Meet the Speakers
Note: Times and dates are subject to change. Please check back for updates.
Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks is the one of the top content creators of our time. The supermodel-turned-super businesswoman created and executive produces television show America’s Next Top Model and headlined her own Emmy Award-winning talk show. Tyra is consistently ranked by Time Magazine as one of the world’s most influential people, and serves as CEO of her own multimillion-dollar entertainment company Bankable Productions, which inked an overall deal with Universal Television for scripted and unscripted programming.
Expanding the definition of beauty is something Tyra Banks has always believed in. Six modelling agencies rejected her before she was signed at the age of 15 years old. Now, hundreds of magazine covers and thousands of runways later, Banks grooms the next generation of models to make their dreams come true.
She created and executive produces the first and longest-running, competition-based reality television series, America’s Next Top Model, with 24 cycles. ANTM currently airs in 180 countries and has 25 international versions worldwide.
As an original Victoria’s Secret angel, Banks was also the first female model to grace the cover of GQ and the first African-American model to be featured on the covers of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which featured her for two consecutive years, and the Victoria’s Secret catalogue. She was named one of The Hollywood Reporter’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Entertainment, Entertainment Weekly’s 25 Smartest in Television, and was America’s #1 host two seasons running on America’s Got Talent. She was honoured as one of Glamour magazine’s coveted Women of the Year alongside former U.S. Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Banks received two Emmy Awards for The Tyra Banks Show, the first show ever to receive the award in the informative category. She was listed twice on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World and took the #1 spot on Forbes’ list of top earning women in primetime for two years in a row.
Banks is CEO of the Tyra Banks Company — a place where beauty meets entertainment. In 2012, she graduated from the Owner/President Management program at Harvard Business School. She recently developed Fierce Capital, the investment arm of the Tyra Banks Company, which invests in early-stage companies, including firms that are female-led or female-focused. Her passion is the TZONE Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in young women to help them realize their ambitions and approach life’s challenges with fierce determination. The TZONE now takes residence at the Lower Eastside Girls Club Center for Community in New York City and focuses on five core pillars: entrepreneurship, financial literacy, elocution and self-presentation, health and wellness, and self- esteem, beauty and body image.
For three consecutive years since 2017, Tyra shared her expertise and knowledge of personal branding as visiting professor at Stanford University Business School.
Jane Bianchini
Jane is a seasoned professional with over 20 years’ experience in the recruitment industry. Jane set out to disrupt the recruitment industry from within by starting Alcami Interactive, a one-way digital video interviewing platform that replaces the phone screening stage of the recruitment process. After winding down her successful recruitment business, putting her house on the line to fund the tech start-up and successfully raising two external rounds of capital, she was faced with stiff competition – with deeper pockets. This new category of ‘video interviewing’ within the HR Tech Industry started to gain global momentum.
Jane did not believe the advice she was constantly given that those with the most funding ultimately win. Jane had to fight not to drown or be eaten by competition. Assessing the macro-economic environment, many sleepless nights and believing in her own abilities and creativity, Jane developed a significant point of difference for the business by building a world-first Diversity, Equality & Inclusion functionality in her platform, which leap-frogged even her biggest global competitor.
In December, Jane was directly approached by a U.S. Private Equity firm with an offer to acquire her business after a worldwide search for similar technology platforms. After arriving at a sale price that was meaningful, Jane sold her company and went on to successfully complete her earnout. Most importantly, she gave her shareholders a significant return and her staff great career advancement opportunities.
Jane’s holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and an Executive MBA. Jane has a passion for championing the underdog, supporting women in business and anything to do with the ocean.
Jan Dzulko
After graduating in 2003 with a Masters of economics from the University of Mannheim, Jan founded his first company called pecumax, a B2B SaaS company which he sold to CHECK24 in 2008. From 2008 until 2012 Jan was CEO of CHECK24 Insurance AG, the largest German insurance comparison portal, and later on co-founded the Incubator M Cube together with the founders of CHECK24. In 2016 M Cube rebranded to Locadi and was integrated as a new business unit into CHECK24. Jan went on to found everphone, a Berlin based B2B “device as a service company”, which has over 200 employees and manages the device fleet of customers like BMW, Henkel or EY.
