Keynote Speakers

Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC is an international speaker and consultant in behavioral health whose presentations have reached thousands throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, West Indies, and Guam. He is the recipient of four lifetime achievement awards including the prestigious NAADAC Enlightenment Award. He was one of three finalists for the National Association for Addiction Professionals 50th Anniversary Legends Award. Mark is also the recipient of the Illinois Certification Board’s Professional of the Year Award, The Illinois Certification Board, Jessica Hayes Lifetime Achievement Award and The Barbara Bacon Award for outstanding contributions to the social work profession as a Loyola University of Chicago alumni. 

Stephen Hill-founder of Speak Sobriety, young person in recovery, bestselling author, recovery coach, and a defense attorney—is a renowned national speaker on substance use prevention & mental health with a truly inspiring comeback story that everyone must hear. 

But before Stephen had these accolades attached to his name, his reputation was filled with stigma—junky, dropout, felon, failure. A once promising student-athlete barely graduated high school, dropped out of numerous colleges, was arrested several times, struggled with substance use disorder for a decade, in and out of countless treatment programs, lost friends, and cost his family severe emotional and financial hardship. 

Today, Stephen lives a meaningful, healthy, sober life with his family and friends. Some of the personal experiences that Stephen shares are difficult for him to talk about, but he knows it’s worth it if his story helps just one person every time he speaks.

Dr. Lisa J. Martin is a licensed clinical psychologist, consultant, speaker, and founder of The Redesign Institute, where she helps individuals, leaders, and organizations redesign the systems that shape how we live, work, and lead.

For more than 15 years, Dr. Martin has worked at the intersection of psychology, leadership, and organizational change. Her work is grounded in a simple belief: people are often functioning exactly as the systems around them have prepared them to function. Rather than asking people to simply become more resilient, she helps uncover the patterns, structures, and assumptions that drive current outcomes and guides the intentional redesign of healthier, more sustainable ways of living and working.

Drawing from clinical psychology, organizational development, trauma-informed practice, anti-oppressive theory, and systems thinking, Dr. Martin partners with healthcare organizations, nonprofits, educational institutions, corporations, and community leaders to strengthen leadership, improve workplace culture, navigate complexity, and build environments where both people and performance can thrive.

As a therapist and executive coach, she works with professionals seeking to move beyond survival, recover from burnout, navigate career transitions, and create lives that are aligned with their values rather than shaped by chronic stress or external expectations.

Dr. Martin is an engaging speaker and facilitator known for translating complex psychological concepts into practical, actionable strategies. Whether she is delivering a keynote, leading an executive retreat, consulting with leadership teams, or working one-on-one with clients, her approach is both compassionate and evidence-informed, challenging people to think differently about change.

Her work ultimately asks one central question:

If our systems are producing exactly what they were designed to produce, what would become possible if we intentionally designed them differently?