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2025 Annual Conference: Keynotes

Keynotes

We are excited to announce our first keynote speaker of the 2025 conference: Nancy Giordano!

Nancy Giordano

Nancy Giordano

Strategist, Author of LeaderING

Described as endlessly optimistic, Nancy is a visionary strategist, gatherer and author who has presented 200+ global keynotes. With a drive to help enterprise organizations and caring leaders transform to meet the escalating expectations ahead, she is recognized as one of the top futurists.

The world’s first TEDx licensee, co-founder of the Femme Futurists Society podcast, best-selling author of LeaderING: The Ways Visionary Leaders Play Bigger, and mother of three, her expertise and experiences range from A.I. to frozen foods to reinventing the internet, and all of her projects have a key common denominator: transitioning away from the extractive operating systems and expired thinking of the industrial era to creating the more regenerative, inclusive and dynamic solutions the future demands.

Fascinated by the intersection of technology, business, society and our own expanding consciousness, she has designed and produced several immersive leadership conferences and strategic summits, champions several horizon distributed tech and emerging economic movements, and for the past nine years has been an advisor to two AI start-ups, including Kungfu.AI, a fast-growing AI services company.

 

Additional keynote speakers will be announced soon.

To learn more about the caliber of our speakers, we invite you to visit last year’s Keynotes webpage to view highlight videos and listen to audio summaries of their presentations.

Master of Ceremonies

John StoffletJohn Stofflet, a seasoned journalist and storyteller, has an illustrious career highlighted by 25 Regional Emmy Awards and prestigious accolades from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, showcasing his unwavering commitment to broadcasting excellence. John’s relentless pursuit of stories has taken him across 40 countries and all seven continents, fueled by his genuine passion for adventure and profound curiosity. Along his journey, he had the privilege of interviewing renowned figures such as President Barack Obama, Julia Roberts, Robin Williams, Brad Pitt, and many others. After 16 years at KING-TV (NBC) in Seattle, he returned to Wisconsin to anchor for NBC 15 News, bringing his expertise home. Additionally, as a proud alum of UW-Madison’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, he contributes to his community by serving on the boards of the Badger Childhood Cancer Network and the Alzheimer’s and Dementia Alliance of Wisconsin. He inspires and enlightens audiences globally with an unwavering commitment to storytelling and advocacy.

Graphic Recorder

Lin Wilson with Bucky Badger

Lin Wilson

VP of Information Design at LINK, a creative group that untangles complexity, designs change and delivers impact

Lin Wilson tames information chaos with art. He has visually clarified complexity for brands like Trek Bikes, Gates Foundation, Sierra Club, Milwaukee Art Museum and dozens of ad agencies such as CP+B, Chiat Day and DDB. For live events and meetings, Lin draws pictures of speaker presentations with a service called “graphic recording”. These visuals capture the memorable and takeaway points of conference speakers and has done this for companies, a few of the big 4 consultants, Ted Talks and at the Knowledge Summit in Dubai.

His recent efforts in education began with co-teaching visualization workshops at Emory Goizueta Business School and Vanderbilt Owen School of Management. He recently lectured at the University of Wisconsin Madison, teaching information graphics within UW Art. Raised in St. Louis, he is a graduate of the University of Kansas with additional study at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Lin is based in Madison and is currently VP of Information Design at LINK, a left-brain-meets-right-brain consulting agency based in the Washington DC area. They use visual methods to co-create solutions to drive meaningful change and inspire action. After long hours creating and designing, he stretches by hiking the Ice Age Trail and kayaking.

Lin Wilson will be providing “graphic recording” on large boards again this year at the UWEBC Annual Conference. These drawings capture the memorable and takeaway points of conference speakers. They are a mix of words and pictures that will be great artifacts to refer to some of the insights and concepts you heard during the event. Attendees will have the opportunity to take pictures of and with his art throughout the day and during Bucky’s Gallery Walk at the conclusion of the conference.

Lin Wilson drawing at UWEBC annual conference in a keynote (Christine)
Lin Wilson drawing at the 2024 UWEBC Annual Conference in a session by John Thompson
Lin Wilson drawing at the 2024 UWEBC Annual Conference for keynote speaker Christine Whelan