Leader-to-Leader Program Overview

(All events at Westin Anaheim Resort)

Monday, June 17
2:00pm — Badge pickup, networking, refreshments
2:30-5:30pm — Day One program
5:30-7:00pm — Chairman’s Reception

Tuesday, June 18
7:30am — Breakfast
8:30am-4:30pm — Day Two program
4:30pm — Adjourn
 

Speaker Highlights (more to be announced)

Nancy Duarte believes that ideas are the most powerful tools people have. As a persuasion expert, she cracked the code for effectively incorporating story patterns into business communications. Nancy is CEO of Duarte Design, the largest design firm in Silicon Valley, where she helps the world’s top-performing brands captivate audiences, win hearts and minds, and drive bottom-line results.

Dr. Sahar Yousef is a cognitive neuroscientist who helps leaders and their teams get their most important work done in less time—optimizing the way they work so they’re more productive, creative and energized. She is a faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where she teaches one of the most popular MBA courses, “Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity and Performance.”

Christopher Thornberg, Ph.D., has been called many things throughout his career—“Dr. Doom,” a contrarian, even an optimist—but his favorite thing to be called is correct. A renowned economist with deep expertise in economic and revenue forecasting, regional economics, economic policy, and labor and real estate markets, Dr. Thornberg has consulted globally for private industry, cities, counties, and public agencies.

Michael Jr. is a comedic thought leader—a brilliant communicator who blends comedy, storytelling, and thought-provoking life principles to inspire audiences to discover and activate their purpose. He has performed on the stages of The Tonight Show, TEDx, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. No other speaker will move you from laughter to reflection—from “haha” to “aha”—quite like Michael Jr.

Seth Kaplan is a leading expert on fragile states and a consultant to governments and NGOs throughout the world. In his highly acclaimed book, Fragile Neighborhoods, he offers a bold new vision for addressing social decline in America, one zip code at a time. By revitalizing our local institutions—and the social ties that knit them together—we can all turn our neighborhoods into places where people and families can thrive.

Kevin Kelley, AIA, is an architect who gets inside the minds of consumers to understand how physical environments affect behavior and purchase decisions. His recently-released book, Irreplaceable: How to Create Extraordinary Places that Bring People Together, explores how and why physical places are essential to civil society, business, and community—and how we can do a better job of creating them.

Throughout his career, Tony Avila has raised approximately $20 billion in debt and equity issuances for public and private builders and land developers. His latest endeavor, Avila Real Estate Capital, is a vertically integrated real estate investment firm. At a time when banks continue to tighten lending requirements, AREC and its affiliates are providing much-needed A&D loans to keep projects on track.

With his trademark energy, insight and humor, Leader-to-Leader facilitator Tim Sullivan ties the entire program together, drawing connections and takeaways from the many diverse topics and perspectives. Tim has more than 36 years’ experience in analyzing and valuing real estate development opportunities across the U.S. and Latin America—with an ability to interpret diverse statistics and trends and translate them into actionable plans.

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