AASPA's 87 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
th
2025 Keynote Speakers
Shola Richards
Wednesday, October 8
Sponsored by
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Shola Richards is the CEO and Founder of Go Together Global®, author of the best-selling book “Civil Unity: The Radical Path to Transform Our Discourse, Our Lives and Our World”, and he is leading a worldwide movement to change the world based on how we treat each other at work. Shola’s work has been featured on the Today Show, Forbes, Black Enterprise, Complete Wellbeing India, Business Insider Australia, and his tireless efforts to make the world a kinder place have earned him the well-deserved nickname, “Brother Teresa”. As a speaker, Shola has shared his transformative message with Fortune 500 companies, leading healthcare organizations, top universities, the motion picture industry, on the TEDx stage, and in his greatest honor to date, in September 2021, he was invited to testify in front of the House of Representatives on Capitol Hill to share his expert recommendations on how to bring more civility to Congress. He’ll be the first to tell you that they could use a refresher course.
The Courage to Go TogetherTM
THREE QUESTIONS TO CHANGE HOW YOU WORK, LIVE AND LEAD
Shola Richards' mantra is a simple, but powerful one: we are defined by how we treat each other. In his inspiring flagship keynote, The Courage to Go Together™, Shola will reinforce that key point by introducing the transformative concept of Ubuntu (pronounced, "oo-BOON-too") which translates to "I am, because we are." The Ubuntu philosophy, along with three powerful questions, will provide the audience with actionable strategies to transform their work culture, amplify team civility, and inspire themselves and others to consistently bring their best to their work.
This keynote is ideal for individual contributors, leaders, and teams who are:
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Searching for proven strategies to strengthen team cohesion, civility and togetherness in order to maintain a healthy workplace culture and optimal business results.
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Struggling to keep themselves engaged, positive and solution-oriented when managing the nonstop challenges and complexities of life (both inside and outside of the workplace).
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Feeling as if they do not have the influence, professional title, or education to make meaningful positive change on their work team, or in their organization.
The audience will leave with:
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The three key questions that they need to ask themselves to increase the likelihood of civil, engaged, and productive work culture.
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The answers to the most common objections to beginning the important—and challenging—work of positively transforming their work culture.
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The self-awareness to become mindful of how their words, actions, and behaviors affect others.
Taryn Southern
Thursday, October 9
Sponsored by
Taryn Southern has always had a front row seat to the future. As one of YouTube’s first breakout creators, she helped redefine what it meant to be a storyteller in the digital age. Years later, she pushed new boundaries again—releasing the world’s first pop album composed with AI and later becoming one of the first people to clone her digital self. Then, in 2020, while facing cancer, job loss, and profound personal upheaval, Taryn began a series of unconventional experiments using emerging technologies not just to create, but to heal, rebuild, and reimagine what’s possible. In this session, Taryn invites audiences into that journey. Drawing from neuroscience, real-world applications, and her own lived experience, she shares mind-blowing examples of how AI reduces friction, expands creative potential, and reignites the human imagination—offering a framework of personal transformation for both your business and life.
No Limits: Future-Proof Your Life with Generative AI
Pioneering content creator Taryn Southern has always had a front row seat to the future. As one of the first content creators on YouTube, she was part of a media revolution that changed every aspect of business and personal life. Since that time, she has broken new ground across AI, blockchain, virtual reality, and neurotechnology. Then in 2019, Taryn found herself facing a series of unexpected life events that challenged her optimism and resilience. In this session, Taryn shares the mind-blowing AI technologies that you can use to inspire creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and personal transformation in your business - and life.
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Cassandra Worthy
Friday, October 10
Sponsored by
Hi! I am Cassandra. Early on in my career, when my company was in the aftermath of a $5B acquisition, I almost quit. Fueled by frustration and stress, I found myself on the precipice of walking out of the office and never coming back. Had I done so, I would have become another statistic. Yet another Africa-American female departed from a STEM-driven industry. Top talent voluntarily resigning during a time of significant organizational shift. Another change victim.
But I didn’t. Instead, I woke up one day and decided to view those feelings as a signal that I was sitting in a moment of opportunity. An opportunity to transform that chemistry, that feeling into something better. To choose every day to do something, say something, behave in some way that would move the needle of my work experience towards a better feeling. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was cultivating a teachable strategy to inspire anyone to become enthusiastic about change, to find their unique power of resilience during turbulent times. Today, I help organizations disrupt ‘change as usual’. Through a practical and repeatable framework, I show them how they can transform their culture from surviving change to growing through change.
C.H.A.N.G.E. Traits ®: Exploring the Critical Skills for Inspired Leadership through Change
This keynote distills down 15 years of Cassandra’s Corporate M&A experience into the critical skills that will empower leaders to create and sustain growth through change.
This program is perfect for:
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Executives and leaders responsible for inspiring and empowering their teams and organizations through change.
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Change management professionals responsible for leading change effectively and successfully throughout their respective organizations.
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Human Resources and organizational leaders responsible for building workforce resilience, productivity, and engagement through change.
The audience will leave with:
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A new perspective on the soft skills required to effectively lead through change.
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A practical framework to quantify your strengths and areas of growth when addressing, working and leading through change.
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An instantly-applicable action plan that empowers them to improve critical leadership behaviors to effectively lead change movements.
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