Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva

Founder and Chief Reinvention Officer, The Reinvention Academy

As artificial intelligence reshapes industries, roles, and decision-making, the real question for leaders isn’t what AI can do — it’s how we choose to lead alongside it.

In this bold and thought-provoking keynote, Nadya Zhexembayeva introduces reinvention as a core leadership advantage in an AI-driven world. Drawing on decades of research and real-world work with global organizations, Nadya explores why resilience is no longer about bouncing back — but about continually rethinking how we operate, connect, and create value.

This session challenges leaders to confront outdated assumptions, loosen their grip on legacy systems, and build reinvention into everyday leadership practice. AI becomes the accelerant — but human clarity, ethical judgment, and connection remain the differentiators. Leaders will leave with a renewed understanding of how to lead people through uncertainty with confidence, curiosity, and purpose.

As part of the Thrive365 experience, this keynote invites leaders into an ongoing cycle of learning, experimentation, and adaptation — reinforcing that reinvention is not a one-time response to change, but a mindset for sustained impact.

Helen G. Drinan

President Emerita at Simmons University

Kimberly Davis

Sr. Exec VP, Social Impact, Growth Initiatives & Legislative Affairs at the National Hockey League, and President of the NHL Foundation
Track Featured Speaker 

The Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership is proud to present the 2026 Visionary Leader Award to Kimberly Davis, Senior Executive Vice President of the National Hockey League.

A transformative leader in sports and business, Kimberly Davis has helped shape the NHL’s long-term strategy while advancing inclusion, innovation, and community impact across one of the world’s most visible sports organizations. Her leadership exemplifies the power of connection — bringing together people, purpose, and performance at scale.

The Helen G. Drinan Visionary Leader Award honors women who lead with vision, courage, and values. Kimberly Davis embodies these qualities, demonstrating how connected leadership drives lasting impact — on and off the ice.

Leadership at the highest level—whether in global corporations or professional sports—demands the ability to connect people to purpose, navigate constant change, and perform under intense scrutiny. In this dynamic mainstage conversation, senior executives from business and sports come together to explore how Connected Leadership drives trust, innovation, and sustained success. Panelists will share candid lessons on leading through pressure, building cultures of accountability and belonging, and translating values into action—revealing what these worlds can learn from each other to shape the future of leadership.

Explore the concurrent session details below.

Juliet Funt

Founder and CEO, JFG

Stop treating work like a pie eating contest! Most leaders, in their ambition to achieve more, pile on projects, goals, and initiatives that overwhelm themselves and their teams. This excess derails the very progress they seek. Professional success isn’t about sheer quantity of effort, but we have lost sight of this truth.

In this high-impact session, Juliet Funt introduces the Reductive Mindset: a transformative and tactical approach that challenges everything you think you know about leadership effectiveness. With humor, sharp insight, and real-world examples, she reveals how strategically eliminating what doesn’t matter unlocks your clarity, restores your capacity, and directly elevates team performance and energy.

As part of the Thrive365 experience, you’ll walk away with practical tools to uncover your own overplanning habits—and apply reductive strategies that free both you and your team from overload. This isn’t about productivity hacks. It’s a focused framework for trimming the excess so you can create space for what truly drives results.

Misty Copeland

Ballerina and Founder of The Misty Copeland Foundation
Track Featured Speaker 

Extraordinary leadership is built through discipline, resilience, and the courage to remain connected — even when the pressure is high.

In this powerful keynote, Misty Copeland shares her journey as a groundbreaking artist, athlete, and advocate, and the daily practices that have sustained her through challenge, visibility, and change. From cultivating mental and physical strength to navigating moments of isolation and belonging, Misty shares what it takes to stay grounded, focused, and connected to purpose over time.

Explore the concurrent session details below.

Hoda Kotb

New York Times Bestselling Author, Award-Winning Journalist, Founder & CEO Of Joy 101 and former co-anchor of TODAY

Leadership doesn’t live in one moment or one milestone — it’s built day by day, through the relationships we nurture, the choices we make, and the way we show up for ourselves and others.

In this uplifting and deeply resonant session, Hoda Kotb brings her signature warmth, authenticity, and insight to the idea of the Connected Leader. Drawing from a career spent listening closely, asking meaningful questions, and finding light even in uncertain moments, Hoda explores how joy, presence, and purpose are not distractions from leadership — they are essential to it.

This conversation invites you to reconnect with what fuels you as a leader, reflect on how you build trust and belonging, and explore small, intentional practices that help you sustain energy and impact over time. As the opening chapter of the Thrive365 journey, this session sets the tone for the year ahead—reminding you that leadership isn’t a one-day event, but a daily practice grounded in connection, purpose, and presence.

Susan MacKenty Brady

CEO of Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership

Stuart D. Kliman

Founder & Partner Emeritus, Vantage Partners; Head of Business Development, PrescriberPoint; Chief Strategy Office, Breez AI

Leslie C. Smith

66th Inspector General, Vice President of the Association of the United States Army, Visiting Professor - Georgia Southern, Board Director

In today’s organizations, difference is everywhere. It shows up in how people think, communicate, make decisions, move at speed, and respond under pressure. In AI-accelerated, high-stakes environments, leaders feel the weight of that complexity every day. When difference is avoided or mishandled, the cost is real. Ideas stay unspoken. Decisions slow down. Trust erodes quietly. Performance suffers long before conflict ever becomes visible.

