Colonel John W. Ripley is a revered Marine Corps legend, one of the most decorated Marines of the Vietnam War, and an acclaimed authority on performance under extreme adversity. Col. Ripley, a U.S. Marine combat commander, who also commanded British Royal Marine Commandos in combat, single-handedly blew up the Dong Ha bridge in Vietnam, thus blunting the largest North Vietnamese Army offensive (the 1972 Easter Offensive) of the Vietnam War. His heroic action at Dong Ha Bridge was chosen to memorialize and symbolize the entire history of all Naval Academy graduates who fought in that war, dramatized by a diorama in the Academy’s memorial hall entitled, “Ripley at the Bridge.” He is the subject of dozens of books and the recipient of a host of honors, including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two awards of the Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars with Combat “V”, a Purple Heart and the Cross of Gallantry. He and one other Marine share the distinction of more combat experience than any other active duty Marine. He has held professorships at The Naval Academy, Virginia Military Institute and Oregon State. He served as Director of Marine Corps History and Director of the Marine Corps Historical Center. Col. Ripley has served before the Justice Department and on a Presidential Commission as an expert witness on women in combat. He is regularly asked to testify before both Houses of Congress and is called to address the FBI regularly on issues related to the military. A renowned authority on ground combat, he has appeared on national networks FOX, CNBC and CNN and is often quoted in the National Review. He is also a highly sought-after speaker before professional audiences as an expert in combat leadership, high performance, the value of humanities, classics and liberal arts in corporate life.

Marshall N. Carter is Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Deputy Chairman of the parent company NYSE Euronext. He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the predecessor, New York Stock Exchange for two years prior to the merger. Mr. Carter served as a director of the NYSE since November 2003.

Mr. Carter, 67, most recently was a lecturer in leadership and management at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where from 2001 to 2005 he was a Fellow at the Center for Public Leadership and the Center for Business and Government.

Prior to the Exchange, Mr. Carter served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the State Street Bank and Trust Company, Boston, and of its holding company, State Street Corporation. He joined State Street in July 1991 as President and Chief Operating Officer, became CEO in 1992 and Chairman in 1993. During his nine years as CEO, the company grew more than six fold. State Street is a leading servicer and manager of financial pension and mutual fund assets worldwide. Prior to joining State Street, Mr. Carter was with the Chase Manhattan Bank for 15 years, in positions related to finance, operations and global securities businesses.

A former Marine Corps officer who was awarded the Navy Cross and Purple Heart during two years’ service as an infantry officer in Vietnam, Mr. Carter served from 1975-76 as a White House Fellow at the State Department and Agency for International Development. Major projects during that year were the application of satellite technology to agricultural activities in West Africa, the use of high-level U2 photography for disaster relief activities in Guatemala and the use of sensor-surveillance equipment as a member of the project team that installed the U.S. Sinai Surveillance Mission in Israel after the 1973 Middle East War.

Mr. Carter holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point; (1962) an M.S. in operations research and systems analysis from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California (1970); and an M.A. in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University (1976) which he attended on the GI Bill.

Mr. Carter is chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Boston Medical Center, the primary inner city hospital for Boston. Long active in industry affairs, he co-chaired the U.S. Working Group of Thirty, which developed recommendations for revamping world securities clearance and settlement processes after the securities markets problems of October 1987. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Honeywell International from 1997-2005. Mr. Carter also chaired the Massachusetts Governor’s Special Advisory Task Force on Massport and Logan Airport following the events of September 11, 2001. In 2006, Mr. Carter was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

He was born in 1940 and grew up in Washington DC, Alaska and Colorado.

Captain Steve Fitzgerald (ret.) is a corporate high performance specialist. In 2004, Captain Fitzgerald retired from the United States Navy SEAL Teams after a distinguished 24 year career and participation in nearly all conflicts and major war time operations since Vietnam. He is a recognized leading figure in the war on terrorism having spent three tours inside combat zones in Central Asia. Forward deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq, he commanded, on several occasions, our country’s most elite Special Operations Force’s (SOF) units during their hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban key leaders, capturing many on the infamous deck of cards. As a member of the Navy’s Varsity SEAL Team, he pioneered the most advanced tactics and equipment available that enabled the entire SEAL community to enjoy its quantum leap forward in capabilities during the early 1990’s. He has planned, rehearsed and operated during combat operations in Panama, El Salvador, the Achille Lauro incident, DESERT STORM, Haiti, Bosnia and three other classified missions that were approved at the Secretary of Defense level. A leading expert in joint operations, Captain Fitzgerald has directly served with the top aviation and ground units in the Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy, forging together the “best in class” rapid planning and execution methodology that the military has ever offered the United States. He was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, two Bronze Star Medals, the Legion of Merit Medal, four Meritorious Service Medals and two combat action ribbons during his busy career. Today, Captain Fitzgerald teaches corporations how SOF’s rapid planning, decision making and execution techniques can be employed to quickly blaze a path of progress.

