2025 Conference General Session Speakers will Inspire & Educate

General Session speakers at WACE’s Annual Conference are often highlights of the overall experience.   The Conference Committee is excited to introduce the four individuals who will headline our general sessions this year!

Wednesday Morning General Session: Nash Fung
Nash Fung is a keynote speaker & magician who devotes his time investing new magic and crafting purposeful keynote presentations to empower his audiences.   Drawing from his 27 years of experience as an innovator in the field of magic, he now unveils the curtain as a keynote speaker, sharing with his audiences the magic behind innovative thinking. 
 
His original magic was featured on several national and international television appearances.   His keynotes have served audiences from TEDx, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, etc. … inspiring leaders to ignite their curiosity so they can create more impactful and innovative ideas.
 
When he’s not on stage, he uses magic to teach his children Cantonese.   You can often find him performing magic with his toddlers in his native language on Instagram.

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Wednesday Connections Lunch Session: Christine Kennedy
Sponsored by the U.S. Chamber Institute of Management
Curious Connectors:  Unlocking the Workforce Puzzle
Christine Kennedy has a 20+ year career in the Chamber of Commerce and non-profit industry and currently serves as the COO/EVP of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance where she administers the nationally award-winning Leadership Lynchburg programs. These include youth, emerging leader and high capacity leader programs that provide leadership skill building, community engagement and team- based project learning. Kennedy is credited for creating many innovative programs and initiatives for the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance and has been instrumental in their earning five consecutive five- star accreditations with the US Chamber. 
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Kennedy serves on several local and national boards including the regional Workforce Development Board and is the past chair of the US Chamber’s Southeast Board of Regents. She is one of two national facilitators of the Certified Community Leadership Practitioner Certification process and sits on the examination committee for that process.  She is also on faculty and incoming chair of the curriculum committee of the US Chamber’s Institute for Organization Management program.

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Thursday Connections Lunch Session: Andreas Mueller-Schubert
Andreas is a seasoned professional with a strong background in high-tech industries. His entire professional career has been involved in Internet driven business innovations, and his firm belief is that the availability of generative AI for everyone will revolutionize the way we work and enjoy our lives. In his role at WSI Next Gen Marketing he is dedicated to staying at the forefront of technologies and digital marketing trends.

Andreas is passionate for Internet driven innovations and has held senior management positions in the Internet and media industries for the last 20 years. He is deeply experienced in sales/marketing, project management and business operations. As general manager at Microsoft and Siemens he managed multi $100M global businesses, executed several acquisitions and drove innovative solutions in the field of VoIP or IPTV to global market leadership.

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Friday Morning General Session: Lauren Sweeney
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, Chamber Executives must lead from a place of curiosity and collaboration to unlock the full potential of their teams and communities.  Lauren will help us discover how embracing a mindset of curiosity can drive innovation, strengthen communication, and foster a collaborative culture that mitigates the staggering $1.2 trillion lost annually due to poor productivity and communication.

Discover practical strategies for leading with curiosity and collaboration, and leave equipped to drive meaningful change in your Chamber and beyond.

As an Executive Vice President at Rise Up For You, Lauren Sweeney supports organizations with leadership, HR consulting, intentional company culture, and people and culture management.
Lauren serves on two non-profit Boards and is passionate about emotional intelligence, values-based leadership and building career confidence. She holds a leadership degree from UCDavis and the SHRM-CP designation.

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