2026 Leadership Summit

The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce invites you to its eighth annual Leadership Summit, "Leading Today, Shaping Tomorrow," a transformative event dedicated to professional leadership and organizational management development.

“Leading Today, Shaping Tomorrow” celebrates the impact of the choices we make as leaders every day. It’s about leading with purpose, supporting our people, and responding to today’s challenges while building a strong foundation for the future. Through fresh perspectives, practical tools, and meaningful connections, this year’s Leadership Summit will inspire attendees to recognize their influence and take action to strengthen their teams, businesses, and community.

2026 SUMMIT AGENDA

8:00AM DOORS OPEN
8:30AM WELCOMING REMARKS
8:45AM THE SHEDD EXPERIENCE

HOW MUSIC INSPIRES AND AWAKENS THE SENSES

9:00AM OPENING KEYNOTE | AVRIL WATT

LEADING TODAY: HOW WE WIN!

10:00AM COFFEE BREAK/NETWORKING
10:30AM WORKSHOP | ANDREW ROBINSON AND SUZI LANTZ

BRAVE ENOUGH TO BREATHE: HOW WELL ARE YOU BREATHING?

12:00PM LUNCH BREAK
1:00PM WORKSHOP | SAMANTHA DOYLE

DON'T THROW OUT WHAT WORKS: HOW TO MODERNIZE WITHOUT LOSING THE STRENGTHS THAT GOT YOU HERE

2:00PM ICE CREAM BREAK/NETWORKING
3:00PM CLOSING KEYNOTE | DR. STEPHANIE BULGER

SEEING AROUND CORNERS: LEADING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY TO SHAPE TOMORROW

3:45PM CLOSING REMARKS
4:00PM RAFFLE PRIZES

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

LEADING TODAY: HOW WE WIN!

AVRIL WATT | General Manager, Astec

Keynote Description

Today’s business leaders face constant challenges, from finding and retaining great people to managing costs, meeting customer expectations, and adapting to change. We can’t control every challenge, but we can control how we lead.

Recognize the value you bring as a leader and discover practical opportunities to take your leadership to the next level. Your employees need your best. Your business needs your next level. And your community needs your leadership.

About the Speaker

Avril Watt was born and raised in Northern Ireland and, after graduating high school, spent ten years in various public sector roles. In 1996, Watt pursued an opportunity to spend one year attending college in the U.S. and this evolved into a Bachelor of Theology degree. In 2004, Watt earned an MBA and accepted a management role in Human Resources with an electronics manufacturing company in Portland, OR. In 2013, Watt became the HR Manager with Johnson Crushers International, Inc. (rebranded to Astec in 2021), a company that specializes in building rock crushing and screening equipment for the aggregate and mining industry. In 2019, Watt assumed the role of Operations Manager and, in early 2020, was promoted to General Manager of an Astec site in Oregon. In Fall 2024, Watt relocated to Yankton, SD to become the General Manager of the largest site in the Materials Solutions segment and recently assumed oversight for a second site in Sterling, IL.

SEEING AROUND CORNERS: LEADING THROUGH UNCERTAINTY TO SHAPE TOMORROW

DR. STEPHANIE BULGER | President, Lane Community College

Keynote Description

Funding shifts, new technology, changing workforce needs, and rising public expectations are arriving faster than any plan can keep up with. In this interactive session, Dr. Stephanie Bulger shares four practical ways leaders can see around corners: spot early signals, prepare for more than one future, act before the picture is complete, and bring their people along. Drawing on her experience leading a college through enrollment change, AI, and a new strategic plan, she'll put participants to work in the room. Whether you lead a company, a nonprofit, or a team, or you're preparing for your next role or venture, you'll leave with a tool you can use this week and new connections. Bring your questions.

About the Speaker

Dr. Stephanie Bulger has spent more than two decades in community college leadership with one purpose: helping people move up economically to strengthen communities. That work led the Aspen Institute to select her in 2026 as one of 23 community college presidents in the nation for the third class of its Presidents Fellowship, which focuses on student success after college and economic mobility.

As President of Lane Community College since July 2022, she leads a college that serves more than 17,000 people each year across a 5,000-square-mile district. Under her leadership, Lane has reversed a decade of enrollment decline, launched bachelor's degree programs, expanded workforce training and university transfer pathways, and been named an Achieving the Dream Leader College for the second time. An innovator throughout her career, from the early days of online learning to Lane's work today in artificial intelligence, she builds partnerships with employers and communities that develop local talent and strengthen the regional economy.

Dr. Bulger has led in Oregon, California, and Michigan, and holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. She is inspired by the natural beauty and vibrant arts community of the southern Willamette Valley.

WORKSHOP SESSIONS

BRAVE ENOUGH TO BREATHE: HOW WELL ARE YOU BREATHING?