Admiral Leighton W. “Snuffy” Smith, Jr. (ret.) retired from the Navy after over 34 years of service in positions that took him, literally, around the world. His last active duty assignment was Commander, US Naval Force, Europe, Commander in Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (NATO) and, concurrently, Commander of NATO’s first ever out of area land operation, the Implementation Forces (IFOR) in Bosnia charged with implementing the Dayton Peace Accords. These command assignments provided enormous experiences in dealing with rapidly changing and complex political and military issues at the very highest levels of government.

Admiral Smith remains active in a number of endeavors from mentoring young USNA aspirants to providing high level consultation to major corporations. He completed three combat tours in waters off Vietnam flying more than 280 combat missions in Attack aircraft from three different aircraft carriers. He was awarded his second Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in “finally putting the famed Thanh Hoa Bridge into the water.” Smith’s other military awards include: two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, three Legion of Merits, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, two Meritorious Service Medals, and 29 Air Medals. He has also received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary , the French Order of National Merit with the rank of Grand Officer and, on 5 March 1997, was made an Honorary Knight of the British Empire in a private audience with Her Majesty the Queen.

As Director of Operations in the US European Command during the incredibly exciting times of the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Smith was a central player in numerous rapidly developing crises where lives and national reputation were on the line. As a four star Admiral, he was directly involved in operations leading to the Dayton Peace Accords after which he led the NATO Implementation Forces (IFOR) consisting of 54,000 troops from 34 different nations. He has a BS in Engineering Sciences from the US Naval Academy, a Masters in Personnel Counseling and was a Chief of Naval Operations Fellow following his command of the aircraft carrier, USS America.

Donna Bucella is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Homeland Security Strategy. She joined Perot Systems Government Services after more than 20 years with the Government. Immediately before joining Perot, Donna was a Senior Vice President at the Bank of America where she was the Global Business Continuity and Crisis Management Executive. Donna began her government career in the United States Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and then became an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Florida where she prosecuting white collar crimes. In 1993, she was detailed to the Department of Justice where she ran training for all government lawyers nationwide. Later she supported and ultimately ran the Executive Office for United States Attorneys where she was in charge of operations of the 93 United States Attorneys Offices. In 1999, she became the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida. In 2001, she became a law partner at Steel, Hector & Davis and specialized in corporate investigations. After 9/11, she returned to government service and helped stand up the Transportation Security Administration where she was responsible for the security operations at 80 commercial airports throughout the Southeastern United States. In 2003, she was appointed by the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the President as the Director of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC), where she developed and executed a strategy creating a multi-government center responsible for consolidating and maintaining the United States Government’s Terrorist Watch List to combat terrorism worldwide. Donna has received numerous awards from the Department of Justice to include the coveted Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award for her contributions to the Department including her work on the Oklahoma City Bombing. Born in New York, Donna received her B.A. with Distinction from the University of Virginia and Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Miami, School of Law. She is currently, the Assistant Chief of Litigation in United States Army Reserves.

Dr. Ian Mitroff is Professor Emeritus at the Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the School of Public Health at St. Louis University, a University Professor at Alliant International University in San Francisco, and a Senior Investigator at the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California, Berkeley, the principle aim of which is to study human-caused crises and develop state-of-the-art tools to better manage them. Under his direction, the Center has become the acknowledged national and international leader in the field of Crisis Management. In 1992-1993, he was President of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. In September 2000, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor’s degree from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Stockholm. In September 2006, he was awarded a gold medal by the UK Systems Society for his life-long contributions to systems thinking. He has published over 250 articles and over 25 books, of which his most recent are Crisis Leadership, Planning for the Unthinkable and Managing Crises Before They Happen. He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Academy of Management. Dr. Mitroff is frequent guest on national radio and TV talk shows including the “Window On Wall Street” (CNN Financial News), the “Dick Cavett Show” (CNBC, New York), “Late Night America” (PBS TV), “Marketplace” (National Public Radio), and “Business Unusual,” (CNN Financial News).

