2021 WLC Speakers

Haydee Antezana

Leadership Expert & Coach

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For 22 years Haydee Antezana’s success and leadership expertise has impacted thousands of leaders and professionals globally from Casino floors to Government offices to Fortune 500 boardrooms. Together with her team she has coached celebrities (even a Miss World and Miss Universe).

Her high-energy style, straight-talk, quick humor, power content and practical actionable solutions will captivate you. So will her life experiences and lessons learned which embody courage and triumph over adversity. Haydee's book "Packaged For Success" ranked no.1 international Amazon bestseller in 11 categories. Not bad for a Bolivian girl who dreamed to speak English one day.

She is a CSP (certified speaking professional) a designation held by only 12% of professional speakers worldwide. Haydee sees her biggest achievement as giving birth to twins at age 47. In her spare time she is a professional runner (she runs around the house after the twins), listens to everything 80’s and enjoys her dream lifestyle with her family in the Temecula wine region of SoCal.

Robyn Benincasa

Top Leadership and Teamwork Motivational Speaker, Full-time Firefighter, Adventure Racing World Champion, CNN Hero, and Bestselling Author

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Robyn Benincasa is the founder of World Class Teams, an adventure racing world champion, a CNN Hero, former corporate sales expert and a full-time firefighter who advises organizations on building World Class Teams of their own. One of the highest-rated, female motivational speakers who regularly shares the stage with world leaders and business icons, her customers include many Fortune companies like Starbucks, Deloitte, Aflac, Fast Company, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, ARAMARK, Siemens, 3M, Coldwell Banker, Ameriprise, Microsoft, AT&T. With a background in marketing, she was previously in corporate sales with Baxter and Allergan and is currently a full-time firefighter who was on America’s first all female fire crew. Eco-Challenge World Champion, CNN Hero, Founder of the Project Athena Foundation (Survivors to Athletes!), 3x Guinness World Record Distance Paddler and proud owner of 2 metal ‘bionic hips’, Robyn definitely knows a thing or two about creating Human Synergy – “that magic that allows groups of ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things together.” Her New York Times bestselling book How Winning Works, published by Harlequin has been reviewed as “an excellent resource for all business owners on approaching challenges with a team mentality.”

Jane Chen

Co-Founder and CEO of Embrace, Social-Good Entrepreneur, Innovation Leader

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Jane Chen is a globally recognized entrepreneur and inventor who speaks about innovation, leadership and resilience. She is the CEO and co-founder of Embrace Innovations, which developed a groundbreaking infant incubator that has saved over 300,000 babies around the world. Jane’s journey over the last decade has taken her from sub-Saharan Africa across remote parts of Asia. By leading an interdisciplinary team through a powerful mission and design thinking, she was able to effectively address one of the most pressing global health crises. Jane’s many setbacks and triumphs through the course of her journey illustrate the power of resilience in changing the world.

Jane talks about innovation and key leadership lessons which are particularly relevant during the time of this pandemic. Jane explains how the Embrace incubator was created using design thinking, and the impact it has made in saving thousands of babies. Jane also speaks about the key leadership lessons she has learned throughout her journey, particularly while working in extreme conditions — lessons about resilience and optimism which are especially applicable during this time. These lessons can help inspire leaders to see the current situation as an opportunity for growth and positive social change, rather than as a crisis. You can find testimonials of Jane’s talks here.

Jane has been a TED speaker, and has been featured in global media including the New York Times, CNN, Newsweek, The Guardian, and ABC’s 20/20. She has been named Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and as one of Forbes’ Impact 30. She has also been the recipient of The Economist Innovation Award and Fast Company Design Award. In 2013, the World Economic Forum recognized her as Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Jane received her MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, and her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Read Minda's Bio

Minda is a California girl, who grew up in Chicago and today calls New York City home. In addition to her passion for helping women of color secure their seat at the table, she’s also a lover of grits and rap lyrics.

Minda is, among many other things:

• The founder of The Memo LLC, a career development company for women of color.
• An Adjunct Professor of Public Service at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.
• A speaker who has conducted workshops and keynotes at corporations like Bloomberg, Google, Time Inc., SXSW, The Campaign For Black Male Achievement, and The New York Public Library. And universities and colleges like Western Illinois University, NYU Stern, North Carolina A&T, and Cornell.
• A podcaster who invites you to join her weekly conversation with amazing featured guests and a growing community of professional women of color on #SecureTheSeat.

