Keynote with Luke Williams

Disruptive Thinking: How to Spark Transformation in Your Business

Thursday, July 11, 2019 • 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. (Free!)

Luke Williams – NYU professor, TEDx speaker, and expert on disruptive innovation and entrepreneurship – helps companies thrive during change. Often, business leaders are risk-averse and fear change, so they accept it slowly and incrementally, which can leave them vulnerable to losing customers to a new competitor they never saw coming.

In this can’t-miss Keynote, Williams will demonstrate why your company needs to consistently make bold moves, even at the peak of your success. He’ll share a new way of thinking that has the power to transform your business and help you stay ahead of the game, and he’ll make you ask yourself, “Why hadn’t we ever thought about our business and industry this way before?”

Luke Williams is a globally recognized authority on disruptive innovation, entrepreneurship and cultural change. He works with organizations on challenges ranging from creating new products and services to transforming organizational processes and behaviors. He is a professor of innovation and executive director of the W.R. Berkley Innovation Labs at New York University's Stern School of Business; he’s also a fellow at frog, one of the world's most influential innovation companies. His views are regularly featured in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Fast Company, GQ, The Atlantic and The Wall Street Journal, and he has authored the bestseller Disrupt: Think the Unthinkable to Spark Transformation in Your Business.

Motivational Breakfast with Heather Abbott

Paying It Forward: Finding the Purpose That Drives Your Life

Wednesday, July 10, 2019 • 8:30 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. (Free!)

Prior to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Heather Abbott had a career she enjoyed and the love of friends of family, yet she felt that something was still missing; she had no passion or real purpose in her life.

During this breakfast event, you’ll learn how the devastation of that day, while costing Abbott her left leg, led her to find true meaning like she’d never known before. Her amazing story of recovery and triumph over seemingly insurmountable obstacles will inspire you to discover the purpose that will guide your future, and help you positively impact the lives of countless others.

Heather Abbott is a survivor of the 2013 Boston marathon bombing and the founder of the Heather Abbott Foundation. For Abbott, whose left leg was amputated below the knee, the Foundation is both an obligation and an opportunity to “pay it forward”—to give other amputees who’ve suffered limb loss through traumatic circumstances the chance to once again live their lives.

On April 15, 2013, Abbott was impacted by the second of two bombs that exploded in the crowd of marathon well-wishers. After three surgeries in four days, she made the agonizing decision to allow doctors to amputate. Her recovery and ability to move forward came through the support of family and friends, fellow amputees, and the countless strangers who not only sent her cards and letters of encouragement, but who also generously donated to a special fund to help her transition and receive the customized prostheses she needed to live the life she once knew.

Today, she is once again doing everything she loves to do, including paddle boarding, running and even wearing high heels! As a certified peer counselor for the American Amputee Coalition, she is able to provide hope and emotional healing. And as a nationally-known motivational speaker, she reminds audiences of the power of positive thinking and the real impact that compassionate giving can have on the life of someone in need.