Wednesday November 6, 2024
Keynotes
Get ready to be inspired by this year's highly-anticipated keynote presentations!
CONNECTION KEYNOTE
President & CEO
Henry Ford Health
President, ASHHRA Board of Directors, 2003
OPENING CEREMONY KEYNOTE
Monday, April 7, 2025
Sara Ross
Founder & Chief Vitality Officer
BrainAmped
Sara is on a mission to help organizations and their leaders reignite a sense of aliveness in both their work and at home. She and her company do this by using brain science-based strategies to teach people how to amplify their emotional intelligence, resilience, and well-being.
Sara Ross is an international keynote speaker, the founder and Chief Vitality Officer at BrainAmped—a leadership research firm—as well as the author of the book, Dear Work: Something Has to Change.
Sara is on a mission to help organizations and their leaders reignite a sense of aliveness in both their work and at home. She and her company do this by using brain science-based strategies to teach people how to amplify their emotional intelligence, resilience, and well-being.
As a leadership expert, Sara’s ideas and research have earned her a reputation as a fresh and thought-provoking voice in discussions focused on the future of work. As such, Sara is called on to work with clients such as Microsoft, PepsiCo., Cisco, Wells Fargo, T-Mobile, Rogers, Allstate, United Health, Fidelity, BMO, Stanford University, and as diversely as the U.S. Navy SEALs and the leadership team of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, among others. In addition, Sara has worked with numerous government agencies, foundations, and associations as well as guest lecturing in the executive leadership program at Smith College. This broad perspective and diverse experience help explain why Sara is called on to work with some of the most senior, technically sophisticated, and skeptical audiences.
You can count on Sara to bring her trademark energy with the integration of relevant, cutting-edge science and relatable stories of success and failures. Her approach is guaranteed to challenge the status quo, provide new insights and inspiration, and most importantly, leave audiences with a blueprint of actionable strategies.
Before founding BrainAmped, Sara spent a decade immersed in the neuroscience of Emotional Intelligence and Performance at a leadership development company where she served as their Vice President and Global Head of Leadership Innovation, Research and Education. As head of faculty, Sara and her team led the development and delivery of award-winning leadership programs, assessments, coaching and accreditation programs that helped leaders from across the globe to be their best, even in the most complex and stress-filled moments.
Sara has a Master of Science (MSc.) from the University of Waterloo. Outside of work, she is a coffee loving, meditation rookie who can’t help but slip in the occasional Canadian “eh” at the end of a sentence. Her husband describes her career as professional eavesdropping-people-watching. She argues that she is merely a dedicated street scientist doing her professional duty to better understand why people do what they do and why they don’t do what they know they should!
CONNECTION KEYNOTE
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Robert G. Riney
President & CEO
Henry Ford Health
President, ASHHRA Board of Directors, 2003
With more than 45 years of service at Henry Ford Health, Bob has played a pivotal role through many times of transformation, including the organization’s current era of unprecedented growth and expansion.
Few leaders embody the spirit of resilience found at Henry Ford Health, across the state of Michigan, and throughout our region more deeply than Bob Riney.
With more than 45 years of service at Henry Ford Health, Bob has played a pivotal role through many times of transformation, including the organization’s current era of unprecedented growth and expansion. A proud graduate of Wayne State University and lifelong Detroiter, Bob’s career at Henry Ford began in 1978 and has given him a uniquely comprehensive understanding of the health system’s operations, organizational culture, and connection to the communities it serves.
Appointed CEO in 2022, Bob has been instrumental in spearheading some of Henry Ford Health’s most ambitious projects to date. His leadership is central to the groundbreaking joint venture with Ascension Michigan, which unites the two major health systems to enhance care delivery across the region. This joint venture has taken Henry Ford Health from five to 13 hospitals; approximately 33,000 to 50,000 team members; and 250 to 550+ sites of care, while expanding access to advanced clinical care and cutting-edge research for communities throughout Michigan and beyond.
Bob’s leadership has also been key to the Destination: Grand project, a complete re-imagination of Henry Ford Health’s Detroit campus that will include a new 20-story, 1.2M sq. ft. hospital tower with all private rooms for patients, a new Emergency Department more than double the size of the existing one, 28 operating rooms, and its own Central Energy Hub, making it one of the largest fully electric-capable hospitals in the country. This development is not only about improving healthcare infrastructure; it’s about reshaping the future of health for the city and region. Destination: Grand will serve as a beacon of medical innovation and a cornerstone for Detroit’s revitalization, creating lasting positive impacts for decades to come.
Before becoming CEO in 2022, Bob held numerous Henry Ford Health leadership positions including: President, Healthcare Operations and Chief Operating Officer (2017 – 2022); Chief Operating Officer (2003-2022); Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer (2002–2003); and Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (2000–2002).
Bob is a passionate contributor to the overall quality of the community as well as his profession, and he is often sought out for input on major strategic issues. His current board and community roles include: Trustee, Alfred I. duPont Charitable Trust; Board Member, Detroit Zoological Society; Board Member, M1 Rail Transit Authority; Board Chair, The Parade Company; Board Member, Hudson-Webber Foundation; Board Member, Caymich Insurance Company; Board Member, Detroit Regional Chamber; Board Member, Business Leaders for Michigan; Board Member, Downtown Detroit Partnership; Board Member, Detroit Regional Partnership; Board Member, The Detroit Economic Club (DEC); and Board Member, Motown Museum.