But difference is not the problem. It is the raw material for better decisions, stronger collaboration, and sustained results. In this signature session, bestselling author Susan MacKenty Brady, relationship management expert Stuart Kliman, and U.S. Army General (retired) Leslie C. Smith share a practical leadership playbook for tapping into difference to create value.

Drawing on research, real-world leadership stories, and insights from their forthcoming book All the Difference (HBR Press, Summer 2026), they introduce six Target Actions leaders can use to navigate tension, disagreement, and uncertainty with greater clarity and confidence. 

Participants will walk away with:

1. A clear understanding of why leading through difference is now the primary leadership challenge and opportunity
2. Insight into the predictable “landmines of managing difference” that derail trust and decision-making under pressure, and how to interrupt them
3. A practical framework for turning moments of tension and disagreement into stronger relationships and better outcomes

Mary Shapiro

Professor of Practice, School of Business, Simmons University

High-performing teams are not the result of luck or chemistry — they are intentionally designed and actively led.

In this practical breakout session, Mary Shapiro explores the core conditions that drive strong team performance, even in fast-paced and high-pressure environments. Leaders will examine how trust, clarity, accountability, and connection shape team dynamics — and how small leadership shifts can dramatically improve collaboration and results.

Designed for leaders who want tools they can use immediately, this session offers actionable insights to help teams perform better together and sustain success over time.

Participants will learn how to:

1. Interpret their own Communication Styles diagnostic and assess how their style can both support and hinder effective team leadership.
2. Apply a balanced leadership approach that intentionally addresses both what the team produces (tasks and outcomes) and how the team works together (relationships and dynamics).
3. Implement practical strategies to intentionally shape a team environment in which all members can contribute fully, effectively, and authentically.

Kerry Seitz

Vice President, Women’s Leadership, Simmons University Institute for Inclusive Leadership

Connected leadership starts with clarity. You can’t build meaningful professional relationships until you’re clear on who you are, the value you bring, and what you’re seeking. In this interactive breakout session, you’ll reflect on your core competencies, clarify your networking intentions, and craft an authentic career path that supports purposeful connection.  

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

1. Clarify and articulate your professional value by identifying the core competencies, strengths, and experiences that define who you are as a connected leader.
2. Develop an authentic career narrative that clearly communicates what you do well, how you create impact, and what you are seeking through networking conversations.
3. Engage in intentional, reciprocal networking by approaching conversations with confidence, clarity of purpose, and a mindset of connection rather than transaction.

Greg Morley

Senior Business and Human Resources Leader

Leadership today doesn’t come in clean chapters. Pressure doesn’t spike and fade—it stacks. Crises overlap. Expectations rise. And resilience is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s a leadership capability you must actively build.

In this highly interactive, participant-driven session, you’ll work alongside author and strategic advisor Greg Morley to explore what it truly means to lead with resilience in sustained complexity. Drawing on his latest research and real-world experience, Greg will help you move beyond endurance and toward a more grounded, adaptive way of leading—one that supports both you and the people who count on you.

You’ll leave this session with practical strategies you can apply immediately, including how to:

1. Stabilize yourself first—so you can lead others with clarity, not reactivity
2. Speak honestly without spreading fear, even when the stakes are high
3. Hold perspective under pressure when everything feels urgent
4. Design support instead of playing the hero, building resilience into your team—not just yourself
5. Stay grounded as success shifts the rules, expectations, and demands around you

This session is for leaders ready to strengthen their resilience muscle—not to survive the moment, but to lead through what’s next with steadiness, confidence, and purpose.

Women’s sports valuations are soaring, driven by rapidly evolving and creative sources of funding. Deloitte correctly predicted a 240% increase in projected women’s sports revenue from 2022 to 2025. This panel will explore the rapidly growing opportunities for investment in women’s sports, highlighting how new capital and innovative business models are shaping the future of women’s sports. Panelists will share insights from ownership and investment perspectives, discussing how targeted investment can accelerate growth and create sustainable opportunities for women’s sports.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities in funding women’s sports and how they might apply to other emerging markets.

Andrés Tapia

Bold Transformation Strategist

Disruption has shaken leaders’ sense of certainty, identity, and confidence — demanding a new kind of courage.

In this thought-provoking breakout session, Andrés Tapia explores what it means to lead with courage amid relentless change and accelerating AI-driven transformation. Drawing on his deep expertise in leadership, culture, and co-creation across difference, Andrés challenges leaders to act without having full clarity, stay grounded in their humanity, and build trust even when the ground is shifting.

This session helps you see disruption not as a threat, but as an opportunity. You’ll explore how to create team environments grounded in psychological safety, connection, and shared purpose—so you and your people can adapt, align, and innovate together with confidence.

Participants will learn how to:

1. Strengthen individual and team courage in the face of uncertainty and continuous change
2. Co-create trust, psychological safety, and connection across differences
3. Translate disruption into clarity, alignment, and opportunities for innovation