The Future is NOW

David Spade became a household favorite during his tenure as a cast member on NBC’s Saturday Night Live. For his memorable role as Dennis Finch, the wise-cracking, power-hungry assistant on Just Shoot Me, Spade received nominations for a 1999 Emmy® Award, Golden Globe®, and American Comedy Award. He continues to be a box office draw, touring his stand-up shows nationwide. His most recent stand-up special “Nothing Personal” debuted on Netflix.

Spade can be seen hosting the FOX game show, Snake Oil. Spade fronts and produces the series, which sees convincing entrepreneurs pitch unique products to contestants, who must determine which are real or a sham for a chance to win life-changing money.

Currently, Spade can be heard co-hosting the hit podcast Fly on the Wall, alongside fellow SNL alumni Dana Carvey. In each episode, they interview cast members, hosts, writers, and musical guests, as they share never-before-told stories about their careers and SNL's cultural history. The podcast premiered #1 in the comedy category and in the top five overall on Apple’s podcast chart and has since been nominated for Podcast of The Year at the 2023 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards. Now on its second season, the podcast has featured interviews with Sir Paul McCartney, Lorne Michaels, Jimmy Fallon, Martin Short, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph, Molly Shannon, Tom Hanks, and many more. New episodes are released every Wednesday, everywhere podcasts are available. Spade and Carvey also co-host its spin-off pop culture podcast Superfly.

Spade also starred in the Netflix original comedy, The Wrong Missy. At the time of release, the film was the # 1 movie on Netflix and the eighth most-watched Netflix original movie in the company’s history. That same year, Spade also hosted his own late-night series “Lights Out with David Spade” on Comedy Central.

Spade released A Polaroid Guy In A Snapchat World exclusively on Audible. The audiobook was a New York Times best-seller and was well-received by critics and fans. Spade was also seen in the Netflix original comedy, Father Of The Year which was one of the highest streamed films globally on Netflix. Prior to that, Spade starred in the Netflix original comedy The Do-Over, opposite Adam Sandler and Paula Patton, which is one of Netflix’s biggest original film releases.

Spade reprised his role as the hilarious and endearing “white trash” misfit, Joe Dirt, in the sequel to the cult classic, Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser, directed by Fred Wolf, with whom he also co-wrote the script. The film has been streamed over two million times, making it Crackle’s most watched original movie to date. Later that same year, Spade also released his memoir, Almost Interesting, through Dey Street Books, which went on to become a New York Times Bestseller.

Spade was also seen in Sony Pictures’ Grown Ups 2 alongside Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, and Kevin James. The film was a follow up to the 2010 hit comedy about a group of childhood friends who reunited years later. Spade was heard as the voice of Griffin the Invisible Man in the animated feature, Hotel Transylvania alongside Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Steve Buscemi, Kevin James, and Andy Samberg, among others. He reprised his role in the film’s sequel, Hotel Transylvania 2, and returned for the third installment Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. He reprised his role in Hotel Transylvania 4: Transformania, which was released on Amazon Prime.

Other popular film credits include Sony Pictures’ BENCHWARMERS and Paramount Pictures’ Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, the latter of which he co-wrote with Fred Wolf. Both opened # 1 at the box office and enjoyed critical and commercial success. Spade also co-starred with SNL alumnus Chris Farley in the films Tommy Boy and Blacksheep, the former for which the pair won an MTV Movie Award for "Best On-Screen Duo." He has also appeared in Reality Bites, Light Sleeper, Coneheads, and Lost & Found (for which he also co-wrote the screenplay).

On the small screen, Spade starred in the CBS comedy Rules of Engagement. The show was produced by Sony’s Happy Madison Productions and centered around three men in different stages of their relationships: married, engaged, and single. The series enjoyed excellent ratings and critical success throughout all of its seven seasons. He also appeared in The Showbiz Show for Comedy Central, which aired from 2005-2007. Spade created, executive produced, hosted, and wrote the show along with pal and former SNL writer Hugh Fink. He also had a memorable guest starring role on the critically acclaimed The Larry Sanders Show and appeared in HBO’s “13th Annual Young Comedians Special”. Spade has also had several well-received standup comedy specials, including Comedy Central’s "David Spade: My Fake Problems."

