Keynotes

Matt Bird is an international speaker, author and broadcaster. He has spoken in 30 countries to more than a million people, authored 10 books and writes for The Times newspaper.

Matt is the CEO/President of Cinnamon Network International a non-profit catalyzing the church to serve and transform their communities, cities and nations. He is also the CEO/President of Relationology International a company helping businesses grow through the power of building effective relationships

Matt spends time everyday investing in relationships. The media magazine Campaign said, ‘When Malcolm Gladwell sat at his typewriter and wrote the chapter on connectors in The Tipping Point, he must have just finished a slap-up lunch with Matt Bird.’

Follow Matt on Twitter @MattBirdSpeaker

Shannon Litton is president and CEO of 5by5, a marketing and digital agency that serves organizations and businesses across a variety of industries with a unique “double bottom line”— revenue and impact. The 5by5 team delivers messages with undeniable clarity, reach, and results, and has also been featured in Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 List of fastest-growing privately-held companies two years running.

Prior to establishing 5by5, Shannon co-founded a successful marketing and technology agency, worked in marketing for a technology leader in the education industry, and provided marketing consulting to non-profits engaged in multi-million dollar fundraising campaigns.

Shannon regularly speaks on leadership, marketing, branding and business strategy. She has addressed a variety of audiences including professional athletes, healthcare innovation professionals and business leaders, and spoken at Kingdom Advisors Conference, Ramsey Solutions’ Business Boutique and more. Today, she serves on the Advisory Council of the Christian Leadership Alliance, the Association of Business Professionals, and the board at Trevecca Nazarene University.
 
Follow Shannon on Twitter @SLitton

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General Session Track

In November 2017, Alvin was named the President and CEO of World Impact. World Impact empowers urban leaders and partners with local churches to reach their cities with the Gospel.

Alvin is a churchman at heart. After church planting and pastoring, he served as a denominational leader with the Evangelical Free Church of America (EFCA) for seven years. While there he directed the EFCA All People Initiative. Under his leadership the EFCA went from 13% of their congregations classified as urban, ethnic, or multi-ethnic to 22%. He also authored the book Bridging the Diversity Gap. With his passion for church leaders, his move to World Impact in 2015 was a natural fit.
 
His educational background includes a BA in Biblical Studies from Cincinnati Christian University and a MA in Religion & Urban Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He earned a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Miami University. Since 2004 he has served as an adjunct professor at a variety of seminaries across the nation.
 
Follow Alvin on Twitter @AlvinSanders1

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Bill Hendricks is President of The Giftedness Center, which grew out of a consulting practice he founded in 1985. For the last twenty years, he has been helping people make critical life and career decisions based on their giftedness.

He is the author or coauthor of twenty-two books, including The Person Called YOU: Why You’re Here, Why You Matter & What You Should Do With Your Life.

He has written for numerous publications and shares his thoughts regularly at BillHendricks.net. In addition to his practice at The Gift­edness Center, Bill serves as the Executive Director for Christian Leadership at The Hendricks Center at Dallas Theological Seminary.
 
Follow Bill on Twitter @thinkgiftedness

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Beth and her husband, Todd, live with their family in Cincinnati, Ohio where they serve as Co-Executive Directors for Back2Back Ministries, an international non-profit that serves orphans and vulnerable children. After graduating with honors from Indiana University, Beth moved to Monterrey, Mexico where she lived for 15 years. She regularly travels internationally, offering leadership consultation to non-profits and serving alongside the Back2Back staff.

Between biological, foster, and adopted children, she and her husband are raising ten children.

Beth is the author of nine books, including adult and children’s titles. She travels and speaks extensively at conferences, colleges, and church services. Her style is based in story-telling and she draws from her vast field experience as a missionary, Bible teacher, leader and parent for illustrations of biblical concepts.

Follow Beth on Twitter @bguckenberger

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Jim Wise is a Sr. Partner and Director of Ministry Services for Ronald Blue Trust. In addition to working with his clients, Jim has served as Managing Director of the Baltimore and Orlando branch offices. Jim has served in the financial services industry for thirty-five years. Professional designations include Certified Financial Planner, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy, Certified Wealth Strategist, Certified Kingdom Advisor, Chartered Financial Consultant and Chartered Life Underwriter.

Jim has provided major donor development training for leaders of over eight hundred ministries through his Maximizing Generosity Through Donor Discipleship workshop. He frequently teaches for various churches and organizations.

Jim has written three books, a Bible study workbook entitled Five Steps to Financial Freedom (2003, Hensley Publishing), Spiritual Gifts, Plain and Simple (2008, VMI Publishing) and Inheritolatry: The Final Obstacle to Completing the Great Commission (2017, Xulon Press).

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Carmen LaBerge helps people reconnect the eternal with the everyday and equips Christians to engage the culture in ways that honor Jesus.

She is known for standing firm as a convictional Christian who speaks with veracity, humility and humor bringing the mind of Christ to bear on the issues of the day. Her insights are broadcast on air through her award winning radio program, Mornings with Carmen and in her book, Speak the Truth: How to Bring God back into every Conversation (2017).

Carmen is a trusted evangelical voice in a time when evangelical leadership is often considered suspect.  In her role as Executive Director of the Common Ground Christian Network, Carmen convenes others to the table of collaboration where the unified witness of the Body of the Christ can be manifested to the disintegrated world with grace and truth.
 
Follow Carmen on Twitter @CarmenLaberge

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Dr. Albert L. Reyes is President and CEO of Buckner International, a non-profit international ministry that transforms the lives of orphans, vulnerable children, families and elders.

He is the sixth President and CEO of the 140-year-old organization based in Dallas, Texas. He previously served as President of Buckner International and President of Buckner Children and Family Services. Prior to his service at Buckner, Reyes was president of Baptist University of the Américas in San Antonio.

He is the author of The Jesus Agenda: Becoming an Agent of Redemption (Believers Press, 2015) and Hope Now: Peace, Healing, and Justice when the Kingdom comes near (Iron Stream Books, 2019).
 
Follow Albert on Twitter @AlbertLReyes

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Ken Harrison is the president and chairman of Promise Keepers. Ken’s mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.

Harrison also serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation that oversees donations of millions of dollars per month to build God’s Kingdom. He started his career as an LAPD street cop in the notorious Watts/Compton area. There he received numerous commendations and awards.

Ken then spent nearly two decades in the commercial real estate arena both nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to Colliers International, the second largest commercial real estate company in the world. He stayed on as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.

Harrison is a Colson Fellow and has served on numerous local and national boards, including FCA, Colorado Uplift, Urban Youth Ministries, Corban University and WaterStone.

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