THE TASHA TEN

Al is a speaker, facilitator, author, and researcher on talent and workplace trends. He is the Founder of Betterwork Labs, a leadership development & consulting firm focused on helping leaders create organizations where their people can thrive.

Al is passionate about designing a human-first world of work, and helping leaders build cultures and organizations that maximize the potential and performance of their people, and enable employees to maximize their skills and potential in a fast-changing world of work.

Al researches, writes, and speaks on leadership development, workplace trends, and company culture, and his thinking and insights have been published in outlets such as Fast Company, Business Insider, The World Economic Forum, Inc and Time Magazine. He is the Host of the Edge of Work Podcast, a podcast about what’s new and next in workplace trends. Al previously worked at Salesforce and Deloitte Consulting LLP, where he advised Fortune 500 companies on developing and leading digital transformation.

Al received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business and Theology from Boston College, and his Master’s in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill.

A believer in good and equitable government, Amy serves as a leader in performance management geared towards executive leadership in the U.S. Federal government. Amy believes that both good government, and good leadership, start with heart. She uses a human-centered leadership development approach, focusing on adaptability, agility, and empathy.

As the director of the White House Leadership Development Program sponsored by the Executive Office of the President, Amy has worked under three presidential administrations to develop top talent across government to support key priorities and address mission-critical challenges through a year-long fellowship experience. Prior to her role with the White House Leadership Development Program, Amy served as the director of the CXO Fellows Program for the Office of Executive Council.

Throughout her career, Amy has used both her personal and professional experience to contribute to workforce policy and initiatives for veterans and military spouses. She is proud to be a part of a community that supports equitability for veterans, caregivers, survivors, and family members. Through organizations like Blue Star Families, Community Building Art Works, and the Military Spouse Employment Partnership, Amy has contributed to initiatives focusing on military spouse employment, diversity, and inclusion, and resources for military children with learning disabilities.

Amy has a bachelor's in Religion and an MS in Nonprofit Management and Philanthropy. She resides outside of Washington D.C.

Arthi Rabikrisson is Founder and Managing Director of Prerna Advisory, based in South Africa, that focuses on neuroscience-based coaching and assessment for individuals, teams’ and corporates; strategic business consulting to SME’s; and capital introduction to alternative funding sources, predominantly from UHNWIs, family offices, DFIs and SWFs.

Over the course of an intensive 15-year corporate career in the investments industry, Arthi has led multiple, successful initiatives (among them equity research, talent management, capital raising, portfolio management, transformation, and coaching) across geographies and client segments in business. As a capital introducer, Arthi connects founders with funders globally to attract capital investment and board expertise into impact enterprises and selected funds.

As an ICF ACC credentialed coach, Arthi coaches executives in the financial and industrial sectors, as well as founders and entrepreneurs in impact and growth business. As a thought leader, she contributes to thinking about leadership, career development and coaching on Forbes Coaches Council. Arthi is also an opt-in Advisory Council member for Harvard Business Review.

Arthi is a global keynote speaker (virtual and in-person), podcast host, and directs the “Ubuntu Leadership in a VUCA World” women leadership development programme. She mentors and volunteers on different platforms including graduates at the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, African entrepreneurs on African Business Heroes (Jack Ma Foundation in Africa) and ICF SA Chapter as an Executive Officer for Credentials and Standards.

Arthi serves as an Independent Non-executive Director of Global Grassroots, an NGO focusing on woman empowerment in vulnerable communities, currently focusing on Rwanda and Uganda.

In March 2022, Arthi was featured in The NYC Journal in their “50 under 50” list of disruptors, leaders and thinker in various industries. In February 2022, Prerna Advisory was accoladed in the 2022 Corporate Excellence Awards by Corporate Vision Magazine by winning the category: Best Corporate Coaching & Strategic Advisory Firm 2022 - South Africa. Arthi has also been recognized with the Leadership Coaching Award in the Finance Monthly UK Global Awards 2021 and the Positive Role Model Award (Gauteng, and Southern Africa) in the Entrepreneur/Consultant category at the 9th Gender Mainstreaming Awards.

Bilal is a business owner, investor, and coach who is known for his passion of creating positive change in businesses and lives through the implementation of technology. As one of the founding members of Microsoft’s operations in Saudi Arabia, and having been appointed General Manager in 2001, he was a part of over 100 technology project implementations. This gave Bilal a deep understanding of, and interest in, corporate DNA and the dynamics of how companies operate.