Mick Ebeling
Named by Fortune Magazine as one of the Top 50 World’s Greatest Leaders, a recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award and listed as one of the world’s most influential creative people by The Creativity 50’s, Mick Ebeling has sparked a movement of pragmatic, inspirational innovation. As a career producer and filmmaker and now founder and CEO of Not Impossible, Ebeling harvests the power of technology and story to change the world.
Ebeling founded Not Impossible, a multiple award-winning social innovation lab and production company, on the premise that nothing is impossible. His mantra of “commit, then figure it out” allows him to convene a disparate team of hackers, doers, makers and thinkers to create devices that better the world by bringing accessibility for all.
The only person to ever be honored 2x as a TIME Magazine Top Invention of the Year recipient, a two-time Tribeca Disruptor innovation winner, a two-time SXSW innovation of the year award winner, named as a WIRED Agent of Change, a fellow with The Nantucket Project, and a recipient of every major creative and advertising award, Ebeling is on a mission to change the world by creating “Technology for the Sake of Humanity.”
Nadim Habib
Nadim Habib started his career in banking in London in 1986 before later moving to Portugal where he was involved in founding, and later, the sale of companies in consulting, telecommunications and retail. In 2008, he started his career in academia, taking on the role of CEO of Executive Education at NOVA School of Business & Economics, a role he held until 2015. While there, he brought the school into the top 50 in the world.
As a lecturer, his programme on Innovation and Agility was voted Best in The World for two consecutive years by the CEMS Network, a global alliance of 27 business schools and 90 corporations.
Nadim is currently visiting professor at Nova School of Business and Economics where he teaches entrepreneurship, strategy and innovation for the Masters, MBA and Executive Education programmes. He is also a consultant and speaker in the field of organizational agility and high-performaning organizations.
Karina Hollekim
Karina Hollekim is a professional Free-skier, BASE jumper and co-founder and Head of E-Learning for Young Happy Minds.
Karina Hollekim was one of the world’s best extreme sports athletes. In 2006, she miraculously cheated death in a near fatal accident. She was told she would spend the rest of her life in wheelchair, yet overcame this and returned to win further competitions.
Karina shares her story about the moments that change our lives forever, about raw willpower and passion. Inspiring us to be targeted in our approach to life, she is living proof of the importance of little changes and how they make a difference in the long run. By raising awareness of our choices, she challenges our willingness to change. Karina shows the importance of coming out of your comfort zone to achieve your goals.
Karina is a co-founder and Head of E-Learning of Young Happy Minds. YHM is an organization that trains both companies and individuals in positive psychology, with techniques that can help us become robust, happy individuals who perform and work well in interaction with others. Their mission is to positively impact the lives of 10 million people across the world by increasing their wellbeing and equipping them with vital skills needed for the future.
Sminu Jindal
Sminu Jindal is the Managing Director of Jindal SAW Ltd, the leader in India’s tubular pipe industry, and Founder and Chairperson of accessibility organization Svayam. Grandaughter of industrialist O.P Jindal, and born to Prithvi Raj and Arti Jindal, Sminu Jindal’s worldview changed after an accident at the age of 11. Getting accustomed to life in a wheelchair required several adjustments, both physical and mental, but she was undeterred. In fact, the seeds of her passion project, accessibility organization Svayam, can be traced to the period following her accident.
An alumnus of New Delhi’s premier institution of higher learning, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Sminu has an MBA from the Fore School of Management, New Delhi. She won a silver medal for outstanding academic performance at the institute. Under her leadership, Jindal SAW Limited has emerged as one of the world’s largest pipe manufacturers. The company manufactures several types of pipes, fittings, coatings and related material, with facilities spread all over the world, including the Middle East, the USA, and Europe.
Sminu’s ethos is that human potential needs to be allowed the freedom to explore and blossom. Physical barriers such as inaccessible infrastructure pose immense hurdles for access to education, healthcare, livelihoods and life in general. It was this belief that led to the foundation of Svayam in 2000 as an initiative of the Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust. Her relentless pursuit of an accessible world has turned Svayam into a movement. Today, Svayam is India’s only non-profit accessibility pioneer that focuses on creating a barrier-free world for all.
