John C. Maxwell, the #1 New York Times bestselling author, coach, and speaker who has sold more than 30 million books, has been identified as the #1 leader in business by the American Management Association® and the world’s most influential leadership expert by Business Insider and Inc. magazine. Dr. Maxwell has also received the Horatio Alger Award, as well as the Mother Teresa Prize for Global Peace and Leadership from the Luminary Leadership Network. His organizations—The John Maxwell Company, The John Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation—have trained millions of leaders from every nation in the world. For more information, visit JohnMaxwell.com. Because of his passion for leadership training, John has requested all event proceeds from Impact Leadership Conference benefit Highlands College, a higher education institution where learning, mentoring, relationships, and spiritual growth are top priorities.

Doris Kearns Goodwin is a world-renowned presidential historian, public speaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning, New York Times #1 best-selling author. Since 2020 she has served as executive producer for the History Channel’s miniseries events Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt, with more to come!

Her seventh book, Leadership in Turbulent Times, was published in September 2018 to critical acclaim and became an instant New York Times bestseller. A culmination of Goodwin’s five-decade career of studying the American presidents focusing on Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson, the book provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field, and for all of us in our everyday lives.

Goodwin’s career as a presidential historian and author was inspired when as a 24-year-old graduate student at Harvard she was selected to join the White House Fellows, one of America’s most prestigious programs for leadership and public service. Goodwin worked with Johnson in the White House and later assisted him in the writing of his memoirs.

She then wrote Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, which became a national bestseller and achieved critical acclaim. It was re-released in 2019 with a new foreword highlighting LBJ’s accomplishments in domestic affairs that have stood the test of time.

Goodwin was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II. The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys was adapted into an award-winning five-part television miniseries. Her memoir Wait Till Next Year is the heartwarming story of growing up loving her family and baseball. Her sixth book, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, won the Carnegie Medal and is being developed into a film. Goodwin’s Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln served as the basis for Steven Spielberg’s hit film Lincoln and was awarded the prestigious Lincoln Prize, the inaugural Book Prize for American History, and the Lincoln Leadership Prize.

Well known for her appearances and commentary on television, Goodwin is frequently seen in documentaries including Ken Burns’ The History of Baseball and The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; and on news and cable networks, and shows including Meet The Press and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. She played herself as a teacher on The Simpsons and a historian on American Horror Story.

Goodwin graduated magna cum laude from Colby College. She earned a doctorate degree in Government from Harvard University, where she taught Government, including a course on the American Presidency. Among her many honors and awards, Goodwin was awarded the Charles Frankel Prize, the Sarah Josepha Hale Medal, the New England Book Award, as well as the Carl Sandburg Literary Award. Goodwin recently founded Pastimes Productions with Beth Laski to develop and produce film, television and digital projects.

Goodwin lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She was the first woman to enter the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1979, and is a devoted fan of the World Series-winning team.

Chris Hodges is the founding and senior pastor of Church of the Highlands. Since it began in 2001, Highlands has grown to have campuses across the state of Alabama, and we’re known for our life-giving culture and focus on leading people to an intimate relationship with God.

Pastor Chris has a deep passion for developing leaders and planting life-giving churches. He co-founded ARC (Association of Related Churches) in 2001, which has launched hundreds of churches across the United States. He also founded GrowLeader, specializing in training and resourcing pastors and churches to help them break barriers and reach their growth potential. Chris is also the founder and Chancellor of Highlands College, a ministry training school that trains and launches students into full-time ministry careers.

Chris and his wife Tammy have five children and live in Birmingham, Alabama, where Church of the Highlands began. He speaks at conferences worldwide and is the author of Fresh Air, Four Cups, The Daniel Dilemma, What’s Next?, Out of The Cave, Pray First, and co-authored Jesus, the High Road Leader with John C. Maxwell.

Ed Mylett is a highly successful entrepreneur who has blended his unique experiences with a diverse set of practical strategies that have made him one of the most sought-after inspirational speakers in the world today.

As a young man, he attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he was a three-time academic All-American before an untimely injury ended his dream of playing in the major leagues.

At his father's urging, Ed became a counselor for disadvantaged children in what turned out to be one of the pivotal turning points of his life. It was there he first started to appreciate the importance of serving others and laying the foundation for success principles he would put into practice later in life.

Ed is a serial entrepreneur who has enjoyed considerable success in part through his unrivaled work ethic and ability to fire up people with his dynamic, high-octane presentations. Over the years, he has been involved in several tech, real estate, medical, and food ventures, among many others, leading him to be named a Success Magazine SUCCESS 125 most influential leader in 2022.

With a strong desire to help people, Ed began sharing his inspirational and performance strategies live and online. In four short years, he amassed more than two million Instagram followers, wrote a best-selling book, and launched a popular weekly podcast, The Ed Mylett Show. Ed thoroughly enjoys engaging with his followers and is active on several social media platforms where his posts are viewed several million times each month.

As a keynote speaker, Ed has spoken to millions of people. He is equally adept at delivering relatable strategies in intimate gatherings, to arenas filled with 50,000 people, or online to audiences in the hundreds of thousands.

He is well known for combining spirituality, faith, the inner workings of the mind, and tactical thoughts and actions to help people produce real changes in their lives.

Ed remains humble about his success, attributing his good fortune to his faith in God, his mentors, and the lessons his father taught him throughout life.

In his free time, Ed is an avid golfer, health, and weightlifting enthusiast. He and his wife Kristianna are the proud parents of two adult children.

Mark Pettus

Lauren Sisler is a two-time national award-winning sports broadcaster who joined ESPN and SEC Network in 2016 as a sideline reporter for both college football and gymnastics. In addition, she serves as a sports reporter and host at AL.com where she covers a multitude of teams and sports in the state of Alabama.

Lauren is passionate about sports, but even more passionate about telling the stories of the coaches, athletes, and fans who make it more than a game.

Her journey was not always full of victories and celebrations. In 2003 as a freshman at Rutgers University, tragedy struck Lauren's world. Through her grief and despair, Lauren found the courage to continue moving forward and find success. Lauren now shares her story across the country in hopes of spreading awareness while breaking down the barriers that stand in the way of us living our best life.

Sisler, a native of Roanoke, Va., was the captain of her gymnastics team at Rutgers University and graduated in 2006 with a communication degree.

For more information about Lauren Sisler www.LaurenSisler.com. You can also follow her on social media @LaurenSisler.