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Friday Interactive Talk and CEO Panel

"A CEO’s AI Action Plan: How to Reinvent for Your Future Member"

Trent Gillespie

Former Head of Amazon’s Global Growth, Delivery Innovation, and Alexa AI Privacy, Stellis AI CEO

Session Description: Former Amazon leader and Stellis AI CEO Trent Gillespie brings a pragmatic, high-impact lens to AI—not as hype, but as a lever to reinvent how associations serve their future members. Anchored in Amazon’s "future customer" approach, Trent will share a practical, CEO-ready framework to identify what your next member will expect—and how to transform your organization to meet them. Drawing from his real-world work helping businesses adopt AI, this session will be packed with actionable insights you can apply now. It wraps with an interactive CEO panel highlighting what’s working for leaders already making bold moves with AI.

About Trent:

Trent Gillespie doesn’t just talk about AI—he’s built and led AI-powered innovations at the highest levels. With over 25 years of experience driving transformative change, and nearly a decade at Amazon driving its global expansion, Last Mile innovation, and Alexa AI privacy efforts, Trent has shaped AI strategies that impact millions worldwide.

Now, as CEO of Stellis AI, he works directly with executives to turn AI potential into real business results. He’s the architect behind the AI Flywheel™ and AI SPRINT™ frameworks—Amazon-inspired, battle-tested approaches that help organizations harness AI for innovation, growth, and competitive advantage.

Saturday Interactive Talk

“The High-Performance Culture Code: Where Compassion Ignites Engagement and Results”

Heather Younger

Resilience expert, best-selling author, and host of Leadership with Heart podcast

Session Description: The leaders people remember most aren’t just smart — they care. They create cultures where people feel seen, heard, and valued. And when leaders lead with care, it doesn’t just feel good — it delivers results. In this powerful talk backed by her book, Heather R Younger reveals how compassion, accountability, and a deep commitment to belonging fuel innovation, boost retention, and unlock peak performance. It’s a blueprint for building energized, high-performing teams — even in times of uncertainty and change.

Because here’s what the data shows:
Companies with high engagement and a culture of care outperform competitors by 23% in profitability and 18% in productivity (Gallup)
Perfect for leaders and teams who:

Want to build an agile workplace that attracts and keeps top talent
Are navigating change and looking to keep employees engaged and motivated
Believe well-being is a strategy, not a soft skill
Want to elevate their presence, emotional intelligence, and ability to inspire
Know leadership rooted in compassion, resilience, and purpose is the future

The audience will walk away with:
A High-Performance Culture Roadmap: Practical steps to create an engaged, results-driven workforce
Proven Strategies to Improve Employee Retention and Productivity: Reduce burnout, turnover, and disengagement
Tangible Actions to Drive Employee Motivation & Peak Performance: Unlock discretionary effort and build loyalty
Leadership Presence & Influence: Techniques to communicate with authenticity, empathy, and authority
The Power of Recognition & Coaching: How small, intentional actions drive long-term commitment and success

This talk will ignite a culture shift where compassion and high performance are not at odds—but instead, the secret to lasting success because when people feel cared for, they care more about their work, their team, and your mission.

About Heather:

A trusted advisor to global companies and a contributor to leading news outlets like Forbes, Fast Company, NBC and ABC, Heather R. Younger, J.D. is an expert on Caring Leadership® and active listening at work. She is the Founder and CEO of Employee Fanatix, a preeminent employee engagement and workplace culture consulting firm conducting annual research on workplace culture, to help companies redefine their culture strategy.

With over 25 years of successfully managing teams, she has worked in customer experience, sales, and large account management for multi-million dollar accounts within multiple industries such as tech, staffing, healthcare, professional services, the public sector, and the financial sector. She's a renowned keynote speaker, drawing insights from current data and putting into practice what she teaches in her Caring Leadership Transformation Model™. Heather’s strategies yield tangible business results, including heightened employee engagement, unwavering loyalty, seamless collaboration, and robust connectivity.

Heather is a former practicing attorney, a LinkedIn Learning course partner, three-time bestselling author, TEDX speaker and host of the popular Leadership With Heart podcast. She is also an Adjunct Organizational Leadership Professor at University College at Denver University.

Heather's personal journey, rooted in her challenging experiences growing up as the only child of an interfaith and interracial marriage and being excluded because of her race, fueled her unwavering determination to ensure that workplaces around the world make both employees and customers alike feel heard, valued and seen.

A special thank you to our Tedx Talk Speaker Sponsor, Keppler Speakers

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