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Manley is recognized as an award winning international keynote speaker, business leader, and author whose work has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox, and in The New York Daily News, Entrepreneur, American Express Open Forum and World News. He served two terms as the President of the National Speakers Association, St. Louis chapter and is a Certified Speaking Professional CSP.

During Manley’s eleven years with Build-A-Bear Workshop, his leadership direction helped take the revolutionary retail concept from 40 stores to over 400 worldwide, realizing revenue growth from 55 million to over 474 million, and a successful IPO on the NYSE. He built an award winning reputation for implementing business solutions and support that produced measurable results every day. Manley’s leadership influence contributed to a workplace culture that landed Build-A-Bear on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® List four years in a row.

It is this expertise that he shares by applying lessons learned in business and adventures to life’s daily challenges.  The authentic, sincere and deep interpersonal connection Manley makes with your audience enables him to deliver practical and proven content to help organizations maximize their opportunities and develop their most valuable asset, their employees. Through custom developed programs and support ranging from 60 minutes to 12 months, he will leave you with many actionable techniques, frameworks, and insights. Most importantly, he can engage your organization in a way that sustains true results that last well beyond the presentation, and ultimately affect long term change.

Manley’s inspirational keynotes are brought to life through his national geographic photography and riveting stories culminating from a lifetime of adventure through 25 countries, to over 500 outdoor destinations. Manley vividly shares compelling lessons from his adventure and leadership experiences in a way that allows you to relate to your mountains.  He will have you hanging beside him surviving in the Himalayas, struggling to communicate in Uzbekistan, and immediately transfer the experience to moving you forward in your courageous efforts.

Mark Eaton is a successful, award-winning motivational speaker, entrepreneur and best-selling author of The Four Commitments of a Winning Team. He has earned the coveted Certified Speaking Professional designation, the speaking profession’s highest international measure of professional competence. He has spoken to numerous world-class organizations including IBM, FedEx, Phillips 66, Caesars Entertainment, T Mobile, LG, and businesses, government agencies and universities at every level. He has been featured as a team-building expert in print and online publications such as Forbes.com, Sports Illustrated and Entrepreneur.com.

Mark is also a 7′4″ NBA All-Star who played with the Utah Jazz for 12 seasons, led the NBA in blocked shots four of those seasons, was named to the NBA All-Defensive Team five times, was named NBA Defensive Player of the Year two times, and still holds two NBA records—most blocks in a single season (456) and career average blocked shots per game (3.5).

In addition to his work on team building, Mark is managing partner in two award-winning restaurants in Salt Lake City, Tuscany and Franck’s, recently voted Best Restaurant in Utah.

Mark is founder and former chairman of the Mark Eaton Standing Tall for Youth Foundation, which provided sports and outdoor opportunities for more than 3,000 at-risk children. He is a former president and board member of the Legends of Basketball, which supports the needs of retired NBA players.

Mark’s television and radio experience includes eight years as host of Jazz Tonight on KJZZ-TV, host of Mark Eaton Outdoors on The Outdoor Channel, and three years as host of Sports Health Today, an internationally syndicated radio show. He attended Cypress College and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
 

Dr. Tanya Menon is Professor of Management and Human Resources at Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University. She studies how people think about relationships, and how this affects the way they make decisions, collaborate, and lead at work. 

Her research has been cited in various media outlets including NPR, the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, The Times of London (UK), and the Guardian (UK). She has won multiple teaching awards at both Ohio State and the University of Chicago. She has conducted keynotes, corporate trainings, and consulting all over the world, including for U.S. Intelligence Community, Discover Financial Services, CareerBuilder.com, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, McKinsey Academy, DHL, Cummins, Express, Scotts, Citibank (India), Tetrapak (Italy), Aetna, Sherwin Williams, Erie Insurance, McCormick, the Environmental Protection Agency, American Bar Association Chief Bar Executives, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and the Deloitte Women’s group.

Tanya earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Harvard University in 1995 and her Ph.D. from Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to graduate school, Tanya was a research assistant in INCAE Business School in Costa Rica and an intern in Morgan Stanley’s London office. 

She is currently Associate Editor at Management Science Journal. She wrote a book with Dr. Leigh Thompson, Stop Spending, Start Managing: Strategies to transform wasteful habits (2016, Harvard Business Review Press). Her Ted talk (go.ted.com/tanyamenon) has reached over 1.8 Million views and was named as one of the top seven TED talks of 2018 by entrepreneur.com, and one of TED.com’s most popular talks of 2018.
 

