INSPIRE
INSPIRE is a premier one-day leadership development experience located centrally in the Chicago- Milwaukee corridor, featuring high-caliber national and regional speakers & experts providing inspirational content to elevate your personal and professional leadership journey.
INSPIRE brings out the best in our lives, our work, our teams, and our community through intentional and positive leadership.
THE DETAILS:
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025 | Time: 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Location: Journey Church, 10700 75th St, Kenosha, WI 53142
Estimated attendance: 550
Cost to attend: $250 | Early-bird, nonprofit, educator and student rates available
Perks to attend: A copy of a best-selling business book; Inspire journal; snacks & refreshments; an amazing speaker lineup; one-of-a-kind networking opportunities
INSPIRE is pleased to welcome the following speakers to the 2025 lineup:
Suneel Gupta
As the founding CEO of RISE, a breakthrough wellness company, Suneel Gupta helped thousands of people build better habits for life and work. Now, as a bestselling author and Harvard Medical School visiting scholar, Suneel has taken his mission one step further – helping people reset, reignite, and find meaning in their work by bolstering emotional resilience and engagement. He helps leaders and teams build the capacity to meet today’s relentless demands without sacrificing their well-being.
Read more here.
Edgardo Hernandez
Edgardo Hernandez is president of manufacturing operations at Eli Lilly and Company – one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In his time with Lilly, Ed has provided oversight for manufacturing sites in 12 countries across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia; that manufacture the final parenteral product (non-oral) formulations of Lilly medicines. Since joining Lilly in 2005, he has been responsible for multiple manufacturing functions including, global parenteral manufacturing, emerging markets manufacturing, drug-product contract manufacturing, packaging, and distribution operations. We’ll learn more about his career path, Lilly’s record investment in Kenosha County, and how the company is advancing science to solve some of the world’s most significant health challenges.
Read more here.
Laura Huang
How do we find the elusive “edge” that will help us gain success at work and in life? We don’t need to go searching too far, says Laura Huang, acclaimed business professor and author of Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage. As a Distinguished Professor at Northeastern and the Director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Center, as well as a Harvard professor Huang will discuss how to hone our intuition (that unique blend of external data and our personal experiences) to make the right decisions and turn obstacles into assets.
Read more here.
More speakers will be announced soon! Registration is now open – take advantage of early bird rates and register your team today!
KABA is excited to bring Inspire to Kenosha, WI, for the twelfth year! What began as an event with approximately 75 people in a small lecture hall at Carthage College has evolved into a highly produced leadership experience with more than 600 energized professionals engaging with our speakers at each other in the auditorium at Journey Church. The goal of Inspire was to empower attendees to make real connections, learn new and motivating content, and hear uplifting stories the local community – and ultimately help develop better leaders and community members.
And did you know? Proceeds from Inspire directly benefit the KABA Education Foundation! The Foundation, formed in 1996, to develop educational initiatives in collaboration with local Kenosha schools. The Foundation aims to increase graduation and educational attainment rates, improve the overall quality of education and foster the best school system in the state. Some of the initiatives of the Foundation include an elementary school mentoring program, annual scholarship awards for local students attending local schools, and support for various other educational initiatives such as Building our Future and the Gateway Promise Program. Read more about the foundation here.
Previous speakers include:
- Neil Hoyne, Chief Strategist, Google
- Frans Johanssan, best-selling author and CEO of The Medici Group
- Nick Pinchuk, Chairman & CEO, Snap-on Incorporated
- Liz Wiseman, NYT Best-selling author & CEO The Wiseman Group
- Raven Jemison, EVP, Business Operations, Milwaukee Bucks
- Jon Acuff, NYT Best-selling author and top leadership speaker
- Dan Heath, Best-selling author of Upstream: How to Solve Problems Before they Start
- Fawn Weaver, CEO of Uncle Nearest Whiskey
- Shawn Seipler, founder & CEO of Clean the World
- Charles Duhigg, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist for the New York Times and author of Smarter Faster Better
- Sam Walker, Leadership columnist for the Wall Street Journal and author of the The Captain Class
- Victoria Arlen, US Gold Medalist, ESPN on-air personality and Jockey International spokesmodel
- Greg McKeown, international best-selling author
- Jon Gordon, leadership expert and best-selling author
- Rick LaBerge, COO, Haribo North America
The Inspire On Leadership columns are designed to share thoughts on leadership from local business and community leaders and features a regular column from leadership expert Aleta Norris of Living as a Leader.
Spring 2024
Delegation – Getting Unstuck!
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Leadership is Empowerment
By Brandon Morris, Vice President, Evolution Basketball; Head Varsity Boys Basketball Coach, Kenosha Tremper High School
Fall/Winter 2023
Are You More Special Than Those Around You?
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Summer 2023
Practice Sonder on the Street
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Tea and Three Ts
By Dr. Rita Raju, President, Gateway Technical College
Winter 2023
Are You More Special Than Those Around You?
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Summer 2022
Do the Right Thing
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
How Humor Strengthens Influence
By Steve Scherer, Vice President of Sales, CCB Technology
Spring 2022
Equip Your Employees to Problem Solve
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Leading Through Relationships
By Carolynn Friesch, Chief Executive Officer, United Way of Kenosha County
Fall 2021
One Sentence Matters
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Growing Leaders
By Donna Jamieson, President, Aurora Medical Center – Kenosha, Advocate Aurora Health
Summer 2021
Five Considerations for Leading Your Hybrid Team
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Spring 2021
Thank Your Employees for Doing Their Job
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
The Benefits of Servant Leadership
By Jeff Hill, Regional President – Wisconsin for Herzing University
Fall 2020
Two Ways to Help Your Employees Be Accountable
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Leadership During Crisis
By Lisa Just, Patient Service Area President, South Wisconsin, & President, Aurora Medical Center- Kenosha
Summer 2020
Master Tips for Asking Great Questions
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Spring 2020
Leaders! Shift from DOING to LEADING
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Positivity x Progress x People
By Andrew Gavin, Director of Athletics at the University of Wisconsin – Parkside
Fall 2019
Small nuggets, big difference
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
It takes a village to have a successful career
By Jamie Hogan, President of Specialized Accounting Services LLC
Summer 2019
Tips for First Time Managers
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
True LEADERS must be SERVANTS first!
By Tamarra Coleman, Executive Director of the Shalom Center of Interfaith Network of Kenosha County, Inc.
Spring 2019
Time for extreme self care
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Work hard. Treat people the right way. Be accountable. Lead by example.
By Jake McGhee is the Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of Kenosha
Fall 2018
Responsibility Requires Confidence
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
The ROI that Beats the Stock Market
By Lynn Debilzen, Manager, Birth to 8, Building our Future
Summer 2018
Leadership is Everywhere
By Aleta Norris, Principal, Living as a Leader
Something Entirely my Own
By Kimberly Warner, Owner, Authentique Gifts in Downtown Kenosha