Leana Wen, MD, CNN Medical Analyst and Contributing Columnist, The Washington Post
Dr. Wen is an emergency physician, visiting professor of health policy and management at George Washington University, and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. She is also a contributing columnist for The Washington Post, a CNN medical analyst, and author of the critically acclaimed book on patient advocacy, When Doctors Don’t Listen: How to Avoid Misdiagnoses and Unnecessary Tests, and a memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Health.
From 2014 to 2018, Dr. Wen served as Baltimore’s Health Commissioner, where she led the nation’s oldest continuously operating health department in fighting the opioid epidemic, treating violence and racism as public health issues, and improving maternal and child health.
A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Dr. Wen has received recognition as one of Governing’s Public Officials of the Year, Modern Healthcare’s Top 50 Physician-Executives, World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, and TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
Amer Kaissi, PhD, Professor of Healthcare Administration, Trinity University, San Antonio
Dr. Kaissi is an award-winning professor of healthcare administration at Trinity University, a certified executive and physician coach; and author of Humbitious: The Power of Low-Ego, High-Drive Leadership, published this year. At Trinity, Dr. Kaissi teaches courses in leadership, professional development and public speaking and is the director of the Executive Program. With research interests in leadership and strategy, Dr. Kaissi is also the author of Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders, which won the 2019 American College of Healthcare Executives Book of the Year award.
Steve Cadigan, Former Vice President of Talent, LinkedIn
A highly sought-after talent advisor, Cadigan has been at the forefront of global talent strategy and company culture for the past 30 years. He’s most well-known for increasing LinkedIn’s staff from 400 to 4,000 in 3½ years. Cadigan also led the development of LinkedIn’s legendary company culture and was at the helm of the company’s talent function during its period of highest growth and through its IPO.
Cadigan has worked in five industries and three countries while leading dozens of acquisition integrations all over the world. With unparalleled expertise in the talent arena, Cadigan has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal and by Fortune magazine for building world-class teams. In 2013, Cadigan formed his own firm, taking the lessons learned during his corporate experiences and offering them to leaders and organizations around the world. He’s laser focused on helping leaders and organizations build winning talent solutions to compete in an increasingly complex digital economy.
Daniel E. Dawes, JD, Executive Director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta
A widely respected healthcare and public health leader, Dawes serves as executive director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and is a professor of health law, policy and management. A trailblazer and nationally respected voice in the health equity movement, Dawes’ scholarship and leadership—particularly the innovative political determinants of health framework that he pioneered—have resulted in new policies and laws prioritizing health equity.
He authored two groundbreaking works, 150 Years of ObamaCare and The Political Determinants of Health, which are nationally and internationally recognized and used as top health policy books. Dawes led the creation of the nation’s first health equity tracker. He was also instrumental in developing and negotiating the Mental Health Parity Act, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act, and was an architect of the Affordable Care Act’s health equity-focused provisions.
Dawes serves as an advisor to The White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and an appointed member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee to the Director.
Ted A. James, MD, MHCM, FACS, Medical Director and Chief of Breast Surgical Oncology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
Dr. James is an internationally recognized speaker and executive coach who is passionate about transforming healthcare through innovation and leadership development. Drawing on over 20 years of experience as a physician leader, educator and healthcare management consultant, he inspires individuals to become engaged change agents with a positive impact on organizational culture. He believes promoting new ways of meeting patients' needs and creating clinical teams that thrive are the only ways to succeed in healthcare.
As a medical director and lecturer within Harvard’s healthcare system, Dr. James has extensive experience with efforts to advance healthcare. He leads international programs focused on digital health, clinician engagement and patient experience. He collaborates with healthcare executives and industry experts from around the world, and shares his knowledge through organizations such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. James writes about trends shaping the future of medicine and strategies for transforming the healthcare ecosystem.
Taryn Stejskal, PhD, Founder and Chief Resilience Officer, Resilience Leadership Institute and Foremost International Expert on Resilience in Leadership and Life
Dr. Stejskal believes resilience is the key to individual and organizational actualization and acceleration across the globe. She founded and serves as Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) of the Reslience Leadership Institute. Dr. Stejskal previously was head of executive leadership development and talent strategy at Nike and global leadership development at Cigna.
With over a decade-and–a-half of original research on resilience, she developed the empirically based framework, The Five Practices of Particularly Resilient People, to make resilience accessible to all, for executive coaching, top-team effectiveness, high potential leadership programs and workshops, and inspirational keynote addresses. She is a sought-after trusted advisor for executives, athletes, leaders, musicians and actors—individuals from all industries looking for an edge by understanding and harnessing their inherent resilience.