Bilal then went out on his own to pursue his passions as an entrepreneur, investor, and coach. His first venture, Business to IT Services, was created in Nov 2003, and since then, Bilal has established multiple startups focusing on improving vertical business processes and helping organizations improve their businesses. Some were great success and others were great learning experiences. In addition to his own ventures, Bilal has been a part of more than 15 startups as a coach or advisor to founders to support their journey.

Currently, Bilal & his super team work with multiple industries focusing on: 1) coaching family business offices on organizational agility and digital transformation, 2) supporting chain retailers on the digital transformation of the customer experience, 3) contributing to the digital transformation of small and medium businesses (the core of any economy), and 4) supporting aspiring entrepreneurs who possess strong qualifications but lack the clarity and courage to take the first step in their entrepreneurial journey.

Bilal has double B.Sc. in computer science and computer engineering from KFUPM, internationally recognized school based in Saudi Arabia. With his diversified experience going through several waves of success and extreme downtimes that were the best sources of learning and self-awareness, the school of life has granted Bilal a degree in resilience and bounce-back competencies. Bilal is also a certified Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Executive Coach.

CB Bowman, MCEC, CMC, BCC, is the CEO of Workplace Equity & Equality where her goal is to support organizations in “moving from intent and commitment to action™” without blame, through experience-based training.

Best known for bringing clarity and accountability to the world of executive coaching, CB founded two existing change-making organizations in the coaching field. The Association of Corporate Executive Coaches™ (ACEC) is dedicated to master level corporate executive coaches who work with the top tier of Fortune 1000 companies as “enterprise-wide business partners™”. The MEECO Leadership Institute™ is a think tank and research group of international organizations focused on the future and measurement of employment sciences, executive coaching and culture in organizations, institutions, and agencies. The institute is also a certifying body for master level corporate executive coaches offering the acclaimed MCEC (Master Corporate Executive Coach certification). MEECO also offers its designation to organizations who support the ROI of its employees (past designees include Ford Motor Company, The Mayo Clinic, and MD Anderson Cancer Research Center). She is certified to serve on corporate boards, and her emphasis on pro bono work and continuing education shows her heart and her brain are aligned on this critical mission.

With a background in marketing and branding for Fortune 100 companies, CB was responsible for the visual impact of iconic brands such as Raisin Bran, Pebbles, and Grape Nuts, and won several awards for product marketing and branding. CB is a graduate of New School for Social Research and received her MBA from Pace University, where she ultimately served on board of advisors. She is also certified as a Master Coach in the US, Europe, and Asia by the Behavioral Coaching Institute, a Master Corporate Executive Coach in the United States, and a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach.

David McMurtry’s mission is to elevate the Early Childhood Education (ECE) industry and improve access to quality ECE for all children through advocacy and legislation, in service of stronger communities and societies.

In 2017, he and his wife opened a Goddard preschool, serving over 170 children (ages six weeks to six years old). In four years, they grew the organization into one of the top 5% most successful Goddard schools in the country based on enrollment and revenue, with a 98 percent net promoter score and 400 children on the waitlist.

While he is proud of the success of his family business, what is far more important to David is the opportunity it has given him to positively impact the lives of students and their families. Having spent more than two decades working with children, David discovered that to change the world through education, you have to start with the youngest learners. He is committed to advocating for and improving ECE in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, and the entire United States.

David is also a public speaker, coach, motivator, having trained tens of thousands across the country with the intention of empowering the adults that inspire our youth.

His greatest accomplishment in life is his marriage to his beautiful wife Allison. She is the foundation for which all of these goals are possible and in combination with her passion for ECE, he has a true partner in making a difference in his community. Together they are raising three marvelous sons, Colin (12), Hudson (4), Weston (1). In what little spare time David has, he loves to play tennis, volleyball, pickleball, do yoga, visit with friends, and drink IPA's.

Donnie is the founder and CEO of London Business Growth, a business coaching and mentoring firm based in London UK. He is also partnered with the world’s number one business coaching firm, ActionCOACH, which serves small to medium-sized enterprises in over 60 countries, who bestowed him designation of #1 one coach in London based on his client revenue growth results.

Donnie’s core purpose is to help business owners and entrepreneurs create better results in their lives through: better use of their time, developing growth strategies, leveraged systemisation of the business operation and developing winning teams so their business can run without being so reliant on them. He has a natural ability to align others and a strong desire to help people to reach their true potential. In his partnership with his clients, they often achieve double and triple-digit growth through improvements in strategic planning, sales and marketing, collaboration, systems, processes, and culture.

