KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
2025 Conference Keynotes
Check out our 2025 Michigan Works! Annual Conference Keynote Speaker! Participants will be able to hear from some of the brightest minds in talent development as they connect with peers and other professionals. This year, featured speakers are touching on AI and innovation, as well as empowering audiences to create healthier relationships and enjoy greater success in and out of the workplace.
Opening Keynote: Sharon Gai
Sharon Gai is an expert in AI and innovation. She helps organizations become agile disruptors in their industries so they can increase revenue and retain users. In her tenure at Alibaba, she advised brands and heads of state in crafting their digital strategy with programmatic marketing and AI. She has worked with TEDx, Singularity University, UBS, Deloitte, Walmart, LVMH, Nestle, Tetra Pak, Twilio and many others. She is in the AAE list of Top Keynote Speakers in 2023. She is a RETHINK Retail’s Top Retail Expert and a LinkedIn Community Top Voice in 2024. She has appeared on Bloomberg, Reuters, ABC, CBC, CCTV, TechCrunch, Retail Asia, Wired, and The Next Web. She is the author of the book, Ecommerce Reimagined. Sharon has an Honors Bachelor’s degree in International Development from McGill and a Masters in Information Management from Columbia University. When she is not globetrotting (thank you, speaking gigs!), she is jamming on the keyboards or chatting up cool entrepreneurs for Alibaba's podcast, B2B Breakthrough.
Closing Keynote: Dr. Sherene McHenry
As a former graduate professor with a deep understanding of people, Dr. Sherene McHenry saves companies and organizations the time, money and work it takes to gain such knowledge by sharing simple, achievable steps to obtain the results they desire and deserve. Businesses boost their engagement, productivity and profitability. Individuals enjoy healthier relationships, enhanced well-being and mental health, and greater success in and out of the workplace.
Sherene has empowered thousands of audiences throughout North America as well as in South America and Asia. Sherene holds a PhD in Counselor Education, and is a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). She is the author of Navigate: Understanding the Five Types of People; Pick: Choose to Create a Life You Love; 7 Ways to Get Your Team Fully Empowered and Engaged Guidebook; The Busy Student’s Guide to College and Career Success, and a syndicated column addressing leadership and workplace issues.
Sherene is a member of the National Speakers Association and past president of the Michigan National Speakers Association.
“People are complex, but they don’t have to be confusing.” ~ Dr. Sherene McHenry
Past Featured Speakers
2024
Jake Brown
Embrace Fear & Fail Forward
Ben Whiting
Build A Limitless Culture
2023
CJ McClanahan
Worried Much? A (Recovering) Overachiever's Guide to Reducing Stress and Finding More
Paul Artale
HIT HARD: The 3 Must Have Mindsets to Building Resilience
Curtis Campogni
Stronger Together: Why Wearing a C.A.P.E Makes You a Hero