BILL BELICHICK
New England Patriots
Bill Belichick is in his 49th season as an NFL coach and his 24th season as head coach of the New England Patriots. Hired in 2000, Belichick has led the Patriots to 20 winning seasons. Through 23 seasons with New England, Belichick has delivered six Super Bowl championships, nine conference titles, 17 division crowns and 31 playoff victories. Belichick won his sixth Super Bowl title in 2018, joining George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only coaches with six NFL championships. He owns the record for most Super Bowl titles, two ahead of Chuck Noll, who is in second with four Super Bowl titles. Belichick is the only of those to win three titles in a four-year span with Super Bowl wins in 2001 and back-to-back Super Bowl wins in 2003 and 2004. Belichick’s 31 career postseason wins are the most in by any head coach. New England’s berth in Super Bowl LIII was Belichick’s 12th Super Bowl during his coaching career, the most among any head coach or assistant coach in NFL history. Last season Belichick passed George Halas in career victories by a head coach, moving into second place all-time. His 329 career victories are second to only Don Shula, who has 347 career victories.
Belichick has helped produce eight Super Bowl titles since entering the NFL in 1975. He won his first two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants in 1986 and 1990 before claiming six Super Bowl championships with the Patriots. Belichick launched his coaching career in 1975 with the Baltimore Colts and continued as an assistant coach with Detroit (1976-77), Denver (1978) and the New York Giants (1979-1990). Belichick was named head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991, becoming the youngest head coach in the NFL at the time at age 38. By 1994, Belichick brought the Browns back to the playoffs, finishing 11-5 and advancing to the second round of the playoffs, while allowing a league-low 204 total points. In 1996, Belichick joined New England and was a key contributor to the Patriots first division title in 10 years en route to the Patriots appearance in Super Bowl XXXI. Belichick then spent three seasons with the New York Jets from 1997 to 1999, helping New York improve from a 1-15 season in 1996 to an appearance in the AFC Championship Game in 1998.
Throughout his career, Coach Belichick has been active in a wide array of charitable endeavors in New England, New York, Cleveland and beyond. Coach Belichick has been involved in the establishment of scholarship programs in New England, Maryland and Ohio. In 2013, he launched the Bill Belichick Foundation, a nonprofit organization created to provide coaching, mentorship and financial assistance to individuals, communities and organizations with a focus on the sports of football and lacrosse. The foundation has seen results of its work all over the globe. The program "Fields of Growth" was awarded a grant in 2014 via the foundation to build a lacrosse field in Uganda, and the group decided to name it in honor of the coach. Belichick has also supported and participated in events to aid Wesleyan University, his alma mater, which established a full, four-year scholarship for incoming students named the Belichick Scholarship. Additionally, he has presented the Steve Belichick Award in conjunction with the Annapolis Touchdown Club. The award, presented in the name of Coach Belichick's late father, a longtime Naval Academy assistant coach, honors an Annapolis resident deeply involved in sports without seeking a spotlight for their achievements.
Staff assignments include Assistant Operations Officer, 2nd Tank Bn; Ground Watch Officer, I (MEF) G-3 for Operation IRAQI FREEDOM; Plans Branch Chief USCENTCOM J-3; Current Operations Officer, III MEF G-3; Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (G-3), 3d Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB); Lead Planner & Liaison Officer, MEF (Forward) for the drawdown in Afghanistan; Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (G-3), Marine Forces Central Command.
Colonel Gordon is a graduate of the U.S. Army’s Armor Officers Advance Course and the Joint Forces Staff College. He holds an MA for Webster University and completed his senior level education as the Commandant’s Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).Col Gordon last assignment was as the Director of the Marine Corps’ Command & Staff College in Quantico, Virginia. Examples of other positions include Military Secretary (Chief of Staff) to the 37th Commandant of the Marine Corp and serving as a Resident Fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York City.
Peter H. Diamandis, MD
XPRIZE Foundation
"Dedication to Community”
Named by Fortune as one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders,” Peter Diamandis is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which leads the world in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions. He is also the Executive Founder of Singularity University.