In addition to the above, she also recently added author to my titles. Midna’s debut book, The Memo, is set for an August 20, 2019 release date with The Hachette Book Group-Seal Press.

Minda has been featured in Forbes, CNBC, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and Fast Company. She holds a Bachelor’s in Communications and a Master’s in Business Administration.

Chris Johnson

Founder, CEO On Target Living

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Chris Johnson is the world expert in unlocking human potential. As Founder /CEO of On Target Living,Chris is a highly respected expert and accomplished executive, who has spent over 30 years researching and building optimal health and performance programs for individuals and corporations. He is the architect of the Food Target® that shifts from counting calories to concentrating on the nutrient values of foods that guide healthy choices.

Chris likes to say he was 'raised by wolves'. Growing up struggling with terrible skin and chronic health issues, he had no idea how his lifestyle affected his health. The doctors couldn't help him, and despite all the medications they prescribed, his health did not improve. By his mid-20's, deeply frustrated and feeling hopeless, Chris set out to heal himself. On his quest, he learned how food affects the body, the importance of sleep, and why people need to move. These discoveries transformed his life. Conditions which plagued him for years disappeared, and his energy and attitude reached new heights. Amazed at how good he felt, Chris knew he'd found his calling, and needed to share his discoveries.

Today, Chris works with organizations to transform their performance from the inside out. He applies the principles of REST I EAT I MOVE to educate, engage and inspire teams around the world. Chris graduated from Michigan State University with a Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology and a received his Bachelor's Degree in Business and Economics from Western Michigan University. He holds certifications from The American College of Sports Medicine, The National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise and Certified Natural Health Professional. Chris earned and maintains a reputation of providing groundbreaking lifestyle modification strategies with integrity, humor and passion.

Commander Mary Kelly PhD, CSP

US Navy (Ret)

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Mary is an internationally known economist and leadership expert specializing in the fields of leadership, productivity, communication, and business profit growth.

Mary Kelly is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and spent over 20 years on active duty in intelligence and logistics. She retired from the Navy as a commander. She has masters’ degrees in history and economics, and a PhD in economics.
With over 20 years combined teaching experience at both the Naval Academy and at Hawaii Pacific University, she taught economics, finance, history and management. She has extensive experience in business coaching, management, economics, finance, banking, insurance, real estate, government, organizational leadership, communication, business growth, teamwork, strategic planning, human resources, customer service, time management, and project development. Mary has a track record for success as an organizational change agent.

In her role as a human resources director, Dr. Kelly developed a business model for the computer and telecommunications organization for personnel hiring, training and retention that was adopted globally by the U. S. Navy. Managing culturally diverse teams, she orchestrated organizational changes for over 3,000 personnel for 2 military base closures. Her ability to problem solve and provide innovative solutions enabled her to transform the Navy’s largest pay and personnel organization from the lowest in customer satisfaction to the highest in the nation in 18 months, with 23% fewer employees and a 19% budget decrease.

As an educator, Dr. Kelly created a mandatory curriculum for a college student body of 4,500 students. During her teaching career, she developed 31 university courses in the areas of business management, economics, history, management, geography, political science, human resources and international relations. Mary taught remote course work for multiple colleges while creating 4 distance learning courses using online lectures, webinars, interactive exercises and podcasting. In addition to standard curriculums, Dr. Kelly coached 450 students on life skills and time-management. She created and taught wealth building and personal finance to students at the United States Naval Academy, resulting in a student body educated on budgeting and retirement planning before graduation.

Dr. Lalia Rach

Founder and Partner, Rach Enterprises

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Lalia is a successful entrepreneur, educator and leader. With a resume that blends education with an impressive professional background, Lalia’s approach to business issues is clearly defined. Rather than rely on hype or hyperbole to create enthusiasm she establishes an environment of cooperation designed to achieve success through pragmatic examples and a forthright clarity that is refreshingly honest and useful.

In three decades, she has grown her company, Rach Enterprises, and now serves as a trusted advisor to senior level executives at many of America’s leading companies and is also a source of motivational inspiration to professionals searching for originality and reality. A proven innovator, she specializes in dynamic leadership strategies and comprehensive team building methods. Her genuine ideas and uncommon sense on issues of strategy and leadership produce insightful and distinctive thinking advancing the ability of emerging and established executives.

