Award-winning journalist Michele Norris is one of the most recognized voices in radio. She was host of NPR's longest-running national program, "All Things Considered," until 2012. Norris and "All Things Considered" received many of journalism's highest honors, including a Peabody Award, a duPont Award and an Overseas Press Club Award, and she was named the 2009 Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists, solidifying her as an in-demand speaker on current events and American culture.

In 2013, Norris was named host and special correspondent for NPR. While on sabbatical, Norris spent a time traveling the country and developing two successful initiatives: The Race Card Project and NPR's Backseat Book Club. Her new role will allow her to continue this work while producing in-depth segments for all NPR programs.

Before joining NPR, she served as a correspondent for ABC News, where she reported extensively on education, inner city issues, the national drug problem, and poverty. While at ABC, she earned an Emmy Award and Peabody Award for her contribution to the network's coverage of 9/11.

In her 2010 book, The Grace of Silence: A Memoir, Norris focuses on how America talks about race in the wake of the Obama presidential election, and explores her own family's racial legacy. Tom Brokaw says the memoir makes her personal story a universal one: "Michele Norris takes us on a riveting personal journey from north to south and back again through the tangled landscape of race in America -- and teaches anew about the pain and possibilities of our past and future." It was named one of the year's best books by The Christian Science Monitor.

Eric C. Peterson, MSOD is a Senior Consultant with Cook Ross Inc. He is a recognized facilitator and educator in the Diversity & Inclusion space with over 15 years of experience in Unconscious Bias, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), Learning Strategies, and Organization Development. Eric is certified in the use of both the Predictive Index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and is a graduate of the Facilitation Learning Partners Program of Healing the Heart of Diversity. He has been published in Profiles in Diversity Journal and Echelon Magazine, and has been sourced as a D&I expert by CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Bloomberg Group, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times.

Eric C. Peterson, MSOD is a Senior Consultant with Cook Ross Inc. He is a recognized facilitator and educator in the Diversity & Inclusion space with over 15 years of experience in Unconscious Bias, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), Learning Strategies, and Organization Development. Eric is certified in the use of both the Predictive Index and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, and is a graduate of the Facilitation Learning Partners Program of Healing the Heart of Diversity. He has been published in Profiles in Diversity Journal and Echelon Magazine, and has been sourced as a D&I expert by CNN, National Public Radio, USA Today, The Bloomberg Group, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, and the Los Angeles Times.

Nereida (Neddy) Perez, Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Ingersoll Rand. She is an internationally known Human Resources and Diversity practitioner with more than 20 years of experience working with Fortune 500 corporations in developing and implementing business strategies designed to remove organizational and cultural barriers designed to spur talent and business growth.

Neddy has been a speaker at a number of national conferences and events in HR, Diversity, Supplier Diversity and STEM. She has served as an advisor on diversity initiatives at an array of Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. Ms. Perez has been on the board of several national nonprofit organizations focusing Manufacturing, Energy, Leadership Development and Workforce Management. In 2014, she was named as the Top Hispanic Executive in the U.S.  by the National Hispanic Business Group and more recently was named one of the top 10 Latina in the U.S. by Latina Style Magazine. A strong advocate for MWBE’s and supplier diversity she has created and implemented supplier diversity programs at KPMG, National Grid and established the initial structure at Ingersoll Rand. 

Wendy Lewis is responsible for implementing game changing Diversity and Inclusion strategic and metric based platforms for Major League Baseball’s Club franchises, its Central Office, MLB Advanced Media and MLB Network. She has developed and implemented the innovative and wildly successful Diversity Economic Impact Engagement (DEIE) model. DEIE is designed to advance League-wide the level of MLB’s workforce, supply chain and Club engagement levels of diversity and inclusion leadership and progress. A key and groundbreaking component of the DEIE initiative is MLB’s Diversity Business Summit, an unprecedented diversity employment and procurement trade fair event that provides a unique and substantive opportunity for job seekers, business owners, emerging entrepreneurs and community and advocacy leaders to network with MLB Human Resources and Procurement executives. Theses industry influencers are from all 30 Clubs, Central Office, Advanced Media, the Network, and Minor League Baseball. The Commissioner and other key dignitaries and chief executives are in attendance as well. The Summit was officially launched in 2012, co-hosted by the Chicago White Sox in Chicago. The Chicago Summit would be the first time in professional sports that an event of this nature and scope had been staged. The 2013 MLB Diversity Business Summit was co-hosted by the Houston Astros in Houston, and in 2014 the New York Yankees co-hosted in New York City. The 2014 MLB Diversity Business Summit greatly surpassed all expectations in regards to attendance and outcomes. The "DBS" is transforming the employment and procurement pipelines of MLB.

Wendy is also responsible for the Diverse Business Partners Program, the premier supplier diversity program in professional sports. "DBP" was established to cultivate new and existing partnerships with minority and women-owned businesses. Under Wendy’s leadership, a greater number of diverse businesses have had an opportunity to participate in the procurement process for MLB’s desired goods and services. Since its formation, more than $1 billion has been spent with thousands of minority-owned and women-owned businesses.

Wendy also serves as a member of the Commissioner’s On-Field Diversity Task Force created in 2013 to address the talent pipeline that impacts the representation and development of diverse players and on-field personnel in Major League Baseball, particularly African-Americans. The wide-ranging group, which includes representatives from Club Ownership, Club Front Offices, Central Office, Minor League Baseball, former players, the Major League Baseball Players Association, the MLB Scouting Bureau, academia and collegiate baseball. The Task Force focuses on the myriad of issues influencing on-field diversity and inclusion at all levels of baseball.

Most recently she has supported and continues to direct the Commissioner’s appointment of MLB’s newest diversity and inclusion role, the Ambassador of Inclusion.

She has been recognized by national and international organizations, is the recipient of numerous awards, frequently selected for publication features and is a highly regarded key note speaker and subject matter expert.

Wendy holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh and an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

At age 28, Richard took the reins of a $120 million car and truck dealership group when his father was forced to retire suddenly. This was a 100 year old family business and he was the 4th generation of his family to be CEO. That alone was a challenge. Worse, the business was losing $3.5 million a year. With help from his mentor Frank, Richard was able to apply creative strategies, articulate a crystal clear vision, hire the right people and forge a dynamic team. Ultimately he helped the business to survive and then prosper in a tough and competitive industry.

During his time as a CEO, Richard's leadership style matured from a controlling micro-manager to a coach and mentor. Today he shares with his audiences how they can achieve this in their own organizations.

Richard lives in Evergreen Colorado with his wife and two teenage children and likes to spend his leisure time golfing, skiing and traveling with family and friends.

Richard is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and is also a Board Member of the NSA-Colorado chapter.