Theme: Inter(act)ion

Our world is constantly evolving as a result of the minds that reflect, innovate, and take action. Through research, activism, and curiosity, it’s inevitable for humans to solve problems together as a collective body. Those who recognize that extending a helping hand to others that all share the passion for inciting change truly represent what it means to be hopeful, persistent, and most of all, human. We challenge you to interact with those around you in order to foster change within our community and the world around us.

Thwing Ballroom of Case Western Reserve University
11111 Euclid Avenue
Second Floor
Cleveland, Ohio, 44106
United States

Andrea Vecchio

Andrea Vecchio is an interviewer, storyteller, and writer. During her 15 years in broadcast television, she became an Emmy-Nominated journalist and member of the Broadcast Film Critic’s Association. Vecchio went on to publish and author her first book, Live Your Playlist. She is the co-creator and host of the digital series, Driving Cleveland. Vecchio recently launched her podcast, “The Bounce Back,” which is a collection of conversations with inspirational people and the greatest life lessons they’ve learned through their biggest failures and setbacks.

Brad Bongiovanni

Dr. Brad Bongiovanni is executive medical director at Wholistic Medicine Specialists of Atlanta. After 20 years in patient care, and with an increasingly digital/virtual world devoid of true connection, he has now pivoted to leading wellness retreats for health professionals and entrepreneurs who may be experiencing burnout or want to prevent it. Dr. Bongiovanni instructs those leaders who are ready to take inventory on love, purpose, and connection in order to architect a life of health, intention and meaning, and then transfer these lessons back to their own communities. He is an award-winning professional and corporate speaker as well as media contributor to ABC, NBC, and FOX affiliates on his expertise of the biology of social connection.

Chanelle McCloud

Chanelle R. McCloud, M. Ed. is the founder and CEO of Professional Inspiration, LLC, which is a personal and professional development company. Chanelle was a dedicated classroom teacher for 10 years and gained a passion for boosting teacher morale and preventing teacher burnout after experiencing and witnessing symptoms of teacher burnout first hand. Chanelle, has since authored an online class called Reboot, Refuel, Reignite, which educates teachers about strategies to help them boost their morale and prevent burnout. Chanelle R. McCloud, is committed to inspiring all people to be the best version of themselves, but she has a special adoration for teachers.

David Kubacki

David J. Kubacki, a 1996 graduate of CRWU, founded the ViaDel Consulting Group in 2015 and offers corporate and nonprofit consulting with a focus on strategic planning & team building. He is a LEGO® Serious Play® certified facilitator and uses ViaDel’s signature program, ViaBricks, to engage teams in innovative workshops using LEGO bricks. Prior to his consulting career, David spent over a decade working with NativityMiguel Schools - private, tuition-free middle schools for low-income, inner-city students - across the country before acting as the President of Nativity Prep of Wilmington. He lives in Delaware with his wife, Grace, and daughter, Olivia, and enjoys classical music, cycling, and grilling.

Jen Ruiz

Jen Ruiz is a lawyer turned travel blogger and author. In 2017 she set out to take 12 trips in 12 months while employed full-time. She surpassed her goal, taking 20 trips in the span of a year before making a bold career change. Today, she is a #1 Amazon bestseller and her book, "The Affordable Flight Guide," is Reader’s Favorite Award winner. Jen was named "Top 40 under 40" by the Naples Herald has been featured as a travel expert by The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Business Insider, ABC News and CBS This Morning. Jen documents her adventures on her website, Jen on a Jet Plane, where she helps young professionals travel for less and experience more.

Katherine Winter-Sellery

Katherine Winter-Sellery, wife, mother, international coach, philanthropist, global citizen, founder of the Conscious Parenting Revolution, passionate advocate for mental health and reform. Sellery has been coaching parents, children and executives on conscious communication for over 16 years, is a trained mediator and breathing meditation teacher for the Art of Living Foundation. Sellery’s work and theory of change, is focused on healing transgenerational dysfunction, due to personal experiences from childhood to motherhood. Sellery served on several notable boards which includes Chairwoman, the Girl Scouts of America, Chair for the Cub Scouts of America, BOD / Executive Committee of the American Club in HK, currently serves as Chairwoman, Founder of the Mental Health and Mental Fitness Summit, with the primary mission to change the landscape, dialogue and policies around mental health. Her personal goal is to provide solutions, tools and preventative non-violent transformations to enforce safety in our communities.”

Len Bertain

Dr. Leonard Bertain has been delivering his unique approach to problem solving for 33 years to over 150 companies (from Fortune 100 companies to companies of less than 10 people) with over 10,000 ideas implemented. All of these ideas were implemented within 12 weeks of initiation. The ideas never had a birthday. He will discuss the 3 points of his thesis of why he has been so successful with this program over those 33 years.

Marie McCausland

Marie McCausland, PhD, is a scientist, a mother, and an advocate for women’s reproductive health. McCausland's passion for maternal health comes from a personal experience with postpartum preeclampsia, after the birth of her firstborn son, which nearly took her life in 2017. McCausland is currently a postdoctoral fellow at CWRU, where she serves as the co-president of the CWRU PDA and co-chair of the Women’s Initiative Committee. McCausland has served as the spokesperson for Merck for Mothers from 2018-2019 and has won both the Mom Congress Advocate of the Year award in 2019 and the Merck for Mothers 2019 Maternal Health Maverick award.

Roman Sheremeta

Roman Sheremeta, Ph.D., is an associate professor of economics at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and a research affiliate at the Economic Science Institute at Chapman University. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from Purdue University and is a recipient of many research and teaching awards, including the 2018 Vernon L. Smith Ascending Scholar Prize, as well as multiple grants, including the National Science Foundation and the Max Planck Institute grants. Sheremeta was listed as a Top Economic Thinker of Ukrainian descent by Forbes in 2015, a top-rated young economist in the world according to the IDEAS ranking in 2018, and recognized as the Best 40 Under 40 Professors by Poets and Quants in 2019.

Steve Kahan

Steven Mark Kahan has successfully helped to grow seven start-up companies from early-stage development to going public or being sold, resulting in more than $3 billion in shareholder value. He is currently CMO at Thycotic, which will become the eighth. Bringing passion and positive energy, Steve inspires teams and their organizations to take on the impossible and succeed. He is best known for his ability to plan marketing strategy and execute it so that companies can accelerate revenue, grow market share, and consistently deliver superior returns for shareholders. Gartner Group recognized Thycotic in their 2018 PAM Magic Quadrant as having superior marketing in its peer group. Steve has been nominated for 2019 Cybersecurity Marketer of the Year. He also has been featured as “the ideal CMO” by a Summative.com which used Steve as a model to help its clients hire the best CMO for their start-ups.