As a professional keynote speaker and experienced moderator, her messages stand above the rest for their relatable honesty and timely nature presented in a practical and entertaining manner. Lalia guides her audience toward achievable success by creating and maintaining an atmosphere that supports creativity, flexibility, and measured risk tasking. Her considerable knowledge and experience is evident whether she is working with one or a thousand professionals.

Read Selena's Bio

Selena Rezvani is a recognized consultant, speaker and author on women and leadership. Selena uses workplace culture assessments to help corporate clients be more inclusive and welcoming to women and promotes her message through presentations to corporate audiences, universities and associations, and at many conferences, including WLC, American Academy of Neurology, Legrand, Microsoft, PIMCO, AstraZeneca, Duke, Harvard, Cisco, Pfizer, Princeton, J&J, Comcast, Apple, LinkedIn, TEDx, Grace Hopper Celebration, Society of Women Engineers, and many others.

She’s also the author of two leadership books targeted at professional women - Pushback: How Smart Women Ask—and Stand Up—for What They Want (Jossey-Bass, 2012) and The Next Generation of Women Leaders (Praeger, 2009). Selena’s experience and success in the women and leadership arena make her a frequent resource for news media and an in-demand business speaker. She has been quoted, interviewed and profiled by the LA Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Oprah.com, ABC, and NBC. She was a regular commentator on NPR’s syndicated The 51% Perspective and wrote an award-winning column on women and leadership for The Washington Post. In 2019, Selena’s TEDx talk on gender bias was recognized with the Croly Journalism award.

Selena’s earlier experience includes serving as a Lead within Deloitte’s Greenhouse Experience team, where she taught teams how to foster better diversity and collective intelligence. Selena also led the assessments practice at Washington, DC-based Management Concepts, where she administered and coached clients on personality, leadership, and aptitude measures. Prior to her 3 years at Management Concepts, Selena worked as a senior member of the consulting team at the Great Place to Work® Institute, the firm best known for ranking Fortune’s 100 Best Places to Work® in America list. Selena has led numerous workplace culture research campaigns and studies on women in the C- suite, stretch assignments, millennials, managers and negotiating habits, which were covered by international media.

Selena recently launched two online courses for women with LinkedIn Learning and will be releasing two more courses this Spring. She has B.S. and Master of Social Work degrees from New York University, and has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Selena lives in Philadelphia with her husband Geoff and 7-year old boy/girl twins.

Dr. Taryn Marie-Stejskal

Former Head of Executive Leadership Development and Talent Strategy at Nike - Chief Resilience Officer, Resilience Leadership

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Dr. Taryn Marie is the former Head of Executive Leadership Development and Talent Strategy at Nike, Global Leadership Development at Cigna, and founded Resilience Leadership, where she serves as the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), leveraging the empirically-based framework, The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People, for executive coaching, top-team effectiveness, high potential leadership programs and workshops, and inspirational keynote addresses.

She has authored numerous articles and papers focused on both leadership and resilience, as well as having been referred to as a “secret weapon” to enhance individual, team, and organizational resilience.

Dr. Taryn Marie is a foremost international expert on resilience, in leadership and life. She is the author of “Flourish or Fold: The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People”, expected to release in 2021.

She is a Co-Founder of Resilience Element 75 (RE75), focused on making resilience accessible to the world through film and wearable technology as well as serving as one of Marshall Goldsmith’s Top 100 Coaches across the globe. Her groundbreaking research on resilience has been featured in Thrive Global, Ladders, and Women’s Daily Magazine, on television broadcasts, and on platforms inclusive of Happify, eMindful, and Powerful Universe.

Dr. Taryn Marie received an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Michigan along with a master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) and a doctorate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. She completed pre- and post-doctoral fellowships at Virginia Commonwealth Medical University.

Read Cassandra's Bio

Cassandra Worthy is Founder & CEO of We Are Change Enthusiasts LLC, a top-leading Leadership Development firm specializing in navigating the emotions of change. She is a former Fortune 100 Innovation Leader, highly dynamic speaker & presenter, chemical engineer, but above all else the world’s leading expert on Change Enthusiasm ® .

Through her corporate experiences, she has not only endured but THRIVED during major change challenges including acquisition and significant organizational restructure. This endurance was thanks to the creation and cultivation of her strategy of Change Enthusiasm ® .

In her dynamic keynotes and workshops, with wit and infectious energy, she now teaches this unique strategy with world-class business leaders across dozens of industries around the world.

Cassandra founded the Global #WeAreChangeEnthusiasts movement, garnering more than 3.5 million online impressions and over 1.2 million video views and counting.