Having worked in a family business from a young age, Donnie ran his first business from the age of 15. In his professional career, he was recognised as the youngest director at GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies with global responsibility for emerging technologies and eBusiness, driving business and technological change across Europe (and eventually across the world), aligning new technologies to the core business, redefining global service level agreements, and embedding shared services across the enterprise. Donnie also led a team to design a new manufacturing network which saved the company £750m within 3 years post-merger.

With a passion for emerging technologies and education, Donnie received a BSc (Hons) in Business Computing from City University, London in 1999, MSc in Information Management from Brunel University, London in 2002 and he is a chartered member of the British Computer Society. With an interest in personal and organisational development, he is a certified Master Practitioner in Business Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) endorsed by the Society and founder of NLP. He is an active Director Consultant for Business Networking International, the world’s largest business referral networking group and supports several groups in the London region made up of local businesses which resulted in over £580m worth of referral business in the UK & Ireland each year. In his spare time, he is known to be helping in his local community and his overall passion of traveling, where he aims to travel to new places every year experiencing new cultures and cuisines.

Florence Ozor is an attorney and rights advocate in Nigeria. The third in a family of five girls, she grew up experiencing what it means to be a girl in a highly stratified and patriarchal society. Florence’s parents, however, underscored the importance of a good education in breaking societal barriers and she became conscious of the importance that access to education contributes to the making of an empowered citizen.

Florence is an alumna of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Pan African University, and the Fortune / US State Department Global Women’s Program. After working in fashion, manufacturing, advertising, and public relations, she moved into corporate communications and government relations, and recently completed her law degree.

Her activism is largely driven by a passionate commitment to making a difference and injecting feminist leadership into our often-reactionary leadership discourse. A pioneer member and strategic leader of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Florence worked to broaden the movement's base and mobilize local, national, and international opinion and support to rescue the Chibok girls.

Florence is also the founder of the Florence Ozor Foundation, a registered non-governmental organization with a focus on Creating Opportunities, Inspiring Success, and Arousing Attitudinal Change to Foster Prosperity on the African Continent. The foundation ran a voter education project named Voting Right Movement an initiative with the core intent that undertook a systematic education and enlightenment of Nigerians for the 2015 general elections in Nigeria.

She is a seasoned public speaker, a lover of books, a writer on topic issues, and a closet poet.

Geetha Kannan is a versatile and entrepreneurial leader who has been hailed as the voice of women in Tech in India. With over 30 years of global experience spanning business, technology and people, her focus has always been to raise the bar, build teamwork and drive far-reaching impact. Geetha credits much of her progress to learning, opportunities and a supportive environment, and is compelled to make this a norm for all women in tech. Geetha's vision is to holistically provide high quality, integrated and accessible resources to expand equality of outcomes for women and their network supporters in technology.

Through her career Geetha has taken on growth and change roles in the corporate and non-profit sector in strategy, operations, sales, marketing, HR, sustainability, diversity and inclusion. In senior leadership positions with Infosys and ANZ, she powered these companies with technology interventions, innovative practices and leadership development. In 2013, Geetha moved to head AnitaB.org in India and grew the enterprise manifold in 6 years. She also elevated women entrepreneurs by developing the WEQ program and built partnership with the Govt. of India (Department of Science & Technology) to provide experiential learning in Silicon Valley.

Geetha's work on equity for women started in 2006, where she envisioned and implemented early-stage women-enabling policies and the first ever Women in Tech conference with the sponsorship of Infosys. Geetha's thought leadership can be experienced through her insightful articles and engaging talks, and she has been on the judging panel for multiple business awards (GLOMO, Community Business, ACM India). Most recently, she’s been a Member of ACM India External Engagements Committee, whose goal is to scale efforts to advance computing in the country.

As a B.Com and MBA graduate (gold medalist) from Bharathiar University, and subsequently a trained software professional, Geetha has consistently herself to being progressive and adding value to all stakeholders. She is a believer in the power of technology and community-led efforts. Being ambitious and decisive yet balanced and nurturing, aids her innate mentoring style that many strata of leaders have benefitted from over the years. Geetha is committed to using all of her knowledge and capability at every opportunity possible, to promote women and equality for all.

