Hilton Washington DC/Rockville Hotel & Executive Meeting Ctr

1750 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852-1699, USA

On Friday, May 16:

Keynote Speaker: Nidal Khaznadar

Nidal Khaznadar is a global career coach and founder of Chin Up Global, helping professionals with international experience land their dream jobs and thrive in their careers. His program has a high success rate, with clients transforming their lives, transitioning their careers, and securing roles at Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, Deloitte, and the World Bank.

With over 12 years of experience in HR and career development, Nidal has served as an HR leader across various industries, both nationally and internationally. He is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree in Human and Organizational Learning at George Washington University, focusing his research on career barriers for professional immigrants.

Nidal lives in Virginia with his wife and three children.

On Saturday, May 17:

Keynote Speaker: Sylvia Baffour

Sylvia Baffour is a leading Emotional Intelligence Coach and celebrated speaker, recently ranked among HubSpot’s Top 15 female motivational speakers alongside the likes of Oprah and Mel Robbins.

Her global journey—over 42 countries visited, eight lived in, and five languages spoken—enriches her ability to connect with diverse audiences. In 2014, she ranked among the top 18 speakers at the World Championship of Public Speaking held in Malaysia. Mentored by the legendary Dr. Maya Angelou for 13 years, Sylvia has honed a unique perspective that infuses her Dare to Care™ Framework into helping organizations build thriving work cultures with emotional intelligence.

For nearly two decades, her emotional intelligence strategies have empowered organizations like Whirlpool Inc., Lockheed Martin, and The World Bank to name a few. An acclaimed author and trainer, Sylvia's warmth and relatability make her a sought-after speaker, inspiring change and growth with her empathy and dedication. She continues to be a beacon of guidance, profoundly impacting lives worldwide.

Educational Session Speaker: Judy Oyedele

Judy Oyedele, MSOD, ACC, is a leadership development expert who transforms how leaders navigate complex organizational challenges, helping them turn exhaustion into energy, confusion into clarity, and struggle into flow. As the founder of Joyedele Consulting, she specializes in cultivating power-aware leadership practices that allow leaders to access their full range of influence while maintaining authenticity.

With over 15 years of experience supporting federal agencies, nonprofits, and tech organizations, Judy helps leaders develop versatile approaches to influence and impact. Her unique methodology enables clients to identify their primary power sources and develop fluency across multiple leadership dimensions—creating more confident, adaptable leaders who can thrive in any situation. Judy holds a Master's in Organization Development from American University and is an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation.

Educational Session Speaker: Dawn McAvoy

Dawn McAvoy has over 25 years of professional experience. Throughout her career, she has been driven to help leaders and organizations be more effective and do their best work. She has worked closely with CEOs and other executives to learn what strategies work well and where opportunities exist in manifesting their mission. As an Executive Coach, she works with new leaders, leaders in challenging situations, and those who want to elevate their effectiveness. She brings empathy, curiosity, and support to each client experience, meeting her clients where they are and sharing tools and resources where appropriate. Building a collaborative partnership, she helps develop action planning and accountability measures to set them up for success. As a Consultant, Advisor, and Facilitator, she works with leaders to improve their team and organization cultures, which includes building communication, feedback, and coaching skills and reducing reactionary and defensive behaviors. Dawn’s sweet spot is solving problems with creativity, client care, and keen resource management. With an eye for identifying gaps, along with process and system development opportunities, she collaborates with leaders and teams to envision and create sustainable change while shaping an environment that fosters trust.

She earned her master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and bachelor’s degree in English. Her professional certifications are the DiSC, 5 Behaviors, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, EQ-i 2.0/360, and Certified Professional Career Coach via PARWCC. As a certified FranklinCovey facilitator, she has facilitated courses in the federal government, such as The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Project Management Essentials, and The 6 Critical Practices for Leading Teams. Dawn serves on the Board of the Mid-Atlantic Facilitator’s Network (MAFN), is a member of the Project Management Institute (PMI), and has served on multiple projects for Compass DC since 2012, providing pro bono consulting services for nonprofits in the Washington DC area.

Educational Session Speaker: Joshua Smith

Joshua D. Smith is a two-time Distinguished Toastmaster residing in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small community 30 minutes west of Harrisburg, PA, the state capital. Joshua has worked for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for over 15 years, with his most recent assignment as an IT Procurement Specialist with the Department of General Services. At DGS, he works on developed complex procurement documents for a variety of information technology (IT) related materials and services through various policy, process, and regulations that are required for fair procurements. In various roles with different departments in the past, Joshua has been responsible for budgeting, procurement, emergency management planning, data collection/analysis, process improvement, and program implementation, in addition to specialty compliance subjects such as PA’s Right to Know Law and the Business Enterprise Program.

He opened up a coaching and consulting business in January 2023 called Your Speaking Voice LLC, with the mission to transform our “voice” in this ever-changing world through an extensive listing of services for individuals and businesses to engage in, which include public speaking training, interview preparation, and resume writing/review services. He is also the host of the podcast extending from his work in the business, Speaking From The Heart, which is advancing the mission of engaging in conversation that allows us to become the best version of ourselves.