Born in Birmingham, Michigan, and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona, Spade began his career by performing stand-up comedy in clubs, theaters, and colleges across the country. He made his television debut on SNL and was soon named the “Hot Stand-Up Comedian of the Year” by Rolling Stone Magazine. As a writer and a performer on SNL for five years, he is best known for his memorable characters including the sarcastic “Hollywood Minute” reporter on “Weekend Update” and catchphrases like “And you are…?” and “Buh-Bye!”.

Jennifer (Jen) Leary is the CEO of CLA, one of the largest accounting and professional services firms in the United States. With operations in more than 130 markets from coast-to-coast and an extended global reach through the newly launched CLA Global network.

CLA provides a range of professional services in five distinct areas: assurance, tax, outsourcing, wealth advisory, and digital. With nearly 9,000 talented professionals in the United States, CLA is one of the fastest-growing firms in the country.

Jen has more than 25 years of experience in the accounting and finance professions. Before taking on the role of CEO, she held several strategic positions at CLA, including Chief Strategy Officer and Managing Principal of the Carolinas and Georgia. A CPA by training, Jen has served clients in the United States and Europe in a wide variety of roles, from assurance, consulting, mergers and acquisitions, and global concierge services.

A visionary and an advocate for the future of the profession, Jen speaks regularly about the power of a career in accounting and finance. She is actively involved with numerous strategic partnerships to ensure that CLA continues to build a robust talent pipeline. Through her entrepreneurial spirit that is part of the firm’s DNA, Jen is passionate about developing digital technology to best serve CLA's 200,000 clients now and long into the future.

Jen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and management information systems from the University of Delaware. She is a member Wall Street Journal CEO Council, the North Carolina Association of CPAs (where she is also a member of the board of directors), the American Institute of CPAs, and serves on the boards of the CLA Global Network, CLA Foundation, and CLA Wealth. She is also a contributor to the World Bank and a sought-after speaker on leadership, strategy, and expansion.

When leaders want to break team silos, drive exponential growth and innovate through teamwork, they call Erica Dhawan.

Erica Dhawan is an internationally recognized leading authority, speaker and advisor on 21st century teamwork, collaboration and innovation. Named as one of the top 50 management thinkers in the world byThinkers50, she is the author of two bestselling books, Get Big Things Done: The Power of Connectional Intelligence and Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance. As we continue to experience an increasingly digital world where work practices are changing at a blistering pace, Erica shares innovative strategies to unlock the collective power of teams, build a culture of trust across any distance and create authentic engagement to ensure competitiveness. Rated #1 on the Top Women Keynote Speakers list, Erica frequently appears in the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal. Erica speaks on global stages ranging from the World Economic Forum at Davos, to the US Army, to companies such as Coca-Cola, FedEx, Goldman Sachs, Walmart, and Cisco. She holds degrees from Harvard University, MIT Sloan, and The Wharton School.

Chris Pronger is considered one of the greatest defensemen to ever play in the NHL. Over his 18-year Hall of Fame career, Pronger established himself as a dominant force known for his physical play, elite defensive skills, and scoring prowess from the blue line. He is the winner of the James Norris Trophy and the Hart Trophy as league MVP both in 2000. In 2007, he led the Anaheim Ducks to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship. In addition to his Stanley Cup ring, Pronger's trophy case includes two Olympic Gold medals won as a member of Team Canada in 2002 and 2010, making him one of only 29 members of the exclusive "Triple Gold Club." It’s no wonder Chris was also named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history, cementing his legacy as one of the premier defensemen to ever play the game.

Chris’ storied career has been chronicled by the likes of ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic and many more. Even since retiring from the NHL, his insights have been featured in outlets like Forbes, CNN and MSNBC. Pronger now directs his attention and competitive edge to being an in-demand resource for organizations around the world. He is a highly successful founder, entrepreneur and speaker, where he inspires audiences with lessons from his Hall of Fame career and insights on achieving excellence through teamwork, unrelenting preparation, and perseverance.

The same intensity, passion and experience that millions came to expect in NHL arenas is the hallmark of every speech by Chris Pronger. Through memorable stories from his decorated playing days and lessons learned in building his own enterprises, Pronger proves that championship cultures are built when driven individuals consistently rise to overcome obstacles. Chris is on a mission to help driven leaders become the difference makers in their team and organizations.

Joey Hubbard is the Chief Training Officer at Thrive with over 30 years of coaching and facilitating motivational seminars to assist individuals and professional organizations in improving their lives, their careers and their businesses all over the world.

From the general public, to professional athletes/sports teams, and large corporations, Joey is committed to helping people and workforces find direction and live better.

