became Director of the Management and Policy Division, a position he held until his appointment as the Deputy Associate Administrator for Management. Mr. Maizel is the recipient of numerous awards, including NASA’s Exceptional Service Medal and the Senior Executive Service Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive.

Joel is a professional Gorilla talker, tackling tough issues no one wants to deal with that are killing our teams and organizations. He is dedicated to solving challenges associated with enterprise programs and projects. With over 20 years of experience managing or developing programs, he has learned that the most successful are those associated with lean and agile techniques as well as a strong focus on engagement and happiness. Having worked in roles across the product and development organization he understands challenges facing businesses trying to grow and scale. He helps these organizations navigate change while guiding teams to happiness.

Ilene Wasserman, President of ICW Consulting Group, has been on the cutting edge of consulting, research and publishing in strength-based methodologies, capacity building, and inclusive leadership. She has worked with both private and public-sector organizations to build and strengthen diverse leadership teams, staff relationships, and effective communication strategies to help them achieve their goals. Ilene uses an action learning approach and specializes in developing peer coaching teams that support learning and development as a part of everyday work. In addition to consulting and coaching, Ilene teaches courses related to organization development and leadership, communication, and diversity and inclusion at the graduate level. Ilene serves as a Senior Fellow at the Wharton Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania, where she is faculty and executive coach for various executive programs. She has also served as an Executive in Residence and on the Board of Governors for the Center for Creative Leadership. Ilene holds a Ph.D. in Human and Organizational Systems. She is the author of the recent book: Communicating Possibilities: A Brief Introduction to the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM), Peer Coaching at Work: Principles and Practices and several articles and book chapters. Ilene also serves on several professional and community boards.

Described as the Human Exclamation Point, Tami Evans helps organizations and individuals improve productivity, profitability and have a whole lot of fun doing it. Genuine & funny, she motivates with her energy, passion, and humor by creating an engaging, interactive and unforgettable experiences. With both corporate and entrepreneurial experience, she holds an MFA in performance, a background in communication and design, and firmly believes laughter is a vital part of learning and living. Her relatable keynotes ignite a positive workplace while they celebrate participants, engage and empower employees, create communication cohesion, boost confidence and bust stress. Tami shares important communication and leadership tools along with fresh ideas like Personality upstages Perfection, you can Fail with Flair, and we all need to Embrace our Inner Dork! Recently, Tami was on the Board of Directors for the National Speakers Association and the past President of NSA – NYC. http://www.tamievans.com/

Anita is the founder of Fierce Project Management – empowering women in projects to get their voice heard.

Amy McKenna is a results-oriented and accomplished professional with 20 years success in managing program performance, subcontracts, business operations, and proposals. Currently, Ms. McKenna is a Program Management Office Director for T-Rex Solutions LLC in Greenbelt, MD. She is responsible for directing the cost, schedule, material and project management support of a $1.4B Time and Materials (T&M) contract for the United Stated Census Bureau (USCB). She utilizes exceptional skills and exposure gained throughout her career to deliver contract as well as subcontract direction and support for the program. Ms. McKenna also leads a facility management team to supervise a 125,000 sq. foot campus in Greenbelt, MD as well as a team performing recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and exiting of all program resources.

Ali Qureshi is COO of NuAxis Innovations, where he is responsible for operations to support the execution of our strategy for enabling high quality customer service delivery, happiness of our team members, and organic business development. Ali brings over two decades of experience assisting commercial and federal government clients in meeting their technology services needs through innovative solutions. Previously, Ali was a Managing Director with Surdak & Company, a strategy consulting firm where we provide hands-on guidance on the use of leading technologies such as Social Media, Predictive Analytics, Cognitive Computing, and Blockchain. Ali served as the Program Chairman for the Annual Wharton DC Innovation Summit, and elected to the Board of Directors for the Wharton Club of DC. Previously, Ali served as Vice President of Consulting Services at Xcelerate Solutions, where he was responsible for the organization, development, and management of the delivery personnel. Prior to Xcelerate, Ali was Chief Technology Officer for RF Telematics, an early-stage company focused on delivering the MedLogiq data management platform for the healthcare market. Previously, Ali served as the Chief Operating Officer for MedRed LLC which developed and sold Clinical Decision Support Systems to both Government and commercial markets. Ali also served 8 years in the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer for the U.S. House of Representatives in a variety of technology leadership positions. As the Senior Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, he led 700 employees and 1,100 contractors, and oversight for the $1.4B operating budget. Ali holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from Wilkes University and an Executive Master’s Degree from the Wharton School and School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Ali was also selected to participate in the Senior Managers in Government course at Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.

Sarah Robinson is a CEO, best-selling author and international speaker. Drawing upon her twenty-five years of experience and research with hundreds of teams, businesses, organizations, brands and C-level executive leaders, Sarah created a model to build, engage, lead and inspire a 360 degree culture of Fierce Loyalty throughout any organization. Using up-to-the minute research and real-time data, her model can pinpoint exactly where any leader and any organization is along the Fierce Loyalty path. In addition to her business experience, Sarah trained at the National Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC and uses this training not only as a speaker, but also as a background for understanding and improving communication, group dynamics and leadership. (Yes, Shakespeare was a genius at that, too.). Sarah is a regular guest expert at MSNBC and is ranked by both Forbes and Dun and Bradstreet as a top Twitter expert on entrepreneurship and small business. Her international client list includes Microsoft, CUES, the National Press Club, Aileron, M-Wise, The International Business Women’s Conference, Nextiva, and Higher Logic. Sarah lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her two sons and her two big dogs, loves photography and travel, is a trained Shakespearean actress, drinks absurd amounts of coffee and is Fiercely Loyal to The Crimson Tide.