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Kathy Ireland is an American actress, author, entrepreneur, fashion designer, philanthropist, and former fashion model. Ireland is the founder of kathy ireland Worldwide® (kiWW®)—one of the most powerful brands in the world according to License Global magazine, Forbes, ABC, CBS, NBC and other media reports. Ireland has graced the cover of Forbes Magazine more times than Sports Illustrated. Ireland is ranked #1 in Lifestyle in Forbes magazine’s most recent 50 Over 50 special issues, one of the 19 most influential women in licensing by License Global magazine, according to Fairchild Publications, one of the 50 most influential people in fashion and one of the most influential leaders in the furniture industry. Ireland and kiWW® support multiple philanthropic efforts including women and children’s health, HIV/AIDS, Education, human freedom, human rights, wars against religious persecution and violence of every kind. Ireland is the first female Board Member of the NFLPI, WNBPA Board of Advocates, an Ambassador and donor for the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and International Youth Chair for the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation.

For 30+ years, John Spence has helped people and businesses, including large corporations, worldwide harness success. John is the author of five books and co-author of several more, a business consultant, workshop facilitator, keynote speaker and executive coach with a client list that includes numerous Fortune 500 firms (including Coca-Cola, Apple, and Microsoft) to small businesses, professional associations and other organizations. John’s areas of expertise include: leadership, high-performance teams, managing change, organizational culture, consultative selling, strategic planning, strategy execution and the future of business.

Representative Thad Altman oversees all operations of The Astronauts Memorial Foundation (AMF) and the Center for Space Education, as well as AMF’s Use Agreement and Space Act Agreement with NASA. He currently serves as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, representing parts of the Melbourne area in central Brevard County since 2016. Previously, he represented a similar area in the House from 2003 to 2008 and served in the Florida Senate from 2008 to 2016. Rep. Altman has lived in east Central Florida for more than fifty years. He played baseball at the University of Houston and later completed his undergraduate studies with a Bachelor of Science from Rollins College in 1987. 

E. Stanley Richardson is an American poet, actor, author, playwright, producer, educator, workshop facilitator, and an advocate for the transformative power of poetry and the arts. Richardson is the founder and director of ARTSPEAKSgnv Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting literacy, wellbeing, and creating healthier communities by providing access to creative arts and cultural programs in historically underserved areas of North Central Florida. Richardson serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Alachua County, Florida (2020 -2025) and is a Community Scientist at the University of Florida (UF) Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics. He is an active member of the UF Health Cancer Center Community Advisory Board and the External Advisory Board for Community Outreach and Engagement.

Dr. Michael is the co-founder of the Collective Resilience Institute which facilitates leader development training on team and organizational resilience. A graduate of United States Naval Academy, she has 30+ years of leadership experience as a career Naval Officer that includes Command ashore, overseas deployments, and Director of Personnel, Operations and Training. She financially managed the Navy’s multimillion-dollar Active Duty for Operational Support program. She has taught adult learners for several years, both in the Navy classroom and as an adjunct professor. Dr. Michael earned her Doctorate in Organization Development and Change from Bowling Green State University. She researches team resilience both in the sports context and the workplace. She is a certified Professional in Human Resources and Society for Human Resources Management Certified Professional, a Resilience Building Leader Program-Trainer, a certified practitioner in EQ-I 2.0/EQ 360, and a World Rugby Level 1 certified coach and referee.

Tamiko Fletcher is Kennedy Space Center’s CISO. Fletcher is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, where she received a BS in computer engineering, and the University of Miami, where she received her master’s in industrial engineering. As CISO, she is responsible for minimizing Kennedy’s IT security risk, obtaining visibility into IT security operations, and providing guidance for compliance with NASA’s IT security standards and federal regulations.

Suarez has been a Paramedic for 22 years, mostly serving at Leon County EMS. As a member of the local Critical Incident Stress Management team, he responded to local Mass Casualty and Critical Incidents. In 2010, he led the effort for Leon County EMS to become Florida’s first ever fully-accredited municipal EMS agency. Suarez is board certified in both Adult Critical Care Transport and Neonatal-Pediatric Critical Care Transport, authoring published research on advanced prehospital resuscitation. Suarez recognizes that good self-care and healthy support systems help individuals work effectively as First Responders. Suarez coordinates the 2nd Alarm Project regional Struggle Well courses. Struggle Well, based on Posttraumatic Growth research, teaches how to integrate healthy principles into First Responders’ lives.

Eichholz is the Chief Resilience Manager and Emergency Operations Coordinator for the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida. He received a Bachelor of Science in Sustainability Studies (2016) and a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Sciences (2019) from the Florida Institute of Technology before being hired in by the City of Cape Canaveral to help write the City’s first-ever Resiliency Action Plan. Five years later, with this action plan in place, Eichholz is in charge of Cape Canaveral’s Resilience Division – set within the Community and Economic Development Department – where he oversees the implementation of a variety of sustainability and resilience-based initiatives that include but are not limited to renewable energy deployment, flood mitigation and adaption projects, disaster preparation and relief, fleet electrification, and decarbonization efforts. Before this position, Eichholz worked as a project assistant through his time as a master’s student researching and writing the City of Satellite Beach 2017 Sustainability Action Plan; developing a series of actionable targets designed to reduce the City’s environmental footprint and mitigate future climate change impacts.

