Jim Kouzes has been thinking about leadership ever since he was one of only a dozen Eagle Scouts to be selected to serve in John F. Kennedy's honor guard when Kennedy was inaugurated President of the United States. Kennedy's inaugural call to action -- "Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." -- inspired Jim to join the Peace Corps, and he taught school in Turkey for two years. That experience made Jim realize that he wanted a career that offered two things: the chance to teach and the opportunity to serve. It was in his first job back in the U.S. training community action agency managers that Jim found his calling, and he has devoted his life to leadership development ever since.

Jim Kouzes is the coauthor with Barry Posner of the award-winning and best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge, with over 3.0 million copies in print. He's a Fellow of the Doerr Institute for New Leaders at Rice University and also served as the Dean's Executive Fellow of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University. Jim and Barry have coauthored many bestselling leadership books including A Leader's Legacy, Encouraging the Heart, The Truth About Leadership, and Credibility. They are also the developers of The Leadership Practices Inventory—the bestselling off-the-shelf leadership assessment in the world. Their books are extensively researched-based, and over 500 doctoral dissertations and academic studies have been based on their original work.

Not only is Jim a highly regarded leadership scholar, The Wall Street Journal cited Jim as one of the twelve best executive educators in the U.S. He is the 2010 recipient of the Thought Leadership Award from the Instructional Systems Association, listed as one of HR Magazine’s Most Influential International Thinkers, named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior by Trust Across America, and ranked by Leadership Excellence magazine as one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders. Jim was presented with the Golden Gavel, the highest honor awarded by Toastmasters International, and he and Barry are also the recipients of the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, presented in recognition of their extensive body of work and the significant impact they have had on learning and performance in the workplace.

Barry Posner is the Accolti Professor of Leadership at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University (located in the heart of Silicon Valley), where he served for 12 years as Dean of the School. Barry, along with his co-author Jim Kouzes, received the American Society for Training and Development's highest award for their Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance. Named as one of the nation's top management and leadership educators by the International Management Council and recognized as one of the Top 50 leadership coaches in America, and ranked among the 10 Most Influential HR thinkers in the world by HR magazine.

He is the co-author of the award-winning and best-selling leadership book The Leadership Challenge. Described as a groundbreaking research study, this book combines keen insights with practical applications and captures both why and how leadership is everyone's business. With over 2 million copies in print, this book has been named one of The Top 100 Business Books of All Time, book-of-the-year by the American Council of Health Care Executives, received the Critic's Choice Award from book review editors, and translated into over 20 foreign languages.

The Leadership Practices Inventory has been called "the most reliable, up-to-date leadership instrument available today," and the online version has been completed by over 3 million people around the globe. Barry has also co-authored several other award-winning, inspiring and practical books on leadership: Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It; The Truth About Leadership: The No-Fads, Heart-of-the Matter Facts You Need to Know; Encouraging the Heart: A Leaders Guide to Recognizing and Rewarding Others; The Academic Administrator's Guide to Exemplary Leadership; and A Leader's Legacy.

Barry is an internationally renowned scholar who has published more than 85 research and practitioner-oriented articles, in such journals as the: Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Human Relations, Personnel Psychology, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and the like. He is currently on the editorial review boards of the International Journal of Servant-Leadership and Leadership and Organizational Development. Barry has served on the Board of Directors for both publicly-listed and privately-held companies, and for a number of public and community organizations, such as the American Institute of Architects, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Global Women's Leadership Network, and EMQ FamiliesFirst.

Barry received an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a master's degree from the Ohio State University in public administration, and his Ph.D. in organizational behavior and administrative theory from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At Santa Clara he has received the President's Distinguished Faculty Award, the School's Extraordinary Faculty Award, and several other outstanding teaching and leadership honors. He has been a visiting professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Sabanci University (Istanbul), and the University of Western Australia.

Described as a warm, engaging and pragmatic conference speaker and dynamic workshop facilitator, Barry has worked with such organizations as: Alcoa, Apple, Applied Materials, Australian Institute of Management, Charles Schwab, Conference Board of Canada, Dow, Hewlett-Packard, IKEA, Kaiser Permanente Health Care, L.L. Bean, Levi Strauss, Merck, NetApp, Northrop Grumman, Trader Joe's, among others, and been involved with leadership development efforts at more than 50 college campuses. He has made presentations and conducted workshops across the U.S., and around the globe, from Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe to the Far East (China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Indonesia), Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

Elaine Biech, CPTD fellow, believes excellence isn’t optional. Her passion is helping others achieve their passion. She specializes in maximizing individual, team, and organizational effectiveness using her expertise in OD, training, and consulting. She has designed and delivered thousands of training courses and apps. Highlights of her career include designing and implementing the first process improvement programs for The Newport News Shipbuilding Company and McDonalds; the first creativity program for Hershey Chocolate; and one of the world’s first virtual training sessions in 1985 for NASA.

Elaine’s been called a titan of the training industry, with 89 published books including the Washington Post #1 Best Seller, The Art & Science of Training. She has presented 37 consecutive years at ATD’s International Conference and EXPO and has been featured in dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Management Update, Washington Post, and Fortune Magazine.

Elaine has been active in ATD/ASTD, since 1982, served on the National Board of Directors and designed ATD’s first training certificate program. She is ATD’s inaugural CPTD Fellow designee and most recently was the principal author of ATD’s Body of Knowledge. A talent development thought leader, Elaine is the recipient of ATD’s 1992 Torch Award, 2004 Volunteer-Staff Partnership Award, 2006 Bliss Memorial Award, and the 2020 Distinguished Contribution to Talent Development Award. She is the recipient of ISA’s 2001 Spirit Award, 2012 Outstanding Contributor Award, and 2022 Thought Leader Award. She is also the recipient of Wisconsin’s Women’s Mentor Award; and sponsors several scholarship funds. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for ISA – The Association of Learning Providers and the Board of Governors for the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL).

She currently stays busy mentoring new consultants, coaching individuals about publishing their first books, and searching for the next book she wants to write.