2025 CEO Summit
Oct. 15–17, 2025

Liz Truss served as the 56th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, during which time in September 2022 she led the nation in mourning Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as King Charles III acceded to the throne.

The Conservative MP for South West Norfolk between 2010 and 2024, she continuously held ministerial office for more than ten years between 2012 and 2022 and, after an initial spell as a junior education minister, sat at the Cabinet table in six different roles, prior to becoming Prime Minister: Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Chief Secretary to the Treasury; Secretary of State for International Trade; and Foreign Secretary – as well as Minister for Women and Equalities.

As Prime Minister she sought to implement her Plan for Growth, including a raft of tax cuts to kick-start economic growth and reforms to boost productivity. Regrettably these reforms did not command sufficient political and economic support and she reached the conclusion that she could not deliver the mandate on which she had been elected and stepped down.

Her Sunday Times best-seller Ten Years to Save the West was published in April 2024.

She is married to Hugh and they have two daughters.

Brian Wesbury is Chief Economist at First Trust Advisors L.P. Brian has been a member of the Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. In 2012, he was named a Fellow of the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, TX, where he worked closely with its 4%-Growth Project.

His writing appears in various magazines, newspapers, and blogs and he appears regularly on business TV, radio shows, and on podcasts talking about the economy and financial markets.

In 1995 and 1996, Brian served as Chief Economist for the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress. The Wall Street Journal ranked Brian the nation’s #1 U.S. economic forecaster in 2001, for his prediction of recession, USA Today ranked him as one of the nation’s top 10 forecasters in 2004 and Consensus Economics ranked First Trust’s economics team the #1 most accurate forecasters of the U.S. economy in 2022.

Brian began his career in 1982 at Harris Bank in Chicago. Former positions include Vice President and Economist for the Chicago Corporation and Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson.

Brian received an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and a BA in Economics from the University of Montana. McGraw-Hill published his first book, The New Era of Wealth, in October 1999. His second book, It’s Not As Bad As You Think, was published in November 2009 by John Wiley & Sons.

In 2011, Brian received the University of Montana’s Distinguished Alumni Award. This award honors outstanding alumni who have “brought honor to the University, the state, or the nation.” There have been 267 recipients of this award out of a potential pool of 91,000 graduates.

Lieutenant General, US ARMY (Retired) Michael T. Flynn is a subject matter expert in Diplomacy, Statecraft, Foreign Policy, Strategy Formulation, Defense, Intelligence, and other areas of national and international security. He served more than 33 years in the Army, Joint, and Special Operations Forces, with multiple overseas combat tours.

He is the author of 7 books, two are best sellers. He holds three master’s degrees, an honorary doctorate and currently serves as the Chairman of America’s Future, which is among the nation’s oldest non-profits.

His military career culminated as the Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the nation’s highest serving military intelligence officer. Additionally, he served the 45th President of the United States, President Donald J. Trump, as the nation’s 25th National Security Advisor.

General Flynn is the recipient of numerous military awards and decorations as well as law enforcement, intelligence community and several non-profit lifetime achievement awards.

He is married, with two sons and several grandchildren.

Ash Shrivastav is the Managing Partner of Uma Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in technology companies. He is also a Venture Partner at Buckhill Capital LP, where he spent over six years as a Principal, sourcing, evaluating, and leading investments in various companies and funds.

Ash has sourced and led investments in notable companies such as Last Country Inc. (Tucker Carlson Network, ALP), Perplexity AI, Anthropic, Primer Microschools, Hydra Host, Pigeon, Enduring Ventures, Revere VC, Worldly, Mill, Para, Goodr, and Decent, among others.

Ash has driven over 300,000 miles across 46 U.S. states and has lived in Houston, Boston, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Cambridge (UK), and Nepal. He has a keen interest in ancient history, deep tech, and faith and religious philosophy.

