Arthur C. Brooks, president, American Enterprise Institute
Arthur Brooks has been the president of the American Enterprise Institute since January 1, 2009. Previously, he was Louis Bantle Professor of Business and Government at Syracuse University. His main areas of scholarship are free enterprise and human flourishing-money and happiness. And, like his areas of study, his path is not a conventional one.
At 19, Brooks dropped out of college to work professionally as a classical musician. He toured with the Annapolis Brass Quintet, recorded albums with jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd and others, and spent several years as associate principal French horn with the City Orchestra of Barcelona. In his late twenties, he returned to college and studied economics, mathematics, and languages, eventually earning bachelor's and master's degrees in economics and a PhD in public policy. After a stint at the RAND Corporation working on theater-level combat models for the U.S. Air Force, he spent 10 years as a professor of economics and entrepreneurship, most of them at Syracuse University.
As a professor he published over 100 articles and nine books on topics from philanthropy, to military operations research, to the economics of happiness. His books include Who Really Cares: The Surprising Truth About Compassionate Conservatism (Basic Books, 2006), Gross National Happiness (Basic Books, 2008) and Social Entrepreneurship (Prentice-Hall, 2008). His latest book is The Battle: How the Fight Between Free Enterprise and Big Government Will Shape America's Future. Former Vice President Dick Cheney called The Battle "the playbook for the resurgence of the conservative movement in America."
Brooks is a native of Seattle, has been married for 20 years to his wife, Ester, and has three children: Joaquin, Carlos, and Marina. They live in Bethesda, Maryland.
Chip Heath, co-author, SwitchL How to Change Things When Change is Hard and Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
Chip Heath is a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, teaching courses on business strategy and organizations. He is the co-author (along with his brother, Dan) of two books. Their most recent book, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard debuted at #1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Their first book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, was a New York Times and Business Week bestseller, and was an Amazon Top 10 Business Book for 2007 for both editors and readers. It was translated into 27 languages including Thai, Arabic, and Lithuanian. His parents are just happy that their sons are playing well together.
De Hicks, founder, Stuart Consulting Group, Inc.
In 1987 De Hicks, founder of SCGI, began a rewarding consulting relationship with a regional hospital. Shortly afterward, atop breathtaking Mt. Stuart in the Washington Cascade range, he decided to create a unique organizational development consulting practice focusing on innovative implementation of time-tested truths about human interaction in groups under pressure.
In the years that followed, De has been joined by other gifted and effective consultants to form the Stuart Consulting Group, Inc.
With offices in Seattle, Spokane and Sacramento, SCGI supports medium to large sized public and private organizations. We are proud to support Ports, Law Enforcement Agencies, Elected Officials, City Councils, Regional Developers, Universities, Housing Authorities, Hospitals, Health Care Consortiums and Insurance Companies, Banks, Newspapers, Publishers, the Department of Defense, The United States Navy, Regional and National Transportation Organizations, International Trade Consortiums and more.
De Hicks has earned a Bachelor's in Business Administration, a Masters in Business Administration, a Masters in Organizational Development and a PhD in the Science of Organizational Leadership.
Kevan Kjar, founder, ThreeQuest
Kevan Kjar founded ThreeQuest to help companies with a complex product create a story that resonates with their buyer, and to create a consensus among their team so everyone is singing the same song. Kevan has helped companies such as Siemens, Schlumberger, SAP, Oracle, Johnson & Johnson, HealthMedia and many others with their message and how their message is presented, not just once, but he was brought in many times with each of these accounts.
ThreeQuest's unique "ArrowHead" process and StoryArc methodology helps companies win their story war by creating a winning story, aligning their team and delivering it with passion.
During the last two decades, Kevan has helped thousands of executive, sales and marketing professionals in countries such as the U.S., England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Norway, Thailand, India, United Arab Emirates, and South America.
Kevan and his wife, Anita, have five children and live in beautiful Boise, ID with their two youngest boys. He holds a master degree in business administration, is a certified NLP practitioner and a recovering Scoutmaster. Kevan has attended the world renown "Story" training by the entertainment guru Robert McKee, and draws from it for story strategy consulting. His hobbies include running, hiking, black & white movies and collecting commercials.