Wesley Poriotis is the co-Founder of Veterans Across America, a national advocacy organization dedicated to working on behalf of America ’s veterans, and to helping them continue their “service to Nation.” Veterans Across America, a nonprofit organization based in New York , is working to create a greater employment demand for our veterans among a broad network of the leaders of American business and other organizations and institutions. Mr. Poriotis is also the Founder and Chairman of The Center for Military and Private Sector Initiatives, Inc. which he established in 1995 after completing a study and report on veterans employment requested by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Mr. Poriotis is also the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Wesley, Brown, and Bartle (WB&B), one of America ’s leading management consulting and executive search firms, and the nation’s premier diversity search firm. WB&B has placed executive personnel in over 300 of the “Fortune 500” largest corporations, as well as helped staff executive branch departments, agencies, and commissions for both the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Additionally, Mr. Poriotis has worked closely with the Pentagon, The White House and Corporate Senior Management on issues related to diversity and to the transitioning military.

Steve Atkiss is a Washington, D.C. based consultant who assists private sector and government clients with a broad range of issues including border security, trade, technology, continuity of operations, and logistics management. Steve Atkiss is a Washington, D.C. based consultant who assists private sector and government clients with a broad range of issues including border security, trade, technology, continuity of operations, and logistics management.

In 2006 and 2007, Atkiss served as Chief of Staff at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Formed within the Department of Homeland Security, CBP is the federal government's unified border security agency, consisting of almost fifty thousand employees and with a collective annual budget of close to $10 billion. As Chief of Staff, Atkiss was the principal advisor to Commissioner Ralph Basham on issues of security, trade, international affairs and management, and was responsible for directing the agency's interactions with the White House, the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, state and local governments and the press.

Prior to joining CBP, Atkiss worked at the White House in a variety of capacities. As Special Assistant to the President for Operations in the Chief of Staff's Office, he was responsible for managing the integration of activities of the many civilian, military and law enforcement organizations which provide support to the President and the White House staff. Atkiss assisted the White House Deputy Chief of Staff on a broad range of issues including management and administration, information systems and technology, human resources, budget, continuity of government programs, military support and Security.

Prior to that, as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Advance, he was the principal action officer responsible for planning and executing the President's worldwide travel and events including his multiple covert trips to Iraq and Afghanistan.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Atkiss is a graduate of the University of Florida and has completed programs at the George Washington Graduate School of Political Management and the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution.

Mike Barger was part of the JetBlue start-up team in early 1999. Currently, Mr. Barger serves as Vice President and Chief Learning Officer. He founded JetBlue University, which is now supported by more than 180 faculty members at five campuses across the United States. Under Mike’s leadership, JetBlue University has developed a number of innovative programs that leverage today’s technology to continuously and cost-effectively distribute learning across the organization. JetBlue University has also created a leadership development program unique to the aviation industry that provides an exceptional set of tools for all JetBlue leaders. Prior to JetBlue, he was commissioned as a Navy officer and served three deployments, flying the F/A- 18 Hornet aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt and USS Dwight David Eisenhower. These deployments included combat action in Desert Storm, Bosnia and Kosovo. While in the Navy, Captain Barger was also Assistant Operations and Training Officer with a Naval Strike Fighter Squadron. Mr. Barger also served as a Pilot Training Officer for three years at the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as TOPGUN. Mr. Barger has written numerous articles on strategy, training techniques and complex weapons systems employment. Barger flies for JetBlue as a captain and check airman (instructor pilot). Captain Barger earned his degree in Economics and Psychology from the University of Michigan.

Patricia Beard is the author of six non-fiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. She has been an editor at Mirabella, ELLE and Town & Country magazines. Ms. Beard’s two most recent books have dealt with boardroom crises that threatened to have disastrous effects on major financial institutions, with the potential for significant negative effects on Wall Street. After the Ball, published in 2004, is the story of the 1905 fight for control of the Equitable Insurance Company, and involved some of the most famous names in finance and industry of the period—among them, Henry Clay Frick, E. H. Harriman, J. P. Morgan and James J. Hill. Her most recent book, published in 2007 is Blue Blood & Mutiny: The Fight for the Soul of Morgan Stanley, focuses on a fight that took place exactly one hundred years later, when a group of retired executives mounted a campaign to oust the chairman and CEO, and much of the board of the most prestigious institutional securities firm on Wall Street. The challengers, known as the Group of Eight, aka The Grumpy Old Men, included a former chairman and a former president of the firm. Their success made Wall Street history. Both the Equitable and Morgan Stanley stories show what happens when dysfunctional are confronted by unexpected crises, threaten the stability of their firms, and, in the end fail to protect their own positions

