Our Growing List of Speakers

  • A man in a dark suit with a yellow tie standing outdoors in front of a modern building.

    Adam Hickman

    Vice President of Learning, Organizational & Employee Development at Partners Federal Credit Union—affiliated with The Walt Disney Company

  • A smiling woman with blonde hair wearing a navy blazer and a blue blouse, standing outdoors in a park-like setting with trees and a brick building in the background.

    Amy Diaz

    President, Gateway Community College

  • A woman with blonde hair smiling and standing with her arms crossed in a warehouse or industrial setting wearing a gray zip-up hoodie and jeans.

    Amy King

    CEO, Pallet Shelter

  • Ana Maria Aristazabal

    Director, Occam Advisors

    Director and Head of Education and Workforce Development Investments at Potencia Ventures. goes here

  • A man in a suit smiling, wearing glasses, against a gray background.

    Brandon Busteed

    CEO, Edconic, previously founder and CEO of Outside The Classroom, Forbes.com Contributor

  • Brian Fleming

    Founder, Design Futures

  • A smiling man with a bald head, beard, and mustache outdoors, wearing a denim shirt.

    Chip Conley

    Author, Hospitality Entrepreneur, Founder Modern Elder Academy

  • Christopher Curran

    Founder and Managing Partner, Tyton Partners

  • Cindy Williams

    Executive Director, WorkLife Partnership

  • Courtney File

    Talent & Employer Branding Specialist, Atlas Copco

  • Edie Dillam

    CEO and Co Founder, B Public Fab

  • A portrait of an older woman with shoulder-length gray hair, wearing a light blue blouse and a brown jacket, against a black background.

    Jamai Blivin

    CEO & Founder, Innovate + Educate

  • Jason Levin

    Executive Director, WGU Labs

  • Jay Mehta

    Chief Operating Officer, Unmudl.com

  • John Zappa

    Sr. Director of Product Management, ARM Institute

  • Ken Eisner

    Managing Director, Global Higher Ed to Workforce, ETS

  • Kevin Clark

    Founder, Content Evolution federation, Director Emeritus Brand. andValues Experience, IBM 

  • A smiling blonde woman with blue eyes in a black blazer and patterned top, standing outdoors with green trees in the background.

    Kristin Groos Richmond

    Managing Director, DRK Foundation

  • Kyle Shannon

    Founder, and CEO, AI Salon, AI Office Hours, AI as a Practice, and is the world’s first Chief Generative Officer leading Content Evolution coLab for the development and advancement of AI digital advisors and organizational AI cultural development.

  • Professional portrait of a middle-aged Asian man in a black suit, white shirt, and red patterned tie, smiling against a blue background.

    Lee Lambert

    Chancellor, Foothills-De Anza Community College District

  • Portrait of an older man with short gray hair, a beard, and blue eyes, wearing a gray shirt and dark gray suit, against a gray background.

    Mark Goodman

    North American Sales Director for Amatrol, Inc. and co-author of Bridging America’s Skills Gap/

  • Mary Beth Wilkas Janke, PsyD

    Former United States Secret Service Agent, author, expert in forensics and clinical psychology.

  • A smiling man with gray hair and a beard, wearing a dark suit jacket and light blue shirt, posing against a blurred gray background.

    Matt Austin

    Principal, Career Choice Program Development, Amazon

  • Mike Janke

    Co Founder and Managing Partner, DataTribe Foundry

  • Norman Adkins

    President and Chief Operating Officer, Southwire Company

  • Portrait of a smiling woman with dark wavy hair wearing a patterned blue jacket against a purple background.

    Parminder Jassal

    CEO & Co-Founder, Unmudl

  • Peter Droege

    The Daniels Foundation

  • A man in a white dress shirt and gray dress pants standing indoors, carrying a black jacket over his shoulder.

    Ralph Martinez

    Founder and Chairman,, Entrepreneurial Institute of Northern NM

  • Secretary Sarita Nair

    Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions

  • Stephen Silvius

    CEO of Interwoven and Co-Founder of The Attention Project

  • Tracy Hartzler

    Tracy Hartzler

    President, CNM

We are curating an amazing list of speakers and participants. Interested in sharing your wisdom? Please shoot us an email

contactus@closeit.org

Team & Advisors

  • A portrait of an older woman with shoulder-length gray hair, wearing a light blue blouse and a brown jacket, against a black background.

    Jamai Blivin

    Founder & CEO, Innovate+Educate, Founder, The Close It Summit

  • Stephanie Veck

    co-Producer, Close It 2026, Principal, AIR.org

  • Portrait of a smiling woman with long, wavy hair wearing a patterned jacket.

    Tiffany Nicholson

    co-producer, Close It 2026, Senior Director, Workforce Economic Mobility Center, Dallas, TX

  • Wendy Brors

    co-producer, Close It 2026, Project Lead SME, American Institute for Research (AIR.org)

  • Black and white portrait of a woman with wavy hair, smiling slightly, facing slightly to the right.

    Tamara Bates

    Close It Production Team

  • A man with dark hair and a slight smile, wearing a dark suit jacket and white shirt, in an indoor setting.

    Andrew Bercich

    SummitWorx

  • John Paul Granillo

    COO, Latino Small Business Association

  • A young woman with long reddish-brown hair smiling and wearing a dark blazer over a teal top.

    Dawn Karber

    SkillsFWD

  • Janet Bray

    CEO and Founder, Bray Strategies

  • Luther Jackson

    Fellow and Workforce Consultant, Brookings Institute

  • A young person with short, wavy hair wearing a white button-up shirt, standing outdoors at a social gathering with trees and other people in the background.

    Daniel Davenport

    Artistic Design and Branding

  • Portrait of a man with a beard, glasses, wearing a gray flat cap and navy blue jacket, standing in front of a gray metal garage door.

    Adam John Griego

    Community Network

  • A smiling man with salt-and-pepper hair and a beard, wearing a blue patterned shirt, taking a selfie outdoors.

    Kutlu Gulamber

    CEO, MindsAngle

  • A smiling woman with shoulder-length black hair, wearing a sleeveless black top, against a light blue background.

    Cindy Murphy

    Awards Program Coordinator

  • Julian Alssid

    Co-Producer Work Forces, Podcast, Workforce Consultant, J. Alssid Associates

  • Gordon Freedman

    Founder and CEO, National Laboratory for Educational Transformation, NLET.org

  • Kristin Wolff

    Senior Associate, Social Policy Research Associates

  • Scott Fast

    Director, Innovate+Educate