Speakers

Christopher R. DeVany is the Founder and President of Pinnacle Performance Improvement Worldwide. DeVany has published articles on surviving mergers and acquisitions, working through change, project management, sales, teambuilding, leadership, ethics, customer service, diversity and work-life balance. He is the author of 90 Days to a High-Performance Team. He has served, or is currently serving, as a board member of the International Association of Facilitators, Sales and Marketing Executives International, American Society of Training and Development, Institute of Management Consultants, American Society of Association Executives, Meeting Professionals International and National Speakers Association. DeVany is an award-winning Toastmaster’s International Competition speaker.

Doug Dvorak was inducted into the International Who’s Who of Professional Speaking and has trained and impacted over one million people in each of the 50 states and in more than 107 countries. He is a certified sales trainer and management consultant and owns and manages his own sales training and coaching business, The Sales Coaching Institute. Dvorak was named one of the top 10 sales professionals in America in 1988 by Power Selling Magazine and has appeared on Oprah, CBS, FOX NEWS and CNN.

Barbara Mencer is the President of Rainmaker Strategies, Inc., and a certified professional coach, consultant and trainer with more than 25 years of experience in helping lawyers and law firms grow. She specializes in business development, leadership, performance management and client services. She has served as a member of ALA’s San Diego Chapter and has published articles on business and leadership development. Mencer holds a bachelor’s in business management and is a certified Holistic Health Coach.

Jennifer Mueller is an associate professor at the University of San Diego. Mueller has served on the faculty of the Wharton School, Yale School of Management and New York University’s Stern School of Business. She also published the paper, The Bias Against Creativity, which went viral and received more than 100 media mentions.

Andrew Perlman is the Dean and Professor of Law at Suffolk University Law School. Perlman has led national and international initiatives to improve access to legal services through technology and innovation. He served as the Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Commission on the Future of Legal Services and the Inaugural Chair of the governing council of the ABA’s Center for Innovation. Perlman is a member of the Access to Justice Advisory Committee at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Donté P. Shannon is an association executive and board strategy adviser with 18 years of experience in association management, including seven years as a Chief Executive Officer. Shannon served as Chair of the CAE Commission, the governing body of the Certified Association Executive credential. He was selected as a 2020 digitalNow Leader of Distinction, a 2020 ASAE Fellow and a 2011–2013 Diversity Education Leadership Program (DELP) Scholar. Shannon is a founder and co-host of the popular webcast, Texts to Table.