Vala Afshar P ’25 is Chief Digital Evangelist at Salesforce, a bestselling author, U.S. patent holding inventor, podcaster, columnist and keynote speaker. With over one million social media followers, Vala is recognized as a top business and innovation influencer.

Afshar is co-author of the 2023 bestselling book BOUNDLESS. He has written over 650 articles and has interviewed over 1,200 business executives on his weekly podcast.

Prior to Salesforce, Afshar served as Vice President of Engineering, Chief Customer Officer and Chief Marketing Officer in the tech industry.

With 25 years of experience delivering engaging and educational tech keynotes and trainings, Christina Kerley — known simply as “CK” — remains at the forefront of her field. Renowned for her boundless energy and relentless reinvention, CK is currently focused on artificial intelligence (AI), the tech megatrends, the reskilling revolution . . . and whatever’s coming next. CK captivates (and keeps!) the imagination of her audiences. She’s headlined at scores of Fortune 500s and trained thousands of executives at companies including Verizon, Microsoft, Amazon, Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, Frost & Sullivan, ADP, Best Buy, Bissell, TEDx, The United Nations, The Ad Council, the ANA, the IAB and many more.

For over a decade CK has been a highly popular faculty member at Rutgers Business School for Executive Education. Additionally, she has guest lectured at Stanford, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, and USF.

While CK deserves acclaim for her charismatic personality and humor, it’s important to recognize her exceptionalism. What truly sets CK apart is her unwavering passion for reinvention. Throughout three decades she has evolved and pivoted from: smartphones to smart things; apps to AIs; big media to social media; Internets to “Outernets;” devices to data; Web 2 to Web 3; and wearable to spatial computing.

A creature of two spectacular contrasts, CK built her career in fast-paced NYC and relocated to sun-soaked SoCal in 2020 (and travels between coasts quarterly). Always on-trend, ahead of the curve, and in pursuit of the next BIG thing, learn more at: allthingsCK.com

In the history of NCAA women’s basketball, only six coaches have amassed at least 1,000 career victories, an elite group that includes Bentley University’s Hall of Fame coach, Barbara Stevens. Stevens is the only non-Division I coach in that exclusive club. She was inducted into the Bentley Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005 and a 2020 selection for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The pinnacle of her coaching career came in 2014 with a perfect season and the program’s first-ever NCAA Division II national championship. Stevens as been awarded the prestigious Carol Eckman Award from the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association, given for sportsmanship, commitment to the student-athlete, honesty, ethical behavior, courage and dedication to purpose, as well as the Inspirational Leader Award from Dream Big!, an organization that provides girls from low-income situations with resources to participate in sports. In 2022, Stevens was a commencement speaker at her alma mater, Bridgewater State University, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Public Education. She retired in June 2020 fourth all-time in career victories with a 43-year record of 1058-291. Barbara is a native of Southbridge and resides in Waltham.

Jeff Twiss joined the Celtics in 1981 upon receiving his Master’s Degree in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Prior to his association with the Celtics and the NBA, Twiss was a teacher and a three-sport coach at Union High School in Randolph, VT. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1977. Twiss serves as the conduit for the media with Celtics ownership, coaches, players and staff and he is the contact for former Celtics players. Twiss was elected by his peers to serve as President of the National Basketball Public Relations Directors Association in 1987. In 1992, he received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Vermont. In 1999, Twiss received the University of Massachusetts Sports Management department’s Harold J. VanderZwaag Distinguished Alumni Award. In September 2004, he was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. And in 2005, Twiss received the NBA’s McHugh/Splaver “Tribute to Excellence” award. Twiss was recognized by the Boston Press Photographer’s Association as their Sports Personality Award winner for 2009. Jeff and his wife, Sarah, have two children: Cameron and Lindsay, and two grandchildren, Connor and Soledad.

Chad Wright is Chief Information Officer at Boston Dynamics, a Boston area robotics company whose mission is to imagine and create exceptional robots that enrich people’s lives. The winner of BostonCIO’s CIO of the Year in 2022 and a Finalist for InspireCIO’s National CIO of the Year in 2023, Chad’s career in Information Technology has spanned 30 years, including roles in a variety of industries, such as marketing, software, healthcare, retail and robotics. He’s worked at some of Boston’s most innovative companies, including Avid, Endeca Technologies, athenahealth and Amazon Robotics. In addition to his leadership roles, Chad’s background includes business systems analysis, data analytics and project management with direct experience in ERP implementations, Cybersecurity, IT Service Management and IT Strategy. Chad graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a degree in Mathematics and a Concentration in Computer Science. He holds a Master’s Degree in Information Technology from Bentley University and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. In his efforts to give back to the next generation of IT professionals, Chad is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Bentley, teaching courses in Project Management, Data Management, and Systems Analysis and Design, to both graduate and undergraduate students.