Jaime Magyera, Managing Director, is Co-Head of BlackRock's U.S. Wealth Advisory business. She is responsible for leading BlackRock's relationships with wealth management firms and platforms, for distributing BlackRock's alpha-seeking and iShares investment capabilities and for the adoption of BlackRock's portfolio construction, personalized solutions and digital wealth technologies to financial advisors. She is a member of BlackRock's Global Client Business Executive Committee and Global Operating Committee.

Jaime served as Chief Operating Officer for the U.S. Wealth Advisory business from 2019-2022. She was responsible for overseeing business strategy, as well as ensuring that the organization, including its client, distribution, product, marketing and technology functions, had the necessary connectivity, operations and resources to enable growth, manage risk and drive scale & efficiency.

Previously, Jaime led National Accounts for BlackRock's National Wealth Business, where she and her team were responsible for strategy, relationship and development for some of BlackRock's largest clients.

Jaime's service with the firm dates back to 2001, including her years with Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, which merged with BlackRock in 2006. Over the course of her career, Jaime has held various roles in Retirement, Marketing, Strategy and Technology.

Jaime is a member of the Board of Governors for the Money Management Institute (MMI) and a member of the Board of Directors for iCapital. Jaime earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and holds her Series 7, 66 and 24 licenses. She resides in Princeton, NJ with her husband and son.

Gene Munster is a managing partner and co-founder at Deepwater. Gene is a member of the investment committee and head of portfolio research. Prior to Deepwater, Gene was managing director and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray where he covered Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook. During his 21-year tenure, Gene received acknowledgements including: Best on the Street from The Wall Street Journal, Top Stock Picker from Forbes, and was widely recognized for his work on Apple and Tesla.

Doug Clinton is founder and CEO of Intelligent Alpha and managing partner and co-founder at Deepwater. Doug is a member of the investment committee and CEO of Intelligent Alpha. Prior to Deepwater, Doug was a research analyst at Piper Jaffray where he covered Apple, Google and Facebook. Prior to joining Piper Jaffray in 2008, Doug was an early employee in sales and operations at Enpocket, which was acquired by Nokia.

Heather Sperduto began her career at ADP®, the global human resources and payroll company, as a district sales manager. With a career spanning two decades, Heather steadily progressed through the organization, moving from corporate sales trainer to corporate accountant services leading to her present position as vice president of Sales Operations for the ADP Accountant Channel. Heather has supported the nationwide design and execution of the ADP Accountant Program.

Throughout her career with ADP, she has leveraged her expertise in roles that take advantage of her competencies in sales, human resources, benefits administration, talent management, and talent acquisition. This encompasses internal associate and leader engagement to drive results, as well as a high level of interaction with the accountant community.

Heather is sought after nationwide to lead speaking engagements such as interactive workshops to foster attendees’ personal and professional development. She has coached thousands of professionals on improving selling and overall communications skills.

With her delivery of exceptional service and value coupled with innovative technology she ignites referrals from centers of influence to help their clients thrive. Heather is deeply involved in the community, demonstrating the same passion for volunteering and philanthropy that she does for training her staff and working with her accountant partners. Since 2008, she has been a board member of the Hope for Children Foundation, a nonprofit organization that inspires hope by teaching children and their families how to live happy, successful lives. Heather also serves on the board of the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance Foundation Board.

Gargi Pal Chaudhuri, Managing Director, is Chief Investment Strategist for iShares, BlackRock. Based in New York, she and her team focus primarily on delivering global macro thought leadership, investment insights and content to both retail and institutional clients of the firm. With over two decades of experience in the financial services industry, Gargi has built her career around portfolio management in the fixed income markets, trading and macro strategy.

She joined BlackRock’s Global Fixed income group as a sector specialist in 2010, focusing on real and nominal rate relative value and trading. In 2013, she transitioned to the global inflation portfolio management team as senior portfolio manager, focusing on alpha generation, risk management and portfolio positioning for global inflation-linked bond portfolios. From 2017 to 2020, she was head of Platform Strategy for the Fundamental Fixed income platform at BlackRock and head of Canadian fixed income, focusing on global macro thought leadership and tying it platform conversations with institutional clients.

Prior to joining BlackRock, she spent nine years on the sell side at Jefferies & Co. and Merrill Lynch. As a VP at Jefferies & Co.,she ran the US inflation trading desk, built the Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) franchise, and provided liquidity in TIPS to institutional clients. She began her career in 2001 on the government bond trading desk at Merrill Lynch, focusing on providing liquidity and market making in TIPS and treasury securities.

