Keynote Speakers

OPENING KEYNOTE
Monday, June 9, 2025 | 1:00 PM

Monica Wofford, CSP
CEO, Contagious Companies


Monica Wofford, CSP, has been a manager since 1989, but at times feels she’s “dealt” with “difficult” people her whole life. Can you relate? Her training firm, Contagious Companies, was founded on the premise that leadership isn’t something you’re born with, but is developed, so she’s combined leadership learning with dealing with different people to create her greatest passion. Author of Contagious Leadership, and Make Difficult People Disappear, and former CEO of a United Way, she’s been called “The best trainer ever seen!” Winner of numerous awards, Monica Wofford engages, entertains and encourages participants to give themselves permission to be who they are and to become even more incredible leaders. 

Keynote

Make Difficult People Disappear™: How to Eliminate Conflict and Reduce Stress in the Workplace  

We all have at least one person we wish we could make disappear...without having to go to jail… and it’s not about magic or burying bodies, but about proven and varied methods. How we communicate, mediate, and resolve or deal with stressful misunderstandings with all kinds of different people…be they donors, colleagues, prospects, support team members, or even bosses… really depends on the actual people with whom we’re dealing. Do they have a personality? Do they have more than one? Do they use the one that’s theirs or bring another one to the work environment? This presentation will dig deeper, go beyond personality labels, speak to the impact of stress, and provide solutions that make the most of the power of your own actions, expectations, and habits. 

 

Make Difficult People Disappear will also cause you to laugh at how you engage difficult people and fuel their fire, but more importantly, it will open the door to your ability to perhaps no longer perceive them as difficult. Fair warning, you may also no longer spend time treating them with difficulty and no longer fill your days with the drama and frustration present at times in the workplace, leaving more time to raise more money! In this session be prepared to learn, maybe even giggle, and also to find solutions that really will work with all of your difficult people. 

 

In Make Difficult People Disappear™, learners can expect:  

  • To develop and retain a unique awareness of the four personalities one works with, reports to, connects with, and sometimes struggles to work around. 

  • To practice immediately applicable methods for improving daily communication, motivation, performance management, and prevention of conflict among colleagues. 

  • To understand the roles in a difficult relationship and find the humor in how we unknowingly help others BE difficult or SEE US as difficult. 

  • To be engaged and interactively working on real world issues and skills applicable to the workplace and operating room in a way that is entertaining and informative. 

https://www.contagiouscompanies.com/books/

CLOSING KEYNOTE
Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 11:00 AM

Wayne Olson, JD
Chief Development Officer, The Washington Times


Wayne Olson has been a fundraiser for more than 25 years, specializing in planned giving and donor relations. He has written more than six books on fundraising and has spoken and taught at regional and international conferences, including AHP, AFP, CASE and CGP. He currently serves as the Chief Development Officer for The Washington Times, and at the nonprofit, Washington Policy Institute.  

Keynote

Donor Relations the Disney Way  

What if Walt Disney were the CEO of your organization? What would you do differently? How much more money would you raise? This session looks at the successes of Walt Disney and how we can apply his philosophy, his creativity and his approach to our mission and running our organizations. We’ll also look at some contemporary examples of companies and nonprofits that are doing it rightly, and we’ll have some fun as we learn ways of being more like Walt.

https://wayneolson.com/books