Mainstage Speakers

Inspiration awaits

Bring Home Fresh Ideas and Renewed Energy

Check out the full schedule

Mainstage Speaker

Damian Buchman

April 18, 8:30am-9:30am

Reverse Inclusion: Because everyBODY’s gonna need it

Sidelined by childhood bone cancer just shy of his 13th birthday, Damian Buchman found a passion for ensuring noBODY rides the bench. As the founder of The Ability Center, the Wisconsin Adaptive Sports Association, and Co-Founder of The Opportunity Center, Damian will share his personal and professional experience of how everyBODY can play in a “different pair of shoes.

Join Damian for a roundtable session

April 19, 2:00pm-3:00pm

Welcome, Wanted, and Comfortable: Facility Design Roundtable

This roundtable-style session provides professionals at all levels a collaborative learning environment to discuss the intersection of inclusion, identity, accessibility, and facility design. Learn methods and best practices to design, develop, and build facilities where everyBODY feels welcome, wanted, and comfortable. Join our interactive session with industry leaders, NIRSA Outstanding Facility Award winners, and mainstage speaker, Damian Buchman.

Learning Objectives:

Describe at least one best practice in creating welcoming spaces
Identify at least one common inclusion issue in recreation spaces and methods to improve conditions
Support peers by sharing opinions and success stories or challenges

Mainstage Speaker

Dr. Jonathan Paul Higgins

April 19, 8:15am-9:15am

Bringing the Outside-In!

In our fast-paced modern lives, it can feel difficult to connect with others – especially in new spaces and environments. However, what’s essential to our growth as professionals is knowing that we are not alone in our journey. In this presentation, we will explore the profound impact that community has on our mental, emotional, and physical health and discuss how said community can be created both at this conference and at each of your campuses.

Mainstage Speaker

Adrianne Haslet

April 20, 9:30am-10:30am

Facing Adversity with Boston Strong Resilience

Adrianne Haslet is an exemplar of resilience, a world-renowned professional ballroom dancer at the peak of her career, she was spectating the Boston Marathon when terror struck. Adrianne lost her left leg on impact, along with all hope of dancing again. Yet she pulled from the strength of the city of Boston to not only dance but finish in fourth place at the Boston Marathon this year. Adrianne shares the life lessons she had to learn and relearn with unparalleled strength over adversity.

Join Adrianne Haslet as she shares her story in:

Facing adversity with a renewed perspective
Finishing the race in every corporate and personal challenge
Learning to face challenges with a renewed mindset
Participants will identify the importance of work/school/life integration and the impact on their mental health

Inspiration awaits

Bring Home Fresh Ideas and Renewed Energy

Check out the full schedule

Mainstage Speaker

Smiley Poswolsky

The Power of Human Connection: How Leaders Can Build Belonging in a Disconnected Workplace
March 24, 8:30am–9:30am

Creating high levels of belonging is good for the students we serve and good for the teams we work with every day. As we emerge from the pandemic, only 30% of employees feel connected to their teams and only 20% of employees are engaged at work. What is workplace belonging and what are the key factors for creating belonging for yourself and those we work with and serve? In this inspiring opening presentation, Smiley makes the case that the future of work is human connection. Smiley will share how we can attract, retain, and engage the next generation of talent, increase team connection, and create more belonging by building supportive communities inside the workplace. Smiley will share practical workplace rituals and tools you can use to foster psychological safety on your team and to re-imagine a collaborative, inclusive, purpose-driven culture that ushers in The Great Reconnection.

Biography

Mainstage Speaker

Jeffrey Binney

Resilience: Being Smart Enough to Start, Dumb Enough Not to Quit
March 25, 9:30am–10:30am

Jeffrey James Binney’s unexpected path to ultrarunning taught him how to persevere and finish hard things. This motivating and hysterical talk with leave your audience inspired to stop procrastinating, “do the thing,” and—most importantly—cross the finish line! It is an ideal talk for high performing teams, celebrating what it takes to excel and those who need to be reminded that we all hold the power to resilience.

Biography

Mainstage Speaker

Dr. Kate Steiner

Embracing Burnout
A More Resilient Approach for Mental Health
March 26, 8:30am–9:30am

Stress is not unheard of in academic spaces. Stress can lead to burnout, which impacts your ability to succeed. Burnout shows up as extreme fatigue and apathy, impacting the mental health of people. Dr. Kate Steiner will introduce you to a self-reflective process used to create a personalized sustainability and wellness plan. This plan is focused on honoring that school and work influence your life and happiness. This is not about finding balance but rather creating a plan that allows you to observe your wellness, prepare for burn events and recover in a personal way. You will develop stronger resilience and build a practice of addressing burn events in their lives.

Learning Outcomes

As a result of attending this program, students will learn:

Participants will be introduced to research-backed practices meant to increase mental health awareness
Participants will develop a personal plan to observe, plan, and recover from burnout
Participants will identify the importance of work/school/life integration and the impact on their mental health