Gargi is often a keynote speaker at large scale industry events and conferences focusing on multi asset investment insights, monetary policy and inflation. She is a frequent contributor to media, appearing on Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox, Yahoo Finance and CBS as well as podcasts and print media (WSJ, FT, Kiplinger, Barrons). She was named as one of Linked in “Top Voices” in Finance.

She graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and psychology from Ohio Wesleyan University where she is currently a member of the Board of Trustees. Outside of BlackRock, she is an avid runner, hiker and a triathlete and has completed multiple marathons, ultra-marathons, half Ironmans and the New York Ironman.

Bruce Himelstein is the Ritz-Carlton executive who transformed customer service for one of the world's most recognizable luxury brands, as featured prominently in the New York Times bestseller, The New Gold Standard.

• Recognized as “One of The Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in Sales & Marketing” by The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI).
• Featured on The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania’s Sirius radio channel discussing his experiences in marketing lifestyle brands.
• Recognized for his ability to identify and implement strategies to maintain relevance in today’s rapidly evolving business world.
• Drove efforts to "blow the dust off the lion and crown" by transforming one of the world's most recognizable luxury brands...the Ritz Carlton.
• An inductee into “The American Marketing Association” Hall of Fame, Himelstein also sits on many prominent industry boards, including the Luxury Institute Advisory Board.
• Featured prominently in Joseph Michelli's New York Times bestseller, The New Gold Standard.

Bruce Himelstein is credited with leading some of the travel and hospitality industry’s most prestigious domestic and global brands during a 30+ year illustrious career setting the global standards in hospitality, marketing, and C-level executive management. Successful at every level of his career, Bruce Himelstein now helps growing and established businesses achieve new levels of success as a marketing, hospitality industry, and luxury brand consultant, as well as a business facilitator.

Ric Edelman founded the nation’s largest financial planning firm, which manages $300 billion for 1.4 million families across the U.S. He was ranked three times as the nation’s #1 Independent Financial Advisor by Barron’s, is in two industry Halls of Fame and received the IARFC’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He holds two patents for financial product innovation, appeared on Oprah five times and was once the answer to 21 Across in a New York Times crossword puzzle.

Edelman is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 12 books on personal finance, with more than 1.2 million copies sold in eight languages worldwide, his daily show is in the top 1% of all podcasts, and Rowan University’s Ric Edelman College of Communications and Creative Arts is named in his honor.

Ric and his wife Jean and their dogs spend most of their time in Virginia, Arizona and New York.

Naveen Manga currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Marriott International. As CTO, Naveen is responsible for global technology strategy, innovation and transformation to support growth and drive long-term business value.

Previously Naveen served as Vice President of Software Engineering and Experience Design at Hilton. His global Software Engineering team was responsible for technology strategy, platform architecture, software engineering and delivery of Web, Mobile, Contact Center and Property (Hotel) technologies that contribute to over 90% of overall company revenue. Naveen also led the global Experience Design team responsible for user experience architecture, human-centered design, optimization, and accessibility of products and services.

Naveen has over twenty years of business technology leadership experience spanning travel & hospitality, manufacturing, education, consumer services, financial services, consulting, non-profit, and healthcare verticals.

Maryleen Emeric is a dynamic change maker, business leader and master connector. She is the Senior Director of Technical Product Marketing for M365 Copilot, ensuring our technical audiences understand and advocate for Gen AI at work. Before this role, she was the Chief of Staff running an organization of ~300 employees as Microsoft Modern Work & Business Applications Marketing’s Chief of Staff, under Jared Spataro, CVP, AI at Work. Her latest focus has been on rolling out Copilot for M365 internally for the entire Marketing function at Microsoft and landing that change management message externally with customers and partners. She has over 20 years’ experience specializing in Strategy, Business Leadership, Marketing, and Operations with a talent for turning chaos into clarity and problems into results.

Maryleen holds an MBA in Marketing & Management from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business and a BA in International Politics & Economics from Middlebury College. She is also on the board of the non-profit organization, Dress for Success Seattle, which is an organization committed to enabling women in the community with the tools, training and confidence to achieve economic independence. She lives in Redmond, WA with her husband, Al and three fur babies, Delilah, Luna and Cooper. In her free time, Maryleen loves wine tasting, 80's karaoke, tennis, traveling the world, and spending time with family and friends.