We’re excited to offer a great lineup of speakers, valuable education sessions, and some excellent entertainment for this year’s Power Up. Which are you most looking forward to?
Keynote Speaker – LtCol. Patricia Northrup
Can a woman who walked as Miss California in 4” heels command an aircraft6 in combat? You bet!!
LtCol. Patricia Northrup has been speaking to audiences of all ages for over 26 years about how the most ordinary ideas can be extraordinary successes.
She has often been told how “lucky” she has been in her life to have achieved so much, but once you listen to her speak, you will learn that it is simply turning life’s normal rejections and failures to her advantage and being ready to seize opportunities when they appear.
She is an expert on leadership in high-stress and dynamic situations, breaking the glass ceiling and developing positive, harmonious relationships between men and women in the workplace and finding a way to win the race of life when the world is convinced you are the underdog.
She has developed 7 steps to running a personal race that will help you find the gift in even the most challenging circumstances by running your own race and helping those around you do so as well. This, in turn, will enable you to develop a personal brand that will last a lifetime.
Patricia is an engineer by trade but used her scholarship earned as Miss California 1992 to pursue a career in commercial aviation. She was recruited by the California Air National Guard and was awarded the top honor of the Commanders Trophy at military pilot training graduation. She was inducted into the prestigious Order of Daedalians, a WWI flying organization where she is a Director. She is also a Director on the Disabled Veterans Charities board where they award hundreds of thousands to disabled veterans in need annually.
She retired after a 21-year military career as a Lt. Col. and Instructor Pilot for the California Air National Guard in the 115th Airlift Squadron. She flew six tours of duty in the Middle East and has been awarded 5 flying Air Medals. She was named the 2010 California Air National Guard Field Grade Officer of the Year. She has earned her MS in Military Science and Operational Art. Patricia was the CEO of the Miss California Organization, a preliminary to Miss America from 2015-2020. She has flown 26 years as a pilot for American Airlines and resides with her three daughters in Cody, Wyoming.
Keynote: “Run Your Own Race – Let the World Chase You”
Throughout my life, I was always seen as a little “different,” but ultimately managed to come out on top in everything I have set out to achieve. Little did I know at the beginning, my desire to march only to the beat of my own drum would be one of the keys to my success. The title of this talk was advice given to me on the stage at the Miss America Pageant and it is advice that directs me to this day. This talk is designed to help any group find the strength and determination to succeed on their own terms, turning any failure into opportunity, and to stop looking from side to side along the way. Powerful examples from my life experiences demonstrate how circumstances play only a small role in our potential. It’s the discipline to stay focused on goals and keep taking action while being true to yourself that ultimately brings the biggest and most satisfying wins. You want your people to have confidence, make decisions with determination and lead from the front? Then this topic will have them moving forward with purpose!
General Session Speaker - Dr. Shawn DuBravac
Acclaimed futurist and trendcaster, Dr. Shawn DuBravac is author of the New York Times Best Seller Digital Destiny: How the New Age of Data Will Transform the Way We Work, Live, and Communicate, which explores how the world’s mass adoption of digital technologies portends the beginning of a new era for humanity in the realms of business, healthcare, finance, transportation, and culture.
DuBravac is an internationally-recognized thought leader and top-rated keynote speaker, delivering pragmatic and provocative insights on the trends, technologies, and paradigms transforming the globe. His research focuses on the forces shaping tomorrow that are percolating on the periphery of society and business today. By providing an elevated view of developing trends, DuBravac empowers leaders and their organizations to improve strategic decision-making capabilities by understanding the changing landscape and identifying the opportunities that lie ahead.
DuBravac is president of Avrio Institute. Borrowing from the Greek Αύριο meaning tomorrow, the Institute helps leaders prepare for uncertain and divergent futures. Clients include Fortune 100 and Global 1000 companies, scrappy start-ups, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. Grounded in economics, DuBravac served over 12 years as chief economist for the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), the U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer tech companies, and owner and producer of CES.
DuBravac writes extensively on disruptive technological shifts and has been widely published on the topics of technology, finance, and economics. His analysis has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Wired, Los Angeles Times, Barron’s and on-air with CNBC, Bloomberg, NPR, CBS, and other media outlets. DuBravac has been named one of the top 50 futurist speakers to have at your conference by Readwrite, one of 27 finance thought leaders to read and follow by Prophix, and to Dealerscope’s “40 under 40” list of people to watch in the technology industry. He is a past-President of both the CFA Society of Washington, DC and the Conference of Business Economists, a founding trustee of the CTA Foundation, and a past board member of the National Association of Business Economists.
DuBravac has taught at the George Washington University School of Business, American University’s Kogod School of Business, the George Mason University School of Business, Marymount University School of Business, and the University of Mary Washington. He holds economic degrees from Brigham Young University and George Mason University. DuBravac resides in Virginia with his wife and three sons. When he’s not helping executive teams decipher coming shifts, he can be found climbing 14ers, running marathons, and coaching youth sports.
General Session: “Economic Insights: Navigating the Future”
In today’s turbulent economic environment, leaders face unprecedented challenges, from persistent inflation to shifting conditions to an uncertain political landscape. These issues are compounded by geopolitical risks and evolving market dynamics.
Join Dr. Shawn DuBravac for a critical exploration of the U.S. economic landscape tailored for your audience.
Closing Keynote Speaker – Lee Silber
Lee Silber first walked into a credit union at age ten to open a savings account with the encouragement of his parents—also members. (His father is an Army veteran.) Since that l-o-n-g ago time, Lee has been an advocate for the movement which culminated in his 26th book, The Credit Union Way. A book filled with inspirational stories about how credit unions came to the rescue for their members (with a few of the stories featuring branches in Montana). Known as The Facilitator of Fun, Lee will bring these stories to life as your closing speaker and share the lessons learned from each.
Keynote: “The Credit Union Way In Action”
The Credit Union Way is a concept backed by actions. It’s about how we walk our talk. That’s why this session will be the perfect way to wrap up Power Up 2026. This closing keynote is about the action-oriented things we can do to make a difference for our credit union, the members, the community, the industry, our staff, and ourselves. Yes, ourselves.
In this closing session we will focus on small acts that make a big difference. Simple but powerful things we can do on a daily basis that over time (much like compound interest) exponentially create improvement for the future. It will be worth staying not only to focus on how we can implement what we learned from the conference as a whole but also to glean ideas from each other.
This is a hands-on, interactive session that draws in part from the inspiring stories in the book, The Credit Union Way, but also from our own stories. As this conference concludes we will be in the midst of the second quarter, which means we have plenty of time to make 2026 our best year yet. Let’s do it in true credit union fashion with people helping people.
Entertainment - Stand-Up Comedian Tommy Ryman
Tommy Ryman grew up with a new-age, folksinging mother and a traditional, Lutheran insurance-agent father. This XY equation evidently equals: acclaimed comedian. Ryman has earned the title of Semifinalist on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, where judges raved about Tommy saying, “they had never seen anything like him, one of a kind, fantastic!”
Ryman’s act can be described as absurdist and clever, masked behind a very likable and innocent demeanor, often thought of as disturbingly adorable. He is a favorite among audiences at top clubs, colleges, and corporate events around the nation, and he is regularly featured on SiriusXM, and iheartradio.
Ryman recently won the title of Best in the Midwest at the prestigious Gilda’s Laugh Fest, and voted best comedian in the Twin Cites by City Pages. He was invited to perform at the Great American Comedy Festival at the Johnny Carson Theater. Ryman’s newest album “Having the Time of My Life” debut at #2 on the iTunes comedy charts, and he also has a brand new comedy special on Dry Bar Comedy.