Dr. Gifford Pinchot has been a civil rights organizer, a blacksmith, a dairy farmer, an author, an educator, an entrepreneur, a futurist, a coach, and a consultant. He is committed to the wellbeing of clients, humanity, and life on Earth. With his wife Libba, he coined the word “intrapreneur,” started the intrapreneurship movement, and wrote Intrapreneuring: Why You Don’t Have to Leave the Corporation to Become an Entrepreneur. It was a New York Times bestseller and published in 15 languages.

He has co-founded and run businesses in manufacturing, consulting, education, and software. Gifford’s experience as a serial entrepreneur, turnaround CEO, innovation consultant, angel capitalist, and technology strategist has honed his ability to help organizations build capacity for innovation. His compassion and coaching experience have made him a good friend when the issues go deeper than just business. Pinchot & Company has served over half of the Fortune 100 and worked on every continent except Antarctica. The company delivers online learning and accelerators as well as personal coaching and cultural interventions.

In 2002, the Pinchots co-founded the Bainbridge Graduate Institute the first school to offer an MBA in Sustainable Business, where he served as president for 13 years. The success of the venture showed that a school with environmental and social justice in every course could still attract students and place them in good jobs. This launched and then accelerated the movement to bring sustainability into the MBAs of other schools. In 2016, BGI merged with Presidio Graduate School.

Gifford’s current focus is on sustainability, and particularly on climate change and ending poverty. He is completing a novel showing how civilization could mitigate rising temperatures and adapt compassionately to the inevitable consequences of what we have already done.

He has received numerous awards in his lifetime, among them, Executive Excellence, listing him in the top 20 of leadership thinkers. In 2009 he was awarded the Olympus Lifetime Education Award and in 2010 he and his wife were both named Purpose Prize fellows. In 1985 Mr. Pinchot graduated from Harvard University with honors in economics and a minor in social relations. He completed the coursework for a PhD in neurophysiology at Johns Hopkins.

Jamelle Lindo is an emotional intelligence leadership coach, trainer, and speaker with over 11 years of diverse learning and development experience. He is driven by his mission to empower leaders and professionals within organizations to realize their highest ideals, leading to healthy and diverse cultures, happy employees and thriving businesses that make the world a better place.

Jamelle has worked with thousands of professionals across Canada to help them level up through the practical application of emotional intelligence and mindfulness strategies. Certified in the world’s leading assessment tool for measuring emotional intelligence (EQ-i 2.0), Jamelle uses this powerful tool to establish a scientific benchmark to begin his clients’ development journey.

He is an official member of the Forbes Coaches Council, an invite-only organization for successful business coaches, and an associate certified coach (ACC) through the International Coach Federation (ICF), which represents the gold standard for professional coaching worldwide. Jamelle’s thought leadership has been frequently published on Forbes.com.

As an in-demand speaker, he focuses on teaching his audiences the importance of emotionally intelligent leadership in the midst of today’s rapidly evolving digital environment (otherwise known as industry 4.0). He is a charismatic, dynamic, and powerful presence on stage who compels his audience to critically look at how they can use emotional intelligence and mindfulness to enhance their abilities and create winning cultures within their organizations.

Jamelle is committed giving back to his community in the greater Toronto area. Locally, he serves on the executive council for United Way and provides professional development workshops for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Canada and the Mississauga Board of Trade.

Dr. Siraya (Kay) Kongsompong is as an executive coach in Bangkok, Thailand. With an MBA and PhD in communication, Dr. Kay has studied at Stanford University, Ohio University, the University of Colorado at Denver, and Bangkok University.

In her role as an executive consultant, she uses her coaching, talent development, and facilitation skills to work closely with senior leaders to help them—and their organizations—transform. With a client list including Nestle, Unilever, Samsung, and Roche, she is also a certified with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and as a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered coach.

Kay has taught marketing and communication in university settings, and volunteered for the Social Innovation Foundation in Thailand, the United Nations, and the International Coaching Federation. Having been frequently recognized as one of the top coaching leaders in Asia, Dr. Kay has earned the Thailand Women’s Leader Award (CMO Asia), been named one of Thailand’s Most Talented Coaching Leaders, Top 101 Global Coaching Leaders, and Most Fabulous Training and Development Leaders (CHRO Asia), and in 2020 was the recipient of the Marshall Goldsmith Scholarship.

Moving forward, Kay wants to give back by forming her own “pay it forward” initiative for high potential coaches, as well as provide volunteer coaching for leaders who work in the social innovation and non-profit spaces.

Matt Stone’s mission is to help others achieve more than they thought was possible through healthy human connection.

