Robert S. Blood, CLU, CFP, is a 23 -year MDRT member and has been a financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual Life since 1980 with his wife, Jeannine, working with him through this time. He is a Past President of both local and state NAIFI Associations. He has been a long time member of both the NH Estate Planning Council and Financial Service Professionals. He is a Past President and has served as a board member of the Concord Rotary Club.
Joe Castillo is a bestselling author, an artist and storyteller who has developed new way of telling stories with his hands. He calls this latest innovation “SandStory.” These stories have become a worldwide sensation, and he has performed for presidents, royalty, CEOs, international corporations and as a finalist on “America’s Got Talent.” His performances entertain, inspire and leave people with a sense of awe.
Dr. Peter Diamandis is chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on designing and launching large incentive prizes to drive radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Diamandis is an international leader in the commercial space arena, having founded and run many of the leading entrepreneurial companies in this sector. He is also the New York Times Bestselling author of “Abundance — The Future Is Better Than You Think.” Diamandis attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he received his undergraduate degree in molecular genetics and graduate degree in aerospace engineering. After MIT, he attended Harvard Medical School, where he received his M.D.
Derek A Dingwall has been a senior executive financial planner with Momentum South Africa for the last 36 years. He is a 32-year MDRT member and with 23 Top of the Table qualifications and he is a frequent MDRT speaker. Dingwall has also spoken to industry audiences in London, Sydney Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Scotland and Ireland. He has addressed service clubs and schools in his area on the subject of goal setting and was awarded the Paul Harris Fellow Award from Rotary International for his work in the community in 2011. Dingwall is still extremely active in his financial planning business in Johannesburg South Africa.
Brad Elman, CLU, is a 21-year MDRT member with 11 Court of the Table qualifications. He is a four time MDRT Annual Meeting speaker, and a two time MDRT Divisional Vice President. Elman is regularly sought out by the media for information on consumer finance. Elman is a frequent guest on the NBC Bay Area News, and he writes and is regularly quoted in many media outlets, both inside and outside the financial services industry. In 2003, Elman was one of the youngest recipients of the Jack Richter Award for Career Achievement, NAIFA Silicon Valley’s highest honor. Elman’s true passion is volunteering in the community where he focuses the majority of his time working with children with developmental disabilities.
Tony Gordon is a 35-year MDRT member with 34 Top of the Table qualifications and a past President of MDRT. Gordon, one of the best-known names in the financial services industry, is a past Top of the Table Divisional Vice President and author of the bestselling book "It Can Only Get Better: Tony Gordon's Route to Sales Success." He now focuses his time on speaking, mentoring and a variety of business interests. Gordon coaches attendees on how to grow their financial services practice and realize their true potential.
Gilbert A. Haggart, CLU, LUTCF, is a 43-year member of the Round Table currently serving as President of the MDRT Foundation. In his time at MDRT, he has chaired and served on many committees including the Program Development, Program General Arrangements and Foundation Grants committees. A Platinum Knight of the Foundation, Haggart has participated in several Phonathons to raise funds for its grant programs. He was also on the volunteer leadership team for the Million Meal Challenge.
Emmanuel Kelly was born into a war zone and abandoned. While living in an orphanage he was selected to receive life changing surgery in Australia 12 years ago. Kelly has always dreamed of becoming a professional recording artist. Within days of his audition for "The X Factor" in Australia, Kelly’s YouTube video received over two million views, and within a year, he has captured the hearts of over 30 million people. Kelly continues to sing and record music, and inspire people with his story and his song.
Craig Kielburger is a social entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and syndicated columnist. He co-founded Free The Children in 1995 when he was 12-years-old. Today, he remains a full-time volunteer for the organization, which has become the world’s leading youth-driven charity. What began as a group of kids working out of a garage now has more than 1.7 million young people involved in its programs.
Allison Massari was voted by Meetings and Conventions magazine as one of the 2012 top ten motivational speakers in North America. Massari teaches the secrets she discovered to triumph despite tragedies, thrive in turbulent times, and forge your own path to success. An award-winning entrepreneur, artist and international speaker Massari is now a fiery voice for the potent power of compassion, kindness and indestructible perseverance. As a sought-after private coach, her highly effective methods have enabled her to form bonds as a trusted confidante to CEOs, executives and entrepreneurs.
