MICHAEL VORENBERG is the author of Final Freedom: The Civil War, the Abolition of Slavery, and the Thirteenth Amendment, which was a finalist for the Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize and was used as the basis for the screenplay of Stephen Spielberg’s 2012 film, Lincoln. His newest book is Lincoln’s Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War. He is also the author of The Emancipation Proclamation: A Brief History with Documents, as well as a number of essays on legal and constitutional history. His writings have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the New York Times, Politico, and the Washington Post. He teaches at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. https://michaelvorenberg.com

Garry Ridge served as Chairman and CEO of WD-40 Company for 25 years. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego, where he teaches the principles and practices of corporate culture in the Master of Science in Executive Leadership program. His newest book is “Any Dumbass Can Do It.”

Garry’s philosophy on company culture is based on Aristotle’s quote – “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” Turning that into action, he believes that all leaders can create a workplace where you go to work each day, make a contribution to something bigger than yourself, learn something new, feel safe, are protected, and are provided freedom by a set of values and go home happy!

He is passionate about the learning and empowering organizational culture he has helped establish at the WD-40 Company. In 2009, he co-authored a book with Ken Blanchard outlining his effective leadership techniques, titled “Helping People Win at Work: A Business Philosophy Called ‘Don’t Mark My Paper, Help Me Get an A.” A native of Australia, Mr. Ridge holds a certificate in Modern Retailing and a Master of Science in Executive Leadership from the University of San Diego. www.thelearningmoment.net

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times, Globe and Mail, and USA Today bestselling author of seventeen novels, including her newest, The Story She Left Behind. She’s also a podcast host of original content for her novels, Surviving Savannah and Becoming Mrs. Lewis.

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Her books have been translated into over 20 languages and have been the Barnes and Noble Book Club Pick, Amazon Editor Pick, Goodreads Book of the Year finalist, People Magazine Choice, Book of the Month Selection, and more. She is the recipient of The Christy Award “Book of the Year”; The Harper Lee Distinguished Writer of the Year and the Alabama Library Association Book of the Year for Becoming Mrs. Lewis. 

She is the co-host and co-creator of the popular weekly online Friends and Fiction live web show and podcast. Patti also was a contributor to the monthly life lesson essay column for Parade Magazine. She’s published in numerous anthologies, articles, and short story collections, including an Audible Original about Florence Nightingale, titled Wild Swan narrated by the Tony Award winner, Cynthia Erivo. 

Growing up in Philadelphia as the daughter of a Presbyterian minister, she’s lived up and down the East Coast from Philadelphia, to Florida, to Atlanta. She now lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama. 

Patti attended Auburn University for her undergraduate work and Georgia State University for her graduate degree. Once a Pediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, she now writes full-time. Married to Pat Henry, the mother of three and grandmother of two. Here website is www.patticallahanhenry.com

You can find more here on her substack: https://patticallahanhenry.substack.com

Joel Salinas, MD is a behavioral neurologist and clinician scientist at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, founder and Chief Medical Officer at Isaac Health, and former Harvard Medical School faculty. He is the author of Mirror Touch: A Memoir of Synesthesia and the Secret Life of the Brain and co-author of CONFLICT RESILIENCE: Negotiating Disagreement Without Giving Up or Giving In. For more details, visit www.conflictresiliencebook.com.

John Baldoni likes to call himself the world’s worst golfer for as much golf as he plays. His lack of talent for the game has not dimmed his ardor for the game itself and the friends he has made playing it.

Golf Lessons: Chips, Chunks and Cheers is a love letter to the game – a collection of poems about the experience of playing and camaraderie it can produce. Baldoni distills wisdom with wry insight and joy. Baldoni’s own photography makes Golf Lessons a book to read and re-read one poem or a handful at time.

Cathy Linh Che is a Vietnamese American writer and multidisciplinary artist. She is the author of Split, winner of the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America and the Best Poetry Book Award from the Association of Asian American Studies, An Asian American A to Z: A Children’s Guide to Our History, and Becoming Ghost. Her writing has been published in The New Republic, The Nation, and McSweeney’s and she has received awards from MacDowell, Bread Loaf, Tin House, and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Her newest book is "Becoming Ghost." She currently lives in New York. www.cathylinhche.com

Davin Salvagno is a bestselling author and dynamic speaker known as one of the top voices on purpose and leadership. His bestselling books include: “Finding Purpose at Work” and his new book “Thieves of Purpose: 12 Mindsets Robbing You of Your Purpose and Potential.”