Jim Kwik
Jim Kwik (yes, that’s his real name!) is founder of efficient learning training company Kwik Learning and a widely recognized expert in speed-reading, memory improvement, brain performance and accelerated learning. His mission: No brain left behind. His online courses are used by students in over 195 countries, and his online content has reached more than 350 million views. Jim is the host and creator of “Kwik Brain” with Jim Kwik, a global top 50 podcast which is consistently one of the top educational training shows. He is also the author of the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestseller Limitless – Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, Unlock Your Exceptional Life.
For two decades he has served as the mental coach to students and seniors, entrepreneurs and educators, and advisor to many of the world’s leading CEOs and celebrities.
After a childhood brain injury left him learning challenged, Jim created strategies to dramatically enhance his mental performance. He has since dedicated his life to helping others unleash their true genius and brainpower to learn anything faster and live a life of greater power, productivity and purpose.
Jim’s cutting edge techniques, entertaining presentation style, and impressive brainpower feats have made him a frequent and highly sought out trainer for top organizations, with clients that include Virgin, Nike, Zappos, SpaceX, NYU, GE, Fox Studios, Harvard and Singularity University.
Katy Milkman
Katy Milkman co-founded and co-directs the University of Pennsylvania’s Behavior Change for Good initiative alongside her Wharton School colleague Angela Duckworth. As we transition from lockdown into our post-pandemic lives, Milkman is the person best equipped to help us make the most of this figurative “blank slate”: not only teaching us how to create change, but make it stick.
As humans, we are hard-wired to create meaningful change around “temporal landmarks.” The New Year is an undeniable time for resolutions and goal-setting, as are birthdays, new seasons or the start of the school year. This kind of “fresh start effect” that triggers our desire for change also appears as we emerge from the pandemic—especially powerful alongside a physical change in circumstances, like going back to the office or in-person schooling. Whether you hope to nudge yourself, your employees, your customers, or your clients, now is the time to move forward with the changes you’ve always wanted to make. And no matter if the goal is to be more productive, save more for retirement, get more out of enrichment programs or achieve health and wellness targets—Milkman is ready to help.
Milkman’s research is transforming our understanding of behavior change. She’s the former president of the International Society for Judgment and Decision Making, and one of Wharton’s most sought-after teachers. Milkman has also worked with or advised dozens of organizations on how to spur positive change, including Google, the US Department of Defense, the American Red Cross, 24 Hour Fitness, Walmart, Morningstar and the White House. Her research and insights are frequently covered by major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and NPR.
Gian Marco Palazio
Gian Marco is a serial entrepreneur in the industrial distribution, specialty coffee, eco-tourism and commercial real estate development spaces in Nicaragua and Central America. Café Las Flores is a ‘Top 5 Most Admired Company in Nicaragua’ per Estrategias & Negocios Magazine 2021. GM is an active member of both EO & YPO Nicaragua chapters and serves as President of uniRSE, Nicaragua’s corporate social responsibility catalyst.
Author of LEGACY: How Leaders Transcend the Past, Balance the Present and Serve for Generations. GM is a sought-out speaker to entrepreneurs, leaders and teens on, ‘Live Your Legacy: 3 Simple Actions for an Impactful Life’. He is a frequent guest on featured podcasts and was also host of the EO Latin America Region Forum Confidential Podcast. He has spoken at multiple TEDx events and is a certified speaker with Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Speakers Academy 2021. GM is private coach to select entrepreneurs through his LEGACY Coaching program, focusing on awareness, clarity and accountability to achieve exponential holistic results.
Daniel Pink
Daniel Pink is one of the best-selling nonfiction authors of the last decade. His books on work, business, and behavior have won multiple awards, been translated into 41 languages and have sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.
His books include:
- When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post bestseller, named Amazon’s Best Business Book of 2018.
- To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others. A #1 best seller on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post lists and winner of the American Marketing Association’s Berry Book Prize for the year’s best book on marketing.
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. #1 New York Times best seller. 159 weeks on the New York Times best seller lists. National bestseller in Japan and the UK.
- A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. 96 weeks on the New York Times best seller lists. Freshman Read at several US colleges and universities. In 2008, Oprah Winfrey gave away 4,500 copies of the book to Stanford University’s graduating class when she was the school’s commencement speaker.
