Meet the Voices Shaping the Vanguard Impact Summit
Practical Expertise. Real-World Perspective.
Our speakers have been selected for more than what they know. Each has been invited to contribute to an experience built around practical application, thoughtful conversation, and meaningful learning.
Across keynotes, sessions, workshops, micro-learning experiences, and the Skills Lab, speakers will explore the realities of careers, entrepreneurship, marketing, leadership, personal development, and the many factors that shape how we grow and move forward.
Every session has been developed with one central question in mind: What can attendees actually use after the Summit?
The result is a speaker lineup focused on helping attendees leave with practical tools, fresh perspectives, and ideas they can adapt to their own circumstances.
2026 Speaker Lineup
Meet the speakers joining us for the inaugural Vanguard Impact Summit.
Select any speaker to learn more about their background, session, and the expertise they will be bringing to the Summit.
Title: Owner and Chief Brand Strategist
Organization: 38th & Kip Studio
Session: Marketing workshop: Storytelling and Community Building
Alicia Disantis is a multidisciplinary creative leader with over 15 years’ experience developing strategies for complex brands that position them as unquestionable leaders. As the Owner and Chief Brand Strategist of 38th & Kip Studio, she specializes in brand strategy and design for a variety of industries.
Title: Owner and Chief Brand Strategist
Organization: 38th & Kip Studio
Session: Marketing workshop: Storytelling and Community Building
Alicia Disantis is a multidisciplinary creative leader with over 15 years’ experience developing strategies for complex brands that position them as unquestionable leaders. As the Owner and Chief Brand Strategist of 38th & Kip Studio, she specializes in brand strategy and design for a variety of industries.
Title: Founder
Organization: Dreaming Big Lifestyle
Session: Marketing workshop: The Marketing Audit
Ana Belen Pautassi is a marketing strategist, business coach, educator, and founder of Dreaming Big Lifestyle. With more than a decade of experience across digital marketing, public relations, social media, branding, websites, and content creation, Ana helps entrepreneurs replace scattered marketing with clear, intentional strategies.
Title: Founder
Organization: Dreaming Big Lifestyle
Session: Marketing workshop: The Marketing Audit
Ana Belen Pautassi is a marketing strategist, business coach, educator, and founder of Dreaming Big Lifestyle. With more than a decade of experience across digital marketing, public relations, social media, branding, websites, and content creation, Ana helps entrepreneurs replace scattered marketing with clear, intentional strategies.
Title: Founder
Organization: MarketingVerse
Session: Marketing Session: The Psychology of Trust-Building
Andrea Chase is a Communications Consultant, Entrepreneur, and Voiceover Professional from Ottawa, Canada. She is Co-Founder & CMO of BAITS Global Inc., where she leads MarketingVerse, a digital marketing suite for women-owned and tech businesses.
Title: Founder
Organization: MarketingVerse
Session: Marketing Session: The Psychology of Trust-Building
Andrea Chase is a Communications Consultant, Entrepreneur, and Voiceover Professional from Ottawa, Canada. She is Co-Founder & CMO of BAITS Global Inc., where she leads MarketingVerse, a digital marketing suite for women-owned and tech businesses.
Title: Keynote Speaker and Leadership Performance Coach
Organization: Angelica Ventrice Coaching
Session: Closing Keynote
Angelica Ventrice is a Leadership Performance Coach and Keynote Speaker who helps high-achievers elevate their performance, navigate pressure, and pursue meaningful success without sacrificing their well-being.
Title: Keynote Speaker and Leadership Performance Coach
Organization: Angelica Ventrice Coaching
Session: Closing Keynote
Angelica Ventrice is a Leadership Performance Coach and Keynote Speaker who helps high-achievers elevate their performance, navigate pressure, and pursue meaningful success without sacrificing their well-being.
Title: Director
Organization: Wots Consulting
Session: Entrepreneurship session: Partnerships and Collaborations That Elevate Your Business Without Draining You
Bron Watson has spent 30 years working across business, marketing, and communications, first as a Registered Nurse and Master’s-qualified educator, then for the past 14 years as founder of The Social Coach, helping regional business owners simplify their marketing and build sustainable businesses without burnout.
