Bill Jerome is a student of organizational cultures and obstacles that prevent the success of change agents and visionaries. He is a co-author of the recently published “The Disposable Visionary: a Survival Guide for Change Agents” [Praeger ABC-CLIO]. Bill earned his Master in Management from Northwestern's Kellogg School and, with the concept of creating an "indispensable brand," worked for over 20 years with over 200 companies, associations and executives (including numerous medical societies) to empower leaders who can inspire vision and innovation. For the last 10 years, he has researched the irony behind change agents:  that most companies that say they want change to end up firing those employees who could bring the most value, including CEO's, executive directors and managers. He has provided a series of assessments on corporate cultures that obstruct innovation and even exist in companies that are often and mistakenly praised for an empowering culture. Building on his career as a vision and leadership consultant, he is currently the Chief Storyteller for the country's largest Christian school system.

Curt Powell designs and implements customer-focused, data-driven marketing strategies that improve the customer experience and produce measurable results. His extensive toolbox includes demand generation, customer engagement, brand development, segmentation, market expansion, CRM and omnichannel marketing. He has served as a senior strategist/consultant for healthcare and higher education, including a number of medical societies such as the College of American Pathologists where he served as Senior Director of Strategic Marketing Enterprise Solutions. Curt takes particular pride in working effectively across organization lines to bring about positive change that drives customer loyalty and grows revenue. As Director of Marketing and Communications for the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Curt currently leads departmental and cross-functional initiatives to enhance, expand and coordinate the Society’s activities related to membership and all product lines, both domestic and international. Responsibilities include sales, media, press and public relations, corporate communications, omni-channel marketing, analytics, branding and strategic leadership. Curt and his wife Scottie live in downtown Chicago and enjoy participating in the rich cultural variety the city has to offer.