Donnie Blanks is responsible for all business development efforts within Perot Systems Government Services and strategy for the Federal market. Donnie has more than 20 years of experience in sales and program management of large-scale IT and facility management contracts with the federal government. He comes to PSGS from ACS, where he served for four years as a Senior Vice President and Client Executive responsible for Customer Service and Solutions to the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security. Before ACS, Donnie was an Executive Vice President with CACI International, where he was responsible for corporate-wide business development and marketing, and played a key role in several strategic mergers and acquisitions. Prior to CACI, he was Vice President and Chief of Staff of the Applied Technology Division of Computer Sciences Corporation, where he focused on program management (P&L) of large-scale IT and facility management contracts with the federal government. ATD was CSC’s large contract division with 420M in annual revenue. At GTE Government Solutions, he served as Business Development Director for four GTE divisions serving the Department of Defense and civilian agencies. He also served for 10 years as an Air Force officer. Donnie holds a bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University. He and his wife Mary reside in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC.

Stormy Dean has served as Chief Financial Officer of InfoUSA since February 2006. He served as the Principal Accounting Officer of the Company since December 2005. Mr. Dean has been employed by the Company since 1995, except during the period from October 2003 to August 2004. He served as Chief Financial Officer of the Company from January 2000 through October 2003, as the Corporate Controller from September 1998 until January 2000 and as the acting Chief Financial Officer from January 1999 to August 1999. From August 1995 to September 1998, Mr. Dean served as the Company’s tax director. Mr. Dean was a gubernatorial candidate in Nebraska in 2002, primarily campaigning to fix the state’s finances and boost the State’s economy. Mr. Dean holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, an M.B.A from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Certified Public Accountant certificate.

Thomas Harrison is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Diversified Agency Services (DAS), a division of the world’s largest advertising holding company Omnicom Group. Under Harrison’s leadership, DAS has more than quadrupled in size and now at almost $5.0 billion accounts for almost 60% of Omnicom’s total annual revenues. He has acquired and heads some of the most specialized and diverse public relations, relationship marketing, branding and healthcare communications agencies in the industry. His companies have over 5000 worldwide clients. With an advanced degree in cell biology and physiology, Harrison began his business career at Pfizer Laboratories as a sales representative and left Pfizer as marketing director. He then joined a mid-sized healthcare advertising agency for six years before starting his own company, The Harrison & Star Business Group which was acquired by Omnicom in 1992. He then served as Chairman of Diversified Healthcare Communications, a group of eight healthcare agencies before being appointed President of DAS in 1997 and then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1998. Harrison is Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine. He serves on the boards of the Executive Committee of the Montefiore Hospital, the New York Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, ePocrates (a healthcare information company), The Morgans Hotel Group, The Lymphoma Research Foundation and several marketing services companies. He was President of a local Westchester County School Board and Chairman and Founder of the notfor- profit education foundation in that Westchester School District. He has served as co-chairman of the New York Chapter of the U.S. Olympic Committee and raised substantial funding to support U.S. Olympic Athletes. A frequent speaker at business forums and at universities across the U.S. on the subject of entrepreneurialism, business strategies and the “Secrets to Success”. He has spoken at West Virginia University where he did his graduate research and where Harrison was recognized with the 2006 Distinguished Alumni Award and where Harrison received an Honorary Doctorate in 2007, the highest honor an American University grants to an individual. He was keynote speaker at The McGraw Hill Medical Publishers Annual Awards program, and at a recent Management Conference of Healthcare Communications specialists, at the 2007 Direct Marketing Association Non-Profit Federation Summit and has talked to agency CEO’s at an advertising industry forum about the future of advertising agencies, marketing services and ideation. Harrison is the author of the recently published book INSTINCT: Tapping Your Entrepreneurial DNA to Achieve Your Business Goals published by Warner Business Books. Harrison has appeared on CNBC, CNNI, Bloomberg and Forbes.com discussing his book. He can be found on the Enterprise Leadership podcast as well as Forbes, Bloomberg and other podcasts. Harrison also lectures at Business Schools and Schools of Entrepreneurialism on topics discussed in INSTINCT. Harrison is a member of the New York University Campaign Steering Committee, is Chairman of the Dean’s Council at The Steinhardt School of Education at NYU and is a Trustee at The Kent School, a New England Preparatory School.