Michele Weslander Quaid is an author, keynote speaker, consultant, educator, and certified professional coach. Before founding her company Sunesis Nexus, Michele served as Google Inc.’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the Public Sector. Prior to joining Google in 2011, Michele led the cultural and technical integration of the national security community in senior leadership defense and intelligence positions including Deputy Technical Executive for the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Intelligence Community Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Director of National Intelligence, and CTO for the National Reconnaissance Office. Michele’s leadership, both in industry and government, has had a lasting positive impact on the U.S. and its Allies, and her support of the troops at home and abroad earned her the call sign “Warrior Goddess.” Michele has been named “DC’s Top 50 Women in Tech” by FedScoop, “Power 100” list of influencers by Washington Life, and one of “The 7 Most Powerful Women to Watch” by Entrepreneur Magazine. Michele earned her B.S. in Physics and Engineering Science with honors from Seattle Pacific University and M.S. in Optics from the University of Rochester. She is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Managers in Government and a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff CAPSTONE Fellow.

Ms. Smoak has been with the Agency for Health Care Administration since August 1995. She is the Deputy Secretary of the Health Care Policy and Oversight Division. The Division licenses and/or certifies and regulates 30 providers, including hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home health agencies. The Division licenses certify, regulate, or provide exemptions for more than 50,000 providers. Deputy Secretary Smoak is also the State Survey Agency Director for the State of Florida and holds a Master of Science in Health with a program emphasis in Aging Studies. She is also a Qualified Intellectual Disability Professional (QIDP). In 2009 and 2017, she received Survey & Certification Achievement Awards, presented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Jamerson has 18 years of experience in workforce training and development. She understands that both traditional and non-traditional students face academic challenges and the importance of increasing career knowledge in today’s competitive workforce. She strongly advocates making sure higher education and other educational and career opportunities are available and affordable to everyone. Jamerson is the Program Manager of Outreach at the Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP). Before joining H-CAP, she served as the Workforce Development Manager for Cengage/ed2go where she assisted the US Central Region Colleges and Universities in getting on their state’s Eligible Training Provider List.

Dr. Letourneau is the Executive Director of the Florida Center for Nursing, an Associate Professor at the University of South Florida College of Nursing, and the President of the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. She has 20+ years of nursing experience with a background in emergency nursing. Dr. Letourneau earned her BS in Nursing (2002) and MS in Nursing Administration (2008) from the University of Rhode Island. In 2017, she earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Dr. Letourneau’s focuses on nursing workforce development, transition to practice, nurses’ well-being, and quality and safety education for nurses. She has 100+ publications and presentations and hosts the Frontline Nursing podcast. In 2022, Dr. Letourneau was named to the Florida Health Care Power 100 by City and State and received the President’s Award from the Florida Nurses Association.

Dr. Adams earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice in Executive Leadership from American Sentinel University in Aurora, CO. She earned her Master’s, Public Administration, from Troy State University and her Bachelor of Science, Nursing, Old Dominion University in Virginia. She began her nursing career with a diploma in nursing from Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, VA. Until September of this year, Dr. Adams was the Associate Dean and Director of the Murphy Deming School of Nursing at Mary Baldwin University, in Staunton, VA. As Associate Dean, Dr. Adams oversaw the daily operations for the RN to BSN program, the MSN program, three Nurse Practitioner programs (FNP and AG-ACNP) and a Nurse Anesthesiology program. Dr. Adams served in the U. S. Navy for 28 years. Her nursing career spans 45+ years. Dr. Adams began her career in nursing education while in the military. Dr. Adams is the Immediate Past President of the Florida Nurses Association.

Shortly after moving to Miami in the late 1980s, Egües helped pioneer nursing home alternative programs for elderly Medicare and Medicaid recipients and launched the first Medicaid managed care plans in Palm Beach, Hendry, Glades, and Lee counties. Egües then served as vice president of community and government relations for the nation’s largest nurse staffing company. In that role, he formed the health care committee of the American Staffing Association, becoming the committee’s first Chairman. Since 2004 as an executive director of the Nursing Consortium of Florida (NCOF), he’s facilitated this 501(c)3’s growth to include more than 70 member hospitals, schools of nursing, and other nurse employers. NCOF brings nursing academia and practice together to advance the nursing profession.

Anne Everly has served for 3+ years as the Florida Department of Education Apprenticeship Training Representative for Region 6 (Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, Port St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee Counties). Everly has 17+ years of experience working in Secondary Education as the Program Manager for the Take Stock in Children Scholarship and Mentoring Program for Middle and High School Students and the Pre-apprenticeship and Student Internship Coordinator for the Brevard Public Schools Career and Technical Education Program.

Byers has 6+ years of post-secondary technical school education from working at a Technical Institute. In her role, she successfully implemented the integration of Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) certifications into student curriculum to ensure training met manufacturers’ standards. Today, Byers serves the workforce needs of Brevard County’s construction and hospitality employers as a CareerSource Brevard Flagler Volusia business liaison and is a state-appointed Apprenticeship Navigator within Region 6. Byers has formed regional partnerships resulting in a robust network focused on paving logical apprenticeship pathways. One such partnership includes working with Anne Everly, Apprenticeship Training Representative with the State of Florida. Together, their efforts are responsible for creating the first registered apprenticeship within the healthcare sector in Brevard and the first in the nation/state registered apprenticeship program for Surface Mount Technician (SMT) Operators. Byers is a 2024 graduate of Lead Brevard and a member of the National Society for Leadership and Success.