Keynote Speaker

Ibi Opuiyo

In 2016 while in Milwaukee, WI finishing my graduate studies in healthcare instruction design, I took a part time job as a technology transfer intern. The concept was simple enough – a university professor created something out of this world in the lab but needed help moving that creation from the lab to the marketplace. I soon realized that my years working at hospitals nationwide and attending management meetings about patient sentiment echoed a similar theme – Clinical care teams possessed outstanding talent and skills but consistently fell short translating that into great patient experiences across appointments and services. This is when I saw an opportunity to “invent’ a better way for healthcare workers, clinicians, and hospital administrators to use data to deliver consistently amazing experiences on both sides of the patient appointment and started an AI enabled Hospital software development firm- Inmed Systems.  ALL SYSTEMS GO for IGNITE 2023! Refueling & Igniting the Flame Together. When awareness takes hold return the favor to the universe within your heart and find the best way forward, a way that is genuine, full of grace, and sustaining!  Now let’s embark on a high-energy journey together as I take you through some of the strategies that are changing the healthcare industries and move us from burn-out to re-igniting the flame within in each of us!

Keynote Speaker

Nicole Perry

Nicole Perry is an author, speaker, mental health advocate, and entertainer. She published her debut book in 2020, has facilitated over 200 masterminds to support the entrepreneurial-spirited businesswoman, and won the Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Sound Bites Award for a featured show she did on suicide prevention in 2018. Nicole has been an entrepreneur for almost 18 years, is currently facilitating her Powerful Women Rise masterminds in the South Shore and South Coast areas, and is eagerly anticipating releasing her second book in 2025.

Emcee

Jackie Bruno

If you look up “social butterfly” in the dictionary, you might find Jackie’s picture. She is a natural networker who loves to meet people and help them achieve their dreams.

Jackie has accomplished many of her own dreams. As a small-town girl from Massachusetts, Jackie had three major goals: Be a news anchor in her home state, graduate from Boston University and represent the Commonwealth at a nationally televised pageant.

Check, check and double check! Jackie graduated summa cum laude from Boston University in 2006 — while representing the Bay State at two nationally televised pageants. And in 2008, she secured her first on-air job at WWLP in Springfield as a field reporter, covering breaking news and honing her craft as a video storyteller.

Boston came calling after that, and Jackie kicked off 2012 as the weekend anchor and morning reporter at New England Cable News. There, Jackie secured exclusive stories like her interview with Chad Ochocinco ahead of his Super Bowl appearance with the New England Patriots. She also covered the arrests of Aaron Hernandez and Whitey Bulger and was an eyewitness reporter to the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Jackie then helped launch NBC Boston in 2017 as the station’s entertainment and lifestyle reporter, securing countless interviews with local and national celebrities.

Through it all, Jackie has become an expert at creating connection; networking; researching; writing; and making moments memorable! Her work has been honored with three Emmy Awards, and countless nominations. 

She also started her own women’s network in 2020 to crowdsource life experience among working professional women. “The Connect-Her” now serves hundreds of women with local networking events and virtual programming. They say “Success is about who you know”, so as Jackie tells her group: “We’ll know everyone!”

All these achievements and experiences have led Jackie to create Newsmaker Marketing. As the Founder and CEO, Jackie will tell your story directly to your key audience and spread your message far and wide.

When she’s not working, Jackie loves spending time with her two boys, Jack and James, her husband, Joe, and her beloved shih tzu, Buddy. She splits her time between Massachusetts and Maine and loves exploring her hometown region of New England.

Comedian

Katie Arroyo

Katie Arroyo is a comedian who has performed throughout New England and featured in clubs in New York and Boston. With an aggressive-good natured act, her varied life experiences have given her the ability to connect with any audience. 

Katie has become a favorite in the New England scene- featuring frequently at The RI Comedy Connection and performing in the Rogue Island Comedy Festival. Her love of projects and fear of missing out on anything is in your favor as you can listen to her as the co-host of The Messy Show Podcast. 

Audiences love Katie because her philosophy in life is to try it all- and fortunately for us on stage is where she shares it all. 

Goddess Award

Susan McDonough

Susan McDonough is a South Boston native and resident of Holbrook, Massachusetts who leads the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Women Veterans’ Network, a program of the Executive Office of Veterans’ Services that seeks to provide connection and resources to women veterans across the Commonwealth.

Her advocacy on behalf of women veterans comes naturally and is ingrained in family tradition. She is a veteran herself, having served in the United States Army from 1994-1998, and in the Massachusetts National Guard from 2000-2002. Susan’s stations include the 29^th Signal Battalion at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington, and the 16^th Medical Logistics Battalion in Taegu, South Korea.

Susan is the first female in her family to serve in the military, though  her family’s military service is long and deep, tracing back to the Civil War.  Her fourth great grandfather, Willian Newland, received the Congressional Medal of Honor for engagement, resulting in the Union victory in Mobile Bay, under the leadership of Navy Admiral David Farragut.

Susan also serves as the Commander of the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council, and former Commander of the American Legion, Martin F. McDonough Post #368 in 2019 – 2020, 

A longtime advocate for women veterans, Susan also serves on the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.