Keynotes

• Toby Bell
• Research Director
• Read Analyst Profile

• John A. Challenger
• CEO
• Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
• Read Bio
  
  John A. Challenger is chief executive officer of global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which pioneered employment-transition counseling as an employer-paid benefit in the 1960s.
  
  A recognized thought leader on workplace, labor, and economic issues, his insight is frequently sought out by major foreign and domestic broadcast and print media.
  
  In 2003, Challenger gave testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business on the issue of permanent job loss in a global economy. In 2002, at the height of the turmoil over corporate governance, The Wall Street Journal invited Challenger to address the issue in a bylined article that appeared in The Journal on June 25, 2002. He served on the labor/human resource committee of The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago for a three-year term.
  
  Challenger was the keynote speaker at The Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business "Summit at Fisher" conference in 2003, and at the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2004. He delivered addresses before the World Future Society In 1998, 2001, and 2003. He has also addressed the annual conference of the Ethics Officers Association and conferences of leading business executives in Japan.
  
  Challenger serves on the President's Circle steering committee of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is president and board member of the Japan America Society of Chicago. In 2004, he served on the Host Committee for the Annual Midwest U.S.-Japan Association Conference. Challenger is also a member of the board of the Human Resources Management Association of Chicago and chaired the organization's 2005 Summit, during which he conducted an interview with former Labor Secretary Alexis Herman. Challenger is active in YPO/WPO and Chief Executives Organization. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Union League Club and is active in the Economic Club of Chicago, Chicago Club and Metropolitan Club. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago International Film Festival. In 2007, Challenger was listed among the Who's Who in Chicago Business, published annually by Crain's Chicago Business.
  
  A graduate of Harvard University, Challenger currently serves as Regional Director Great Lakes of the Harvard Alumni Association. He also sits on the board of the Harvard Club of Chicago and served as its President from 2002 to 2004. Challenger serves on the Parent's Council of Miami (Ohio) University, where his oldest son is a student.
  
  Challenger resides in Winnetka, Illinois, with his wife Nancy and five children.

• Emily Landis Walker
• Former 9-11 Commission Staff Member; Current Dept of
• Homeland Security Private Sector Advisory Council
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  Emily Landis Walker has recently been an active commentator on US politics, appearing on over 20 United Kingdom BBC radio and television broadcasts, as well as debates and other speeches regarding the recent US Presidential Elections. She has also been an active speaker on "Emergency Preparedness" in global conferences and at the ANSI-HSSP 7th Annual Conference.
  
  Prior to this, Emily served as Director of Corporate Affairs for Barclays Global Retail and Commercial Bank (GRCB) based in London with extensive global travel. In this position, she developed the organizational operating structure for the GRCB Corporate Affairs function, organized the first ever Investor Conference for the GRCB, and managed multiple key international engagements for the CEO of the GRCB.
  
  Prior to Barclays, Emily has 15 years experience with Citibank/Citigroup as a Managing Director in Emerging Markets Corporate Banking, Corporate and Investment Bank, Retail and Institutional Asset Management, Traveler's Life and Annuity, and Global Wealth Management.
  
  During 2006 she was seconded by Citigroup to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome to launch an Emergency Network as part of the partnership between Citigroup and WFP. In this role, she travelled extensively with the UN Special Envoy to Southern Africa.
  
  In 2003 to 2004 she served on the "9-11 Commission" as Professional Staff Member and Family Liaison. Among other responsibilities, she worked with the New York Team to research Chapter 9: Heroism and Horror of the Commission's Report. Emily also spearheaded the recommendation for "National Standards for Emergency Preparedness" for the Private Sector, for which she received a National Award from the American National Standards Institute.
  
  Emily represented the United States on the Board of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London at its inception in 1991 1993. From 1989 to 1990 she served as Executive Secretary to the US Secretary of the Treasury, Nicholas Brady. She worked on the Brady Debt plan and G-7 Coordination. She also worked for 8 years at the International Monetary Fund on staff and in the U.S. Director's office.
  
  Emily has degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in International Affairs and French. She has passed the Investment Management Certificate part of the UKSIP Level 3 Certificate in Investment Management in the UK. She is a member of the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council's Private Sector Senior Advisory Committee and an active speaker on Emergency Preparedness and Corporate Philanthropy.
  
  www.emilylwalker.com

Speakers

Mock Disaster Exercise

• Steve Dreyer
• U.S. practice leader for Utilities & Infrastructure Ratings
• Standard & Poor's
• Read Bio
  
  Steve Dreyer is U.S. practice leader for Utilities & Infrastructure Ratings, overseeing a group of analysts providing credit ratings and research on investor-owned electric, gas, and water utilities, independent power producers, gas pipelines, project finance, and public-private infrastructure partnerships. He also leads S&P's initiative to apply Enterprise Risk Management to the credit analysis process for corporate ratings globally.
  
  From 2000 to 2006, Steve was North American practice leader for Insurance Ratings. He joined Standard & Poor's in 1990 with its acquisition of ratings firm Insurance Solvency International, Ltd., whose U.S. subsidiary he managed. Previously he was responsible for insurance industry forecasting at Chase Econometrics.
  
  Steve earned a B.A. in Statistics from the University of Delaware and did graduate work at Drexel University. He completed executive development programs at the University of Virginia (1996), Columbia University (2005) and INSEAD (2007).
  
  Steve was named to Insurance Newscast's "List of 100 Most Powerful People in Insurance in North America" from 2002 to 2006. In 2003, he contributed to the Greater New York Safety Council's "Roundtables on Sector Preparedness", reporting to the 9-11 Commission. He is a director of the Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, which sets ethical standards in the sale of life insurance and annuities.

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