2020 Speakers
{ more to be announced }
Key Note
Portia R. Mount
Co-author of Kick Some Glass
Portia R. Mount is vice-president and global leader of strategic marketing at Ingersoll Rand, a global technology and manufacturing company. She spent over a decade as global marketing leader and member of the Center for Creative Leadership's executive team. Portia is a sought-after executive coach and speaks and writes frequently on women's leadership issues. She's been featured in TEDx, the New York Times, Human Capital Institute, the Conference Board and the Society for Human Resource Management.
As the mother to a son and daughter, she maintains an active social media presence, including her blog www.portiamount.com where she writes on lifestyle and career issues for working mothers.
Portia holds an MA in cultural anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA in Management from Wake Forest University.
Key Note
Jennifer W. Martineau
Co-author of Kick Some Glass
With over 25 years of experience in the leadership development field, Jennifer has served leaders, organizations, and communities globally. She has deep expertise in leadership research and how to apply it in practical, powerful ways for leaders and organizations.
Jennifer is the Center for Creative Leadership’s (CCL) senior vice president for Research, Evaluation, and Societal Advancement. She is a member of the International Leadership Association, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and the American Psychological Association. She serves on multiple boards and committees locally and nationally. Jennifer and her husband Jim are the proud parents of three adult children who are living their own lives of leadership.
Jennifer earned a B.A. in psychology from North Carolina State University and a M.S. and Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology from the Pennsylvania State University.
Key Note
Susan Jaffe
Dean of Dance at UNCSA
Declared by The New York Times as “America’s Quintessential American Ballerina,” Susan Jaffe was a principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre for 22 years, beginning in 1980. She appeared prominently in the international dance scene and frequently danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov.
In 2010, Ms. Jaffe was appointed as a Ballet Master of American Ballet Theater and has been featured in multiple documentaries. She is a published author of a children’s book entitled Becoming a Ballerina and holds an honorary doctorate from Texas Christian University.
In 2012, Ms. Jaffe was appointed Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she currently directs, teaches, coaches, and choreographs.
Ms. Jaffe has traveled around the country leading workshops about shifting negative thinking patterns and living more intentionally. She launched the Susan Jaffe Series in 2019 in order to make these workshops available to more people online.
Key Note
Julie A. Freischlag, M.D.
CEO of Wake Forest Baptist Health
Julie A. Freischlag, M.D., is the chief executive officer of Wake Forest Baptist Health and dean of Wake Forest School of Medicine. Freischlag has helped to drive change in academic medicine with a deep commitment to diversity and inclusion. For more than 15 years, she has led education and training programs at top medical schools in her role as professor and chair of surgery and vascular surgery departments.
Freischlag has received numerous teaching awards, an achievement award from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015. She has published more than 250 manuscripts, abstracts and book chapters in the medical sector; additionally, she has published materials on burnout and work-life balance.
She has mentored students, residents, and young faculty and is a frequent speaker on topics ranging from her expertise in vascular diseases, teamwork and patient safety, leadership and work-life balance, to women succeeding in health professions. Freischlag has dedicated her career to serving as a role model for her students and is a respected colleague across health professions, a strong community leader, and a national voice for improving health and health care.