Kevin Surace is the father of the Virtual Assistant and a Silicon Valley innovator, serial entrepreneur, CEO, and futurist. He was INC Magazines’ Entrepreneur of the Year, a CNBC top Innovator of the Decade, World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, Chair of Silicon Valley Forum, Planet Forward Innovator of the Year nominee, featured for 5 years on TechTV’s Silicon Spin, and inducted into RIT’s Innovation Hall of Fame. Surace has 94 worldwide patents and led pioneering work on the first cellular data smartphone (AirCommunicator), the first human-like AI virtual assistant (Portico), soundproof drywall, high R-value windows, AI-driven building management, Generative AI for QA automation, supply-chain auctions, and the window/energy retrofits of the Empire State Building and NY Stock Exchange.

If your company is like most metalcasters, then recruiting and retaining talent is one of your top challenges. Author Gene Marks has studied this issue and will present on that topic at the FLS. Through his columns and keynotes, Mark helps business owners and managers understand the political, economic, and technological trends that will affect their companies and — most importantly — the actions they can take to continue to grow and profit.

Dan Romito is a Managing Director overseeing the Consulting & Advocacy practice at Pickering Energy Partners. Romito’s career has centered on helping capital-intensive businesses efficiently navigate the ever-evolving capital markets and global regulatory landscape. He advises private companies, public issuers, and asset managers in the Energy, Industrials, Materials, Utilities, and Healthcare sectors to optimize the delicate balance between sustainability strategies and capital discipline, pursuing quality pools of capital, employing pragmatic sustainability-related directives, and executing efficient stakeholder management strategies.

Romito's career is marked by his ability to build, commercialize, and manage revenue-generating business units. Before launching the Consultancy & Advocacy practice at Pickering, he honed his skills at Nasdaq, where he specialized in building investor analytics platforms, technology solutions, and business development. His most notable achievement during his tenure at Nasdaq was the development and commercialization of Nasdaq’s Strategic Capital Intelligence offerings, a suite of services that included a proprietary investor behavioral analytics platform, the ESG Advisory Service, the Insight360 Analytics modules, the Activist Diagnostic, the Capital Deployment Scenario Analysis, the Biotech Investor Targeting platform, and the Small Cap Investor Targeting Service.

His extensive publication record further underscores Romito's influence in the field of finance and sustainability. With over forty-five published writings on topics such as Energy Policy, Sustainability, Investor Behavior, Passive Ownership, and Shareholder Activism, his work has been featured in several global periodicals, including Harvard Business Review, the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, CNBC, Bloomberg, Hart Energy, and Global Investor Magazine.

Romito received a BA from the University of Chicago and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University. He sits on the IPAA Capital Markets Committee, serves as an Advisory Board Member for Marquette University's Sustainability Lab, and is an adjunct professor at Marquette University, teaching Sustainable Finance.

Chuck Gallagher, executive, author, and speaker, understands the challenges of business from both a growth and ethics perspective. As a professional speaker, Gallagher has been featured in Business Week and New Perspectives, and has been a guest on CNN, CBS, and NPR. Gallagher, raised by a single parent in the projects, came from humble beginnings. At twenty-six, he became tax partner at a CPA firm and was one of only three CPAs in the country asked to testify before the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee on a new employee benefits provision of the tax law. In the middle of this rising career, Gallagher lost everything because he made some bad choices. He has since rebuilt his career and is now enjoying the success he once did. With more vulnerability than the average keynoter, Gallagher shares with his audiences his life journey, the consequences of his unethical choices, and how life gives you a second chance when you make the right choices.

Gus Faucher is senior vice president and chief economist of The PNC Financial Services Group, serving as the principal spokesperson on all economic issues for PNC.

Faucher is frequently cited in international, national, and regional media outlets including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He serves on the board of directors of The Economic Club of Pittsburgh - the local chapter of National Association of Business Economics (NABE). He is also co-chair of the Financial Roundtable of NABE.

Faucher earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, with concentrations in labor economics and public economics. He also has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Cornell University.

