Meet the Speakers!
NAHAD is thrilled to welcome 5 incredible speakers to Indianapolis this year. Learn more about the speakers and their presentations below!
Information on presentations coming soon!
Alex Weber
With his contagious energy and actionable System, ALEX WEBER immediately impacts audiences and ignites record-breaking achievements! Alex is an Award-Winning Keynote Speaker, Champion Coach, Acclaimed Author, TV Host for NBC, and competitor on American Ninja Warrior. Alex is also the only person ever to Host and Compete on NBC’s American Ninja Warrior! Alex helps you lead beyond changes, overcome challenges, and unlock new levels of achievement!
Alex connects so well with audiences because of his genuine openness about the challenges, self-doubt, and uncertainty that we all face — and how you can overcome it! As a professional entertainer, US Lacrosse Coach of the Year, and acclaimed Author, Alex is highly sought after for his unique ability to engage, empower, and transform audiences. Alex has positively inspired over 5.5 million people worldwide, and worked with major companies like Xerox, Apple, Fidelity, Amazon, Under Armor, LinkedIn, RE/MAX, The Los Angeles Lakers, Stanford Business and many more!
With his inspiring stories, captivating energy, and actionable takeaways, Alex empowers you to lead beyond changes and conquer challenges, so you can accomplish your biggest goals in your career, your relationships, and your life! Now is the time to unlock The Unstoppable You™!
Alex is presenting on Tuesday, at the General Session and Business Meeting
Annalise Koltai, MA, CPCC
Annalise Koltai is an executive coach who has spent the last decade working with leaders at Fortune 500 companies including Slack, Salesforce, LinkedIn, Workday, Fidelity Investments, and OpenAI, as well as serving as a featured workshop facilitator at the University of International Distribution 2025 Conference. Annalise has built her career on coaching high-performing leaders to move beyond technical excellence in their work to develop the presence, relational capacity, and strategic vision required for true impact.
Annalise works with leaders who understand that the primary barrier between where they are and where they want to be is themselves. Her approach is intensive and practical, ensuring results are extraordinary. She helps leaders examine the beliefs and frameworks they’ve built their leadership around—questioning what’s actually serving them and what’s holding them back. This creates clarity, choice, and the ability to lead with full ownership rather than reactivity.
Annalise is presenting on Sunday, at the Afternoon Workshops.
Michael Feuz
Michael Feuz is a key member of ITR Economics’ team of expert economists and consultants. Backed by a decade of experience working for technology start-ups, he contributes to the production of client reports, forecast reviews, economic research, and regular client-facing communications.
Michael majored in business administration at Franciscan University of Steubenville and earned his master’s degree in economics from George Mason University. His accomplishments include building, implementing, and executing multiple go-to-market plans for technology start-ups, advancing as a national finalist in a public speaking competition, and publishing multiple op-eds in major media outlets while working in public relations.
Prior to joining ITR Economics, Michael worked as a technology consultant. He helped manufacturers, construction companies, oil and gas firms, financial institutions, and small businesses enhance their operational efficiencies. He worked with C-suite executives across a wide range of industries to improve intra-company communications, data capture and analysis, sales numbers, and profitability.
Michael is presenting on Sunday, at the Opening General Session.
Steve McClatchy
Steve McClatchy is a keynote speaker and author of the award-winning New York Times Bestseller Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress & Lead by Example. Decide has enjoyed global success and has been translated into 11 languages including Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish. In every speech Steve weaves insight, interaction, and actionable content with humor, inspiration, and motivation.
For over 20 years Steve has worked with the most prominent organizations in the world including Google, Under Armour, Disney, John Deere, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Accenture, HP, Merck, Wells Fargo, Campbell’s Soup, and many teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB.
He speaks frequently at Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago Booth. He has appeared on CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, WSJ TV, and NBC’s The Today Show and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, WebMD, Oprah Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Investor’s Business Daily. His new book Leading Relationships hit #2 on the USA Today National Bestseller List and is also a Publisher’s Weekly and Associated Press Bestseller! Steve’s passion is for continuous improvement and believes that when we stop growing, learning, gaining experience, and achieving goals, we stop living.
Steve is presenting on Monday at the Members Luncheon, and hosting Afternoon Workshop #4.
Tracie Sponenberg
Tracie Sponenberg is a business leader specializing in people, HR transformation, and leadership development. She is the former Chief People Officer of The Granite Group Wholesalers LLC, where she led People strategy for 700+ employees across 60+ locations in six states and partnered with the executive team through acquisitions, a global pandemic, and a full transformation of HR into an award-winning People Team.
In 2024, Tracie founded Tracie Sponenberg LLC, a boutique HR consulting firm focused on helping organizations—particularly in the distribution industry—build people-first cultures, upskill deskless workforces, and leverage technology (including AI) to drive business results. With nearly 30 years of experience, she has led HR functions across professional services, media, publishing, and private-equity-backed organizations, frequently working with CEOs to align people strategy with growth and culture change.
A globally recognized thought leader, Tracie is an award-winning HR professional, global speaker, and co-founder of several HR communities. Her insights have been featured by the BBC, NPR, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and other major outlets. Known for her practical, candid approach, Tracie challenges leaders to put people before profits—and proves why it works.
Tracie is speaking on Monday, at the General Session and Breakfast, and hosting Afternoon Workshop #3.
About the Presentations...
Sunday Presentations
Annalise Koltai - Presenting Sunday
Session 1: The Line: Managing Yourself Under Pressure
Leadership is most tested in moments of urgency, stress, and constraint. This session introduces a simple but powerful framework that helps leaders recognize when they are operating reactively—blaming, justifying, or avoiding—and how to shift into personal responsibility, clarity, and choice. Your state as a leader doesn’t just affect your own performance; it directly impacts your team’s ability to perform. Participants will explore how mindset drives leadership effectiveness and learn practical ways to reset in real time. Through individual reflection and small group discussion, leaders will leave with language and tools they can immediately apply when pressure is high. This session is foundational for anyone who wants to lead with greater agency and impact.
Session 2: Coaching Skills for Leaders: Stop Doing Everyone’s Job for Them
If you’re constantly solving your team’s problems, you’re not leading—you’re doing their work for them. This is expensive: it bottlenecks decision-making, prevents your people from developing, and keeps you stuck in the weeds instead of leading strategically. This session teaches leaders how to stop being the answer and start developing problem-solvers. Participants will learn how to listen in ways that surface thinking, use reflection to build ownership, and ask questions that expand accountability instead of creating dependency. Through structured practice, leaders will gain the skills to develop their team’s capabilities rather than rescuing them from challenge. This session is for leaders who are tired of being the bottleneck and ready to multiply their impact by developing the talent around them.
Session 3: Feedback for High Performance
The Conversations You’re Not Having Are Costing You
Avoiding feedback doesn’t make problems go away—it makes them more expensive. Performance issues fester, good people get frustrated, and when you finally speak up, it often comes out wrong. Most leaders tell themselves they’re protecting the relationship, but the truth is simpler: feedback is uncomfortable and conflict feels risky. So they say nothing or say it poorly—and both erode trust and performance. This session helps leaders identify what gets in the way of feedback and provides practical tools to move past it. Through structured practice, participants will learn to give feedback that strengthens relationships and drives results. This session is for leaders who want to stop avoiding the conversations that matter most.