Paresh B. Shah, CFP, is the managing principal for PareShah Partners and CEO of Merkkuri Wealth Advisors. As a wealth strategist for the past 28 years, Shah helps individuals and businesses create innovative financial strategies that protect today and build for tomorrow. He specializes in pension and profit-sharing, asset protection, estate planning and business succession planning, and co-hosted the talk show “Money & Prosperity.” His professionalism and active service in the community, including his current role as a member of the MDRT Foundation Board of Trustees, make him a trusted advisor within the financial services profession.

Gregory B. Gagne, ChFC, is the 2025 Immediate Past President of MDRT. Gagne has served in multiple roles on the MDRT Executive Committee since 2021. He previously served as Top of the Table Global Council Member and Advisory Board Chair in 2020 and as Program Development Division Global Council Member in 2019. He also has served on the Board of Trustees of the MDRT Foundation, for which he is an Excalibur Knight and a member of its Inner Circle Society. Gagne is the founder of Affinity Investment Group LLC, which provides wealth management and distribution-planning services.

Alan Stein Jr. teaches proven strategies to increase organizational performance, create effective leadership, improve team cohesion and collaboration, and develop winning mindsets, rituals and routines. As an acclaimed basketball performance coach, Stein spent 15 years working with the highest-performing athletes on the planet and transfers that knowledge to reveal how leaders and teams can utilize the same approaches in business that elite athletes use to perform at a world-class level. He has a passion for helping organizations such as American Express, Pepsi, Under Armour and Starbucks, as well as numerous college athletic programs, create high-performance cultures.

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Dan Gingiss is a dynamic keynote speaker and customerexperience expert who has captivated hundreds of audiences around the globe. Heearned a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and communications from theUniversity of Pennsylvania and an MBA in marketing from the Kellogg School ofManagement at Northwestern University. Believing that a remarkable customerexperience is your best competitive advantage, Gingiss shares insights from his20-year professional career that includes leadership positions at McDonald’s,Discover and Humana. His speaking engagements are enriched by real-worldexamples and effective strategies that inspire immediate action.

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Dedy Setio, S.kom, CFP, joined the insurance profession in 2006 and has been recognized as the top agent of the year at his company since 2012. Setio also co-authored two books, "Footsteps of the Winners" and "BIG Deals,” and has spoken at various insurance companies both domestically and abroad.

Andrew Matthews is an accomplished artist known for drawing cartoons as he presents to audiences worldwide. He has addressed more than 1,000 corporations, such as McDonalds, Lenovo, Honda, Dell and Citibank, on attitude, enjoying work and resilience. Gifted with a talent to make complex ideas simple, Matthews is popular with CEOs and sales teams as well as bankers, surgeons and even prisoners. His books “Being Happy!” and “Follow Your Heart” have sold more than 8 million copies, and his latest book “Bouncing Back!” explains how to rebound from disaster and disappointment.

Josh Sundquist is a bestselling author, former Paralympic ski racer and current member of the U.S. Amputee Soccer Team. As a renowned motivational speaker, Sundquist’s online videos have garnered more than 300 million views.

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is a sought-after speaker, humanitarian, social innovator and technologist. Her critically acclaimed memoir, “In the Shadow of the Mountain,” has been translated into 11 languages and was recognized by the prestigious Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards as the Stanford Travel Book of the Year. As founder of Courageous Girls, an organization that help survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking, Vasquez-Lavado has been recognized as a symbol of women’s empowerment worldwide. Fortune magazine named her one of the Corporate Heroes of 2015 while CNET included her as one of the 20 most influential Latinos in Silicon Valley.

Jeremy Poincenot was your typical sophomore at San Diego State University until he went legally blind within months. He thought losing his vision meant forfeiting his life, but one year later, he headed to the driving range. Already a talented golfer, Poincenot, with his father as his coach, caddy and guide, played in — and won — the World Blind Golf Championship. In 2011, he was honored as the San Diego Hall of Champions Challenged Athlete of the Year and continues to make it his mission to help audiences overcome adversity and rise above their biggest obstacles.

Noelle Russell, a tech leader and AI practitioner, is sought out by top organizations worldwide to leverage AI as a competitive advantage and vehicle for exponential growth. As founder and chief AI officer at AI Leadership Institute, Russell helps organizations uncover the possibilities of AI while guiding them through the intricacies of AI adoption. She has built more than 100 conversational AI applications since 2014 and was honored with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Award for Artificial Intelligence, VentureBeat’s Women in AI Responsibility and Ethics Award, and one of the “Latinas to Watch” by the Association of Latino Professionals for America.