Matt is an entrepreneur, business leader, and former practicing attorney who has seen firsthand that when there’s trust in the room, all good things are possible. He is dedicated to promoting a new leadership standard that recognizes our collective interdependence and prioritizes the willingness and ability to engage in direct, open, and rigorously honest dialogue.

In his current role as CEO of BehavioralOS®, Matt helps turn around leadership teams in crisis and accelerate trust on teams charged with high stakes change. He does this through a proven method originally researched and developed by company Founder Dr. Irv Rubin, who was an M.I.T. faculty member, behavioral scientist, author, and consultant. Matt has worked with senior leaders in the U.S. Federal government and globally in the private sector including the U.S. Department of Defense, fintech, energy, and healthcare.

Matt draws inspiration and deep insights about human connection and trust building from his experience living and working in Europe, Asia, and multiple U.S. states including Hawaii. He sees the intentional practice of self-awareness as critical to adapting to change and leading high-performing, inclusive teams. In addition to management consulting, coaching, and media production, Matt is continuing to explore opportunities for developing new technologies based on Dr. Rubin’s groundbreaking methodology.

Matt holds a B.A. in History from the Robert D. Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon, and Juris Doctor from the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai’i. He holds a law license in the State of Oregon, has been trained in coaching and conflict resolution, and is a certified mediator. Matt and his wife currently reside in the New York City metropolitan area.

Dr. Nazan Artun is a board-certified Leadership and Career Coach for healthcare, bio-pharma, and academia professionals. She holds a doctoral degree in Biotechnology focusing on Pharmacogenomics and Personalized Medicine.

After moving to the United States from her hometown of Ankara, Turkey, she became a board-certified pharmacist in Massachusetts. She has a wealth of diverse experiences in her field, from establishing hospital pharmacy departments to working in the pharmaceutical industry, clinical research, and academia. As well as teaching and presenting widely, she has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific and opinion articles.

To fulfill her imaginative and creative side, Nazan turned to the arts and dedicated another considerable part of her life to pursuing a parallel career in music. As a multi-award-winning songwriter, performer, and founder of the Neotolia Fusion Jazz Band (www.neotolia.com), she has released three award-winning music albums and toured the United States, Canada, Turkey, and the Netherlands. Having inspired and entertained people from all walks of life worldwide, she also takes pride in mentoring future performers.

Though transporting an already established career to a new country was a challenge, Nazan never allowed the obstacles she faced to hold her back. With hard work and tenacity, she simultaneously built a creative career and a scientific one, earning her Ph.D. between gigs and studio sessions.

Nazan’s coaching career springs from years of interest in self-development, mindfulness, mentoring, and communication. As a true renaissance woman, having a successful track record in health sciences, composing and performing music/arts, acclimating to new work environments, and integrating into new customs and cultures put her in the unique position to support individuals overcome their obstacles and achieve their goals in professional life. Her inquisitive nature and love for solving problems allowed her to see improvable aspects of healthcare leadership. www.drartun.com

Nobantu Mpotulo is from South Africa. She is the Managing Director of Just In Time Solutions and has been coaching executives, CEOs, and teams in different sectors of the private, public, and NGOs for 20 years. Having held senior leadership positions in the corporate sector, her work as a coach and sought-after facilitator of leadership development programs has taken her to every continent. Nobantu’s clients include the United Nations, World Health Organization, and UNESCO. She also facilitated workshops for victims and perpetrators of violence in South Africa under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Nobantu is amongst the first five coaches in Africa to be certified by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) at the MCC Level. She led the design team during the inauguration of Ethical Coach in Ethiopia in 2018 using Ubuntu philosophy (Ubuntu is practiced in Southern Africa and means “I am Because We Are”). Nobantu’s Ubuntu coaching model has been praised around the world and applied in both educational and business settings.

As a Buddhist practitioner and teacher for 20 years, she supports her clients in integrating the head, heart, instincts, and ancestry. Through probing questions and sharing just-in-time observations, Nobantu takes clients deep and helps them to identify their blind spots and embrace their shadows. No matter what she does she gets to the HEART of the client and the HEART of the matter.

Nobantu’s aspiration for changing the world is to ensure that coaching is accessible in remote and underdeveloped communities. This involves the focus and emphasis of leading from the heart, changing the world of others to be better. She contributes to the development of coaching by mentoring up-and-coming coaches (especially women of color), and coaches women leaders mainly on a pro bono basis. She is also one of the inaugural coaches for EthicalCoach, coaching NGO leaders and teams on a voluntary basis.

