2027 Executive Summit Speakers

This year’s Executive Summit will feature several insightful keynote presentations on timely and relevant topics, including strengthening connections in a digital age, artificial intelligence, government and regulatory affairs, as well as an industry economic forecast for 2027 and a broad economic outlook. 

Sebastian TerrySebastian Terry

Inspirational Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author, TV Host, & Founder of the 100things Movement

Shocked by the death of a close friend in his mid-twenties, Seb Terry experienced a moment in his life where he asked himself a simple question: “Am I happy?”

The answer was NO, and so, he created a list of 100 things that he hoped would transform his life. Dropping everything to pursue his list, not only has Seb’s life transformed through his incredible journey, but the ripple effect has gone on to help millions of people unlock limitless possibilities in their own lives, too.

From Marrying a Stranger in Vegas (Goal #2) and Delivering a Baby (#23), to Living on a Deserted Island for 1 Week (#63) and Helping a Stranger (#26) by aiding a quadriplegic man to complete a half marathon by pushing him in his wheelchair, Seb’s story has been turned into books, reality shows and is constantly featured by ESPN and Discovery Channel.

As an expert in personal transformation, peak performance and creating environments for success, Seb’s commitment to helping others has seen him share his message and frameworks with many of the world’s biggest organizations including Google, Berkshire Hathaway, Bank of America and McKesson.

Recognized for his unique approach in combining brilliant humor, piercing insight and real-time action, Seb’s revered storytelling and interactive teaching style has impacted millions of individuals and influenced thousands of organizations and Fortune 500 companies around the world.

Heather McGowanHeather McGowan

Amazon Best-Selling Author, Keynote Speaker, Inc Top Leadership Expert, LinkedIn Top Influencer on Lifelong Learning & The Future of Work

One of Forbes' Top Futurists, Heather E. McGowan is a sought-after future-of-work strategist, keynote speaker, and 2x bestselling author. She equips leaders and organizations to navigate relentless change by activating their most critical resource: their people. By teaching audiences to ask better questions, she enables them to adapt at the speed of possibility to Solve Tomorrow's Problems™.

Heather’s audiences range from startups and government organizations to publicly traded Fortune 500 companies, including Google, JPMorgan Chase, Accenture, Mastercard, FedEx, AT&T, and Kaiser Permanente. Whether she's engaging in intimate conversations with senior executives or delivering keynotes to thousands, she transforms perspectives through data-driven insights, powerful visual frameworks, and practical optimism. Her approach helps organizations turn their distinctly human capabilities—adaptability, empathy, and curiosity—into strategic advantages in times of rapid change.

Heather's approach to innovation was shaped by her early career as an industrial designer. At Safety 1st, she helped transform the company known for its "Baby on Board" sign in to a comprehensive baby safety products' leader, developing multiple top-selling products. Her success continued at Wilson Sporting Goods', where she designed award-winning tennis footwear. Her innovative work extended to medical devices, where she designed surgical equipment controls, and sustainable consumer goods, creating a groundbreaking recyclable razor system that remains in production two decades later. 

This hands-on experience taught her that true innovation isn't just about finding solutions—it's about asking better questions to Solve Tomorrow’s Problems. After earning her MBA from Babson College, Heather expanded into socially responsive investing and later led RISD's Center for Design and Business, helping organizations integrate user-centric design thinking into business strategy.

As Strategic Architect at Philadelphia University (now Jefferson University), Heather created an award-winning, interdisciplinary college focused on innovation. Her achievements included integrating 18 existing programs into a new core curriculum and creating an immersive design thinking-based program. The curriculum won the Core 77 top National Design Award for Education.

Heather’s emergence as a global thought leader began with a viral LinkedIn series on the future of work—reaching 100,000 readers in 24 hours—which sparked speaking invitations worldwide. Often quoted in The New York Times, Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Thomas Friedman referred to Heather as an “oasis” for her insights into the future of work. Her bestselling books include The Adaptation Advantage, which became an accidental guide to the pandemic, and The Empathy Advantage, named a Top 10 Business Book of 2023. 

Heather holds a BFA in Industrial Design from Rhode Island School of Design, an MBA from Babson College focused on Entrepreneurship, and was recently awarded an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Pennsylvania College of Art and Design for her contributions to innovating education. 

Personal experiences, like mobilizing 7,000 strangers to find a life-saving bone marrow donor for her brother, fuel Heather's unwavering optimism and core belief: humans are wired to help each other achieve extraordinary things. This drives her mission: to help leaders Solve Tomorrow's Problems™ by teaching them to ask better questions today.