- The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. The first American business book in the Japanese comic format known as manga and the only graphic novel to appear on the BusinessWeek best seller list. Named an American Library Association best graphic novel for teens.
- Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself. Washington Post best seller. Named by the US Department of Labor as one a Book That Shaped Work in America over the last 100 years.
Pink was the host and co-executive producer of Crowd Control, a National Geographic Television series on behavioral science. He also appears frequently on NPR, PBS, and other TV and radio networks in the US and abroad.
He has been a contributing editor at Fast Company and WIRED as well as a business columnist for The Sunday Telegraph. His articles and essays have also appeared in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, The New Republic, and other publications. In 2007, he was a Japan Society Media fellow in Tokyo, where he studied the country’s massive comic industry.
Platon
Platon is a communicator and storyteller. After working for British Vogue for several years, he was invited to New York City to work for the late John Kennedy Jr. and his political magazine, George. He shot portraits for a range of international publications including Rolling Stone, The New York Times magazine, Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ and The Sunday Times magazine, Platon developed a special relationship with TIME magazine, producing over 20 covers for them. In 2007, he photographed Russian Premier Vladimir Putin for TIME magazine’s “Person of the Year” cover. This image was awarded first prize at the World Press Photo Contest.
In 2008, he signed a multi-year contract with The New Yorker where his portfolios have focused on themes including the U.S Military, portraits of world leaders and the Civil Rights Movement. In 2009, Platon teamed up with Human Rights Watch to help them celebrate those who fight for equality and justice in countries suppressed by political forces. Following his coverage of Burma, Platon photographed Aung San Suu Kyi for the cover of TIME—days after her release from house arrest.
He has been invited to be a keynote speaker on leadership at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chanel, Nike, Yale University, Oxford University, Wharton University, the National Portrait Gallery in London and International Center of Photography in New York. He has also appeared on a range of television media including Charlie Rose (PBS), Morning Joe (MSNBC), Fareed Zakaria’s GPS (CNN) and the BBC World News. In 2013, Platon founded a non-profit foundation named The People’s Portfolio. The foundation aspires to create a visual language that breaks barriers, expands dignity, fights discrimination, and enlists the public to support human rights around the world. Platon’s life’s work is the subject of a Netflix documentary, Abstract: The Art of Design. In 2020, the Smithsonian acquired Platon’s archive of prominent African American civil rights leaders and culture leaders.
Pat Quinn
Teacher, speaker, master communicator and leader are just a few ways to describe Pat Quinn, the Chief Product Officer of Advance Your Reach.
In his more than 30 years of commanding stages, Pat has become a prolific speaker, delivering powerful presentations and serving as the keynote speaker on some of the greatest stages worldwide. Working as a professional magician for 10 years is not the typical start for a powerful speaker—nor was 12 years of teaching math in a high school. But together, they served as the perfect foundation for his stagecraft. Pat also gained an advanced degree in how adults learn.
This deep understanding helped Pat create high-powered client-acquisition and conversion tools, including his popular and potent Signature Talk. Signature Talk teaches entrepreneurs and speakers how to use their carefully-crafted stories to greatly enhance their impact, conversion rates and revenues on any platform. Underlying his coaching and product development at Advance Your Reach is his knowledge and appreciation for the art of heart and head storytelling—the powerful link a speaker uses to connect to listeners. As many as 77% of the U.S. population has some fear of standing in front of an audience, but Pat has taught his students to transform this fear into confidence, allowing them to connect with each audience member from the stage. From online platforms with massive reach to renowned in-person stages, Pat Quinn has empowered and coached New York Times bestselling authors, 8-figure CEOs, Olympic athletes and everyday entrepreneurs to stand up and powerfully connect with audiences. Ultimately, his clients exponentially grow their impact, influence and revenues.
Tala Raassi
Tala Raassi, an Iranian-American fashion designer, entrepreneur and author, was born in the United States and raised in Iran. She is devoted to celebrating the beauty of women through her designs and to empowering women around the world to follow their dreams. With bravery, a dream, hard work and some needle and thread, Raassi went from Iran to the Miss Universe competition. She was named “One of the Most Fearless Women in the World” by Newsweek magazine. She made her mark in the fashion world at an early age with her talent in exclusive swimwear.