As an entrepreneur, Diamandis has started over 25 companies in the areas of health-tech, space, venture capital and education. He is Co-founder and Vice-Chairman of two public companies, Celularity and Vaxxinity. Dr. Diamandis is Co-founder & Chairman of Fountain Life, a fully-integrated platform delivering predictive, preventative, personalized and data-driven health. Finally, he also serves as Co-founder of BOLD Capital Partners, a venture fund with a half-billion dollars under management being investing in exponential technologies and longevity companies.
Diamandis is a New York Times Bestselling author of four books: Abundance – The Future Is Better Than You Think, BOLD – How to go Big, Create Wealth & Impact the World and The Future is Faster Than You Think. Most recently he co-Authored the #1 best seller LIFE FORCE with Tony Robbins which chronicles the extraordinary healthcare and biotech revolution unfolding before our eyes.
He earned degrees in molecular genetics and aerospace engineering from MIT and holds an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Diamandis’ favorite saying is “The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself.”
RICK SMITH
AXON
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
A pioneer of technology with the vision of making the bullet obsolete, Rick founded the original company, TASER, in 1993. As the TASER device became ubiquitous in law enforcement, Rick pushed the company beyond weapons technology and towards a broader purpose of matching technology to public safety needs in order to make the world a safer place. Under his leadership, the company has grown from a garage in Tucson to a NASDAQ-listed global market leader in conducted electrical weapons, body worn cameras and software. Rick was winner of the Ernst and Young 2002 Entrepreneur of the Year. Rick graduated from Harvard with a B.S. in Neuroscience (Cum Laude) and later earned a Master in International Finance from the University of Leuven in Belgium and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Spencer Fomby
SESSION
Ready for Change: A Frank Discussion on Achieving Our Moonshot Goal
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
Retired Captain Spencer Fomby is the former director of the Boise Idaho Police Department Training, Education, and Development Division. He was previously employed by the Berkeley Police Department in California for 20 years. He has held primary assignments in patrol, narcotics, and crime prevention. He was assigned to SWAT for 18 years as an entry team member, team leader, and tactical commander. Spencer is a certified instructor in firearms, defensive tactics, less-lethal weapons, SWAT, Public Order, chemical agents, and de-escalation.
Spencer was the 2011 Berkeley Police Department Officer of the Year. He was the team leader of the 2013 Urban Shield SWAT Competition first place team. He was also a Visiting Fellow in Police Science at the University of Derby. Spencer earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Administration of Justice from Howard University. Spencer has been recognized as a subject matter expert in police tactics and works on several national projects. He is the section chair for the National Tactical Officers Association Public Order Section.
Sara Metz
SESSION
I’m Fine, How Are You? Coping with Job-Related Stress
"Dedication to Community”
Dr. Sara Metz has a passion for working with emergency responders and their families. A licensed clinical psychologist, Dr. Sara’s dedication for helping clients and agencies find healthy ways to manage mental health comes from more than a decade of experience working with responders, healthcare workers, and their families. Embedded in the emergency responder culture, she understands the intricacies of work/life balance and the unique sense of humor that accompanies the work. She’ll “call it as she sees it” without judgment in a laid-back environment.
DAN COOKE
SESSION
Better Call Calgary: How the CPS Integrations Team Successfully Deploys Technology
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
Dan Cooke is a highly skilled and experienced law enforcement professional with 16 years of experience working in various roles within the Calgary Police Service. With over 12 years of experience in patrol, Dan has developed a keen understanding of the challenges and demands of front line policing. Currently, he is serving as the Sergeant of the Integrations Team in the department's Information Technology division.
In his current role, Dan has been instrumental in the development of his team. Built from the ground up, it is their responsibility to bridge the gap between front-line officers and the IT department. He ensures that technology solutions are implemented effectively and efficiently, while also providing training and support to officers to ensure they can make the most of the department's technology resources. With his extensive experience in both law enforcement and technology, Dan is a valuable asset to the department and has helped to streamline operations and improve overall effectiveness.