Scott McKain, an internationally known expert and author, helps organizations create distinction in every phase of business and teaches how to deliver an “ultimate customer experience.” McKain takes a revolutionary approach by showing how organizations and individual professionals create differentiation in the marketplace. He has appeared multiple times as a commentator on Fox News to discuss business, politics and American culture.
Dambisa Moyo, Ph.D., analyzes the global macro economy, focusing on investment opportunities and risks around the world. She serves on the boards of Barclays Bank, SABMiller and Barrick Gold, and she has worked at Goldman Sachs and the World Bank. Author of three New York Times bestsellers, Moyo was named to Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” She is a contributor to CNBC and has been published in the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal. She completed a Ph.D. in economics at Oxford University and a masters at Harvard.
Max Moyo is an executive coach with 15 years’ experience in financial services and has been affiliated with a number of blue-chip companies throughout South Africa. A highly regarded speaker, he is in demand as a life transformation coach, newspaper columnist and public speaker. Moyo believes people need to embrace their purpose and identity to succeed in life. His extensive use of the African cultural identity utilizing traditional values, symbols and metaphors to illustrate his points are a unique feature of his presentations.
Matt Oechsli is one of the leading authorities on marketing, selling, servicing and developing loyalty with affluent clients. A bestselling author and one of the most sought-after speakers in the financial services industry, he delivers more than 200 speeches each year. His firm, The Oechsli Institute, conducts ongoing research projects on the affluent – including how the group makes major purchasing decisions, the criteria they use when selecting a "go-to" financial advisor, what they look for in a personal banking relationship and more.
Alan Parisse, CSP, CPAE, is a seasoned financial executive and author whose insightful ideas have inspired agents and advisors around the world to enhance client service and expand their practices. A Hall of Fame speaker, he was named “One of the Top 21 Speakers for 21st Century” by Successful Meetings Magazine. No stranger to MDRT, Parisse has spoken for the Top of the Table, Court of the Table and is a return guest on the Main Platform. He has been a guest lecturer at the Stanford Business School, UC Berkeley Graduate School of Business, UCLA Graduate School of Management and the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.
Wintley Phipps is internationally known as a man with great musical talent and a powerful message. He is a speaker and singer who specializes in messages of hope, faith and possibility thinking. In 2010, he received the Master of Influence Award by the National Speakers Association. He has performed for every U.S. president since Jimmy Carter, and he delivered the inspirational address for the opening of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. For more than 25 years, he has traveled the world delivering messages of hope, advocacy and equality to thousands of people.
An expert in viral, social and authentic marketing, which he calls “Un-Marketing,” Scott Stratten ran his “UnAgency” for a nearly a decade before solely focusing on speaking at events for companies like PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross and more. He has more than 118,000 Twitter followers and was just named one of the top five social media influencers in the world by Forbes. Aside from writing a nationally bestselling business book, Stratten’s clients’ viral marketing videos have been viewed more than 60 million times. Business Review USA recently named him one of “America’s 10 Marketing Gurus.”
Sarah Thissell received a Bachelor’s degree from Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT. She is a stay-at-home mom to three children. She also serves on the board of a family company in St. Louis, MO and volunteers for Middlebury as an alumni admissions representative.
Rory Vaden, MBA, is a self-discipline strategist, co-founder of the multimillion dollar international sales training company Southwestern Consulting, and New York Times bestselling author of “Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success.” His insights on improving self-discipline, overcoming procrastination and enhancing productivity have been shared on Oprah radio, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, CBS, in Businessweek, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and in SUCCESS Magazine. In addition to being a thought leader and entrepreneur, Vaden is a two-time world champion of public speaking finalist for Toastmasters International.
The Water Coolers Do you ever feel like you've got all your eggs in one basket, six balls in the air, 2 kids waiting to be picked up from soccer practice, and 7000 emails to return? Well gather 'round! THE WATER COOLERS delivers a high-powered, laugh-out-loud combination of sketch comedy and music about what we go through just making each day happen. "Office life's loss is show business's gain!" [New York Times] “Like a big thumbs up at a shareholders meeting!” [Miami Herald] “Guaranteed to make you laugh!” [Chicago Sun Times] Corporate clients include AT&T, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, Genworth Financial, IBM, Hewlett Packard, and many more.