Sherri Aldis is the Chief of United Nations Publications in the Department of Global Communications at the United Nations. She has been at the United Nations since February 2015 where she oversees the publishing activities and policies of the United Nations and supports the communications priorities and campaigns of the UN, such as the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Aldis has had an extensive career in the international book and publishing industry, mostly in France, at Hachette Livre in Paris. She is Canadian and British; has lived in the UK, Canada, France and Tunisia, and is fluent in both English and French. She has a Masters of Business Administration from Université Paris Dauphine and the IAE of the Sorbonne.

Rev. Dr. Amy Valdez Barker is currently serving as the President/CEO of Valdez Barker Ventures, LLC, a conglomeration of projects and programs designed to inspire hope, creativity and innovation.  She is an ordained Deacon in The United Methodist Church and has a PhD in Religious Education and Congregational Studies.  She has published a book on trust and contributed to articles and other editorials for Christian communities.  Currently, she is working with Dr. Laceye Warner on an Advent Study entitled “All the Good” for Abingdon Press.

Larry Bennett, Executive Director, North America, manages North America for French technology company Nord Compo, the leading supplier of composition and digital services to French language publishers.  Prior to Nord Compo, he was President of Distribution at Bookmasters, Inc., where he was responsible for managing the global distribution business, including print and eBooks.  Before Bookmasters, he served as Vice President of Digital Print Media at Baker & Taylor, where he was responsible for developing and managing the company's Digital Print Media (print on demand) business worldwide.  Additionally, he has been the CEO of several small publishing and distribution start-ups. 

He is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Placing a high value on languages, he is a fluent Spanish speaker, and he speaks business-level French and conversational Italian.

Kathy Berlowe brings three decades of experience in sourcing, identifying, and placing high-performing talent for a wide variety of companies and organizations across learning, media, information and non-profits sectors in the US and International markets. After starting her career in publishing for consumer books, she moved into the education and professional arenas as a marketing and sales professional for such companies as Houghton Mifflin, Scholastic and John Wiley, and trade magazines such as “Publisher’s Weekly”.  After 13 years in publishing, her entrepreneurial streak sent her in the direction of the retained search industry, where she has remained and thrived. Kathy has deep familiarity with multiple profiles and backgrounds from director level on up to the C-Suite in all types of cultures and environments, from startups to multi-national organizations, and has provided years of service for clients and candidates seeking to improve their organizations and careers.

She has lived in New York City her whole career and cannot envision a more stimulating or educational environment to support her desire to learn and grow.

Brooke Borneman is the Client Development Director at The NPD Group, a global research and data company. She is responsible for maximizing client engagement with NPD BookScan reporting tools and data. Brooke is a twenty-five year veteran of the publishing industry, where her career has spanned many roles including sales, marketing and new business development. She works with a wide range of clients including Disney Publishing Worldwide/Buena Vista Books, Inc., Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, 1517 Media, Abingdon Press, Baker Books, Charisma Media, Crossway, David C. Cook, Lifeway, Loyola Press, Tyndale House Publishers and many others. Prior to joining NPD Books, Brooke worked at Random House, Dorchester Publishing, Diamond Book Distributors, Penguin Random House and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Cevin Bryerman is the publisher and CEO of Publishers Weekly, the international news platform of the book publishing industry. He has been in the publishing business for more than 30 years, working at the helm of both trade and consumer magazines in strategic planning, business development and strategic partnerships.

Bryerman is a sought-after speaker, having lectured and given seminars at the University of Michigan, Northwestern School of Journalism, Pace University (as visiting professor in 2013 – 2014), NYU School of Professional Studies Center for Publishing, BookExpo and others.

Rob Dewey has been designing brands and brand strategies for publishing, media, and arts organizations for over 25 years. He led the brand development process for 1517 Media and its imprint Beaming Books and more recently designed the new PCPA brand identity and website.

Brian Erickson leads design and website development at King Grizzly. Driven by relentless curiosity, he loves partnering with like-minded clients across a wide range of industries. With extensive experience inside and outside of the publishing industry, Brian is able to combine the best of both worlds solving new publishing projects. When he’s not contemplating the latest design challenge, you’ll find Brian with his wife and three children — usually exploring the outdoors.

Robb Erickson leads marketing and strategy at King Grizzly. He enjoys helping brands develop the right plan for their website and digital marketing efforts. You’ll typically find him doing things like SEO research, content marketing, website strategy, and PPC advertising. Robb lives in Colorado Springs with his wife Megan.

Sarah Fennessey, Sales Executive for Pressbooks, is passionate about forming connections and helping people. This passion led her to study psychology at McGill University in Montreal, and eventually go on to create Vent Over Tea, an active listening service that pairs people who need to talk with great listeners. Two things that bring her joy are deep conversations and long walks with her french bulldog, Pants.

