Alan is a dynamic speaker, author, and performance coach who brings a unique blend of psychology, engineering, and artistic flair to his programs. Alan has spent his career exploring the intersection of human behavior, decision-making, and team dynamics to drive meaningful change in organizations and individuals.

Through captivating music analogies and live violin performances, he harmonizes lessons on project cohesion, emotional intelligence, and effective leadership, leaving audiences inspired and equipped with actionable tools to succeed. Alan's keynote session, "Project High Notes", is an upbeat and impactful program exploring the internal, external, and interpersonal factors that connect individuals and enhance project teams. His message resonates across industries, offering a fresh perspective on collaboration, innovation, and the human connections that elevate projects to new heights.

Rick is a speaker and author who brings over 15 years of project management experience to the profession. His background is grounded in rigorous methodologies and he has a strong passion for delivery excellence. Rick's commitment to advancing the field also includes judging various awards, sharing insights as a speaker, and staying current with evolving project management practices.

Rick's session, "Enhancing Project Value through Negotiation", highlights where negotiation meets strategy — offering practical negotiation tools to lead high-stakes conversations, manage tough trade-offs, and protect what matters most, so you can deliver greater project value without added cost, conflict, or complexity.

Stacey is an experienced HR executive, consultant, and keynote speaker focused on leadership development, talent strategy, and people operations. She helps organizations align their human capital strategies with business goals and build high-performing, agile teams. 

In her session "Designing Communication for Clarity and Impact", she will guide participants through clear message structuring, impromptu speaking, data presentation techniques, and confident handling of questions — all with hands-on exercises designed to leave you more effective in real conversations.

As the Solutions Director within Strategy & Transformation, Melissa provides thought leadership and subject matter expertise for leading Apex’s Business & Technology Strategy, PMO, and Organizational Change Management capabilities. She brings 15 years of consulting experience, focusing on strengthening client capabilities and enhancing their roadmap success. As both a Practitioner and Solutions Architect, Melissa helps organizations evolve with technology and implement strategic enhancements to operating model approaches. 

Melissa's session, "PMO Optimization and Organizational Effectiveness", highlights PMO value creation, maturity assessments, and optimizing levers across demand, portfolio, delivery, and value realization. Additionally, this session will break down how to design effective and sustainable PMO operating models with a particular focus on governance and metrics.

Joe, the Founder and CEO of The PMO Squad, is an internationally recognized leader in the Project Management and PMO community, Keynote Speaker, Author, Project Management Innovator and creator of the Purpose-Driven PMO and Organizational Project Delivery Journey. Joe speaks globally on Project Delivery, Leadership, PMOs, Purpose-Driven Mindset, and other trending Project Delivery topics.

Joe's session, "Organizational Project Delivery", or OPD for short, highlights how involvement of the entire organization is required for successful project outcomes. He will share the details of OPD, including the critical differences between organizational capability and PMO maturity, as well as how one evaluates readiness and implements an OPD approach.

Don't miss this opportunity to gain insights from PMO Joe, an industry expect in navigating project management, delivery, and change management challenges.

From newsrooms to boardrooms, Heather has held titles in some of the most high-stakes industries: television news anchor, corporate negotiator, and business strategist. Through multiple careers, she's mastered the skills to communicate strategically, earn trust quickly, and lead conversations that drive profit. Now, she teaches others to do the same. Her work is rooted in a deep belief that empowers others to use their voices with courage and clarity: success doesn't happen in silence.

Successful project management hinges on more than just plans and timelines. It demands the courage to ask the right questions, face tough conversations, and challenge assumptions. Heather's session, "Ask the Question - Unlocking Stakeholder Needs through Strategic Communication", dives into the critical skill of strategic questioning as the key to uncovering what business stakeholders really need and desire.

You’ll learn how to navigate complex conversations that reveal hidden business priorities and shift perspectives, empowering you to:

• Conduct deeper, more effective project discovery
• Bridge the gap between leadership goals and field realities
• Tailor communication strategically to every stakeholder’s unique viewpoint
• Challenge the status quo to drive meaningful change

By mastering the use of transformative questions, you’ll be equipped to align project strategies with business outcomes and create lasting impact. This session is for anyone ready to stop guessing and start leading with clarity, confidence, and a stakeholder-centered approach.

Jay Nakagawa has served as the Director of Competitive Intelligence at Dell Technologies for over 13 years, overseeing initiatives that influence nearly $100 billion in annual revenue. With more than 25 years of experience as a product manager, Jay has developed and executed successful competitive strategies. He is a sought-after keynote speaker at global industry and analyst events.

Breakthroughs don’t start with magic – they start with messy whiteboards, gut instinct, and the grit to shape chaos into clarity. In this session, we’ll unpack how to turn raw ideas into real innovation by grounding vision in reality, reading the competitive landscape like a strategist, and building a go-to-market plan that doesn’t just look good on paper – it actually works.

You’ll learn how to leverage proven analytical frameworks to validate your market opportunity, assess competitor positioning, and expose strategic blind spots before they become fatal. We’ll show you how to think like a strategist by evaluating where your competitors play, how they win, and where they’re vulnerable – then flip that insight into advantage.

We’ll also walk through Lafley and Martin’s 5-step strategy cascade – a deceptively simple but powerful framework for building a coherent, differentiated strategy that aligns choices with winning outcomes.

Whether you’re a program manager, product leader, strategist, or someone with a bold idea and no roadmap, this session delivers practical tools to move from “what if” to “what now.” Because the world doesn’t need more ideas – it needs better execution.

Tyler Norman, MBA, is a global program leader, keynote speaker, board member, and serial mentor with over 16 years of driving strategic results. As Director of Strategic Supply Chain Programs at Scholastic Inc., he leads initiatives that deliver measurable value (and children's books) worldwide. 

A 2025 PMI Rising Leader Award Finalist, Tyler holds a suite of PMI certifications including the PfMP, PgMP, PMP, PMI-ACP, PMI-PBA, and PMI-PMOCP, and has spoken to over 30,000 project professionals across the globe. Known for blending hard-earned lessons with humor and relatable storytelling, Tyler inspires audiences to turn insight into immediate action to drive their own success. 

"Strength without agility is mere mass" - Fernando Pessoa

In a world where complexity and the pace of change continues to explode, agility and adaptability are no longer "nice to have" but are a minimum requirement for survival. In Tyler's session, "Radical Adaptability as a Secret Weapon for Individuals, Project Teams, and Organizations", you'll learn the specific challenges this theme presents to individuals, teams, and organizations, as well as strategies for each to thrive through this era of constant disruption. 

At the conclusion of this session, attendees will be able to: 

• Understand the unique challenges presented by today's era of continuous disruption, and risks for those who don't address these challenges head on;
• Implement strategies to systematize agility at an individual, project team, and organizational level; 
• Identify specific opportunities to thrive and differentiate yourself through change.