Ken Eldred is an investor, apostolic church leader, and founder/CEO of Living Stones Foundation. Ken is also an elder at Yoido Full Gospel Church. Currently Ken focuses his efforts on non-profit projects via Living Stones Foundation and Living Rock Foundation, two charitable entities he endowed, as well as several start-up ventures. He is Chairman of United in Purpose, an organization dedicated to fostering spiritual renewal in America.

Ken is also working on the growth and development of several innovative companies in the field of social media and technology. Ken was instrumental in organizing support within the evangelical community in 2016, aiding President Trump’s successful campaign. Many report this evangelical aid made the difference in Trump’s election. Other political endeavors included acting as Finance Chairman of Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign.

As an entrepreneur, Ken has founded numerous successful companies, including Ariba Technologies, Inc. (now SAP Ariba). Ariba was the first internet business-to-business company to go public and was valued as high as $40 billion. He also founded and lead Inmac, the first direct-mail computer products company, which went public in 1987 and later merged with MicroWarehouse.

Ken was named Silicon Valley “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 1988. Internationally, Ken was co-founder and director of Epicenter Technologies, a call center based in India which grew to 3000 employees. He was also an early investor in Wumart, now China’s largest indigenous retailer, and Anapass, a South Korean chip company, which is traded publicly on KOSDAQ.

Ken was profiled in Executive Influence by Christopher Crane and Mike Hamel, and he is co-editor of On Kingdom Business (2003), which earned a coveted Christianity Today Book Award. He is the author of God is at Work (2005), named the top book by the Business as Mission Network and now is translated into seven languages, as well as The Integrated Life (2010), which is used at several universities as a text. He speaks at Christian business meetings, faith-based organizations and has been interviewed on CBN, Family Talk, and other broadcast programs.

Ken spent time as a visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institute. He holds B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from Stanford as well as a Doctor of Laws from Belhaven University. He and his wife, Roberta have been married since 1971.

Jack Brewer is the Lead Director at The GEO Group, Inc.

KENT V. PEARCE, a Managing Director – Private Wealth Manager with The Pearce Group at Merrill along with his associates, form one of the firm’s most distinguished Private Wealth Management teams. With office locations in Towson, Maryland and Palm Beach, Florida, The Pearce Group serves a national clientele, providing comprehensive and holistic wealth management to affluent individuals and businesses.

During his 30-year career with Merrill, Kent has been recognized as one of America’s leading financial advisors by BARRON’S and FORBES. In 2025, Kent was ranked #35 on the FORBES “America’s Top Wealth Advisors” list. In addition, he was ranked #1 in Maryland – Baltimore on the FORBES “Best-In-State Wealth Advisors” list for 2025. (Both lists published on April 8, 2025. Rankings based on data as of June 30, 2024.). Kent was also named Top 50 on the BARRON’S “Top 100 Financial Advisors” list for 2025 (Published annually Mar – May. Rankings based on data as of December 31 of prior year.). Kent currently holds the #1 ranking in Maryland on the BARRON’S “Top 1200 Financial Advisors” list for 2025. (Published on March 7, 2025. Rankings based on data as of September 30, 2024.).

Kent’s 19-member team has over 250 years of combined experience and has consistently strived to offer stellar investment advice, and guidance as well as customized financial strategies to affluent individuals and families, corporate executives, business owners, foundations/endowments, private & public companies, and professional athletes/ entertainers. The Pearce Group at Merrill Private Wealth Management was recently recognized as one of the Top 100 teams listed on both the FORBES “America’s Top Wealth Management Teams – Private Wealth” list for 2024, and the BARRONS “Top 250 Private Wealth Management Teams” list for 2025. Additionally, the team has been recognized as the #1 Ranked Wealth Management Team in Maryland – Baltimore on the FORBES “Best-In-State Wealth Management Teams” list for 2025. (Published on November 13, 2024, May 9, 2025, and January 9, 2025, respectively. Rankings based on data as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2024).