Davin is also the CoFounder of The Purpose Summit, one of the most significant annual gatherings of purpose-driven leaders and organizations in the world.

After spending nearly two decades serving in various leadership roles in operations, human resources, marketing, and finance, Davin found a passion for inspiring leaders to revisit their founding purpose for who they are, and what they do.

Since 2018, he has served as an Executive Coach to many CEOs and as a leadership and organizational development consultant to a wide variety of companies in the retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial service sectors. 

His clients have included many Fortune 500 companies, universities, and collegiate teams, and his work has been featured in Forbes, Worth, Newsweek, and the Harvard Business Review. 

He is an honored member of the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches, which recognizes the best coaches in the world, a member of C12 Business Forums, a global peer advisory group comprised of 4000 Christian CEOs and Buisness Owners, and is represented by Greg+Miller Agency, which represents the world's most diverse, engaging, and influential speakers, authors, and thought leaders.

Davin is originally from Philadelphia, PA and recently moved from Michigan to Charlotte, NC with his wife Amy, their two children, and their Golden Retriever, Brinkley. 

For books, podcasts, resources, or speaking inquires, please visit DavinSalvagno.com

Deborah Paredez is Chair and Associate Professor of Writing at the School of the Arts and the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University. Paredez is the author of four books: the critical memoir American Diva: Extraordinary, Unruly, Fabulous (Norton, 2024), the scholarly study Selenidad: Selena, Latinos, and the Performance of Memory (Duke, 2009), and the poetry collections This Side of Skin (Wings Press, 2002) and Year of the Dog (BOA Editions, 2020), winner of the 2020 Writers' League of Texas Poetry Book Award and a New York Times New and Notable Book. Her poetry and essays have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Boston Review, Poetry, and elsewhere. She is the co-founder of CantoMundo, a national organization dedicated to Latinx poets and poetry. She holds a PhD in Interdisciplinary Theatre and Performance Studies from Northwestern University.

Deborah Paredez https://www.deborahparedez.com

Dr. Margie Warrell (pronounced Mar-gee), is a five-time

best-selling author, keynote speaker, leadership coach, and Forbes

columnist. With twenty-five years of experience living and working

around the world - from Papua New Guinea to Singapore - she has

dedicated her life to helping people close the divide between the

potential they hold and the actions they take.

From her humble beginnings on a small farm in rural Australia to

her current role as a Senior Partner at Korn Ferry and Advisory

Board member for the Forbes School of Business & Technology,

Margie has learned that developing our capacity for courageous

action is essential for every worthwhile endeavor. 

A mother of four and an advocate for women's empowerment, she inspires others to live bravely, rise stronger, and refuse to settle in any aspect of life.

www.margiewarrell.com

Performance psychologist Noa Kageyama (NY License #19280) is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and the Cleveland Institute of Music. A conservatory-trained violinist with degrees from Oberlin and Juilliard before completing a Ph.D. in counseling psychology at Indiana University, Noa now specializes in working with performing artists, teaching them how to utilize sport psychology principles and more consistently perform up to their full abilities under pressure.

He has conducted workshops for institutions ranging from Northwestern University, New England Conservatory, Peabody, Eastman, Curtis, McGill University, and the U.S. Armed Forces School of Music, to programs such as the Starling-Delay Symposium, The Perlman Music Program, and the National Orchestral Institute, and for organizations like the Music Teachers’ National Association, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Sphinx Organization, the Performing Arts Medicine Association, and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Noa’s work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, CNN, Slate, TED-Ed, Musical America, Strings Magazine, Strad, and Lifehacker. He has taught over 8000 musicians, educators, and learners through his online courses, and authors The Bulletproof Musician - a performance psychology blog and podcast which reaches over 45,000 subscribers every week.

www.bulletproofmusician.com