ANDREW ROBINSON AND SUZI LANTZ | Co-Founders, Oxygen

Breakout Description

I spent months holding my breath without even knowing it. I woke most days by 3:00 a.m. and went to work. Sure, I got things done and somehow made it through, but I was suffocating. I built the Oxygen Gauge during that season. I knew I needed to learn how to breathe again, but didn't know where to start. Maybe you know this feeling. You rush from one meeting to the next. You give others everything you've got and come home with little left for the people you love. You feel disconnected from your team and from yourself. You're not failing. You're out of air.

At Oxygen, we believe leaders need to breathe. When you breathe, you're safe and approachable. You respond well to stressful situations instead of reacting. Most importantly, when you breathe, you're present. It takes courage to honestly assess your breathing. Most of us would rather just keep moving. In this 90-minute, hands-on session, you will complete the Oxygen Gauge, which draws on research from Harvard's Global Flourishing Study and findings from Gallup and other studies on flourishing at work. You will talk honestly with leaders in the room.

And you will leave with three things: a clear reading of how you breathe at home and at work, a sense of where you hold your breath and where you breathe well, and one courageous change you can make this week to help yourself and someone near you breathe easier. You have held your breath long enough. This session will help you breathe again.

Andrew Robinson designs systems, strategies, and content that disrupt how organizations develop their people. Since 2006, he has built frameworks and methodologies adopted by executives at Nike, Microsoft, Novo Nordisk, and leaders across professional sports, healthcare, retail, and hospitality. His work is grounded in a conviction that profitability should serve people—employees, customers, and stakeholders—not the reverse.

As a keynote speaker, author, and podcaster, Andrew challenges conventional approaches to leadership development. He architects scalable systems that transform how organizations develop people—systems that cultivate leader engagement and retention, deepen customer loyalty, and generate profit through activation rather than extraction. His frameworks combine intellectual rigor with practical application, creating sustainable infrastructure for organizational development rather than dependency on ongoing intervention.

Andrew is the co-founder of Oxygen, a boutique people development firm that provides tailored sustainable people solutions that scale. Andrew earned his graduate degree in Organizational Systems from the University of Oregon, graduating with top honors.

Suzi Lantz is an executive coach and organizational development architect who helps leaders turn self-awareness into practical, everyday leadership. She is co-founder of Oxygen, a firm that partners with organizations to design and embed leadership development systems built for their specific context, and founder of Personal Peak Consulting, where she works with C-suite and HR leaders across sectors including education, healthcare, nonprofit, energy, construction, manufacturing, and transportation.

Suzi's work centers on a simple conviction: lasting change begins at the top, with leaders who understand how they are wired and are willing to go first. She equips them to communicate clearly, build trust, and coach the people they lead, creating cultures where accountability and connection are part of the daily rhythm.

With a background in education and curriculum design, Suzi brings both rigor and humanity to the room. Leaders describe feeling seen, challenged, and ready to grow. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.

DON'T THROW OUT WHAT WORKS: HOW TO MODERNIZE WITHOUT LOSING THE STRENGTHS THAT GOT YOU HERE

SAMANTHA DOYLE | Owner, Strategic Business Coaching

Breakout Description

New leaders step into established teams. Businesses pass to the next generation. Companies outgrow the systems that built them. With pressure to change coming from every direction, the real leadership challenge is deciding what to protect, what to evolve, and what to rethink entirely. In this interactive session, Samantha Doyle draws on her experience acquiring and leading established businesses to help you lead change without dismissing the people, history, and strengths that got you here. You'll identify one thing in your organization worth protecting, one thing that needs to evolve, and one thing you need to build for the future. Moving forward doesn't mean starting over.

Samantha Doyle is the owner of Strategic Business Coaching, MYCA Learning, and Executive Forum, a Portland based leadership development organization founded in 1989. As a certified Scaling Up coach, Samantha helps business owners and leadership teams create clarity, align around priorities, and turn strategy into results. She has bought, grown, merged, and sold businesses of her own, so she brings a practical, been there perspective to the leaders she works with. Samantha holds a degree in psychology from Portland State University and is based in Eugene, Oregon, where she works with organizations navigating growth, change, and leadership transitions.

Meet the Emcee

STORM KENNEDY

Storm Kennedy has spent 27 years of her career waking up the community over the airwaves on Magic 94.5 and KUGN radio stations.

Storm’s acting career has allowed her to perform on theatre stages throughout Lane County and beyond for the past 34 years, working with theaters in Eugene, Albany, Salem, and Portland, Oregon.

Storm works in Community Relations at The Shedd Institute for the Arts. She also keeps busy supporting nonprofits, helping to raise awareness and support fundraising through emceeing, public relations, and marketing through her company, Stormy Communications.

In her downtime, you can find her on the tennis courts, hiking the local buttes with her dog, Bodhi, or doing what brings her the most happiness—spending time with her family and friends.