Partners in Excellence

Jeff Bush

A dynamic and insightful speaker and author, Jeff Bush is known for his unique ability to translate difficult and confusing information coming out of Washington D.C. into winning growth strategies for business owners, executives, and high-networth investors. The Washington Update is widely considered the financial industry’s NONPARTISAN experts on all things Washington. Founded by Andy Friedman in 2008, Jeff is now the principal of the firm.

Jeff presents more than 200 times yearly in the US and abroad to a client base that includes a who’s who list of fortune 500 firms from Wall Street to Main Street and everywhere in between.

Jeff frequently appears on CNBC’s Nightly Business Report, is featured in various industry publications, including Investment News, ThinkAdvisor, Wealth Management, Wealth Solutions Report, and a guest on POTUS Sirius/XM Radio. While Jeff is best known as a keynote speaker, he has shared the stage with many notables, including prior Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke and Stanley Fischer, Ron Insana, a reporter for Market Score Board and former Senior CNBC Analyst, Consuelo Mack, host of Wealth Track, Jeffrey Applegate, CIO for Morgan Stanley, Robert Reynolds President and CEO of Putnam Investments, and John Theil, former Vice Chairman of Global Wealth Management at Bank of America.

Jeff is a 30+ year veteran of the financial industry. By the end of his career on Wall Street, he managed a $50+ billion sales organization. Before that, Jeff was the youngest managing partner in the 150-year history of The New England Financial.

Jeff holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Management with an emphasis in Accounting, Computers, and Philosophy from William Jewell College. Jeff’s dedication, forward-thinking, and strategic abilities have resulted in performance records, industry awards, and industry accolades.

Keith Leech, CFP, AVA, CFA, CHS

Keith Leech is a Vancouver-based insurance Advisor. Keith works with his own clients but also focuses on joint work with advisors integrating insurance into their various types of practices.

He is a frequently sought-after speaker for clients, brokers and companies across North America. Keith has spoken multiple times at the World Critical Illness Conference, TEDX as well as at the American LIMRA Conference on the sale of insurance post healthcare reform.

Keith enjoys playing bad beer-league hockey and has somehow found himself on-stage at the world-famous Comedy Store in Los Angeles.

Keith is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultant (CHFC) and a Certified Health Specialist (CHS).

Dr. Suzanne Peterson

Dr. Peterson advises senior leaders in a variety of Fortune 500 companies, hedge funds, investment banks, insurance companies, law firms, private equity funds, and technology companies. She specializes in leadership style, relationship management, and communication as building blocks to influence and leadership effectiveness. Her clients have included Bank of America / Merrill Lynch, Borg Warner, Charles Schwab, Cravath, Davidson Kempner, Dell Technologies, Elliott Management, KKR, Latham & Watkins, Morgan Stanley, Nationwide, Pimco, Swaine & Moore, and Walmart, among others.

With more than 20 years of professional experience, Dr. Peterson regularly speaks on the firm’s message of Admired Leadership — a viewpoint that emphasizes the behaviors and routines characteristic of the world’s most extraordinary leaders. She leads the firm’s newest practice, The Style Code, which is designed to help leaders evolve their style to create executive presence, increase results, and strengthen relationships.

Dr. Peterson holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Southern California and an MBA and PhD in Organizational Behavior from the University of Nebraska. She serves on the faculty of the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, where she contributes to executive-level courses and corporate development programs. She has received numerous teaching awards and published in top management outlets, including Harvard Business Review.

Kartik Sakthivel

Kartik Sakthivel, PhD, serves as the Vice President and global Chief Information Officer for LIMRA LOMA and LL Global, a non-profit worldwide trade association for the financial services industry. Kartik has had a vast amount of leadership and management experience across multiple industries. He has held leadership roles in companies of all sizes, ranging from small and midsize firms to Fortune 100 organizations.

A technology practitioner, Kartik has been urging industries and workers within the industries to adopt and adapt to the massive digital disruption that is the hallmark of the early 21st century. He delivered a TED Talk at TEDx Portsmouth in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in September of 2019, advocating for individuals to embrace technology to thrive in their professions. He returned to the TED stage in May of 2024, hosting a panel on how AI is transforming society today. His third TED Talk will be upcoming at TEDx Hartford in December of 2024. Additionally, believing that encouraging industries and people to continually invent and reinvent themselves is an act of consummate leadership, Kartik is on a mission to impress upon leaders how crucial they are to the success of their organizations and their people. With an immutable belief that leadership is not about a title, but how you serve your teams, Kartik has been coaching and mentoring new leaders on how they can start the process of leaving their leadership legacy. Kartik has published three books. “Find Your Red Cape” is a book about leadership and provides a framework for leaders to discover their “leadership superpowers”. “Digital Planet, Human Inhabitants” is an extended version of his TED Talk and provides individuals with the guidance and advice they need to demonstrate success in the Digital Age. “DNAI”, released in March of 2024, at over 550 pages is a business-friendly primer and how-to guide for organizations, leaders, and individuals to find success with their AI strategies in this “Age of AI.”

Kartik holds a PhD in Computer and Information Science (with a focus on Information Quality and a dissertation on best practices for AI) and a Graduate Certificate in Information Quality from University of Arkansas at Little Rock, a Master’s degree in Computer Information Systems/IT, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Southern New Hampshire University. He has been twice nominated as a Finalist for New England CIO of the Year in 2022 and 2024.

Adam Kreek

Adam has moved hundreds of thousands of people to action at organizations including Microsoft, General Electric, Mercedes-Benz, L’Oreal, Shell, Million Dollar Round Table, YPO, TEDx, General Mills and hundreds of others.

Being an Olympic Gold Medalist, he treats being a keynote speaker as a practice of excellence. Adam invests heavily in custom research and curriculum design to ensure our content is both relevant and actionable. This is done through an extensive pre-event interview to ensure that his story speaks authentically to each unique audience. His messages focus on your organizational goals, interests and cultures.

He’s not your typical Olympic Keynote Speaker. Adam walks the talk. Yes, he’s a two-time Olympian, who holds 60 international medals, including Olympic Gold, and multiple hall of fame inductions…But there’s far more lived experiences he draws from.

Adam attended Stanford University where he completed a degree in Geotechnical Engineering and Hydrology. He used this expertise to co-found (and subsequently Chair the Board for) Ergo Eco Solutions, a Social Enterprise focusing on production and distribution of petroleum-replacing, sustainable eco-products upcycled from its Waste Cooking Oil (WCO) operations.

In 2013, Adam was part of the first-ever expedition to attempt to row unsupported across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa to America. After 73 days alone at sea, he survived a capsize in the Bermuda Triangle. The event was subject of the NBC Dateline Documentary, Capsized.

He’s transitioned to a post-Olympic career coaching executives on how to clarify values and strategy, develop high-performing teams, manage change and maximize leadership capacity. His infectious energy, authenticity and breadth of life experience allow him to connect effectively with audiences across sectors. Adam’s clients include leadership teams from the Aerospace, Healthcare, Nutrition and Clean Energy sectors.

Adam is also a journalist with CBC Sports, writing on topics of health for peak performance. He is a champion for the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation where he shares insights to better personal, family and community health.

Adam is an active volunteer with Power To Be, bettering the lives of disadvantaged and disabled youth through cutting-edge outdoor adventure programming. He is a Big Brother, with Big Brothers and Big Sisters, and has visited hundreds of schools across North America, instilling in the next generation the idea that “the secret to happy living is giving.”