President Donald J. Trump nominated Rodney E. Hood for the NCUA Board on January 19, 2019. The U.S. Senate confirmed him on March 14, 2019, and he was sworn in as the eleventh NCUA Chairman on April 8, 2019. Rodney served as the NCUA’s Chairman until January 25, 2021.

As a board member, Rodney serves as the NCUA’s representative on the board of directors 
of NeighborWorks America, one of the nation’s leading affordable housing and community development organizations. This is his second time serving as the agency’s representative on the board of NeighborWorks.
Rodney was previously nominated to the NCUA Board by former President George W. Bush and served from November 2005 until August 2009. During his first term on the Board, he was appointed Vice Chairman.

Immediately prior to rejoining the NCUA Board in 2019, Rodney served as a corporate responsibility manager for JPMorgan Chase, managing national partnerships with non-profit organizations, financial regulators, and community stakeholders to promote financial inclusion and shared prosperity in underserved communities throughout the United States.

His previous experience includes serving as associate administrator of the Rural Housing Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In this role, he helped to address the housing needs in rural communities and administered the agency’s $43 billion mortgage portfolio.

Prior to his public service, Rodney served as marketing director and group sales manager for the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in Durham, North Carolina. He also served as national director of the Emerging Markets Group for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and served on the board of the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. Earlier in his career, he worked for Bank of America as a Community Reinvestment Act officer and completed the management development program at G.E. Capital.

In addition to his public and private sector service, Rodney served as a member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Board of Visitors and as a member of the UNC School of Arts board of trustees. He also served as a member of the board of trustees for the North Carolina Museum of Art and as a member of the board of governors for the University of North Carolina College System.

Rodney’s professional awards include being named one of the “40 Young Leaders Under the Age of 40” by the Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, North Carolina. He is the first recipient of the “Dream Award,” an award given by the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation to honor individuals who have exhibited an outstanding commitment to affordable housing.

A native of Charlotte, North Carolina, Rodney holds a bachelor’s degree in business, communications, and political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
 

A former NASA astronaut, Joan Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer who, in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-116 to become the third African American woman to travel into space. Over the nearly 13-day mission, she joined the seven-member crew to continue construction of the International Space Station (ISS), embarking on four space walks and operating the station’s robotic arm.

Joan inspires audiences with her personal journey of breaking barriers into space and beyond. Taking groups aboard the International Space Station and sharing her lessons learned along the way, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions—including seizing opportunities, being prepared, perseverance, and never giving up—and how these tactics can be applied to any endeavor. Sharing captivating insights from her 20-year distinguished career with NASA, she offers groups a fresh, unique perspective on stress management, teamwork, driving diversity, and social impact, and provides actionable strategies to work through and thrive in demanding, high-stakes environments.

A real-life rocket scientist, Joan began her career at NASA in 1987 as an aerospace technologist at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, where she worked her way through numerous promotions and actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her nine-year tenure. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1996, she reported to the Johnson Space Center, with various technical duties including testing modules of the ISS for operability, compatibility, and functionality prior to launch. Joan has logged more than 308 hours in space and retired in 2007 after 20 years with NASA, joining Marathon Oil to manage their corporate social responsibility office.

Currently, she manages relationships with governmental agencies and companies involved in human space exploration at Collins Aerospace. Previously, Joan served as director of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for UTC Aerospace Systems, focused on creating a stronger CSR identity that delivered social impact in key markets around the world. Prior to UTC Aerospace Systems, she held multiple director positions at Lowe’s Companies, Inc., leading their community relations, supplier diversity, and global sourcing efforts.

Widely recognized for her accomplishments, Joan has been honored by President George W. Bush at the 81st White House Black History Month Celebration, featured in Alicia Keys’ Superwoman video, is the recipient of the National Space Medal, the Adler Planetarium Women in Space Award, and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and was named one of Savoy Magazine’s Top Influential Women in Corporate America and one of Essence Magazine’s 
Top 50 Women, among other accolades.

Born in Chicago, IL, Joan received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale (SIU-C), a Master of Science Degree in Management from the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), a Master of Science Degree in Space Systems from FIT, an Honorary Doctorate in Aerospace Science from SIU-C, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the University of New Orleans.