Keynote Speaker

J.B. SPISSO
Lead Consultant & Performance Coach of Elite Leadership Training LLC

J.B. Spisso Lead Consultant & Performance Coach of Elite Leadership Training LLC has over 26 years of military, leadership and management experience, including 10 years in Special Operations where he led U.S. Army Rangers in combat (Panama -1989 & Haiti -1994). He has achieved the prominent rank of Sergeant Major, the highest and most respected Non-Commissioned Officer position in the military, retiring from Active Duty in 2010. He has extensive experience as a leader, trainer and educator, including experience as a Drill Sergeant, Special Operations Instructor, U.S. Army Officer Candidate School Instructor, Company Tactical NCO and Senior Enlisted Advisor - Department of Military Instruction at West Point, First Sargent of the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School, First Sergeant of the New York Army National Guard Officers Candidate School and Sergeant Major of the Advanced Combat Training Team, Task Force Phoenix Ⅶ.

J.B.'s career included serving as a Rifle Team Leader, Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment. As a Tactical NCO and First Sergeant, J.B. was the Senior Enlisted Trainer for potential Army Officers both at West Point and through Officer Candidate School.

As part of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008, J.B. served as a Sergeant Major in the Training Advisory Group at Camp Alamo, Afghanistan leading an elite team of U.S., Romanian and Polish Soldiers. He conducted countless numbers of military operations including training and mentoring the senior military staff of the Afghan National Army Advanced Combat Training Team. J.B. earned the Joint Meritorious Service Medal for his work with coalition forces while deployed (British, French, Romanian and Polish Military).

J.B. continued to serve the United States Military Academy as a General Manager of the Army Athletics Sports Complex at West Point, where J.B. supervised and managed Division I Collegiate Athletic events involving groups from 2,500 to 38,000. He was responsible for the planning and security operations at these locations as well as emergency preparation.

J.B. has attended numerous leadership and special operations courses throughout his military career including Ranger School, Airborne, HALO, Static Line and HALO Jumpmaster, SERE, Pathfinder, Special Forces Advanced Urban Combat, Drill Instructor and is a certified Advanced Scuba Diving Instructor. J.B. has also earned both the Thai and Egyptian Foreign Jump Wings. JB's military and civilian education includes the Primary Leadership Development Course, the Basic and Advanced Non-Commissioned Officer's Course, the First Sergeants Academy, and the Sergeants Major Academy. J.B. holds a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Management & Leadership from Nyack College.

J.B. was responsible for the team building and leadership training for the New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, Houston Aeros and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey clubs; assisting all of them in meeting their goals which included Pittsburgh winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, Philadelphia reaching the Cup Finals in 2010 & Houston reaching the Calder Cup Finals in 2011. He has also Conducted programs for Boston University, Notre Dame, Bentley University, College of Holy Cross, Curry College, as well as prominent Prep Schools. J.B. has also conducted leadership sessions for or many successful companies including Atlantic Health, Activision, Automated Data Processing, Bridgeline Digital, Leaders 4 Life, NARCE, PepsiCo, Prime Therapeutics, Quest Diagnostics, SPIKE T.V. Sunshine Minting Inc. and the U.S. Army, just to name a few.

J.B. is well known throughout the military, sports world and civilian community for his ability to inspire and motivate with a passion that speaks louder than words. His dedication to duty and commitment to o excellence has forged a foundation for character building in youth groups, military and c civilian professionals, and professional athletes. J.B.'s no-nonsense leadership me message forges the foundation for our leaders of today.

Presenter

Grace-Marie Turner
President, Galen Institute

Grace-Marie Turner is president of the Galen Institute, a public policy research organization that she founded in 1995 to promote an informed debate over free-market ideas for health reform.

She has been instrumental in developing and promoting ideas for reform that transfer power over health care decisions to doctors and patients. She speaks and writes extensively about incentives to promote a more competitive, patient-centered marketplace in the health sector.

• She testifies regularly before Congress and advises senior government officials, governors, and state legislators on health policy.
• She is a co-author of Why ObamaCare Is Wrong for America, published by HarperCollins in 2011.
• Grace-Marie served for a three-year term as a member of the National Advisory Council of Healthcare Research and Quality and served as a member of the Medicaid Commission, charged with making recommendations to modernize and improve Medicaid.

Grace-Marie is founder and facilitator of the Health Policy Consensus Group which serves as a forum for analysts from market-oriented think tanks around the country to analyze and develop policy recommendations. She is the editor of Empowering Health Care Consumers through Tax Reform and produces a widely-read weekly electronic newsletter, Health Policy Matters.

She has been published in major newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and she has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and on hundreds of radio and television programs in the U.S. She also received the 2007 Outstanding Achievement Award for Promotion of Consumer Driven Health Care from Consumer Health World. Grace-Marie speaks extensively in the U.S. and abroad, including at the London School of Economics, Oxford University, and the Gregorian University at the Vatican in Rome.

In the mid-1990s, Grace-Marie served as executive director of the National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform. For 12 years, she was president of Arnett & Co., a health policy analysis and communications firm. Her early career was in politics and journalism, where she received numerous awards for her writings on politics and economics.