Mark Glesne is a Marketing Director at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, with a special emphasis on the Max Lucado and Lysa TerKeurst publishing brands. A graduate of California Lutheran University, he has spent his entire professional career in digital marketing roles across a variety of industries. Mark is also an ordained pastor, a United States Marine Corps combat veteran, and a bona fide social media nerd. 

Lindsay has worked in marketing in the publishing industry for over 20 years and has been most intrigued to watch the development of digital marketing and the amazing opportunities it presented to content producers. She founded ApricotServices.com in 2013 to come alongside publishers, authors and non-profits through providing all forms of digital marketing services.

Michelle Halket is a bibliophile and technophile who loves to try new things, which is what prompted her to start a digital-first publishing company, when very few knew what ebooks were. Central Avenue is now a traditional press of fiction and poetry. 

The Rev. Dr. Theon E. Hill serves as Associate Professor of Communication at Wheaton College where he researches and teaches on the intersections of race, politics, and faith. In addition to his academic work, Theon regularly consults for a variety of corporate and nonprofit organizations, including several publishing houses, on matters of diversity, equity, and inclusion. His scholarship has appeared in variety of scholarly and popular outlets, including Faithfully Magazine, Christianity Today, and the Chicago Tribune.

Brett Hodus is a leader in the audio book industry and has been helping publishers build and scale their audiobook programs since 2008. Mr. Hodus is the owner of Book Buddy Media, a Seattle-based audio production company that regularly serves the children’s, educational, general trade, self-help and Christian markets with high quality, low-cost audio productions.

Andy Hunter is the Founder & CEO of Bookshop. He is the co-founder and publisher of Catapult Press, the co-creator and publisher of the websites Literary Hub, Crime Reads and Book Marks, and co-founder and chairman of Electric Literature. 

Lauren Klouda is the Director of Marketing at IPG. She leads the creative team behind IPG’s trade, corporate, and consumer marketing services, responsible for overseeing the development of product campaigns, account & customer outreach, social media, and IPG’s online content, within IPG's larger Marketing and Publicity department. Lauren works with client publishers, IPG partners, independent bookstores, and libraries across the industry to help readers discover books.

David Marlin co-founded MetaComet® Systems in 2000. David has been committed to enhancing the technological capabilities of the publishing world through his work as the founding co-chairman of the BISG Digital Sales Reporting Committee and a former co-chair of the BISG Rights Committee. 

Scott McConnell has researched the needs and preferences of church leaders, laity, and the unchurched for LifeWay Christian Resources for over 20 years. His in-depth studies and national polls have generated relevant insights on today’s church and culture.

Scott received a Bachelor of Science in Economics degree in Marketing and Strategic Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He was mentored in sound survey methodology and actionable decision-focused research as an associate project manager at NAXION, a Philadelphia based research and consulting firm. This research included segmentation, satisfaction and product development research for Fortune 100 telecommunications and utilities companies.

For 10 years, Scott has led LifeWay Research’s national polling that regularly measures the views of Americans and Protestant pastors. His team’s studies for ministries and business that serve churches have also tested new product ideas, measured the health of churches and denominations, tested packaging, identified motivations, and quantified brand perceptions. Scott is Executive Director of LifeWay Research.

Joshua Tallent is the Director of Sales and Education at Firebrand Technologies, where his focus is on helping publishers of all sizes learn about, and find solutions to, their workflow and metadata problems. In his spare time, Joshua enjoys playing complex board games, playing Minecraft, and reading.

As a Vice President Client Director at 5by5, A Change Agency, Jordan and his team help Change Maker organizations clarify their messages and get results. His marketing expertise leans heavily on the ability to break down complicated messaging and challenges into actionable, audience-centric campaigns that drive conversions. At its core, marketing is all about getting the right message in front of the right people and there's something wonderful about that simplicity. 

Richard T. Williams is the Vice President, Publisher Development, at IPG, where he pursues new publisher business and helps clients plan and develop their lists. He is a former sales manager at IPG, was the director of the Small Press United program from its inception in 2009, and was once an operations manager at an independent publisher, which gives him firsthand experience on the publishing side.

Jennifer has lent her publicity and marketing skills to many New York Times bestselling authors, A-list celebrities, well-known pastors, box office hits, musical artists, senators, a former governor, a former president and other personalities of note. She steers the team's overall campaign strategy and has, through the years, worked with almost every network, cable show and national publication, with relationships spanning key TV, print, online, radio and podcast outlets.

Jennifer was formerly an Associate Publisher for Simon & Schuster, VP of Marketing/Publicity for Thomas Nelson, and cofounder of ICON Media Group. Along the way she served at DeMoss, the largest faith-based PR agency in the world and as a VP of Marketing for Guideposts. Jennifer's expertise in strategic planning, campaign development, positioning and activations enables her to lead a wide variety of efforts for EPIC's client roster.