Title: Director
Organization: Wots Consulting
Session: Entrepreneurship session: Partnerships and Collaborations That Elevate Your Business Without Draining You
Bron Watson has spent 30 years working across business, marketing, and communications, first as a Registered Nurse and Master’s-qualified educator, then for the past 14 years as founder of The Social Coach, helping regional business owners simplify their marketing and build sustainable businesses without burnout.
Title: Master (M.npn) Neuroplastician®
Organization: Your Success Unlimited
Session: Integrated session: The Emotional Cost of Being Visible
Caterina Perry is an Executive Coach and Master Neuroplastician® who helps high achievers understand what happens in the brain when visibility feels threatening. Drawing on neuroscience and her ClaytoGoldTM methodology, she identifies the hidden neural patterns that drive self-doubt, over-preparation, people-pleasing, and perfectionism in high-stakes moments.
Title: Master (M.npn) Neuroplastician®
Organization: Your Success Unlimited
Session: Integrated session: The Emotional Cost of Being Visible
Caterina Perry is an Executive Coach and Master Neuroplastician® who helps high achievers understand what happens in the brain when visibility feels threatening. Drawing on neuroscience and her ClaytoGoldTM methodology, she identifies the hidden neural patterns that drive self-doubt, over-preparation, people-pleasing, and perfectionism in high-stakes moments.
Title: Instructional Designer & Copy Editor
Session: Personal Development workshop: Micro-Bravery
Chantell Crooks is an Instructional Designer, educator, and lifelong learner with over 18 years of experience working across Jamaica, Japan, and Canada. With a background in TESOL instruction and learning design, she creates engaging, learner-centred experiences that empower individuals to grow personally and professionally.
Title: Instructional Designer & Copy Editor
Session: Personal Development workshop: Micro-Bravery
Chantell Crooks is an Instructional Designer, educator, and lifelong learner with over 18 years of experience working across Jamaica, Japan, and Canada. With a background in TESOL instruction and learning design, she creates engaging, learner-centred experiences that empower individuals to grow personally and professionally.
Title: Facilitator & Leadership Development Consultant
Organization: Deanne Gagnon Dynamics
Session: Careers session: The Influence Playbook
Deanne Gagnon is a facilitator and leadership development consultant who helps leaders and teams communicate better, work through challenges, and move important work forward together.
Title: Facilitator & Leadership Development Consultant
Organization: Deanne Gagnon Dynamics
Session: Careers session: The Influence Playbook
Deanne Gagnon is a facilitator and leadership development consultant who helps leaders and teams communicate better, work through challenges, and move important work forward together.
Title: Founder
Organization: Elevate Pathways Coaching and Consulting, Inc.
Sessions: Careers workshop: Making Yourself Impossible to Overlook & Integrated Workshop: Navigating Bias Without Burning Yourself Out
Dr. Rose M. White is a Master Certified Life Coach, business consultant, author, educator, and creator of The Next Chapter Framework(TM). With more than 40 years of leadership and organizational experience, she helps professionals manage pressure, make clearer decisions, and move forward with confidence and structure.
Title: Founder
Organization: Elevate Pathways Coaching and Consulting, Inc.
Sessions: Careers workshop: Making Yourself Impossible to Overlook & Integrated Workshop: Navigating Bias Without Burning Yourself Out
Dr. Rose M. White is a Master Certified Life Coach, business consultant, author, educator, and creator of The Next Chapter Framework(TM). With more than 40 years of leadership and organizational experience, she helps professionals manage pressure, make clearer decisions, and move forward with confidence and structure.
Title: Managing Director
Organization: Village of Play
Session: Careers workshop: Communication Skills for High-Emotion Workplaces
Jamila Godfrey is a Brain Fitness Coach and the managing director of Village of Play, based in Cochrane, Alberta. She works with individuals, families, and organizations on cognitive fitness and executive function, the mental skills that let people stay clear and grounded when pressure runs high.