Raassi captivated the world through her book, Fashion is Freedom: How a Girl from Tehran Broke the Rules to Change Her World. At sixteen years old, she was arrested at a co-ed party for dancing to Western music and wearing a “mini” skirt. She faced the harsh punishment of five days in jail and forty lashes for wearing “indecent clothing” – but ultimately found the punishment to be for seeking simple freedoms. Following her experience, Raassi moved back to the United States, where she continued to seek opportunities to express and celebrate freedom.
“Freedom is not about the amount of clothing you put on or take off, it’s about having the choice to do so.” – Tala Raassi Coming from a family of risk-taking entrepreneurs only helped to instill the ideals to push through the obstacles she was faced with. In the end, it was her passion and determination, paired with her ability to bounce back from business mistakes and financial struggles that rightfully earned Tala the title of “swimwear maven” in the industry. While her work reflects the celebration of beauty, it also reflects her belief in women’s strength. It’s a strength she sees in herself and her business. No matter the obstacles that she faced, Raassi did not allow the difficult hardships on her journey to deter her from chasing her dreams and creating change in the world. The Capitol File Magazine referred to her as the “Brave New Girl.” Raassi has come full circle on her journey of empowerment to define the freedoms that so many take advantage of, earning herself the title of “One of the Most Influential Women in the World” by the London Times. Tala has taken her experiences in life to the next level. She has been able to connect with people all over the world with her public speaking engagements and business seminars. She continues to encourage others with her real-life lessons. She has been able to elevate production in business with various techniques that help to reengage her mindset. She is able to cater to all audiences, as her message is one of growth and change.
Pete Vargas
In 2003, Pete Vargas’ relationship with his father was changed forever by a man on a stage and his message. Since that day, Pete has dedicated his life to the power of stages in helping leaders enhance their impact and revenues. Pete understands how difficult it is for people who have a powerful message inside of them—or someone running a business—to get the attention they deserve. That’s why he has mastered the art and science of teaching business leaders, entrepreneurs and influencers how to grow their businesses by harnessing stages and platforms.
In 2016, Pete founded Advance Your Reach. The business allows Pete to impart his proven platform-building framework helping speakers, small business owners and nonprofits to share their message by leveraging stages. Overall, Pete’s company allows one to impact lives and grow their businesses. This proven methodology has helped book over 328,000 stages worldwide and generated over US$522,000,000 in revenue. What’s more, the business is well on the way to an audacious goal of helping 1 million entrepreneurs build their platforms, with clients set to reach 1 billion people in their audiences by 2027! Pete’s system is responsible for booking stages like the White House, Oprah, Traffic & Conversion and The World Series of Sales, among many others. Advance Your Reach has been featured in Forbes and has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for three consecutive years. Pete and his team also created a record-breaking online challenge during the onset of the pandemic, which influenced hundreds of thousands of people.
Pete’s system is responsible for booking stages like the White House, Oprah, Traffic & Conversion and The World Series of Sales, among many others. Advance Your Reach has been featured in Forbes and has been on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies for three consecutive years. Pete and his team also created a record-breaking online challenge during the onset of the pandemic, which influenced hundreds of thousands of people.
Carlos Whittaker
Carlos Whittaker is a People’s Choice Award winner, a former recording artist signed to a major label, and a social media maven. He currently spends the majority of his time writing books and speaking on stages around the world. It really began when the Whittakers found their family in America’s spotlight with appearances on shows like CBS Early Morning, The Today Show and more when their viral video “Single Ladies Devastation” went viral.
The release of “Moment Maker” marked Carlos’ debut as an author, but his current book “Kill the Spider” has taken Carlos’ tribe into the deeper parts of their souls. In his newest book Carlos helps people identify, locate, corner, and kill the spiders that are plaguing their lives. “My dad once told me that I must stop cleaning to cobwebs in my life and kill the spider”, Carlos recalls. “This was a massive shift in my soul that began my journey towards being truly centered in my life.”
In 2009 Carlos signed a recording deal with Integrity Music and moved his family to Nashville, Tennessee. It was in Nashville where Carlos decided to make the shift from writing music to writing books, and from singing on stages to speaking on stages.