Speaker bios

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Chad Blevins is the founder of Blevins Financial, which serves the complex needs of closely held business owners and high net worth individuals. He has a strong history of developing financial strategies, transaction structures, estate plans, and business optimization strategies for private businesses and their owners. He brings a focus across often-disparate areas into a single integrated strategy that greatly increases value and clarity for his client. Chad has held executive leadership positions in Fortune 500 companies, private start-ups, and family-held businesses. He is a past recipient of The Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Award.  He enjoys skiing, golf, mountain bike riding and bourbon hunting.  Chad serves on the BOD of Safe Haven Farms, which provides day and residential services to adults with disabilities.  He is married to his wife Katy and they have two adult children, Josh and Olivia. 

Kevin Gemeroy is the President & CEO of Dynamic Computing, a provider of managed IT & cyber security services to leading small and mid-sized businesses throughout the Pacific Northwest. 

Kevin is a fourth generation Seattle entrepreneur and small business owner who founded his company while attending the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Kevin was recognized as Washington State’s Mr. Future Business Leader in 1998 and as a Puget Sound Business Journal 40 under 40 honoree in 2018. 

On a personal note, Kevin is an avid golfer, part-time education policy advocate, perennial little league coach, husband to a wonderful wife, and father of two twice-exceptional boys.

Hayley Hughes spent several years working as a consultant for Cigna, focusing on population health strategies, product development, and behavioral health solutions.

She has worked closely with large national employers as an advisor, coach, and speaker on topics including mental health, stress and burnout, generational

dynamics, intrinsic motivations, recognition, proactive wellbeing, and more. As TPG’s PartnerWell Practice Leader, Hayley helps clients expand their offerings and initiatives supporting employee mental health, well-being, and workforce culture. Hayley has a BA in psychology from the University of Hawaii, and earned MS

degrees in both clinical health psychology and nutrition at Bastyr University.

As President & CEO, Shannon Kavanaugh’s strategic vision ensures Archbright recruits, develops, and engages talented employees and builds the operational and technical infrastructure necessary to support the workplace performance success of over 2,000 employers in the Pacific Northwest. Shannon believes that a company's success depends more on workplace performance than any other factor. Workplace performance is driven by an organization's ability to engage its workforce effectively...and that's where Archbright™ comes in! Kavanaugh is a thought leader and nationwide speaker on many topics impacting small to medium-sized businesses. She holds a BA from the University of Washington and an Executive Leadership certificate from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. 

Greg has worked in business banking and commercial lending for over 20 years.  His tenure in the industry includes experiences at a private money lender, national banks, and regional banks.  A Relationship Manager at Umpqua Bank (a legacy Columbia Banker), Greg assists established businesses and business owners in the Greater Puget Sound area with their banking and lending needs.  His industries of focus and expertise include manufacturing, distribution, specialty contractors, and professional services.  2024 will be Greg’s third year of engagement with Impact.

David Lightfoot has over 40 years of accounting, finance, and operational experience. He 

has served as Controller, Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President of Finance for small and medium-sized businesses. He also has operations experience and has worked as a CEO, giving him a broad business perspective. David has been a CPA for 40+ years and also is a CMA (Certified Management Accountant). He is currently Principal of David Lightfoot CFO, LLC where his clients call him a “world-class listener.”

Giant Leap's President, George Noroian, grew up in a small family business, learning from an early age that there are both good and bad ways to be an entrepreneur. He had a rich and varied career path, serving in the diplomatic corps, getting an MBA from Stanford, and running two multi-million-dollar companies. His journey has given him experience and empathy, and he uses these to help business owners create the entrepreneurial lives they’ve always wanted through mentoring and consulting.

Jessica Norris is a partner at Shannon & Associates, LLP. She serves the firm's largest manufacturing, distribution and contractor clients—auditing and consulting on employee benefit plans and performing valuation and forensic services for a variety of clients. Jessica graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelor of Science, Major in Accounting and has an MBA, Economic Crime and Fraud Management from Utica College of Syracuse University. She is a CPA and a CVA (Certified Valuation Analyst) and CFE (Certified Fraud Examiner). 

For nearly 30 years, Aaron has helped people find their intrinsic motivation, their capacity to collaborate, and the fulfillment that comes from harnessing their creativity. Aaron brings a wide range of experiences to his work with Giant Leap — from outdoor leadership and theatre direction to corporate contribution and teaching business communication. Through his work as a company culture engineer, he helps leaders build structures, habits, and mindsets that support an enduring high-performance culture so both their profits and their people thrive. 

John Sherwood’s practice focuses on real estate, estate planning, probate, trust, business planning, and tax law.  He advises clients on estate planning matters, including family business planning; commercial and residential real estate transactions and litigation; business transactions; business planning; probate and trust administration and disputes. 

John’s real estate practice includes virtually all issues developers, landlords, tenants, and others in the real estate market face.  John represents a wide range of clients for Estate Planning and Probate from those with modest net worth to those having a net worth of $10 million and more.  

Ben Wicks has been serving clients in wealth management since 1999. Ben's expertise is in serving closely held and family-owned business owners, executives, and wealth creators seeking to create a clear game plan for how their money connects to a life of meaning and purpose. 

His “why” comes from observing and experiencing how finances can often bring uncertainty, anxiety, and even embarrassment. He believes those feelings are toxic to a life fully lived. His goal is to help families punch financial fear in the face and move forward with confidence and courage. 

A Washington native, Ben's favorite place to be is in the mountains. He lives in Bothell with his wife and three kids and enjoys all things outdoors, live music, woodworking, and the conviviality of good food and drink with family and friends. Ben is a member of Bellevue Rotary, Vistage, and chairs the Seattle Children's Hospital Legacy Council.