Title: Managing Director
Organization: Village of Play
Session: Careers workshop: Communication Skills for High-Emotion Workplaces
Jamila Godfrey is a Brain Fitness Coach and the managing director of Village of Play, based in Cochrane, Alberta. She works with individuals, families, and organizations on cognitive fitness and executive function, the mental skills that let people stay clear and grounded when pressure runs high.
Title: Authenticity Coach, Creator of the 3D Authenticity Framework™
Organization: 3D Authenticity
Session: Integrated session: When Your Identity Shapes Your Ambition
Jennifer Wade is an Authenticity Coach and speaker, whose work explores the intersection of identity, self-worth, and intentional living.
Title: Authenticity Coach, Creator of the 3D Authenticity Framework™
Organization: 3D Authenticity
Session: Integrated session: When Your Identity Shapes Your Ambition
Jennifer Wade is an Authenticity Coach and speaker, whose work explores the intersection of identity, self-worth, and intentional living.
Title: Founder
Organization: Layman Collective, LLC
Session: The Vanguard Impact Skills Lab
Joyce Layman is a mindset and strategic visibility expert who has been helping people get out of their own way since 2008. Her work connects brain-based behavior change with the practical side of building visibility, stronger relationships, and new opportunities.
Title: Founder
Organization: Layman Collective, LLC
Session: The Vanguard Impact Skills Lab
Joyce Layman is a mindset and strategic visibility expert who has been helping people get out of their own way since 2008. Her work connects brain-based behavior change with the practical side of building visibility, stronger relationships, and new opportunities.
Title: Founder and CEO / Adjunct Professor of Law
Organization: Heart Led Leadership / Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Session: Careers session: Navigating Workplace Politics Without Losing Yourself
Lauren Wu, Esq., CIPP/US, is a keynote speaker, attorney, and founder of Heart Led Leadership. Lauren’s work explores how high-performance cultures can be rebuilt from requiring constant endurance to become sustainable, human systems.
Title: Founder and CEO / Adjunct Professor of Law
Organization: Heart Led Leadership / Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Session: Careers session: Navigating Workplace Politics Without Losing Yourself
Lauren Wu, Esq., CIPP/US, is a keynote speaker, attorney, and founder of Heart Led Leadership. Lauren’s work explores how high-performance cultures can be rebuilt from requiring constant endurance to become sustainable, human systems.
Title: Career & Business Coach, Founder
Organization: Gifted Impact Consultation
Session: Entrepreneurship workshop: Low-Risk Testing
Loann Phoenix is a Career and Business Coach and founder of Gifted Impact™, helping professionals and early-stage entrepreneurs build careers and businesses aligned with their innate abilities to create value, not just their learned skills.
Title: Career & Business Coach, Founder
Organization: Gifted Impact Consultation
Session: Entrepreneurship workshop: Low-Risk Testing
Loann Phoenix is a Career and Business Coach and founder of Gifted Impact™, helping professionals and early-stage entrepreneurs build careers and businesses aligned with their innate abilities to create value, not just their learned skills.
Title: Nurse Practitioner
Organization: Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology / Brain Wellness Solutions
Session: Personal Development session: Unlearning Perfectionism and Rebuilding Confidence
Mandi Swanson is an award-winning Nurse Practitioner with experience in healthcare since 1999. She is an author, host of Brain Wellness – the Podcast, speaker, and TBI survivor.
Title: Nurse Practitioner
Organization: Minneapolis Clinic of Neurology / Brain Wellness Solutions
Session: Personal Development session: Unlearning Perfectionism and Rebuilding Confidence
Mandi Swanson is an award-winning Nurse Practitioner with experience in healthcare since 1999. She is an author, host of Brain Wellness – the Podcast, speaker, and TBI survivor.
Title: CEO/Cultural Strategist
Organization: Lianas Collective Inc
Sessions: Micro Learning Series: Better Decisions in Five Questions & Integrated workshop: Leadership at the Intersections
Prayalini Sathanantham, founder of Lianas Collective, blends analytical rigor with people‐first insight. With roots in finance, operations, and engagement, she helps organizations build cultures where people feel supported and performance thrives.
Title: CEO/Cultural Strategist
Organization: Lianas Collective Inc
Sessions: Micro Learning Series: Better Decisions in Five Questions & Integrated workshop: Leadership at the Intersections
Prayalini Sathanantham, founder of Lianas Collective, blends analytical rigor with people‐first insight. With roots in finance, operations, and engagement, she helps organizations build cultures where people feel supported and performance thrives.
Title: Business Owner
Organization: VXL LLC
Session: Entrepreneurship workshop: Money Boundaries for Entrepreneurs
Chinneaqua “Ray” Matthews, MBA, SFPC, ISOC is a Business Development Strategist, National Security Advisor, and AI Business Systems Developer dedicated to helping organizations and entrepreneurs simplify complex challenges.
Title: Business Owner
Organization: VXL LLC
Session: Entrepreneurship workshop: Money Boundaries for Entrepreneurs
Chinneaqua “Ray” Matthews, MBA, SFPC, ISOC is a Business Development Strategist, National Security Advisor, and AI Business Systems Developer dedicated to helping organizations and entrepreneurs simplify complex challenges.
Title: Author, Motivational Speaker, Wayshower, Founder
Organization: Embolden Adventures
Session: Opening keynote
Sara Roccisano is a world-traveling motivational speaker, author, wayshower, and CEO and Founder of Embolden Adventures. Sara inspires personal, professional, and spiritual development through these extraordinary times of change and transformation.
Title: Author, Motivational Speaker, Wayshower, Founder
Organization: Embolden Adventures
Session: Opening keynote
Sara Roccisano is a world-traveling motivational speaker, author, wayshower, and CEO and Founder of Embolden Adventures. Sara inspires personal, professional, and spiritual development through these extraordinary times of change and transformation.
Title: Founder
Organization: Disciplined Direction Consulting
Session: Micro Learning Series: Three Visibility Staples for Low-Energy Seasons
Shelley has spent the last 30 years leading people and building resilient teams for both the military and corporate settings. As a decorated veteran she is now sharing some simple tips that have provided outsized returns to allow you to remain visible without being loud that were proven both around the world and the country.
Title: Founder
Organization: Disciplined Direction Consulting
Session: Micro Learning Series: Three Visibility Staples for Low-Energy Seasons
Shelley has spent the last 30 years leading people and building resilient teams for both the military and corporate settings. As a decorated veteran she is now sharing some simple tips that have provided outsized returns to allow you to remain visible without being loud that were proven both around the world and the country.
Title: Founder
Organization: Women Making Waves
Session: Personal Development Session: Identity in Transition
Tyler Skinner is the Founder and CEO of Women Making Waves, a leadership and community development organization dedicated to helping individuals and organizations build confidence, strengthen relationships, and lead with greater intention.
Title: Founder
Organization: Women Making Waves
Session: Personal Development Session: Identity in Transition
Tyler Skinner is the Founder and CEO of Women Making Waves, a leadership and community development organization dedicated to helping individuals and organizations build confidence, strengthen relationships, and lead with greater intention.
Title: Founder & CEO, Podcast Host
Organization: Beyoutifully Empower Coaching & Consulting LLC
Session: Entrepreneurship session: Scaling Sustainably
Veena is an Identity Coach, Business Consultant & Strategist, CEO of Beyoutifully Empower, host of Voices of Impact, and creator of Sovereign Rise Global Collective. She works with visionary entrepreneurs & global changemakers, helping them align who they are with how they lead, position, and grow.
Title: Founder & CEO, Podcast Host
Organization: Beyoutifully Empower Coaching & Consulting LLC
Session: Entrepreneurship session: Scaling Sustainably
Veena is an Identity Coach, Business Consultant & Strategist, CEO of Beyoutifully Empower, host of Voices of Impact, and creator of Sovereign Rise Global Collective. She works with visionary entrepreneurs & global changemakers, helping them align who they are with how they lead, position, and grow.
Step into your power. Shape your future.
Join us for the Vanguard Impact Summit 2026 and be part of the movement.