Kent presently serves as a member of the CEO Club of Baltimore, the Living Classrooms Foundation Board of Directors and is also a founding member of Merrill’s National AGN (Advisor Growth Network) Board. Kent has also previously served as a member of the University of Maryland St. Joseph’s Medical Center Foundation Board, as well as the President’s Advisory Board at McDaniel College.

Kent received a MBA degree from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Financial Management, as well as a BA degree from McDaniel College with a dual concentration in Economics and Finance. Lastly, Kent was the recipient of Merrill’s prestigious David Brady Award (2018) recognizing him for his devoted commitment to his clients, colleagues and community best represented through character and integrity.

The Minister was born in Jerusalem, Israel and got his BA in Social Sciences and economics from Bar Ilan University, and his MA in social sciences specializing in international economic influence from the University of Haifa. He is also a graduate of the Israeli national defense college.

Before his current position, Minister Noach Hacker has served as board member and Vice President to one of Israel’s largest telecommunication companies. Prior to that, he held various roles in the Ministry of Finance, including Deputy Director of the Budget Department. In this capacity, he led significant economic reforms, orchestrated the construction and approval of the Israeli budget in the government and Knesset, and spearheaded various economic legislations. Since 2022, Minister Hacker has been the Minister of Economic Affairs at the Israeli Embassy in the United States and the senior representative of the Israeli Ministry of Finance in the US. Among his responsibilities, he leads the Joint Economic Development Group with the US and manages economic policy relations between the US and Israeli administrations. He is happily married and a father of four.

T’Neil Walea and her husband Tyler serve as Pastors of First Church in Pearland, Texas where they live with their three children, Paisley, L’Wren, and York. T’Neil is Director of Innovative Technology for the Federal Government at Microsoft where she helps integrate artificial intelligence and quantum computing into Federal agencies. As an international speaker, leadership consultant, and technology expert, she helps the Government navigate technological advancements.

She previously worked as IBM’s Chief Technology Officer for Global Governments, where she also focused on artificial intelligence and quantum computing.

With a strong background in team building and technology leadership, she is passionate about helping teams develop a healthy culture and adopt cutting-edge leadership and technology strategies. She loves mentoring and helping young women find their place in STEM-driven industries.

Jeff Hoffman is an award-winning global entrepreneur, proven CEO, worldwide motivational speaker, bestselling author, Hollywood film producer, a producer of a Grammy Award winning jazz album, and executive producer of an Emmy Award winning television show. In his career, he has been the founder of multiple startups, he has been the CEO of both public and private companies, and he has served as a
senior executive in many capacities. Jeff has been part of a number of well-known successful startups, including Priceline.com/Booking.com, uBid.com and more.

Jeff is the Chairman of the Global Entrepreneurship Network, which works with entrepreneurs in 200 countries, as well as being a founding board member of The Unreasonable Group, whose portfolio companies have raised over $11 billion in funding and have positively impacted more than one billion lives worldwide. He is also on the Advisory Board of CEED Global, the Centers for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development, teaching entrepreneurship globally in developing countries. Jeff has supported the White House, the State Department, the United Nations, and similar organizations internationally on economic growth initiatives and entrepreneurship programs.

Ambassador Alexander Tah-Ray Yui is Taiwan’s Representative to the United States, a role he assumed in December 2023. He has over 35 years of experience in diplomacy and previously served as Taiwan’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2021 to 2023.

His past overseas assignments include serving as Taiwan’s Representative to the European Union and Belgium, as well as Ambassador to Paraguay from 2015 to 2018. Ambassador Yui has held various leadership roles within Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing on Latin American, European, and global affairs.

Throughout his career, he has worked to expand Taiwan’s global partnerships and strengthen its international presence. His extensive experience includes postings in New York, San Salvador, and Geneva, reflecting his commitment to advancing Taiwan’s foreign policy goals.

Ambassador Yui received a BA in politics and foreign languages and a MA in Spanish literature from Texas A&M University.