Nobantu is an accredited Enneagram Teacher and Enneagram Coach, a Gestalt Practitioner, Process Work Facilitator, and a Facilitator of Peace Circles. She holds an MA in Guidance and Counselling) from Durham University (UK).

For well over three decades, Rick Petry has championed the transformation of people’s lives and businesses. Having spent 17 years as a trial attorney, Rick helped his clients navigate their way through a complex legal system, frequently during the most challenging time of their life. At the same time, he inspired them to transform challenges into opportunities and opportunities into incredible realities.

Despite the rewarding nature of his work, he saw a need for a different kind of leadership in the world and was inspired to make a greater contribution to that goal. He joined the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where he served in leadership roles for professional development, diversity, equity, and inclusion for the school and its students, as well as being a member of the adjunct faculty. Most recently, Rick is the Founder and Executive Director of Mitchell Hamline’s Conscious Leadership, Justice and Law Program, which connects leaders, lawyers, and law students committed to elevating humanity.

Rick’s vision is to change the world by creating a global shift in the leadership paradigm—from an outdated, failing, command-and-control style of leadership to a values-driven, people-in-harmony with profits, servant leadership paradigm (the latter of which he refers to as Full Spectrum Human Leadership). He believes businesses can become the most positive influence on people and our world by providing caring, empowering, and fulfilling work environments for the people placed in their care.

Rick also advances his mission through coaching, mentoring, consulting, training, speeches, workshops, writings, videos, and his Full Spectrum Human Leadership Program. Rick has shared stages with and been mentored by some of the most inspiring thought leaders of our time, including Jack Canfield, Judith E. Glazer Steven Kotler, John Maxwell, Shad Helmstetter, Richard Barret, Michael Port, and Dr. Joe Dispenza.

Rick agrees with the Mark Twain quote: “the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” He believes his purpose is to build a world where the vast majority of people wake up each day inspired to step into their greatness, feeling safe, supported, and cared about at work so they can return home at the end the day feeling fulfilled by the lives they’ve touched and the work they do.

Stefaan van Hooydonk is founder of the Global Curiosity Institute and author of the bestselling book: The Workplace Curiosity Manifesto.

After working initially in investment consulting and setting up executive education at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in China, Van Hooydonk held executive roles as Chief Learning Officer in fortune 200 companies (Nokia, Royal Philips, Cognizant, Saudi Aramco, Agfa, Flipkart). He has lived and worked in Belgium, France, Hong Kong, China, Finland, The Netherlands, India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. His last role was that of Chief Learning Officer for Cognizant, where he oversaw learning and development for over 300k associates across the globe.

Stefaan van Hooydonk researches the topic of workplace curiosity in companies. He believes that curious individuals need curious environments to thrive and that especially in times of turmoil individuals and companies need to embrace intentional curiosity. With the help of a number of diagnostics he designed, he creates insights on what drives and what enables (or prevents) individuals and organisations to show up curiously. He consults global corporations and leadership teams towards building a stronger curiosity muscle. He is a regular speaker around the world on the power of curiosity to benefit professionals, leaders, teams, and organizations.

Stefaan is a daily meditator, a marathon runner and a father of 4 children. Together with his partner, Jeltje Peletier - a successful psycho and yogatherapist - he runs a modest permaculture farm and is a beekeeper.

Susanne Mus is co-founder and CEO of awareyess. This start-up improves happiness at work with self-awareness to discover needs and create change. With their software platform, awareyess supports the personal growth journey of knowledge workers. The combination of professional guidance and personalized software support, personal growth can be a more continuous process and accessible to everyone.

In her personal journey, Susanne learned the importance of observing your own thoughts, feelings and behavior and talking to others about your impact. Her childhood triggered to live life with a smile and create something positive every day. But looking at yourself honestly also means seeing and embracing the less fun sides of yourself. Doing this brought her more peace and happiness.

Susanne has worked with different teams over the years. Recently, a former team member thanked her for asking the right questions that provided insight and forced career path changes for the better. Moments like these make Susanne devote herself to asking more people these kinds of questions.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Europe, Susanne graduated from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam with a master’s degree in econometrics & operations research and a bachelor’s degree in business administration. After working for several IT companies in roles such as customer interaction manager, project lead and head of product it is now time for her to use all the accumulated experience for her own business.

What drives Susanne is to dream big and take a small step every day towards that dream, knowing that your path will end up somewhere else and being ok with that.