Avish Parashar is the world's only “Motivational Improviser.” He works with groups that want their people to be more flexible and with organizations who want to increase innovation. Avish uses his 20+ years of experience performing, teaching, and studying improv comedy to show organizations and individuals how to improvise, adapt and innovate in an ever-changing world. He specializes in helping professionals access and develop their creativity and apply those skills to think quickly and deal with change.

Avish grew up in Poughkeepsie, NY, and now makes his home in Philadelphia, PA. Though he performed all through high-school, he decided to stop performing when he went to college to “focus on his studies.” That resolve lasted only a few months, as the first time he saw an improv comedy show he fell in love. One week later he auditioned for the campus improv group, got in, and the rest is history. After graduating, he started Polywumpus Improv Comedy, which did regular performances in and around Philadelphia for 7 years. Avish closed up Polywumpus to focus on the speaking and training side of the business – using improv comedy as a tool to teach valuable business skills such as creativity, innovation and adaptability. Avish is the author of “Improvise to Success!” and the Amazon best-selling, “Say 'Yes, And!'”

With his quick wit and master story-telling ability, Dave Davlin captures an audience like no one else. Quickly building rapport, he is able to touch not only the intellect of the audience, but their hearts and souls as well. He shares principles concerning true success in life and business and challenges the audience to reach high and dig deep to discover their own form of greatness. From public school students to CEOs, Dave’s message has made a difference in the lives of thousands, and his impact continues to grow each year as he shares his philosophy and wisdom through speaking and writing.

Amy Freeman is Assistant Dean of Engineering Diversity at Pennsylvania State Universitity. She oversees all aspects of the Multicultural Engineering Program (MEP) and Women in Engineering Program (WEP) including planning, developing programs and funding, recruiting new minority and women engineering students, and working actively with current undergraduate and graduate students.

Jason Sheffield is BRPs National Director of Compliance for the Baldwin Regulatory Compliance Collaborative. He oversees the ongoing evolution of our firm's national compliance operations. Jason develops, designs and implements educational programming and compliance assuredness services by creating timely and relevant solutions designed for the benefit of our clients and colleagues, our industry partners, and the general benefits community. Jason has practiced employee benefits law and consulting for nearly two decades, representing individual, corporate, and tribal interests at the local, state, and federal levels. He has advised clients and provided representative services before administrative agencies such as the DOL, the IRS, CMS, OCR, several state-level treasury authorities, and others. He has experience with both qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, executive compensation matters, and extensive experience respecting health and welfare plan matters. Jason received his undergraduate degree from Georgia State University (magna cum laude) and his Juris Doctor from Western New England College School of Law. He is admitted to the State Bar of Georgia.

Cathy Muldoon is the Founder of Growth-Passion-Success LLC. Cathy's enthusiasm and excitement can be felt throughout her programs. Her infectious personality, high energy, and abundant enthusiasm motivate audiences to become engaged and passionate about who they are and what they do!

As a speaker, trainer, and recruitment expert, Cathy inspires audiences to take their careers and their organizations to the next level.  Having worked as an executive recruiter for the past 14 years, Cathy brings a wealth of experience to her clients providing seminars, executive coaching and training on a variety of HR related issues. Cathy connects the dots on hiring the best people, career development, employee engagement, and leadership.

With 20 years of experience in global talent development, Donal has  designed and delivered learning programs for more than twenty of the  world’s largest corporations. He is considered an industry leader in  designing and delivering dynamic talent management, leadership and  B2B sales and marketing learning programs that transcend borders,  languages and cultures.  Before establishing Donal Conn Associates, Donal held executive  positions with multiple Global Fortune 500 organizations. Most  recently, he served as Chief Learning & Talent Officer of Momentive Performance Materials (formerly GE Advanced Materials), an  engineered materials company with $7.5 billion in annual sales  and over 12,000 employees doing business in 119 locations in 23 countries. Previously, Donal served as Vice President of a global advertising and communications agency with clients in the consumer, pharmaceutical, medical device and manufacturing sectors and has held senior talent management roles with State Farm Insurance and KeyCorp. Throughout his career, Donal has repeatedly been honored with numerous industry awards, including winning the prestigious ‘Vanguard Executive of the Year’ award from Chief Learning Officer magazine in 2009. As a recognized thought leader, he regularly authors articles for trade magazines and frequently serves as a keynote speaker at industry conferences around the world.