Marc Thiessen is a former White House chief speechwriter and Fox News contributor who appears several times a week on The Kelly File, one of the most watched prime time cable news shows in the country. Thiessen served as a member of the White House senior staff under President George W. Bush, where he was the lead writer on two State of the Union addresses and worked closely with President Bush on hundreds of speeches. Before that, Thiessen served as chief speechwriter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He was in the Pentagon when it was hit on September 11, 2001, and traveled 250,000 miles around the world with Rumsfeld, including his first visits to Afghanistan and Iraq. He saw the war on terror up close, from the Oval Office to the planning rooms of the Pentagon and the major battlefronts of the Middle East, and his inside account of the CIA's terrorist interrogation program, Courting Disaster, is a top-ten New York Times bestseller. The Daily Telegraph named Thiessen one of the "100 most influential conservatives in America," and his weekly column for The Washington Post is one of the paper's best-read,reaching 6.3 million readers. He is a Resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and lives in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife Pam and four children.

David Gilson is a business commercial executive with experience across national and international responsibilities, markets, and accounts. He has expert qualifications in identifying and capturing market opportunities to accelerate organic growth, increase revenues, and improve profit contributions. He also has capabilities in identifying acquisition end market opportunities. Gilson, who is the 2023-2024 AFS First Vice President, has been an expert presenter at many AFS events.

George Boyd, Jr. attended the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee and the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia. After graduating from UGA with degrees in Political Science and English, Boyd went to UGA Law School. After practicing law for a number of years, Boyd joined Goldens’ Foundry & Machine Company. He is currently the Managing Member and General Counsel. Boyd is part of the 5th generation of family ownership and management of Goldens’. Goldens’ operates iron foundries and machine shops in Columbus and Cordele Georgia serving industrial customers. In 2016, Goldens’ launched a consumer product line, Goldens’ Cast Iron, which offers American made, cast iron kamado grills, syrup kettle fire pits, and fitness products. 

Andrew Renkey is a senior level executive with over thirty five years of leadership, team building and problem-solving skills. Renkey has demonstrated excellence in creating both top line revenue growth and delivering bottom line results combined with a passion for continuous improvement in a manufacturing environment.

Jeff Cook is Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at Eagle Alloy, Inc., in Muskegon, Michigan. An experienced metalcaster, he started his career at Eagle Alloy in 1986 at the age of 18. He is a Past President of AFS and former board member of the Foundry Association of Michigan. He also is the current chair of the AFS Board of Awards. Among Cook's industry accolades are the AFS Marketing Division's Jack Steele Award and the Steel Division's Outstanding Individual Service Award.  

Mike Hawthorne is the Chief Executive Officer of Waupaca Foundry. He guides the company with experience and a track record of success in executive leadership roles. Throughout his distinguished career, Mike has consistently demonstrated his ability to drive strategic growth and operational excellence.

Before joining Waupaca Foundry, Hawthorne held executive positions with JB Poindexter & Co., Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, and New York Air Brake, where he was pivotal in leading business transformations. His expertise encompasses the defense, freight rail, and commercial vehicle sectors, with a notable focus on technology, finance, and strategic management.

Hawthorne holds an MBA from Syracuse University, a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University. His leadership style emphasizes innovation, transparency, customer focus, teamwork, and results-driven strategies.

Stephanie Salmon provides advocacy representation for AFS in Washington, D.C. An experienced government relations professional, she has spearheaded AFS policy achievements on a variety of industry issues. Salmon holds a BA in International Studies from The American University.

Doug Kurkul has been CEO of AFS since 2016. On his watch, AFS executed a landmark Economic Impact Analysis, implemented a new Strategic Plan, grew corporate membership to a 20-year high, won congressional approval of significant research funding, introduced new programs and communications, and solidified the Society’s balance sheet through debt elimination. Before joining AFS, he led the Printing & Imaging Association of Mid-America, the Round Rock Economic Development Partnership, and the Reno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce, and was VP of Member Communications & Marketing at the National Association of Manufacturers, named by Fortune magazine as one of the 10 most influential associations in the nation’s capital. He has represented AFS at industry events in China, Japan, Taiwan, Germany, Poland, Italy, Mexico and throughout the U.S. 

He earned a Master’s Degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the American University in Washington D.C. and a B.A. from Ashland University in Ohio, as well as leadership training from Duke University’s Center for Creative Leadership.