FULL EVENT SCHEDULE

Start your morning off by joining this optional community run. Get your heart pumping while explore the city!

Meet in the 1st floor lobby of The Westin Book Cadillac.

Head to the event venue at One Campus Martius, and fuel up for the day with delicious breakfast and coffee. Get settled before the day kicks off.

Finding True North

At 28, Richard became the reluctant CEO of a 100-year-old family business that was $5 million in debt and six months from bankruptcy. The waters were rough—fierce competition, strained partners, and a team lacking alignment. What followed wasn’t luck. It was navigation. With the guidance of an unexpected mentor, Richard set a clear course, rebuilt the culture, and rallied A-Players around one shared vision. The result: renewed profitability, sustained growth, and a highly successful exit. In this powerful keynote, Richard shares what it takes to navigate uncertainty, align your crew, and lead with clarity when everything is on the line.

Take a break, stretch your legs, enjoy the view of Detroit from the balcony, and chat with new friends. You can also participate in a speed mentoring session with a Sounding Board mentor.

The Gap: Why Getting What You Wanted Might Break You Open

More coming soon!

Continue making new connections over a tasty lunch! 

You can also take this time to participate in speed Sounding Board mentoring conversations over lunch.

Rebrewing the Plan

Sometimes the business isn’t ready for the transition you’ve planned—and that realization can change everything. In this fireside chat, Carl shares what happened when a planned succession fell apart and forced a hard reset. When everything went off course, alignment to values and culture mattered more than ever. This is a candid look at navigating uncertainty when plans stop working, recalibrating what the business needs versus what you want, and finding clarity when the path forward isn’t what you expected.

Collective Empathy

On our quest to build cultures that endure, how can empathy be harnessed as a collective skill? In this session, we’ll explore how nurturing empathy across your organization can strengthen accountability, ownership, and connection at every level. Take a behind-the-scenes look at how Tasty Catering brought in an academic researcher to assess, affirm, and evolve as a culture of continuous learning. This has transformed feedback into a powerful tool for growth, retention, and development. Walk away with a practical blueprint for cultivating empathy to create a more engaged, purpose-driven culture.

Think Tank

Think Tank

Meet in the 1st floor lobby of the Shinola Hotel OR the Westin Book Cadillac to catch the shuttle to our evening reception.

The Detroit Bus Company will be shuttling us from our hotels to The Whiskey Factory.

We love supporting purpose-driven businesses, and our transportation is extra special! The Detroit Bus Company provides free rides to Detroit kids, so they have safe rides to school and after-school activities. Your ride is helping to support the community!

We'll gather together to enjoy a delicious meal and continue our conversations with like-hearted leaders.

The highlight of our evening will be the Small Giants Hall of Fame ceremony. We celebrate all of the finalists, and will announce the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees live!

Start your morning off by joining this optional community run. Get your heart pumping while explore the city!

Meet in the 1st floor lobby of The Westin Book Cadillac.
.

Head to the event venue at One Campus Martius, and fuel up for the day with delicious breakfast and coffee. Get settled before the day kicks off.

Scaling Profit into Purpose

It started with one moment of care. What began as support for an employee in crisis grew into a mission to serve the community with focus and heart. Sean followed in his father’s footsteps and built community engagement the same way he built the business: with purpose, consistency, and a commitment to show up when it matters most. That mindset led to the launch of a nonprofit dedicated to investing intentionally in the communities they serve. And in an industry built around money, they’re choosing to use it differently by putting profits to work for employees, partners, customers, and charities. Learn how giving becomes sustainable when it’s aligned with culture, backed by margins, and rooted in relationships. Because no margin means no mission—and no people means no purpose.

Take a break, stretch your legs, enjoy the view of Detroit from the balcony, and chat with new friends. You can also participate in a speed mentoring conversations with a Sounding Board mentor.

The Human Compass: Guiding AI with Values and Purpose

AI is everywhere, but using it well is harder than ever—especially for companies that prioritize intimacy, trust, and mission over speed and scale. This session shares real stories of success, failure, and decision-making from a team that integrated AI without compromising what mattered most. You’ll unpack uncomfortable truths about AI, learn a practical framework for aligning tools with purpose, and explore how to experiment without losing your culture. Walk away with examples, a diagnostic tool, and a checklist you can start to use with your team next week. 

Flipping the Switch

More coming soon!

Take a quick break to stretch your legs, chat with new friends, and enjoy the view of Detroit from the balcony. Or have a conversation with a Sounding Board mentor. 

More coming soon!

More coming soon!

Grab some delicious food and join a roundtable to meet fellow leaders, share ideas, ask questions, and gain new insight through topic-specific conversations.

Get ready for the final mainstage sessions of the 2026 Summit.

Natural Truths

Nature has a way of showing us exactly how growth really works—messy seasons, sudden disturbances, and unexpected renewal. Brandy discovered this firsthand during a time marked by deep personal loss and rapid business evolution. As her life shifted, she began to see her company the way she saw an ecosystem: constantly changing, sometimes flourishing, sometimes needing to be pruned back. In this heartfelt story, Brandy shares how the natural world mirrors the realities of leadership, reminding us that resilience is grown through disruption, vulnerability creates space for new growth, and nothing stays static for long.  

Finding Freedom

More coming soon!