Rhett Buttle currently serves as the Director of Private Sector Engagement in the Office of the Secretary at the United States Department of Health and Human Services. In his role, Rhett is the main liaison between the department and the business community. In addition, Rhett is a member of the White House Business Council where he works to engage the business community on a variety of healthcare policy issues, including the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. 

Before this role, Rhett was Vice President for External Affairs at Small Business Majority, a national business advocacy organization. During his tenure, Rhett led the effort to grow the organization in size and scope launching eight regional offices and expanding the organization’s policy issue set. His efforts led to sustained engagement with business leaders across the country on a variety of public policy issues and a national campaign to educate the business community about the Affordable Care Act. Rhett has also served in the Office of the President at George Washington University, worked on presidential, state and local campaigns and in the office of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He was part of the governor’s legislative team working on healthcare reform, energy and education issues. 

Rhett frequently engages with the media and has spoken on business issues at the Harvard Institute of Politics, the Aspen Institute, and the Center for American Progress. He also serves on the boards of several different organizations, including the Board of Directors at the University of San Diego. Rhett holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Diego and a master’s degree from The George Washington University. In addition, he is active in many volunteer & professional organizations including American Legion Boys State. Rhett was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV.

Michael Kalt is a partner in the Employment Law Practice Group of Wilson Turner Kosmo LLP, where he has worked since 1996.  His employment law practice emphasizes the litigation and trial of wrongful termination, harassment, discrimination cases in state and federal court.  Michael also provides advice and training to employers on employee discipline and investigations, employment policies and procedures, and fair employment practices.  Michael represents businesses of all sizes and in most industry sectors.  He is an accomplished writer and oral advocate and has prevailed through summary judgment in dozens and dozens of litigated matters and has also prevailed before the California Supreme Court and California Court of Appeal, resulting in several published decisions.  (Jones v. The Lodge at Torrey Pines Partnership (2008) 42 Cal.4th 1158 [no individual liability for FEHA retaliation], Acuna v. SDGE (2013) 217 Cal.4th 1402 [successive administrative charges does not extend statute of limitations after right-to-sue notice issued] and Tu v. UCSD Medical Centers (S.D. Ca. 2002) 201 F. Supp. 2d 1126 [precluding negligent infliction of emotional distress claims for intentional employment decisions].)

Michael is currently the Governmental Affairs Director for the California State Council for the Society for Human Resource Management (CalSHRM) and tracks and oversees the legislative advocacy efforts for its 18,000 members.  He formerly was Vice President-Legislation for the San Diego Chapter of SHRM where he monitored the federal and state employment-related developments for its 1,000 members.  He is also the Legislative Liaison and a Steering Committee Member for the Employment and Labor Committee for the Defense Research Institute.  He is also the former author of the ADR Case Notes Column of the statewide publication: California Labor and Employment Review, and is the editor of the Firm’s monthly employment newsletter.  Michael has been an invited speaker and author of numerous employment law related articles, which have appeared in various statewide publications and he is a former Co-Chair of the San Diego County Bar’s Labor & Employment Law Section. 

Michael has been elected by fellow attorneys as a Super Lawyer by Law and Politics Magazine from 2007 to 2014 for labor and employment law.  He was also named by the San Diego Daily Transcript as one of the top 10 Labor and Employment attorneys in 2009 and 2012, and by Super Lawyer as one of the top 10 attorneys in 2013 and one of the top 50 attorneys in San Diego in 2012 and 2014.  Michael was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in 2014 and 2015 for Litigation - Labor and Employment.  Michael received both his B.A. magna cum laude, and J.D. degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles.