Angela Bennett
Director, Office of Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education

Angela Bennett is the regional director of the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Kansas City Office.

Previously, Bennett served as executive director, Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary National Commission; a joint appointment along with duties as director of Office for Civil Rights and employed by the Kansas City law firm Lathrop & Gage L.C. Other previous posts include chief environmental attorney, assistant district counsel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; assistant attorney general for the state of Missouri; assistant county counselor for Jackson County, Mo.; and complaint officer, Human Relations and Citizens Complaints, for Jackson County. Bennett is a member of the American Bar Association, the Missouri Bar Association and the Association for Women Lawyers of Greater Kansas City.

She is active in a variety of civic organizations as well as the Centennial United Methodist Church. She has received numerous honors, including the UM-Kansas City Alumni Achievement Award in the field of Law; Missouri Bar Association President's Award and the Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus Public Service Award.

Bennett received two bachelor's degrees in political science and in radio, TV and film, as well as a Juris Doctor, from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Mitch Matthews
Co-Founder
BIG dream gathering^TM

Mitch Matthews is an entrepreneur who has a heart for connecting people.

A few years ago, as he and his wife were working on one of their big dreams, they had what they now call a "happy accident."

They started something called the "BIG dream gathering^TM." It was an opportunity for their friends to come over to their house to write down their BIG dreams and post them on their walls. Then everyone could read each other's dreams and see if they could help with encouragement, connections or time. It was supposed to go for a few hours... but it wound up lasting a week! All sorts of dreams were launched... everything from helping children in Africa to a couple of dreamers scoring a contract with NIKE^TM.

These BIG dream gatherings have continued and Matthews and his Dream Team have seen this revolution take off with thousands of dreams reawakened and incredible connections made.

During his talk, Matthews will share some stories from the BIG dream gathering that will inspire us to dream a little bigger about our student organizations while helping our peer student groups go after their dreams too.

Kelly McDonald
President
McDonald Marketing

What does a blond-haired, blue-eyed Irish girl know about diversity and reaching generations? Plenty!

Kelly McDonald is a marketing and advertising expert with more than 20 years of global advertising agency experience. She has deep experience in marketing to different generations, values, lifestyles, races and ethnicities. No matter how different people can be from one another, MacDonald knows how to craft marketing messages that will resonate with them and turn them into customers for life.

Her clients include Toyota, Sherwin-Williams, Harley-Davidson, Mattel and Nike. In 2006, she was named #1 on the list of "26 Hot Speakers" by Successful Meetings Magazine. In 2007 and 2009, Advertising Age named her company one of the top ad agencies in the United States, and in 2008 and 2009, Inc Magazine named her company one of the fastest-growing privately owned companies in the country. She has been featured in BusinessWeek, on CNNMoney.com and on XM Radio.

MacDonald will be presenting an enthusiastic and eye-opening look at generational differences in the workplace.

Left to right: Erin Pierce, Austin Shaw, Raelise Emard and Andrew Stricklin,
Florida Cicerones/Student Alumni Association, University of Florida

The CASE ASAP Award-Winning Florida Cicerones/SAA is an organization of student leaders who serve as the official ambassadors to the University of Florida. Dedicated to connecting past, present, and future Gators, Florida Cicerones have the opportunity to serve UF and the Gator Nation® in a number of ways, including campus tours, athletic recruiting, presidential hosting, and through the UF Student Alumni Association. Erin, Austin, Raelise and Andrew will lead a keynote internal programs session showing participants fun, easy and cost effective ways to strengthen bonds among members.