Jonathan Covault
SESSION
Revolutionizing Real-Time: The Evolution of Axon Respond and How It Can Transform Your Operations
"Dedication to Community”
Jonathan Covault is an Officer with the Fayetteville Police Department in North Carolina. Officer Covault has been with the department since 2014. He spent six and half years on patrol serving the citizens of Fayetteville, where he became a Specialist and Training Officer. Officer Covault then moved to his current position of Police Video Tech where he has managed the body camera program for the department for the past couple of years.
Prasetha Warrier
SESSION
Revolutionizing Real-Time: The Evolution of Axon Respond and How It Can Transform Your Operations
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
Prasetha Warrier is a Product and Engineering leader with 15+ years of experience at various technology companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook and Airbnb. Warrier is currently leading product at Axon for Real-Time Situational Awareness product and incubating the next set of experiences to transform public safety with technology and better enable our LE officers to “Act in the Now”.
Jeff Ho
SESSION
Revolutionizing Real-Time: The Evolution of Axon Respond and How It Can Transform Your Operations
"Dedication to Community”
Dr. Jeffrey Ho is a board-certified emergency medicine and EMS medicine physician and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine, and the Academy of Emergency Medical Services. He practices clinically at Hennepin Healthcare, an urban Level 1 trauma center in Minneapolis where he serves as the Vice-Chair for Emergency Department Operations. In 2003, he was awarded a Bush Foundation Medical Fellowship in Law Enforcement which allowed him to complete his peace officer standards training. He is a licensed peace officer in the state of Minnesota and currently serves with the Meeker County Sheriff’s Office as their medical director. Dr. Ho has served as a medical director/operator of an urban SWAT team and has over nine years of reserve military experience. He holds the academic rank of Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota and is the medical director for Axon Enterprise, Inc. where he leads a cadre of researchers in studying human behavior and effects of non-lethal weaponry and use of force physiology.
Chief Mike Ishii
SESSION
The Winning Playbook: Recruiting and Retaining Staff in 2023
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
Michael Ishii served with the Hawthorne Police Department from 1990 to 2022. He was the Chief from 2018 to 2022.
During his tenure, Chief Ishii was part of the team that helped create the Coffee with a Cop Program which has gone on to become one of the most successful community policing programs with events held in all 50 States, 23 countries, and in nine languages. With his experience gained running the national Coffee with a Cop program, Chief Ishii also created the Care for Blue Initiative which works to help unify the wellness programs for First Responders.
He has a MS Degree in Negotiations/Conflict Management and a BA Degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication.
Katie Nelson
SESSION
The Winning Playbook: Recruiting and Retaining Staff in 2023
"Dedication to Community”
Katie has been the Social Media and Public Relations Coordinator at the Mountain View Police Department since 2015. In her role, she manages the department’s social media accounts and outreach campaigns, focusing primarily on the department’s engagement efforts as well as serving as the agency’s public information officer. She presents across the country on social media best practices and crisis communication strategies. She serves as an instructor with the California POST and with California Police Chiefs Association. She has served as the General Chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Public Information Officers Section and as a council member for Government Social Media. She is the recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award with the International Association of Chiefs of police, and is a recipient of the Young Athena Award and has an Award of Distinction with the California Peace Officers Association.
Paul LeBaron
SESSION
The Winning Playbook: Recruiting and Retaining Staff in 2023
"Leadership Lessons from the Best (and Worst) of Them"
Paul is a 30 year veteran of policing, spending 27 years with the Long Beach Police Department and the past three years as the Chief of Police of the Hermosa Beach Police Department. Prior to his current role, he worked various assignments including Patrol Operations, Detectives, Port Operations and Chief of Staff. He uses his experience to bring a unique perspective to leading a police department. In the final 6 months of 2022 his department hired 22 new employees, to reach full staffing. Paul places an emphasis on culture change and employee wellness as the keys to successful hiring and retention.
